Augustus Leontius Flavius dropped the scroll he was reading and rubbed his tired eyes. The scroll landed on top of a heap of other scrolls on his desk - some opened, many more as yet unread. It was late and he was beginning to feel his brain slowing down. He grunted to himself in mild amusement. So this was what being Roman Emperor meant? He couldn't fail to see the irony. All the men through the history of this great Empire who had been so willing to shed other mens blood to win - or keep - this ultimate prize, and for what? So they could read endless diplomatic reports, provincial accountants estimates of income, reports from the treasury, complaints from governors too lazy or incompetant to sort their own small problems out and so much more besides. So many texts to digest, so many sets of figures to analyse.

And by the grace of God, it was his job. He grunted again, he knew that even now there were members of his family coveting his throne. If only they knew what lay in store for them. A faint smile spread across his lips. Of course there were some perks to the job. As governer of Tarentum he had been able to demand his cut of the profits of local traders, as well as siphon off chunks of provincial tax income. Who knew how much money he could make as Emperor? He made a mental note to make sure that the latest shipment of wine leaving the town had a quarter of its amphora confiscated or "lost due to breakage". The very best wine would go to the wine cellars of his various villas, the rest would find its way into the stock one of the many repectable trading companies that he was a sleeping owner of, there to be sold on at a healthy profit to himself. Rank Has Its Privileges, as he liked to remind himself.

And there were other perks too. The knowledge that his name would live forever. Augustus Leontius Flavius would for all time be included in the list of Roman Emperors. Hopefully with a few extra names to boot by the end of his reign, just to make him stand out from the crowd. Augustus Leontius Flavius Africanus. No, no, how about Augustus Leontius Flavius Germanicus? Yes much better, kill a pile of stinking barbarians AND add lustre to your title, a win-win situation. Augustus Leontius Flavius Germanicus Magnus. Yes, he really liked that one. But all this dreaming would have to wait for now. In time, oh yes, in time. But for now he had work to do. He refocussed his attention on whether his nephew Decimus Flavius, by all accounts a superb administrator, would be better placed in running the currently governor-less city of Rome, or replacing his inept, self important, boggle eyed brother Appius as governor of Carthage. And then he had to go through all the other provinces of the Empire, decide which governor would go where, who deserved a bigger and better posting, who needed to be shunted to one side, who could be trusted, and who could not. Then he had to compose letters to each of them with their intructions, and guidelines for how he wanted his Empire run. Barbarians and Pagans he thought, if it wasn't for Barbarians and Pagans my life would be so much simpler...