The Fight for Rome by James Duffy

Author:James Duffy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction/General
ISBN: 18133
Publisher: McBooks Press
Published: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

XV

June AD 69

A harsh sun glared on the bleached Egyptian sandstone of the forum at Nicopolis. Lucius used his hand to shade his eyes as he and Julia stood a few steps behind Tiberius Julius Alexander on the second-story balcony of the legions’ administrative offices. Below them, soldiers from the two legions of Egypt marched into the forum in precise formations. The small town, three miles east of Alexandria, housed the headquarters of the ten thousand men of the Third Cyrenaica and Twenty-second Deiotariana Roman legions, tasked with keeping the peace in North Africa.

“These soldiers are among the best in the Empire,” Alexander said over his shoulder to Lucius. “As prefect of Egypt, I am proud to lead them.”

“As well you should be,” Lucius said with enthusiasm. “They look ready to take on the world.”

He knew Vespasian would have enjoyed nothing more than to see this army assemble before him, ready to pledge their allegiance to him. But the savvy governor had realized it would not be prudent for him to be seen personally inciting the legions against Emperor Vitellius. So Vespasian, his son Titus, and his ally, Governor Gaius Mucianus of Syria, were already headed back to Caesarea on Julia’s merchant ship, the Juno. Their meeting with Julius Alexander had gone well. They had all agreed that the new emperor must go.

In the two months that had passed since he had wrenched control from Otho, Vitellius had earned a reputation that rivaled Nero’s in decadence and self-centered debauchery. He had horrified much of the Senate with ill-chosen appointments made hastily from his temporary headquarters in north Italy. And he had enraged the Praetorian Guard by replacing their ranks with his own soldiers from the Rhine legions. For the ex-Praetorians, that meant a cut in pay to half their usual salary and a loss of status that was incalculable. The unprecedented insult of forbidding them to bury their dead at Cremona added to the tension and resulted in cohorts ready to mutiny at the slightest instigation. In Judea, Vespasian stood ready to capitalize on these critical mistakes.

As the legions assembled before him, Lucius considered the risks he and the others had taken over the past weeks. At any other time in Roman history, their plans would have been viewed as treason of the highest order, and their lives would have been snuffed out faster than an oil lamp. But instead they stood with armies ready to march for them.

The senior tribune stepped forward and signaled that the men were in place and ready to be addressed. Alexander spoke in a loud voice that easily reached the legionaries in the rear ranks.

“I have a letter I would like you to hear. It is addressed to the men of the Third and Twenty-second legions in Egypt from Flavius Vespasianus, the governor of Judea. It reads as follows: ‘Fellow soldiers of Rome, by this letter and the voice of your prefect, I seek your support. For too long our Empire has suffered...’”

It took a while to read the entire text but not one legionary moved a muscle throughout the address.

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