Carrhae by Peter Darman

bring back six sculptors who worked with clay. Aaron quite reasonably asked what the money was for and was given short shrift by Dobbai, who waved him away. When he said that he was not accustomed to giving money away freely she reminded him that had it not been for me he would have been nailed to a cross by the Romans, which meant that I owned his soul and he should do as he was told. Aaron took umbrage at this and stood before her with his arms folded.
    ‘Any expenditure should be ratified at the council meeting, majesty,’ he protested.
    ‘He is the king,’ snapped Dobbai, jerking a thumb at me, ‘and can do what he wants with his own money.’
    ‘The contents of the treasury belong to the king, of course,’ riposted Aaron, ‘but he has charged me with its safekeeping to ensure it is not frittered away on frivolities.’
    Dobbai glared at him. ‘Frivolities! The safety of the empire is not a frivolity, Jew. The matter that concerns me is of the greatest import.’
    Aaron laughed. ‘I hardly think a pouch of coins is going to change the course of history.’
    Dobbai’s eyes burned with anger. ‘Get out! Before I weave a spell to turn you into a frog that will be eaten up by a cobra.’
    Aaron pointed a finger at her. ‘You are an abomination in the eyes of god.’
    Dobbai laughed. ‘What god is that, Jew?’
    ‘The god of Abraham who created the world and everything in it.’
    ‘Your god is weak and helpless,’ she sneered, ‘and has no power here. What sort of god lets his people be turned into slaves without raising a finger to help them?’
    Aaron looked at me, shaking with rage. ‘What she says is blasphemy, majesty. I must protest in the strongest terms. If this was Judea she would be stoned for saying such things.’
    Dobbai laughed even louder. ‘Judea? The last I heard it was a Roman province. And whereas your god does nothing while its people are crushed I intend to enlist the aid of our gods to turn back the invaders.’
    Aaron was going to reply but I held up my hands to call a halt to their bickering. I placed an arm around Aaron’s shoulder and thanked him for his diligence and loyalty and asked him if he would liaise with Marcus and Arsam concerning the production of the new arrows for the army’s horse archers. Dobbai watched him go contemptuously.
    ‘The Jews are a most tiresome people,’ she muttered, making herself comfortable on Gallia’s throne.
    ‘Aaron is a good man,’ I said. ‘You should treat him with respect.’
    She waved a hand at me. ‘Why, because he can count beyond one hundred? He has proved useful in filling your treasury with gold but now his usefulness has come to an end. You should get rid of him.’
    ‘I will do no such thing,’ I replied. ‘He is loyal, hard working and diligent.’
    ‘So is a mule,’ she retorted, ‘but you would not make one your treasurer. You should have a man who worships our gods instead of a foreign heathen.’
    Now it was my turn to laugh. ‘Look around you, Dobbai, this city is full of foreign heathens. Men and women from the four corners of the earth have made Dura their home, that is what makes it strong.’
    She curled a lip at me, reached into her robe and pulled out a folded papyrus sheet. She unfolded it and handed it to me.
    ‘Here. Go and collect these.’
    I took it and saw six names written on it: Domitus, Kronos, Drenis, Vagises, Vagharsh and Thumelicus.
    ‘Go and collect them and bring them here,’ she ordered.
    I waved over one of the guards but she held up a hand to him.
    ‘No, you must be the one who gathers them, son of Hatra.’
    And so I left her in the throne room as I went to the stables to collect Remus, on the way passing the chief steward who was ushering the sculptors through the reception hall. I also encountered Thumelicus and told him to attend Dobbai in the palace, ignoring his probing questions and ordering him to change the habit of a lifetime and obey commands without question. I rode to the