The Gladiator (32 page)

‘Yes, sir.’ The optio saluted and strode away.

Cato could not help a small smile at the legate’s precaution. ‘I had no idea that being the Legate of Egypt was such a dangerous job.’ ‘A man in my position must always be cautious,’ Petronius sighed.

‘Egypt is an imperial province. The legate is appointed by the emperor in person. Therefore he is always the target of envious senators, and at the same time he is in grave danger of disappointing the emperor, and you know how that ends.’

‘Indeed.’

‘So,’ Petronius took his linen tunic from the end of the massage couch and pulled it over his head, ‘what does Senator Sempronius want of me? Emergency supplies, some engineers to help with the clear-up?’

‘Those would be welcome, sir, but the situation is rather more serious than that.There is a full-scale slave rebellion in Crete. For the moment it is confined to the southern half of the island, but we’ve lost control of things. The slaves have wiped out the force sent to deal with them, and the remaining soldiers and officials are bottled up in a handful of cities and towns.’

‘Sounds bad.’ Petronius stroked his chin and looked at Cato shrewdly. ‘I imagine you are about to ask me for some men to help put these rebels down.’

Cato nodded. The time to deploy his persuasive skills was on him, yet his body was still coping with the giddy effect of so many days at sea and his mind was dull with fatigue. He opened the top of the leather tube and extracted the second scroll from inside. ‘This is from the governor.’

He handed the letter to Petronius, who broke the seal and opened it. Before he began to read he glanced at Cato. ‘I expect you could use a drink? Something to eat?’

‘Yes, sir.’

Petronius indicated the tables vacated by his officers. Several platters of fruit and delicacies lay half eaten, together with silver jugs of wine. ‘Sit over there and help yourself while I read this.’

‘Thank you.’ Cato walked over and helped himself to some grapes and oranges, relishing the taste after days of chewing dried fish and hard baked bread. He sat down on a cushioned stool and poured himself a cup of the watered wine, sipping it as Petronius read through the brief report on the situation in Crete. At length the legate rolled the papyrus up and strode over to join Cato, sitting down opposite him and pouring a cup of wine for himself.

‘I always find that a massage leaves me feeling thirsty.’ He smiled. ‘In fact almost anything one does in Egypt makes a person thirsty. At least the climate is bearable here in Alexandria. But further down the Nile it gets unbearably hot, and almost nothing lives in the deserts on either side.You have it good in Crete.’ He stopped and tapped the scroll. ‘At least you did.’

‘Can’t say I’ve been there long enough to notice,’ Cato replied. ‘It was our bad luck to be sailing past the island when the earthquake struck.’

‘Unlucky for you maybe. Lucky for Crete that such high-ranking officials just happened to be on the scene to take charge.’

‘I suppose,’ Cato said carefully So far the legate had not questioned his rank, and it was necessary to convince him to come to Sempronius’s aid before his mind was clouded over the question- able status of Cato’s elevation to the rank of tribune.

‘Sempronius mentions the need for military support but does not say how many men he requires. Do you know what he has in mind?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Cato took a deep breath.The senator and his two senior officers had carefully considered the forces required to guarantee victory over the rebels. ‘One legion, two cohorts of auxiliary infantry and two cohorts of cavalry, as well as a squadron of warships to provide transport and support any coastal operations.’

Petronius stared at him, then laughed. ‘You can’t be serious. That’s nearly half the garrison of this province. We’re thinly stretched as it is.’

‘But you’re not engaged in any campaigns at the moment?’ ‘No,’ Petronius admitted. ‘And are there any uprisings to contain?’ ‘No. But that’s because I have enough men to keep the locals in their place, and the desert Arabs at bay’ ‘I understand that, sir, but Sempronius will only need the use of your forces while he puts down the slave revolt. As soon as Ajax’ ‘Ajax?’

‘The leader of the slaves, sir. A gladiator. As soon as he is crushed, the forces can return to Egypt at once.The governor gives his word on that.’

‘That’s reassuring.’ Petronius took an exasperated breath. ‘Look here, Tribune, I’m happy to do what I can to help out in another province, but what Sempronius asks is impossible. I have two legions here. The Twenty-Second is down at Heliopolis. The Third Cyrenaica is dispersed along the coast, and my auxiliaries are garrisoning towns across the delta. It would take some days, months even, before I could concentrate such an army as Sempronius requires. By then your revolt will probably have fizzled out.’

‘I doubt that,’ Cato responded. ‘It is growing in strength every day. Sir, I can see you don’t grasp how critical the situation is.The slaves slaughtered one thousand of our men in a single attack. Somehow Ajax has managed to fashion an army out of them, and I fear he has ambitions to free every slave on the island.’

‘Then let Romedeal with it. If the situation is that critical, then the emperor will need to assemble an army to put the rebellion down.’

‘But he won’t have to ifwe act now’ Cato paused and decided to try a new tack. ‘Sir, if you fail to send help to Sempronius, then Crete will be lost. As you say, it will require a large army, and perhaps years to recover the island and stamp out every last nest of rebels. T h e cost to the emperor will be vast. But what if he realises that the revolt could have been crushed if forces had been available to intervene earlier? You said it yourself: being the emperor’s man in Egypt is a tricky business. If you fail to act now, you are sure to disappoint the emperor, and, as you say, we know how that ends.’

Petronius glared back. ‘Are you threatening to blackmail me?’

‘No, sir. Neither I nor Sempronius will have to. The lost opportunity will be apparent to everyone, and sadly the mob does like to have someone to blame whenever there is bad news.’ Cato paused a moment. ‘Act now and you could emerge as the man who saved Crete.’

The legate sat back and folded his arms. ‘And what if I so denude Egypt of forces that a rebellion breaks out here in my absence and we lose this province? How do you think the mob will react to
that,
Tribune?’

‘That is a remote possibility,’ Cato conceded. ‘But you have good order here at the moment. It’s not likely to happen.’

‘But if it did?’

‘Then you are dead either way, sir. The best thing to do is save Crete, and save it quickly, then have your men return to Alexandria.’

‘You make it sound so easy’ ‘I am merely stating your options as I see them, sir.’ Petronius stood up and walked slowly around the pool, head bent in thought, hands clasped behind his back. By the time he returned to the table, his mind was clearly made up. ‘I can’t leave Egypt. If anything happened in my absence, the emperor would have my balls for breakfast. And I’m not prepared to give you all the forces you ask for. So let’s compromise, Tribune. I have eight cohorts of the Third Legion here, with an auxiliary and cavalry cohort in a camp twenty miles from the city. If I keep two of the legionary cohorts in Alexandria I should be able to maintain order. As for the other units, I will have to shift men around the delta region, but it should be possible to manage. That’s my offer then. Six cohorts of legionaries, and one each of cavalry and auxiliaries. In addition to the naval squadron. Take it or leave it.’

Cato considered. Would two and a half thousand legionaries and a thousand auxiliaries be sufficient to destroy Ajax and his army of slaves? There was no question that quantity was no substitute for quality and the heavily armed legionaries could carve a path through the poorly equipped ranks of the slaves. Even so, they would be massively outnumbered. There was little point in committing a force that lacked the strength to see the task through. On the other hand, if Sempronius could strike quickly enough, he might inflict a victory on the rebels before they grew too established. Cato cleared his throat.

‘That is a generous offer, sir. I am sure Senator Sempronius will be eternally grateful to you.’

‘Bollocks to Sempronius. I just want Narcissus kept off my back. Now, ifthat’s agreed, I suggest you get some rest. Make sure you have a long bath and a good shave while you are at it. I’ll give the orders for my forces to concentrate in Alexandria. I suspect my staff officers are going to be kept busy over the next few days. That’s no bad thing. Do them good to get back to some soldiering for a change.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Cato felt as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders. ‘Thank you.’

‘Don’t thank me. Not yet. I don’t think any of us can rest easy until that gladiator is captured and nailed to a cross.’

The first attack on Gortyna took place only a few hours after Ajax returned to his camp. His closest comrades had never seen him so angry as he swept past his bodyguards and into the half-ruined farmhouse that he had chosen for his headquarters. He tore off his cloak, and hurled it to one side as he made for the jug of wine and hunks ofbread and cheese that had been left out for his supper.There were some of his men who made every effort to enjoy the finest foods that they had been able to loot from the wealthy villas that the slave army had sacked. Ajax did not begrudge them such indulgences. After a life of servitude, they had every right to taste freedom in all its forms. He preferred a simple diet, one that would feed his body and not spoil it, and he made no secret of his plain fare, knowing that it would bind his followers closer to him.

N o w he forced himself to sit down at the table and pour himself a cup ofwine. He drank it deliberately and then poured another and dipped his bread in before chewing it methodically, staring at the cracked wall in front of him. T h e owner of the farm had obviously been a man of some wealth, but limited taste. The walls of this, his dining room, had been covered with murals depicting a bacchanal orgy. Directly in front of Ajax was an image of a pair of gladiators, a secutor like Ajax himself, in a wary crouch as he faced a net-wielding retiarius. Arranged around them were the guests, drinking and gorging and laughing as they urged the gladiators on. One of the women, heavily made up, was holding the penis of a man as she watched the fight with an excited expression. In the centre of the party sat the host, a fat,jolly bald man wearing a leafcrown awry on his shining pate as he raised a cup in the air, filled to overflowing.

‘Bastards!’ Ajax roared, snatching up the j u g and hurling it against the wall with all his might. The jug exploded, sending shards of pottery and jets of wine in all directions. The mural was instantly covered in dark liquid that ran down the wall so that the images were distorted by a red film. Ajax’s heart was pounding as he stared at the wall with wide, terrifying eyes. Behind him there was a creak as the door swung on its hinges.

‘General? Are you all right?’ Chilo asked anxiously. There was a pause as he saw the remains of the jug and the wine on the wall. ‘General?’

For a moment Ajax remained still, fighting back the rage that burned in his heart.The memory ofhis slavery was still like an open wound, and above all thought of the indignities and pain that he had suffered was the image of Centurion Macro, one of those responsible for the crucifixion of his father, and the cause of Ajax being sold into slavery. Macro, and that other one, the tall, thin officer his own age, and the legate who had commanded them, Vespasian. Even if the others were beyond his reach, serving elsewhere in the accursed empire of Rome, Macro was at hand, and at his mercy. Ajax muttered an oath to every god he held sacred that he would avenge his father, he would avenge himself and he would make sure that Macro was made to suffer every torment that could be conceived before he was allowed to die.

Chilo coughed. ‘General? Is there anything I can do?’

Ajax sucked in a deep breath and turned round. Chilo commanded the best men of the slave army. They had been equipped with the pick of the captured armour and weapons. ‘Yes. Summon your men. Have them formed up.We have some ladders, I recall.’

‘Yes, General, some, but they are in sections and will need to be securely lashed together before we can use them on the walls of Gortyna.’

‘Then see to it.At once.We will attack as soon as they are ready’

‘Attack?’ Chilo could not hide his astonishment.The openness of his character was one of the reasons Ajax had chosen him to be one ofhis closest comrades. He could not hide anything from his general, especially any sign of doubt or treachery.

‘But General, the men have marched most of the day. They will be settling in for the night.’

‘That’s too bad. Besides, the Romans will have seen us make camp. They won’t be expecting any attack so soon after we have arrived. That’s why we must do it. To catch them unawares.’ Ajax thought a moment. ‘We’ll make for that section close to the main gate. It’s been repaired, but it looks weak, and they haven’t been able to raise it back up to the level of the rest of the wall.’ He nodded to himself. ‘Yes. We’ll attack there, out of the darkness.’

The gleaming helmets ofthe sentries were clearly visible by the light of the flames flickering along the wall as Ajax thrust his hand up to halt the column behind him. Chilo repeated the gesture and the men drew up, still and silent as shadows. Ajax had ordered them to leave all unnecessary kit back at the camp, and anything that might make a noise that would give them away. Half a mile back, the much larger war band of Kharim stood ready to charge in if a breach was secured, or the gatehouse seized. His men were armed with an assortment of weapons and carried little or no protection. But their hearts were filled with determination to throw themselves at their enemy if the chance came.

Chilo’s men were barefoot and wore scale armour and helmets. They carried shields and spears with daggers thrust into their sword belts. Ajax waved his hand and the men gently eased their shields down and crouched beside them. Ajax lowered his own shield and spear to the ground and removed his helmet, softly ordering Chilo to do the same.