#changes ante

Mulsum was a satisfactory drink for the meal.  Seasoned fish, freshly caught, sat before him with crisp skin.  A collection of beans and common vegetables were arranged around the fish, and their own seasonings and preparations wafted into the air.  He breathed it all in as he tasted his drink again, holding a crude glass cup.  His eyes lazily floated over the passerby, and the distant strait that connected two seas and which made Byzantium the magnificent city that it was. He would not be surprised if this place would become even more grand and powerful than Rome.  Rome was, after all, in decline. It was a time of change.  Diocletian and his adopted brother Maximian divided the Roman Empire in two, though they were not distinct empires in and of themselves. Each an equal Augustus to the other. Their adopted sons Galerius to Diocletian and Constantius to Maximian then became Caesars.  Each would come to control a quarter of the Roman Empire. Each would have their seat of power in their part of the empire.  Rome was forgotten.  Rome was abandoned.  The Roman Empire was now beyond Rome. It was indeed a time of change.  He reflected, with a smile, on the ongoing persecutions of the Christians.  Before Diocletian, the Christians had known relative peace for a few decades.  It irked him, to be sure, but there was little to be done about it at the time.  Diocletian and Galerius, though.  There was fertile soil for action. True pagans, they sought wisdom from oracles.  A few coins in the right hands, and suddenly it seemed that someone or thing was preventing Apollo from communicating with the oracle, to guide Diocletian and Galerius.  The eventual advocated response by the appropriate bribed persons?  Persecution and execution of Christians throughout the empire.  Things were surely changing.  Oh yes. Let the angels tremble in their inaction.  His shadow writhed in ecstasy. And now, Nicodemus sensed more chaos and change in the making.  Surely Diocletian and Maximian could not imagine that there plot for the Empire would last forever.  Already he sowed yet more seeds to ensure the collapse of the system.  Friends and family and generals all jockeyed for power after the willful abdication of Diocletian and Maximian. Galerius and Constantius were Augustus, now.  But for how long?  Smiling again, he took a bite of the fish.  Not for long, if he had his say. The world was changing, and he was at the center of it all.  He needed only plot, and wait.  Another sip of the mulsum.  Another bite of the fish.  Another glance down busy market streets, another look to the shining strait in the high summer sun.  He needed only wait. And perhaps find himself a distraction or two. To keep himself busy, of course. @askmab