by Peter Rhodan
Oween commented on this. “Maximus? That would be Maximus Theodorius?” Jacob nodded in confirmation. “What happened to Ammianus?”
Jacob shrugged. “He went on patrol north of the wall and never came back. About half the force returned and they said that they had been ambushed by Selgovae warriors. Maximus took over the title of Dux and command at Luguwalion after that.”
“When did this happen? We have heard nothing down here.” Arcadius enquired, looking a little concerned, or perhaps put out that he hadn’t heard. Arturo was gaining the impression that Arcadius was the ‘big man’ in the local district.
“About ten days ago. Maximus has already increased the taxes and you can expect his men to be coming down this way in before much longer.”
“Damn.” Said Oween. Arturo looked at him. “Ammianus was a mean cow, but fair you know. Maximus is a grafter, a greedy pig.”
“You don’t like him then I take it?” The bland question brought a smile to the others except for Oween.
“Hardly. He is a mean, nasty, petty, backstabbing scumbag.” Oween snarled.
Arturo smiled at his friend’s vehemence. Jacob turned to him. “Oween knows him well obviously. You should be all right down here for bit though as he was taking his cavalry to Vindolanda first to enforce his rule over the entire length of the wall. There is a new chap in charge down at Eboracum as well. One Combrosius, who is apparently a local Brython rather than a real Ruman. He has taken the title of Comes Brittania and is disputing the authority of Maximus.”
Arturo looked to Oween for a comment on this person as well, seeing he seemed to know most everyone in the Rufanig army. Oween shook his head. “Don’t know him. Most of the people I knew went with Constantius. There can’t be many troops left in Eboracum though.”
Jacob shrugged. “I don’t really know. My family are in Londinium, not Eboracum. I can say that neither Ammianus before nor Maximus now seem overly concerned with this Combrosius.”
“So Jacob, any idea of how man troops Maximus has at his disposal?”
Jacob appeared to be counting up numbers. “He has around two hundred well equipped cavalry which is his main force. There are two cohorts of infantry at his disposal, one is used to man the wall while the other guards Luguwalion but both are under strength and spend most of their time farming because they are no longer paid in coin. There is another force based at Vindolanda that is responsible for Vercovicum and a couple of other forts on the wall and that is supposedly under his authority as well but for all intents and purposes it is basically independent. I think that is why he is taking his cavalry that way first, to bring them to heel as well as raise taxes.”
Arturo thought about this for a moment. “And what form do these taxes take?”
Arcadius answered this. “Usually produce and sometimes livestock. The odd horse. Sometimes they will confiscate a slave if the owner cannot pay what they demand. Richer people sometimes pay in coin or metal although coins have been few and far between in recent years.”
“Yes Oween has told me of that problem. Hard to get trade going well without money. I shall have to deal with that too.”
Arcadius and Jacob glanced at each other. Arcadius hesitated before speaking again. “What exactly are you trying to achieve Arturo?”
Arturo shrugged. “At the moment I am trying to get some industry going and give the locals some protection from raiders and bandits.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Arcadius commented.
After a moment Arturo said simply “I want to return home.”.
“And what does all this iron work and money lending have to with that? Surely you could just have a boat built with the gold you seem to have so much of.”
Arturo paused for a moment and looked at the other two, glanced at Oween, noted the intrigued look on Briffet’s face, Oween had obviously said something to her, and sighed. “When I said I came from somewhere far away I really did mean far away. An ordinary sailing ship of the type Oween says could be built here will not do. I need at a minimum a ship made of metal.”
Arcadius choked and Jacob laughed. “How will a ship of iron float. Iron is too heavy!” He said amused.
Arturo shook his head. “No, a ship of iron will float right enough, trust me. But you see being of iron it will be very heavy and ride rather deeply in the water and normal sails will not be able to propel it very quickly so I will need to develop an engine to drive it through the water.”
“What sort of engine?” Jacob asked. He did not seem like he really believed Arturo’s assertion that an iron vessel would float but was willing to play along. Or else he was just humouring someone he took to be mad. Arturo was not sure from his expression which it was.
“Well in my land we have several types of engines but I was thinking the easiest one to develop would be one powered by steam.”
“Steam?” Asked Arcadius. He had been watching Arturo closely and did not seem as incredulous as Jacob did. Oween’s expression simply looked like there was nothing special here so can we just move on.
“Yes, steam. You will all have seen how when you put a lid on a pot, the pressure of the steam will force it up to let a burst of steam out?” He paused and looked around. They all nodded in confirmation. “Well we have a means of harnessing that force to create motion, like a waterwheel harnesses the water to create motion. Unfortunately I’m a warship captain, not an engineer, that is someone who makes engines, but I have some idea of how the things work so Ceri and I should be able to come up with something once we have his iron works up and going.”
Both Arcadius and Jacob took a moment to digest this. “You’re serious aren’t you?” Jacob asked at last.
“Well yes. Did you think I was kidding? Already we are planning the first coke oven. Coke is made from coal the same way charcoal is made from wood, sort of. Anyway it will allow us to achieve higher temperatures while being relatively easy and cheap to produce. And it has other uses.” He finished looking around to see who believed and who did not.
Arcadius frowned. “And how are you going to pay for all this? I know you have a supply of gold hidden somewhere but surely that’s limited given you arrived by ship wreck?”
“Well I also have Palladium.”
“Oh and what is that?” Arcadius enquired.
“The metal Oween’s sword is made out of. You’ve seen what it can do haven’t you Arcadius?” The man nodded so Arturo continued. “It simply cannot be made by anyone around here, or anywhere else in your Empire I wouldn’t think. It requires, ah, technology, you simply don’t have so therefore the supply I have is all there is. I intend to value it at twenty times the value of gold, maybe a bit more. That is probably still too low but it will do for the moment. Down the track taxes should become more plentiful and I will negotiate a splitting of the local tax revenue with the, um, Dux, in Luguwalion.”
Jacob laughed sourly. “Maximus shares nothing with anyone. He’ll ride down here with his cavalry and help himself to whatever he wants, killing anyone who gets in his way, and then strip the area bare.”
“Hmm. Surely if he sees how I am rebuilding the economy down here he will understand it’s to his benefit to let me keep going so that there will be more taxes later.” Arturo replied.
“I doubt you will convince him. He has a thick head and is a pig. Avaricious yes, but very short sighted.” Jacob looked around as if checking whether the walls had ears. The others all nodded in agreement.
“Well we shall see. Currently he is heading over to Vindolanda you said so we have some time to sort something out with him hopefully. Perhaps a bribe to leave us alone?”
Jacob shook his head and Arcadius looked like he agreed with the Jew. “You will not sort something out where Maximus is concerned. Still you may be able to buy him off I guess. I don’t know Arturo. He is such a pig he may well take whatever you use to pay off with, then still come down here and demand tribute.” Arcadius said gloomily.
“You sound like you know hi
m well?”
“Yes. I served with him for a few years. He is a hopeless commander, too headstrong by half, but personally very tough and not afraid to join the fight so the soldiers are willingly follow him. In fact it is rare that he does not lead the charge from the font himself. Something to do with trying to be another Alexandros I gather.”
Arturo nodded in understanding if not entirely sure of the Alexandros reference. “Well I am not going to stop trying to make progress here just because he is a greedy pig. I only have so long to get back to my people and cannot afford to waste any time.”
The other two nodded, not really understanding the time constraint. Arturo knew it could very well take many decades, even a century or more, to build up the technological base necessary to build a ship capable of jumping out of the system. He wasn’t even sure he would live long enough to make it happen and that was without any major setbacks or struggles with local idiots. He sighed. Well this area seemingly had lots of resources to get an industrial revolution underway so he had no intention of restarting someplace else.
Jacob sat and sort of stared at some point in the distance for a time. Arturo and Arcadius went back to eating. Oween and Briffet started their own quiet conversation. Eventually Jacob returned from wherever his inward vision had taken him and after taking a somewhat embarrassed mouthful having realised he had not moved for some time, looked at his host. “Would you mind if I stayed on a bit longer Arcadius. I think I need to send a letter to my father before I head further south.”
“Why of course my friend. Stay as long as you wish.” Arcadius said generously and winked at Arturo who assumed from this that he meant that Jacob had now been snared by an interest in what Arturo was up to.
“Arturo, may I come and see you tomorrow and discuss the matter of companies and banks with you further?”
Arturo inclined his head. “By all means. I do have several tasks to perform tomorrow so you will have to follow me around while I attend to them if we are to converse at length.”
“That will be no problem sir.” The man replied. Shortly thereafter Arturo and Oween left, pleading tiredness and the need to start early the next morning. Oween spent the ride back to the fort grinning like a fool because Arcadius seemed to have finally acquiesced to his and Briffet’s relationship.
A big, red headed man named Lewarth came up from Wern to help Ceri plan and build a furnace to produce iron. Arturo joined the conversation, although he mostly just listened. The man was most interested in the soon to be installed overshot water wheel and the idea that it would power a bellows to force feed air into the furnace at much greater levels and more consistently than could be achieved with using man power as was the norm locally. Arturo then explained to both how the air channel was going to be built along the back of the coke oven so the air would be hot before it even entered the furnace. Both men thought this was a marvellous idea and looked with new respect at Arturo.
A source of clay suitable for making fire brick to be used in the construction of the furnace had been found not too far away and a track way made to improve travel time for carts carrying the clay. A similar track way was put in to where the coal was plentiful. As it happened it appeared that the land Arcadius owned was well supplied with coal as well. Several more men turned up to join the force Arturo was building and despite grumbling at being used as workman on the track way building, discipline held good and the men were being uniformed in blue green tunics and trousers with the sleeves and hems lined in red as quickly as the local women could do the sewing.
Armour was being limited to leather jerkins for those that did not have their own but Ceri and Arturo had an idea which they were going to try once the iron works was fully operational. Coinage was Arturo’s biggest problem, especially bronze coins. This he solved when Arcadius mentioned that a former cavalry trooper he knew was a really good engraver. Arturo enticed the fellow to come up from down past Wern where he currently lived and had him copy the two most recent bronze coins that were in circulation before the army had left with Constantius. Arturo then bought any bronze people were willing to sell and proceeded to use a couple of Ceri's labourers to pound out bronze coins in the traditional hand forged manner he was assured was how most coins were made. He thought the method rather inefficient but at least he soon had a ready supply of small and large bronze currency circulating in the area of normal Rufanig design.
The furnace was nearing completion when three armoured men rode up. The leader was a man in his forties, dressed in a muscled cuirass worn over a long mail shirt that hung down over his thighs. On his left was a younger man, perhaps early twenties with the look of the older man in the lead and to his right was a man who looked to be around thirty or so, both were similarly clad except without the cuirass. Arturo, Ceri and his construction foreman Durovix, a red headed fellow from Gallia who showed aptitude for mechanical things, were discussing where to put their next water wheel when the three horsemen approached.
“We seek Arturo Sandus.” The leader said holding out an open palm in a sign of peace while the other two obviously kept their hands away from their weapons. Ceri and Durovix both moved their hands to the hilts of their swords but Arturo ignored their wariness and made a small waving motion to keep them calm.
“I’m Arturo.” He answered, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Greetings. I am Valerius Drusus Claudius, my son Julianus and my armsman Aurelius Gervonius. I was on my way south from Luguwalion when I heard what you are doing here and found myself intrigued. I have to say this is a lively place compared to most small towns.” He paused and looked around the iron works taking shape. "And this looks more like something I would find on the mainland rather than here at the edge of the Empire."
“Well we are trying to rejuvenate the area. If you are interested perhaps you would like to come up to the fort?” Arturo asked.
“Yes. I think that is good idea. You have been refurbishing it as well I could see as we rode past. And the town has rather more buildings than I remember. I am told you are making or minting coins as well?”
Arturo was wary in case that was a big no no but after a moment shrugged. “Only new versions of the most recent Imperial coins. Needed the coinage to facilitate trade and pay the troops.” He nodded to Ceri and Durovix. “We can continue this tomorrow. I’ll just get my horse.” This last was directed back at the mounted figures.
Once he was safely mounted and it had taken him a second very embarrassing effort to get in the saddle, he rode to join the three newcomers Valerius waved his arm at the nearly completed furnace and attached coke ovens. “This is impressive. I do not think I have seen an iron works laid out quite like this before though.”
“Ah.” Arturo answered non-committedly not sure if you should elaborate.
Valerius noted the reserved note to his voice. “I am merely interested as I have seen several such works in my travels. Besides there is not much new being built in the provinces these days so such a lavish construction is a bit unusual.”
“So I understand. I am trying to get industry going here. There is iron and coal in plenty so it seems like a good place to get things done.”
“I see. Surely somewhere more populous would be a better place to develop things? No barbarians likely to raid things, plenty of money and people. This out of the way area seems an odd place to start.”
Arturo nodded, smiling. “True to an extent. But here on the fringe I can do things that are, shale we say, a bit different without too many questions being asked by the powers that be.”
“And just what sort of differences are we talking about?” Valerius asked, but his smile was friendly enough to make it seem less like the interrogation that it possibly was. Arturo couldn’t decide if the man was some sort of investigator for the government or just had a lively curiosity. Well his plan all along was to be open about what he was doing with the local authorities despite the reservations he was developing with regards to the much maligned Maximus.
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“You have just come down from Lugowalion you said I think?” He received a nod. “The Dux is concerned with my activities then?”
He watched their reactions closely but they seemed more amused than anything. “Not as far as I can tell.” Valerius replied. “I doubt Maximus has even heard of you yet. At least he gave no sign of being concerned about anything down this way when I told him I was going to head this way on the first stage of our trip back to civilisation.”
“Civilisation eh?”
Valerius laughed. “But of course. Five years up here on the wall is more than enough and I refused point blank to serve under Maximus the clown so he was only too happy to see the back of me and my superior social standing. I come from a very old and influential family as you could from the name, I am sure. Not that I am big noting myself you understand, at least not unless you are a crude upstart provincial like Maximus!” He smiled at Arturo as he said clearly trying to make sure Arturo understood he was solely being rude to Maximus. “So Dominus Sandus, tell me about yourself. You accent makes it plain you are not from around here nor probably from some far part of the Empire I believe.” He cocked his head enquiringly.
“Well yes, I am not from around here or even the Empire as you can clearly tell. I come from a place far, far away, arriving by sheer accident and as my people are somewhat more advanced in some areas than you are here I am attempting ah impart some of that knowledge to the locals. Unfortunately, I am merely a ship captain not an engineer or a maker of tools but I do have some idea of the basic processes of a lot of things my people do better. Like the coke ovens back at the iron works.”
“I thought there was something odd about that furnace. The regular iron smelting one looked pretty standard but I could not work out what that other one was for. Coke you say? I am not sure what that is.”
“Ah. It is made from coal rather like charcoal is made from wood. The coal is roasted and a lot of the impurities are released then it can be used to smelt the iron like charcoal but produces a higher temperature which results in iron that has less impurities in it and is therefore stronger.”