"...the help of such people is more to be feared than the onslaught of the barbarians..."
-Poul and Karen Anderson, The Dog And The Wolf, Chapter XVI, section 4, p. 328.
By such people, he means Gratillonius who is enriching an Armorican population by seizing their loot from pirates, the very population that the procurator aims to ruin with extortionate taxes, having already sent arsonists against them.
Can the Andersons contrive to place the procurator in the path of a barbarian incursion with Gratillonius' militia as his only defense? Will Bacca fear Gratillonius' help more than the barbarians' onslaught? Since the human brain is capable of any contortion, some fanatics would indeed refuse help.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree! Gratillonius' enemies were being disastrously short sighted! While the procurator's fears of regional separatism splitting the Empire were not unwarranted, he should have worked to help Gratillonius and make him part of the STRUCTURE of the Empire. The times were changing for the worse and bold, new ideas and policies were urgently needed.
Sean
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