Hannibal's children

Chapter 13

Zarabel watched the Romans in the courtyard below. They were arguing over something. She could not understand Latin, but the subject was of little import. She could read the language of posture and gesture as well as anyone. Better than most, for to survive in the cutthroat environment of the Carthaginian court required an almost preternatural sensitivity to such wordless signals.

What she saw below confirmed what she already knew to be true: With Marcus Scipio gone, the Roman party left behind deferred to Titus Norbanus. They argued, they disputed, but in the end it was his word that carried weight. When he spoke, the others straightened and listened without interruption. No other member of the party received such respect.

As had become her custom these recent days, she studied him closely. She liked what she saw. It was still difficult for her to accept men with such fair hair and skin, with eyes so blue, as civilized people. Yet, a few of these Romans were as pale as Gauls or Germans. She suspected that this meant an admixture of northern ancestry, for none of the historical sources she had consulted spoke of the Romans as being a fair-skinned people. It seemed not to lessen them in the eyes of their more conventionally tinted fellows. Of course, these Romans were but marginally civilized at best.

Norbanus was of the fairer sort. He was a large man, ruddy of face and yellow of hair, with regular, square features set in the harsh expression that seemed to be habitual with Romans. He had the soldierly bearing and hard, athletic build of the others as well, but none of these things gave her particular pleasure. What Zarabel found to her liking was the weakness she could discern beneath his Stoic mask.

When Norbanus looked at her, she felt the lust beneath his disdain. Of course, they all pretended contempt or indifference, but Norbanus was less adept at hiding his true feelings. Indeed, of all the Roman party only the amiable, now-departed Flaccus had not bothered to put up a hypocritical front in her presence, allowing his sensual tastes to be seen by all, whether the subject was women, food, wine or leisure.

But there was more in Norbanus to be exploited than this commonplace appetite. When he looked upon the treasures of Carthage his eyes lighted with greed. At banquets, he imitated the others in foregoing the exotic delicacies and rare wines, contenting himself with simple fare. But when he was entertained by the grandees of Carthage away from the other Romans, he indulged himself shamelessly. Her spies had reported this with great diligence.

She had taken him to see some felons executed upon the great walls, and his pleasure in the great cruelty of the tortures and crucifixions spoke volumes of his true tastes.

This, she knew, was a man she could bend to her will, manipulate into any form she desired. He was just the sort of man Zarabel favored above all others.

"Gylon," she said quietly. Her personal eunuch appeared by her side as quietly.

"Mistress?" He was probably still in his teens, although it could be difficult to tell, with eunuchs.

"Go and invite the Roman Norbanus to dine with me. Wait until he is separated from his companions."

The eunuch bowed. "As you wish, Mistress."

She watched as Gylon entered the courtyard, busying himself for a while with imaginary tasks, until the Roman dispute ended and the men wandered off. As Norbanus was about to leave, the eunuch stepped to his side and spoke a few words. She saw Norbanus look up toward her balcony, and then around to see if any of the other Romans were near. At last he looked back up and nodded. Zarabel smiled and nodded in return. Some men were so easy.

She made careful preparations. She owned some of the subtlest scents in the world, but subtlety would be wasted on such a man. She chose a simple infusion of rose and civet, known to make men susceptible to feminine charms. Her gown was cut to display her flesh abundantly. Just as important was her jewelry: heavy necklaces, armlets and bracelets, a belt of heavy golden plaques to display both the narrowness of her waist and the greatness of her wealth. Her jewels were large and colorful, the better to catch the Roman's eye.

She had spent much time of late studying. She had committed to memory all that was known of the Romans, but she had made certain to research other, similar peoples. Although the Romans were in some ways unique, in others they were much like other conquering, imperial peoples: the Assyrians, the Persians and, most of all, the Greeks.

She had paid especial attention to the Spartans, a nation as relentlessly military as the Romans, although without the Romans' matchless political skills. The Spartans had prized strength and hardihood, the ability to live frugally while practicing unending military drill. They had despised wealth and luxury and had even made their money from common iron. The men lived on the coarsest, scantiest food imaginable and affected to glory in their simplicity.

But the weakness had been there. In Sparta, among their peers, they successfully maintained their vaunted simplicity and rigor of life. All that changed when they conquered foreigners and lived among them. The Spartans, so incorruptible at home, proved to be eminently susceptible to bribery when among lesser peoples. They had been able to resist wealth and luxury because they were not exposed to these things. The moment they had access to gold, fine food and wine, comfortable houses and furniture, the delights of beautiful, sweet-smelling women, their austerity disappeared and they indulged shamelessly in these things they had despised.

Zarabel suspected that the Romans would share this weakness, and Norbanus most of all. She was counting on it.

Titus Norbanua was in his element With Scipio out of the way, he could run the mission to his own satisfaction. He was sick of the patrician's smug superiority, his easy assumption of authority, as if breeding were all a man needed to excel at an important task. As if Italian breeding were superior to German or Gallic.

Norbanus considered himself to be a Roman, albeit a Roman of Northern ancestry. He was as good as any other, including Caesars who could trace their ancestry to the goddess Venus. Certainly as good as the Cornelia Scipiones, a family noted for producing military heroes and little else.

He gloried in his physical endowments: his great height, conferred by generations of Germanic chieftains, a taller people than any from Italy; his golden coloration, his brilliant blue eyes, his wavy golden hair, cut short in the Roman fashion but forming a dense cap on his large, square-featured head.

He prized his great strength. Titus Norbanus had always excelled in athletic competition and martial exercises. The Romans had adopted the obstacle course first used by the Gallic warrior class. Even as a boy, Norbanus could run through the woods at full speed, picking thorns out of his feet without breaking his run, leap over branches as high as his head, swim a broad river without coming to the surface. He could ride two horses at once and he was the best wrestler in Noricum. He could lift twice his own weight from the ground and was renowned for his skill with sword and spear. In martial exercise he had no peer, with the possible exception of Marcus Scipio.

That exception ate at him as he prepared to visit the princess. She, at least, discerned clearly who was the better man. The plebs and common ruck of Noricum might revere the name of Scipio, but royalty perceived kingliness when it was before them.

He knew that he and Zarabel were a match. She had steel in her that her brother lacked. The Shofet was a vainglorious fool who could be manipulated by his counselors. She was a true descendant of her ancestor, old Hannibal. Already, Norbanus was forming, dimly, a plan of union. Why fight Carthage to reconquer Italy and the old empire, when an alliance could combine their might? Not just the limited military treaty Scipio had suggested, with the legions acting as virtual mercenaries, but a true alliance. An alliance, perhaps to be followed by a merger.

He knew that the traditional Romans would be horrified at the suggestion, but the New Families like his own would be far more reasonable. They lacked the visceral hatred of Carthage nursed by the Old Families. He had no use for such irrationality. The doings of a hundred years ago had no meaning to him. Today, and the opportunities of today, were what mattered.

In Zarabel he saw an opportunity such as came to a man only once in a lifetime, if that. He intended to take every advantage of that opportunity.

ROMA NORICUM

The uproar in the Curia surpassed anything seen there since the day of its founding. The second batch of reports had been read to the Senate and the acrimony had not let up for a moment since. Families old and new drew up their battle lines and shouted across them with red-faced rancor and men shifted from one side of the room to the other as alliances changed.

Even while the screaming debate roared on, the serious business of the Senate continued unabated. In one corner of the room a team of draftsmen under the supervision of two senators were busy drawing up a huge map of the Carthaginian Empire as described in the reports. On a great strip of canvas they used different colors of ink to indicate fortified cities, garrisons, naval harbors and all other salient features. In another area a team of architects built a detailed scale model of Carthage using the espionage expedition's meticulous notes as a guide. From time to time, a senator would cease yelling and walk over to study the map and the model. Even in this extremity of conflict, they could not suppress their fascination with these military preparations.

Gabinius, the Princeps Senatus, tired of the debate and came to observe the walls of Carthage as they rose in replica on the senate floor. The elder Titus Norbanus, leader of the New Families, came to stand by him. "Are such mammoth walls truly possible?" Norbanus wondered aloud.

"They are quite feasible," said the head architect. "If you have the engineering skills you can build as large as you can afford. So long as the foundations are deep and sound, stone will go as high as you can stack it. From what our people have described, there is little complicated engineering involved here, just great wealth and a lot of time for building. Herodotus says that the great pyramids of Egypt each took about twenty years to erect. These walls, with their stadium-seat design, could have been erected in less time than that. Carthage has an endless supply of slaves and subject people, and there is no shortage of stone. I am more impressed by the naval harbor. It is a masterpiece of efficient design."

"Young Scipio speaks much of the war engines," Gabinius said, running his gaze along the wall's broad crest. "If they're as formidable as he says, it could make a seaward approach completely unfeasible."

Another senator came to stand by the Princeps. He was Marcus Brutus, father of the augur on the expedition. "Scipio is too impressed with toys and novelties. The walls are barrier enough. Carthage is a naval power, well prepared for naval war. It is pointless to attack your enemy's greatest strength. It is his weakness we want to know about, and exploit."

"Very wise," old Norbanus agreed. "Of course, Carthage's true weakness is that it employs foreign troops to do its fighting. It gives us the opportunity to get legions into Carthage without having to invade at all."

"That is true," Brutus admitted, "but the thought of an alliance with Carthage is detestable!"

"Besides," said Gabinius, "having legions on soil controlled by Carthage is not the same thing as having them within the gates of the city itself. You're familiar with the reports by now. Virtually everything outside those walls is foreign territory to them. That great heap of stone is what constitutes Carthage."

"It is almost as good," Norbanus countered. He had not just heard the official reports. He had been receiving secret letters from his son. "With our legions as part of Hamilcar's army, we will learn everything about how they make war, about the quality of their troops. Our commanders will become personally acquainted with the highest Carthaginian officers and learn all of their qualities. A war is half won when you know these things."

Brutus and Gabinius agreed that this was so, and they were instantly suspicious. Why was Norbanus suddenly enthusiastic about this prospect? As leader of the New Families, he should have been the most strenuous opponent of a war against Carthage. The two of them waited until he was called away by others of his party and discussed the new development.

"What is that man up to?" Brutus said. "Six months ago, he was the loudest voice for pushing our borders to the North Sea and eastward to the Urals and west beyond the Seine. The south has never interested him or his kind."

"He's greedy," Gabinius said. "The reports speak of fabulous wealth to be had. Whatever those other lands have to offer, there is little wealth but a lot of hard fighting."

"It has to be more. We should never have allowed his son on the expedition, far less as second in command, and the latest report has him in charge at Carthage while young Scipio vacations in Egypt!"

"Marcus Scipio went to Egypt for good reason. He was sent to gather intelligence and he's getting all he can."

"We didn't commission him to be the biggest traveler since Herodotus! A reconnaissance of Italy was what we specified. A quick look at Carthage was all to the better. But he is trying to shape Roman policy for years to come!"

"Policy we can always repudiate," Gabinius said. "And he knows it. In the meantime, forget about war with Carthage. We need the support of the Norbani if we are going to retake Italy, so let's not concern ourselves about his motives just yet. The elections are coming up. I suspect that his election as Consul will be the price for his support. Whom shall we put up as candidate from the Old Families?"

"It will have to be Decimus Scipio, Cyclops's son."

Gabinius grinned. "The fathers of the two expedition leaders as Consuls? Each able to overrule the other? I like it. What about the Tribunes? Norbanus will try to have them ram legislation through the Assemblies to take the command away from young Scipio and give it to his son."

"We'll have to get together enough plebeian families beholden to us to elect a few Tribunes of our own," Brutus said. "It's going to cost."

"The prize will be worth the price," Gabinius said, making a mental note to write that down among his collection of aphorisms.

By late afternoon the hubbub died down. Fatigue was setting in. From outside the Curia could be heard the roar of the crowd assembled in the forum. The Tribunes of the People had been haranguing them all day and from time to time senators had gone out to the speaker's platform to add their own opinions.

This day the presiding Consul was Aulus Catulus, an Old Family patriarch. When he stood, his lictors pounded the floor with the handles of their fasces and the noise died down. The senators resumed their seats and waited.

"Senators, decisions must be made," Catulus began. "This bickering must stop. It is time for a formal debate. Publius Gabinius Helveticus, as Princeps Senatus it is your right to speak first." Catulus resumed his seat in the curule chair.

"Conscript Fathers," Gabinius said, "these unprecedented reports from our expedition of reconnaissance make a number of things abundantly clear: First, Italy is for all practical purposes ungarrisoned. It is ours for the taking, from the alps to the Seven Hills all the way to the Strait of Messina. Second: Carthage is incredibly wealthy. Third: Powerful as she is, Carthage has a number of weaknesses, foremost among them her dependence on hired foreigners as soldiers. Fourth: Hamilcar is in preparation for a war with Egypt and would like an alliance with Rome." Many senators, mostly Old Family, jumped to their feet and yelled their opposition. They quieted when the Consul threatened to have his lictors throw them out.

Gabinius resumed. "These things we know to be true from the firsthand reports of our officers. They have learned secondhand that the once great empire of the Seleucids is crumbling under heavy pressure from the Parthians. The Seleucid monarch also contemplates an invasion of Egypt, to restore his fortunes with that nation's legendary wealth. We have Marcus Scipio's report informing us just how wealthy that nation is." This was greeted with murmurs of appreciation. The gold and jewels of Carthage were a fantasy to them, but the rich soil of Egypt was the very essence of reality.

"Here is my proposal: We make a temporary alliance with Hamilcar." The word "temporary" forestalled the most vehement of the protestors. "We send him, say, four legions with attached auxilia for his campaign against Egypt. We must allow him to think that this constitutes the bulk of our available manpower, leaving us only a skeleton force to guard our frontiers."

"And use the other ten to reconquer Italy!" shouted an aged Caesar, one of the most fanatic of the back-to-the-Seven-Hills movement. There were shouts of agreement.

Gabinius smiled. "Not quite. We will need some troops to man the borders, but auxilia and veterans called back to the standards to handle that. The barbarians are not terribly threatening at the moment. No, what I propose is an expansion of our forces. I propose that we raise ten more legions."

There was stunned silence. Twenty-four legions beneath the standards at once! It was an army unheard of in all of Roman history. "Impossible!" shouted some.

"Not at all. For a hundred years and more our empire has expanded and prospered. Lands once wild and tribal are now under heavy cultivation, and our farmers raise many sons. We have long regarded this as a manpower reserve against times of crisis, but why not put the bulk of them under arms at once? All freeborn Romans should be soldiers, is that not so? Let them get some experience, then. We face great wars of conquest in the future. Italy must not be merely retaken, it must be defended. The only way to defeat Carthage is to go to Africa and destroy the city itself. And after that there will be other foes, and they will not be disorganized tribesmen with courage and little else. There will be civilized armies to defeat. Our fourteen legions will not be enough."

A stern-faced senator rose and received permission to speak. "Where will we find arms and equipment for all these men? And money to pay for it all?"

"We have plenty of iron and skilled workmen," Gabinius said. "The treasury is full. Besides," he said, smiling, "ten new legions means ten new legionary commanders. Surely we have men who are brave, public-spirited and rich who would jump at the chance to win fame and glory, and who would be happy to part with some of their wealth to see that their men have fine arms and armor and warm cloaks and good boots."

This raised a chuckle, even from the opposition. The tendency of rich men to vie for command positions and to ingratiate themselves with their legionaries through such tactics had grown notorious.

"Gentlemen," Gabinius went on, "the reconquest of Italy must be our priority now, and that reconquest will necessitate eventual war with Carthage. We have no choice. Listen!" He paused dramatically, with a sweeping gesture toward the doorway of the Curia. From without came the rumble of the crowd. "Do you hear that? That is the voice of the Roman people. They demand this of us. Is it because all of them want to return to the land of their ancestors? Not at all. The majority of them are not of Italian ancestry. No, they want this because the immortal gods themselves demand it! For all these months, the omens have continued favorable. If we hesitate, if we fail in this task, the anger of the gods will fall upon us, and what will you tell those people then?"

At this, all fell to speaking in low voices among themselves. Some believed in the veracity of omens, some did not. But all understood the power of omens among the populace. Nothing of importance was done without consulting them. Interpretation of omens was an important function of state officers. Omens and politics were inextricable.

One by one, in order of their ranking in the Senate, the most prestigious senators rose, each to have his say in the matter. As might have been expected, the Old Family senators were unanimously in favor of the march on Italy, although they were less than enthusiastic about the proposed military alliance with Carthage. The New Family patriarchs put up far less protest against the project than they might have a few months before, and they had very little objection to the alliance, especially if it was to be followed by a war of conquest. Already, the prospect of the vast wealth that would inevitably fall into their hands was working on them. The clincher was the speech by the elder Titus Norbanus.

"My honored colleagues," he began, "there is much to be said both for and against this proposal by Publius Gabinius. But, as he has pointed out, any objections must go against the manifest approval of the immortal gods. They make it plain that this project must take place, and it presents Rome with an unprecedented opportunity to rise to the majesty intended by the gods-to be not just the greatest power in this part of the world, but to dominate the entire world. It is our destiny! We have the men and we have the wealth to carry out this conquest. We owe it to our posterity to seize this moment that they, our sons and grandsons, may live as lords of the world!"

There was frantic cheering at these words. Relayed by heralds to the crowd waiting without, the roar grew deafening. Gabinius, Brutus and many others smiled cynically. This seeming reversal of position on the part of the leader of the opposition left much unsaid: Those ten new legions would be raised almost entirely from the population of New Families. The Old Families no longer constituted a majority even in the fourteen traditional legions. This would greatly raise the power and prestige of his following.

And Norbanus's own son would be elevated to greatness. Right now he was the ranking man on the spot in Carthage itself while Scipio was gallivanting off in Egypt. Clearly, old Norbanus wanted to maneuver his son into the major command position in the wars to come. But that was a difficulty to be dealt with later. They had to have his support if they were to retake the Seven Hills.

By nightfall it was decided. The military reoccupation of Italy was to proceed. The ten new legions would be raised. A small deputation of distinguished senators would travel to Carthage to make arrangements for a military treaty with Carthage. All understood that the arrangement was to be strictly temporary.

Roman aims and policy were about to take a radical change in direction.