“Somewhere between here and Busiris or Coptos, you became a man,” he said. “I’m sorry about Minervina. She was a lovely child.” “It has been less than a year since I saw her last, yet I find it hard to remember exactly what she looked like.”
“Does that trouble you?”
“I loved her very much, or thought I did. Now I cannot help wondering how permanent the love of men and women can be.” “Time has a habit of dulling memories, both good and bad,” Dacius assured him. “And lucky for us that it does. Were you much disturbed when you ordered the men to destroy defenseless cities at Busiris and Coptos?”
“I still am,” Constantine admitted. “It seemed so needless, when those people could have been left alive to help bring prosperity to the Empire.”
“Peace is important too. Often it can be bought only in blood.” “I suppose so. But there should be a better way.”
“Not while generals are ambitious enough to take chances,” Dacius said cryptically.
“So Galerius did move against the Persians without consulting the Emperor?”
Dacius nodded. “Knowing Galerius, it must have seemed like too good an opportunity to let pass. After all, Maximian conquered Mauritania in a few months and in Britain your father has made steady progress, while Diocletian and the rest of us were holed up here outside Alexandria for nearly a year. When the Persians turned Tiridates out and started to bend the Euphrates frontier westward again, Diocletian ordered Galerius to prepare an army at Antioch. But Galerius saw a chance to win fame for himself, while the people are still complaining because Diocletian spent so much money in this Egyptian campaign.”
Certain to have taken King Tiridates
“What chance does Galerius have of winning a quick victory?” “Every chance, if he uses his head. After all, he is certain to have taken King Tiridates with him and, as soon as he starts retaking Armenia, the people of that kingdom will rally to his banners. That means a lot of auxiliary troops to swell the size of his army, so the Persians will have to send forces northward to hold Armenia, weakening their lines in Mesopotamia. With any kind of luck, Galerius should be able to turn their northern flank and, with his back to the desert, Narses could be forced to sue for peace, with Galerius getting all the glory.”
“Do you think he is foolish enough to consider setting himself up as Emperor in Diocletian’s place?”
“Not yet. But he’s looking ahead to the time when Diocletian abdicates at the end of twenty years and forces Maximian to do the same. Your father may still be pinned down in Britain and Gaul then and Galerius could claim the whole Empire, with himself as sole Augustus, and you one of the first casualties.”
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