Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 02] The Horsewarriors

by Griff Hosker

  The next day Macro and Agrippa walked out on to the gyrus. Decius had reluctantly bequeathed it to them for the day while he took the rest on a cross country march with full packs wielding training gladii. The two turmae who were about to be trained sat nervously awaiting their trainers. The two who had been rejected by Fabius looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Agrippa spoke quietly with Macro. His final words were, “You take the two lads and I’ll handle the rest.”

  Agrippa sent the other troopers off the far side of the gyrus. “So the Decurion Princeps sent you back to us eh?”

  “Yes Sergeant Agrippa.” The two men chorused.

  “Well you will be the last lot I train as a sergeant. I am to be a decurion so perhaps Sergeant Macro will be able to use his new wonder techniques on you two and turn you into mighty warriors. What do you think?”

  “Yes decurion.” They both added uncertainly. They were thinking if Agrippa couldn’t train them to a high enough standard how could someone as young as Macro succeed?

  Macro sidled over to Agrippa and said sotto voce. “I didn’t know the promotion had come through.”

  “Listen son. You have learned all you can from me. You fight as well as me and to be truthful it won’t be long before you are beating me and the weapon trainer should not be beaten by his assistant. Besides I am looking forward to having my own turma. I know we haven’t had the tournament yet but I think that the men we have just trained will easily beat the last lot. They are certainly stronger. You have three days to make these two as good. I would love to ride into Morbium with two rejects that are better than anything they have. You are doing what you want and I am doing what I want.”

  Rising almost a hand span above his normal height Macro bellowed. “You are on sir! Prepare to have the two finest troopers, present company excepted, in the ala.”

  As Agrippa jogged towards the eighty recruits waiting expectantly Macro turned to the two troopers. “Right dismount and get rid of the armour I only want you in your tunic.”

  “Bur sergeant it is as cold as a witch’s tit out here. We’ll freeze.”

  “I tell you what Cilo if you are still cold an hour from now I will walk around the gyrus naked.” The two men looked bemused. “You see those stones over there? Go and pick up one each.” Macro had chosen the stones so that although they had weight they could easily be picked up. “Are we happy now?”

  “Yes sergeant but still cold.”

  “We have an hour to go before you judge that. Put the weight above your head. Now lower your body to the ground and up, and up and up. Repeat.” The two men easily began to rise and then lower their bodies. “There that’s not so bad.”

  “I can cope with this,” puffed Galeo although his red face belied the statement.

  “Good because I want fifty now start counting and I want to hear you counting.” The other recruits actually smiled, their training seemed much simpler with Agrippa. By the time the fifty had been completed the two men were almost out of breath. “Put down your stones. Pick up those two piles of javelins and raise them above your head. Follow me.” Macro took them at an easy jog around the gyrus. “Right stand still and open your legs but keep your javelins above your head.” The two men looked at each other; was the sergeant mocking them?

  “Sergeant?”

  “Trust me lads. I know what I am doing and anyway I am big enough to beat the shit out of both of you with one hand tied behind my back so do as I say eh?” The grin on his face took any venom out of his words and the two men complied. The sergeant then brought out two water skins and put them between their knees. “Now squeeze your knees together.” The men did as instructed. “Right squats again.” Fifty squats later Macro said, “Rest. I know it has only been half an hour but are we warm?”

  The two men laughed. “Yes sergeant.”

  An hour later and they were sweating as though they were serving in the desert having repeated the activities ten times. “Right drop the javelins and the water skins. Have a good drink of water and then grab your scuta and training spathae.“

  Even though they had only been exercising for a little over an hour the two men were sweating, panting and struggling to coordinate. They stood with their weapons in their hands. Macro walked around them adjusting their stance and grip until he was satisfied. “Right. Attack me both at once.” They looked at each other. This would be easy. They split up and Cilo went towards Macro’s wooden spatha whilst Galeo went towards his scutum. Before they could attack Macro leapt towards Galeo. He turned his shield to deflect the sword and then wrapped him hard on the buttocks with the flat of his sword. In combat with real weapons it would have been at least a disabling blow and, with a sharp sword, possibly a death blow. Without pausing he spun around and smashed his sword at Cilo’s shield; he then punched him in the face with his own shield and the recruit crashed to the ground. When he opened his stunned eyes he was facing the tip of a wooden sword. Not very good eh? Let’s try to do better.”

  Marcus had left the office at Agrippa’s behest to watch the contest. Agrippa stood next to him as the two turmae continued to slog around the gyrus in full packs. “He is good sir. These lads are no mugs but he makes them look as though they are. You look at his size and think this giant will be so slow. Not a bit of it he moves like a snake. I wouldn’t want to face him in the tournament. “Marcus looked in surprise at the weapon trainer. “No sir I am good but that lad he has something special. You can’t predict what he will do.”

  They both watched him spar for an hour and when he was satisfied he nodded at the two recruits. “Right get your horses.”

  Agrippa grinned. “Now watch this. I bet you a week’s salary you have never seen training like this.”

  When the two men returned with their horses Macro signalled for them to close up. When they did so he took a piece of rope from his tunic and tied Cilo’s right foot to Galeo’s left. The two men looked as bemused as the Decurion Princeps. “Now your Decurion Princeps, not the gentleman watching us right now but the one you reluctantly left at Morbium, wants you to ride close together and still fight. Well now you have to fight close together or you will fall off and look extremely stupid in front of all the decurions and sergeants watching you.” Marcus wondered how Macro had seen Decius, Metellus, Lentius, Cato and Gaius arrive to watch him work. “If you are going to beat me, and remember I am a slippery bastard, you will have to work together and use both your sword and shield at the same time. How will you do that?”

  “It’s impossible sergeant.”

  “It was difficult when I gave you all those exercises before. Let’s see if they have made a difference. Give me your shields. Now hold your swords above your heads with two hands. When I give the command begin to trot and then listen to my directions and follow them precisely. That’s all you need to do, follow my instructions, no fighting no-one trying to knock you off just you two working together.” The two men looked nervously at each other. “Trot.” To their surprise they found that by kicking their heels their mounts moved forwards. “Good. That wasn’t hard was it? Hard left.” This proved a little trickier and Galeo started to slip sideways. He almost dropped his arm.

  Suddenly Decius’ voice boomed out. “Don’t you dare drop your arm until the sergeant tells you boy!” He paused and nodded to Macro. “Carry on sergeant.”

  “Thank you decurion. Use your knees and thighs, grip the horse. Hard right. Straight on. Hard right. Hard left. Gallop. Hard left. Hard right.” After another ten minutes when they had not fallen off he shouted,” Halt!” This proved to be their down fall. Galeo grabbed the reins and pulled hard. His horse stopped, Cilo’s didn’t and he flew majestically over his horse’s head. For a heartbeat Galeo grinned and then realised he was tied to Cilo. With an “Oh no!” he sailed over his horse’s head as well. The decurions and sergeants could not stand for laughing so hard. “Better than the circus Sergeant Macro.”

  Macro smiled, “Sorry lads forgot to say you could use your hands. Nice initiative
Trooper Galeo. Get yourselves cleaned up, grab your shields and we’ll start again.” They bent down to untie their ankles. “Didn’t tell you to untie did I?”

  He wandered over to his audience. “Very inventive sergeant. Have you used this method before?”

  “No sir but hearing why they were sent here I thought I would improvise a training method which suited the purpose.”

  “Good I can see that decurion Agrippa is quite right you are ready to be the new weapon training officer sergeant.”

  The sun was dipping towards the skyline and the afternoon becoming even colder when Macro called a halt to the training. His two charges had improved beyond recognition. Even without being tied together they could fight tightly turn, halt and even manage to put Macro in difficulty. “That’s enough for today but I am afraid tomorrow is more of the same.”

  “No problem sergeant,” Galeo was in high spirits. “I actually feel I have learned something today.”

  “Me too but I am beginning to ache a little.”

  “A little tip, rub oil on the inside of your thighs and do some squats, without weights, before you turn in. Build those muscles up and you will be able to control your horses. You might also ask Sergeant Cato for tips on controlling horses. He has forgotten more than I will ever know.”

  “Yes sergeant!”

  Four weeks later and Saturnalia was nearly upon them. Marcus held a short meeting with his decurions. “We have nearly finished the training and I would like to celebrate Saturnalia not with the normal alcoholic stupor but with a tournament. Find the champion amongst the men here.”

  Decius snorted, “That’s easy, Macro.”

  “Maybe,” interjected the recently promoted Agrippa, “but there may be someone out there better and he may get a little cocky.

  “What do you mean get? He is cocky already.”

  “The other reason is that it will keep their focus and they are returning to Morbium soon, well at least some of them. It will not be long before we all gather at Morbium for the invasion. I don’t mind the men having a drink to celebrate but not to get out and out falling over drunk.”

  “Don’t forget that around here they celebrate the shortest day with a day long drinking festival,” added Lentius.

  “All the more reason for us to be on our mettle.”

  Decius shrugged, “I don’t mind. It is your decision Decurion Princeps but I will drink the same as I do every other night.” The others looked at him. “Helps me sleep.”

  The tournament was open entry. There were a number of categories: man on man on foot, man on man on horse, javelin mounted and bow mounted. Marcus was pleased that almost every trooper took part. He had had another reason he did not divulge to the others. He wanted to know who were the best with javelins and the best with bows. He had yet to allocate those troopers who would be in his turma and he had it in his mind to make one of effective elite archers and one of effective elite javelins. If Metellus was right then these mailed Brigante needed to be stopped, or at least broken up at distance. His two specialist turmae might just turn the tables.

  The day of the tournament soon came around and the excitement was palpable. There was a good deal of betting on the outcomes. The first event was the archery and even the grumpy Decius was impressed by the standard. “They’ve all come on a bit when they started the only thing most of them could hit was their foot. “ The standard was so high that it ran on longer than was anticipated.

  The javelins were equally good and, as more men had entered, there was more competition but there were four who clearly outshone the rest and made it through to an exciting final. Agrippa and Macro had decided not to enter the man to man on horseback and Marcus found himself in the final against Gaius. Although Gaius was good he was not the horseman that Marcus was and his mount, Argentium, seemed almost to read his master’s thoughts. The end came when Gaius made a clever move jinking at the last minute. He would have had a clear and killing stroke to Marcus’ back had not Argentium stepped quickly back and Marcus managed the killing blow. “Well done Decurion Princeps although I think you owed much to your horse.”

  “I don’t deny it. I have the finest sword and the finest mount in the ala. Think on that Gaius next time to choose the best weapon and the very best horse you can. In that critical moment on a battlefield they can be the difference between victory and defeat.”

  The draw for the man to man on foot had been seeded and the final four were Decius, Agrippa, Macro and a powerfully built trooper called Postumius. They were the best in the whole fort. There was a hiatus however before the eagerly anticipated combat took place. It was late afternoon and the sentries suddenly announced the arrival of the prefect. “Sneaky bastard. I bet he hoped to catch us all pissed out of our heads.”

  Marcus gave Decius a knowing look. “In that case it is a good job we are not pissed but engaged in a worthwhile activity then eh?”

  “So you are a sneaky bastard too. Sir.” He smiled as Marcus tapped the side of his nose knowingly.

  “Sorry to visit you unawares Decurion Princeps. I just thought as I hadn’t been here for a while this might be a good opportunity to see how the training is coming along.” The calm manner belied the fact that he had expected a Bacchanalian orgy of drunken men, “Have I interrupted something?”

  “No sir. Just the culmination of our tournament to find the best warriors. The training is largely finished and I thought this would be a good way to test the skills of each man and make more balanced turmae.” The prefect looked at Marcus realising once again what a sound military man he was. “If you would care to join us?”

  “I would love to.”

  Marcus glanced at the prefect as they sat down. If he was disappointed with what he had seen he did not show it. The first pair out were Decius and Agrippa. Marcus was not certain which way this bout would go. Agrippa was the better fighter but Decius was stockier and more cunning, a better dirtier fighter. If there were any sneaky tricks he would use them. As he shifted his attention to Agrippa he could see that the weapon trainer knew this. Decius began cautiously feeling out his opponent. They exchanged blows sword on shield and moved apart. Decius feinted low but Agrippa merely stepped back.

  The prefect leaned over to Marcus. “This is all very well but what about the combat we do as cavalrymen? Man on horse against man on horse?”

  Marcus looked calmly at the prefect. “We already had that sir.”

  Looking a little nonplussed Rufius said, “Oh and who was that champion?”

  “Actually sir I was.” Just at that moment Decius threw a handful of soil at Agrippa and darted in when he believed his opponent was blinded. Agrippa had seen the move coming, ducked and the soil went over his head. Decius stabbed into space as Agrippa whacked him in the back sending him sprawling with his momentum into the dirt.

  “Nice move Decius.”

  “Ah well you are too good for me. Luckily I had a bet on you to reach the final so I win either way.”

  Postumius and Macro came out together. After Decius they looked like giants. “What are you feeding your men decurion, elephants? I have never seen men as big.”

  “We eat well here sir lots of fish and game to augment our rations.”

  This time the combat was so quick that if you glanced away you missed six or seven blows. They were both very fit men but Macro just had that edge. He had the confidence to work his opponent. He recognised quite early on that Postumius like to follow up a shield punch with a hack down rather than the stab up taught by the legions and he used this to great effect. As the shield was thrust into his face he spun around and Postumius was hitting fresh air. Macro hit him in the back with his shield and then put the point of his sword in his back.

  Around the gyrus Marcus could see money being exchanged. Postumius’ size had marked him out as the dark horse. Even though he had just fought, Macro was ready for the final and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. Agrippa came out and nodded to the one time apprentice. This bout
had a beauty to it as both men used every stroke and blow that was available to them. Neither held back and the blows, even though they came from wooden swords, smashed down on shields and helmets. The end, when it came, was due to an accident. Even though he was a bigger man, Macro had great balance. The two men came together and as they twisted away from each other Agrippa fell and Macro wasted no time in putting the sword to his throat. As Macro helped Agrippa to his feet the crowd roared and the two men embraced knowing that they were as closely matched as it was possible to be.

  “I see I was right to leave the training to you Sergeant Macro.”

  “I don’t know sir; if you hadn’t slipped we might have been out there all night.”

  Agrippa glanced over to where the prefect was talking with Marcus. “I have a feeling that our prefect would have ended it. He doesn’t look particularly comfortable does he?” laughing the two men left for the Saturnalia celebrations.

  “And now Decurion Princeps if we could go to somewhere a little warmer perhaps?”

  “I have some wine and food waiting in my quarters sir. I assume you are staying a while?” The prefect nodded. “Well in that case I will move my things into the decurion barracks. As we only have five decurions at the moment there is plenty of room.”

  “That is one of the things I wished to discuss with you. Have you trained all the men?”

  “Yes sir. We are still training rather than have them idle and they get to patrol but, yes they could take part in any action immediately.”

  “Good. I had expected Decurion Metellus to return before now.” There was more than a hint of reproach in the patrician’s voice.

  “Sorry about that sir but as I said we had the men more or less trained and with a shortage of decurions it was handy to have an extra one around. My fault sir. Of course he will be able to return with you with a turma. You have eight turmae now at Morbium?”