Savage City Read online

  Also by Sophia McDougall from Gollancz:

  Romanitas

  Rome Burning

  SAVAGE CITY

  SOPHIA MCDOUGALL

  To my family

  [ CONTENTS ]

  Cover

  Also by Sophia McDougall

  Title

  Dedication

  Maps

  Recent History

  Epigraph

  I CORONATION

  II SUCCESSION

  III EXUVIAE

  IV MANOEUVRES

  V BORDERS

  VI BEGGING, BORROWING, STEALING

  VII COLLABORATION

  VIII FIAT JUSTITIA RUAT CAELUM

  IX RESTRAINTS

  X ARENA HOUNDS

  XI NEW YEAR’S DAY

  XII ALEXANDRIA

  XIII RECRUITMENT

  XIV COMMILITII

  XV BATTLEFIELDS

  XVI TWO DESERTS

  XVII SURIJIN

  XVIII ONAGER

  XIX ANANKE

  XX NOVIANA, NOVIANUS

  XXI PANTHEON

  CHARACTER LIST

  A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Copyright

  THE MAP OF THE WORLD

  ROMAN AND INDEPENDENT AFRICA, AND THE NEAR EAST

  MAJOR ROUTES IN THE RHA REGION

  (Venedia, Sarmatia, Armenia and Persia)

  [ RECENT HISTORY ]

  CE

  AUC

  1943

  2697

  Titus Novius Faustus born in Rome.

  1949

  2702

  Lucius Novius Faustus born in Rome.

  Prince Atsuhito, later the Go-natoku Emperor, born in Cynoto.

  1957

  2710

  Delir born in Aspadana, Persia.

  1958

  2711

  Tertius Novius Faustus, later ‘Leo’, born in Rome.

  1962

  2715

  Ziye born in Shandong province, Sina.

  1969

  2722

  Titus marries Julia Sabina.

  1971

  2724

  Novia Faustina (‘Makaria’) born to Titus Novius Faustus and Julia Sabina.

  Ziye is sold into slavery, and begins intensive training in martial arts.

  1975

  2728

  Prince Atsuhito succeeds to the Chrysanthemum Throne of the Nionian Empire.

  1977

  2730

  Lucius marries Drusilla Terentia.

  Caius Varius Ischyrion born in Rome.

  1979

  2732

  Drusus Novius Faustus born to Lucius Novius Faustus and Drusilla Terentia.

  Ziye debuts as a gladiatrix in the Roman Empire.

  1981

  2734

  Lucius succumbs to hereditary madness – the Novian Curse.

  1982

  2735

  Gaius Novius Faustus Rixa dies. Titus succeeds as Emperor of Rome.

  Tertius Novius posted to central Terranova.

  He quells an Aztec uprising and his courage gains him the agnomen ‘Leo’. He is hailed as hero, but sees hundreds of previously free Aztecs enslaved and is shocked by the experience.

  1983

  2736

  Faustus divorces Julia.

  Princess Noriko born to the Go-natoku Emperor and Empress Reishi in Cynoto.

  1984

  2738

  Leo marries Clodia Aurelia.

  With Senatorial approval, Faustus names Leo as Caesar and Imperial heir.

  Dama born to unknown slave parents in Rome.

  Clodia’s disgust at slavery crystallises Leo’s own doubts, and he plans to abolish slavery on succeeding to the throne.

  1985

  2739

  Prince Tadahito born to the Go-natoku Emperor and Lady Akiyama.

  1988

  2741

  Marcus Novius Faustus Leo born to Leo and Clodia in Tusculum.

  Sulien born to a slave mother and free father in London.

  1989

  2742

  Una born to a slave mother and free father in London.

  Princes Kaneharu and Takanari born to Empress Reishi and Lady Himura respectively.

  1990

  2743

  Lal born to Delir and his wife in Aspadana.

  1996

  2749

  Sulien and Una’s father dies. Under the terms of his will, they and their mother are freed. She, however, is unable to support herself or adjust to freedom and allows her children to be sold again to Rufius, the owner of an eating house.

  1997

  2750

  The children are separated when Rufius sells Una off. Little is known about her history between this point and the autumn of 2757 AUC.

  1998

  2751

  Sulien’s healing ability manifests and he is sold to a wealthy London doctor called Catavignus. Catavignus treats Sulien almost as a son, but attempts to locate his sister are unsuccessful.

  2000

  2753

  Faustus marries Tullia ‘Tulliola’ Marciana.

  Varius begins working for Leo as a cubicularius, or private secretary.

  Dama murders three citizens he held responsible for the death of a fellow-slave, and is crucified.

  Delir, a Persian merchant travelling through Rome, sees the dying boy from his car and rescues him. Dama survives, though he is left with disabilities and continuing pain.

  Now a fugitive, his own citizenship and that of his daughter Lal having been rescinded, Delir establishes a secret refuge for fugitive slaves in the gorge of Holzarta, near the Vascone village of Athabia in the Pyrenees. Ziye escapes slavery and arrives at the slave refuge.

  2002

  2755

  Varius marries Gemella, a cousin of Clodia’s.

  Drusus visits the Sibyl at Delphi.

  2003

  2756

  Leo and Clodia make contact with Delir and donate money to his slave refuge.

  2004

  2757

  Sulien begins an affair with Catavignus’ daughter, Tancorix. Her mother catches them in bed together. Sulien is convicted of raping a citizen’s daughter and sentenced to crucifixion.

  Leo and Clodia secretly visit Delir in the Pyrenees. Leo and Clodia are killed in a car crash in the Gallic Alps.

  On the day of the state funeral, Una escapes her owners and sets off to rescue her brother from a prison ferry on the Thames. The pair flee into Gaul. Using her ability to perceive the thoughts of others, Una supports them by working as a fortune-teller. Varius and Gemella tell Marcus their suspicions concerning his parents’ deaths – and their belief that his life, too, is in danger from an anti-abolitionist conspiracy.

  Gemella dies by poisoning in an assassination attempt on Marcus. Varius sends Marcus into hiding, instructing him to make his way to Delir’s refuge in the Pyrenees.

  Varius attempts to reach Emperor Faustus to tell him of the conspiracy and the reasons for Marcus’ disappearance. However before he can do so the conspirators realise the threat he poses; he is intercepted by Cleomenes, attempting suicide during the arrest.

  Agents of the conspiracy attempt to force him to reveal Marcus’ location. Gabinius, a construction magnate, eventually succeeds after threatening to kill Gemella’s younger sister.

  Una and Sulien meet Marcus in Tolosa, and decide to turn him in and claim the reward, and freedom. Realising their intentions, he persuades them to accompany him to the Pyrenees instead. Once there, Sulien is able to reduce Dama’s disabilities and pain. After attempts to penetrate Holzarta and kill Marcus fail, Gabinius and the other conspirators decide to draw him out of Holzarta by charging Varius with Marcus’ and Gemella’s murders. M
arcus successfully avoids the agents sent to kill him and reaches Rome. He reveals himself and the existence of the conspiracy in public, but, before the Emperor can speak with him privately, the conspirators drug him in order to convince Faustus that his nephew has succumbed to the family curse of madness. Una and Sulien follow Marcus to Rome. Dama and Cleomenes assist them in rescuing Marcus from the Galenian Sanctuary, but Dama disappears afterwards.

  Una, Sulien and Cleomenes take Marcus to the Palace where Una identifies Tulliola as a member of the conspiracy.

  Marcus is named as Faustus’ heir.

  Gabinius is shot dead attempting to escape arrest. The inhabitants of Holzarta have been forced to flee after conspiracy agents raid the camp.

  Sulien and Una are granted freedom by Emperor Faustus. Their new citizens’ names are adapted from the Imperial nomen: Noviana and Novianus.

  Tancorix has been married to a much older man and is pregnant by him; however she comes to Rome in order to exonerate Sulien and then stays there.

  Drusus meets Tulliola in custody – the pair were lovers in secret for years. He kills her to prevent her revealing his involvement in the conspiracy.

  2005

  2758

  Varius establishes the slave clinic planned by Leo and Clodia in Transtiberina, and Sulien begins working there.

  Tancorix gives birth to a daughter, Xanthe.

  Marcus begins studies at the Academy in Athens.

  Delir, Lal and Ziye settle in Jiangning, Sina.

  2006

  2759

  Tensions increase between Rome and Nionia.

  Nionian Ambassadors are expelled from Rome.

  2007

  2760

  A series of unexplained fires cause damage across the Roman Empire. A skirmish between Nionian and Roman troops over the Great Wall of Terranova escalates into a massacre and the two Empires are pushed to the brink of war. Emperor Faustus suffers an incapacitating stroke.

  Marcus and Una, now lovers, return from Greece to Rome, so that Marcus can take over as Regent.

  Drusus visits the Sibyl at Delphi for a second time, receiving a repetition and elaboration of the original prophecy. Faustus asks him to assist Marcus as an advisor, but on his return to Rome, Una identifies him as a member of the conspiracy against Marcus and Tulliola’s murderer. Drusus attempts to kill Una before she can reveal this, but fails.

  Varius, now working as Marcus’ advisor, and Una travel with Marcus to Sina for peace talks with Prince Tadahito and other Nionian nobles.

  General Salvius, persuaded that Drusus has been unjustly accused, has him released from prison.

  Drusus convinces Faustus too that he is the victim of a plot by Una and Varius, who he claims are manipulating Marcus for their own ends.

  Faustus summons Marcus home and Drusus arrives in Sina to take his place as Regent. Fearing that Drusus will have Una and Varius tortured or killed, Marcus persuades Tadahito to take them into Nionian custody. At the same time, Kato Masaru, Lord of Tokogane, is assassinated.

  From Nionian custody, Una and Varius work to avoid an immediate outbreak of war, with assistance from Noriko and the Sinoan Empress Jun Shen.

  Empress Jun Shen orders a crackdown on Roman immigrants in Sina, forcing Delir, Ziye and Lal to flee. Delir and Ziye are nevertheless arrested, leaving Lal behind.

  Drusus learns of Lal’s presence in Sina through a letter to Una; he hopes to be able to extract testimony from a former resident of the inherently criminal slave refuge to discredit Una and, through her, Marcus. His agents search for Lal and eventually capture her; however, she is rescued by Dama, who conveys her to Una.

  Unable to decide which of his nephews to believe, Faustus orders them to share power between them. Marcus, however, returns to Bianjing, attacks Drusus, almost kills him, and then marginalises him by sending him to govern Canaria.

  Marcus is now under pressure to marry Noriko to rescue the peace negotiations. Una leaves him, taking Lal with her.

  On the day of Marcus and Noriko’s wedding, Dama appears on Una’s doorstep and invites her to join him in a campaign of rescues of slaves and rebellion against slave-holding Rome. She joins him at a farm near Rome, actually a revolutionary base.

  She contacts her brother from the farm. Sulien, however, has recognised that Dama is behind the fires, many of which were mass-rescues of slaves. He also had Lord Kato assassinated and stole explosives from Veii Arms Factory – he is trying to foment a world war.

  Realising what Una now knows, Dama imprisons her at the farm and abducts Sulien and Lal. Sulien and Lal eventually escape, revealing Dama’s role in events – but not before Dama has perpetrated another attack in Tokogane, this time killing seventeen hundred people. Again, war seems inevitable, but Marcus and Noriko just succeed in preventing it. Dama allows Una to leave, and disappears.

  Distraught at what Dama has become, but unable to bear the possibility that, on arrest, he will be handed over to the Nionians and crucified, Delir finds him at Holzarta and convinces him to accompany him into voluntary imprisonment on a remote island off the coast of Caledonia. His plans in ruins, Dama tolerates captivity and penance for some months, but eventually wades away into the sea. He barely survives, but is picked up by fishermen and once again vanishes.

  2008

  2761

  Now largely recovered, Faustus resumes his duties as Emperor. Games are held to celebrate. All the Imperial Family are in attendance.

  Una sees Dama in the street nearby but is unable to stop him; Dama attacks the Colosseum setting off an explosion right over the Imperial Box, before falling to his death.

  For what do we see that is so wretched, so lonely, that one would not think it worse to live always trembling in fear of fires and falling houses, and all the thousand perils of the savage city . . .?

  Juvenal, Satire 3

  ‘Wait,’ she repeated, and then, on one breath, dying away to a garbled mutter, ‘What you want it will be you the last one Novius it will come Emperor of Rome you.’

  Then he thought she was beginning to say his name again: ‘Novius.’ And she did say it, many times, but she no longer seemed to mean it as a name, novii, novissimi – newer, newest.

  ‘The new,’ she said, a loud voice droning from deep within her chest. ‘The newer newest. The newly come, no Novian but one. The newer branch of Novian stem. No Novian but another comes to ruin you. Save yourself from that, if you think you can.’

  The Sibyl at Delphi, to Drusus Novius, Summer 2760 AUC

  [ I ]