Maxian stared at his brother for a moment, digesting this statement, then he laughed.

“After the party at Orelio’s? She was quite entertaining that night, true, but I did not sample her myself. The wine was of exceptional quality and I arrived tired, so a slave helped me to bed and to sleep. The Duchess and I have gone over that ground before-though I mean no disrespect to the Lady, she is really too old for my taste.”

“You slept?” Aurelian asked in disgust. “The reports in the Forum are far more entertaining than you, piglet. By the account of reliable, sober and upstanding Senators, you were engaged in an orgiastic celebration with no less than the Duchess, her ward, and a tangle of every other lad, lass, and goat in the villa. Why, old Stefronius assured me that the decadence of the notorious Anagathios was as nothing compared to your soldiering among the youth of the city…”

Aurelian was laughing so hard that he could not even dodge the heavy pillow that Maxian threw at him. Maxian sighed and leaned back on the couch.

“What is Galen arguing with Gregorius about?” he asked, hoping to divert the gossip-hungry Aurelian from the subject at hand.

“Oh, the levy, the supplies for the expedition to Constantinople, the weather, everything. They’ve been at it for three hours now. Neither is willing to budge a finger’s worth-and worse, each is absolutely sure that he is in the right.”

“Why not just issue the edicts and be done with it? The Emperor has proposed, the Senate has voted…”

Aurelian threw the pillow back, though Maxian neatly caught it with one hand and tucked it behind his head. His brother fluffed his beard with one hand, thinking a moment. Then:

“Galen, despite the good state of the fisc, does not want to bear the cost of the expedition solely from the coffers of the state. He summoned all those ‘well-respected’ men out there to extort from them the coin, the bread, the arms, the armor, and most important, the ships to carry his sixty thousand veterans to the East. Gregorious knows that, and knows that as he is the richest man in Rome, if he refuses to pay then Galen is in a tight spot. He wants an arrangement, but it is not one that Galen will give.”

Maxian looked perplexed, saying “Gregorious has always supported us, he was a friend of father’s, for Apollo’s sake. What would he want that Galen cannot give?”

“Not ‘cannot,’ piglet, but ‘will not.’ Gregorious wants to arrange grants of citizenship for some of his clients-the ones who have made him so rich. He also wants to ‘help’ out with the expedition by mustering his own Legions, six of them to be exact, from those same clients. He is even, in his graciousness, willing to arm, equip, and train the lot of them.”

Now Maxian was even more amazed than he had been earlier in the afternoon.

“Gregorious has enough money to field almost fifty thousand legionnaires?” He sputtered. “Where in Hades did he find that many able men in the Empire? Galen has had to hatch this dubious levy to get that many in arms!”

Aurelian nodded slowly then said, “Gregorious is not considering just men in the Empire.”

Maxian’s head snapped up, a look of suspicion on his face. “And where does he intend to get these men?”

Aurelian nodded to the north, past the pale-green reeds and marsh-doves painted on the walls. “From the tribes still beyond the border, those that have not settled in their own principates, towns, cities, and duchies. To join their fellows will live among us now.”

“The Goths? Maxian found himself on his feet, shout ing. Aurelian remained recumbent on the sofa, nodding. “And the Lombards, and Franks, and a bevy of other footless bands, all looking for a slice off of the big wheel of cheese. Gregorious argues, and here it is hard to fault him, that the Goths are staunch friends and allies of the state. They have fought at our side for almost a hundred years, but by the same treaties that bind them to us, and we to them, they are not Roman citizens. They hold lands in the name of the Emperor, but they are a subject state. Many of the Gothic Princes are welcomed at Gregorious’ house and they repay him, and his patronage in the city, with an easy way beyond the frontier. Gregorious Magnus did not become as rich as he is by ignoring opportunities, but I think, as does Galen, that he is beginning to run out of favors to pay them off with. Now they want to become citizens, and this is one way for them to get that.”

“They could serve, individually, in the Legions and gain the same status,” out Maxian pointed.

“Many do, but more want to serve together, which has been against the law for over eight hundred years. And if fifty thousand of them showed up at once, we wouldn’t be recruiting them, we’d be fighting them and Gregorious would be Emperor instead of our beloved brother. Gregorious thinks that together they are invincible in battle.”

Maxian sniffed at that, but Aurelian held up an admonishing finger. “Check the rolls of the Legion sometime, piglet. Almost half of our current soldiers are German or Gothic. They are fierce fighters and they can be very loyal.”

“The Legions have always been loyal to the state,” Maxian shot back.

“True. But Galen does not want to test that proverb. That is another reason why he wants to install the levy-to gain more legionnaires who are not German.”

Maxian’s retort was lost in the oak door opening and a slave entering with the wine. A pretty brunette in a short tunic, she placed the amphora on the marble ledge and took the wicker basket away. After she was gone, Maxian realized that his brother was laughing again.

“You need a wife, or better, a bevy of concubines, piglet. I’d swear that you didn’t hear a single word I.said while she was in this room.”

Maxian blushed and snarled something unintelligible at his brother. He got up and poured two goblets of wine, this a dusky red Neapolitan by the smell. He swirled the grape in the goblet and tasted it-excellent! He passed the other glass to Aurelian, who drank it straight off. Maxian sighed at the indifference of his brother to the subtlety of the vintage. The door opened again, and this time Galen entered, slamming the heavy panel behind him. The two younger brothers watched in silence as the Emperor paced icily from one end of the little room to the other. Finally, after almost ten minutes, he looked up and seemed surprised to find the two of them in the chamber with him.

“Oh. I wondered where the two of you had gotten to. My apologies. Is there any wine?”

Maxian poured another glass and handed it over to his brother. Galen’s high temper was visibly ebbing as he finally sat down and drank the wine in two short swallows. Maxian and Aurelian both continued to sit, their faces impassive as the Emperor sorted through his thoughts in the quiet.

Galen put the glass back on the ledge, turning to Aurelian. “Aurelian, as we had discussed before, the Senate is voting you to hold the office of Consul while I am gone. Nerva Licius Commodus, who is holding the other consular office, will be going with me, so we shall fill the other with Maxian here. I trust both of you, though not necessarily anyone else in the city, so be careful. The Senators are a little restless over this campaign in the East and will doubtless bend the ears of both of you while I am gone.”

Aurelian nodded in agreement, though his open face showed how pleased he was at the prospect.

Galen smiled, a little tight smile, and ran a hand through his short hair. “Maxian, you are the linchpin of this whole effort in the East. I had considered taking you with me- a campaign would be beneficial to your education-but someone has to maintain the telecast here so that I can be informed of any developments in the West. The device will be brought up from the Summer House within the next week, in secret, and installed in the library. Aurelian will handle the day-to-day business, but you need to keep an eye on the men who were in that room with me.”