by Ken Farmer
Hiding his utter aversion for the man who, in the main, was the reason for the death and destruction in the land, he turned and nodded. "Aye. What is your need?"
The man took an arm to steer Julius away from the tent, the stopped in an open area to say, "My ship is in anchor with the others bringing supplies."
"Your ship..." Julius stopped, realizing that the overdecorated hull that had given them wonder earlier must be the vessel being spoken of.
"Aye. It gives me a far more comfortable abode than a leaky tent on soggy ground. But, when this bastardus, Spartacus, is crushed, I will wish to visit the city of Rheginum. That is where the putrid slaves will be pushed to either surrender or find their doom in the sea."
"I fear that the Petrel is not suitable for the transport of slaves."
"Nay! You misunderstand. The slaves can march on their own feet - I have no desire to make their movement eased with my own coin. But, this Spartacus has a treasury of wealth, stolen from across the land, and is hidden for use later - or so he hopes in his futile attempt to become something beyond the despicable slave that he is. I would assist in the retrieval of the looted property, that it might be reclaimed by the rightful owners."
Julius stared at the fat noble for the moment, trying to hide his expression of disgust. He had no little doubt that of any coin retrieved by this man would ever be returned to anyone, rightful owner or nay. He asked, "How might you know of any such hidden pillage? Or anything at all of the man?"
Batiatus smiled. "Ah, young Julius. You have your secrets - and even more in concert with your honorable brother, and such that have garnered wealth for the Clavius family for three generations. You must not be offended if I am reticent to share those of my own." He looked around, then continued, "But, your... specialty, shall we say, is in delivering massive wealth with no worry by the patron of deceit in the covenant. Indeed, your family even gives indemnity for the loss of lading. I wish merely for the safe delivery of the coin and metal to Capua. The fee will not be ungenerous."
"Discussion of costs and charges is the domain of my brother, but aye, I suspect that he will have little objection to such a contract."
"I would carry it myself, but as you well know, there is no possibility of any such wealth being moved without becoming known to all. My little ship would be swarmed by every fisherman with a gaffing-hook, if not by pirates come from every point of the Great Sea."
Julius nodded. "When the deed is done, then we will make arrangements. But for now, you must excuse me. I have need of standing out with as much haste as possible." The need was to get away from the Lanista, and paramount over any orders from the Dux. With a slight bow, he turned, nodding to Valens, then strode away.
Back at anchor, the two ship - large and small - were tied together in the calm waters. He had Densus and Decimus in his cabin, to escape the rain now beginning to fall. "We must not be seen as friends to the pirates as they port into Rheginum to load the people of Melglos, thus we will merely sail by at distance to watch the activity. Syracusae will be our port of use until that of Rheginum is cleared."
"Will we not have to report the ships as they enter, Sos?" asked Decimus. "Else the Dux will give wonder at our delay."
Julius grinned. "Aye, but not with haste. It maybe that the gods of the winds are perverse, requiring us to use many more days in return than normal."
"What could Crassus do even if he were to find a host of ships taking his quarry away?" asked Densus. "There is no force all of the Roman domain to give prevention."
"Aye," replied Julius. "Rome as indeed allowed her power on the waters to wither to nothing - a matter that will be paid for with much despair eventually, to my thinking, but our need is now, not tomorrow. Make sail to pass Rheginum only close enough to look into the harbor."
Book VI
Chapter 51
"Aye?" Julius had woken at the slight sound of feet on the ladder to his tiny cabin.
"First light, Sos," came the voice of Densus. "The speculatoria is in sight."
"What of the wind?"
"Light, but usable. More snow during the night."
Julius heaved himself from his mat, garbing with some leisure in the lack of any need for haste. They had been sailing back and forth between the city of Syracusae on the coast of Sicilia and a point off the port of Rheginum for a month and more. Even with the overnight stays in the large city, this interminable voyage was becoming monotonous in the extreme. Every few days, Capitaneus Decimus, in his fast speculatoria, would be sent to deliver the message to the Dux, Crassus, that the rebel slaves had not received any succor from the sea.
And therein was the matter that was troublesome in the extreme. Julius had expected to see a host of ships standing into Rheginum, fulfilling the bargain to move any who which to flee away from certain death - or worse - at the hands of the Legions. But, days passed without a single vessel being seen, beyond the occasional coaster that hove into the port, mayhap the Master of the ship ignorant of the turmoil in the land. More often they saw a full merchant under sail, passing through the straits to either north or south, but all gave the land a wide berth.
Finally, after most of the month of waiting, Julius sent the speculatoria along the land to the east, all the way to Brundisinum, on the far side of the Latium peninsula - not to make contact with the pirates, but merely to ascertain their location. Any meeting with such would be unwise - the temptation to seize a well-found craft with only four crewmen on board might be too much to deny. They had returned without seeing any trace of other than merchant ships and the normal vessels to be found along a coastline.
On the Petrel, Julius discussed the matter with Densus and Decimus, with the crew standing around in listen. Pontika was still on board, her female presence now given little thought by the crew. With the coming of the cold winds, she was garbed in heavy robes and, if needed, a leather cover to keep off the rain and spray. As such, except for her diminutive size and total lack of any trace of beard, she would not have been remarked by any passing sailor as any but just another crewman.
Still, Julius knew that the vocation of ship's crewman - utterly unheard of for a femina - would end with the saga of Melglos. His wonder was at the destination that she would eventually point her being. And in the back of his thoughts occasionally rose the nagging idea that her part in the turmoil around the Great Sea was not yet over...
Their discussion upon the arrival of Decimus was bitter. "The pirate-scum have betrayed their oaths," said Densus. "And now drinking in some far Greek taverna with their black gains."
"Mayhap they are in voyage far out to sea that none may follow their progress." Pontika was as sensible a female as any had seen, knowing of the world and the fact that the gods had little care as to the fate of a mortal, but... The idea that her friend had been betrayed, and was now at the mercy of a force that had little use or even knowledge of mercy, was difficult to give to oneself.
Decimus looked across at Julius, gaining a returned stare and a slight shake of the head. All on board had much fondness for the girl, risen from tragedy and with as much effort by herself as her male associates. Still, she was a mere puella, many years from maturity, even if her body seemed to indicate such was imminent. The speculatoria Captain put a gentle hand on her shoulder, saying, "Nay. Let us not consign our friend to the doom of Hades as yet. If he desires, my boat can spirit him away from any peril and with yon Romans seeing nothing but our backside."
Now Julius said, trying to keep his voice with some hint of encouragement. "Aye. But, let us not worry about what has not happened as yet." To Decimus, he ordered, "Sail to Terina and give to the Dux that no assistance to the rebellion has stood into to land as yet. We will wait here until your return, then our assumption has to be that the pirates have abrogated their agreement."
That was four days ago, now, as he climbed to the deck came the call from Ngozi, forward. "Yellow streamer over red, Capitaneus!"
"Aye!" acknowledged Densus.
Julius just stood and looked in the distance at the small sail on the horizon. That pair of flying and colored cloths meant a message on board, and one that would not brook of delay. Finally, he said, "I doubt that Decimus is bringing word of invite to some fête. I will give wager that our friend has refused to play his part of helpless quarry, trapped and doomed."
As the sea was too rough for two ships to tie up together, the little boat came along the lee side of the Petrel and a line was tossed, then made fast to the Captain. Closing quickly, Decimus made the leap to the boarding net, then climbed to the deck, the safety line unneeded. Without waiting for Flavius to untie the line, he said, "Melglos has broken through the barrier."
"With his entire band?" was the surprised response from Julius.
Decimus nodded to the ship's carpenter as the rope fell away, then replied, "Nay. Just the fighting men. No report came of numbers, but from the punishment that the men of Crassus took, it is many thousands." He took a cup of warmed wine from Caius, then continued, "The night was black, with a storm blowing snow from the furies. Apparently, the rebels had made long bridges of cane and wicker, to span the ditches made between the river and the sea. They did not stop to fight, but just carved their way to the open road leading to the Lucania region."
"Lucania? Are you certain? Not toward the city of Brundisinum, in the south?"
Decimus spread his hands. "No one is certain of any thing at the moment, but reports have them on the Popitian Way."
"But why?" Julius was musing out loud. "His appearance on a road to the north will panic the Senate again. He knows that such will cause the veteran Legions to be returned. His feet should be on the road..."
Now Decimus broke in. "Your pardon, Sos, but I hailed the ship of Capitaneus Lartus, in route to Panormus, on Sicilia. He gave that all is quiet in Neápolis and Capua, but that news from Rome is that Gnaeus Pompeius and his Legions have already taken ship from Hispania. And Lucullus has been called from his campaign in the domain of Pontos. He is said to be landing in Brundisium."
That was startling news, indeed. "When did they depart?" asked Julius.
"Even back in the month of Sextilis."
That was over two months ago, and even given the plodding pace of the Legion's transports, their arrival could not be long from now, or mayhap they had already unshipped in Ostia. It took only a moment of thought, then, "Our need here is ended. Capitaneus. I wish you to make the voyage to Brundisium to determine if indeed Lucullus is landing there. Make a count of his forces in estimation, then return to find us. If nothing is seen, then move up the coast to see if mayhap he has landed further to the north. Should he not appear by the Ides, then return. The Petrel will point to Terina, or wherever the Legions have settled."
Decimus was quickly put aboard his little boat and turned its bow south. The Petrel pointed to the north.
Pontika had been in listening to the reports of the missive boat Captain, and now came to Julius to ask, "This bodes ill for Melglos, does it not?"
He could not lie. Even a dolt would know that a band of slaves, no matter their strength and desperation, would have little chance once trapped between three Roman armies - two of them of blooded veterans of wars lasting years. "Aye... We must brace ourselves against unpleasant tidings in the coming days."
"But we must help..."
Julius took the girl by both shoulders. "He is my friend, also, but more importantly, was a member of my crew when he was falsely taken in offense by the putrid Batiatus. I take responsibility for his being, but you know that he has been offered refuge by me to any place on the Great Sea that he wishes to voyage. But... Melglos is his own man and has made his choices despite my offers. You must brace yourself for unpleasant tidings."
She nodded, her eyes downcast in contrast to her usually ebullient self. "Aye. In my heart I know it, but..."
Julius smiled. "Know that if I can somehow spirit him to safety, then we will all work to that goal."
The wind was foul but strong, and their tacking courses were swift. In two days they had reached the tiny village of Terina, but found all shipping gone. Obviously the encampment of Crassus had moved in chase of Spartacus, or mayhap, in flight from him. As they had passed few ships between Rheginum and here, they had obvious gone north.
They passed by port after port, not standing in but only close enough to see if the supply ships of the Legion were present. Tempsa, Cerrillae, Melpes - all were empty of hulls of any but those of fishermen. Finally, in the major port of Paestum they discovered the Legions - or at least the quartermasters that handled the supply from the sea to the land.
Ashore, Julius found the evidence of battle. The tents of the medicus were filled with Legionaries with wounds that ran the gamut from gashes to missing limbs. He and Valens had garbed in their uniforms, then stood ashore to find the headquarters of the Dux. The search was not long. Only a few stadia inland they found the encampment, fully erected and protected with a stockade around the entirety of the area. His Tribune habiliments made entry easy, and soon he was being announced into the tent of Dux.
"Tribune," came the call from the Dux. "I had some wonder if you had met your demise at sea." The Commander of the Legions was, as usual, standing at the table of maps, with many of his staff in presence.
Julius raised a hand in salute, then replied, "Aye. We ceased our watch on the ports when gaining word of the rebels moving north. I can give that the ports under their control have seen little shipping, and none for use as escape." He leaned over to tap the map at a coastal city. "I have sent our missive boat to Brundisium to give us notice when forces of Lucius Lucullus stand in."
He was surprised at the effect of his statement. Crassus was just staring, and the staff officers were obviously attempting to keep their own exclamations in check. Finally, the Dux asked with intensity, "By what source do you come by such news?"
It had not even occurred to Julius that the Dux and his men might not have heard of the coming of the veteran Legions. Now, he said, "One of our merchant ships out of Ostia was met by the speculatoria that I am using to run missives to Capua and the Capitanei traded news." He paused, thinking, then asked, "Might you have heard of the pending arrival of Pompey, with his Legions from Hispania?"
Obviously they had not heard of that either. The Dux shook his head, looking at the map and obviously in deep thought. "Nay. The last third part of the month has been... hectic. After the slave horde broke through our lines on a black night of snow, they split into parts for some reason. But it was their undoing - at least for the mob that attempted to ravage the western side of Latium. We gained surprise as they threaded their way across the Aeiris river, trapping them between my forces and that of Antonius." He pointed at an officer at the end of the table.
"Spartacus?" was the single word in question from Julius.
"Nay. He is reported to be moving along the eastern roads. This was a mass of about ten thousand - all men. Fighters all. Apparently the women and families are still in the long peninsula. This was a unit of one of his officers... His name was..."
"Ganicus, Sos," gave an officer. "A Gaul."
"Aye, Ganicus. If you walk to the edge of the camp - there..." He pointed vaguely in a direction. "...you will see himself and some of his men nailed up to cross-trees for their deeds. Apparently they were no more than a mob intending to loot as they fled. Prisoners give that they were moving to Paestum or Neápolis to seize ships for their escape. Or even Tarricina."
"Ships?" was the puzzled answer from Julius. "You said this group had ten thousand in their ranks?" A nod from the Dux. "Every ship on the western coast would not carry but a part of such, and Spartacus has at twice as many left with him."
The Dux shrugged. "When a man knows he is doomed, then any straw may be clutched. But, as to your news of Pompey and Lucullus. What is their time?"
"I only know that of Pompey with the single detail, Sos," replied Julius. "The report said that he left Hispania in the month of Sextilis. With L
ucullus, I only have the word that he was ordered to the city of Brundisium." He stared at the huge map, spread on the table, himself wondering at the intentions of Melglos. The big Thracian might escape himself, and with a few chosen men, but the vast mob of slaves was doomed. And with them the men who had chosen their lot of rampaging around the land. With the Romans closing in - or soon to be doing so - from three directions it was only a matter of time...