James Mace - Soldier of Rome - Heir to Rebellion

“That being said, once you get comfortable in your duties as Optio, I am going to start training you in how to be a Centurion. Artorius, I have watched you closely since the day you came to us from the recruit depot in Ostia. Vitruvius was the first to notice your real potential. He told me, ‘Keep an eye on this one.’ Statorius placed more and more responsibilities on you as time went by. You were able to seamlessly take over the duties of section leader from him, as well as Chief Weapons Instructor. Regardless of who ends up taking over this Century when I am gone, the men will know who really leads them. You were never meant to be just a rank-and-file legionary, Artorius. You are destined to lead soldiers of Rome!” Artorius lowered and shook his head.

“Macro, my transition through the ranks has felt like it was anything but seamless. There have been so many days that I have felt like I was going to be swallowed up by it all.”

“Welcome to my world,” Macro replied. “Thing is, you know your own faults and shortcomings. You acknowledge them, and you work to improve them. None of us are perfect, though where you excel is that you hide your doubts and your imperfections from the men. Where you make the biggest difference is they believe in you. And in the end, that is what really matters; not what those fools in Rome think, nor those who look to make their fame and fortune based on who their powerful friends are. No, the real measure of us as leaders and as men is in how those we lead perceive us.”

Artorius lay on the bed of the room he had rented at the inn, contemplating everything that had happened that day. It seemed like his entire world had been turned upside down. He was indeed deeply honored that Macro had selected him to be his Optio, and that he had the entire Century’s confidence and trust meant more to him than anything else. He was equally happy for his friends Praxus and Magnus, who were finally moving up through the ranks and coming into their own as well. It did seem a bit odd that he now outranked Praxus, though his old friend had told him time and again that he was glad to be working for him.

The political ramifications of his promotion deeply troubled him. He knew that the Roman army was steeped in politics, though he had been able to avoid such things for most of his career up to that point. Now he was stuck in the middle of it. Every move he made would be scrutinized by those who felt cheated that he had been promoted ahead of them, as well as those who sponsored them. Such was the dilemma in a peacetime army. With no real enemy to fight, they ended up fighting each other. Artorius could only shake his head. In his idealistic mind, these things made no sense to him. But whether he agreed with it or not, he could not change the way the establishment worked.

He then looked over at his lady companion, who was passed out next to him, lying on her stomach. She was a pretty young woman, one he had not met before. Of course with the city expanding the way it was, there was a huge influx of people that Artorius did not know. He laughed at the visible bite marks on her neck. Some habits died hard, he guessed. He gave her credit for having been a sport regarding his deviant savagery, though at one time he thought that he had broken her in half as he thoroughly violated every orifice on her body. While she had been mildly satisfying physically, he found himself feeling hollow afterwards. He was constantly looking for distractions to help him ease Diana from his mind, and he by no means wanted his only focus to be his duties. So he had found a fetching young lady that he thought would provide a suitable distraction. Sadly, he had found her wanting, even from a purely sexual standpoint.

To his best recollections, aside from a high-class courtesan that he had spent a night with in Rome many years before, Diana had been the only woman that was ever able to stand up to him physically and sexually. Most women were overwhelmed by his immense size, brutal physical power, and savage veracity; and if he could allow himself a bit of vanity, it was not just his muscles which were huge, or so he’d been told. Yet, Diana had seemed to revel in it. She was aroused by the beast inside him, and she had constantly goaded him into delving deeper into the depths of his brutality; so much so that he had had to push himself to the limit of his physical and sexual fortitude. No other woman that he knew of was able to withstand his onslaught. He wondered if it had been brought on by severe sexual repression from years of forced celibacy following her short-lived marriage when she was little more than a girl. He allowed himself a slight chuckle. A lady Diana may have been, but when it came to sex she bore an aggressive and deviant streak that could almost match his.

He sighed audibly, rolled out of bed, and got dressed. He left the inn and decided to take a walk in a nearby meadow outside the city that he knew so well. There was a full moon out that night, and the ground was well illuminated. He found his favorite tree, the one by the stream that fed downhill to the mills.

“I thought I would find you here,” he heard Magnus say as he leaned back against the tree.

“Magnus, what are you doing out here?”

“Like you, taking a break from sowing some wild seed,” his friend replied with a shrug. Artorius laughed at that. Magnus then looked at him seriously. “In all honesty, I knew at some point I would find you out here. You always come down here when things are troubling you.”

“Been spying on me have you?” Magnus shook his head.

“No, but everyone knows it. When you cannot be found in your quarters, the gymnasium, the brothels, or any other place you spend time at, then everyone knows you are down here. So are you going to tell me what has been eating you up inside since the day you got back?” Artorius hung his head low in thought.

“You know,” he began, “I am a bit ashamed to admit it.”

“It’s Lady Diana, isn’t it?” Magnus interjected. Artorius closed his eyes and nodded his head slightly.

“What is wrong with me Magnus?” he asked. “I have never allowed a woman to inflict me so. After Camilla I became hardened towards women; not uncaring mind you, just not allowing myself to have any real feelings for them.”

“Face it Artorius, you love this woman,” Magnus replied.

“I do,” Artorius acknowledged, “and I did not want to.”

“Why would you say that?” Magnus asked, puzzled. “Diana is a wonderful woman. From what I saw, she treated you really well, she has class, social standing, is intelligent, and let’s face it; she is pretty easy on the eyes! We are all looking for something in life, Artorius; whether we admit it consciously or not. I think in Diana you found it.”

“I did indeed,” Artorius remarked. “The thing is we can never be together. She is obligated to run the Proculus estate, and I am stuck here on the Rhine. Besides, she is of the Patrician class, I am not. I don’t think I shall ever see her again, and I feel empty inside because of it…” His voice started to trail off as he stared into the churning water.

“You learned a hard lesson, old friend,” Magnus replied. “But don’t let it destroy all of your hopes about women. I see you still find them attractive at least in the physical sense.” Artorius waved his hand dismissively.

“I try to find a distraction wherever I can. I have a rather voracious appetite when it comes to the sensual pleasures of women if you haven’t noticed; although my tastes are certainly more refined than our friend Valens…well maybe not anymore.” He and Magnus shared a laugh before he continued. “You know, most women break under my strength and ferocity. Diana…she held her own.”