The way the question was posed underlined it was an awkward one. Flavius thought for a moment to say no, not sure if an admission of the truth would lead him into deep waters. Yet on reflection he could not easily lie to this man and he doubted his denial would be believed. Justin had any number of sources of information and he might well know of any visits both he and Petrus had made to the dockside fleshpots.
‘Theodora?’
‘I am told that is her name,’ came a jaundiced response.
And not one you like to utter, Flavius thought. He had met the lady, if she could be called that, in the company of Petrus in his favoured dockside tavern-cum-brothel, one run by a singularly corpulent and debased Egyptian. Theodora was one of his troupe of entertainers, a quite athletic dancer, able to juggle, good with snakes and a fine singer. She was striking to look at, the flesh she readily bared much admired by the customers of the place, and bold in her person.
If she lacked education, which Flavius had to suppose would be the case, Theodora did not lack for wit or a kind of devious charm and she had certainly worked her wiles on the imperial nephew. Enamoured was too soft a word; Petrus was besotted to the point of being indifferent to possible flaws as well as the allure of any of the other dancers, and these were women he had regularly bedded, either alone or in various combinations some of which, he suspected, would have included Theodora. The lady was not regarded for her chastity.
She resented the clear regard Petrus had for him; if it was subtle, the way she sought to diminish him had become apparent at the time, even more in recollection. In the morning light Flavius had remembered the small, seemingly humorous asides that were on the cusp of being affronts, looks and words with double meanings that bordered on the salacious, designed, he thought, to make her smitten paramour jealous, not attempts at seduction but wedges to drive them apart.
Even aware of that it was hard not to be tempted for she was a beauty — and it was not just the stunning looks that made her attractive, it was her quick wits and a degree of presence and natural grace not normally afforded to those of her background, which was much chequered. Petrus was not the first man to have her sole attention; she seemingly had been the paramour of more than one other man.
‘He has asked if I would permit him to marry her.’
‘What!’
‘You’re right to be shocked. If the Sabbatius name is not amongst the most elevated it is high enough to make such a thing unthinkable. His mother would crucify me.’
‘Quite apart from his being your nephew.’
It was the measure of Justin the man that he blushed at that; he never wished to be thought of as grand, even when clad in purple and gold. ‘I suppose it will pass. We have all been struck by that singular arrow called lust at some time, and such a passion usually burns out.’
‘Of course,’ Flavius replied, his tone guarded.
He was far from sure that Justin was right, either, about everyone being subject to such a thunderbolt; he never had and it gave him cause to wonder when and who had struck his mentor, an event that would have had to have preceded his marriage. Nor was he convinced regarding Petrus, and it was not just the way he was behaving; the Theodora he had met and recalled on waking was not one to extract her claws once they were firmly in the Sabbatius flesh.
‘Anyway, that must be left to time. Tell me about your adventures.’
‘What adventures? We marched up and down the border, we trained and we fought one battle that ended with no fanfares for anyone.’
‘How do you think the men in command behaved?’
‘Well,’ came the immediate response.
‘Do not confuse loyalty to those you have served under with your duty to me Flavius.’ There was no mistaking the change of tone; Justin had gone in a blink from surrogate father to imperial master. ‘Was it a battle we could or should have won?’
The reply came after a lengthy pause. ‘Not with what we possess.’
‘Explain.’
‘We lack a weapon to drive off their horse archers, who have a bad effect on any body of troops exposed to their fire. Yes, they can be compelled to retire by cavalry but once they have gone in pursuit of these Armenians, then they are as good as lost to the men who command them and they must continue the battle without one of their main components. I did formulate a way that might be countered but I hesitate to suggest it to even you.’
‘Who else would you suggest it to?’
‘The military commanders.’
‘Who would have to come to me, so you may as well bypass that and speak up.’
‘It is not a wholly formed idea.’
Justin stopped abruptly, forcing Flavius to do likewise, and given he was half a head taller, the way he was looking down as his young protégé showed he was irritated and that was amplified by his tone of voice.
‘If you have thought on this Flavius, you will have done so assiduously. If you do not know to avoid dancing around the bushes with me then I wonder if you have any knowledge of my person at all.’
‘It may be foolish.’
Justin began to walk again, forcing Flavius to scurry to catch up and match his longer stride, speaking over his shoulder. ‘If it is, I will let you down with gentleness.’
‘In everything we have done we Romans copy our enemies.’
‘No arrogance there, eh?’ Justin hooted. ‘A thousand years of success in war dismissed in a sentence.’
‘Did we not follow the Huns when it came to fighting on horseback?’ That got a nod. ‘Yet it is the Sassanids who have taken their bows and allied them to horsemen who can use them and move simultaneously.’
It was necessary for the sake of clarity that Flavius explain the effect of those tactics in an actual battle — the confusion and the effect it had on formations ready to do as required by their commanders — not because an old soldier who had faced the same enemy needed it but to set up his argument for a different kind of mounted force.
‘One that needs to be both disciplined and flexible.’
‘Are those two aims not mutually exclusive?’
‘What if the horses were not ponies and swift but heavier beasts, with barding on their chests and flanks to protect them against arrows and spear thrusts.’
‘Which would slow them.’
‘Speed is not the only aim. Cohesion and impact are. I think we can improve on the Sassanid cataphracts with the use of speedier and specially trained horses.’
The younger voice took on the air of a preacher then, as he added the details of what he had in mind. ‘A unit of heavy cavalry armed with bows as well as spears, well protected both in themselves and their horses, able to attack enemy infantry like a wall of flesh and bone, and drive into their formation having assailed them first with arrows.’
‘And a mounted foe?’
‘They would have nothing to fear from ordinary cavalry and, if need be, they would have the ability to engage and drive off enemy horse archers without indulging in a furious chase that takes them out of the battle.’
‘Numbers?’
‘One numerus to begin.’
‘Horses?’
‘There are many of the kind we need in the Cappadocian herds, as I found out on the way home.’
‘Armour and barding?’
‘Specially designed, again lighter than the cataphracts to assist with speed. I can show you some drawings I have made but I would need to go to the imperial factories and talk with those who will be required to make what is needed. Weapons we have already and all they will require is to be adapted.’
‘And you think, Flavius, this will win us our battles.’
‘I would be happy, Highness, to start by not losing one. The only reason we did not do so recently is that the Sassanid general did not press to do so. Had he attacked the second day I suspect we would have been obliged to flee for the safety of Dara.’