Chapter 9: Adding in the Greeks

Athenae, Eastern Roman Empire 481

A lone scholarly looking man quietly walked along the stone streets leading up to the Parthenon that was still the greatest landmark in Athenae. He felt slightly nervous, as he was not headed there to pray in the former pagan temple, now Christian church, but to meet with various men who were rather important in the local government. They were waiting for him outside the entrance and all of them looked very serious, and that made the man nervous, especially as one of them was Greece's governor for the Eastern Roman Empire.

"Hello, Alexander," the Governor spoke in a serious voice, "I'm glad you came, and the same goes on to the rest of you."

"What is going on Governor?" one of the other men, a provincial bureaucrat, asked, "Does this have something to do with the rider that came in yesterday from Constantinople?"

The Governor nodded and then began to slowly answer.

"Emperor Zeno has sold Greece and three other provinces to the new Western Emperor, a man named Narius," the Governor spoke, "the rider had come to inform me of the news."

"Sold to the West?" another of the men exclaimed, "they're a mess. I hear that Narius is still fighting Odoacer."

"The rider informed me that Narius has defeated Odoacer," the Governor answered, "but he also said that Zeno does not know how Narius will be administering Greece, so it is Zeno's wish that all representatives of the Eastern Roman Empire relocate to territories that were not sold to the west, which apparently includes Crete and all the islands in the Mare Aegeum."

"At least that puts us in a strategic advantage having the Westerners outflanked," the first bureaucrat spoke, "they wouldn't dare attack us."

"Narius may not want to," Alexander spoke up, "If that was so, he would have attacked us. If he's bought the territory, the logical assumption would be that he does not wish to be in conflict with the Eastern Roman Empire."

"A smart decision on his part," the Governor spoke, "if that is his decision. Our lack of knowledge is why we are being asked to relocate to the East. Our flags will be taken down in a few days, and Western representatives are expected within a few months. Can I ask how many of you will be agreeing to this?"

Each of the bureaucrats raised a hand in agreement and nodded. When it came to Alexander, however, there was a great deal of silence.

"My lord, I'm afraid I can not leave," Alexander answered, "Unlike the others, my position is very minor. I only advise you on the opinions of the Greeks in general and Athens specifically. And if they go against the will of the Emperor, my job is generally halted until things have returned to a position that favors the Emperor's. I'm afraid that if the East is leaving Athens, my job is done."

"But those Western barbarians!" a different bureaucrat protested.

"They won't do much," Alexander answered, "If anything they need Greece's help and perhaps I will get the chance to civilize them."

"Hopefully," the second bureaucrat responded, "but I think it's impossible. All the real Roman noble families came East where there is a greater amount of wealth. All this Narius probably is, is another soldier Emperor who knows nothing about the running of a government bureaucracy."

Rome, Western Roman Empire

"I still do not like this," Urses commented, "You're taking away my legion."

Narius sighed as the two men made their way through the old Roman Forum, which had lost much of the grandeur of the height of the Roman Empire. It could be restored with the proper engineering skill, but until the Greek provinces were formally annexed to Rome's control, there was little that could be done. That wasn't why the two men were in the forum, however.

"I know you do not want to lose your legion, but Rome will need a standing regular army of ten legions to defend its territory," Narius answered, "the provinces will need at least three legions of militia, each. Now, while I will leave the training of militia units up to the provinces, Rome's legions must be of the highest quality, and I can not supervise the training of eight new legions and run the rest of the Empire, even with Janus's help."

"It still feels like I'm being demoted," Urses answered, "I thought I've served you well."

"You have," Narius answered, "That is why I want you to be the one supervising the training and raising of the new legions, both the rank and file and the officer corps commanding them. It will take a lot of work, which I can not do while running the Empire."

Urses glanced at him with a troubled face.

"It will be difficult for one man to do, regardless of his responsibilities," Urses pointed out.

"I can not gut my two existing legions to provide a base to raise the others," Narius sighed, "It would leave Rome completely defenseless and vulnerable while the new legions are being raised and trained. Hopefully in time a school can be established to train new officers, and with time, new centurions will be able to train the rank and file effectively. But for now, we must deal with the problems we have and work to fix them one at a time. We will simply have to endure for the time being."

Urses sighed. Rebuilding Rome's military was an important part of the policies Narius had been running. Things between Narius and the Senate had remained fairly calm, although, it was mostly still a trial and error experiment on what Narius would tolerate and what the Senators could get away with. Narius's greatest focus was for the moment on at least the beginnings of the work needed to rebuild the Western Roman Imperial Army.

Urses himself would have preferred not to place so much work on one man, but he did agree that things needed to be done, and it was likely that there weren't any other men that Narius trusted to handle the job.

"I hope you will allow me to hire people to help with the training?" Urses asked.

"You can borrow the centurions from your 'old' legion as they will be remaining in Rome for the time being until enough suitable centurions can be trained to train the new legions."

"Leaving Flavius Sextus as your lone field commander?" Urses asked.

"It is the best we can do for now," Narius sighed, "In a year, hopefully we will have raised at least two legions and have the men necessary to insure that a successful system of training new 'recruits' is in place."

The two men continued on until they came to one the monuments in the forum that had been built to celebrate a bygone era, specifically the victory column built to honor Trajan's victory over the Dacians. Urses looked at the monument with some reverence for the history, although he thought Rome's current foreign enemies were more dangerous then the Dacians were.

"Part of your task in raising Rome's new army will also be getting metal smiths to begin making the segmented armor worn by Roman soldiers during the first and second centuries," Narius spoke, "they will provide our troops with better protection then standard chain mail for the infantry."

Urses looked on in surprise. He had heard and read about the segmented armor design, but no one had been making the armor in years. He didn't know if it would even be possible to make them again.

"You're certain you want to use this stile of armor, sire?" Urses asked, "the metal smiths will have to experiment and rediscover how the segmented armor was made."

"I expect this to take many years," Narius dismissed the argument, "once done, Rome's soldiers will be better protected and can fight more confidently against foes who have proven to be physically stronger with more charismatic leaders then Rome has seen in years."

"If so, it would be best to retain chain mail until enough segmented armor shirts can be made," Urses advised, "I doubt your victory over Odoacer will keep our enemies quiet for long."

Narius paused and then nodded, "We'll probably have to retain it for the cavalry, archers, and artillerymen as well. The segmented armor is to save our infantry forces."

"I'll look around," Urses answered, "see if I can get someone to draw what the armor looks like from the outside. The metal smiths will want an image of the segmented armor as a reference. The army hasn't used them in years."

Narius nodded, "Take the time to do the job right. We will be working for a very long time just to get our feet back under us. The last thing we need is to make a mistake."

The two then parted ways, as Narius began to head to the building in which the Senate was meeting and Urses headed back toward the old Praetorian Camp where his old legion was presently camped. He felt grateful that his old legion would be remaining in Rome, but he was still fearful that program was rushing to much to try and get back to the height of Rome's power. Narius was a bold man and if it weren't for the fact that he worked hard to insure success, Urses would have thought that Narius's boldness would be a potential risk. Thankfully, for the time being, Narius's gambles had paid off. The Ostrogoths had honored their agreement with the Eastern Empire. Odoacer had over estimated the abilities of his forces, and the Vandals, Burugundians and Alemanni were to distracted to do anything. Urses could only hope things would remain that way.

Narius arrived to find the Senate as he left it earlier in the day. Arguing over how to run the national elections for the future Senate seats. Narius sensed it was because many of the people came from a single area and did not want to compete for the single seat. It frustrated him that people would argue over such things, especially since those who didn't win a seat in the new Senate would be kept in government employ, but he was not about to try and think out why they did these things. He needed to insure that things kept moving and that there was no dangerous stalling of government action.

"Surely the arguments over who will run for the new Senate should be finished by now," Narius spoke loudly bringing the entire debate to screeching halt.

They responded with a series of salutes, which demonstrated loyalty, but Narius could not allow the petty squabbling to continue.

"Why are these petty squabbles perpetuating?" Narius demanded in a firm voice.

"It is not about us," a younger Senator spoke up, "we have agreed that the younger of the Senators living in provinces up for election will run against possible opponents."

"Then what is this argument about?" Narius demanded, "What else is so important that measures needed to restore Rome are ignored?"

"It is the fact that many of the barbarians you just defeated have been buying Roman citizenship, and have declared they want to run for office," an older Senator spoke, "they will destroy us!"

That was something that did concern Narius. Many of the richer Germanic tribesmen in the north that had pledged their loyalty to Rome had been sending money to pay for Roman citizenship, and a few had also added a note saying they wanted to run for the Senate. Narius did understand the possible danger that some of them might have ambitions similar to Odoacer's but different methods of accomplishing them.

"The West is changing," Narius answered, "While many of the Roman nobles were glad to see Romans advancing, they did not appear to be wiling to do anything more then huddle in the palaces and villas and enjoy their own riches. I can not tolerate laziness, and if Germans want to run for the Senate after they have legally attained citizenship, legally there is nothing that can be done to stop them."

"But they aren't Romans!" an elderly Senator protested, "and most of them probably only swore loyalty because Odoacer was beaten and didn't wish to be killed or lose all of their money."

"That is true," Narius answered, "but perhaps after they see Odoacer's head paraded through their towns as a warning to any who do not wish to retain their loyalty that if they dare betray Rome, they will lose their head."

"We shouldn't even give them the option," the Senator answered.

"We do not have much choice if there aren't enough Romans running," Narius answered, "We can not have the seats left empty."

"I think there are Romans running," a young Senator answered, "but most of them seemed to be more concerned with establishing the provincial governments, which seems to be going even slower then the work we've been trying to do."

That made Narius sigh heavily. Forming provincial governments were proving extremely hard. Mostly because of disagreements between Narius and the Senate over how much power the provinces would be allowed to have. The Senate wanted as much authority in Rome as possible. And they routinely battled for that.

Narius on the other hand feared that would only make Rome's position even more perilous. It would make Rome responsible for every problem in the Empire, all the way down to the smallest level. Narius felt the individual provinces would need some power to do things on the local level to relieve some of the strain that he currently saw on Rome itself.

The Senate had accepted some division of power, but defining what the provinces could do was still fairly difficult, especially with the provinces north of Rome that were very much in need of a complete rebuilding program and sending word out to those areas was taking time, and was partially why Flavius Sextus's legion had been sent out of Rome, and they were now in Ravenna to provide some semblance of Roman control in the northern provinces until everything in Rome could be sorted out.

"I trust we can at least come up with a straight plan to establish the layout the provincial governments?" Narius asked.

"Yes," another Senator spoke up, "Your appointed governor and a provincial Senate, that has not been the issue. The argument has been what their duties are."

"The provinces will need some local control," Narius spoke, "We can not do everything for them."

"But how much?" the first Senator answered, "we give them too much power and they will try to usurp Rome's power."

"And if we withhold too much, we will end up having to take care of every small problem they have," Narius answered, "If farmers aren't producing enough grain around Mediolanum, we will be responsible for bailing them out, and Rome is not wealthy enough to afford that, and with our current threats, we could not afford that even if we have the money."

Many nodded with that.

"The people in Sicilia will not pay for a crop failure in northern Italia," one Senator sighed, "but what is the proper level at which power is divided, Caesar. As you have said, there is much work to be done and that we are only in a period of transition."

"I was trying to be respectful to the Senate," Narius answered, "to some extent, Rome's power will be divided between me and the Senate. As part of Rome's government, I would think that you could come up with some suggestions as to what should be done."

That was followed by an awkward and nervous silence. After a few moments, the Senate's Consul stood up and respectfully bowed.

"I am afraid you will have to give us more time to discuss how much power the provinces should be allowed," the Consul spoke, "We will send word to your representative, Janus, when we feel we have come to decision that is worthy of your time."

Narius sighed again, and heavily.

"Decide quickly," Narius spoke firmly, "For we have much to do, and there is little time to do it in."

Constantinople, Eastern Roman Empire

Zeno slowly made his way down to Constantinople's harbor with one of his career diplomats, a man named Hypirus, carrying a single scroll bearing the Eastern Roman Empire's seal.

"Now, you understand your mission?" Zeno asked carefully.

"Yes," Hypirus answered, "I am to inform the Western Emperor that you agree to the sale of the Greek provinces and that you wish to have the meeting to formally hand over the territories at the city of Thessalonica."

"Very good," Zeno nodded, "also remember that it is in our best interests to retain friendly relations with the West. They are weak, but they are still Roman, and we will need them to hold off the Germans in the western part of Europe so we can deal with the Persians and threats in the east."

"Of course," Hypirus answered and boarded the ship, whose crew and captain were waiting and at attention.

"We are ready to sail, sir," the ship's captain reported.

"Very good," Hypirus answered, "then let us depart. Set sail for Ostia."

Rome, Western Roman Empire

The work to restore the Western Roman Empire continued at its slow, and at times frustrating pace. The Senate was still working out their ideas for how much power the provinces would be allowed to have, and from what Narius had heard from Janus, they were willing to allow the provinces the right to maintain a small militia force to defend their territories from outside attack. They were however firm that these militia units were also to remain under the command of the regular army and at their disposal should extra troops be needed for a campaign. Narius readily agreed to that, as he intended to use provincial militia forces the way earlier Roman Emperors had drafted auxiliary troops to bolster the Legions.

There was also a firm agreement that the province's powers were to be subordinate to Rome's, which Narius also agreed to. Rome was the capital of the Empire, and he needed the people to treat Rome as such. From what Narius had heard from Janus, this mostly meant that the provinces powers mirrored many of the powers Narius had earlier reserved for the Imperial government in Rome, but to a lesser extent and always subordinate to Rome. Narius could tolerate that, although preferred to leave the power to tax solely on the Imperial government and allow a yearly budget to be allotted to the provinces, but so far, they had not gotten far enough that a final proposal could be made.

Narius was busy looking over reports he had received from Urses, who had left on a recruiting drive through the southern provinces with a unit of his old legion's cavalry. It appeared that he was being well received, and Narius hoped that Urses would have enough men to fill out at least one full legion when he returned to Rome. As he looked over the report he heard a slight tapping sound on the outside of the tent he was in.

"Enter," Narius spoke firmly, expecting it to be either Janus or one of the soldiers in camp.

It turned out to be an elderly man in white robes, attended by two monks.

"Your Holiness," Narius spoke in a respectful manner and stood up, "What brings you to my camp?"

"Grave concerns, my son, grave concerns," Pope Simplicius answered back in a manner that was firm, despite his age.

Narius sat back down while Simplicius and his attendants moved deeper into the tent to speak with him.

"I would like to first thank you for siding with the Church against the Aryan heresy," Simplicius spoke, "for the Church has long proven that our lord is the son of God."

Narius nodded. He followed the Church firmly and he intended to use it to reinforce his own power.

"I am, however, concerned about the actions you are taking here," Simplicius continued, "bringing the Imperial Government here to Rome, and especially the level of activity I have seen coming out of your Senate."

"They are measures to secure the future of the Roman state, your Holiness," Narius replied, "without them, Rome will fall and you could find yourself at the mercy of the Aryans, and from what I have heard from rumors, followers of the Church have not faired well in lands that the Aryans control, especially in Africa."

"And the Church is grateful for your protecting it from these heretics," Simplicius replied, "but I am the Bishop of Rome and Rome is my responsibility. You are infringing on things that belong to the Church."

"This is the Roman Empire," Narius answered, "The Capital of the Empire should be Rome. It will insure that Rome is defended as best as can be done. Your authority, Bishop, is to insure the spiritual well-being of the Roman people and insure that they move from the city of man to the city of God properly."

"And when you fail?" Simplicius asked, "and your enemies come attacking Rome and the Church?"

"The Vandals have already attacked Rome and if it weren't for my being here, it would have fallen and you'd be in worse shape," Narius answered, "You authority extends only to the spiritual well being of the Roman people. Nothing more."

"I'll have you excommunicated!" Simplicius shouted hoping to use his best weapon to bring Narius under Papal control.

"And I can have you executed," Narius growled back, losing some patience, "I am defending you against the forces of heresy and you have the nerve to command me?"

"I am God's chosen leader on Earth," Simplicius answered, "the ideological descendent of Saint Peter, and all I ask is that Rome remain in the hands of the Church, as it's always been."

"And in the spiritual realm, all of the Empire is yours," Narius answered, "but I will not tolerate the Church entering into politics. Not under the assumption that the Church has the right to act as a government."

"I am God's chosen leader," Simplicius answered, "I answer directly to a higher authority then you do. It is by my rights and powers as the Bishop of Rome to control and secure order in Rome."

"You are God's chosen spiritual leader," Narius answered, "I have not read anything that would indicate that Christ gave Saint Pete political as well as religious authority. Your authority is to see to the spiritual well being of the Roman people, not to use God as a tool to control others. That does not sound Christian to me."

"I do not seek to control anyone," Simplicius answered back, sounding offended.

"You threatened to throw me out of the Church if I didn't give you political authority over the city," Narius answered, "That is a clear sign that you seek to control me. If you wish to play those games, play them in the lands controlled by the barbarians, but not within the Empire."

Simplicius was quiet. He was old and did not want to start a fight with a presently popular Emperor. He had tried his best threat, which had been used in the past to keep earlier Emperors who had moved to Mediolanum and Ravenna from interfering with Church affairs in Rome, and Narius had answered with the threat of execution, which frightened him. That action had been no different from the actions of the barbarians that Narius claimed to fight, but Narius's popularity was presently high enough that Simplicius feared that if he stood by his threat, the church would face greater problems.

"Perhaps we can forge a compromise, Caesar," Simplicius spoke somewhat respectfully, "as a 'spiritual' leader to Earthly leader."

"We can," Narius nodded, "and it would be in Rome's best interest that Rome and the Church work together, so long as neither controls the other."

"I'm listening," Simplicius answered.

"We can work together," Narius spoke, "I will run the Empire's political matters and see to the defense of the Church and the defense of Rome. The Church will not be taxed and you, the Bishop of Rome will have the right to deal with matters directly pertaining to Heaven and the afterlife."

"What in the matter of heresy or other crimes against the Church?" Simplicius questioned.

"The Church will have the right to take their accusations before a Roman court of law," Narius answered, "If guilt can be proven, they will be punished accordingly. If they are foreigners to the Empire, they will be enslaved or executed, depending on the economic circumstances."

"Heresy can not be proven in a court of law," Simplicius answered.

"The Courts will not define heresy," Narius answered, "that is your job. The Courts will simple determine if heresy has been committed."

That made Simplicius stop and think for a moment. If he agreed, he would have to give up all of the exclusive political powers that the Papacy had begun to exercise since the Roman capital had moved to Mediolanum and then Ravenna, but Narius did grant him exclusive powers over religion and the right define what wasn't or what was heresy, without question. Now, it was unlikely that the Church would be able to use that power to directly challenge the Roman government, he did sense that he could use it to insure that the people remained under Papal control, which would limit what would be viewed as acceptable actions for Narius's new government.

At the same time, there was the fact that Narius said he wanted to work with the Church. Simplicius took that to mean that there might be some way that the Church could exercise some influence on the Western Emperor.

"I believe I can accept your terms," Simplicius spoke diplomatically, "My primary concern is that you were moving to rob the Church of its powers. The fact that we will not be taxed and that you have promised not to legislate on spiritual matters is enough to convince me that you are not an enemy of the Church."

"I never intended to be," Narius responded, "but I must save Rome from destruction, and to do that, I must keep Rome's government strong and free from internal fighting."

"Remember, Caesar, that this life is not as important as the life to come," Simplicius warned, "Your empire is nothing next to our Lord and Savior."

"And you will be nothing if Aryan forces, like Odoacer conquer Rome," Narius answered, "I am a faithful member of the church and will treat it with respect. The Aryan heretics will not. Remember the horror stories that have come out of the Kingdom of Vandals in Africa. What has happened to the churchmen there."

Simplicius nodded, he had heard stories from people who managed to escape the Vandals before they took Carthage and claimed North Africa as their kingdom. What they had done there was unforgivable in nearly every respect.

"The Church and Rome will work together," Simplicius answered, "If only to insure the survival of the Faith."

Narius then moved forward and clasped the elderly Pope by his forearm and spoke confidently, "For the preservation of civilization against barbarism."

Ostia, Western Roman Empire

Hypirus stood near the bow of his ship as it slowly came into the harbor at Ostia. He noted that there were very few guards present to observe his ship entering the harbor. He was sure that those who did see it would recognize that he was a representative of the Eastern Roman Empire, but there simply weren't enough people present to stop him if he had come with troops to invade. But he didn't want think about that. It had been a long and slow voyage from Constantinople and he didn't want to burden himself with analyzing the West's military capabilities.

His ship slowly moved until it found an open birth on the dock, not to far away from a row of ships with what Hypirus believed could only be the Western Empire's insignia on its sails.

"We're docking now, sir," the ship's Captain spoke to him.

"Very good," Hypirus answered, "I'll be on my way."

"Shall I have some of my men provide you with an escort?" the ship's Captain asked.

"No, that shouldn't be necessary," Hypirus answered, "I'm sure I am to be expected. We did sail fairly close to the coast on our way here. Surely someone from the West has reported to Narius that I am coming."

Hypirus slowly made his way onto the dock, but saw no one coming to meet him in any direction. He eventually stopped an old man hauling a net towards a smaller boat nearby.

"Excuse me, sir," Hypirus spoke, "I am Hypirus, representative of the Eastern Emperor Zeno. I am here on business to be discussed with the Western Emperor Narius. Can you direct me to anyone who can take me to him?"

"Hmm?" the man answered, "I'm busy, got to get out before the best catch is lost. I don't know the Emperor."

That made Hypirus sigh heavily as the man then continued on his way to his boat. He began to walk toward the city of Ostia, itself, when he noticed a man standing near the row of larger ships with a spear. Hypirus immediately assumed that this man was a sailor in the Western navy and that he could help him.

"Sir, if I may have a moment of your time!" Hypirus called out to the man.

The man turned to look at him, and then noticed the banner on the Eastern Roman ship that he had departed from. He then leveled his spear at him.

"Return to your ship, invader!" the man ordered.

"No, you don't understand, sir," Hypirus answered, "I have been sent to speak with your Emperor, Narius."

"By who?" the man questioned, sounding very suspicious.

"By the Eastern Emperor, Zeno," Hypirus answered nervously, "It concerns the provinces Narius wishes to buy from the Eastern Empire."

The man then raised his spear and stood at attention.

"Narius is in Rome," the man answered, "I will take you the city mayor's office, and he will escort you to the Emperor."

"Of course, sir," Hypirus answered him, thankful that he did not get killed as a result of this interaction.

The trip to Rome was a quiet one. Ostia's mayor seemed suspicious of Hypirus, just as the seaman had, but thankfully for the Eastern Roman diplomat, he did not appear as aggressive. As they approached Rome, they noted it was far more heavily guarded then Ostia appeared to be. As they got closer to the walls, Hypirus noted several heavily armed men patrolling the city's walls.