"There must be only two women in your life," Athene smiled in a benevolent fashion. Two? Better than one! Athene then seemed to taunt him. "For you, the first will be the most beautiful woman in the world." She would be, Gaius thought, but the thought still pleased him. "You will ignore her." What? What sort of a prediction was this? "The second will be the most ugly woman in the world." By the Gods, what was this? "You will scoff and taunt her, yet she holds the key to success."
As a stunned Gaius stared at her, she raised two hands and said, "You will face critical choices, when all seems lost. Then you must have faith in my art of logic, and you must have faith in your own ability when you have good reason. You must show compassion to those you conquer, and by showing it you will earn it from others when you need it.
"We must now part. You will learn triumph, and you will learn despair. There are two great moments that you cannot fail to recognize. In the first, there will come a time when you will die if you go north, if you go south, if you east or if you go west. You will recognize it when it comes, and you will know what to do. Much, much later, when you are praised from all sides, will come your greatest battle. You must deny your very family for duty, but then to win you must follow your head and not your orders. You will know that time without doubt. I shall give you one final piece of advice, so that you will believe in me all the sooner. Your Greek will talk about contraries. I tell you that for these, one is real and the other is the absence of or in the opposite direction. Think about what that means, and record your thoughts in your journal.
"Do not speak of this prophecy, but tell all to the ugliest of all, whom you must recruit to help save every human being from a most terrible annihilation. Fulfil this destiny and only then can disaster be averted. Go, prepare well, and, well," she seemed to pause, then she added, "Good luck."
Athene's expression seemed to fade, and as she did so, the temple gradually returned to its dilapidated state. Gaius lay back. The sun was still so warm, his eyelids felt so heavy. .
When Gaius awoke, the shadows were lengthening. He looked around, but there was no sign of the woman. He went to the back of the altar, but it was all solid stone, with grass growing between the cracks. It looked as if it had not been cleaned for decades.
He shook his head. It had felt so real, but he must have dreamed it all. Goddesses did not wish you luck!
Chapter 6
Timothy was tense for the first lesson. Having been far away from his master, he had become independent and he had been left alone for who would dare bully the property of Tiberius? With such imperial immunity he had become haughty, and, he realized, he had made few friends. Now, whether by accident or by Tiberius' intent, the transfer of ownership had arrived after he had confronted this young upper class Roman to whom he was now beholden. Worse, Tiberius' motives were unclear. While Tiberius had given him away, that did not mean that Tiberius had finished with him. Tiberius had unlimited power, and his use of it was becoming erratic.
Gaius was feeling equally awkward. He may be in control, but in control of what? This could be nothing more than yet another one of Tiberius' jokes, which were becoming increasingly less funny. Now Gaius was responsible for reaching whatever outcome Tiberius had decided, if he had decided. More likely, for whatever outcome he thought should have arisen one day when he had a gut ache.
Then there was. . his dream? He did not believe in Gods, but. . Could a dream be that detailed? Surely not! But then again, surely Athene had not visited him? No, being visited by a Goddess was simply not believable. But then again, just in case, it hardly hurt to follow good advice. So here he was, ordered by a Goddess in a dream, and also by a cranky old man who thought he ought to be a God, to learn. He should pay attention!
Timothy began with questions as to what Gaius had already learned. That he knew how to speak Greek and had read several Greek plays was no surprise, nor was the fact that he had had extensive lessons in rhetoric. That Gaius had had lessons in geometry was useful, for while he, Timothy, was not especially interested in mathematics, he would send this young Roman to see Geminus, the greatest living mathematician and astronomer. Geminus would extend him there, and save him, Timothy, from total failure.
"So you want to be a soldier? Then let's give you military problem, a real problem, but I won't tell you whose. Your mission is to take a certain city out in the African desert as quickly as possible. What do you do?"
"Where is this city? I mean, specifically with respect to where I am?"
"You make enquiries," Timothy continued, "and you obtain a most wonderful map. The city is marked due west, at a distance of 240 kilometers. There is a road and you can easily make thirty kilometers per day."
"Provisions?"
"You may carry water and food for twelve days. The city has both food and water."
"Then I take food and water for twelve days and unless I hear that there's a superior force around, I set off."
"For six days, all goes well," Timothy said, "but on the seventh day there is a sand storm, and you cannot see where you are going."
"I camp for the day," Gaius replied. What was the problem?
"The following day the storm is over, and the road is clear."
"I set off towards the city."
"While progress has been according to plan, that evening you notice that the road is becoming sandy and fifteen kilometers a day is probably all you will manage."
"The next morning I continue," a puzzled Gaius replied. "We are nearly there."
"You and your legion die in the desert. There is no city where you think it is."
"What?" Gaius exploded. "That's not fair!"
"Life is not fair," Timothy replied. "I'm a slave and. ."
"You will be freed. You know that!" Gaius scowled.
"That's not the point!" Timothy was indignant, but he was also frightened. This could be one of those times where doing the right thing got him flogged. "Your privileged birth has given you the right to command, but you also have the responsibility to do it properly. Your ineptitude has just killed a few thousand men who were unlucky enough to be dependent on you. What should you have done?"
"Got a better map?" Gaius asked.
"No! That was as good as it would get."
"Then it's a stupid problem," Gaius said grumpily. "What could I do?"\
"Stop thinking 'I'!" Timothy said harshly. "The Earth doesn't rotate around you! You might care to consider getting help from other people who know far more than you do. First, send out scouts, who carry more supplies and move faster. Then go down to the market place. Find someone who's been there."
"I suppose you're right," Gaius conceded, after a moment. "All I can say is. ." He stopped in mid-sentence.
"Well?"
"This is a bit on the weak side, but I would have sent out the scouts. That is standard legionary procedure."
"And you know why it is standard procedure?"
"To save people like me who would otherwise forget," Gaius said sheepishly.
"Exactly. Now I have your attention, at least until your natural arrogance takes over again. ."
"I concede! You're right, if that makes you feel any better."
"It doesn't."
"Then what will?"
"You actually learning something. Anyone can say I'm right. The question is, has it done any good?"