"Lenses?" Zeno said.
"Yes, they are pieces of shaped glass with strange properties. Glass is a Babylonian invention, and the purest glass is still made by artisans from that part of the world. Actually, the Egyptians have been making glass for a thousand years or more, but they only use it for things like perfume flasks and other frivolous uses. Anyway, there is a man here named Aristobulus who has a workforce of these glassmakers who turn out lenses of varying properties. They can make small objects appear large and vice versa. He uses arrangements of these lenses to make distant objects seem closer. Other glass objects, too-prisms, he calls them. They cast a very pretty beam of many-colored light, like a flat rainbow."
"Very interesting," Izates muttered. "Not as impressive as a flying man, though."
"That is true. They seem to have the flying gadget under control now. A number of slaves got killed getting it to work, but now they have free men using them. Makes sense when you think about it. I mean, give a slave a flying machine and you've lost your slave, haven't you? The flyers have grown insufferably arrogant, though. They swagger around the city as,if they're a superior breed of men."
"Well, they do fly," Izates said. "I suppose it could make a man conceited."
"Ah, here's our lunch," Flaccus said. Slaves carried in trays and pitchers, and the new acquaintances confined themselves to small talk while they ate. The Greeks described the rebuilding of Rome as they had observed it; Flaccus told them of the latest Alexandrian gossip. The huge, polyglot city with its vast number of inhabitants of many nations was a bottomless well of social and political prattle, which the Roman seemed to find hugely amusing.
"The Greeks are trying to be philosophical about this sudden expansion of Roman power, but they hate to see anything eclipsing the prestige of Greek culture. The. Jews are abuzz over the way our colleague, Titus Norbanus, has unified their nation under a single king. We just got the word a few days ago. They don't seem entirely pleased with the news, though. I get the impression that they like disunity, being a naturally fractious people. The natives are biding their time. They believe that eventually all the foreigners will be expelled and the great days of the pharaohs will return. Egyptians are patient. Their history goes back thousands of years, so the last few centuries under foreign rule don't amount to much."
"They have been conquered by foreigners before," Izates observed, "and expelled them."
"Their ancestors were more manly," said Flaccus. "Those I've met seem to be natural-born slaves."
"You Romans are born with swords in your hands," Zeno said. "I think it would take a warlike nation indeed to impress you."
Flaccus waved a dismissive hand. "Qh, the discipline and fighting skills are only a part of it. It's what everyone raves about, but I believe our political instincts are what have made us supreme. The Gauls are a brave people, skilled at arms. We've conquered them. You've never seen anyone as ferocious as the Germans, but we're conquering them, too. We haven't really outfought them, but we've outthought them."
"This has worked well against uncivilized people," said Izates. "Clearly, tribal societies devoid of unity cannot for long prevail against a great nation with a splendid army. But now you are moving into the civilized world, and kingdoms are very different from tribes."
"Only in degree," Flaccus said. "A kingdom is one big tribe under one big chieftain. If the king is a fool, the whole nation suffers. If the royal succession is disputed, there may be civil war. We think a republic is better, and we prefer to have our disunity at the top."
"How do you mean?" Zeno asked, fascinated.
"All philosophers agree that monarchy is the wisest form of government, aristocratic oligarchy the next best, and democracy the worst," Izates said.
"I take it you've stood in the Forum and heard the Senate debate inside the curia?" Flaccus said with a sly grin. "Sounds like a big dogfight, doesn't it? That's the way we like it. Let the senators thrash it out among themselves and leave the commons and the soldiers out of it. Eventually, they'll agree on a policy and then send it out to the commanders in the field. Once policy is set, the state acts as one man."
"Yet your General Norbanus," Izates said, "is off acting like a conquering king, a new little Alexander, without guidance from the Senate."
"Just a temporary expedient," said Flaccus. "The distances are vast and we haven't yet set up a proper communication system. Sooner or later he'll return to Italy and his legions will be back under senatorial control. The whole reason for winning glory is so that he can stand for higher office, and he must lay down his command to take part in the elections. It's all part of our scheme for keeping any one man from grabbing too much power."
His words sounded confident, but both Greeks could see that this was a touchy subject, in Alexandria as at Rome. Norbanus was setting a dangerous precedent.
"Still," said Zeno, steering to a safer subject, "your government is an oligarchy. In our conversations with Gabinius, we learned that most senators came from a small group of families. The commons really have little say in their government."
"True," Flaccus admitted. "We are far from democratic and the senatorial order is a hard nut to crack, but men of outstanding merit get into the Senate, I assure you. I've known consuls whose fathers were peasant farmers and who started their careers as common legionaries. It isn't easy, but it can be done. We purposely don't make it easy. We don't want mere demagogues to rise to power, any more than we want aristocrats aspiring to royal dignity.
"Likewise, we don't allow senatorial families to produce generations of nobodies who live in idleness on inherited wealth. If they can't produce men of courage and capability, they might as well join the class of merchants and businessmen. The elections will assure that. Though not exactly democratic, they express the will of the people with a fair degree of accuracy. Cowards and bumblers do not get elected to the higher magistracies, no matter how noble their families."
"Admirable," both Greeks muttered, wondering how far reality fell short of this ideal. From what they had seen thus far, it came chillingly short.
"But I am sure you want to see what is going on here," Flaccus said, signaling for the slaves to clear away the remains of lunch.
"Aren't you going to look over the documents we've brought?" Zeno asked.
Flaccus glanced at the scrolls and tablets on the table. "Oh, I shall. Eventually."
Izates cleared his throat. "Um, if you will not think the observation too impertinent, you seem to have a rather Norbanus-like disregard for senatorial guidance."
Flaccus shrugged. "Really, there is no rush. I already know what is in there. There will be a pompous official pronouncement from the Senate. Then there will be some letters from Gabinius and other friends and allies, telling us about the real political climate in Rome and what our enemies are plotting against us. Just the usual stuff. After all, what we do here in Alexandria is merely a sideshow. The real action just now is in Sicily and Judea and parts eastward, soon to be followed by the real war against Carthage. We really don't merit much senatorial attention."
Flaccus clapped his hands and a pair of young slaves came running with his armor and weapons. "The queen insists upon these military trappings," he grumped as, with some difficulty, the boys got his old-fashioned, muscled cuirass buckled about him. "She wants everyone to be in no doubt where her support lies. The locals are frightened of Carthage, but they have learned to be truly terrified of Rome."