“Looking ahead to his seventeenth birthday, Augustus and the beginning of his military training.”
Galerius looked surprised. “How old is he now?”
“Nearly eleven, and well developed for his age.”
The old hooded look came and went for a moment and Constantine was sure he could read the thought behind it. With both Constantius and himself as thorns in Galerius’ side, the Senior Emperor could take little pleasure in the knowledge that still another of that family was reaching toward manhood.
“I believe General Licinius gave you new orders day before yesterday.”
“Yes, Augustus.”
“We badly need men in the East who know that country and, since you once traveled from Alexandria to the Euphrates, few should know it better than you.” The memory of the circumstances attending that ride seemed unpleasant to the speaker, for his jaw tightened briefly. “I am sorry we will not have the benefit of your experience.”
Constantine hoped
“Are my orders being changed, Augustus?” Constantine hoped the note of surprise he feigned seemed genuine enough to convince Galerius that he had not heard of it before.
“You are to join your father in Gaul. I’m sure the news will please you.”
“I’ve not seen him for a long time during which he has married again and fathered three sons and some daughters.”
“Then you will no doubt want to make sure of your own standing with him. Did you know he was ill?”
The question had been designed to catch him off guard, Constantine was sure. But knowing Galerius, he had been expecting some sudden thrust in this verbal fencing match and was ready to parry it.
“I have had no letter from my father in many months.” He was telling the strict truth, but nothing more. “I hope his illness is not severe.”
“It’s probably only a recurrent fever; all of us who have fought in other parts of the world get them occasionally. Your father is preparing to cross the Fretum Gallicum again and punish some rebels among the Piets, a stiffminded people with hiding places among the hills and chasms of northern Britain. Constantius probably feels that younger legs can chase them better.”
Read More about Euphrates with King Tiridates
