“But only because my father moved from Milan into Gaul, when yours took his army to Britain, and secured the Rhine crossing at Colonia Agrippina and Mogontiacum.”
“That is true,” Constantine admitted. “I suppose he would like to do it again.”
“He might, if Severus doesn’t support your father. Now that Constantius is married to Theodora, all of us in the family must help each other.” She gave him a quick, teasing kiss. “So you see you have every reason to make a name for yourself in Britain. Conquer the Piets and push on north to the Antonine Wall; then cross over to seize Hibernia and you will rule an area worthy to name its own Augustus.”
“How do you know these things?” he demanded, fascinated by her familiarity with cities of which he had hardly even heard.
“By learning them, of course. As soon as I decided to become Augusta of Britain a few months ago ”
“A few months ago!”
Theodora saying your father had demanded
“Mother had a letter from Theodora saying your father had demanded that Galerius send you to Gaul to help him put down the Piets,” she explained patiently. “I remembered then that Carausius had once been Augustus of Britain, so I started reading about it.”
Cologne and Mainz
“You’ve forgotten that Carausius was only allowed to rule because your father and mine were busy making Gaul safe for Rome. When that task was finished, he was destroyed.”
“Only because Carausius sought to extend his rule to Gaul,” she corrected him. “Surely you knew that.”
Constantine was not too clear, history never having been his strongest point, but had no intention of letting her know it. “You see what happens to people who become too ambitious?” he said triumphantly.
“Were not going to take Gaul!” Fausta’s voice was a little sharp; the teacher was obviously beginning to lose patience with her pupil. “You’re already a hero from the Persian campaign and Theodora’s sons are much too young to rule. For the time being, you can become Caesar of Britain and later Augustus. Then, when your father abdicates at the end of twenty years, you will rule Gaul, too. And, with the two greatest armies in the Empire at your back, you can march across the Alps and make yourself ruler of Italy, and Europe in a few months to say nothing of the rest of the Empire.”
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