A Man of Weight

In 153 BC, after three generations of Roman government and misgovernment, both the eastern, "nearer," province of Roman Spain: "Citerior," and the distant western province: "Ulterior," flame with violent insurrections, revolts further fueled by invaders from from unconquered Lusitania. Alarmed by these uprisings the Roman senate has ordered two newly elected magistrates, the Consul, Quintus Fulvius Nobilior and the Praetor, Lucius Mummius, to put out the fires in Hispania. Servius Fulvius Flaccus joins the army of his "half-uncle" Nobilior as a Military Tribune commanding a cohort of legionaries. Although the senate expects the Consul to quickly bring order to Citerior, Servius recognizes that Nobilior's two legions of new recruits are as unseasoned as most of their politically appointed officers. They are in no shape to fight lethal barbarians who have a string of victories to their credit over previous Roman armies. He believes that Nobilior has not given enough attention to bringing his soldiers up to a professional level. So Servius goes to work to whip his assigned cohort into shape. It is his duty, he reasons, and it is also the only way he and they will get out of Hispania alive. Servius's actions gather a group of like-minded officers around him. Although Servius and his cohort become conspicuously valuable in a series of clashes, Nobilior seizes an unexpected opportunity to rid himself of his maverick half-nephew by loaning Servius to the Praetor, Mummius - shifting Servius to Ulterior, away from his friends. Servius makes a name for himself serving under Mummius by taking on new challenges. In Mummus's army he learns more than he expected about the nature of the subjects Rome is attempting to discipline, about failures even good leaders can suffer on the road to success, and about the prices a leader and his men must pay to secure victory and respect. Servius also learns surprising political lessons. These insights range from how to handle his divided personal staff to the consequences of changes of leadership at the very top of the Roman political system. Servius establishes his value to Nobilior, Mummius, and to several of their highest ranking subordinates. He discreetly whispers political information from Rome into appropriate ears. He has the his first confrontation with Scipio, his patron, and the Cornelian set. Through one transition after another Servius makes useful friends, assembles political denendents, builds alliances, and establishes his credibility as a man other citizens must respect in public affairs. Escaping disease, death in battle, and ambushes both miltary and poltical, Servius Fulvius Flaccus eventually returns to Rome in 151 BC - to celebrate the Triumph of his final commander, and to apply his new understanding and his hard-earned reputation to the problem of personal advancement along the tricky paths of Roman politics. A Man of Weight is a story of conflict: between the Roman Republic and its subject populations and among members of the Roman governing class. It explores the nature of the Roman army and the ways in which Roman leaders raised and used it. Readers of novels about Rome's eventual transformation into an autocracy, such as the books of Robert Harris, Colleen McCullough, and Steven Saylor, may also enjoy the back story behind events in those books.