by Peter Rhodan
“Oh yes. We are only just starting.” Ceri answered. “Saw milling, machining. Powering pumps. I am working on a design for a water pump at the moment although I am having a few problems. But think of being able to bring water to a town easily through a big pipe. Not by a carefully constructed and expensive aqueduct, but a simple pipe, a large one perhaps, but a simple pipe that the water is pushed through by one of these engines, even uphill. Arturo has suggested the best idea is to build a large cistern on top of hill near the town and run a pipe down from there into the town to carry the water all over. The height would provide pressure to the flow and enable to people to pipe the water even to the upper floors of houses. Even farms and buildings well out of town will still have good water pressure with the cistern on a high hill.”
The priest nodded grasping that part of the plan easily enough. Ceri continued. “The cistern would in turn be linked by a large pipe to a lake or river from which the water would be pumped to it. Because of the power of these engines the pumping would only have to run for a relatively small time to refill the cistern and then be shut down to wait till the next time the cistern emptied thus saving fuel.”
“And eventually, we could have a treatment plant at the source of the water so that the water was boiled before being piped to the holding cistern which would help keep it healthy.” Arturo added.
The priest studied Arturo. “You would do much for the welfare of the ordinary people. You intrigue me Arturo Sandus. Are all the people from our land so altruistic?”
Arturo laughed shaking his head negatively. “People are people, wherever they are. We have the good and the bad like everyone else. But our, um, technology, gives my people a much better life than that which obtains here and I would bring some of those benefits to this, my new home.”
The priest nodded although he did not look entirely convinced by these words. “Your knowledge has placed you at the top of the tree I notice.”
Arturo smiled. “Well I won’t hide the fact that I would prefer to be at the top rather than the bottom. Besides it makes it easier for me to introduce these new ideas and processes.” And here he waved at the locomotive. “But I will also point out that Arcadius Secularis, the father of the bride, has already begun his work as Censor down south past Wern. Once the census of entire region from there to Lugowalion is complete we will hold the first elections. One will be for the Concillium Romanum representative for this province and the second will be for three representatives for the new Concillium Provincialis for running the province itself. Now that I have decided that restoration of the Republic is the best course to take, as more of this province is regained, more members will be elected to the Concillium Provincialis. Their task will be to see to the administration of the province as I am taking away the power of the regional bureaucrats and giving it to the elected representatives of the local people.’
He paused and appeared to be waiting to see if the priest wanted to comment on his plans. “I sort of got the general idea of what you planned when you were in Lugowalion, but it was never explained in detail by those you spoke with. So, this Concillium Provincialis administers the province. What power do they have?” Honorius asked, glancing around and the now busy town.
“Very little to make any significant changes as they cannot institute new laws or anything like that, any new laws are done by the Concillium Romanum. That will ensure the law will be the same for the entire Empire. The local Concillium is where the tax revenue, or at least that part of it which is returned to the local province for use in works there, is allocated, with them deciding what will be spent where. Things such as the water supply, the schools and so forth will be the responsibility of the local elected Concillium in each Province. Thus, at least to an extent, the needs of the local people will addressed by locals, rather than faceless men in a government basilica a thousand miles away who never venture into the provinces at all.”
The priest nodded. “Interesting concept. And you think this structure will work?”
“Well it does where I come from and has for several hundred years. It is not perfect, understand, but it is the best I can come up with. It has to be better than the slow death that this system of Emperors has been inflicting on the Empire over the last couple of centuries. Look around Honorius. The economy of the Empire is in ruins, the towns are hollow shells as the people flee the crushing taxation. Barbarians walk the Empire at will and none seem willing to oppose them, some even welcome them, so I’ve been told. Instead the real Romans continue to contest amongst themselves as to who runs the Empire rather than do anything to fix it.” He broke off realising he was getting very wound up over a situation that was not his own.
The priest seemed much struck by Arturo’s words and nodded. “Things have not been good for a long time I will admit.” He said. “I fear a lot of what you intend will not be popular with the leaders of the Church.” The Goths sack of Rome a few years before had come as a shock to those who saw the Empire as unending.
“I know that. Nor with the Vicarii and their bureaucrats. Nor with the army who I intend to prevent from engaging in the sport of king making, sorry emperor making. Given time I think most will come to see the advantages I bring outweigh the privileges lost by the few, but many will not be happy at first.” Arturo shook his head in mock sadness.
The priest laughed. “I see you are a man of understatement! You will be reviled by all at the top currently if you start becoming successful with your ideas. The Comes at Eboracum will be the first to oppose you supported by the Vicarius in Londinium and perhaps even the Comes Saxoni although these days he is more a title than an effective military commander and on the other side of the sea now I hear.”
Arturo nodded. “I had hoped to, shall we say, improve things, through peaceful negotiation but no one seems interested in talking.” He shook his head sadly as he had been disappointed in the combative attitude everyone seemed to have here and now.
The Priest laughed again. “Well no. And even if they did agree to talk you would need to guard against hidden traps, poisoned food, your subordinates being suborned and stabbing you in the back. The way of the Empire is one of deceit and lust for power and any means are used to gain that power.”
Arturo smiled sadly. “Things are no different in my land except the battle for power is less deadly and more open. Words instead of knives are the main weapon. Still, I cannot give up and will try to do whatever I can to improve things.”
The priest acknowledged this sentiment with a shrug of the shoulders implying a tired agreement. “Speaking of which. The growth of this town is such that I feel the need to appoint a priest to the flock here. I am not really of high enough rank to do so, the Bishop in Eboracum should really be the one to order it but I think it best not to trouble him with this minor detail. I have a suitable young man in Lugowalion whom I will ordain and send down here if that is agreeable to you?” The priest cocked his slightly to one side as if expecting an argument.
Arturo nodded acceptance. “That will be fine. I have no wish to dictate the internal workings of the Church.”
The priest smiled, looking a little surprised though. “Only the external ones, eh?” He then smiled at Arturo, obviously amused by the expression his comment had caused to appear on Arturo's face. “No, no. I know you are not intending to dictate to the church, so much as refuse to let it dictate to others, which I can understand.” He looked back at the locomotive. “I think I would like to be informed the first time this is run publicly if that is possible?”
Ceri nodded. “Certainly. I shall have word sent to you a couple of days in advance. It will be a few weeks yet, not only do we still have a ways to go before it will be fully assembled, but it will also take a while for us to get things running properly I would imagine. Going on my previous experience with the first steam engine.”
As they returned to town the priest turned to Arturo and nodded at Briana bringing up the rear. “I have not seen a female warrior before. Is t
his something you intend to introduce on a large scale? I should warn you that I feel it will alienate both the traditional Romans and the traditional Keltoi.”
Arturo nodded. “Yes, I imagine so. I gathered that from the reaction to Briana from pretty much everybody. But in answer to your question, yes sexual equality is something that will come eventually, at least if I remain in charge for any length of time. In my land men and women are equal in every way but that is something that will take some time to introduce fully here. The first steps are to make women able to own property legally and protect them from being used as chattels. That is in the new laws being put in place shortly. My helpers are calling it the Lex Derventio after I stopped them form calling it the Lex Sandus.”
The priest considered this with the hint of a smile. “I had not realised that was one of your intentions. Interesting. Yes, I can see much good that will come from that especially for widows and there should not be too much trouble getting that put in place, at least up here on the edge of civilisation. Mind you, there will plenty who will see it as disrupting the natural order of things. God created Eve from Adam you understand, so therefore women should be subservient to man.” Arturo could not decide if the priest was serious or playing devil’s advocate. He suspected this priest had a very well develop sense of humour.
“Well, I suppose you could look at that way. I have heard there are other, older religions, where the female is the dominant god or entity or whatever. No matter. It will be a slow process after all. I am just laying the foundation right at the start. And you are right, it is easier to do revolutionary things out here on the edge of civilisation.”
The priest nodded. “Oh yes. This area has always been regarded as the sorriest part of the Empire to be stationed, whether soldier or priest because it is so far from real civilisation.” The priest waved his arm to the south.
Arturo laughed. “Well, priest, soon this will be the centre of civilisation.” He pointed out over the growing town and the iron works that kept expanding. “It’s still not all that impressive yet, but it will be. And yes, I do not anticipate too much difficulty around here. Partly through my influence and partly because it is mixed up area. Briana will serve as an example for other women to join the military. That will be slow and at first most will be confined to support roles. One of the first will be a medical corps which is something I will be setting up over the winter. But eventually they will be part of combat formations just as they are in my land. That will take some time to achieve though I think.”
The priest was obviously not entirely pleased by this revelation. “That is truly so? You have women in your fighting formations?”
“I am afraid so. It has been that way for a long time. It is part of the whole being equal with men thing you see. If women are the equal of men in every other way then why can’t those who wish to serve in the military do that as well. I can see you are shocked by this idea but I imagine that in three generations it will seem the norm and people int that time will look back and say harsh things about patriarchal tyrants. Look at how your own faith has become the dominant religion in the Empire in the last three generations. Or so I have been given to understand.”
Honorius appeared to grasp this point immediately and nodded in agreement. “That is true yes. Now that I think about it I suppose those who grow up with women as equals will simply see that as the norm. Interesting that you are looking and planning so far ahead.” He paused and they walked in silence for a few moments. “You are a very dangerous man Arturo Sandus.” The priest said at length.
Arturo laughed which was not the response the priest expected as he looked rather surprised. “You’re the second person to accuse me of being dangerous, Honorius. And you know, I am very much afraid you are right.” He grinned at the priest who did not appear to be able to decide whether he should make a sign for defence against the devil or grin in agreement.
Five days later an intense young man named Ambrosius arrived to serve as priest for Dervent. He quickly fitted in with the locals and made no denunciations about the people who had begun using a grove outside the town to openly resume worshipping some of the old gods. Which was a good thing as the priest in Wern was not so circumspect and was causing trouble for Dileen who had communicated as much to Arturo.
Hwillam brought copies north of his reprint of the Aeneid book one and the new print of book two. He had produced a hundred copies of each this time and Arturo made a point of securing two copies of each to form the start of the library of the university or scholae tertius that he planned to set up at Alladraef. Melwyn and he had agreed the most important thing in the immediate future was to get the junior schools operating in Dervent, Wern, Maglona and Lugowalion as soon as possible.
Melwyn planned to start the Dervent school in the new year in a building currently going up on the edge of town. He already had a likely teacher in the form of a man who had come north from Eboracum, where he had fallen foul of the Comes in some manner and decided to flee rather than face justice. Arturo was a bit wary of the fellow, given the way he had arrived in the north, but he knew how to read and write after a fashion and seemed keen on the idea of teaching others the same skills. He seemed willing to learn too as Melwyn was currently showing him the new mathematics and the new letter forms that Arturo intended to slowly introduce across the Empire.
Hwillam went back to Wern bearing two scrolls that Melwyn had devised. One was a basic mathematics primer and the other a simple alphabet and basic words text that would form the basis of learning in the junior schools which besides providing the first step in proper education for children would also be available for adults who wanted to learn. Arturo intended to make basic reading and writing a required skill for officers in the military for a start and probably all government positions in due course. Not yet for either as without the schools to teach them he couldn’t expect people to acquire such skills. But they could always go back to school later, he decided.
Some days later after much testing, swearing, rebuilding and more swearing, Ceri decided the thing was ready. He had laid out a short piece of track at the rear of the shed where the steam locomotive had been built, discreetly hidden by a high fence on piled up dirt for the tests to hide the thing from view. Which had been a wise decision given the problems he and his team had run into along the way. Finally satisfied the thing would work, Ceri sent word to Arturo that the machine was ready to be publicly demonstrated.
The track inside the shed was quickly linked to the line running through the iron works on which the coal was carried and a wide area on either side of the track was roped off. All the rails in the section that ran from the shed right through to where the station for Dervent would be built had been replaced with newer, heavier weight wrought iron rails in anticipation of the test. It had been decided that all new construction would be done with these new rails as well, while the existing sections of track would be replaced on the fly as new rails became available. They were expensive and time consuming to make and he hoped to replace them with steel rails sometime in the future, but for now it was the best they could do in the quantity needed. The old rails could at least be re-used in the mines or smelted down so the iron could be put to other uses.
Word of what he was doing had of course spread far and wide so on the morning of the public test there was something like three hundred people milling around wanting to watch the ensuing events. As the morning progressed there were more people arriving all the time. By mid-morning there were so many people gathering that Radovas brought out a century of troops to act as police. He also gave the rest of the men leave to come and watch the event themselves, which only swelled the crowd even more although some of the off-duty men were soon roped in to acting in a crowd control as well.
Arturo had arrived early and had stood by while Ceri and his men carried out final checks on their metal beast. Eventually, after much fiddling accompanied by a couple of swear words that were let fly as the last-minute adjustments we
re made, Ceri decided all was ready and sticking his head out of the door for the first in a couple of hours he was visibly surprised to see the size of the crowd milling around in the area beyond the works proper.
“Good grief. That certainly puts the pressure on, doesn’t it!” He exclaimed to Arturo as he returned to the machine.
Arturo grinned. “I certainly hope it works properly.” He commented as he studied the machine which looked pretty primitive to his eyes. The boiler was covered in woollen material with a fishing net type of rope object holding the insulation firmly onto the boiler casing. "Won't that burn?" He asked pointing at the stuff, somewhat concerned.
"No. The boiler casing should not get hot enough to actually set it alight, I hope not anyway." He said with a grin.
"Well I sure hope you are right about that!" Arturo said shaking his head.
“So do I, so do I!” Ceri muttered climbing up on the machine. “I am thinking about ways of minimising the fire risk on the next engine.” He offered as he looked around to check everything once more then a quick word with one his men led to that worthy scurrying off and returning shortly after with a pair of the horses used to pull wagons around the iron works. At the sight of the horses Arturo raised an eyebrow but Ceri only shrugged. “I figured we’d pull it out into the open before starting it up. Less scary that way I think.”
Arturo considered the effect of the thing emerging from the shed, all smoky and steamy and the effect this would have on the crowd. Yes, Ceri had the right idea, so he moved outside as the horses were hitched on to the front of the locomotive. The heat from the firebox could be felt even at a few paces distance and Arturo was getting more concerned about the woollen insulation. As the engine emerged from the shed people became agitated with much oohing and aahing being heard and the whole mass of people moved forward against the ropes and the now wary guards. Ceri and his men gave the machine a quick final once over, checking things were oiled and nothing was out of place and then he bowed to Arturo. “Do you wish to accompany us?”