Free Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome by Edward Crichton Page B

from another.  Back home, unless one was truly trapped in the wilderness, finding a road or random cottage in the countryside wasn’t difficult. It allowed observant people, like me in particular, to immediately recall an exact location on a map as easily as a GPS device could offer it.  But the Romans hadn’t built that many roads out here, and in our current location there was nothing, just an endless sea of green and brown.
    Luckily, after years of military training, all I needed to find my way was a compass and a vague idea of where I was on a map, which I didn’t have in any physical form, but the one in my mind would do just fine.  I’d never had an old friend’s innate sense of direction when in tight quarters, but out in the world, I was pretty good at finding my way around.
    And I had been in this area before.
    I glanced at my watch again, hit the compass setting, and turned myself so that I faced south.  I raised a hand and pointed ahead and just a little to the right.  I opened my mouth to speak but then closed it, swinging my head around to my left, an odd feeling creeping up my spine just then.  A sense that I could feel someone watching us overwhelmed me, but with nothing in visual range, I ignored it.
    “There should a road in that direction,” I finally said, turning back around.  “When we reach it, we should be able to follow it to a small town.  Lutetia.  There should be lodgings on its outskirts.”
    “Yes, I have heard of it,” Agrippina said, “but how do you know of it?”
    “Oh, I’ve been there before.  Twice actually.  A couple of years ago and back when I was a kid.”
    Her eyes widened in surprise and excitement, just as they always did when I connected something from her world with something from my own.  “The town remains two thousand years from now?”
    “Sure does,” I said, almost having forgotten how great it felt when I got to play history teacher.  And it was nice that she was such an energetic student, which was also refreshing. “But it’s far more than just a town .  Many of your Roman cities still exist actually, although little of the original cities remain, but the location for their modern equivalents didn’t change much.  Would you like to know what Lutetia is called back home?”
    “Of course!”
    I smiled.  “Paris.”
    She grew even more excited, and shot a hand out to grip my forearm.  “Named for the Trojan hero?!”
    I looked down at the childish way she’d reached for me and almost chuckled.  “Sure.  Maybe.  I don’t know actually.  I thought it might have come from a local tribe with a similar name, but maybe you’re right.  They do call it the ‘city of love’ after all.”
    Agrippina smiled as well, but with the return of those seductive eyes as well.  “As any city named for the lover of Helen would be.”
    I looked away from her but then performed a quick double-take, the name Helen bringing back familiar memories of a woman’s face I couldn’t quite identify.  I shook my head and tried to forget about it.  “Sexual lovers, sure, but actual ones?  No.  Hardly.  They…” I paused and shook my head again.  “Never mind.  I’m sure we could debate Homeric verse until the cows come home, but that’s not going to get us to Lutetia before nightfall.  Come on.”
    I walked away and it took a moment before Agrippina caught up, asking in a confused voice, “What cows do you speak of, Jacob?  Jacob…?”
     
    ***
     
    Wherever the overwhelming might of Rome went, Rome itself followed.  Roman legions didn’t just conquer territory, they romanized it.  With them came the construction of roads, the establishment of new towns and villages, and once a territory was subdued and occupied, a more modern civilization was created.  Mail was carried through conquered areas, much like the postal system back home, aqueducts were constructed, and roadside inns popped up along Roman roadways as well, generally spaced so