“We had run into equestrian deities,” The albino priest explained at the end of his story, “But that soldier seemed more afraid that I had the ring of the Legio Occulta than of the enemies that surrounded us.”
The air in the auguraculum of the temple of Jupiter was now almost unbreathable, due to the humidity that the impending storm had spread over Rome. Darkening clouds were massing around the top of the temple and the growl of thunder was becoming more frequent.
“Those Thracians let us pass because they knew we would end up in the arms of death.” Dagos realised that his words had not convinced the other priests. “But the legion,” he added, “knew exactly how to deal with them. With tactics I had never seen before.”
“Tactics? What tactics?”
Another flamen adjusted the cassock on his shoulder and took a step forward to distinguish himself from the ranks of his peers. “We do not face the gods. We do not fight the gods. This is madness.”
“But not all gods are the same,” replied Dagos, “And they are not all of the same opinion as men.”
“Nonsense. Our task has always been and always will be to gain their favour.” The flamen took another step and stood before the albino priest as if wishing to challenge him. “Daring to put yourself on the same level as the gods is suicide. It will only bring disaster. Those madmen in black will upset the balance we have been laboriously building since the very foundation of the city.” He turned to look at the rex sacrorum. “We must stop them at all costs.”
A chorus of approval rose among the ranks of the priests gathered in the temple.
“I don’t think so,” Dagos tried his best to be heard, “I have seen what they do and how they act. They would never dare confront the gods.” The augur turned to the point of the room from which the protests against his words had been the loudest, “Once I arrived at the place where the cohorts of the Macedonian Legion were camped, I had the opportunity to talk at length with that aquilifer. His men had been called in because the spies sent out into the territory had learned that the Thracian tribes were persistently turning to local deities to gain them victory against us.”
‘Exactly,” said the flamen, “that’s what I said. The gods must be consulted to entreat a favourable climate for the battle, but never challenged.”
“That was what I thought too. But only until I saw that handful of men at work. I can assure you that things are not always as easy as we imagine them to be. It is not enough to erect temples or sacrifice herds. There is something deeper. More ancient. Something that we, perhaps, have not recognised.”
The flamen stared at him for a long time. Then he laughed bitterly. ‘I cannot listen to such blasphemies. Not in this sacred place.” He made a gesture of dismissal with his hand and went back to his colleagues.
The rex sacrorum did not move. He waited for the background noise to subside and then turned again to the albino priest. “Go on, Dagos.”
“That aquilifer, whose name was Marcus Lucretius, explained to me that we had come across allies of the Thracians. It seemed that their priests had been particularly convincing.” He glanced sideways at the flamine that had gone away. “More so than ours, at least. Evidently they had used means unknown to us.”
He opened his hand to show everyone the ring.
“Do you realise what you are saying, young augur?” The rex sacrorum stared intently at Dagos. “You are telling us that a group of legionaries have challenged and defeated the gods.”
“Not the gods, not our gods. We have built temples in every province of the Empire, but we have only concerned ourselves with the most influential deities. Meanwhile we have forgotten those divinities who tend to converse more frequently with local tribes.”
“Mere idols, without influence.”
“If you had seen what I saw, and heard what I have heard, you would not say so.” The silver ring rolled in the palm of his hand. In its setting, the wild horse seemed to kick the snow.
“I showed that aquilifer the ring I had stolen from the soldier who died in Africa. I lied that he had been a friend of mine and so gained his trust. I did so because I had a great desire to be welcomed among their ranks and the moment seemed favourable to me.”
All present reacted with amazement to his assertion, but Dagos went on regardless.
“I was not wrong, but it was not easy to gain his trust. There was a long internship, where we met frequently, and I underwent various tests.”
“Tests? What kind of tests? ‘
“Demonstrations. Eventually my contact was convinced that I could take the final step and so…”
“How do we know we can believe any of this?” said a voice from the group of flamines. A stout man in his forties with large black eyes and Greek features took a step forward.
“But it’s true!”
“So you say. But what if you have invented the entire story and you are instead one of them? A spy who has come here to count us, to get a good look at all our faces and then report back to Augustus, perhaps telling him that we are plotting something against him?” said the flamen, folding his arms.
Dagos felt disconcerted. He looked around several times until he met the gaze of the rex sacrorum.
“Actually, there is another reason why I was summoned.”
“It is true,” confirmed the high priest, trying to disguise his embarrassment. “I wanted Dagos to be here today to share his experience with us.” He climbed down from the altar and approached the augur, placing a hand on his shoulder. “An experience that will be very useful to us.” He took a step towards the augur and looked at him intently.
“Go ahread.”