"Can't see a thing. Just a little dot of light that comes and goes away."
"It takes a bit of practice," Zeno told him. "Keep trying and you will get that little dot of light under control. It will open up and then you need merely adjust the length as I demonstrated."
Norbanus played with the thing and was about to give it up when suddenly the light filled the vision of his right eye. Slowly, he worked the tube in and out and, abruptly, the gate of Massilia leapt into stark clarity, seeming a hundred paces closer. He gasped. "It's magic!"
His other officers clamored to try it next and he handed it to Niger. "So they've come up with something useful at last. Please convey the princess my thanks, when you return."
"I shall certainly do so," Zeno said. "And allow me to say that your great feat in marching your army from Egypt all the way back to Italy, and now to Gaul, is the talk of Alexandria: of the whole world, if truth be known."
"So I am told," Norbanus said, nodding. "But I have far more to accomplish before I take my place in the Senate."
"And that is another thing much spoken of," Izates said. "It seems that most Romans receive such great trust only after a lengthy tenure in the Senate."
"Our general is not like most Romans," Cato said. "And times are not what they were. Rome must adapt to a new world."
Food was brought in and the wine flowed. The Romans asked for information and gossip from Sicily and Italy, and the two Greeks obliged. There was little discussion of military matters, certainly not of any future prospects for Massilia. Zeno assumed that they guarded their words in the presence of men who could relay them to rivals and enemies.
"I understand, General," said Izates, "that you have astrologers among your retinue."
"I have," Norbanus said, frowning slightly.
"If you will grant me a favor, I would like to consult with them." At Norbanus's deepening frown, he added: "I understand that they are women of your household, and I would never suggest anything improper. It is just that, in the course of my studies, I spoke with a number of astrologers in Alexandria, most of them claiming to be Chaldeans of some sort, and I found almost every one of them to be utterly fraudulent. Yet it seems that these Judean princesses of yours—they are true princesses, I understand?—give you the most reliable advice. I would very much like to speak with practitioners of the true art."
Norbanus nodded. "I think it can be arranged," he said, thinking: Those two bitches do pretty much as they please anyway, so why not?
"I am most grateful," Izates said.
After dinner the Greeks took their leave and Norbanus put an officers tent at their disposal for the length of their stay. When they were gone, he picked up the message from Marcus Scipio and read it. Once he had its gist, he read it aloud to his officers.
"Just like him," Niger grumbled. "He doesn't command a single legionary, but he wants to keep tabs on us."
"Still," said Cato, "the idea makes sense. Militarily, I mean. Close communication between the armies and navies can be important in a war as big as this one, and it looks like these new boats will do the job better than the older type. Not," he added hastily, "that I'd ever trust a traitor like Marcus Scipio."
Norbanus nodded. "My own thoughts. Well, there's an answer to this: I want my shipmasters and shipwrights to study that little vessel while it's here, learn how to sail it, then build me a flotilla of them. That way I can keep in control of my own flow of information, without everything going through Alexandria and Scipio's hands."
Everyone agreed that this was a brilliant idea.
Outside, the Greeks strolled through the legionary camp, admiring the superb discipline of the soldiers. Norbanus's veterans were easily distinguishable from the men of the new legions recently added to his army. The former were more weather-beaten, and their motley equipment gave them a raffish distinction. The newer legions were made up of mostly younger men, and their arms and clothing were turned out by the new fabricae to standardized patterns. It gave them a uniformity of appearance that was odd to the eyes of men accustomed to armies made up of soldiers who were expected to supply their own panoply, usually whatever they had at home or could afford to purchase.
"They're a fierce-looking lot," Izates said, nodding toward a unit of the veterans. A centurion had found some fault with a legionary and was beating him mercilessly with the vitis: a stick carried by all centurions for just this purpose. The man being beaten did not betray pain or distress by the slightest change of expression. His comrades, clearly the recipients of many such beatings, looked on with amusement.