The Eternal Empire by Geoff Fabron

out of the Arabian peninsula and wrestled Syria and
Palestine permanently and Egypt temporarily from the Empire.
    Along the Rhine, the relationship
between Rome and the countries that eventually emerged from the tribes of
Germania settled into a series of vicious wars separated by periods of uneasy
peace. It was only during the wars against the Turks in central Europe in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that Roman and German armies had fought
together against the Ottomans in defence of Christendom. However, even this alliance
did not significantly soften Germanic resentment towards the Empire. Some
German historians had suggested that Constantinople had initially encouraged
Ottoman attacks on the Christian States East of the Rhine and had only joined
in against the Turks when they had extended their jihad to include Imperial
lands south of the Danube.
    Cornelius skimmed through the chapters
he had previously read on the train until he got up to date with the war of
1895. It had been sparked off by the Saxon desire to bring the Duchies along
the Rhine under her control and to reduce imperial influence. Following her
victory the Empire strengthened its hold over the Duchies foreign and trade
policies.
     
    17th
January 1920
    Minden,
Saxony
     
    It was pouring with rain as Cornelius strode
across the city square towards the castle entrance. He did not spot Katherine
outside, but found her sheltering just inside the gate house. As he came up to
her she glanced at the large clock tower which dominated the square. It began
to ring out the chimes for ten o'clock.
    "Right on time," she said
with an approving smile, "are you always this punctual?"
    "I try to be," Cornelius
replied shaking the rain off his overcoat, "I'm glad that the ambassador
and your brother didn't suggest a tour of the local battlefields, we would get
soaked!"
    "I hope that you aren't angry at
being fostered onto me," Katherine said, "my brother is constantly
trying to 'involve' me with young men. He feels that a woman of my age should
be happily married and since our fathers death he has felt responsible for my
welfare."
    "No, I'm not angry," replied
Cornelius, "my mother has been trying to marry me off to a childhood
friend for years, so I know how you feel."
    "In that case," said
Katherine happily, "let me show you around the museum."
    The original castle had been built in
1250 but had been changed and added to so much over the centuries that its
first owner would have barely recognised it now. A number of interior buildings
had been added to house the museum exhibits recently and it was to these that
Katherine led Cornelius. The first had a statue of an ancient barbarian warrior
chief with an axe in one hand and three Roman Eagle standards in the other.
They stopped before it.
    "Now I can guess who this
is," said Cornelius. "Arminius, with the Eagles of the XVII, XVIII
and XIX legions, destroyed in Teutoburgerwald in 9 AD."
    Katherine gave a little clap.
"Well done. I thought that the memory of that defeat would have been
erased from imperial text books a long time ago."
    "Oh no," said Cornelius,
refusing to rise to her playful taunts, "we have always believed in
learning from our mistakes. That is one of the Empires greatest
strengths."
    "And what did you learn from this
defeat?" asked Katherine.
    Cornelius stood looking at the statue
for a moment, and then spoke solemnly.
    "Arminius was an officer of
auxiliaries in the Roman Army. He actually led Quinctilius Varus and his three
Legions into an ambush whilst they were on their way to their winter quarters
on the Rhine." He paused for a few seconds in contemplation. "Out of
some 18,000 troops and 12,000 civilians only a few hundred reached the fortress
of Aliso on the Rhine, the German tribesmen sacrificed the prisoners to their
pagan gods in the forest." He then turned to Katherine and put his face
close to hers.
    "Of course," he said as a
wide grin split his face, "the main lesson was never to trust