"David Drake - Belisarius 3 - Destiny's Shield" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

"Yes," said Belisarius.
Justinian shook his head. "God, what a waste. Did the jewel ever show it to
you, Belisarius? That future that would have been, had the Malwa never risen?
The future where I had you ravage the western Mediterannean in the name of
reconstituting Roman glory? Only to see half the Empire die from the plague
while I used the royal treasury to build one grandiose, useless monument after
another?"
"The Hagia Sophia was not useless, Justinian," demurred Belisarius. "It was --
would have been -- one of the world's genuine glories."
Justinian snorted. "I will allow that one exception. No -- two. I also
codified Roman law. But the rest? The -- " He snapped his fingers. "That
secretary of yours. You know, the foul gossip. What's his name?"
"Procopius."
"Yes, him. That fawning toad even wrote a book glorifying those preposterous
structures. Did you see that?"
"Yes."
Michael spoke. "I hear you've dispensed with the reptile's services, now that
you no longer need him to pass false rumors to the enemy. Good riddance."
Belisarius chuckled. "Yes, I did. I doubt very much that Malwa spies place any
more credence in his claims that Antonina was spending all her time at our
estate in Syria holding orgies in my absence."
"Not after she showed up at the Hippodrome with her force of Syrian grenadiers
and smashed the Nika insurrection!" barked Justinian. The former emperor
rubbed his eye-sockets. "Since he's out of work, Belisarius, send him to me.
I'll give him a book to write. Just the kind of fawning propaganda he wrote
for me in another future. Only it won't be called The Buildings. It'll be
called The Laws, and it will praise to the skies the Grand Justiciar
Justinian's magnificent work providing the Roman Empire with the finest legal
system in the world."
Justinian resumed his seat. "Enough of that," he said. "There's something else
I want to raise. Belisarius, I am a bit concerned about Antonina's expedition
to Egypt."
The general cocked an eyebrow. "So am I!" he exclaimed. "She's my wife, you
know. I'm not happy at the idea of sending her into a battle with only -- "
"Nonsense!" snapped the former emperor. "The woman'll do fine, as far as any
battles go. Don't underestimate her, Belisarius. Any woman that small who can
slaughter half a dozen street thugs in a knife fight can handle that sorry
bastard Ambrose. It's the aftermath I'm worried about. Once she's crushed this
mini-rebellion, she'll be moving on. To the naval side of your campaign. What
then?" He leaned forward, fixing Belisarius with his eyeless gaze.
"Who's going to keep Egypt under control?"
"You know our plans, Justinian. Hermogenes will assume command of the Army of
Egypt and -- "
The former Emperor snorted. "He's a soldier, man! Oh, a damned fine one, to be
sure. But soldiers aren't much use, when it comes to suppressing the kind of
religious fanatics who keep Egypt in a turmoil." He sighed heavily. "Trust me,
Belisarius. I speak from experience. If you use a soldier to squash a monk,
all you create is a martyr."
Justinian now turned to face Michael. "You're the key here, Michael. We will
need your religious authority."