It was still dark when Sabinus’ right foot connected with Vespasian’s left buttock, sending him rolling out of bed and on to the floor.
‘Get up, legionary,’ Sabinus shouted in his most centurion-like voice. ‘You need to make a fire now if you want any chance of a hot breakfast before we march at sun-up.’
Vespasian sat up and looked around. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked groggily.
‘I mean that if you want breakfast you had better make it now because we start the route march at dawn. Is that any clearer? Now get moving. There’s wood, kindling and legionary cooking gear and rations out the back.’
‘What about you?’ Vespasian asked, getting to his feet.
‘Oh, don’t you worry about me, little brother, I’m not in training. I’ve got breakfast waiting for me in the triclinium.’ And off he went in search of it, leaving Vespasian struggling with his sandals in the dark and cursing the throbbing of his nose. It had been set on their return by Chloe, an old Greek house slave whose father had been a doctor. She was the only person on the estate with any medical knowledge; having assisted her father until his death, she had sold herself into slavery as an alternative to destitution. She had clicked the cartilage back into place, a process that had been more painful than the original injury, and then applied a poultice of wet clay mixed with herbs and honey that she secured in place with bandages. The poultice had hardened overnight and was now putting pressure on the swelling.
When he got outside he found his supplies in a heap on the ground. He pulled his cloak close around his shoulders against the chill, pre-dawn air, and started struggling to make a fire as best he could in the gloom.
Once he had a decent flame going he could finally see his rations: a cup of barley, a thick slice of bacon, a hard bit of cheese, a pint of water and a skin of sour wine; next to these stood a single cooking pot. Having never attempted anything more adventurous than roasting a rabbit or a chicken over an open fire, he was at a loss as to what to do. As time was short he decided to put the whole lot, except the wine, together into the pot and boil it up.
A short while later, he had produced a stodgy mess that looked very unappealing but was just about edible. He was halfway through his porridge, made slightly more palatable by the wine, when Sabinus arrived on his horse. The first light of the sun bathed the rugged ochre hills with its soft red glow, and the cicadas, alerted to the arrival of the new day, had started their relentless rattle.
‘Get that fire out and bury all the traces,’ he shouted. ‘And get your cooking gear in this.’ He threw down a sturdy pole with a Tbar at one end to which was attached a large pack.
‘What’s that?’ Vespasian asked.
‘That, my hardy little brother, is the difference between a pleasant country stroll and a legionary route march. It is about the same weight as a legionary’s pack, give or take; I have a hazy recollection of these things, so I’ve erred on the generous side.’ Sabinus smiled innocently.
‘I’ll bet you have,’ Vespasian grumbled as he emptied the remains of his breakfast on to the fire and covered it with soil. He tied his cooking gear to the side of the pack and then shouldered the pole, so that the pack hung behind him. He grimaced at the weight.
Sabinus looked down at his brother. ‘Now you know why legionaries are known as “Marius’ Mules”. Considering your fondness for the creatures you should be very pleased to have the opportunity to be one. Giddy up, little brother!’ Laughing at his own joke he rode off, leaving Vespasian to follow.
‘Why aren’t you marching?’ Vespasian called after him.
Sabinus looked round with another wry grin. ‘As I said: I’m not in training.’
They had gone about a mile before Sabinus slowed his horse and let his brother catch up with him. He took short reed whistle from his pack and blew it, paused briefly, and then blew it again.
‘That’s a standard army beat; a steady three paces a beat for five hours with two brief stops for water will take you twenty miles.’ Sabinus paused, took a swig from his goatskin of water for added effect, and then carried on the lecture. ‘That is the speed a legion, or smaller detachment, travels if it is unencumbered by the siege and baggage trains. If they need to go faster the pace is increased to quick time, which is just over three and a half paces per beat – twenty-four miles in five hours. If, however, the full army, with all its logistical encumbrances, is marching then the most it will achieve in five hours is ten to twelve miles, travelling at the speed of its slowest component, which are the oxen pulling the baggage wagons and siege train.’ Sabinus looked down at his brother, who was starting to sweat in the rising heat. ‘But for our purposes we’ll concentrate on being a detachment. If you can keep up with this pace then marching in a full column will feel like a holiday.’ He led off, whistling the beat for his brother to march to.
‘Why do they only march for five hours?’ Vespasian asked after a few hundred paces. ‘Not that I want to do more,’ he added hastily.
‘Work it out for yourself. Where does a legion wake up in the morning?’ Sabinus said, taking the reed from his mouth but not stopping.
‘In camp,’ Vespasian answered.
‘Exactly. And where will it sleep that night?’
‘In another camp.’
‘Precisely. And who is going to build that camp, or do the gods just magic it out of thin air?’ Sabinus was enjoying himself.
‘Well, the legionaries, of course,’ Vespasian replied testily. The sweating skin beneath the poultice was starting to irritate him.
‘You’ve got it, little brother. Digging a defensive ditch, putting up a stockade, pitching the tents and, most importantly, cooking supper will take up the best part of the remaining hours of daylight. That is the basics of a legionary’s day. Wake, eat, strike camp, march, build new camp, eat, sleep.
‘Of course there’s far more to it than that: guard duty, drill, foraging, latrine fatigue, maintaining equipment and so on. But all this serves only to ensure that the legionary arrives, fit and prepared, in the right place for what he really exists for; and that is fighting and killing, whether it be in a small skirmish or in a big set-piece battle.’
‘Were you ever in a big battle?’ Vespasian asked, his curiosity overcoming his antipathy to his brother.
‘The rebellion in Africa was not like that. Tacfarinas’ Numidian army was mainly light cavalry and light infantry. They’re devious bastards, always harassing you, picking off stragglers, attacking foraging parties, never letting themselves be drawn into battle. The one time they did, at the start of the rebellion, the Third Augusta trounced them. After that they changed tactics and stayed well away from a full legion and started to pick on smaller fare. They managed to destroy a whole cohort of the Third Augusta a few months before we arrived.’
‘How did they do that?’ Vespasian asked as he worked his legs harder against what was becoming quite a steep slope.
‘They caught them on their way back from a punishment raid out on an open plain. The cohort formed up for a hand-to-hand affair, but the Numidians were having none of it. Their cavalry just rode around them, pelting them with javelins, whilst their infantry fired slingshot and arrows at our boys from a safe distance. Every time the cohort tried to charge them they just fell back and carried on shooting. It was a mini Carrhae. Most were dead within four hours; the unlucky few who were captured were pegged out naked in the desert sun with their eyes gouged out and their cocks cut off.
‘The Governor, Lucius Apronius, was so furious when he heard of this humiliation that he punished the rest of the legion by decimation, even though they hadn’t been there.’
‘That doesn’t seem fair,’ Vespasian said. His sandals were beginning to rub at his heels.
‘Who said it had to be fair? The legion had collectively suffered a deep wound. Losing an entire cohort, four hundred and eighty men, at the hands of rebels sullied the honour of the legion as a whole. The only way to restore it was with blood, so Lucius Apronius had them parade in front of him unarmed, wearing only tunics. Then they were counted off. Every ninth man was given a sword and had to behead the tenth man, his comrade, to his left. He might have been his best mate; someone he’d known for years, someone he’d shared a tent with, meals, battles, women. Or maybe he was a complete stranger, a young lad who had just joined up. It didn’t matter; if you hesitated then you were for the chop as well.’
Sabinus paused and reached into a bag that hung from his saddle and pulled out a floppy straw sun hat, the Thessalian type popularised by Augustus during his reign. Placing it on his head he carried on, indifferent to Vespasian’s rising discomfort.
‘One of the Third’s tribunes told me about it soon after I arrived. He said that it was the most terrible thing he had ever seen; a whole legion covered with the blood of their comrades, standing to attention, in front of a pile of more than four hundred severed heads, begging the Governor to forgive them. However, after that they had a deep and lasting hatred of Tacfarinas and his rebels, whom they saw as ultimately responsible for their suffering, and they set about the task of subduing them with a savage vigour. Eventually, a few months after we’d done the hard work and left, they trapped the remnants of rebel army in a fortress called Auzera; after a three-month siege it fell and the Third Augusta spared no one, not even good slave stock. Tacfarinas, unfortunately, fell on his sword before they could get to him, but they found his wives and children, who I’m sure made up for it.’
They had reached the top of the hill and Sabinus pulled up his horse and passed the water skin to Vespasian, who sucked on it gratefully.
‘So Lucius Apronius was right to do what he did,’ he said, wiping the excess water from his chin.
‘Absolutely,’ Sabinus replied. ‘A legion cannot fight and win unless every one of its men has confidence in his comrades. By showing that they could execute their own mates they proved that they could kill anyone, and so restored their faith in themselves.’
Vespasian looked at his brother and remembered his father’s words about the principle that bound a legion together; if he had to stand in its ranks someday then he would want men like Sabinus on either side of him.
The brothers stood still for a moment, looking out over the hills of their estate. In the distance, to the northeast, was the peak of mount Tetrica waiting for the winter snows that would crown its summit within the month. Way below them, to the south, ran the Avens, a tributary of which ran through the gully that they had used to trap the runaways the day before. At a right angle to the river they could make out the line of the Via Salaria, threading its way through the valley east to the Adriatic. Where it crossed the river a substantial stone bridge had been built towards which, from the east, sped a large party of horsemen.
‘They look to be in a hurry,’ Vespasian remarked, shading his eyes against the glare.
‘Which is more than can be said for you. Let’s go.’ Sabinus kicked his horse into action and headed off down the hill, resuming his whistling. Vespasian followed wearily, all the time keeping an eye on the horsemen on the road below them. He could count about twenty; they seemed to be armed and, one thing was for sure, they were travelling fast. As the riders reached the bridge they slowed and crossed it at a trot. Once over, the lead horseman pulled his horse off the road to the right, and started to follow the line of the river. The others followed.
‘Where do you think they’re heading?’ Vespasian asked.
‘What?’ Sabinus replied; his mind had been elsewhere.
‘The horsemen, they’ve left the road and are heading along the river, our way.’
Sabinus looked up; although the riders were five or six miles away he could clearly see that they were armed: sunlight glinted off spear tips and helmets.
‘Well, they’re not military, that’s for sure. They’re not in uniform and they’re riding in a ragged formation.’ Sabinus gave his brother a questioning look. ‘If they’re not military but they’re armed and they’re heading in our direction at speed, I think that we should start to assume the worst, don’t you, little brother?’
‘Runaways?’
‘Planning a little revenge for the yesterday, I’d say. We’d better get back fast; drop your pack and get up here behind me.’
With an increasing sense of foreboding Vespasian did as he was told. Sabinus wheeled his mount round and, going as fast as was possible with his brother riding pillion, started to retrace the seven miles they had travelled. Vespasian clung on tightly as he was bounced this way and that by the swift movement of the horse over the rough ground; his broken nose beneath the poultice was jarred with each step causing him to wince in pain.
‘If we can keep up this pace,’ Sabinus called back to his brother, ‘we should arrive back at the farm half an hour or so ahead of them. That will be just enough time to arm and position everyone there. The people way out in the fields will just have to trust to Fortuna and look after themselves.’
‘What do you plan to do?’ Vespasian asked, hoping Sabinus would outline an ingenious plan.
‘I don’t know yet. I’m thinking.’ Not an inspiring reply.
As they raced back Vespasian imagined the fury of the runaways when they found the young lad hanging on a cross and the bodies of their comrades lying rotting in the sun. He wondered why no one had considered the possibility of reprisal and realised that they had all underestimated their opponents. They had been dismissed as a small, ill-equipped bunch of badly led thieves who were capable of nothing more than mule-rustling and highway robbery. Yet here they were attempting an orchestrated attack on the Flavian farm. He realised that it would be a bloody fight; the runaways would neither expect nor give any quarter.
The brothers hurtled through the gate and into the courtyard, scattering chickens and small children in all directions. Pallo came running out of the estate office as they dismounted.
‘Pallo, quick,’ Sabinus shouted, ‘arm all the men and as many slaves you can trust and get the women and children locked safely inside, then get all our people from the nearer fields in here as quickly as possible. It looks like we can expect company in about half an hour, twenty or so runaways bent on exacting revenge. They meant to surprise us, so let’s make them think that they have. We’ll leave the gates open with a couple of men hidden behind them. If there’s no one to attack outside, they’ll come charging straight into the courtyard; the two lads behind the gates will shut and block them from the outside, then we’ll have them. We’ll need all the rest of the lads, armed with bows and javelins, on the roofs and in the rooms above the stables. Hieron, fill as many buckets as you can with water and take them up to the roofs; the bastards may try to torch the buildings. Vespasian, go and tell our parents what’s happening.’
Not long later Vespasian returned to the yard with his father. They had left Vespasia and the female slaves barricaded in the main house with Varo, whom Titus had ordered to assist Vespasia in taking her own life should they be overwhelmed. That his mother had acquiesced to this plan brought home the seriousness of the situation to Vespasian.
In the yard the defenders had been busy. A wagon had been placed outside the gate, ready to block it. Swords and daggers had been issued, stacks of javelins, bunches of arrows and buckets of water had been positioned all around the roofs. Access to the roofs was via ladders that could be pulled up after use. Manacled parties of field slaves were being locked into storerooms to prevent them from aiding their attackers, whom they would no doubt wish to join, given half a chance.
Vespasian helped Titus onto the roof of the main house, and then followed him up.
‘I’m looking forward to this,’ he chuckled to Vespasian. ‘I haven’t thrown a javelin in anger in I don’t know how long, and to have such a worthwhile target will make it doubly pleasurable.’
Vespasian looked around the roofs; he could count fifteen men, and another three looking out of the windows of house slaves’ quarters above the stables. Simeon and Ludovicus were hidden behind the gates ready to spring the trap; Lykos and Pallo were stationed above them. Baseos and Ataphanes were heading out of the gate on horses, nonchalantly stringing their bows.
‘Where are they going?’ Vespasian asked Sabinus, who was a little further along the main house’s roof from him; in his hand he had the end of a rope that trailed down across the yard and up through a first-floor window opposite, through which Hieron could be glimpsed.
‘We need to have some people outside otherwise it would look suspiciously quiet. As soon as they’re spotted they’ll race back through the gates, hopefully bringing the raiders with them.’ Sabinus raised his voice so that everyone around the yard could hear him. ‘Now remember, keep down until they’re coming through the gate. We don’t want them seeing any heads on the roofs and becoming suspicious. We want them to charge in here in blissful ignorance of what awaits them. There will be freedom for any slave who acquits himself well today.’ A small cheer went up. ‘Pallo, you keep watch; everyone else get down and stay down now. Don’t start shooting until at least ten of them are in the yard – by that time their momentum will be too great to stop. May Fortuna and Mars look down kindly upon us.’
They settled down to wait with the midday sun burning down on them. Time started to drag; the eerie silence around the yard seemed to slow it even more. Vespasian considered the possibility that it was just his and Sabinus’ over-active imaginations that had caused the panic, and thought of the humiliation they would face when it became apparent that it was a false alarm. He almost let out a sigh of relief when he heard the first faint screams and shouts from far off in the fields. The raiders had evidently come across a work-party that was too far away to be warned and were warming up by butchering them. The men around the yard tensed as they listened to the cries of their fellow estate-workers. Knowing that their chance for vengeance would soon be with them, they checked their weapons and flexed their muscles. The screaming stopped. Silence descended once again on the yard. Then faintly, in the distance, they could hear the rumble of fast-moving horses. As it grew they knew that the runaways were heading in their direction and would be with them imminently.
‘I can see them,’ Pallo called. ‘They’re about half a mile away. They’ve got burning torches.’
‘OK. Steady, lads, keep low,’ Sabinus growled.
‘They’ve seen Baseos and Ataphanes; here they come.’
The sound of horses was getting louder and they could now hear the shouts of their riders. Vespasian thought that if they were trying to surprise them, they were going the wrong way about it. This thought was banished from his mind as Baseos and Ataphanes came thundering through the gates, one swerving to the left and one to the right, towards the last two ladders that had been left for them. They leapt from their mounts and quickly clambered on to the roof, pulling the ladders up behind them, just as the lead riders burst into the yard, brandishing flaming torches, followed closely by the main body of the runaways. The lead riders passed over the rope and threw their torches, wildly, at open windows.
‘Now!’ Sabinus shouted.
A hail of missiles rained down on the attackers, striking rider and mount alike. Four fell immediately. Such was the speed of the others following behind that they were unable to stop. They raced through the gates and on into the yard, trampling the bodies of their fallen comrades. As the last raiders charged through the gates Simeon and Ludovicus leapt from their hiding places and pulled them shut. Incensed by this attack on his home, Vespasian felt the heat of blood-lust rise in him for the second time. This time he would kill. Screams echoed around the courtyard as arrows and javelins found their mark. He hurled a javelin directly at the nearest raider, an older man with a thick beard, a pock-marked face and his dark hair tied in a topknot, German style. The shaft hit him full in the centre of his chest, crunching through the sternum, its point coming to rest in the backbone, severing the spinal cord. Paralysis of the lower body was immediate and the man’s legs went limp. He slithered from his horse, hit the ground and lay there unable to move, blood rising in his throat, in the hideous realisation that he was breathing his last.
Sabinus pulled with all his strength on the rope. It sprang up from the ground catching two horses by their throats, sending them up on to their hind legs and throwing their riders under the hooves of the horses behind, who in their turn went careering into the rope. The impact pulled the rope savagely from Sabinus’ hands and sent him toppling off the roof. He managed to land on all fours and instantly stood up, drawing his sword as he did so. Two unhorsed raiders sprang at him, armed with spears and vicious-looking curved daggers. They were too close to Sabinus for the defenders to risk a shot. Vespasian and Titus, who both had one javelin left, ran along the roof, closer to Sabinus, to try and get a better angle.
The first man lunged overarm with his spear at Sabinus’ face. Ducking to his left, Sabinus brought his sword in a crosswise slash across the man’s belly; it burst open, like an overripe fig, spilling its contents on the ground. The man howled, dropping his spear as he tried to halt with his hands the tide of guts that flowed from his gaping abdomen.
The next man, a stocky, muscular Iberian, realising that he was up against a canny fighter, approached Sabinus with more caution. As he did so, two of the few remaining mounted raiders charged towards Sabinus, flinging their javelins. Catching their movement out of the corner of his eye, he managed to duck the first, but the second, aimed much lower, seared straight through his right calf. The Iberian saw his chance and leapt forward, thrusting his spear towards Sabinus’ unprotected chest, only to come to a sudden stop, looking down in surprise at Titus’ last javelin, which protruded from his ribcage.
The two horsemen came bearing down on the crippled Sabinus, swords drawn, yelling wildly. Without thinking Vespasian flung himself off the roof and, picking up the gutted man’s spear as he landed, stood, terrified but determined, at his brother’s side. One horseman, seeing a new target, made straight for him, leaning down to his right, his sword pointing at Vespasian’s chest, his wild eyes fixed upon his target. The adrenalin pumping through his veins seemed to slow time for Vespasian as he gauged the speed of the charge. His heartbeat pounded in his ears and, despite his fear, he felt a sense of calm flood over him; he had killed and he would now kill again. At the last moment he jumped to his right, jammed the butt of the spear into the ground, and held it at forty-five degrees. Half a ton of horse drove itself straight on to the spear head, burying it far into its heart, which exploded in a spray of deep-red blood over Vespasian and his brother. The creature dropped dead, catapulting its rider over its head and straight on to Vespasian. The second rider slashed at Sabinus as he sped past. Sabinus, with the javelin still piercing his calf, wasn’t nimble enough to dodge the blow; he caught the tip in his right shoulder and went down. Vespasian recovered quickly; throwing off the body of the winded rider, he drew his sword, pulled back the prone man’s head by his hair and slit his throat. He then stood over the body of his brother as the second rider wheeled his horse round and urged it back towards him. He’d gone no further than five paces when two arrows simultaneously thumped into his back; he fell from his horse with a shriek and rolled along the ground, breaking off the arrow shafts, and came to a stop just short of Vespasian, his dead eyes staring unblinking at the sun.
A cheer went up and Vespasian looked around realising that he was the last man standing. All the raiders were either dead or dying in the dust whilst the surviving horses waited patiently in little groups. He looked down at Sabinus who was clutching at his wounded shoulder; blood oozed through his fingers.
‘Well fought, little brother,’ he muttered through gritted teeth. ‘It seems that I have you to thank for saving my life, not that you ever thanked me for saving yours yesterday.’
Vespasian held out his hand. ‘Well, you can consider yourself thanked now,’ he said, pulling Sabinus to his feet.
‘You can thank me properly by pulling this fucking thing out of my leg.’
Vespasian knelt down to examine the wound. All around them cheering men were coming down from the roofs to put out the few fires that had taken hold and to slit the throats of those runaways still breathing.
‘Well done, my boys, that was a fine display,’ Titus called as he clambered down the ladder. ‘I trust that you are not too badly hurt, Sabinus?’
‘I’ll be fine, Father, I need a few stitches from Chloe, and-’ He let out a huge roar; Vespasian had used the distraction of his father to remove the javelin. Sabinus went pale and almost fainted. ‘Gods, that hurt, you little shit. I bet you really enjoyed that. Come on, get me into the house.’
They hobbled towards the door that had been unbolted by their mother, who had heard the cheering. She stood waiting to help her son into the house.
‘Oh, by the way, wool,’ Sabinus mumbled.
‘What?’ Vespasian asked, thinking that his brother was rambling.
‘What we should be selling at the moment, wool. It’s in demand because winter’s approaching.’
‘Oh, yes, that. You’re quite right, well done for working it out,’ Vespasian replied.
‘I didn’t work it out, I just asked Pallo when we got back yesterday.’ Sabinus grinned. ‘Oh, and get that poultice seen to, you look ridiculous.’
Vespasian looked with a half-smile at his brother and, shaking his head, thought that it was unlikely that he’d ever change. He left him in the care of the womenfolk.
He turned and surveyed the scene in the yard. The fires were now out; just a few wisps of smoke marked where they had caught. The manacled field slaves were being let out of the storerooms and taken back to work. Pallo was organising the piling up of the dead runaways on a pyre outside the gates. Vespasian watched as his javelin was extracted from the top-knotted German and the body was hauled away, leaving a thick trail of blood. It had been his first kill and the thought didn’t shock him. He’d slit the throat of the second man without even thinking; he’d done what he’d had to do to survive and to protect his brother. Anyway, these had just been slaves whose lives were worth only what they would fetch at auction.
Pallo saw him watching the removal of the dead, and walked over. ‘You did well today, Titus Flavius Vespasianus,’ he said formally, according him the respect of a man. ‘Your father must be proud.’
‘Thank you, Pallo, we all did our share; it was a well-conceived plan of my brother’s. How many of our lads were hurt?’
‘One killed and four wounded, none of them too badly.’
‘Who died?’ Vespasian asked.
‘Brennus, a Gallic house slave; he was hit in the eye by a javelin. His son Drest is one of the wounded,’ Pallo replied.
‘We should free the son, it will send a good message to the other slaves should this happen again. I’ll speak to my father.’
As he turned to go a thought occurred to him. ‘Pallo?’ he asked, lowering his voice. ‘Do you know anything about a prophecy to do with me? Something that happened at my birth; you were there, were you not?’ Vespasian looked Pallo in the eye but the steward could not hold his gaze and looked down. ‘Why won’t you answer me?’ Vespasian pressed.
‘I am forbidden to speak of it,’ Pallo whispered uncomfortably.
‘Why? Tell me, Pallo, who forbids you?’
‘The gods,’ Pallo replied, meeting Vespasian’s eye again.
‘Which gods? Why?’ Vespasian was getting more and more agitated and grabbed Pallo by the shoulders.
‘All of them. Your mother made the whole household swear an oath in front of all the gods never to speak of it.’