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Most of Italian Gaul was a flat alluvial plain watered by the Padus River and its many tributaries; when rain didn't fall, the local farmers could irrigate extensively, so the region had crops, full granaries. The most exasperating thing about the country, so close to Italy proper, was that it couldn't feed Italy proper. The Apennine mountain chain crossed the top of the leg from east to west and fused with the Maritime Alps in Liguria, thus forming a barrier too formidable for the transport of freight by land. Nor could Italian Gaul's grains and pulses be sent by sea; the winds were always contrary shipping from north to south. For this reason, the Triumvirs decided to leave their legions in Italian Gaul, and set out for Rome accompanied only by a few hand picked troops. "However," said Octavian to Pollio (they were sharing a gig), "since feeding Rome and Italy has fallen to me, I shall start sending wagon trains of wheat from the west of the province through Dertona to travel down the Tuscan coast. The gradients are not impossible on that route, it just hasn't been done." Pollio eyed him with fascination, having realized since they started out from Bononia that the young man never stopped thinking. His mind, Pollio decided, was precise, factual, preoccupied with logistics ahead of logic what interested him was how to get ordinary things done. If you gave him a million chickpeas to count, thought Pollio, he would stick at it until he did it and not make a mistake in his count. No wonder Antonius despises him! While Antonius dreams of military glory and of being the First Man in Rome, Octavianus dreams of how to feed people. While Antonius spends money profligately, Octavianus looks for the cheapest way to do things. Octavianus isn't a plotter, he's a planner. I do hope I live long enough to see what he ultimately becomes. So Pollio led Octavian on to speak on many subjects, including the fate of Rome. "What's your greatest ambition, Octavianus?" he asked. "To see the whole Roman world at peace." "And what would you do to achieve that?" "Anything," said Octavian simply. "Anything at all." "It's a laudable objective, but hardly likely to happen." The grey eyes turned to look into Pollio's amber orbs, their expression genuinely surprised. "Why?" "Oh, perhaps because war is ingrained in Romans. War and conquest add to Rome's revenues, most men think." "Her revenues," said Octavian, "are already great enough for her needs. War drains the Treasury dry." "That's not Roman thinking! War plumps the Treasury out look at Caesar and Pompeius Magnus, not to mention Paullus, the Scipios, Mummius," said Pollio, enjoying himself. "Those days are over, Pollio. The great treasures have all been absorbed into Rome already except for one." "The Parthian treasures?" "No!" Octavian said scornfully. "That's a war only Caesar could have contemplated. The distances are enormous and the army would have to live on forage for years, surrounded on all sides by enemy and formidable terrains. I mean the Egyptian treasure." "And would you approve of Rome's taking that?" "I will take it. In time," said Octavian, sounding smug. "It's a feasible objective, for two reasons." "And they are?" "The first, that it isn't necessary for a Roman army to get far from Our Sea. The second, that, apart from the treasure, Egypt produces grain that our growing population will need." "Many say the treasure doesn't exist." "Oh, it exists," said Octavian. "Caesar saw it. He told me all about it when I was with him in Spain. I know where it is and how to get it. Rome will need it because war drains her dry." "Civil war, you mean." "Well, think about it, Pollio. During the last sixty or so years, we've fought more civil wars than properly foreign ones. Romans against Romans. Conflicts over ideas of what constitutes the Roman Republic. Ideas of what constitutes liberty." "Wouldn't you be Greek and go to war for an idea?" "No, I would not." "What about going to war to ensure peace?" "Not if it means warring against fellow Romans. The war we fight against Brutus and Cassius must be the last civil war." "Sextus Pompeius might not agree with you. There's no doubt he flirts with Brutus and Cassius, but he won't commit himself to them entirely. He'll end in waging his own war." "Sextus Pompeius is a pirate, Pollio." "So you don't think he'll gather the remnants of Liberator forces after Brutus and Cassius are defeated?" "He's chosen his ground, and it's water. That means he can never mount a full campaign," said Octavian. "There's another prospect of civil war," said Pollio slyly. "What if he Triumvirs should fall out?" "Like Archimedes, I will shift the globe to avoid that. I assure you, Pollio, that I will never go to war against Antonius." And why, asked Pollio of himself, do I believe that? For I do.
6. The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra Page 75