Free Roma Mater by Poul Anderson Page A

one, aren’t you, friend?’
    ‘Orders. What are you doing here?’
    ‘I’m a publican.’
    ‘I thought so.’
    ‘We were delayed – some bumpkins got obstreperous and we had to teach them a lesson – and didn’t reach Gesoriacum till the gates had closed for the night. I suppose you walked around the city wall, from the military post? It wasn’t worthwhile persuading the guard to let us in, when this hostel is so close by.’ Lugotorix winked and nudged Gratillonius. ‘And free.’
    ‘I didn’t know your business entitled you to government accommodations.’
    The governor has authorized me. Specifically authorized me.’ Lugotorix rolled a pious glance ceilingwards. ‘After all, the state must have its internal revenue.’
    Those youngsters in the stable – you’re dragging them to the slave market?’
    A man laughed. ‘Not exactly dragging,’ he said. ‘Give the little buggers a taste of the whip, and they run along so fast their leashes nearly choke ‘em.’
    Lugotorix peered at Gratillonius. ‘Did you take a look? Well, don’t get mawkish, my friend.’ He drained his goblet and refilled it. A certain slurriness suggested he was a bit drunk. ‘They weren’t abused, were they? Properly fed, I swear, and you saw for yourself they have a warm sleeping place and clean straw. Why damage the merchandise? Not that it’ll fetch much. Hardly worth the trouble of collecting and selling. But I’m a patriot like you, Centurion. I feel it’s my duty to the state to crack down on tax delinquents. I’m very patient, too, especially considering that this is my livelihood and I have mouths of my own to feed. I give those families plenty of time to find the money. Or if they can’t, I’ll take payment in kind, cattle or grain or whatever, marked down no more than necessary to compensate me for the added inconvenience. But they snivel that they’d starve. What can I do then but confiscate a brat? It helps keep the rest honest. If you let somebody evade his taxes, soon you must let everybody, and the government will have no more internal revenue.’
    ‘What will become of the children?’ Gratillonius asked slowly.
    Lugotorix shrugged. ‘Who knows? I pray they’ll land in nice Christian homes and learn the Faith that will savetheir souls. See what a good work is mine in the sight of God! But I do have to take the best offer I get, you realize, or else how could I meet my own obligations to the state? And whelps like that don’t command any large price. They have to be housed and fed for years, you know, before they’re grown to field hands or maidservants or whatever.’
    A man leered. ‘Got a whorehouse in town where some of the customers like ‘em young,’ he said.
    ‘I don’t approve, I don’t approve!’ Lugotorix maintained. ‘But I must take the best price I can get. Besides, those rustic brats are seldom pretty enough. We may have one this time, but believe me, she’s a rarity.’
    Her hands had lain in Gratillonius’s.
    He gulped his wine more fiercely than it deserved. The Empire still did fairly well by its officers, most places. In return, his immediate duty was to sound out these people. They must travel rather widely and hear news from farther yet.
    ‘Well, never mind,’ he achieved saying. ‘Look, I’m bound west to Armorica. I can’t tell you more. Now I have, um, been out of touch. If you can give me some idea of what to watch for along the way, I’ll be grateful. So will … Rome.’
    Flattered, Lugotorix rubbed his chin and pondered before he replied: ‘We don’t hear much from those parts. Courier service across them has got precarious, at least for private messages. Official dispatches have nearly absolute priority, and I understand they aren’t too sure of getting through any more. I actually know better what’s been happening in Massilia than in Baiocassium, say … You shouldn’t have trouble here in Belgica. It suffered little from the Magnentian War, and the