Read Scaevola's Triumph (Gaius Claudius Scaevola trilogy Book 3) for Free Online

you would have been in a position to completely alter that, and you would have started your civilization on the road to where Ulse is now."
    "They'll still do that," Gaius smiled. He was somewhat embarrassed by this assessment.
    "Perhaps, perhaps not," the Tin Man said. "Progress is not inevitable, because once certain stages are reached, there is only so much time to reach the next, or the civilization ceases to advance, and in many cases may even reverse. Think of Egypt, on your planet. They made a number of advances, then stopped seeking advance. They became stuck at a stage, held there by strict adherence to the principle of maintaining themselves where they were. Without change, your Roman empire will reach boundaries, and once that happens . . ."
    "Boundaries?" Gaius said in surprise. "Augustus said that we were big enough fifty years ago. Does that mean . . ?
    "You are still expanding," the Tin Man said, "but the expansion, especially in terms of thought, literature, philosophy, is drying up."
    "Ridiculous!" Lucilla exclaimed.
    "Inevitable," the Tin Man said. "First, look at Rome. A marvellous city, but look at the flow of goods. Huge amounts come in, but not so much goes out."
    "Rome makes law . . ." Vipsania offered.
    "Yes, but so far everything has been paid for by additional conquest. Once you stop conquering, you have to pay for everything yourselves. Your taxes will rise. Rome will maintain itself as an autonomous region for, maybe, centuries, but unless you become more productive and keep the desire to advance instead of consume, your civilization will fall back into a slough of taxation and lack of vision."
    "And Rome will fall into ruins," Gaius nodded. He stopped, then added, "But even if Rome falls, someone else will surely make these discoveries."
    "It is certainly possible," the Tin Man said, "but by no means certain. Removing you can at least be interpreted as a disaster."
    A thought suddenly struck Gaius. If he had not been removed from the hilltop, he would have been killed by the Celts, and that would have ended everything the Tin Man was talking about. Or would it? If he were killed, his belongings would have been found, and then what? If they were taken to Rome, given that Claudius knew what they were, the work might have continued. Then, maybe, he would not have been killed. If captured he could have been ransomed. If that ship had not distracted him, they might have been able to kill enough Celts on the track, then make a breakout, particularly if he was prepared to use the alien weapon. If he had never met the alien, possibly they could have outrun the Celts, with Quintus on a horse. The fact was, there was no way of knowing what might have happened.
    For Gaius, there was no real answer so he sat back to look at this planet. As the Tin Man left the three Romans, Gaius pointed out the two moons to Vipsania. It was quite remarkable, Gaius thought, that they could talk to each other as if they were right beside each other; the only thing they could not do was touch each other. It was then that he realized that if he could do this, so could his previous captor. Yes, it was a good idea to wait until he was asleep.
    He and Vipsania talked for a while, but the enormity of their problem was too much, and soon they drifted into silence. Gaius thought he should try to go back to Vipsania, but the Tin man had asked him to stay there, and he needed the Tin Man. Which raised the question, where was the Tin Man.
    "What's that?" Lucilla asked.
    "What's what?" Gaius replied.
    "Coming around the back of the planet," Lucilla said, "there's something moving."
    "The other moon," Gaius offered.
    "It's moving too fast," Lucilla said, "and it is very small."
    "Maybe it's another ship like the one we're on," Timothy offered.
    "That's exactly what it is," the Tin Man said. Gaius turned in surprise to see he was on the bridge. He had come in so silently.
    "There's another two," Vipsania noted. "They seem to be following the