“And then on to Rome! He who has the city holds the key to the Empire.”
“Tell me,” Dacius said. “Has there ever been a time since Marios left you with me in Nicomedia when you doubted that you would one day rule the whole Empire?”
“Yes, once.” Constantine’s face sobered.
“When was that?”
“At Dura, when we were behind the Persian lines.”
“I remember it well. But you couldn’t have been in doubt very long, for the next morning you had a whole plan of action outlined. What gave you confidence?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it was a sign from heaven.”
Busy building the prosperity of Gaul to the highest possible level and forging a powerful military machine there, Constantine nevertheless kept a close watch upon events in Italy through his spies. With the wealth he had seized in Libya at his command, Maxentius was not long in taking the first crucial step in the deadly game of intrigue and war being played out for control of the Roman Empire. He ordered all statues of the Augustus of Gaul tom down and degraded publicly and Constantine’s name erased from public buildings in Rome and throughout Italy twin insults obviously intended to provoke Constantine into starting the war that had now become inevitable.
Waiting for Maxentius
Constantine, however, was biding his time, waiting for Maxentius to make a move that would give him the advantage he so badly needed because of the inferiority in numbers of the Gallic legions. He had been busy building up his army for two years since the death of Maximian, but it still numbered only some ninety thousand men and eight thousand of the fleet and highly trained Gallic horse commanded by Crocus. And since at least a fourth of these were required at all times to hold the frontier of the Rhine against the Germanic chieftains, the eighty thousand men Maxentius was reported able to put into the field, along with forty thousand Carthaginian troops raised in the Libyan provinces, outnumbered Constantine’s forces nearly four to one.
Several things were in Constantine’s favor, however. One was the fact that his army was a highly trained fighting machine, veteran of many border clashes and commanded by experienced officers, while Maxentius’ troops had been softened by idleness and debauchery and the newer levies had never been tried in battle at all. In
the political sphere Constantine had moved to tie Licinius closer to him by officially announcing the betrothal of Princess Constantia to his fellow Augustus. Another move was made for him when, unexpectedly, a delegation of Senators and noblemen from Rome appeared at Treves, asking for an audience.
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