by Griff Hosker
Nodding Nuada turned to Tiny, “Sorry. “
After the four had gone they returned to the inn where Decius still sat. “Well?”
“Better than we could have hoped. We have four and they are bringing their friends tomorrow.”
“Good then tomorrow I will head for Mamucium to sell the jet. When you have the others Tiny can take them to Brennus for training and you can meet me in Mamucium.”
Decius spent the night in a tavern close to the fortress of Mamucium. The fort was not as big as either Deva or Eboracum but the vicus was a large one. It was the biggest settlement travellers came across once they had crossed the divide. For that reason the taverns were busier and more expensive than the others they had encountered. It also had a better clientele and Decius soon found a trader who was willing to buy the jet from him. Decius knew that the trader was robbing him but as the gold he received was pure profit he did not mind. He had an ulterior motive. The trader was so pleased to have made such a killing that he was happy to tell this stranger of the best routes, most populous settlements, and the richest traders in the area. Soon Decius had an accurate picture of the commerce in the region. More importantly he discovered the patrol routes used by the Gallic auxiliaries. He was relieved that they were foot soldiers for it made contact less likely. Later that night when he withdrew to his room he took out a wax tablet and made notes about the routes and places. He didn’t think he would forget them but it was better to be careful as his uncle had found out to his cost.
The following morning he waited at the western end of the road into the vicus. He knew that Centurion would get there as soon as he could and it allowed him the opportunity to plan where they would begin their reign of terror. He knew it was important to start as far away from the forts as possible. He had found that the traders used two main routes into Mamucium, one from Luguvalium and one from Eboracum. He was loath to use the one from Eboracum because it was further away from his base, the land of the lakes and the sea. He also knew that the nearest troops were at Luguvalium and they were busy with the northern barbarians and Deva where the Twentieth Valeria was still trying to control the Silures and Ordovices. They would begin their attacks on the north south road west of the divide.
When he saw Centurion striding along the road looking weary he realised that they would have to buy a horse, or steal one as soon as possible. “How did it go?”
“They brought thirty men so it is a good start. Tiny took them off to Brennus. He will join us tomorrow.”
“How will he know where to meet us?”
“There is a tavern not far from here. It has a sign showing a white horse, he will meet us there.”
“One of your places?”
“Yes but this time I know the tavern keeper, he served with me.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? He will know you are a deserter.”
“I saved his life and besides he was never a lover of Rome. He was flogged more than once and a man never forgets that. Besides he lost an arm fighting for Rome and didn’t receive a pension.”
“How did he get the tavern then?”
“The lads liked him and when he was injured we collected some money for him. That is another reason why he owes me but most importantly he still keeps in touch with other likeminded soldiers.”
Nautius Naevius had been a big man when a soldier. Since taking the tavern he had almost exploded into the fattest man Decius had ever seen. For all that he had a sharp eye. He greeted Centurion like a long lost brother, “Gaius! Where have you come from? I haven’t seen you for years.”
“Oh here and there. This is my friend er Decius.”
“Any friend of Gaius is a friend of mine Decius.” He looked at him shrewdly, “But I suspect the reason my friend has only given me one name is because I may know your family name.” he held his hand up. “I don’t need to know the details. Now are you staying?”
“We hope to.”
“I can offer you good rates.”
Grinning Centurion came back. “You may charge us full rates as long as we get what we want.”
“Whatever you want. Women, girls, “he glanced at Decius, “boys?”
Centurion put his arm out to restrain the red faced Decius, “Nautius is known for his wicked sense of humour. He means no offence do you old friend.”
“Of course not. Well you have me intrigued. Come I will show you your room and then you can tell me of the services you require.”
Being morning the tavern was quiet as Nautius explained, “The kind who frequent my tavern like to work in the dark if you understand my meaning. They are the kind of men who don’t like too many questions.”
Decius and Centurion exchanged looks. They had agreed that Centurion would do the negotiation while Decius held the money. “Sounds like our sort of men.” Centurion checked that there was no one within earshot. “We are looking for ex-soldiers who don’t mind getting their hands bloody if you catch my drift.”
Nautius nodded. “Are you bothered at all about their backgrounds? I mean I know some lads, a bit like you Gaius, who left the Empire, shall we say under a cloud?”
“They would be perfect.”
“And how long would you want them for? A little job? Perhaps longer?”
“Indefinitely? Clothes, weapons and food provided.”
“Pay?”
“Share of the profits and a regular income.” He leaned forward. “A lot more than Rome pays.”
“And for me?”
“One denarius for every ten men you find.”
“One for five.”
Spitting on his hand Centurion held it forward. The Innkeeper did the same and, as they clasped hands said,”Done!”
“Nice bit of business there, have a drink Gaius and you too Decius.” They both raised their freshly filled beakers. As they put them down Nautius said innocently, “Shame about your uncle though. It was good to have someone with such powerful connections.”
Decius hand went to his sword but Centurion restrained him. Nautius spread his arms, “Your secret is safe with me I was just letting you know what a valuable source of information I am, your new partner.”
Decius leaned over. “Be careful what you do with that information or you could lose more than a hand.”
Three days later Decius left Centurion and the recently arrived Tiny to collect the new men and then they all headed back to the camp. He had been away for five days but he was pleased with the progress Brennus had made. The thirty men had been put to work building their quarters and some rough defences aimed at slowing up and deterring an attacker with deadfalls and man traps. Decius nodded to himself. Brennus had made the camp hard to see and he did not think it would be discovered accidentally.
He called Brennus over to him as he rode in. “Good job Brennus.” The Brigante shrugged the compliment off. “How about the men?”
“They are alright but I would not trust them.”
“That is the point isn’t it Brennus we don’t need to trust them as long as they are being paid and I think the sooner we begin to get some money the better.”
“You are beginning?”
“We are beginning. I think I know where we can some easy and quick money, even with the number of men we have recruited and it will help us to see how they work. Have they been fitted out with armour and weapons yet?”
“Later today.”
“Do it now. We head out tonight. I know where there will be horses and gold.” Although he expressed surprise Tadgh and Morwenna had impressed on the Brigante that for good or bad Decius was in charge. It suited Brennus for any mistakes were not his.
He had allowed the men to rest in the afternoon following their arming. He knew from his time with the Brigante that warriors like to accustom themselves to weapons and armour. As these thirty were the first they had received the best equipment; later recruits would not fare as well. Decius and Brennus had taken centurion uniform and, following Brennus’ advice; they had given Nuada that of an optio. “He is a leader an
d better to have him leading for us than causing trouble in the ranks.” Decius had no argument to Brennus’ logic and had agreed.
It was moonrise when he gathered them together. Although they had no tents yet Decius knew they would have to acquire them soon. He addressed them. “Tonight we are going for a little walk. About twenty or so miles. I want to be at the road by mid morning. There will be a caravan of traders heading north and we are going to relieve them of everything. Your fist payday is tomorrow. As far as anyone is concerned we are the Second Pannonian Auxilia.”
Nuada spoke up,” Does that unit actually exist?”
“No idea but if we use it often enough then people will believe it is. Tomorrow we kill everyone but when we are in settlements we try not to kill but we take everything. Clear?” The grins and nods told him that they were happy with their new working practices and they set off cheerfully.
By the middle of the night they were less cheerful and they were showing the effect of their lack of exercise and marching. Decius was pleased that he had worked out with Tiny and Centurion and he kept a hard pace. He had decided on this excursion not only for the rewards but also as a training exercise. These thirty men would, in effect become his elite force. They were the best armed and they would have had the most training. He intended to over reward them. He was quite happy to buy loyalty. They found the empty fortlet exactly where he had been told by the merchant to expect it. “Right men let us occupy this fort as though it belongs to us. When the caravan reaches us I want them to approach it feeling safe. They will see Roman soldiers whom they will assume have re-garrisoned the fortlet and they will expect to be safe. We need to take any livestock alive but the men are there to be killed. Brennus take ten men to the northern end of the road to cut them off. I will be in the middle. Nuada take five men to the southern end. This is isn’t Rome so just rest until you hear the order, then you behave as Roman soldiers.”
The men took him at his word. Any regular Roman centurion would have had an apoplectic fit if he had seen them lounging about. Decius climbed the small watch tower to enable him to see down the road. He saw the smudge turn into mounted men and he shouted down, “They are here! In position and remember we are Roman.”
By the time he had descended they were all in position and their appearance made him think that they might just pull this off. They looked like Roman soldiers. Admittedly they were not identically dressed but it would have taken keen military trained eyes to discern the differences. As the column of men and animals wound its way slowly along the road Decius could see that it was bigger than he had hoped. There were ten mules, a wagon and eight mounted men. Four of the men were armed which suggested to Decius that they were hired guards.
The leader of the caravan was the man who had spoken to Decius in Mamucium. He smiled and waved genially as he rode towards Decius. Something about Decius caused him to frown and he shook his head as though he was mistaken. As soon as the last guard had passed Nuada and the leader was almost level with him Decius shouted, “Now!”
Thrusting upwards with his gladius Decius struck the first blow and he stabbed the leader who managed a, “You!” before he fell, a bloody, dying heap.
Decius’ soldiers had taken no chances with the hired guards and each one had had two attackers. He was surprised to see that two of the guards had not been killed but were being tightly held by Nuada and his men. He frowned as he walked up to them. They had disobeyed his first order. “Before you get yourself excited,” Nuada paused before emphasising his next word, “sir! We know these two. They are good lads who fought with us and I think they might like to join us.” He shrugged, “If they don’t then I will kill ‘em myself.”
“Very well, optio. You may explain while Brennus and I check what we have.”
The wagon contained wine, food, caligae and mail armour which were obviously intended for Luguvalium. The mules were carrying blankets and tunics. Decius almost danced for joy. They would look more like Romans now. The bodies of the fat merchants and traders brought even greater bounty. They must have sold the jet and their other goods at Mamucium and were being paid to deliver supplies to the army. Even Brennus looked pleased. “If all our attacks result in this Brennus then we will all be rich men.”
Brennus spat, “You will be rich. I am not a bandit I am a Brigante warrior and I fight for honour not gold.”
“Your loss. More for us.” Nuada strode up and Decius noticed that the two guards were not bound and still had their weapons. “I take it you would like to join us?”
The men grinned, “It would be an honour to serve in the Second Pannonians sir.”
They left the bodies where they lay. When the next patrol found them they would look for a small bandit group not the Roman column which headed south eastwards. Now that they had horses Decius was able to ride and send scouts out. One of them returned. “Sir there is a settlement ahead. Looks like a ripe plum to me sir. Cattle, sheep and they look prosperous.”
“Lead on.” Turning in his saddle he shouted, “We have a settlement. We are now tax collectors. Avoid killing but take what you can. Follow my lead.”
As they approached the village he could see that it stood at the foot of a palisaded hill. Obviously they had a hill fort in which to retreat but as they had only seen Romans approaching they had staying in their settlement nestling close to a stream and a small lake.
The headman walked up to them. He was a greybeard and looked happy to see them. “Welcome sir I am…”
“I am Centurion Octavius of the Second Pannonians and I am here to collect your unpaid taxes.”
The headman spread his arms. “But sir it is not yet tax time.”
“It is now.” Decius kicked him hard in the face and he fell unconscious at his feet. “Listen to me. Rome has given you the benefit of protection and now you must pay for it.” Turning to Brennus he shouted,” Collect the taxes centurion!”
By the time they left the settlement most of the men had been hit and left bleeding. None of the livestock had been left and the gold they had buried beneath their huts had been uncovered and taken. They left a community shocked into a wailing acceptance of the injustice of Rome. Decius had no doubt that, when the headman awoke, he would complain to Mamucium but, more importantly, would complain to neighbouring hamlets and so the word would spread. Rather than heading in a direct line to their camp he headed north for a while to confuse any pursuit. When they rode into calm triumphantly Centurion and Tiny were there already with another group of men. “I see it worked then?”
“It worked like you wouldn’t believe. We will all soon be rich men.”
Chapter 10
Livius and his new decurions had settled on a new routine as they travelled west; they rode in pairs. It made life much easier and quicker yet enabled them to cover large areas. Each section or as they now called them, maniples, using the legionary term met up each night to camp and exchange information. This enabled them to send a rider back to the legion if necessary otherwise they could carry on with their patrol. The Prefect liked this as no news was good news. Livius found himself grinning; it was highly inappropriate a demeanour for what was in effect the senior cavalryman in the legion but he could not help himself. He had a perfect job. He was riding in the most beautiful country a man could ever see, for it was still summer, and he was with comrades who felt more like friends than inferiors. He noticed as they rode through the valleys that, now that the Batavians had rid the forests of bandits there were more farms and they waved happily to the visible sign of Rome, Livius and his men.
The engineers who followed Livius were also happy for Livius knew the country so well that their job was made much easier and the road was already built close to Glanibanta. Livius knew they had to be close to Mediobogdum before the first snows fell for then the ground would be too hard to work. If they could manage that then the auxiliaries could build their fort and be snugly housed for the winter. It would also mean that Livius and his men could winter in Glaniban
ta and he was also looking forward to that.
Rufius was riding next to him. Since they had come west he had chosen the youngest member of the maniple to be his partner. The others had self selected their partners leaving Rufius alone. He was a quiet young man and Livius had taken him under his wing. He remembered when he had ridden with Marcus Maximunius and how that had helped him, how the older man had passed on his experience, wisdom and knowledge to the young, callow trooper. Perhaps he could do the same for Rufius. He saw, in the young man, much of himself when he was young; the keen enthusiasm, the desperation to do well and the deep loyalty to his comrades. “Well Rufius does the land look familiar?”
“Yes sir. It seems like yesterday.” They were riding north of Glanibanta and both anticipating viewing the site of their skirmish where they had lost the first members of the Explorates. Livius had decided to ride up the path to the cave in daylight. He knew that the road would not be coming this way but he wanted to spend the night there and explore the cave while it was still daylight.
“Rufius just ride by the lake and find the route from that direction.”
“Yes sir,” snapped Rufius who rode off, keen to impress.
Livius smiled seeing a younger version of himself. He had asked him to try the other route so that he could discover if it was passable following the man made avalanche. He found the path very steep and remembered how difficult it had been in the dark; even in the daylight it was not an easy journey. He wondered if it might be possible to place a signal tower here. The path twisted savagely from side to side with a rocky cliff and trees forming a thick barrier. Suddenly he emerged into daylight and he could see where the rocks had fallen killing his two men. Drusus had come back himself to bury the men of his section after they had watched Morwenna sail away to safety. Now there was just a jumble of rocks and the whitened bones of horses to mark the site of their deaths. He let Star’s reins drop. The horse was so well trained that he would just wander to find grazing, returning at Livius’ whistle. He could see the remains of the camp which had been here, the blackened rocks where the fire had been, the pile of bones from the animals they had eaten, and the dried shrivelled droppings from the mules. It looked nothing like a Roman camp which was always ordered and organised. It showed that no matter how numerous they were and nor matter how cunning, they were still barbarians and Livius knew that the organised Roman war machine would, eventually, grind them down. The Emperor Trajan appeared to be busy in the east but the officers of the Ninth were hopeful that, if he came west he could finish off the work so nearly completed by General Agricola twenty years or so earlier.