Venetians

by Lodovico Pizzati

  “I speak your language, Latin!” Grimwald replied.

  “Very well!”

  “Listen, Polo… or whatever your name is… I am not as devious nor deceitful like you Greeks and Latins… and some Longobards, I guess. I speak straight to the point. I am telling you, I won’t be your slave, and you better watch your back because I will kill you.”

  “I appreciate the honesty…”

  “You are weak. I would not have hesitated to finish you off…”

  “Perhaps you are right, perhaps I am weak, but tell me, little Grimwald, what would you do if I let you go right now?”

  “I would run back to my uncle Grasulf!” Grimwald confidently replied.

  “Oh, if you only were half as clever as you are insolent… Your uncle Grasulf would finish off what Tribune Gregorios could not finish. The only threat to his dukedom, the son of his older brother, returning…”

  “Perhaps you are right,” Grimwald conceded, “but I would have thought about it before venturing north to Friuli.”

  “So you cannot go north, where your uncle is waiting open-armed ready to ‘shave’ your beard… how about east?” Polo asked.

  “East? Are you joking? Where the Avars are? I already have a reputation over there… They would finish me off just as fast…”

  “How about west?”

  Grimwald remained silent, thinking of Adalulf.

  “Oh, that’s right!” Polo continued, “There’s Adalulf! I was actually up on the wall back in Opterg, and I recognized him chasing you, heh, heh… He can’t catch anyone. He is probably the one that fears you the most! I don’t know why, but I could tell!”

  “That’s true, I can’t go east, north, nor west… but I won’t be sold as a slave in some Mediterranean market. I would kill until killed.”

  “I believe you, Grimwald, so where would you go if I free you today?”

  “I guess I would go to South Italy, to the Duke of Beneventum. All the real Longobard warriors are down there fighting the Byzantine Emperor. There I would join the fight and be glorious at war.”

  “Fine, I will grant you that and free you from slavery to go there. But how are you going to get there and avoid Adalulf?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “I know how, Grimwald, I know…”

  The convoy arrived in Heraclia and it was received by cheers and jubilation. Aurelia ran toward Polo, and he barely had a chance to hop off before her arms were locked around his neck. Grinning broadly, she kissed him. She could not believe that Opterg had been saved.

  The Patriarch was almost more excited than Aurelia.

  “This is unbelievable!” he rejoiced. “For the first time we have reclaimed some land from the Longobards! Now we can move people back from these crowded marshlands, back to the fertile lands of Opterg!”

  “I don’t think that would be very wise, Your Eminence,” Polo admonished.

  “Polo, you haven’t been here this winter, we have suffered very much. These people would not be able to sustain another winter in such precarious conditions…”

  “In such precarious conditions, no, but Opterg is undefended now, it is more of a military post than a safe place for dwellings.”

  “But what alternatives do we have?” The Patriarch asked.

  “We must make the conditions in the lagoon villages bearable on a permanent basis,” Polo explained. “I don’t want to waste another day. Already tomorrow we must go and provide more help to all villages, and reach Ravenna and replenish our salt supplies.”

  The next day, with the Tribune’s consent, Polo left with one of the Byzantine ships and a few soldiers on board. He brought Grimwald with him, always as a prisoner. On board were also supplies for all the lagoon dwellers he was about to visit. The ship was too big to navigate into the shallow water of the lagoon, at least without knowing precisely where the shallows were, so at every inlet it was met by small lagoon boats to carry supplies to the various villages. Torcellum and Equilium were supplied. Next, the ship ventured toward Lido Albo, and the water was deep enough to reach directly Olivolo and Murano.

  As they navigated, Grimwald asked Polo:

  “So, is this the torture you had planned for me? I have to stand here tied up watching you be merciful to all these worthless peasants?”

  “Grimwald, you are a nobleman, so let me ask you what you think the most prized asset you have as a duke.”

  “My horse, my sword…” Grimwald answered.

  “That’s as a warrior. I mean as duke, as a lord…”

  “Gold?”

  “You see Grimwald, living on dry land you take a lot of things for granted, because you have plenty. Fertile land and peasants who work the land, woods and woodsmen who chop it for you…”

  Polo paused and looked around, then continued:

  “We have scarcity of all that. Therefore, to me the most valuable asset that I have is my people. It is through our work that we become rich, and not through the gold medallion that I inherited. And this could not be more noticeable after you Longobards killed all our men.”

  “And so that’s why you are so preoccupied about their survival and their well-being…” Grimwald interrupted.

  “Yes, it’s not just to be merciful and make the Patriarch happy. Our main asset is each other. I need many people in order to make this lagoon livable. We don’t have land, wood, iron ores over here. But with people we can make things happen and establish a commercial flow to feed this lagoon. That’s our only chance.”

  “But why do you need to show this to me? I am your enemy, I will come and conquer it all, mark my words…”

  “I am showing it to you because I want you to see our strength. Now you see nothing, but if you have a little bit of vision, you can imagine what is coming. And I don’t want to hide it, because this is an impenetrable domain, and I needed at least a Longobard to witness it, so you can refer it to all others.”

  “Whatever you say…” Grimwald dismissed Polo’s grandiosity.

  They decided to station near Olivolo, as Polo wanted to better plan what needed to be done, but also because he hoped to find Primo again, even if it had been only a fortnight since they last met.

  As they anchored near Olivolo, Polo organized the youngsters from each village for farming. He brought seeds with him and they began to work Lido Albo, but also part of Murano and Olivolo. Finally, they spotted Primo, who arrived with large quantities of timber.

  “Primo! I can’t believe you made it back so soon!” Polo exclaimed.

  “When I returned to Patavium I found that the Cimbrians had already traveled down to trade. In fact, let me introduce you to Lugius…”

  Primo pointed to a second river barge behind him, with a tall blue-eyed man, who nodded in acknowledgment.

  “His father Boiorix has stayed back in Patavium as guest of Livia’s father…” Primo continued. “We actually were unprepared and did not have much to exchange, but we did not want to turn them back… Timber only goes downhill!”

  “I was on my way toward Ravenna with several sacks of spices from the Levant, and I wanted to exchange it for salt,” Polo answered. “You can give the Cimbrians the salt I am about to purchase near Ravenna, as well as some of the most exotic spices that I am sure those mountain men have never tasted before!”

  “What do we do with all this wood? We can’t bring it to Ravenna with us!” Primo asked.

  “No way! We leave it here,” Polo answered. “Lugius can guard it, but it is safe. I want to put all these youngsters to work in carpentry. We need proper boats that are large enough for cargo and shallow enough for the lagoon.”

  “And we also need to build a real ship to sail the seas ourselves!” Primo added.

  “Right you are, brother!”

  Polo and Primo ventured near Ravenna with the Byzantine ship. They exchanged the salt
they needed, and then Polo addressed Grimwald:

  “This is as far south as I can take you. Ravenna is under siege, so as soon as you move inland you will be in Longobard territory. Then you will be on your own to find your way down to Beneventum. But I am sure you will manage…”

  Polo released Grimwald, and the young Longobard ran as fast as he could, without thanking Polo or acknowledging he had saved his life. At a safe distance, he turned momentarily around, just to be certain there were no incoming arrows. Then he disappeared into the reeds.

  “Brother, it felt like releasing a wild animal!” Primo commented.

  “And the whole time it felt like having a dangerous wild animal in a cage,” Polo replied.

  “Why did you do that?” Primo asked.

  “I have a feeling we will encounter that Grimwald again, and I wanted to make sure that a Longobard nobleman saw what we had in this lagoon…”

  “Yes, not much, as of now…”

  “Somebody with a little vision can understand what the potential is. I don’t want to hide it, I want our enemies to know, and to know that we feel safe and confident. Free from all outside forces, because we are protected by this lagoon.”

  Chapter 9

  THE SIEGE

  It was a beautiful day in Heraclia. Normalcy had supplanted the dire survival mode that began immediately after the Opterg massacre. Houses were now in better shape and people were bustling about. In town there now was a gracious stone house with a thatched roof. It was one of the nicest, and at the window, Aurelia was finishing nursing an infant. The baby had just fallen asleep and released the nipple. At that moment, a loud screaming girl barged into the house, waking up the infant who started to cry. Aurelia hushed the little girl whispering out loud:

  “Clelia! You woke up your little brother again! Argh!”

  Aurelia stood up rocking her second-born child and he immediately fell back to sleep. Five-year old Clelia decided to run back outside.

  As Clelia was exiting the house, Saverio and his son Sabino were approaching the entrance.

  “Aurelia?” Saverio asked, peeking in.

  “Shhhhh!” Clelia hushed Saverio.

  Saverio and Sabino waited outside as Aurelia put the sleeping baby into his cradle. She exited the house as to avoid making any noise inside.

  “Hello Saverio, you are in town!”

  “Yes, I just docked, and I just thought you might want to know that Polo’s ship is approaching port. He is back from Istria!”

  “Finally! Let’s go welcome him!” Aurelia replied, as they began walking toward port.

  “Judging from his ship’s waterline his cargo is so full that it might sink at any moment!” Saverio continued, exaggerating the ship’s buoyancy conditions.

  Aurelia and Saverio arrived at the port as Polo’s brand new cargo ship was docking. Saverio let Aurelia greet her husband, who had been away for over a month.

  “It’s been a long time!” Aurelia said as she hugged her husband and he kissed her back.

  “Where is Clelia? Where is the little baby?” Polo immediately inquired.

  “Baby is sleeping, and Clelia is running around,” Aurelia replied.

  “Aurelia, next time you and the children must come to Istria too! We can fix up my parents’ old farm house, so Clelia and baby Manlio can spend the summer there!”

  “I don’t know, Polo, I don’t know…”

  “I am telling you, it’s safe. Almost as safe as an island. Avars and Longobards are too busy killing each other to venture down the Istrian peninsula!”

  “But if you take us, you better not fill that boat of yours to the brink! Look at that! It’s so low it’s about to sink!”

  “Heh, and as soon as a loaded ship comes to port, Saverio the taxman immediately sails to ‘greet’ the cargo… How are you Saverio?” Polo warmly greeted Saverio, speaking in jest.

  “Hello Polo!” Saverio answered. “Always a pleasure to see you, and you are right! I did spot you from Grado, making your return to Heraclia… I won’t deny it!”

  They all smiled at the awkwardness of what Saverio the taxman had to ask next.

  “This time I did not bring much olive oil…” Polo continued. “I did not have time for oil milling, so I brought tons of olives instead!”

  “How many?” Saverio was curious.

  “A lot…”

  “How many barrels?”

  “Enough to fill the ship…”

  “I don’t know how much your new ship can hold… just give me a number… I don’t need to check inside…” Saverio said impatiently.

  “Hmmm… ugh… four twenties?”

  “Eighty barrels! Very good! But… won’t those Istrian olives go bad in long trips?”

  “They are brining…” Polo explained. “They are already soaking in salt water. I figured, instead of waiting for this brining process in Istria, I let them brine in transport. Give them a month, change the water, and they should be ready for market.”

  “Very well, so shall we say two barrels for the Exarch?” Saverio asked, making tax payment a matter for bargains.

  “Two barrels!?” Aurelia interrupted. “Why? It used to be that villages were taxed to sustain the Byzantine soldiers stationed in Heraclia, but now this seems quite a burden just on Polo…”

  “Aurelia… it’s fine…” Polo quietly added.

  “No, Polo, let me explain to Aurelia. I always make a point to justify my job. I don’t want any misunderstandings…” Saverio asserted.

  Aurelia crossed her arms, waiting to hear what creative explanation Saverio would come up with.

  “You see, Aurelia…” Saverio explained, “…you know that our lands, from Istria in the east all the way down to Ravenna, they are under the Exarch of Ravenna’s jurisdiction. Back in the day, we were so poverty stricken that the little we could scrape up from the villages was not even enough to sustain the military presence in Heraclia. In fact, it was Ravenna making up the difference.”

  Saverio’s explanation captivated both Aurelia and Polo.

  “Fortunately nowadays, and since the retaking of Opterg…” Saverio continued, “…our lands have made a tremendous comeback: Equilium, Torcellum, Murano and Olivolo have integrated the newcomers from Opterg, and in addition to fishing, we managed to make the best out of farming too! Polo and a few other merchants, here in Heraclia, are getting richer with trade up the Piave River, thanks also to the tolerance the Duke of Ceneda has shown…”

  “Simply put, now that we are better off, we get taxed even more than necessary for the military in Heraclia!?” Aurelia asked, not swayed one bit.

  “Well, the other side of the story is that now it is Ravenna that is in need. They have been under constant siege for years. We are essentially contributing for their defense… and I don’t see anything wrong with that request, I might add!”

  Saverio ended his explanation with pride, as if he also needed to convince himself of the just purpose of his work. Aurelia was still not convinced at all, but Polo could not care less.

  “Saverio, two barrels are perfectly fine! It’s the least I can do to contribute! I’ll have my men load them onto your boat.”

  Polo gave his two young sailors directions on what to do with the two barrels.

  “Thank you Polo, thank you for understanding my position…” Saverio replied. “Oh, another thing… how much land do you have in Istria to load up so many olives!?”

  “Oh, only a small part are olives from my fields. I bought the rest at very low prices from every farmer I could find! I told them no ships from Ravenna will buy their olives this year, so they all rushed to sell them to me!”

  Polo was proud, and smiled about his cunning tactics, although they bordered on dishonesty.

  “But… but that’s not true!” Saverio pointed out. “There are always merchants from Ravenna
sailing to Istria…”

  “Well, it’s true now that they won’t buy any olives, at least not from the towns of Ruvinium and Parentium! I cleaned up those markets!”

  Aurelia and Polo saluted Saverio and Sabino, and they departed. As they walked away, Aurelia was still not convinced.

  “Polo… in church Father Leontio preaches that every soul is the same in the eyes of God, but they are not the same in the eyes of the Exarch! Why do you have to pay a bigger burden?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Aurelia…”

  “I mean, I don’t mind paying for protection, but your life is worth as much as any other! Why do we have to pay more to have the same protection as anyone else?”

  “Because we are not just protecting our lives… we are also protecting our wealth! And since I have more wealth, I have more to lose and to protect. Therefore, I have no problem paying a little more!”

  Polo’s reasoning caught Aurelia unprepared, and she had to think about it for a moment. Polo continued, lowering his voice:

  “And besides, Saverio is perfectly aware that I have more than four-twenty barrels in that hull!”

  “How many do you have?”

  “I don’t know… perhaps one hundred?”

  “What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’?”

  “Well, my hull can take a dozen barrels in length and four barrels in width…”

  “That is not even fifty barrels, Polo!”

  “But I have a second layer of barrels stacked on top of the first.”

  “Well, but still, that’s not even one hundred!”

  “Does it matter? It’s much more than what I told Saverio, isn’t it?”

  “Yes…”

  “So I don’t care! I leave those details to you. There is so much gain to be made that I don’t have time to worry about a couple of barrels for Saverio, or about my approximate counting!”

  “Remember Polo… God is in the details… Father Leontio should have taught you also how to count, not just how to read Greek!”

  “Aurelia, I know how to count, but I can’t be troubled by these minutiae, I have big plans, I…”