I
"I had a dream. I was walking in an empty and dark city. It seemed abandoned for a long time"
The oracle nodded.
"Tell me what the city looked like"
"Broken columns, I heard wolves howling and in the moonlight I recognized the buildings" the young aristocrat responded.
"Ah, so you recognized the city. So what city was it?"
The young aristocrat was fashionably but respectfully clad. The oracle would not have noticed. The native was blind.
"It was the city of my childhood. It was Rome"
The oracle grabbed the young man´s hand.
"You have been a long time away from Rome haven´t you?"
"Yes, ever since my father sent me here 10 years ago"
"You miss it?"
The aristocrat nodded but of course the oracle didn´t see. The native maybe didn´t need to hear the answer for he answered immediatly:
"It is natural. Here you are surrounded by ruins. Your legions have marched over my home country and you fear a similar fate for your country. But there is no reason for that fear. Everything comes to an end. But Rome has at least thousand years more. You will not live to see it perish."
The native oracle was a shaman that ate mushrooms and lived as a hermit. The aristocrat didn´t know of what tribe he was, whether he was an Aztec or of some other former sovereign entity. What did it matter? In only 100 years the great republic had squashed any resistance, and this old hermit spoke latin perfectly.
But he stepped out feeling that the oracle had not given him a reasonable answer. The sunlight gave him a brief headache before a native servant came running with a sunshield.
While in the shadow of the umbrella young Claudius could think more clearly. Perhaps he was giving to much attention to dreams and not enough to his studies.
II
History, his father used to say, is the key to the future. How often had Rome not been threatened by ruin or tyranny. Had it not always risen again? Perhaps his dreams of it´s destruction came from another world. A shadow world like the one Plato described.
Yes, this was an appeasing thought: "Maybe they were living in a cavern unable to see the most true and beautiful world of all. But perhaps deeper in the cavern there were even shadowier worlds where the civilisation of the Latins had never even been born. Perhaps his most disturbing and savage nightmares came from such a world."
Claudius wrote it down in his notebook. He had bought it in Sophronia in a local bookstore on the coast of the Julian sea. The notebook had been produced in Britannia by a man whose grandfather had been born in Persia. But of course Claudius was quite unaware of that.
He was in fact quite unaware by most of his surroundings. Or maybe he had already become bored with this colonial city in the mexican mountains. Just another silvermine, just another tribe.
III
Claudius was abruptly awakened. One of his servants came running and bowed down.
"What is it" Claudius could see the servant brought urgent news.
News that by the manner of the servant came from far away on a copperwire. Riding on stream of lightning.
The servant hesitated briefly, but only briefly. (Claudius was not cruel or very short-tempered):
"Master. Your father. The senator is dead. Your mother wants you to come home immediatly"
How-it didn´t say-what more?-nothing master-but how?-sorry, no word.
IV
On to the boat Claudius brought only a single book. A key to the future in form of history. His father´s favorite book:
"The eternal republic" by Gibbonius
---
Note: In this TL we will go through the history of the republic through Claudius and his ponderings on the history of his own country. There will be a traditional TL along with every chapter. Right now, the POD is still undecided.

"I had a dream. I was walking in an empty and dark city. It seemed abandoned for a long time"
The oracle nodded.
"Tell me what the city looked like"
"Broken columns, I heard wolves howling and in the moonlight I recognized the buildings" the young aristocrat responded.
"Ah, so you recognized the city. So what city was it?"
The young aristocrat was fashionably but respectfully clad. The oracle would not have noticed. The native was blind.
"It was the city of my childhood. It was Rome"
The oracle grabbed the young man´s hand.
"You have been a long time away from Rome haven´t you?"
"Yes, ever since my father sent me here 10 years ago"
"You miss it?"
The aristocrat nodded but of course the oracle didn´t see. The native maybe didn´t need to hear the answer for he answered immediatly:
"It is natural. Here you are surrounded by ruins. Your legions have marched over my home country and you fear a similar fate for your country. But there is no reason for that fear. Everything comes to an end. But Rome has at least thousand years more. You will not live to see it perish."
The native oracle was a shaman that ate mushrooms and lived as a hermit. The aristocrat didn´t know of what tribe he was, whether he was an Aztec or of some other former sovereign entity. What did it matter? In only 100 years the great republic had squashed any resistance, and this old hermit spoke latin perfectly.
But he stepped out feeling that the oracle had not given him a reasonable answer. The sunlight gave him a brief headache before a native servant came running with a sunshield.
While in the shadow of the umbrella young Claudius could think more clearly. Perhaps he was giving to much attention to dreams and not enough to his studies.
II
History, his father used to say, is the key to the future. How often had Rome not been threatened by ruin or tyranny. Had it not always risen again? Perhaps his dreams of it´s destruction came from another world. A shadow world like the one Plato described.
Yes, this was an appeasing thought: "Maybe they were living in a cavern unable to see the most true and beautiful world of all. But perhaps deeper in the cavern there were even shadowier worlds where the civilisation of the Latins had never even been born. Perhaps his most disturbing and savage nightmares came from such a world."
Claudius wrote it down in his notebook. He had bought it in Sophronia in a local bookstore on the coast of the Julian sea. The notebook had been produced in Britannia by a man whose grandfather had been born in Persia. But of course Claudius was quite unaware of that.
He was in fact quite unaware by most of his surroundings. Or maybe he had already become bored with this colonial city in the mexican mountains. Just another silvermine, just another tribe.
III
Claudius was abruptly awakened. One of his servants came running and bowed down.
"What is it" Claudius could see the servant brought urgent news.
News that by the manner of the servant came from far away on a copperwire. Riding on stream of lightning.
The servant hesitated briefly, but only briefly. (Claudius was not cruel or very short-tempered):
"Master. Your father. The senator is dead. Your mother wants you to come home immediatly"
How-it didn´t say-what more?-nothing master-but how?-sorry, no word.
IV
On to the boat Claudius brought only a single book. A key to the future in form of history. His father´s favorite book:
"The eternal republic" by Gibbonius
---
Note: In this TL we will go through the history of the republic through Claudius and his ponderings on the history of his own country. There will be a traditional TL along with every chapter. Right now, the POD is still undecided.