The Blood of Gods A Novel of Rome - By Conn Iggulden Page 0,102
was not as if the two brothers were a danger.
‘Very well, this once,’ he said reluctantly. He could refuse her nothing.
Vedius smiled at her, revealing broken teeth and withered gums. She ignored him completely and his expression soured.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The sun was still warm on Agrippa’s back, though the seasons had begun to turn and every tree had taken on rich hues of red and gold. He stood on the edge of Lake Avernus, looking out over half a mile of deep water. Where once the lake had supported only a small village on the shore, it had now become an outpost of Rome, with tens of thousands of men working hard from dawn to dusk. On one edge, twelve galley hulls were under construction in immense cradles. Even from the far side, he could see men swarming over the beams and the sound of hammering carried to him in the still air. Three completed ships surged across the surface of the lake, darting around each other as they trained.
‘All right, I am impressed,’ Maecenas said at his shoulder. ‘You’ve done wonders in just a few months. But I can see one small problem with your plans, Agrippa.’
‘There is no problem. Octavian gave me two legions and every carpenter and shipbuilder left in Italy. Two days ago, I signed an order to strip the woodland from a senator’s estate and the man did not even dare object. I can build the ships, Maecenas.’
Maecenas stared across the lake, watching as the galleys lunged and feinted at each other.
‘I don’t doubt it, my friend, though even a few dozen galleys won’t be enough to take on the fleet. However …’
‘With forty galleys, I will take him on,’ Agrippa interrupted. ‘I’ve been on these ships for years, Maecenas! I know every inch of them and I can improve them. Walk to the new ones with me. I’ve had an idea for a weapon that will surprise Sextus Pompey.’
The two men began to walk along the lake’s edge. Maecenas could hear the shouted orders to the rowers on the glassy surface. His friend had taken the idea of unlimited funds to heart, so much so that Octavian had sent Maecenas south to see what was costing so many millions each month. From what Maecenas could see, that sum would only increase.
‘I have spotted a flaw in your plan, Agrippa,’ he said, grinning to himself. ‘You have your secret fleet and I can see you are training legionaries to use them. Yet there will be a small difficulty when it comes time to take them out to sea.’
Agrippa glowered at him. ‘I am not an idiot, Maecenas. I know the lake has no access to the coast.’
‘Some men would consider that a problem for an ocean fleet,’ Maecenas observed.
‘Yes, I can see it amuses you. But the coast is only a mile away and I chose this lake carefully. I have unlimited numbers of labourers. They will build me a canal to the sea and we will float the ships out.’
Maecenas looked at him in amazement.
‘You think it can be done?’
‘Why not? The Egyptians built pyramids with thousands of slaves. I have surveyors out preparing the route. One mile, Maecenas! That is not too far for men who have laid a thousand miles of road.’
The noise of hammering grew as they approached the construction site. Men carrying bags of tools trotted everywhere, pouring with sweat as they worked in the sun. Maecenas whistled softly as he looked up at the closest galley. He had never realised how big they were before. Eleven more in various stages of completion stretched into the distance. He reached up to the oak beams that held the main length of a galley keel. The air smelled of fresh-cut wood and he could see hundreds of carpenters on the ladders and platforms that allowed them to reach any part of the ship’s structure. As he watched, a team of eight men held a beam in place, the ends slotting together so that one of their number could use a hammer to knock in a massive wooden peg as wide as his arm.
‘What are you paying the men?’ he asked.
Agrippa snorted. ‘Twice what they could earn anywhere else. The master carpenters are on three times their usual wage. Octavian told me I had a free hand and the most important thing was speed. That does not come cheaply. I can build his fleet, but the costs are high if he wants them quickly.’