Parthian Vengeance (45 page)

I was unsure whether Hatra would get embroiled in a war supporting the Agraci. ‘I hope so, lord.’

‘And the Jews, do you think they will throw off the Roman yoke?’

I thought of the ragged individuals we had met, the shattered fortress where we had encountered Alexander and Domitus’ comment about the lack of bridges across the Jordan. Then I thought of the two legions that were stationed in Syria and the others that the Romans could send as reinforcements.

‘I hope so, lord, I sincerely hope so,’ was all I could offer.

He pondered for a moment. ‘Hope will avail them not in a battle with the Roman army.’

He was right, of course, but I had seen some of the gold that Alexander possessed. With the right weapons, the right timing and the support of the people they might just be victorious. They might just be able to win their freedom.

When we returned to Dura Aaron and his future wife and mother-in-law were settled in a house near Rsan’s mansion in the city and he continued to make a rapid recovery. Rsan himself was extremely happy with the outcome of our expedition to Judea and had already drawn up a delivery schedule for Alexander’s weapons. Following discussions with the chief armourer he had informed me that it would over a year to fulfil Alexander’s requirements. Byrd had accompanied us back to Dura and had come to an agreement with Rsan with regard to the transportation of the weapons to the Jews. We would be using Byrd’s camels to carry them west to Palmyra, then directly south into the desert and through the volcanic mountains southwest of Damascus, before heading due west again to the mountains that lay to the east of the Salt Sea. Malik and Rasha had travelled back to Dura with us and Rsan had also come to an agreement with Malik whereby his Agraci warriors would provide an escort for each camel train. The cost of hiring Byrd’s camels and Malik’s warriors was to be borne by Alexander, meaning Dura would make a handsome profit on each shipment of weapons. After all the sums had been done Rsan was the happiest I had ever seen him. Aaron said that he would travel with the first shipment, which would be ready in two months’ time, by which time his wounds would be fully healed. The treasury would be full, Silaces’ men would be fully equipped and I could begin to plan a new campaign in the east.

‘The Jews are a beaten people,’ scoffed Dobbai as she stood beside me atop the Palmyrene Gate a week later.

‘You do not agree the Jews are beaten?’ Dobbai pressed me.

‘Mm?’

‘The Jews. I said that they are a beaten people.’

We were standing next to the stone griffin with its unceasing guard over my city and kingdom. Dobbai was leaning against it as a column of Dura’s horsemen approached the city following manoeuvres in the desert.

‘Perhaps with my help they may be a free people,’ I said.

‘You have shown imagination in reaching an agreement with this Alexander, but it will not help the Jews.’ She cast me a sideways glance. ‘Though it may aid you.’

The approaching column of horsemen wheeled away from the city two hundred yards from the Palmyrene Gate to return to their quarters south of Dura. A small group of horsemen had halted to take their salute and then they about-faced and rode to the city.

‘It has aided me,’ I said. ‘With the Jewish gold I can rearm the legions and Silaces’ men and deal with Mithridates once and for all.’

The horsemen entering the city were led by Surena, who spotted me standing above the gates and drew his sword to salute me. I raised my hand in recognition. He lived in the city with Viper in accommodation befitting his rank as the commander of my horse archers. I smiled at him as he passed under us.

‘You like him, do you not?’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘He has turned into a fine officer. He is brave, quick witted and has a brain in his head. I never thought I would find a replacement for Nergal, but Shamash has given me one.’

‘His destiny and yours do not follow the same path, son of Hatra,’ she said. ‘You must release him.’

I was confused. ‘He is not a slave to do my bidding. He serves me of his own free will.’

‘That may be, but while he does so he does not serve the empire.’

‘I do not understand.’

She waved her hand at me. ‘You will learn that later. By the way, when were you going to tell me that Claudia had spoken to you?’

‘How do you know that, has she spoken to you too?’

She raised an eyebrow at me. ‘I asked you a polite question, why do you answer so flippantly?’

I had tried to erase the memory of my experience at the Temple of Ishtar from my mind, notwithstanding that the prophecy of the temple gold had come to fruition, which in many ways made it worse.

‘I did not think it was of importance.’

‘Really?’ she said in surprise. ‘And yet you thought it important enough to venture to Judea on the word of a Jew who you have known barely a moment. Clearly you attach a great deal of credence to Claudia’s words, as you should. What else did she tell you?’

‘Nothing,’ I snapped.

‘Your disrespectful reply suggests otherwise.’

I said nothing but stared at the legionary camp in the distance. She shuffled away from me.

‘Have it your own way, son of Hatra. But disregard her words at your peril.’

But the words of Claudia were far from my mind as the weeks passed and the armouries operated at full capacity once the first payment of gold arrived at Dura. Aaron had travelled back to Palmyra and then south through the desert, this time with over a hundred Agraci horsemen acting as his escort, before meeting with Alexander twenty miles east of Machaerus. It had been previously agreed that Alexander would make the first payment before the first shipment of weapons as a sign of his good faith, and so Aaron brought back with him fifty large leather bags full of gold. Once it had been itemised and safely deposited in the treasury, camels were taken to the armouries and loaded with arms.

The armouries needed to manufacture per day twenty-five of each of the following types of weapon:
gladius
and scabbard, spear, dagger and sheath and helmet. Over a fifteen-month period this would be enough to equip ten thousand men. And Alexander also wanted a thousand mail shirts for horsemen. It was fortunate for Dura that the armouries were staffed by four hundred blacksmiths, each one having an apprentice that had begun his training in metal craft at the age of eight. Even so the pace of production was frenetic and the chief armourer, a squat, barrel-chested man named Arsam, made frequent complaints that the requirements of the army and the monthly shipments to ‘the rich Jew’ were placing an intolerable strain on his ironworks. Arsam had forearms as thick as stone pillars and his name ironically meant ‘possessing the strength of heroes’. I told him to hire additional workers from Babylon and Hatra if he wished, though not from Damascus. I had no doubt that eventually the Romans would discover that I was sending weapons to Judea, but hiring workers from Syria would ensure they would find out sooner rather than later.

Domitus continued to rebuild the legions, finally receiving his five thousand ‘missing’ javelins. Meanwhile the horse archers of Silaces began to fill their quivers as the armouries churned out thousands of arrows. It was fortunate that the arrowheads were made of bronze and were cast rather than forged and then shaped on anvils. This way Arsam could order additional quantities from Babylon and have them transported by camel to Dura.

As a reward for his services to Dura I made Aaron the royal treasurer, as Rsan was now the city governor. As the old year waned Dura slowly became one of the richest kingdoms in the empire as the caravans on the Silk Road passed through the city and Alexander’s gold arrived at the Citadel. The reports I received from Babylon, Uruk and Hatra reported no hostile activity east of the Tigris, and in the west all was quiet in Roman Syria and Judea. No doubt Mithridates and Narses were licking their wounds and preparing a fresh campaign against me, but the longer they delayed the stronger Dura became.

When the new year dawned I once again refused to pay the annual tribute demanded of each kingdom by the king of kings. I received word from Nergal, Axsen and my father that Mithridates had demanded twice the normal tribute so he could deal with the ‘traitorous King of Dura’. Apparently he could not bear to even mention my name in his royal proclamation.

Hatra, Babylon and Mesene declared that they were unable to meet his demands. My father stated that he was dealing with Armenian incursions into the north of his kingdom and invited Mithridates to send an official letter to the Armenian king, Tigranes, politely requesting that he desist his aggressive actions. For her part Axsen stated that her kingdom could not afford the additional tribute as resources were being directed to repairing the damage incurred during the invasion of her lands the previous year. Though she was diplomatic enough to refrain from stating that it was the king of kings and his lord high general who were responsible for the damage. Nergal did not even bother to reply to Mithridates’ demands.

The prospect of war hung over us like thick smoke on a windless day, and we prepared our forces accordingly. The men of Elymais were fully equipped now – eight thousand horse archers divided into eight dragons, each one made up of ten hundred-man companies. Silaces and his men trained every day to turn them into an effective force, though there was not the time to train them to work with the cataphracts, much less the legions. In any case I hoped that in the near future they would be in the vanguard of an army that would liberate the Kingdom of Elymais. They were quartered near the ruins of Mari, forty miles south of Dura beside the Euphrates. It had once been a great city but that was seventeen hundred years ago, and after its destruction by King Hammurabi of Babylon had been largely deserted. The remains of its mud-brick buildings provided adequate shelter for eight thousand horses, though.

Two months into the new year I had the whole army drawn up in front of the Palmyrene Gate and presented Silaces with his new banner: a great white flag upon which was Gotarzes’ symbol of a four-pointed star. I could now call upon over twelve thousand horsemen and ten thousand foot, in addition to the men the lords could raise. Last year I had relied on speed and surprise to achieve success; this year I would assemble greater numbers to ensure victory.

Orodes made yet another trip to Babylon, this time to ensure that the production of arrowheads was progressing smoothly. I told him that he did not need to concern himself with such trivia but he insisted. And to speed his journey he and his bodyguard plus their horses travelled down the Euphrates on rafts.

While he was gone I had a most unexpected visit from my father. He sent word that he was visiting me and arrived ten days later accompanied by Vistaspa and his bodyguard plus their squires, who camped across the Euphrates in Hatran territory while their king and his general were lodged in the Citadel. Gallia and I greeted them at the foot of the palace steps in the company of Domitus, Surena, Rsan, Aaron and my three daughters. My father kissed Gallia and knelt to embrace his granddaughters while Vistaspa bowed his head to everyone stiffly and ignored my children. I think he thought infants were small demons sent to torment adults, a view that was not entirely incorrect.

We took refreshments on the palace terrace as a forest of tents began to spring up across the river as the squires of Hatra’s royal bodyguard erected the shelters of their pampered masters.

My father flopped down in a wicker chair next to the stone balustrade. He looked tired. ‘I wish to make a show of force against the Armenians. I grow weary of their incursions into my kingdom, and the longer I do nothing about them the bolder they become.’

To say I was surprised was an understatement. My father had always been a cautious monarch, always reluctant to seek recourse to conflict.

‘I had no idea the Armenians were proving so bothersome, father.’

He smiled wryly. ‘Vata holds the northern frontier but now raiders are coming from Gordyene. It has become an intolerable situation. I have asked Farhad and Aschek for their assistance and they have agreed that we should arrange a meeting with Tigranes to sort this matter out once and for all. I now ask you, my son, if you will join with me.’

‘Dura stands by you, father,’ I said with pride. ‘When do we attack?’

Vistaspa looked at my father, who frowned. ‘We do not go to make war, Pacorus, but to persuade Tigranes that his recklessness endangers Armenia.’

‘You will be wasting your words.’ Dobbai had walked unseen onto the terrace and took her seat, unconcerned that my senior officers and I were in conference with the King of Hatra. She waved over a servant holding a tray of drinks.

‘Armenia is the slave of Rome, even I know that.’ She took a silver cup filled with wine and sipped at it as my father regarded her with curiosity and Vistaspa glowered at her.

‘Do you suggest I declare war on Rome, then?’ asked my father, trying to out-fox her.

‘War is coming with Rome whatever you do,’ she replied. ‘The question is, when it comes will the empire be united or divided?’

‘I can see where my son gets his advice from,’ said my father dryly, ‘advice that nearly led to his death last year at the Tigris.’

‘I told him not to underestimate Mithridates and Narses, he chose to ignore that advice,’ she snapped back.

I held up my hands. ‘We are straying from the matter at hand. When do you meet the Armenians?’

‘I have sent a message demanding a meeting with Tigranes at his southern border in a month’s time,’ said my father.

‘The army of Dura will be there, father, I guarantee you that; though I am surprised that Aschek and Farhad have agreed to support you.’

‘Raiders from Gordyene have also been attacking Media and Atropaiene,’ said Vistaspa.

‘Gordyene is like an abscess,’ complained my father.

‘And where does the king of kings stand in this matter?’ I asked. ‘His empire is assaulted and all he can do is demand more money to raise an army to march against Dura.’

My father shook his head. ‘Mithridates will not support me after I supported you last year.’