by Griff Hosker
*
Livius looked at the twenty volunteers before him and suppressed the urge to embrace every one of the remaining troopers from Marcus’ Horse who had chosen to join his Exploratores. Julius had stayed on before he returned to Rome to help the young officer with the training of the new unit. It had taken him but two days to be able to decide that Livius knew what he was doing. “You understand the idea guar better than I young Livius. I would be thinking of charges and movements of vast numbers of men. You have grasped the concept of subtlety and congealment in a way which is foreign to me and that is not an insult. That is me giving you the respect of one leader to another. You do not need me but the legions need you.”
So Livius stood before the twenty warriors looking at the unit which had been created but five days earlier. Each man was a trained cavalryman and Livius had had no need to worry about horsemanship or weapon training. He knew that they were all excellent trackers but what he needed to instil in each man was the belief that he could operate as an individual, without an officer to give orders and instructions. He knew they had the ability but he needed to give them the belief and now, after five days he was well on the way to that aim. The powers above him had decided that training was no longer necessary and they needed the new skills of the Explorates before the invasion of the north could begin in earnest.
He rode down the line of troopers looking each man in the face. It pleased him that they returned his look and in each face he saw respect. It was what he had hoped for rather than expected as a right. He knew that officers had to earn that respect from men whose lives were held in their fragile hands.
“Men this is new to all of us. We are going somewhere we have never been before, not the land but the job. I know each of you and I know that you will meet that challenge. We are too few and already others are being trained to join us but they are not Marcus’ Horse and they do not have your experience.” He smiled as each man seemed to grow in the saddle, proud of his association with that proud ala. “We have no more time for training and we will be leaving tomorrow to undertake a new life which will be more dangerous and more hazardous than that which went before. You will notice that we do not have the spear and shield. You will also notice that your armour is now carried on the spare horse. We are not Marcus’ Horse, at least not in name nor in the way we work, just in the heart, the honour and the memory of lost comrades. We now wear leather armour and use bows and swords. We no longer operate in turmae but in pockets of five men and even that may be split. I am the only optio but each of you is a chosen man, chosen by me. Each of you is equal and decisions on the field will be made by all. You men have intelligence as well as ability and you will use them both.” He paused to let his words sink in. He too was dubious about the success or failure they could expect. All men expected a leader to make decisions but each man was, in effect, a leader and he hopped they would fulfil the potential he knew they had. “My servant will deliver each group their orders tonight. Read them and learn them then destroy them. Your orders will determine how long you are away from Eboracum. I will be operating in the west close to Glanibanta. I tell you this not because I expect that you will need that information but because it is important that you know where I will be.” He raised his sword, “May the Allfather be with you. Marcus’ Horse!”
Each man roared proudly back, “Marcus’ Horse!”
The next day Livius took his five man patrol west. The spare horse carried spears and armour in case they needed it but Livius was sure that when this first patrol was over they would be irrelevant. In the weeks since he had been tasked with the creation of the unit he had thought long and hard about how it would work and decided that charges and individual combats were a thing of the past. They would have to be invisible, spectres, ghosts who were never seen only sensed. He hoped that the other fifteen men sent out on their patrols would not have to be sacrificed to enable others to learn from their mistakes. He was determined that his patrol would learn and learn quickly. When he had chosen his orders it appeared the most difficult and the simplest of the four tasks. Engineers were scouting a new road in the west and Livius was to aid heir task by scouting ahead of them. He had chosen the assignment because it operated the furthest from Eboracum and that made it dangerous but he knew the area well and finally it was the last area in which Morwenna had been seen. If he was to find that arch fiend it would be there.
As they rode west along familiar roads Livius placed himself at the back of the small column so that he could assess the men with whom he would be working over the next months. Cassius had been his first choice. He would be an optio as soon as they mustered more men. He was older than Livius and extremely dependable. He was rarely flustered and always made uncannily good decisions. In many ways he was a good luck omen.
Rufius was out in front and he was the youngest of the group. He was also the most recent recruit and the one about whom Livius knew the least but he had shown an enthusiasm and eagerness for combat which reminded Livius of Decurion Macro who had also been the one who desired to be the first into combat and the last from it. He also seemed to have Gaelwyn’s ability to follow tracks over stones.
Decius was the hothead; a fierce warrior who was abrasive in the group but also fiercely loyal. He had incurred the wrath of many officers outside of Marcus’ Horse for the fights caused when he felt that the name of the ala had been slurred. He was as loyal a man as one could want but Livius knew that he needed more self-control and then he would be a good trooper. If he thought first and then acted he would live longer.
Agrippa was, like Cassius an older man and Brigante to boot. He had been chosen by Livius for one reason and one reason only, Gaelwyn the old Brigante scout had rated him as a good tracker and that praise was enough to elevate the older, quieter man in Livius’ opinion.
Finally there was the enigma, Metellus. Without doubt he was the best educated of the six and even Livius felt illiterate next to him. He would quote poetry both Latin and native with ease. He could speak almost every language with great facility and yet he was the deadliest man with a bow that Livius had eve seen, he could even outshoot Macro and that was unheard of. As they trotted westwards the decurion reflected that if he failed with this group of men then the Exploratores as a concept was already dead.
He wondered how he would look if the old Prefect, Marcus, could see him. He looked like the other troopers with no sign of rank. Like his troopers he wore no helmet, it was attached to his saddle. The leather armour was covered by a dirty and nondescript tunic which gave Livius and the others the look of bandits fallen on hard times. Of course their Roman mounts and their healthy bodies would have left no one in any doubt as to who they were but Livius had encouraged his men to let their beards and hair grow; they would make them look more like the natives than Roman. He also planned on splitting up his group; six men were too large or too small a number. He planned to operate in threes with a ten mile gap between them.
He found himself oddly excited by the assignment and, when Julius had told him the devastating news about the ala Livius had thought that his world had ended; now he saw that the Parcae had a different plan for him and a new future. His first stop on his first patrol would be close to Morbium for he wanted to seek the advice of Gaelwyn, Marcus and Gaius; the three warriors he respected more than any other.
*
Cato and Marcus had ridden over to the farmstead of Ailis and Gaius to give them the news of Marcus’ Horse. The bonds of friendship were so deep that they were, in effect, an extended family. The three boys Decius Gaius Aurelius his brother Marcus and their adopted brother Decius Macro Culleo were always eager to hear the stories these revered warriors told. Decius Gaius was no longer a boy. He had now seen fourteen summers and was becoming a man. He and his father were very close in every way, looks ,manners, they way they spoke and Decius modelled himself on the father who was also his hero. It was obvious to his mother that he would follow in his father’s footsteps and run the farm.
The two younger boys were more like brothers than had they had the same parents. They were born very close together and, when Macro’s mother, the witch Morwenna had abandoned him, Ailis had fed and cared for both boys. They were both her sons. Now they were still young men enjoying young men’s adventures. They dogged Gaelwyn, desperate to learn how to become hunters and warriors. The old man feigned annoyance at their demands but in reality he loved training young minds and bodies. The two of them were fast becoming the best trackers and hunters for miles around.
When they saw the two riders approaching the three boys ran from the field in which they had been working; mending fences could wait but the chance to eavesdrop the conversations of their elders was a treat not to be missed. By the time they crashed through the villa door Cato and Marcus were sat with Gaelwyn and their father around the family table.
“Stop! Where do you think you are going?” Ailis’ voice was raised slightly but it stopped the three of them in their tracks. They hung their heads in silence. The four men grinned at their discomfort. “You know the rules; when you come from the fields you wash your hands and take off your sandals.”
Young Marcus Gaius looked pleadingly at his father who grinned and shook his head. “If you think I am going to argue with your mother think again. Go and wash your hands.”
They would have flashed their grubby paws through the water had Ailis not stood with arms folded and a stern expression making sure that they did a good job. After checking them back and front she nodded her assent and they raced into the room.
Gaius, their father was speaking, “So the ala is no more eh?”
Cato shook his head. “To be honest Gaius it would have been a new ala anyway. After the retirements and deaths there were but a handful of men left.”
“I wonder what Ulpius would have thought?”
“He had no sentiment about the ala. It was the people in it he cared for, besides from what Cato says Marcus’ Horse still lives with Livius and the Exploratores.”
“Uncle Marcus what are Exploratores?”
“Well young Decius Macro Culleo, now that you are clean enough to listen to your elders I will tell you. They are a new cavalry unit attached to the legions. They will operate secretly sometimes behind enemy lines and they will scout and track Rome’s enemies.”
Gaelwyn snorted. “Scouts! They couldn’t find their arse if they didn’t fart!”
The boys giggled. “Uncle Gaelwyn!”
“Sorry Ailis but they were never very good at tracking.”
“To be fair Gaelwyn they were never as good as you but then few were.” Mollified by Gaius’ words the old man nodded.
“So Livius is out on patrol then?”
“Well Marcus he was about to leave with his men when I left the fortress. It looked strange to me, the whole force is but twenty one men, not even a turma but they have to do the job of an ala.”
“Sounds interesting anyway.”
“Sounds perfect!” Marcus Gaius’ voice had yet to break and the squeak he made caused the adults to stare at the blushing young boy. “Well it would. Don’t you fancy it too Decius?”
Macro’s son was a smaller version of his dead father with broad shoulders and he grinned and nodded his affirmation. Gaelwyn found himself thinking he was actually looking at Macro. “Well you are too young. They wouldn’t be able to have you for at least ten years.”
The four men looked at each other not wishing to contradict the she-wolf protecting her cubs but they knew that they had been warriors when barely fourteen summers old. It would be two years at the most that Ailis would have her boys with her. The disappointment on their faces almost made Marcus laugh out loud.
Suddenly Gaelwyn’s hunting dog rose and growled. The four men grabbed their weapons from beside the door and raced out. The growling meant strangers and after Ailis and the boys had been kidnapped by a raiding band of barbarians they took no chances. The four adults and three boys formed a half circle of steel around the door as the horsemen trotted into the yard.
“Well that is a nice welcome for an old comrade!”
“Livius! Your ears must have been burning for we were just talking of you.”
“Well if my men can use your barn I will join you.”
Gaius shook his head. “They are my old comrades too. They can join us. Wife we have company for supper.”
Chapter 3
“An unexpected visit Livius.”
“I do have an ulterior motive Marcus. I called at your farm first and your man told us you had left already. “he paused and then gestured at the line of horses standing in the yard. “These are fine horses and they look like Roman horses. We need to look less Roman and somehow...”
“Wilder?”
“I was thinking more Brigante.”
Gaelwyn snorted. “As though that could ever happen.”
Gaius smiled. “It could uncle.”
“How? Your short hair and womanish faces mark you as Romans even at a thousand paces.”
“He is right Gaius and I have told my men to grow their hair and beards. Out tunics are old and worn. We do no carry shields but the horses…”
”The horses look the same; they look Roman.”
“Exactly Pref.. er Marcus. Could we exchange them for seven or yours?”
Marcus looked at Cato who nodded. “We have some that would just suit. They are a variety of colours and sizes but the only problem I can foresee is that they are not as well trained as I would like. We can pick them up tomorrow if you like.”
Sighing with relief Livius shook his head. “That is no bad thing Sergeant for we do not need them to be able to ride knee to knee and we can train our own mounts as we head west.”
Gaius looked up suddenly animated. “West? Towards the land of the lakes and…” they all flashed a glance at an entranced Decius Macro Culleo, son of Macro and Morwenna, who seemed oblivious to their sudden interest in his face.
“Yes Gaius. The Ninth are to build a road west and a fort for the Gauls to guard that side of the country.”
“And Glanibanta? Our old hunting ground?”
“Yes Marcus that is to be re-invested with auxiliaries. I think the new Governor has actually read the reports we wrote and realises the potential in the west and the dangers.”
Ailis returned with a pot which she planted unceremoniously in the middle of the table. “Enough of plans and strategies Gaius, we have guests who are politely listening but from their faces want to eat.”
The Exploratores started to bluster and deny their hunger but Gaius laughed.” This is why we should have women with the army. They are far more sensible and practical than we warriors. Of course they are hungry and thirsty too I expect. Decius and Marcus go and bring in the beakers Decius Gaius, bring in the wine.”
After the meal, which Livius realised might be the last decent food they ate in a long time, they discussed how the Exploratores might operate. “Your problem Livius is that of communication. If you discover something how will you let your superiors know?”
“Good point Marcus, ever the strategist. It is one reason why I chose groups of five troopers. Two can return with the information whilst the others continue to scout. It may be that, in the future, we take an extra horse with us.”
“I still think that the mail armour is a waste of time and will slow you down.”
“You never did like armour do you Gaelwyn? We may still need to fight and I have seen how armour can save a trooper. It is worth the small discomfort. Besides I can think of situations where we need to look Roman, with helmets, crests and spears. When this first patrol is ended I will ask each of the patrols what they could suggest to improve the way we work.”
“That is a good idea. Just listening to you I can see that it is a major change.”
The group of warriors watched the glowing fire and drank their wine comfortable and happy, knowing that, possibly for the last time in a while they were safe. As with all good soldiers they had learned to take comfort
when possible for most of their lives would be a cold and hard existence with little food.
Marcus Gaius spoke up. “Uncle Livius I would like to be an Explorate.”
“Me too,” burst out Decius Macro, desperate not to be left out.
The men laughed and then stopped when they heard the crash from the kitchen. “You are too young and all this nonsense ends now. To bed , now, the three of you!”
Their complaints and pleas fell on deaf ears and when Ailis returned with a stormy look upon her face the men had the good grace to look downwards except for a defiant Gaelwyn who looked his niece firmly in the eye. “I am surprised at you Gaius, encouraging your sons to join the army!”
“I didn’t.”
“You laughed which is as bad.”
“They will make good scouts Ailis. They are the best trackers I have ever trained.”
“Uncle they are bairns.”
Sadly shaking his head Gaelwyn murmured, “It is a wild frontier now Ailis and they will be fighting soon, whether that is defending the farm of fighting Rome’s enemies it will happen and I would rather they were with someone like Livius who can at least think a little, than a jumped up aristocrat who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.”
“Thank you for that Gaelwyn it is the nicest thing you have ever said to me but fear not Ailis. Even if they wished to join there will be no recruitment until next year at the earliest and even then I think they would be too young.”
Mollified Ailis turned to leave pausing only when Gaius spoke. “It might at least give them a focus wife if we said that when they were older we would consider it. They might apply themselves to their reading and writing if Livius said that was a condition of joining.”
Her slumped shoulders told them all that although she accepted the inevitable she was not happy about it, “Very well but I will have the final say.”
The next day as Marcus led Cato and Livius patrol east to exchange horses, Gaius put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “You cannot protect the boys forever. Marcus and Decius want to be warriors.” He kissed her gently on the side of the head, “Decius is like his father and Marcus wants to be like me. You cannot change that.”