“As to an hereditary aristocracy, there has never been an argument for it that stood the test of time. The Honorable Representative from Westphal speaks of ‘standing against the mob,’ but who was it but the Senate that opposed the actions of Scipio Africanus in the Punic Wars? And who but the mob supported him? Again and again you see such bodies acting not in the interests of the long-term good of the nation but because of the memes and beliefs of a tiny, self-selecting body that wishes to retain power to itself. The failings of the latter North American Union stemmed not from the ‘mob’ but from the fact that some of their political parties became fat and bloated by a de facto aristocracy of the rich. Rich that were so divorced from the reality of life that they could not see disaster looming on any number of fronts. The same can be said for Ropasan Union that created a bureaucracy that became effectively hereditary and was always self-selecting. It started out divorced from reality and reached critical mass in short order.
“For myself, for my fellow representatives of Overjay and Kalinas, we will join this union. But know that within our borders, every one of the ‘mob’ is free, free to act, free to vote and grab whatever treasure and happiness they can under the law. If any ‘serf’ reaches our lands, they are free and you’ll have to send an army to ‘recover’ them. Furthermore, while we will bear the mantle of ‘aristocracy’ if thrust upon us, we repudiate the concept utterly!”
Sheida nodded at him as he sat down, glaring at the representative from Chitao, and lifted her hand.
“The issues of aristocracy and debt peonage are the last that remain. We will now take a vote on the specific changes and determine which will remain and which will not. On the subject of allowing debt peonage in territories that support it, while disallowing it in those that do not, we will now take a vote.”
As she had feared, the amendment stood. There were simply more representatives that supported it than those who rejected it. She wondered if she had made too many compromises in the towns she invited to this meeting. But she needed all the allies she could get. And, right now, that meant permitting a return to serfdom. If that was the cost, so be it.
“The measure passes,” she said sadly, looking at Edmund who just shrugged.
“On the composition of the upper house to include both hereditary aristocracy and persons chosen to lifetime appointments for their civic virtues, we will now take a vote.”
Again the vote was for aristocracy, by a wider margin than the debt peonage. She had to wonder if that was because most of the delegates knew they were shoo-ins for the first round of appointments.
“The draft constitution so stands,” she said, gritting her teeth. “Copies of it will begin circulation immediately. When the copy reaches your locality, you should debate it as you see fit within your own charters and return it as soon as possible, either with or without approval. But this is the last draft; any society that chooses to reject it rejects it totally and is outside the support and succor of the Free States. Or myself,” she added, looking at Edmund.
Edmund frowned at her but nodded his head and kept his peace.
“Thank you all for coming,” she said with a nod and then dismissed the virtual figures except for Edmund. “Are you going to toss this overboard?” she asked.
“No,” he answered after a moment. “But I’m serious about serfs who make it to Overjay. And I’ll take my legions to damned Chitao if it takes that to make them get the point.”
“How is the ‘legion’ coming?” she asked.
“It’s not even a century,” he admitted. “But it’s going well.”
“Well, as queen I’m going to have a say in the cabinet appointments,” she said. “I want you for secretary of war.”
“I don’t,” Edmund said. “I want a field command. I’m so sick and tired of being behind a desk you can’t believe it.”
“You were the one who told me to think strategic and not tactical,” she reminded him.
“I am thinking strategic,” he said. “I happen to know without a doubt that I’m the best general you have right now. Putting me in charge of forming the army is silly. That’s a job for a military manager. As long as he knows to let the professionals do the job.”
“Suggestions?” she asked.
“It’s going to depend upon who is Prime Minister,” he admitted. “But I’d suggest Spehar. He’s not nearly as good a commander or a strategist as he thinks he is. But he’ll accept insubordination from me or I’ll damned well beat his head in with my hammer.”
“I can believe it,” she said. “Get going Edmund. And say hello to Daneh for me. How’s she doing, by the way?”
“Better on the mental issues,” Edmund said. “But the pregnancy is starting to slow her down.”
“Pregnancy, yeck,” Sheida said.
“Uhmm, my queen?” Edmund said with a smile. “You do know the primary duty of a monarch, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied. “That is why I went yeck.”
“Are you planning on a body birth or a replicator?” Edmund said with a grin.
“We’re far from that,” Sheida pointed out. “Unless I clone myself, I have to find another genetic contributor. Got any plans for the weekend, Edmund?” She grinned.
“Try anything and Daneh will kill you,” he replied with a grimace. “I’ve got to get back.”
“Have fun with your army,” Sheida said with a wave. “And keep the offer in mind.”
There followed more weeks of training. Sword drill, pilum throwing, shield maneuvers marching in formation in the morning and engaging in sword and pilum training in the afternoon. The sword technique was simplicity in itself, consisting of nothing but a series of almost mechanical chops and jabs. They had set up wooden stakes wrapped in hay and they chopped and jabbed until they felt their arms would fall off.
The pilums, also, were used in a very disciplined manner. When used as spears in the advance, they were marched forward in time. The training method for this was a large construction of wooden shields on a sledge. Gunny would stand on the sledge, which was extremely heavy, and they would march into it, driving it back. Throwing was also “by the numbers,” consisting of a two count “run” and then “hurl” command. By the end of the training period, they felt like military automatons, which Herzer guessed, correctly, was the point.
They learned to create complex formations based upon trumpet calls, waved flags and shouted orders. They formed lines and squares and triangles. They charged imaginary enemies and whacked at dummies. And still they worked the A-frame weights and lifted their rocks, which were made larger and larger as time went by. They got to the point that they preferred the long route marches when at least they had some “rest” while marching. But even on the route marches, when the camp was set up there was more drill. They fought, decuri against decuri and individual against individual. And when the time came, they were integrated with the bowmen.
They had seen the bowmen working out. From time to time on their innumerable road marches they would see some of the archers moving as well. There were about half the number of archers as line infantry, and most of them didn’t seem to have bows. Herzer strongly suspected that they, too, had been doing quite a bit of weight work.