Vettius is screaming in his room when a servant knocks.
"Sir, there is a man here to see you. It is that Fabius fellow."
Vettius groans, his hands over his face, as if reality won't come crashing down.
Fabius is a known Christian. He may be brilliant, but politics cares little for talent. If they did, half of Rome's greatest minds wouldn't be dead.
"Let him in."
The servant obeys, opening the door for Fabius.
Vettius looks the man over.
Fabius isn't overly impressive. The man was five foot four, a little below average for the time.
The man's face was nothing to write home about either; it was rough and dirty, nothing to indicate wealth or hygiene.
Vettius says, "Come in; don't make yourself at home; this isn't an amicable visit."
Fabius nods; he is used to such treatment.
"So, my lord, what brought my work to your attention?" asks Fabius, turning one of his stamps over.
Vettius sighs and looks Fabius dead in the eye.
"My alignment isn't voluntary. Ignoring your manners, men like you are watched, and many of my activities require discretion," states Vettius, a headache already scraping at the man's skull.
Fabius smiles; it isn't predatory like most senators. It is warm as if one of the most powerful men in Rome isn't staring him down.
"Don't worry, senator; God will see us through this ordeal, whatever that may be."
Vettius smirks; most Christians have a confidence about them. One that allows them to die to lions singing praises to their God.
However, that faith didn't save them from the lions or the candles of Nero.
"Sure, just show me these stamps our empire so desperately needs."
Fabius lifts a bag; he drops it on a table.
Vettius winces; that was an expensive table, and Fabius already put a dent in it.
"Conscript Father, do you know how the forms work?"
Vettius scoffs; everyone knows that.
"Name, residence, request, and context," answered Vettius, listing each of his fingers.
Fabius takes out two stamps; one has a boar, the other an olive tree.
"This olive tree coincides with a specific town in Anatolia; this boar is a specific town in lower Italia."
"Do you know how we track the destination and sender of each form?"
Vettius remains silent; he doesn't know the answer to that specific question. Better to stay silent than remove all doubt.
Fabius answers anyway.
"We don't use courier recollection and the context box to track the forms."
"In fact, most of the details rely on the context box."
Vettius interrupts. He doesn't usually defend others, but he is genuinely curious.
"That was the point of the context box. If we just had a list of yes or no questions, the knowledge would be illegible."
Fabius looks at the stamps, each with a different implication.
"Dominus, that ring of yours, when you press it into wax, what does it do?"
"It tells people whose authority my letters come from."
"Exactly, that is why every clerk needs their own ring. Well, not rings exactly; jewelry is expensive. I never liked jewelers, you see my father-in-law—
Vettius interrupts. "Isn't important to the empire. From the context, you suggest every papyrus sorter needs their own seal."
"Not every papyrus sorter, no." I recommend every town, magistrate, province, and general have their own stamp."
Fabius empties the bag, making more dents in the table.
Vettius doesn't care; Fabius just gave the Senate the leverage it needed to stop military strongmen.
"So you're saying these stamps tell me who and where each form came from?"
Fabius nods yes.
"Yes, Lord Vettius, in fact I had an idea that different stamps could also work for different situations. The form is a one-size-fits-all. But if it has different stamps that symbolize specific issues, we don't rely too much on context."
Vettius raises a hand.
"One thing at a time. The Senate and our government will have a difficult enough time sorting the identity stamps. It took two years to implement the forms."
"Already men circumvent ink with trained scribes and counterfeit forms. The only countermeasure we have against forgers is the ruinous cost of papyrus."
"Sir, that ruinous cost you speak of won't defend against forgers when they realize they can get 20,000 denarius for the small cost of 30 denarius forging complaint forms." replies Fabius.
Vettius takes a stamp in his hand.
"We start small. I want you to design stamps for the seven hills of Rome. Then design sub stamps for the neighborhoods in each of the seven hills. Then make one for the outer settlements of Rome."
Fabius frowns.
"You want me to limit these stamps to a single city?"
"No, I want you to prove they can work before we disseminate them across our empire."
"That is how we tested the forms. We used them in Rome made them exclusive and waited for protests."
Fabius looks at Vettius without reverence. A look that says I'm about to disrespect someone as respectfully as possible.
Fabius lowers his voice. He bows his head trying to imitate a servant.
"With all due respect the empire needs these stamps yesterday."
Vettius looks at his table.
"How many failures do you think lead up to my finished table."
Fabius remembering conversations with craftsmen answers "two to five if the craftsman was skilled."
Fabius takes a stamp in his hand rolling it around.
"You are right, I haven't tested how these stamps could work. I will do a small test in Rome and give the finished product to the empire."
Vettius claps Fabius on the back.
"There you go, don't worry Zenobia will fund your experiment. I just need you to deny any involvement I had with this test."
Fabius collects the stamps in his bag.
He walks towards the door before stopping.
"How will you ensure generals accept these stamps."
Vettius looks at his family atrium.
"The same way we got them to use forms, status, jealousy, and bribes."
Fabius sighs and walks outside. Rome may become interconnected but men never change.
Vettius sits down and looks at the dents in his table.
"Than man is certainly enthusiastic."
Vettius gestures for his servants.
"Have this table sent to Ceres."
The servants obey and Vettius takes another look at his family atrium.
He was a child when he saw the family death masks. Rome functions on two things pride and gold.
Reform doesn't come from civic duty it comes from self interest.
"That man has given the senate the keys to the kingdom. We control the stamps and we control Rome."
Outside Fabius rushes to his workshop preparing to mass produce stamps for the empire. Completely unaware of the machinations surrounding his invention.
Vettius schemes believing he will cement the senate and patricians like the old days.
Neither man realizes the consequences, when knowledge is seen it can either be acted on or ignored.
The danger lies when men choose which knowledge is important and which isn't.