Fatum Per Annorum Milia (3)

“Let us finish our conversation, then talk more of it.”

 

“We can finish it, but I really want to know how you knew
that about me.” He hadn’t recognized the old man, maybe he had seen him
somewhere else before, maybe at an AA meeting, an NA meeting? That would make
sense for the knowledge he had. He was positive that he had never seen the man
at church.

 

“Let’s just say that there are a group of us that know most
things. We are the most ancient of orders, far earlier than Rome, the
Etruscans, or any society that developed in the land you call Italy today, but
we still recognize that as the center of civilization, the nucleus if you will,
of all human advances, both technological and societal.”

 

Leonard was beginning to think that the guy was a little on
the crazy side, but he was certainly intriguing. “Yeah, sure...and people call
me crazy.” He was becoming a bit more comfortable. There could be other
explanations too, maybe he was a friend of a friend, maybe Leonard had met him
before, perhaps briefly, and didn’t remember. There could be many explanations
as to how the old man knew things about him.

 

“They call you crazy because you take the Bible literally,
against all scientific evidence to the contrary. If taken metaphorically, it is
much easier to argue, yet still has many weak points to consider.”

 

“So, I have a debate to look forward to when you are done
with your history lesson?”

 

“Not at all. I will listen politely and respectfully to all
you have to say. I won’t deny anything nor condemn you for your beliefs.”

 

“Okay then.”

 

“Who was the second person that contributed to the rise of
Christianity so significantly?”

 

“Caesar?”

 

“Caesar was a proud Roman, and I believe I told you that
this person did not consider himself to be Roman at all.”

 

“My knowledge of ancient history is a bit on the light side.
I have no idea.” Leonard thought about famous historical figures of the time
that were not Roman. “Socrates?”

 

“No, this person’s destiny led him to Rome. He lived after
Socrates but before Constantine.”

 

“Cleopatra?”

 

“I used the pronoun, he. This person hated Rome and
all it stood for, primarily because Rome put him in a position to do so.”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“What position in society is the most degrading?”

 

“Beggar? Homeless? Servant?”

 

“Beggars and servants still have some semblance of freedom.”

 

“A slave?”

 

“Yes. Who was the most well-known slave of the time, dare I
say the most well-known slave of all time?”

 

“Spartacus?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“Didn’t he live and die before Christ?”

 

“He died in 71 BC, or BCE as we say these days, and was born
in 111.”

 

“Well then, how could he have possibly contributed to
Christianity? That doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“You agree that Constantine contributed greatly to the rise
of Christianity, yes? Or...at least you understand why I mentioned him?”

 

“Sure, but he became a Christian, and I suppose because he
was in power, he was followed?”

 

“One doesn’t need to be any religion at all to affect
history, to stamp his name in what you perceive as a linear timeline, to alter
events that could have gone an entirely different way, if allowed.”

 

“I don’t understand.” He didn’t know what the old man was
getting at. It was Leonard’s opinion that it was getting a little sillier, much
less concrete, even getting to the point where it seemed almost wishful
thinking.

 

“Constantine was an emperor, yes? If he wasn’t an emperor,
his religious opinions would have held little sway. I daresay, if he wasn’t an
emperor, he never would have come across Christianity at all.”

 

“So?”

 

“So, Rome was a republic for hundreds of years before it
became an empire. A kingdom turned republic, then later a republic turned into
the most powerful and dynamic empire ever seen.”

 

“How did Spartacus turn a republic into an empire? He wasn’t
even part of it.”

 

“He contributed greatly, not even knowing that a decision he
made would ultimately start a chain of events that would strengthen his enemy
after his death.”

 

“Wasn’t it Caesar who turned it from a republic to an empire?”

 

“Caesar played a major role, and he did become the first
emperor in all but name.”

 

“I thought it was the guy after him. Caesar just set it up.”

 

“You are a human. You speak like a human. If you referred to
yourself as a cat, I would still call you human,” said the old man.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Caesar never called himself emperor, but his successor,
Augustus, also never referred to himself as an emperor either. I am of the
strong opinion that Caesar was in fact the first emperor. He didn’t make the
drastic domestic changes that Augustus did, and was actually going to engage
the Parthenians in war before he died, primarily because he was of the opinion
that his popularity arose from his conquests. But I say he was actually the
first emperor, regardless of what others say. He effectually brought about an
end to the republic and declared himself dictator for life.”

 

“Why don’t we say Caesar was the second person who
influenced Christianity?”

 

“Augustus never would have been emperor without Caesar, and
Caesar never would have done what he did without others who preceded him. The
republic was in disarray for over a century before Caesar came to power.
Everyone looks at Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, bringing his soldiers to
Rome, as a massive event. And it certainly was, as at that point Caesar could
not turn back. However, we often forget that Sulla had done that a mere
thirty-eight years prior. Sulla marched on Rome and seized power.

 

“Go back further, cracks were forming in the great republic.
It was basically the same thing that usually happens before a revolution: the
rich taking advantage of the poor, murdering of people in power, such
monumental things forging precedents that allowed people to get bolder and
bolder in their distaste for how the republic was being run. You can go read up
on this. The Roman Revolution didn’t happen overnight, and didn’t even happen
in one man’s lifetime, but slowly occurred over decades and decades.”

 

“Okay, fine, but I still don’t see how Spartacus fits into
all that. He certainly wasn’t trying to become emperor of Rome, was he?”

 

“No, he wasn’t trying to become emperor. He wasn’t even
attempting to end all slavery. He was merely attempting to escape. He did it
intelligently, gathering forces, freeing other slaves, training them as warriors,
as he had much experience killing both as a soldier and a gladiator. He could
have escaped.”

 

“Why didn’t he escape?”

 

“Ask historians, and they have different theories. He could
have headed north, past Rome and out of Italy. Suddenly, he turned back and
headed for Sicily. Why? He could have made it out of Rome, to Freedom.”

 

“Why didn’t he?”

 

“There are many theories why, but the truth is that modern
historians aren’t sure. They rely heavily on documentation to recreate history,
to understand, but not all things were documented, or if they were, the
documentation was lost through the ages. Some believe that he didn’t think he
could make it. Others put forth the proposition that he intended to attack
Rome. What they do know is that he turned back south, hoping to free more
slaves from Sicily.

 

“He, of course, failed in that endeavor, was forced north
again, and eventually his army was defeated and he was killed.”

 

“I suppose you know why he turned south, instead of
escaping?”

 

“I do.”

 

“How do you know? How are you sure when you tell me that
other historians don’t know? Why should I believe you?”

 

“We can get to that later, as I have said.”

 

“Okay, then. I am still suspending any judgement or
beliefs...or at least trying to.”

 

“Spartacus turned back south because it was suggested to
him, by a slave he had recently freed, a slave that was prone to giving advice
to Spartacus and his generals, a slave that had taken months to gain the trust
of Spartacus for the sole purpose of getting him back south, giving the Romans
time to assemble an army to defeat him. The slave gave this information
convincingly enough, and it was what led to Spartacus’s downfall.”

 

“The slave didn’t know that he would be defeated?”

 

“The slave did know. The slave felt horrible, but convinced Spartacus
to turn back south.”

 

“Why would he do that?”

 

“Let’s just say that the slave served the Fates.”

 

“The Fates?”

 

“Destiny.”

 

“What in the hell does any of this have to do with
Christianity?’ Leonard felt a bit flustered and was beginning to wonder if the
old man was more than a little bit crazy, not just a bit off, but clinically
psychotic, having intricately complicated paranoid delusions. It took a moment
for Leonard to realize that he wasn’t fond of using the word, hell, as
it was somehow blasphemous.

 

“We’ll get to that. You needn’t worry. I just wanted to set
the background, make it easier for you to understand.”

 

“I understand that Christianity was built on Judaism, does
it have something to do with that?”

 

“No. Well, no in the sense that it relates more to
Christianity. On another level, Judaism set up Christianity as well.”

 

“I don’t understand why you are saying all of this.”

 

“Suspend judgement, listen, and then I will listen to you. I
believe that we have already been over this”

 

“I think that they have both been guessed. Isn’t it my turn?

 

“Do you understand all the whys involved?”

 

“No, but that wasn’t the deal, was it?”

 

“Not exactly, but if you want me to listen to all you have
to say, then wouldn’t it be more than fair for you to do the same?”

 

“Okay, fine.”

 

“Thank you. As I was saying, Spartacus revolted, he had a
clear shot to head north into the alps and beyond. Some say he didn’t know he
could make it; some believe his men were more interested in staying in Italy
and looting villages; a few dreamers even think, or perhaps just hope, that he
wanted to stay and end slavery in Rome, bring down the institution altogether.
I have told you why he turned back. On one level it almost doesn’t matter why
he stayed. The fact that he stayed set a series of events in motion that
destroyed the Roman Republic and brought about the Roman Empire.

 

“Initially, it was corruption that brought about the end of
the regal period in Rome, so they decided that they would rule with senators.
Sure, they had tribunes to look out for the Plebians, but there was a lot of
dissatisfaction going on for over one hundred years near the end of the
Republic. It seems that the senators themselves were not above being corrupt.
This slow revolt against the Republic came to a head when Julius Caesar crossed
the Rubicon, took control of Rome, and eventually defeated Pompey. Caesar could
not have done that without a number of other things happening first, some of
them over a century before Caesar came into power.

 

“One of those key things was the amount of power given to a
general. The senate was very careful about giving too much power to any one
man. They knew what could happen. The opinion of the mob was quite powerful.
They had noticed this with Pompey, as he was becoming increasingly popular.
Pompey could be controlled by the senate, barely. He was happy to achieve great
things, then rest on his laurels. He was not the next Sulla, but the senate
also knew that another man, given that power might be more than the next Sulla,
as Caesar turned out to be.

 

“When Spartacus first broke free, Rome paid little attention
to it, thinking it would be very easy to put down a small slave uprising. The
Romans thought differently than people do today. It wouldn’t have occurred to
them than an inferior lot of people could possibly become a serious threat.
Spartacus defeated Glaber, then Rome sent Publicola and Cladianus who were both
defeated quite easily. These defeats occurred because it was expected that
those opposing Spartacus were merely going to put down a group of undisciplined
rabble instead of a well trained military force. Spartacus had had some
military experience in Thrace, then had much more training as a gladiator. It
became clear to Rome that throwing a few soldiers at the problem wouldn’t make
it go away. Enter Crassus.

 

“Rome was busy at that time, as they were most times, with
conquest and insurrection. When one attempts to take over the world, there will
be constant issues that don’t always affect peaceful nations too much. In the
west, Pompey was putting down a revolt in Hispania. In the east Rome was
fighting the Third Mithridatic War. It wasn’t an ideal time to deal with a
slave revolt so close to the capitol. They needed more troops and a strong
leader to deal with Spartacus: Crassus was the only one to volunteer.

 

“Crassus?” asked Leonard.