Usurpers by Q V Hunter

Author:Q V Hunter [Hunter, Q V]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9782970088936
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Magnentius got hold of his temper and held back Marcellinus for a full two weeks. He clung to the possibility that the Senate would revoke their support for Nepotianus or that Constantius would signal disapproval of his cousin’s claim.

Meanwhile, troops were moving southward, abandoning garrisons and border patrols to the absolute minimum number of squadrons.

Then one morning Gaiso placed in Magnentius’ hand a freshly-minted coin. It had Nepotianus’ profile on one side and Constantius’ profile on the other with the words, ‘URBS ROMA.’ When he saw that, Magnentius tossed all hope out the window—along with the coin.

That same day Marcellinus galloped with four cohorts out of Mediolanum onto the Via Aurelia. I kept my promise to the Commander and rode out with him. We barreled past other travelers, sending them spilling off the road and into the dust. Our riders’ spare horses thundered behind us, swapped for panting, sweating mounts twice a day.

Marcellinus may have become a wealthy treasury secretary, but he had kept in good physical condition over the years. The ordinary rigor of military service returned to him quickly enough and as if to prove he had lost none of his physical power, he gave no quarter to the cavalrymen under his command.

He was also a driven man, desperate for this operation to make up for long years of counting expenses for Constans and mollifying Gallo-Roman businessmen with bribes and favors.

I rode one hour’s distance ahead of their procession, clearing off anyone using the road illegally and checking for obstructions. It was like my old days ranked among the equites, galloping along the soft verge of the paved road to save my horse’s hooves from wear. When I wasn’t regulating the road, I had a lot of time to think.

For one thing, I suspected cold politics, not any affection for Roma, fuelled the Magister Officiorum’s fury to save the city. Marcellinus hadn’t yet lost the crumbling abandoned capital from the Usurper’s control—at least not until this battle was decided—but he was furious that Magnentius had slipped out of his control.

Since those heady days in Augustodunum of planning the coup, matters had slipped gradually away from Marcellinus’ autonomy. Every day he had to defend his policies to real warriors—powerful and confident field veterans like Silvanus, Gaiso and Gregorius and the others—who filled out the consistorium.

It got worse for Marcellinus with each passing week. More legions marching down from the north meant the inclusion of yet more outspoken military leaders into the strategic circle. They offered their expertise and often dissension. Some even questioned why Marcellinus had any claim to the final word.

And yet Marcellinus had been the engineer of the whole rebellion. He had financed it, planned it, politicked for it for months and years behind Constans’ back. Marcellinus didn’t welcome these new senior soldiers for one reason—the former treasury chief didn’t like working with men he couldn’t buy.

I think he believed that the coming battle for Roma could swing his bid to regain the upper hand—even make him one of the next consuls.

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