Heir of Aurelian

Chapter 92 Selecting a New Magister Militum

In the city of Constantinople, the eastern roman regent, Yazdegerd I, stared at the scene of the crime with utter fury on his face. He could hardly believe that the greatest general that eastern Rome had at its disposal was taken out in his own home. Words from the man’s bodyguards stated that he bought a slave earlier in the day, and brought her back to his place to test her out. However, she killed him silently, and absconded from the scene without the bodyguards being the slightest bit aware.

In response to this, Yazdegerd had the men who were supposed to guard Frugi beheaded. There was no tolerance for dereliction of duty in the eyes of the Sassanid King, and regent of the Eastern Roman Empire. He could only sigh as he gazed upon the stiff corpse of the magister militum before giving out the orders to bury it.

“Bury him with full honors and find out who is responsible for this attack!’

Though the man expected that Marcellus was responsible, as an act of retaliation for the eastern roman assassination attempt on his life, Yazdegerd had to be absolutely certain before he tried to start a conflict with the Western Roman empire. After all, he had his own empire to worry about, and should he march to war with the west, he would leave the Sassanid Empire vulnerable to foreign invasion. Such a thing was unacceptable.

After ordering for Frugi’s burial, Yazdegerd returned to the palace in Constantinople to meet with his charge, Theodosius II, and inform him of the general’s death. The boy’s mother had passed away when he was but a helpless infant. As for his father, the man had not so wisely placed the Sassanid king as his son’s regent and tutor shortly before passing away himself.

Without any parents, the young eastern roman emperor was now left under the care of the Sassanid King Yazdegerd I, who thought of the boy as one of his own sons, while simultaneously treating him as a puppet._.

Theodosius II was barely even eight years old, yet he had been in power practically since the day he was born, as co-emperor to his father, Arcadius. Now he was the Emperor, with a foreign King as his regent.Yazdegerd approached the boy, who was seated upon his throne with a bored expression on his face, and began to speak to him as if he were the most powerful man on the planet.

“Your supreme majesty, Theodosius, I regret to inform you that your enemies have slain your magister militum. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the need to find a replacement for the great Aulus Pontidius Frugi…”

The young child cocked a brow when he heard this before asking for clarification on what was just spoken.

“Frugi is dead?”

Yazdegerd wore a bitter expression on his face as he nodded his head.

“I am afraid so…”

Theodosius had the same lazy expression that his uncle once had as his eyes drifted off into space, saying a random collection of thoughts that proved his disinterest in the subject.

“Is that so?”

With that said, the topic had come to a screeching halt as Theodosius shifted the attention elsewhere. Yazdegerd could only sigh with disappointment as he tried to redirect the boy emperor back onto a topic of grave importance.

“Anyway, I assure you that I will do everything in my power to select the best candidate to replace him!”

Theodosius nodded his head in silence, it was clear that he had no actual intention to rule at such a young age. He preferred other activities, like watching chariot races. Upon noticing the emperor’s disinterest, Yazdegerd sighed heavily once more before coming up with some excuse to leave the child to his thoughts.

“Well, if you will excuse me, I will go deal with such urgent matters. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

The young emperor merely nodded his head and waved Yazdegerd off. Though Yazdegerd thought of the boy as his own child, he could not help but complain when he was alone about how indolent the boy had become following his father’s death.

He wanted to believe it was a coping mechanism to deal with the fact that he no longer had any parents, but if such behavior was allowed to continue, Yazdegerd was afraid that Theodosius would follow the example of his uncle Honorius. Honorius had proven to be a man who betrayed his regents, and Yazdegerd would not allow himself to suffer the same fate as Flavius Stilicho.

Thus, the man concluded that after he finished selecting a new magister militum, he would begin to discipline the boy emperor so that he did not turn out like his pitiful uncle.  After leaving the Palace and gathering the eastern Roman Generals, Yazdegerd informed them of Frugi’s untimely demise.

“The magister militum is dead, assassinated in his home by a common slave. We do not know who encouraged this slave to act with such malice, nor where she is currently located, but there is an investigation into the matter as we speak.

In the mean time, we need to select a new Magister militum from among the ranks of eastern Rome’s greatest officers. Though many of you are qualified in your own ways, I have decided to reward Drusus Valerius Durio with the position.

Durio was astonished when he heard this, as were the other high-ranking officers of the eastern roman army. The man was relatively untested in the field and had only recently gained his position as a field army commander. Despite this, the man had close ties to the Sassanids having married one of their noble women, and was completely loyal to Yazdegerd. A quality that the eastern regent desperately desired at the moment.

It did not take long for the other generals to understand why the young officer was chosen for such a lofty position. Though they had their disagreements, none of them spoke ill of the appointment, at least not openly in front of the regent. Yazdegerd was a petty and spiteful man, and those who did not heed his rule would be severely admonished for their opinions.

Yazdegerd had specifically chosen Durio as Frugi’s successor because he was untested in the field. Under Yazdegerd’s grand scheme, he would give the young man a few easy victories against the barbarians in the balkans, and through the use of propaganda, herald him as Marcellus’ rival. Yazdegerd expertly planned everything when it came to Frugi’s replacement. As for the young man himself, he instantly kneeled before the Sassanid King and voiced his loyalty aloud for all present to hear.

“I promise to make you and the young emperor proud as the new Magister Militum. I assure you, I will do everything in my power to defeat Rome’s enemies and remove the usurper in the west from his seat of lies!”

Yazdegerd merely smirked when he heard this before responding to the new Magister Militum with a haughty tone.

“I expect great things from you, Durio. Do not disappoint me!”

With this, a new Magister Militum had been selected to guide Eastern Rome’s armies into future victories. In reality, Frugi’s replacement was nothing more than a puppet of the Sassanid King, and by extension his empire. If Frugi was aware such a man would be selected as his successor, he would be rolling in his grave. After all, he had been fiercely loyal to the Theodosian dynasty his entire life.

Whether this new Magister Militum would be a match for Marcellus had yet to be seen. After all, Marcellus was not only older than the man, but had many victories under his belt. However, should the Eastern Roman Army combine their might with the Sassanid Army and march on his borders, even he would have a difficult time defending Rome.