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

humor.
Of course, the Duke of Wellington was not a nice man, either.

In the room, Justinian remained in his chair. He spent some time pondering the
general's last words, but not much. He was far more interested in
contemplating a different vision. Somewhere, in the midst of the horror which
the jewel had shown him, Justinian had caught a glimpse of something which
gave him hope.
A statue, he had seen. Carved by a sculptor of the figure, to depict justice.
The figure had been blind.
"In the future," murmured the former emperor, "when men wish to praise the
quality of justice, they will say that justice is blind."
The man who had once been perhaps the most capable emperor in the long history
of the Roman Empire -- and certainly its most intelligent -- rubbed his empty
eye-sockets. For the first time since his mutilation, the gesture was not
simply one of despair and bitterness.
Justinian the Great. So, more than anything, had he wanted to be known for
posterity.
Perhaps . . .
Theodora, at Belisarius' urging, had created a position specifically tailored
for Justinian. He was now the empire's Grand Justiciar. For the first time in
centuries, the law of Rome would be codified, interpreted and enforced by the
best man for the task. Whatever had been his faults as an Emperor, there was
no one who doubted that Justinian's was the finest legal mind in the empire.
Perhaps . . .
There had been Solomon and Solon, after all, and Hammurabi before them.
So why not add the name Justinian to that list?
It was a shorter list, now that he thought about, than the list of great
emperors. Much shorter.



Chapter 5
MUZIRIS
Spring, 531 A.D.
"Any minute now," whispered the assassin at the window. "I can see the first
contingents of her cavalrymen coming around the corner."
The leader of the Malwa assassination team came to the window. The lookout
stepped aside. Carefully, using only one fingertip, the leader drew the
curtain aside a couple of inches. He peered down onto the street below.
"Yes," he murmured. He turned and made a gesturing motion with his right hand.
The other two assassins in the room came forward, carrying the bombard between
them. They moved slowly and laboriously. The bombard was two feet long and
measured eight inches across. It was made of wrought iron bars, square in
cross section and an inch thick. The bars were welded together to form a rough
barrel about six inches in diameter, which was then further strengthened with
four iron hoops. A thick plate was welded to the back of the bars. The bombard
was bolted down to a wooden base -- teak, reinforced with brass strips --
measuring three feet by two feet. The two men strained under the effort of
carrying the device.