Dacius had been relieved of his duties as Constantine’s second incommand with the cavalry detachment and was now in command of a section of the Imperial Guard. When he had escorted the Emperor to his private quarters, Constantine sought the grizzled centurion. Dacius listened in silence to the account of the conversation with Diocletian but when Constantine came to the request from King Tiridates, he whistled softly to himself.
“It’s all over the insula that Diocletian has ordered Galerius to restore Tiridates to his throne. If you accept the offer, you will become a general overnight.”
“The Emperor refused it for me. I had no choice.”
“Would you have accepted, if the opportunity had offered?”
‘I think not.”
“Why?”
“The Emperor gave me the answer when he said Galerius would be well advised to encourage Tiridates, so I would be hidden away in Armenia outside the main current of political events.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Dacius told him. “Galerius intends to make Maximin Daia the Caesar of the East, but he’d be no match for you, even in Armenia. As cadets, you always could best him at everything except treachery. And with Tiridates behind you, Augusta Euphratensia, Mesopotamia and perhaps even Syria would fall into your hands like ripe plums.”
“You’re dreaming again,” Constantine told him with a smile. “Anyway the Emperor refused to let me go.”
“He’d relent, if you really want the post and asked Constantius to plead your cause.”
“Perhaps. But I’m not going to ask my father for help.”
Roman history in the making
Dacius subjected him to a moment of scrutiny with the wise and wintry eyes that had seen so many years of Roman history in the making. “So you’re going to gamble for even higher stakes than being a general, though you’re not even twentyfive yet? What will it be the purple of a Caesar?”
Constantine smiled. “Why not the robe and crown of an Augustus?”
“East or West?”
“No real reason exists for having two, you know.” Constantine’s voice was serious now. “Firmly ruled, the Empire would be better off with only one court and one army ready to move rapidly wherever trouble develops.”
Dacius got up quickly and went to open the door. When he saw that the corridor outside was empty, he drew a sigh of relief and shut it again.
“I’ve already forgotten what you j’ust said,” he told Constantine, and now his face was very grave. “See that you don’t repeat it again, until you are ready to put the whole plan into effect.”
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