Hubert Monteilhet: Slain by their own swords

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts

French writers on war and peace

Hubert Monteilhet: Empire’s mercenaries will devour the metropolis

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Hubert Monteilhet
Neropolis
Translated by Christopher Robinson

The Roman Senate, conqueror of the world, had been reduced to bootlicking by a handful of army officers sprung from its own ranks.

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In the background, near the doors, the plebians in their somber clothes were enjoying the discomfiture of the senators: after all, out of the spoils of so many conquests they had left the common people nothing but the skin and the bones, a bit of black bread and a circus tune.

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The senators were alone in the world, isolated in the fortress of their own earthly wealth. They had been obliged, long ago, to hand over the command of the legions to adventurers of genius.