Chapter 20
Gaius was surprised that Timothy wished to remain with him, particularly when he told him about the note he had received from Tiberius, which ordered him to Alexandria where he would be contacted over his military appointment. Timothy could have stayed where he was, except perhaps the villa belonged to Tiberius. When he politely asked Timothy why, the explanation surprised him.
"Simple curiosity."
"Oh? About what?"
"About your so-called retreat," Timothy said, not entirely truthfully. Timothy also saw Gaius as a further source of gold coins. "You really think you're right!"
"I'm quite convinced that that sequence of spheres is just plain wrong," Gaius said quietly. "Almost everything's a special case. That's ridiculous."
"But the only alternative is Aristarchus," Timothy said, "and as we've established, he's plain wrong on clear physical grounds."
"I'm still convinced there's something wrong there, but I can't see what," Gaius admitted.
"Which gets me to why I'm staying," Timothy nodded. "I can't see why a Roman would care."
"Because I don't like to be wrong."
"Then perhaps I'm staying in case I can put this obstinacy to better purpose."
"Like freeing slaves?" Gaius smiled.
"Hah!" Timothy laughed. "You couldn't do that."
"I freed you," Gaius pointed out.
"And I'm grateful," Timothy replied quickly. "I meant you couldn't remove the need for slavery."
"Not even by building machines to do the work of slaves?" Gaius remarked querulously.
"You couldn't do that. Ever!"
"Not even based on that machine that opens doors you kept on about?"
"It opens a door well balanced with a counterweight," Timothy admitted. "It's a stunt."
"The principle's there though. It's just that a Greek can't see beyond the stunt stage."
"And a Roman's incapable of doing anything practical with it, because to do so would need imagination, and an imaginative Roman, apart from imagining military strategies, is a contradiction in terms."
"So you say."
"And even if by some miracle a Roman did it, your Tiberius would forbid it. Romans need slaves, not just for the work, but also because it gives them the power of life and death over someone else."
"I have never. ." Gaius began to protest.
"I know, but you're not typical. If you were, I'd have left long ago, while I could."
"There's no really good answer to that," Gaius frowned, then suddenly his eyes lighted up. "Yes, there is. I have it."
"Have what?"
"The answer to your objection about Tiberius."
"Yeah! That'll be the day!"
"Suppose such a useful engine could be made. I know exactly how to get the Princeps' permission to use it."
"You seriously think you could persuade that old goat to think about bettering the lives of slaves?" Timothy asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "How?"
"Use it for tearing down fortifications, or moving legions around. There's nothing like a good conquest to get Rome's attention."
"I suppose that's typical Roman," Timothy muttered.
"Better still," Gaius grinned, "that would mean Rome would get more slaves from the newly conquered territories!"
"A typical Roman response to getting rid of the evils of slavery," Timothy muttered.
"Sometimes it's more practical to throw away such Greek ideas as geometry! As the General said, the most practical way between here and there is often not in a straight line."
"You're probably right," Timothy shrugged. He paused, then looked curiously at Gaius. "Yes, you probably are." He paused again.
"So, what exactly are you scheming?"
"Nothing," Timothy shook his head, then added, "Nothing of any use, anyway."
"You don't look like you were thinking about nothing," Gaius chided. "That was a big frown for nothing."
"The frown was for the consequences of what I might've started," Timothy shrugged. "I was thinking about your problem."
"My problem? What makes you think I've got a problem?" Gaius queried.
"Tiberius let me know about your having to earn your agnomen," Timothy shrugged.
"Oh, yes, that," Gaius muttered.
"If you made an engine that led to military expansion. ."
"Gaius Claudius Scaevola Enginerius!!" Gaius laughed.
"Gaius Claudius Scaevola Germanicus?" Timothy countered. "Someone who brought the means for revenge over the Teutoburg forest disaster would earn a name to stand alongside Scipio Africanus."
"I think you're getting a bit carried away there," Gaius laughed. "No machine's going to conquer the Germans."
"Just what do you think leads to unexpected military success?"
"Great leaders, good troops. ."
"That helps," Timothy shrugged, "but think. The Hyksos wiped out Egypt because they had steel swords against bronze, Alexander defeated all because his longer spears gave his men a huge advantage, Hannibal won because nobody knew what to do about elephants, and Rome has won because the Roman shield and gladius gives a big advantage. But such advantages wear out. The Egyptians eventually recovered when they had steel as well, the phalanx is history, Scipio turned the elephants against Hannibal, and now Roman expansion has stopped because everyone is starting to learn how to deal with the legion. One day, someone else will invent a new weapon, and Rome will be defeated."
Gaius stared at Timothy. The prediction. Rome in ruins! Could a new weapon do that much so quickly?
"Of course, if you had the new weapon, you could restart Roman expansion," Timothy pointed out, then he paused and added, "Not, of course, that that's likely to happen."
"I tend to agree," Gaius shrugged, "but why are you so sure?"
"I don't think you could do something useful, like make an engine."
"You couldn't," Gaius pointed out.
"No, but I'm a Greek," Timothy replied. "What I'm saying is that you, a Roman, aren't any better."
"I don't know anything about making engines," Gaius shrugged.
"Then I'll come with you to Alexandria," Timothy challenged. "There's the Great Library, and that's where some people have been playing around with making steam driven wheels. Everything that man knows is there. Have a look around. You still won't be able to make a useful engine, though."
"Because it's impossible?"
"For a Roman!" Timothy countered.
Gaius stared at him, then, after mumbling something about preparing to travel, he turned away. Timothy stared at the departing back, and smiled the smile of success.
* * *
A message came from Rome. Tiberius was old, soon he would die. This could be the last opportunity for a return to the Republic. He should return and take a stake in the political scene.
Gaius stared at the message. The man was an old associate of his father, which meant he would be a Republican agitator. Gaius had always felt his family was unlucky, but now he realized that was not the case. His family, being prominent in Rome, and being very wealthy, was always being made offers such as these. Invariably they had taken the wrong option, but why were they always wrong? Because they had allied themselves to people like this, people who may have good idealistic goals but who never had the drive to implement them. This man was no Caesar, so this man would lose.
He took a pen and wrote, "I believe Tiberius' successor has been decided and will be Gaius Caesar. I shall serve Caesar as best I can, and serve Rome by serving in a legion. You should forget everything about the republic and pledge your loyalty to Gaius Caesar for the benefit of Rome." He rolled the papyrus up, sealed it, and sent it back.
As Gaius suspected would happen, one of the spies for Gaius Caesar read the reply and reported.
* * *
Timothy surprised Gaius on the journey by showing a reasonable knowledge of navigation and he taught Gaius how to tell direction from the stars. He saw Mars, and was told how it would get quite bright over the next few months. All of this, Gaius thought wryly, is exactly what would be expected if Aristarchus were correct; the planets dimmed when they were on the other side of the sun because they were further away, and they were at their brightest when they were overhead at midnight, because then they were closest. Aristarchus' theory made sense except. .