“Yeah. I quit once, too. But there was just no going back.It was either reenlist or go crazy.”
“Then you understand,” Andell said. “War does funny thingsto some people. I don’t know, maybe it’s that after you’ve danced on the edgeof the sword blade, you can just never go back to ordinary life. Lot of peopledo. but me. he shook his head. “I never would’ve figured it. I thought I’dnever want to go back in the military again, but civilian life just drove mearound the bend. I started drinking. Got into drugs. Got busted a few times.”
“That’s why you couldn’t reenlist,” said Delaney.
“Yeah, they don’t take convicted felons in the service. So Iwound up going merc. Ran into a corporate recruiter in Miami. Next thing Iknew, I was on a shuttle to Tokyo. They processed me, put me through detox,then clocked me out to Spain with a merc: unit they were using and we joined upwith Hannibal there.”
“So you were in on the crossing of the Alps?” said Lucas.
“That’s right. Not exactly your average day hike. But I’lltell you something … you’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I loved everyminute of it.”
“How’d you wind up with the Observers?” Andre asked.
“I re-upped after I completed my hitch for Nippon and got assignedto the T.O. Corps.”
“But what about your record?” Andre said, puzzled.
“They didn’t know I had a record.”
“I don’t understand,” said Andre, frowning.
“The Nippon Conglomerate gave him a new identity.” Delaneyexplained. “Some countries do that for mercs. It’s sort of a recruitinginducement. Do a good job for them. complete your tour without getting yourselfkilled, and they’ll give you a brand-new identity, fully documented. You get tostart off with a clean slate.”
“So Andell’s not your real name?” asked Andre.
It is now.”
“Aren’t you taking a chance on telling us all this?” sheasked.
“No, not really. Even if you turned me in, which I don’tthink you would, HQ wouldn’t really care. They’re kind of pressed for manpowerthese days. As long as my official record’s clean, they’re not going to careabout who or what I was before.”
“But they’re not going to promote you. either,” saidDelaney.
“No, that’s for sure. I’ll never make it past sergeant. Butthat’s okay. I never much liked officers, anyway.” He grinned. No offense.”
“None taken,” said Delaney. “I know exactly how you feel.”
“You’re talking to the man who actually holds the record forthe most reductions in grade in the entire Temporal Corps,” said Lucas,smiling.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“And you still made captain?” Andell shook his head. “Youmust be a real hotshot. Sir,”
“I just don’t understand it,” said Delaney. “I keep takingthe damn bars off and they keep slapping them back on
Andell grinned. They were entering the outskirts of thecity. “So, you want the orientation lecture or you just going to let theprogramming kick in?”
“No, go ahead” said Lucas. “We can always use the perspectiveof someone who’s been in the field for a while.”
“Well, like I said, the city looks better from a distance.Once you actually get in the city itself, as you’ll notice in
At this point, we’re actually entering the city,” hecontinued. “Passing through the gates of Rome has become sort of a misnomer.Rome has outgrown its walls and gates. The streets and houses are spread outwell beyond them
The citizens of the republic are so secure these days thatthey feel they have no need of protective walls. Except around the betterhouses in the city, to keep the riffraff out.”
“What road is this we’re on?” asked Lucas.
“The Via Flaminia,” said Andell. “You’ll notice that it’spaved, but it’s got two dirt roads running along on either side, like shoulders.The Roman method of building roads is to first excavate a ditch with slopingwalls, then fill it with layers of gravel, stone, and mortar. After the ditchis built up in this fashion, the top layer of stones is laid and the road iscrowned slightly so water runs off to the sides. The dirt roads running alongeither side are for the unimportant traffic, your farm carts, peasants, andslaves. The legions have the right of way over everybody else.
“The outlying areas of the city we just passed through areprimarily farms, olive orchards and vineyards, with several roadside inns alongthe way. Right now, we’re in the suburbs, which will get denser as we comecloser to the old city walls built in the 4th century B.C.
“Here comes your basic geography lesson. Rome itself isbuilt on seven hills: the Capitoline. the Palatine, the Caelian, the Esquiline.the Viminal, and the Quirinal. which ring a small valley that was probably oncea swamp. The seventh hill, the Aventine, is slightly to our south. The RiverTiber flows along the western borders of the city and beyond its opposite bankis a range of hills called the Janiculum.
“As for culture, the wars with Greece and the conquest ofSicily in the First Punic War brought Romans into contact with Greekarchitecture, which they’ve been copying ever since. The first statues in Romewere of Greek origin, brought to the city as spoils of war. Around the middleof the 2nd century B.C., the discovery of a new type of limestone calledtravertine allowed them to build larger and more solid buildings, as well astheir famous arches.”
He turned back toward Lucas. “You probably won’t recognizethe city from when you were here before. There’s been lots more constructionand they’re always building or repairing something. They use a type oflime- mortar that sets up so hard, it can easily be mistaken for modernconcrete. Over there is the first aqueduct to bring water to the city, theMarcian, constructed in 144 B.C’. And the first stone bridge across the Tiberwas built about two years later.”
“How do they build the arches?” Andre asked, consulting herprogrammed “submemory” and not coming up with an answer. ‘file missionprogramming was never totally complete. There were inevitable gaps.
“They’re constructed on wooden scaffolding frames that functionas forms on which the stones are laid and mortared,” Andell explained. “Thenwhen the mortar has set, the forms and scaffolding are taken down. Simple, buteffective. The roads and paths in the city itself were originally gravel, butthey’ve been relaid with stone and volcanic lava from the Alban Hills. The so-called‘Golden Age’ of Rome won’t really begin until the time of the Nerva and Trajan.around 96 A.D., when there’s going to be a tremendous boom in some reallyimpressive construction. However. Caesar’s already started a lot of new projects.some of which won’t be completed until the time of Augustus. He’s bought up allthe land on the north side of the Forum, which we’ll be passing shortly, andpulled down all the houses to start construction of a new square and market,which will be called the Forum Augusti when it’s completed. To the southwest,you’ll probably be able to smell it in a few minutes, is the forum boarium, thecattle market. Right next to it is the forum holitorium, the main market foroil, fruit, and vegetables. So you can get your produce in an atmospherescented with manure.”
“Is that the Forum?” asked Delaney, pointing.
“That’s it,” Andell said. “The Forum Romano, the most famouscity square in all of history. That black stone building over there is the tombof Romulus. And there’s the Sanctuary of Venus the Purifier. Across from theBasilica over there is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the twin gods. And overthere, the Temple of Saturn. You can’t see it from here, but right next to itis the Golden Milestone, from which all miles on roads leading to Rome are measured.And there’s the Rostra, where they conduct trials and, on occasion, the Senatemeets there, as well, when it’s warm enough. Otherwise, until they build thepermanent Senate House, the Curia Julia, they usually meet in the Temple ofJupiter, which is just to the east of here. On a nice day. you can stand in theForum and hear someone like Cicero speak. lithe wind is right, you can alsosmell the fish market. So much for historical glamour.”
They passed the Forum and entered a residential area.
