The Leopard Sword: Empire IV by Anthony Riches Read Free Book Online Page B

shocked procurator for a long moment of complete silence, ignoring the incensed glances that Belletor was shooting at him.
    ‘Is that it?’ The procurator goggled at him in silent amazement, while his colleague Petrus stared up at the angry tribune with a look of interest. ‘Good! Thank you, Procurator Albanus, for making your views on the subject so clear. You’ve made a most lyrical defence of your desire not to provide my men with either shelter from the elements or food in their bellies, despite the fact that they’ve been sent to protect
you
and your people from the bandits who have been preying upon them for months. And now I think it’s time we heard from someone other than a
coin counter
! Prefect Caninus, I’d be grateful to hear your views on the subject of exactly what it is that we’re facing.’
    Caninus got up from his place at the table, pulling a hanging curtain aside to reveal a detailed map of the area around the city painted onto the wall behind it.
    ‘Very well, Tribune, this is my assessment of the current position with regard to the bandit threat to this part of the province. First, consider the geography of the area. Tungrorum is here, right in the middle of everything that matters for the province.’ Frontinius frowned, and Caninus raised an eyebrow. ‘You have a question, First Spear?’
    Frontinius nodded, pointing at the map with his vine stick.
    ‘Where I come from, ground is only important if it allows the man that holds it to control something. What makes this place so important?’
    Albanus raised his eyes to the ceiling, but Caninus continued, warming to his subject.
    ‘A good question. What makes this city in the middle of nowhere of any interest to anyone? There’s a simple answer, First Spear. Roads. Look, I’ll show you.’ He pointed to the map. ‘To the west, the road runs across easy ground to Beech Forest, the Nervian capital, and from there down into Gaul. And it runs through miles and miles of fertile soil, fields of grain for as far as the eye can see.’ He indicated a spot on the map to the east of the city. ‘From Tungrorum that same road runs east for a half-day’s march to cross the river at Mosa Ford, and then continues all the way to Claudius Colony on the River Rhenus. From there the road runs along the river’s western bank to all of the major towns and fortresses on the river.’
    He stopped speaking and looked at Frontinius, who was studying the map with fresh understanding.
    ‘So the grain from Gaul is shipped up the road to Tungrorum, then on to the fortresses on the Rhenus?’
    ‘Exactly, First Spear. The journey’s too long for carters in Gaul to go all the way to the Rhenus, so they bring the grain here to the grain store –’ Albanus snorted again, but the prefect continued speaking without any sign of having heard him – ‘where it can be collected and shipped to the east. Without grain from Gaul the fortresses on the Rhenus would be unsustainable, and without the legions camped on the river the Germans would be across the border and raiding deep into our land in no time.’
    ‘And without Germania Inferior the whole of Gaul would be wide open. Not to mention the road to Rome.’
    Caninus smiled broadly.
    ‘You’ve a sharp mind, First Spear. As you say, without the supply of grain to the fortresses on the Rhenus, the empire’s entire north-western flank would be wide open to barbarian attack. Within fifty years they’d have settled Germania Inferior and be knocking on the door of Gaul. Not to mention the fact that not defending the lower stretches of the Rhenus would put the defences along the upper reaches of the river under threat of attack. Tungrorum is absolutely critical to the maintenance of control over the German tribes. And Tungrorum is under a threat whose severity Procurator Albanus seems determined to underestimate in favour of commercial concerns.’
    He looked directly at the procurator, waiting for him to deny the