“We became good friends on the march. I admire him very much.”
“Tiridates says he owes you his life. He wishes to make you general of all the forces in his kingdom when he is restored to rule.”
Constantine was startled but by now had learned to hide his feelings. “It is an honor, sire,” he said carefully, without committing himself.
“And something Galerius should welcome, if he were a statesman, instead of simply a soldier. Occupied maintaining the frontier, in one of the farthest comers of the Empire, you would no longer be a threat to him and that scowling nephew he plans to appoint as Caesar of the Eastern district.”
“Are you going to assign me to King Tiridates, Dominus?”
Enjoy Maximian’s discomfiture
“And lose the only officer I can depend upon to see that I live to abdicate at the end of twenty years and enjoy Maximian’s discomfiture, when I make him join me?” Diocletian gave a short bark of a laugh. “No, Tribune, you are going to stay here.”
Constantine drew a quick sigh of relief, for his ambition was considerably higher than the position of a general commanding troops in a subject kingdom like Armenia, in spite of the fact that it would mean a considerable elevation in rank.
“One task I do have for you here in Antioch that of guarding my wife and daughter,” Diocletian continued. “The city has always been a center for the Christians and I hear that a very eloquent priest has recently come here from Caesarea and Tyre. Both Prisca and Valeria imagine they favor that stubborn faith, so they are certain to want to hear him.” Diocletian gave him a searching glance. “Wasn’t your wife a Christian?”
“Yes, Dominus.”
“And you?”
Constantine shrugged. “Rome’s gods are my gods though I see no harm in these people.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Diocletian. “In troublous times like these the Empire needs only one loyalty to the Emperor. These Christians claim a higher one to a man they worship as the son of a god they say no one has ever seen. They are growing in number every day, so I may have to destroy them lest they convince the people that I am not a god and destroy me. Meanwhile, I shall depend on you to watch over my wife and daughter.”
“The Lady Valeria is the wife of Caesar Galerius,” Constantine reminded him. “He may not approve.”
“Galerius does what I tell him and Valeria is my daughter. You are responsible to me alone, Tribune.”
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