Marius (Anderson)

Marius

Author	Poul Anderson
Country	USA
Language	English
Series	The Psychotechnic League
Genre(s)	science fiction short story
Published in	Astounding Science Fiction
Publisher	Street & Smith
Media type	Magazine
Publication date	June 1957
Followed by	Un-Man

Marius is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that was first published in the June 1957 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the collections The Horn of Time (1968) and The Psychotechnic League (1981). As a component of the Psychotechnic League future history, "Marius" takes place in the year 1964, six years after the initial nuclear exchanges of World War III. Although it is chronologically the first story in the Psychotechnic League sequence, "Marius" was one of the last to be written. It serves as a prequel to the earlier novella "Un-Man", introducing the character of Étienne Fourre.

Plot summary

In 1964, General Étienne Fourre, once a village apothecary, is the leader of the French Maquisard Brotherhood and France's representative in the Supreme Council of United Free Europe. He is on his way to confront his friend Commandant Jacques Reinach, the chairman of the Supreme Council. Fourre has studied psychodynamics, a mathematical technique for predicting future trends, and he believes that Reinach is leading Europe down a dead-end path. Reinach is sending a tiny delegation to Rio de Janeiro to represent Europe at the relaunch of the United Nations, refuses to establish a parliamentary government, and intends to recognize a neo-fascist dictator as ruler of Macedonia. Fourre confronts Reinach in his office in the University of Strasbourg, and presents him with an ultimatum: a majority of the Supreme Council have ordered Reinach to step down as chairman. When Reinach refuses, Fourre compares him to the Roman general Gaius Marius, who rescued Rome from the barbarian Cimbri, but then went on to provoke a civil war that ultimately led to the fall of the Roman Republic. Fourre keeps Reinach distracted with small talk while his men infiltrate the university and stage a coup. As Reinach is about to shoot Fourre, Stefan Rostomily bursts in through his office window and kills Reinach.

The Psychotechnic League

"Marius" serves as an introduction to the Psychotechnic League future history. The science of psychodynamics is introduced, as are Étienne Fourre, who will become head of the United Nations Inspectorate, and Stefan Rostomily, whose cloned sons will make up the secret Rostomily Brotherhood. It is also made clear that the new United Nations being established in Rio will be much more powerful than its pre-war incarnation, and will be dominated for the foreseeable future by Western democracies.