The Fall of Veii- Part 2

by Francis Mulhern

  Marcus sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. “I am sure I can arrange for lodging and the opportunity to learn a little of the Roman disciplina” he said “I am sure that it will help with your future career” he added. The Gaul smiled, taking more wine and holding his cup to the slave, who turned to the soldiers as soon as he had filled it, both empty cups coming out as soon as he turned in their direction. Narcius shook his head and Mella held his cup out for a re-fill too with a wink to the soldiers which was returned with beaming smiles.

  Gerittix sat straight in his chair and looked serious, the move causing everyone in the room to lean forwards towards him.

  “Camillus” he said. “Many years ago a soothsayer named Minios travelled through these lands and the gods spoke to him. They told him that Veii would be a great city if they built walls that no other city could conquer. They also told him that Veii’s walls would never be conquered as long as the Alban Lake remained; until the waters of the Lake run dry so will the walls of Veii remain unconquered” he intoned. “The waters rose sharply, as you know, in the last month and the King of Veii sees this as a sign that the gods are with them” added Gerittix as he cocked his head to one side at the deep look of concentration on Marcus’ face.

  Silence engulfed the room, all eyes looking to the tribune as he simply nodded his head slowly at the news.

  “This is great news” Marcus replied, the soldiers suddenly looking confused as Marcus stood and held out his hand to the old sage. “You have been a great help to me and to Rome Gerittix. I will honour my part of the discussion and write introductory letters for you in Rome” he said. “Stay here and eat your fill, you too” he added to the soldiers as he placed a hand on the drill masters shoulder and nodded to him.” The officers and I will discuss this military matter in another room to give you time to enjoy your feast” he smiled at all the men before walking to the door. “Oh Polythenes” he said as the slave stepped forwards and bowed. “Bring the tent mates of Silus and Vestus, they deserve to enjoy the same privileges as their fellows, isn’t that right Centurion” he added as Mella let out a guffaw which he tried to hide as a coughing fit and slipped quickly through the door.

  “Yes, Sir” Narcius said through gritted teeth.

  *

  *

  *

  *

  Chapter 15

  “Rubbish” spat Magnamus as he gazed at the five men around the table, the drinking vessels still half full despite the long hours of discussions. “The Romans are no better equipped than our own soldiers and have no divine right to success. They have been lucky, especially this Camillus” he added with a look of distaste coming to his face. “The King of Veii has confirmed that the waters have arisen to save his people, taking much of the Roman camp with it and calling a halt to their useless rampart” he sneered. “Now is the time to attack their defences, they are weak, tired from years of hiding behind their screens and bored of waiting at the walls and dying in the winter. I tell you my spies have told me it is so” he said with anger in his voice.

  “They captured your city easily enough” said a heavily scarred man on his left, the flicker of angry eyes betraying a momentary desire in Magnamus to shout back, until he noted who had spoken.

  “Tricks, deceit, the city was left full of weak men and women, no more.” Magnamus said with a dismissive look which hid the anger he felt inside.

  “Whatever the cause, my friend, I agree with your sentiment. We must attack them now or the alliance we hold so strongly in our blood will die on the vine.” As his spoke the thin scar along the man’s lower jaw made his lip jump as he set his teeth and looked hard into the faces of the other leaders of the Etrurian Council. Each man stared back defiantly, none willing to back down at his posturing.

  “We have discussed it over and over Sentillius” came the reply from a Volscan, his blue and red clothing marking him as a leader of one of the Delta’s largest trading cities. “The Romans fight too well at their walls. Unless you can guarantee that the soldiers from Veii will attack simultaneously” he said as Sentillius waved a hand at him, saying “bah” as if he was wasting his time listening to him. “Unless they attack” Amillus said more vigorously, his blue tunic wet on the sleeve where it had sat in a puddle next to his goblet “we will not have enough men to over-run the defence. I agree” he said to the shaking head of the brute of a man at his side “that now is a good time, but we cannot defeat them on our own” he finished with a long shrug, his arms coming out to the side in a placating gesture.

  The Faliscan leader Vitulus shook his head. “We cannot attack, the plague has killed more than half of our able men, dying in the streets” he said with an anguished look on his face. “How will we draw the harvest?” he asked with wide, tear-brimmed eyes.

  The comments brought a moments silence to the room as Sentillius looked at the Faliscan and couldn’t find the words to say to the man who had lost his father, his wife and three children to the sweating fever in the past month.

  “We must decide on what action we will take to support Veii” Magnamus said in a steady tone, his eyes moving around the men. “I vote to attack the Roman line” he said as he picked up the dagger that lay before him and stabbed its point into the table, keeping his hand on the grip as he stared at the other men.

  “I will attack” Sentillius added, his dagger stabbing with a thud into the table.

  “I will free the men to support you if they can, but I cannot commit my forces” Amillus said as he lay his dagger flat and pushed it into the middle of the table, a nod and a placatory hand to his shoulder coming from Magnamus.

  “Soticus?” asked Sentillius with a dark look.

  The shorter, wide shouldered, Volscan looked to his fellow leader Amillus and frowned. “My tribes can manage three thousand fit soldiers, maybe two hundred horse” he shrugged as he nodded and slammed his silver handled dagger into the table with a grin. “I want the Romans dead as much as you do” he added.

  “Then we march in five days” Sentillius added. We meet at Napete and we arrange the details there” he grinned. “The Romans will never know what hit them” he smiled.

  ****

  The darkness brought a kind of fear which Marcus had never experienced before, an almost empty feeling as if some creature was standing just in front of his face but he couldn’t see the hideous beast as it leered at him. He bent and moved his had along the floor, ready to draw it back should it touch something feral. His fingers touched the wooden handle and he gripped it quickly as he turned and whispered back along the tunnel behind him “hurry up with that torch.” For five minutes he had been stumbling along in the tunnel that Potitus had found leading from one of the Cuniculi which bordered the walls of the city, the right angled turn suggesting that it didn’t actually go under the city, just along its frontage. As he had stumbled into a small water hole, his foot disappearing to his knee he had dropped the torch, the light flicking off instantly and leaving him with the sudden cold feeling of dread that remained as he heard echoing footsteps coming around the corner behind him, the yellow light flashing as the soldier moved along behind him. Marcus cursed himself for his eager pace and whispered and apology to Mella and two legionaries who were standing behind him, their breathing the only thing Marcus could definitely make out in the silence.

  The torch aproached, Marcus squinting at the intense light. As it was passed forwards he thanked the man and held it out in front of him, the deep, dark, hole he had stood in shone back at him and beyond the tunnel seemed to stretch into infinity.

  “What do you think Mella?” he asked

  “I’m really not sure, Sir” came the unsteady reply, Marcus smiling at the apparent fear in his close friend’s voice. “I suggest we let Potitus’ men map out the tunnels and tell us where they go” he added more cheerfully.

  “A good plan” Marcus said quickly “Let’s get back to the camp and set it in motion.”

  Stumbling into the light a fe
w minutes later and dragging himself up over the lip of the low Cuniculi Marcus stood back and nodded at the hole below him where two soldiers stood with torches still ablaze.

  Striding away from the hole Marcus took a moment to look back at the tall walls of the city and considered the words of the prophecy of Minios until the waters of the Lake run dry so will the walls of Veii remain unconquered. Smiling he clutched the Eagle amulet and a thought came to his mind, a sudden clarity which made him stop, Mella almost stumbling into him as he looked to the sky, yes there it was high in the air, circling slowly around the city, the wings hanging in the air as they caught the warm updrafts and allowed the heavy bird to circle for hours. A signal, he thought as he caught Mella and the other soldiers following his eye. The men needed a divine signal, one which would counter the movement of the waters of the lake and make them believe that the city would fall. Thoughts ran through his mind as he started to walk back to the tall walls of the camp, the sun-dried wood bleached in sections and dark where new structures had been added in the recent changes to the fortifications. By the time he reached the main gate a plan was forming in his mind.

  “Mella” he said, urgently. “Fetch the officers, we need to discuss a plan” he added quickly.

  ****

  Javenoli scowled, his eyes puffy as he had hardly slept. The news had been bad, the latest venture lost though he didn’t know why. His men had been out for days scratching for information but so far no news had come back to him. He fidgeted with the large ruby ring on his index finger, the blood red stone almost the same colour as his red-rimmed eyes.

  A knock at the door made him jump and his heart quicken. He took a long breath to steady himself before calling for the slave to enter.

  Bowing low the slave announced “Quartius Volscius Gamnius is in your study, Master.”

  “What? Here? The fool” Javenoli exclaimed as he stood and waddled across the floor towards the door, the slave leaping back quickly to hold the door open as the large bulk of the Senator squeezed through.

  Gamnius was covered in dust and dirt, his travelling cloak torn in patches and his hands dark and calloused.

  “What are you doing here?” Javenoli croaked, the look of the man, usually so trim and neat, startling him.

  The man’s face turned to anguish and he fell to his knees, his hand reaching for Javenoli’s clothes as he did so. “Master” he called, his eyes started to leak streaks of water down his dirt encrusted face as Javenoli stepped back as if his hands were poisonous. “They are all dead, all of them” he wailed, the volume startling Javenoli even more as his eyes grew wide.

  “All?”

  “Yes master. The Camillus, he caught them” he said as he gripped his air. “I don’t know how he knew, we were found out” he beseeched. “Master, hide me, they will torture them and I will be found.”

  As the man babbled Javenoli had only one thought; how to distance himself from this mess. This fool had made a grave error of judgement coming to his house, and no doubt his enemies were watching as the idiot came crawling to his door, bringing with him the guilt that was written all over his useless face.

  “Stay there” Javenoli said as the tearful man stopped moaning and started to thank the Senator. “Catmos” he called as the slave appeared “fetch water and food for this man” he said, then suddenly turning back to the slave and calling “wait, take that dusty cloak and clean it as well will you” he said as a thought came to him. The man continued to thank the Senator, his words angering Javenoli more and more as he kept thinking who had found out about his dealing with the Veientines. Someone had betrayed him and now he must find a way to clear every path that led to him. “Stay here, I will be back with some money and a letter of introduction for you” he said as he stepped out of the room and headed to the kitchen. As he stepped into the room the slaves looked up in surprise, the master never came here.

  “Catmos” Javenoli whispered, gripping the fearful slave by the arm. “Get that cloak on and go out the front door, make a lot of noise about being mistaken and how sorry you are. Then make your way as quickly as you can along to the Tiber and disappear into the suburbs. I am sure you will be followed, make sure they see you leave, but lose them in the crowds, return only at nightfall when you are certain no-one has seen you.” The slave nodded his understanding, he knew his Masters ways too well to be confused by what this meant. He went to the fire and used some of the ash to darken his face as Javenoli grinned and patted his shoulder and handed him a few bronze coins before turning back to the door and following another slave back to the study, where Gamnius was wiping his face with a dirty sleeve, his eyes alighting on the tray of food and smiling.

  “Sit here Gamnius and tell me everything” Javenoli said as he moved a chair next to the desk, the chair making a low screech along the floor. With a nod the slave left and closed the door to leave the two men alone.

  Gamnius took a long drink of the lemon scented water and turned his face to Javenoli who was stood beside him. “Eat first” Javenoli said with a smile as Gamnius nodded his thanks and turned his head to the tray of food. As he reached for the warm bread, the steam still rising from the fresh loaf Javenoli pulled a long thin dagger from his sleeve and sliced the blade straight into the neck of the man, pulling it back fiercely and twisting his body to rip a seven inch hole in the man’s neck, blood bursting out from the orifice as soon as the knife was clear. Gamnius jumped at the first prick of the iron but his twisting body could do no more than fall to the floor at the speed and ferocity of the movement by the larger man, the chair clattering away as he did so. Javenoli stepped back, but not quickly enough for the blood to miss his robes as deep red spots lathered his lower legs. Gamnius lurched and died with a last arch of his back and a gurgle of defiance.

  “I’m sorry my old friend, but I could not let you bring disaster to my door” Javenoli said as he looked down at the body of the man with distain.

  ****

  The light of the day was coming to a close as Marcus finished the meeting, laying his thoughts out to twenty of his officers, all those that were not on duty. He nodded to Fasculus, who had been leading the raiding parties into the local area and seemed browner in the face than most of the other officers. Fasculus smiled in return.

  Marcus had outlined a simple plan. The Veientines must expect them to carry on building the ramparts as their main attack focus, but in reality the men would dig the tunnels under the city using the existing tunnels which were part of the Cuniculi. The men would be divided into six groups and work on the tunnels around the clock, the digging, Marcus said, must not stop. He had also informed the men that the water of the lake would be drained, announcing that he would speak to the men in the morning and explain why and how, his eyes flicking to the old soothsayer who was sat, his face glowing with the healthy sheen of a man who was suddenly eating well again, in the corner. The men had taken to the old man, his affable humour and ability to gain coins for fortune telling making him popular with the more foolish men. Marcus had turned a blind eye as the morale of the men had increased at his presence.

  Now was the time to explain the details to his men and so Marcus held out his hand to the votive candles and turned his eyes to the officers.

  “Men. Leaders of Rome” he said confidently, his voice strong in the silent room. “As you know the prophecy of Minios says that the walls of Veii will not be taken until the lake runs dry. Well I believe that Juno and Mars have spoken to us and given us a sign which we can use to destroy Veii. The men will say that the lake can never be drained, it’s impossible, and I don’t doubt that for a moment. But think. The leaders of Veii will see the waters start to recede and they will grow fearful that the water spirits they rely on so heavily will start to leave as the waters do. We will ferry the water to the fields and distribute it into the Cuniculi, but we will leave these clear” he pointed to the table on which the scene around Veii was depicted by the wooden fort and blocks of soldiers he had used to explain the
plans earlier.

  “I will call for Juno and Mater Matuta to leave the city” he said as a few short gasps came from the men in the room, their faces turning to each other at this news “and ask her to return with us to Rome. I will dedicate the Temple that our fore-fathers offered for their glory and was never built.” He looked around at the faces who watched him apprehensively. “We will fight the Veientines by taking their gods and then taking their city” he said, a few men looking nervous at his words.

  “And” he spoke with a softer face and a smile “remember the words of the prophecy of Minios. The walls will remain unconquered” he said with a broad grin as many of the officers coked their heads and looked to each other confused. “Because we will dig under them and attack their city from within. Narcius” he said as he stood and the men, realisation starting to dawn on their faces, grinned back at him. Narcius stepped forwards. “You must train the men, all of them to wield the short sword, we cannot carry shields and spears through that tunnel. We will need to get into the city and attack quickly. Caelio, you will have the reserves ready for the gates to be opened. You will train your men for fighting in the streets and close combat, we will not have time to set out the phalanx. Veii will fall gentlemen, and we will use every trick we can to make them fearful of the power of Rome before we appear beneath their feet”

  The officers stood in silence, unsure whether to cheer or to clap as Marcus finished and started to hand out rotas and orders to each of them in turn. As each man looked to the tablets with short instructions etched in the wax Marcus raised his voice one last time. “Tomorrow I will tell the men that we are to drain the lake to fulfil the prophecy of Minios. But I will also tell them that in two days we will hold a festival to placate the water spirits and ask them to join us in Rome along with Mater Matuta and Juno. We will hold the festival in front of the walls so that people of Veii can hear our calls and see the water start to retreat. Fear, gentlemen, will become our friend. Tonight we start the tunnels and the training. Tomorrow we start to win the war against Veii.”