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Authors: Faith L. Justice
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the Roman troops than the Celtic men. My grandmother was reputed to have led a chariot charge in one of the last battles beyond Hadrian's Wall only one month before giving birth to my mother."
That explained his height and coloring, Selene thought – he was of barbarian stock! "And what of your mother?"
"She died giving birth to me. My father was Prefect to Londinium. He remarried to a proper Roman lady." A shadow crossed Orestes' face. Selene, unsure if it betokened grief or the wavering light of the lamp, preferred the more romantic explanation.
"I understand you served in Britannica as well," Calistus said, raising another cup of wine and admiring its deep red color through the translucent glass. "A tragedy for the Western Empire when it lost that colony, but given the current state of barbarian-benighted Rome, it's as well that the troops were recalled. It's impossible to keep order so far away."
Selene glanced sharply at her father. How unlike him to make such an impolitic remark especially after the Prefect revealed his own barbarian ancestry. She motioned Rebecca over and, under the guise of giving her more directions, asked that her father's drink be well watered.
Orestes sipped his wine and said in a regretful tone, "I'm not sure Britannica ever was Rome's, Calistus. As with many provinces, their roads may be straight and paved, their harbors bustling, but underneath is a stubborn wildness that yields not to outside influences. Egypt, in a strange way, reminds me of my homeland."
Selene laughed. "I have heard Britannica is a land of cool mists, magic trees and strange bogs. What about such a country could remind you of our blazing desert and meandering Lady Nile?" She tried to imagine cool wet wilderness, but her experience failed her and she had only hazy notions of reed-filled swamps and familiar crocodiles.
Orestes looked directly into Selene's eyes. "Both have been conquered but have taken on only the trappings of their conquerors. Britannica pretended to be Roman, but is quickly reverting to petty kingdoms. Egypt absorbed the conquering Greeks with barely a ripple and bowed to Caesar while changing nothing but the names of its gods."
"Surely in four hundred years there has been change! We are a Christian nation," Selene protested.
"The Empire has only broken in two, but Christianity is splintered. There are nearly as many sects and cults now as before. The old gods vie with the new and their disruption is stamped on this city. My work here will be quite … challenging."
Selene, caught in Orestes' intense gaze, turned her sight with difficulty to Archdeacon Timothy as he spoke. "Some would say the troubles in Alexandria are due to malignant demons or the 'disruption of the gods' as you put it. If the truth were told, it is the lack of work and the heavy taxes that leads faction to fight faction. A few men are amassing wealth and power while the ordinary people become ever more burdened."
"A few men have always held wealth and power, Timothy." Calistus snorted. "There is nothing new in that."
"But there has always been enough left over to care for the rest." Timothy shook his expressive face. "Soon Alexandria will be no better off than Rome after that Visigoth Alaric sacked it."
"I have every intention of forestalling such a calamity," Orestes said. "I hope your Patriarch will assist me in this. How is his health? When my secretary inquired about an appointment, he was told Theophilus was indisposed and receiving no visitors."
"It is but a cold on the chest. The Patriarch works too hard and has become frail of late so the physicians advise him to rest and build his strength. I do my small part as his eyes and legs during this time of confinement."
"The Archdeacon is being too modest," Calistus interjected. "He is the Patriarch's successor, as have been all Archdeacons."
Timothy raised an eyebrow. "Not recently. Patriarch Athanasius fostered Theophilus and chose him as successor."
"The Emperor has
That explained his height and coloring, Selene thought – he was of barbarian stock! "And what of your mother?"
"She died giving birth to me. My father was Prefect to Londinium. He remarried to a proper Roman lady." A shadow crossed Orestes' face. Selene, unsure if it betokened grief or the wavering light of the lamp, preferred the more romantic explanation.
"I understand you served in Britannica as well," Calistus said, raising another cup of wine and admiring its deep red color through the translucent glass. "A tragedy for the Western Empire when it lost that colony, but given the current state of barbarian-benighted Rome, it's as well that the troops were recalled. It's impossible to keep order so far away."
Selene glanced sharply at her father. How unlike him to make such an impolitic remark especially after the Prefect revealed his own barbarian ancestry. She motioned Rebecca over and, under the guise of giving her more directions, asked that her father's drink be well watered.
Orestes sipped his wine and said in a regretful tone, "I'm not sure Britannica ever was Rome's, Calistus. As with many provinces, their roads may be straight and paved, their harbors bustling, but underneath is a stubborn wildness that yields not to outside influences. Egypt, in a strange way, reminds me of my homeland."
Selene laughed. "I have heard Britannica is a land of cool mists, magic trees and strange bogs. What about such a country could remind you of our blazing desert and meandering Lady Nile?" She tried to imagine cool wet wilderness, but her experience failed her and she had only hazy notions of reed-filled swamps and familiar crocodiles.
Orestes looked directly into Selene's eyes. "Both have been conquered but have taken on only the trappings of their conquerors. Britannica pretended to be Roman, but is quickly reverting to petty kingdoms. Egypt absorbed the conquering Greeks with barely a ripple and bowed to Caesar while changing nothing but the names of its gods."
"Surely in four hundred years there has been change! We are a Christian nation," Selene protested.
"The Empire has only broken in two, but Christianity is splintered. There are nearly as many sects and cults now as before. The old gods vie with the new and their disruption is stamped on this city. My work here will be quite … challenging."
Selene, caught in Orestes' intense gaze, turned her sight with difficulty to Archdeacon Timothy as he spoke. "Some would say the troubles in Alexandria are due to malignant demons or the 'disruption of the gods' as you put it. If the truth were told, it is the lack of work and the heavy taxes that leads faction to fight faction. A few men are amassing wealth and power while the ordinary people become ever more burdened."
"A few men have always held wealth and power, Timothy." Calistus snorted. "There is nothing new in that."
"But there has always been enough left over to care for the rest." Timothy shook his expressive face. "Soon Alexandria will be no better off than Rome after that Visigoth Alaric sacked it."
"I have every intention of forestalling such a calamity," Orestes said. "I hope your Patriarch will assist me in this. How is his health? When my secretary inquired about an appointment, he was told Theophilus was indisposed and receiving no visitors."
"It is but a cold on the chest. The Patriarch works too hard and has become frail of late so the physicians advise him to rest and build his strength. I do my small part as his eyes and legs during this time of confinement."
"The Archdeacon is being too modest," Calistus interjected. "He is the Patriarch's successor, as have been all Archdeacons."
Timothy raised an eyebrow. "Not recently. Patriarch Athanasius fostered Theophilus and chose him as successor."
"The Emperor has
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