The Seven Hills(72)

"We sailed too far east at first and learned in Tarsus that you'd already passed. Then we turned around and just followed the smoke of burning towns until we caught up with you. You certainly seem to have made your mark on this part of the world."

"We have made the presence of Rome felt," Norbanus said modestly.

"It looks like it's been fun," Papirius said. "But I think your adventure is about to come to an end. These are excellent figs, by the way."

Norbanus's eyes narrowed. "End? What do you mean?"

Papirius spat out an olive pit. "There's a big fleet of transports just been built and undergoing sea trials when I left Brundisium. They'll be coming this way to pick you all up and fetch you back to Italy. They could be sailing this way already."

Everyone looked at Norbanus, whose face had turned to stone. "Excellent," he grated at last. "We shall be home sooner than anticipated."

"Unless," said Lentulus Niger, "the omens prove unfavorable to a sea voyage." He eyed his plate innocently as he said it.

"And," Cato commented, "we are well into fall. The good sailing days are numbered." He eyed Norbanus above his cup.

Titus Norbanus suppressed a smile. These two had been loyal in the field, but they had been his adversaries in all else. But he had enriched them beyond their wildest dreams, giving them leading parts in the greatest adventure in the history of Rome. Now they were his, their fortunes committed to his.

"Of course," he said, "anything could happen."

Papirius nodded. "I suppose." He dipped a piece of bread into a pot of olive oil in which fragrant herbs steeped. "You got word about the defeat on the Arnus?"

"We heard," Niger said grimly. "The report that came with the last ship from Rome didn't give us much in the way of details."

Papirius launched into a colorful description of the debacle. As always happened, a few survivors had made it across the river and back to Rome in the days after the battle, so the people had a fairly clear account of the fighting to supplement Aemilius's bare-bones dispatches to the Senate. While Papirius spoke, Norbanus turned over the possibilities in his mind. It was not in his nature simply to defy the Senate. He was far more inclined to turn this annoyance somehow to his own advantage.

He was certain that there was no real rush about getting back to Italy. The defeat on the Arnus was a setback from which Rome would need time to recover. Hamilcar was not going to attack soon. He had several months yet to continue his march, and by the time he returned to Rome there would have been new elections, new consuls presiding over the Senate. He did not have to please men who would be out of office soon. Thinking of this he opened the letter from his father.



My son: I hope this finds you well and victorious. Our enemies in the Senate, most of them old family diehards, wish you ill. They are jealous of your magnificient accomplishments in the East. Stay your course and pay them no heed. You will return in glory to Rome and you will be the idol of the people. I have been working all year to see that you will have a sympathetic new family consul in office when you return. I have called in all my political debts to win support for Gains Hermanicus. He is not militarily ambitious, so he is quite content to spend the next year sitting in a curule chair instead of in the field. More importantly, he is a firm supporter of our family.

I am all but assured of a proconsular command of one of the armies being readied for the African campaign. My colleague, Scipio the elder, will have another. I foresee trouble with so many proconsuls in the field at once, but there is little help for it with a war this vast. Speaking of which, many here resent your using the title "proconsul." It is true that you have what amounts to a proconsular command, but since you have not held the requisite offices, there are those who whisper that you have dictatorial ambitions. When you return, I urge you to make a show of modesty and say that you assumed the title only to encourage the proper awe in foreigners.

Do not hurry at the behest of our rivals, but do not delay too long, either. Return covered with honors and take your place in the Senate. Long Live Rome and the family Norbanus.



Nothing much of interest there, he thought. Just what he already knew. Dictatorial ambitions, eh? He decided he liked the sound of that.

He went back to pondering what to do about this fleet that wanted to whisk him away to Italy before he completed his planned journey. As he thought, the first animals of the baggage train entered the town. It had grown so vast that it followed his legions at some distance. The bulk of it would have to encamp outside the small town. He would have to scour the countryside for more pack beasts and wagons to transport, his takings.