“Centurion.” Demeter’s call broke upthe moment, and we turned towards him as he approached. Whether heheard our exchange, or just saw the opportunity for his own momentof humor, he asked me with a grin, “Would you like my men to takeyour two chests below as well? Or do you want to continuedemonstrating your great strength and little sense to do ityourself?”
The renewal of my companions’ mirth drownedout my normal retort that he could go piss on his boots, but myhead was nodding as I said it. Demeter called to the handful ofcrewmen who were still on the main deck, the master watching untilfour men came and picked up the chests. Then, he turned back to usand said, “We are preparing to get underway, so I request that yougo below to your cabin so that you will not impede my crew.”
“We’re leaving immediately?” Septimusasked, clearly unhappy, but he was not alone, and I learned whywhen Bronwen said, “But I thought we could see the city before weleave!”
“So did I,” Alex spoke up, and when Iglanced at him inquiringly, he shrugged and admitted, “I’ve read somuch about the city, I just wanted to see some of it.”
“We did pay off the men who saw us,”Septimus said hopefully, but Demeter was unmoved, and I could notargue with his logic when he replied, “And how long do you thinkthey will remain silent? Or, how do you know they will atall?”
When Septimus explained their reasoning tothe Rhodian, I could see Demeter’s lips twitch in a smile, but hemerely repeated himself. I was not happy, but not surprised whenthe other four of our party turned to me with more or less the samebeseeching expression. In response, I faced Demeter, offering him ahelpless shrug.
“Can you give them at least a watch ofdaylight, Demeter?” I deliberately phrased it as a question,although I was prepared to insist.
He seemed surprised, but not for thereason I thought, asking, “Do you not want to go with them,Centurion?” Are you mad? I thought. You seriously think that all ofus are getting off this fucking ship just to watch you and yourcrew sail off with six hundred thousandsesterces? I uttered none of this, but I did not haveto because, suddenly, Demeter’s expression changed as he saidsoftly, “Ah, yes. I understand.” I braced myself for him to atleast appear to be insulted, but I was completely unprepared when,instead, he agreed, “I can see why you hesitate, so may I offer analternative?” Of course, I nodded. “I have not actually seen muchof Alexandria myself, at least, not in some time. Would you mind ifI accompanied you and your party, Centurion?” Now, he did grin. “Ican assure you that my crew will not leave us behind if I am withyou, not even for that much money.”
I was prepared to endure our brieftime in Alexandria more than enjoy it, simply because I was sotired, and my arms, while they felt better, had begun to ache;indeed, they would be sore for the next week to the point I did notwork on my forms. However, it proved to be extremely memorable, andenjoyable, partially because of Bronwen and the sheer delight shetook in everything around us, but it was more than that. I hadalready partially experienced it, and I knew that Alex, Septimus,and to a lesser extent, Gaius appreciated our presence in this citybecause of what it meant to our family’s history. But, walkingtowards the Royal Theater, which is one of the largest structures Ihave ever seen, and was simply overwhelming to a girl fromBritannia, Septimus, Alex, and I alternated between competing witheach other and complementing the others as we recounted the talesof Caesar and his two Cohorts from the6th Legion who had beencaptured at Pharsalus by Antonius and given the choice betweenaccompanying Caesar in his pursuit of Pompeius or being cut down.As Bronwen and Demeter listened with obvious interest, we describedhow Caesar had placed the huge Secundus Pilus Prior of his10th Legion as thede facto Primus Pilus, because of adramatic display of loyalty that the Prefect showed when hisboyhood friend, close comrade, and Optio Vibius Domitius, joinedwith the other mutineers of the 10thLegion, and my great-grandfather refused to join withthem.
I was not surprised when Demeter asked, “Andwhat happened to your great-grandfather and his friend? Did theyever reconcile?”
“No, not really,” I admitted. “Theyserved together when my great-grandfather returned from Alexandriawith Caesar, and Caesar made him the Primus Pilus of the10th, but Domitius stillserved as Optio of the First Century, Second Cohort for the rest ofhis enlistment.”
The truth, of course, is morecomplicated than that; what I did not mention was that mygreat-grandfather and Vibius Domitius were fated to meet onceagain, on the plains of Philippi during the climactic final battlebetween Augustus and Antonius, who were allies then, and two ofDivus Julius’ assassins, Brutus and Cassius. It was a briefencounter, but my great-grandfather allowed Vibius, who was aCenturion in one of the assassins’ Legions, to escape from thebattlefield, whereupon he returned to their childhood home ofBaetica, opened up a taverna,and had a son he named…Titus Domitius, who in turn became myfather’s best friend and who, as of this writing, is still alive inPannonia.
Reaching the theater, the entrance wassecured and we could not go inside, so we stood outside, tellingDemeter, Bronwen, and Gaius, who has yet to read the Prefect’saccount, of the near-mutiny by the men of the28th Legion, the only otherLegionaries with Caesar and my great-grandfather’s6th Legion during this periodof Caesar’s time in Alexandria. The revolt had been precipitated bythe eunuch general Ganymedes, who was serving Cleopatra’s sisterand rival Arsinoe at the time, when he began pumping saltwater intothe streets of the Royal Quarter controlled by Caesar, which areactually lower than sea level. This act had fouled the existingwells, water became scarce, and the men of the28th demanded that Caesar meetthem in this theater, which should explain just how large it is.They were joined there by the 6thof course, but the 6thwas composed of hardened veterans, while the28th was
