by Peter Darman
In Gordyene, meanwhile, Surena strained at the leash to attack Armenia from his kingdom. So concerned was Orodes that my protégé would initiate a war against Armenia that he asked me to go to Gordyene to reason with Surena.
I took Scarab and Spartacus with me in addition to a hundred horse archers and a hundred mules loaded with fodder, food and spare clothing. Because the year was drawing to a close the latter included woollen mittens, thick woollen tunics and heavy cloaks complete with hoods for the mountains and valleys of Gordyene are cold in winter. The high peaks were already blanketed with snow and a cruel wind blew from the north.
We rode east to the city of Assur, across the Tigris and then struck north along the eastern bank of the river before heading northeast towards the Shahar Chay River that marked the border between Media to the south and Gordyene to the north. Ordinarily I would have visited Atrax in Irbil, the capital of Media, but I was in a hurry and had no wish to see my sister Aliyeh, whose infantile hostility towards me was beginning to test my patience. We made the three-hundred mile journey in twelve days and arrived at the river to find the far bank lined with five hundred horse archers commanded by Silaces.
There was a bitter northerly wind blowing that swelled the huge white banner of Elymais sporting a four-pointed star so it resembled a great sail. A frozen Vagharsh, hood over his head and a scarf shielding the lower half of his face, held my fluttering griffin banner as I edged Remus into the grey, wind-ruffled icy water and led my horsemen across. Opposite the horse archers raised their bows in salute and Silaces walked his horse forward towards me, bowing his head as Remus trotted from the water.
‘Greetings, Silaces,’ I said, ‘I had forgotten how cold this kingdom could be.’
He looked into the leaden sky heaped with dark grey clouds.
‘Indeed majesty, some of the high passes are already blocked by snow.’
‘Well, at least that will stop Surena from waging war against the Armenians, then. How is he?’
He fell in beside me as we rode north to join the main road leading to Vanadzor, the kingdom’s capital, the rider carrying his banner falling in behind us.
‘He is a king with a mission, majesty,’ he replied flatly.
‘And what would that be?’
He smiled to himself. ‘To emasculate the Armenians.’
‘I am here to persuade him to delay his neutering,’ I replied.
The first night, we camped by the side of a luxuriant forest of oak and roasted the meat of two huge stags that Silaces’ men had shot that afternoon. On the second day we reached the town of Khoy, around which were several salt mines whose produce Silaces told me was traded with the kingdoms of Media, Atropaiene and Hyrcania for iron and bronze to make weapons and armour. In addition to salt Gordyene was abundant in cattle, sheep, horses and camels, which were also exported to nearby kingdoms.
‘Surena means to make Gordyene another Dura, majesty,’ said Silaces as we rode north towards Vanadzor, the wind having abated somewhat and a clear sky bathing the landscape in bright winter sunshine. Overhead a snowcock showed us its white flight feathers as it passed over our column.
‘He has turned Vanadzor into a giant armoury to equip his army.’
I had to admit that I was filled with pride at his words. Surena had once been nothing more than a wild boy who lived in the great marshes south of the city of Uruk, an uneducated half-savage of the Ma’adan.
Our paths had crossed when I had been captured by soldiers of the treacherous King Chosroes, at the time the ruler of Mesene. Surena and his band of young mavericks had fortuitously ambushed the column in which I had been a captive and had freed me. I had subsequently fled with them into the marshlands and afterwards Surena had joined me on my journey back to Dura. He had become my squire, had again saved my life in the battle against Narses and Chosroes before the walls of Dura and had then entered the ranks of the army’s cataphracts. He had been enrolled in the Sons of the Citadel scheme whereby the most promising individuals were groomed for command and had graduated to become an officer in the heavy cavalry.
Surena’s meteoric career had continued when I had given him command of half of my cataphracts at the battle near the Tigris against Mithridates and then command of a dragon of horse archers – a thousand men – in the subsequent retreat from the army of Narses. Surena never knew it but he was given command of an expeditionary force into Gordyene because Claudia, the dead wife of Spartacus, had talked of him in oblique terms when she spoke to me in the Temple of Ishtar at Babylon. I had expected him to be an irritant to the Armenians, who at the time were occupying Gordyene, but nothing more. But his leadership and courage had resulted in him liberating the kingdom and returning it to the Parthian Empire. A grateful Orodes had rewarded him with Gordyene’s crown and I felt very satisfied with myself for finding him.
Peroz was most intrigued by this grey, cold land filled with high, snow-clad mountains, rivers bloated with raging waters and seemingly endless forests of beech and oak and wind-swept mountain steppes. He rode on my right side with Silaces on my left; the banners of Dura, Carmania and Elymais fluttering behind us as we entered the wide, long valley before Vanadzor and saw a most wondrous sight.
Before us was arrayed the army of Gordyene: rank upon rank of foot soldiers in front of companies of horsemen, and before them all, mounted on a grey horse and surrounded by his senior officers, framed against a huge banner sporting a silver lion on a blood-red background, was Surena, Lord of all Gordyene.
‘Where is Viper?’ I asked Silaces.
Viper was a former member of the Amazons whom Surena had married and was now Queen of Gordyene.
‘Because she is pregnant, majesty, he has ordered her not to ride until the baby is born. He dotes on her greatly and loves her, too much perhaps.’
Surena urged his horse forward and cantered across the ground to bring it to a halt in front of me, flashing a smile.
‘Greetings, lord. Gordyene’s army stands ready for the inspection of the Lord High General of the Parthian Empire.’
I held out my arm to him and he clasped my forearm. ‘Greetings, Surena, I am here to convey the gratitude of King of Kings Orodes in making Gordyene once again the northern shield of the empire.’
Now nearly thirty, his youthful enthusiasm and arrogance had been replaced by determination combined with common sense and great tactical and strategic awareness. He also looked older and more careworn, but then the responsibility of administering a kingdom bore down heavily on all of us.
His officers, all of them young and very serious, were dressed in conical iron helmets, scale armour cuirasses, red long-sleeved tunics, baggy black leggings and boots. And as I rode slowly up and down the ranks of the assembled army I was struck by the age of the troops. This was a young army. The only middle-aged men I saw were among Silaces’ men from Elymais.
Looking at the army I could see the influence his time at Dura had made upon Surena because he had modelled his forces on my own, tempered by financial practicalities. Gordyene was not as wealthy as Dura. There were no cataphracts present but Surena had raised two dragons of medium horsemen, men in scale armour comprising rows of overlapping iron scales riveted onto thick hide and reinforced with scale armour shoulder guards. They also wore pteruges – strips of leather that hung from the waist and protected their thighs and upper legs.
These horsemen carried spears as their main weapons instead of the longer kontus, axes instead a swords, with daggers in sheaths on their right sides. Their round wooden shields were faced with hide painted red, each embossed with white lion’s head.
Surena’s horse archers wore no armour and had soft pointed hats on their heads, but each one was equipped with two quivers and a short sword for close-quarter fighting. There were eight thousand of them drawn up in their dragons and companies, the standard bearer in each of the latter carrying a lion windsock. The last dragon of horse archers seemed to be composed of particularly fresh-faced youths, as I remarked to
Silaces.
‘Take a closer look, majesty,’ he said.
I peered at the front rank. ‘They are women!’
‘The queen’s dragon,’ stated Surena proudly. ‘My wife was in the Amazons and so to make her feel more at home I raised a thousand female horse archers in honour of her and the Amazons. They are called the Lionesses.’
‘They can shoot as well as any man,’ remarked Silaces.
Gordyene’s foot soldiers resembled the legionaries of Dura with their helmets, large oval shields and short swords, though these men also wore greaves on their lower legs and wore leather armour instead of mail. There were five thousand of them and they made for a very impressive sight.
Finally we came to Silace’s horse archers – the exiles from Elymais – who had numbered eight thousand when Surena had led them into Gordyene. Since then a thousand had fallen fighting the Armenians but they were still an impressive body of horsemen and represented the most experienced element of Surena’s forces.
‘It is a fine army,’ I said to Surena.
He beamed with delight and pointed towards his city. ‘Viper is waiting to receive us with warm wine and hot food, lord.’
There were small flecks of snow in the wind and our faces were pinched with cold so I was glad to ride through the thick oak gates and into Vanadzor. The city had never been an attractive or gracious place filled with wide streets, rich buildings and beautiful statues, but rather a dour, bleak stronghold designed to withstand external foes. Its ugliness was due in no small part to the local hard black limestone used in the construction of its walls and buildings. Many of its stone structures were squat and unsightly but their walls were thick and its citizens hardy and strong. Curiously local quarries also produced marble but it was hardly ever used in Gordyene; instead, it was exported to neighbouring kingdoms for profit.
The Romans had carried off many into slavery when they had conquered the kingdom but others had escaped to the mountains to eke out an existence and to await deliverance. Surena had proved their deliverer after the Romans had given Gordyene to the Armenians, who had believed that all the flames of resistance had been extinguished. After Surena had taken the city the people had returned from their hovels in the mountains.
When they did they found a very different Vanadzor. As we were riding through the muddy streets of the city Surena proudly informed me that he had increased the number of stables and barracks within its walls to accommodate his new army. While in the hills and mountains detachments of lightly armed scouts, many former members of King Balas’ army, watched for enemy incursions into the kingdom and launched raids against hostile forces entering Gordyene.
‘As well as raiding across the frontier,’ muttered Silaces.
Surena heard him. ‘Our enemies must learn to respect our borders, Lord Silaces. Besides, it is best to have neighbours who fear us rather than regard us as lambs to be slaughtered.’
The palace was surrounded by a high square stonewall with round towers in each corner and an impressive three-storey gatehouse on its south side. Wooden shutters on each storey indicated shooting platforms for archers and spearmen. The gates opening to allow us to enter were, like at the entrance to the city, made from thick oak and reinforced with iron strips and spikes.
Bleak, functional and strong were the qualities that the palace imparted; its stone-paved square surrounded by barracks, stables, armouries and ironworks. The chimneys of the latter were spewing black smoke and the air was heavy with the aroma of burning charcoal and hot metal. As we dismounted from our horses and stable hands took our shivering beasts to warm and cosy stalls I was struck by the high level of activity around me. It was as though we had wandered into a giant colony of ants.
Surena escorted us up the black stone steps, through the porch and into the main hall of the palace, which was well lit and had white marble tiles on the floor to brighten what would otherwise have been a chamber that resembled a cave in the underworld with its black walls, stone pillars and dark ceiling. In front of the wall at the far end stood a stone dais holding the king and queen’s thrones and behind, hanging on the wall, was a massive red banner embossed with a silver lion. The shields of the guards who stood at every pillar also carried lion motifs. The scene projected strength and power and any visitor would be left in no doubt that this was a kingdom organised for war.
We walked across the tiles with helmets in the crooks of our arms to where Viper stood in front of the dais. She still looked like a teenage girl, though because she was pregnant her breasts had swelled and her extended belly made her look a little plumper. She smiled girlishly at me and melted my heart as I stepped forward and embraced her tenderly. I had always been fond of her and though she had been a member of the Amazons and knew how to use a bow and a sword, in this bleak stronghold she looked vulnerable and a little fragile. I could see why Surena was so protective towards her.
‘Welcome, lord,’ she said as I kissed her on the cheek and released her from my arms.
‘Gallia sends you her love and wants to know when you will be visiting Dura.’
Surena also kissed her, took her hand and gently led her to her throne, seating her before taking his seat. Silaces stood on his right side to face us.
‘After the baby is born,’ she grinned, ‘all three of us will pay you a visit.’
‘Orodes and Axsen also send you their love,’ I said, ‘as do the rest of the Amazons.’
Slaves brought cups of heated wine to warm our insides and Surena ordered hot braziers to be fetched to warm the hall, though in truth now we were out of the cold feeling began to return to my hands and feet.
Peroz stood as straight as a spear shaft beside me, much to the amusement of Viper.
‘This is Prince Peroz, the son of King Phriapatius of Carmania,’ I said to her, ‘who has brought troops to fight alongside my own.’
Surena smiled at him. ‘Welcome to Gordyene, lord prince. It is good to see you again.’
Peroz bowed his head to him and Viper in a most punctilious manner, causing Viper to giggle.
I stepped aside and held out a hand to my squires standing behind us. ‘And these two are my squires. Scarab is a Nubian who joined us recently and Prince Spartacus is from Hatra.’
They both bowed to the king and queen.
‘Spartacus?’ said Surena. ‘Is that not the name of the general you fought under in Italy, lord?’
‘It is indeed,’ I answered, ‘and this is his son.’
Surena admired the strapping youth for a few seconds and then pointed at a stout, middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion standing by the wall.
‘Show our guests to their quarters,’ he ordered.
That evening Surena gave a great feast in our honour, his officers placed at tables before us. I informed him of the latest developments in the empire. I told him that Phriapatius had been made my deputy and was responsible for raising a second combined army in the east to act as a reserve in case the army I commanded was destroyed.
‘You think that is likely, lord?’ he asked, ripping at a piece of roasted leg of chamois with his teeth. The chamois was a cross between a goat and an antelope whose meat was extremely tasty.
‘Hopefully not,’ I replied, shoving a strip of piping hot gazelle meat into my mouth.
‘It all depends on when we engage the enemy,’ I told him. ‘Timing is of the utmost importance. That being the case, I would emphasise to you the importance of not launching any unprovoked aggression against the Armenians. Orodes thinks the peace will hold and does not want Parthia to break it.’
He continued chewing, not looking at me but admiring his pregnant wife. He did indeed love her greatly. She smiled at him and he smiled back and I decided that now was the time to broach the subject of taking Silaces and his men back with me. They had been an integral part of the campaign that had freed Gordyene and now they provided a seasoned corps of veterans that stiffened Surena’s army. In theory, as I was lord high general of the empire, I could
order Silaces to accompany me south when I left Vanadzor, but I had no wish to treat a man who had been of such service to the empire disrespectfully. In addition, I both liked and admired Surena and so had to tread carefully.
‘I have a favour to ask you, Surena.’
He smiled again at Viper. ‘Name it, lord, and it will be done.’
‘You will know that the army of Hatra has suffered a number of reverses in recent months.’
He nodded gravely. ‘Your father’s death was a great blow to the empire, lord.’
‘When Crassus arrives he will cross the Euphrates at Zeugma and then march south along the river, straight through Hatran territory,’ I continued. ‘At the same time the Armenians will advance from Nisibus to strike at the city of Hatra itself.’
He was nodding as I said these words, chewing on more meat as he did so.
‘This being the case, I need all the soldiers I can get my hands on to meet and defeat these threats.’
He wiped his hands on a cloth. ‘The army of Gordyene will be ready to answer your call, lord.’
‘You may be occupied with your own Armenian invasion when fighting recommences,’ I said. ‘Therefore I have to request that Silaces and his men return with me when I leave your city.’
‘You do not need to request such a thing, lord. They are yours to command.’
He did not appear shocked or surprised by my request. Was I so predictable?
‘Nevertheless, Surena, I would have your agreement in this matter, for to lose seven thousand veteran horsemen is no small thing.’
‘Today you saw but part of my army, lord,’ he said. He then spread his arms out wide. ‘These men are the senior commanders who serve Gordyene, including the men from Elymais. As well as the twenty-two thousand soldiers on parade today Gordyene can raise an addition five thousand horse archers and I have allies to supplement my army.’