Saviour of Rome [Gaius Valerius Verrens 7] by Douglas Jackson Read Free Book Online Page A

morning that turned the gently undulating Mare Tyrrhenum into a vast mirror. Neptune, most capricious of all the gods, showed his kinder face and the gentle breeze drove them west across the ocean at a rate that would have put a smile on the face of the most gloomy of captains. On the third day they docked at Pallas on the island of Corsica to deliver a cargo of oil and replace it with timber, one of the few things the place had in abundance. The other was fierce and merciless bandits, and, though they were said to keep to the mountains, Valerius and his fellow passenger, a jolly merchant by the name of Tiberius Petro, stayed on board throughout the loading and unloading. Petro, a short, fat Ligurian, with the face of a mischievous cupid and a cap of dark, curly hair, had a wealth of stories from his travels. Valerius discovered the merchant was one of the few civilians who’d visited Cepha on the Armenian-Parthian border and Petro kept his companions entertained during the four days it took to reach Tarraco, capital of Hispania Tarraconensis.
    The voyage gave Valerius time to ponder the task Vespasian had set him. At first he’d found it surprising that Pliny had made his request for assistance through the Palatine. Over the years, they’d been allies andopponents fighting cases in the law courts at the basilica, and Pliny, who hoarded obscure pieces of knowledge the way others hoarded silver, was one of the few men Valerius could call friend. He’d been a cavalry prefect under Vespasian in Germania and would have had his province long ago had he not fallen foul of Nero and been forced into retirement and obscurity during his chaotic reign. Pliny had been the only man who spoke for Valerius at his trumped-up trial for treason and loaned him money to escape Rome when Domitian’s death sentence had been commuted to exile. He must know that Valerius wouldn’t have refused him if the approach had been made direct? Yet there was a logic in taking the official route. Vespasian’s endorsement and the appointment as
legatus iuridicus
gave Valerius a power that would open doors and overcome obstacles. The only problem was that the fact Pliny believed he might need that power made it likely this mission would prove more complicated and dangerous than it appeared.
    Still, all that was to come. Tabitha’s face swam into his head. It might have been a difficult parting from his bride of three weeks, but his wife – diminutive and Hellenistically beautiful, but with a core of well-tempered iron – had been philosophical as she’d kissed him goodbye on the steps of their new home. ‘The quicker you are gone the quicker I will have you back,’ she had said. There were no tears, only an assurance that with Lupergos’s help she would see the villa completed by the time of his return.
    ‘I have a potion guaranteed to cure the worst ship sickness, lord.’ Valerius looked up to find Petro watching him. ‘Squid ink, chopped toad bladder and
allec
.’ Valerius grimaced.
Allec
was the sludge residue left from the fish guts used to make
garum
. ‘It tastes revolting,’ Petro grinned, ‘but I suspect that is part of its virtue.’
    Valerius swallowed. ‘It sounds more likely to kill than cure. But it is not ship sickness that ails me.’ He hesitated, but … why not? He told the merchant about his wedding and the recent, reluctant parting from Tabitha, though not the reason for it.
    Petro’s plump features took on a solemn air and he sighed. ‘A new wife is like an unbroken filly. Give her all your attention and she willlick honey from your fingers and come at your call. Ignore her too long and she is apt to bite them off and run wild.’ The impish grin returned. ‘Not that I am suggesting …’
    Valerius had passed through the port of Tarraco once before. During an earlier mission for Vespasian, then a mere legate, he’d come to offer support for Servius Sulpicius Galba’s bid to take the purple. Only three years ago,