Heir of Aurelian

Marcellus sat at his desk. He had just awoken from another dream about his past life. While his household was getting accustomed to its new members. The man had locked himself away in his office. His purpose was to design a new communication system.

One of the flaws that his empire had was a complete and utter lack of fast communication. This meant that when a border region was attacked, it could very well be weeks before he became aware of it. In these cases, by the time he responded, the barbarians would already have caused massive damage to the region.

In his dream he had witnessed his history professor speak about the pony express. A form of communication that was established in the 1800s in America to allow for rapid transit of communications.

The idea was to keep horse stations all across the nation. Where one rider would travel for ten miles before coming across the next station, where he would hand of the letter to the next rider, and so on and so forth until the message finally reached its destination.

This method of fast communication was entirely plausible to introduce within the borders of the Roman Empire due to the massive amount of roads that had been constructed throughout the centuries.

When combined with his existing structure of local garrisons in each town and village, along with military outposts spread out across the territory to alert the majority of limitanei when a region came under attack, would create a robust network of communication and armed response to any armed conflict that broke out within the borders of the Roman Empire.

Thus, Marcellus was now hard at work, designing these relay stations, so that he could relay messages across the entirety of the Empire at a speed that would allow him to react to any problems that occurred in the timeliest of manners possible within a pre-industrial society.

At this moment, a knock appeared on the man’s door, when the young girl, Pulcheria, entered. There was a stern look on the girl’s face as she sat down across from the Roman Emperor before chastising the man for lying to her previously.

“You lied to me!”

Marcellus had no idea what the girl was talking about. He merely placed down his writing instrument and gazed upon the girl with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

“What the hell are you talking about, Pulcheria?”

The girl was practically pouting as she continued to scold the man who had the power to seal her fate, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“You told me you repented for your sins and accepted Jesus into your heart. But you have not once stepped foot in a church since we returned! You’re a liar! And I hate liars!’

In response to this line of reasoning, Marcellus merely scoffed before scolding the girl for her naivety.

“I recall saying that I repent for my past sins. Which I sincerely meant, but I am fairly certain that I made no mention of converting to your religion. You should really quit acting so pious. It’s not adorable in the slightest. A girl your age shouldn’t be so worried about religion and the afterlife.”

Pulcheria’s fists curled as she restrained herself from speaking words she knew would offend the Imperator. She took a few moments to calm herself before responding to Marcellus’ shameless remark.

“Now that I know your true character, I will be better guarded against you in the future. I will warn my sisters not to trust you, as you are a cunning man who manipulates words to your own benefit while making false promises to little girls!”‘

Marcellus simply scoffed before shifting the conversation to something less irritating.

“Besides my personal beliefs, how are you enjoying your stay in Rome so far? Is there anything you need that I can fetch for you?”

The girl merely pouted and shook her head. She did not want to fall prey to this con man’s false tongue once more. She merely sat there, refusing to utter a word. Which evoked a sigh from Marcellus as he tried to get the girl to forget about her stubbornness over what gods he chose to worship.

“I will assume that your silence means you are doing just fine and require nothing further on my part. So allow me to pose another question. Just how are you and your sisters getting along with your aunt?”

Though Pulcheria didn’t want to say anything and didn’t do so for some time. Ultimately, her inexperience got the better of her and she let something slip in a voice so low Marcellus nearly missed it.

“She’s alright…”

A smirk appeared on Marcellus’ face as he heard this, before interrogating them further.

“Oh, is that so? Well, I’m glad you get along so well with your aunt. Because after all, I’m just a filthy godless heathen who manipulates little girls, isn’t that right? It’s good to know that Placidia is here to protect you from little ol me…”

Pulcheria’s face reddened when she heard these words. She could tell by the tone in the man’s voice that he was mocking her previous statements towards his character. The truth of the matter was that Marcellus had made great efforts to look after her and her siblings. He treated them like a proper family member should and ensured that they were well provided for.

However, Pulcheria was instilled with religious teachings by her own mother, and because of this she could not get over the fact that Marcellus worshipped the ancient deity Sol Invictus. Her mother had always warned her that pagans were dangerous and vile people. Yet, despite these words, Marcellus continued to treat her as his own family.

Perhaps this was why Pulcheria was so insistent that Marcellus convert to her faith. After all, it would put her mind at ease, while also conforming to her beliefs. So long as Marcellus was a good man, who rejected the Christian god, it spat in the face of everything her mother had taught her about pagans.  Ultimately, she calmed her heart before glaring at Marcellus one more time.

“So you really have no intention of being a good man! You just want to be an old villain for the rest of your life?”

In response to this, Marcellus merely scoffed before lecturing the girl on her naivety.

“In the name of your religion, I have seen countless men kill innocent people by the thousands. Men, women, and children, all butchered because they did not worship the same god as you. Tell me, are those men who condemn innocent children to death? Are they good men?

By virtue of worshipping christ, are they a better man than me, who has only ever taken a life in defense of my homeland? You’re a naïve little girl who has yet to understand the ways of the world. In what way are you capable of judging me? I sincerely hope you ponder what I have said before you next condemn me as a wicked man. Now if you don’t mind, I have work that I must finish, and little time to do it in…”

After hearing this, Pulcheria was stunned into silence. She did not say anything in her defense, and merely left Marcellus to continue his daily tasks. She would ponder his words for some time before coming to a single conclusion about the nature of virtue.