The Seven Hills(17)

"You see?" Chilo said. "The strength of a single man is sufficient to raise many men. This can be used to raise soldiers above an enemy rampart, but more important to us is the demonstration of the properties of the counterweight."

He looked around and indicated a man who sat on the edge of a fountain, staring at the machine. "You see that sour-faced fellow observing over there?"

Marcus looked at him. "Isn't that the mathematician who just arrived from Crete? Nikolaus, is it?"

"The very one. He seeks to penetrate to the very essence of this question: the principle of why objects fall as they do."

"Why?" Marcus said. "Self-evident, isn't it? Things have always fallen."

"That's just it. It isn't self-evident at all. We just take it for granted. Why doesn't smoke fall? What holds clouds up? They may not have much mass, but they have some. Some of us think that Archimedes' principle of buoyancy is involved, but Nikolaus thinks that there is a fundamental, universal force involved and he wants to understand it."

"Too deep for me," Marcus admitted. "But I like this machine. It could have all sorts of uses. Can you make one high enough to take people all the way to the top of the lighthouse?" The lighthouse of Pharos, tallest structure in the world, stood only about a mile from them.

"It would require a lot of rope and wood," Chilo said, "but the principle will work no matter how tall the machine might be."

Marcus left him pondering.

An hour later he found Queen Selene in her council chamber. Technically she was not a true queen, merely the consort of the boy-king, her brother Ptolemy. In reality she was unquestioned queen and this position she owed to Marcus. Her immature husband now sulked in a wing of the palace, enduring education from formidable teachers instead of his previous indulgent and scheming eunuchs, courtiers and advisors.

The queen was seated at a delicate table and she looked up as he entered. "Your friends have disappeared," she said in her usual, abrupt fashion. She favored the Stoic philosophers and had little use for court formality or artificial manners.

"Which friends?" he asked, tossing his helmet to a nearby slave. The adroit functionary caught it without damaging the delicate plumes.

"Norbanus, of course. And his four legions." She was studying a map, and a weathered man stood behind her, pointing out something with an ivory wand.

"Rather a large body of men to simply disappear," Marcus answered, knowing where this was leading.

"This is Achates, an officer of the Sinai Scouts," she said, indicating the man behind her. His features were a mixture of Macedonian and Bedouin, not an uncommon combination in that part of the world. He spread the fingers of one hand upon his breast and bowed in the Eastern fashion. "He says that, instead of hugging the coast as expected, they plunged straight off into the desert, more or less in the direction of Judea."

"Are your men following them?" he asked the desert soldier.

"They will shadow the army as closely as possible," Achates said, "but you must understand the special difficulties posed by the great desert. There will be very little food or water in front of that army. There will be none at all left where it passes. My scouts may have to turn back."

"Norbanus continues to amaze me," Marcus said. "I always thought he was a smooth-tongued Forum politician and no soldier at all. But he takes to the life as if he was born to it. Men follow him willingly, too. The gods have touched him somehow."

"Will his men continue to follow him as they turn to dried meat in that awful desert?" Selene asked.

The question had been sarcastic, but he treated it seriously. "That's to be seen. Soldiers are an odd lot. They'll turn on one officer for assigning an extra watch, and worship another who treats them like dogs. Alexander's men endured unbelievable hardships for him. Norbanus may have that touch with men."

"Or they may all die out there," she said, shrugging. "They certainly made extensive preparations. They denuded a whole district of forage to take along and they must have commandeered every water bag to be had. Still, it is a ruthless desert, and with so many men and animals to feed and water, they may leave their bones out there."

"They'll make it," Marcus asserted. "I won't bore you yet again with a description of my people's excellence, but rest assured that they will make it where they are going. The question js: Where is Norbanus leading them? I wouldn't put it past him to have a go at conquering India."

She smiled wryly. "He'd have to pass through a few nations before reaching there. I think he's headed for Judea, thence up the coast. He's going to Greece. From there it's just a short passage to Italy."