THE INVASION OF GAUL (52 page)

Balbus shrugged.

“
Try. All we can do is try. I don’t think the legions will fail you, sir.”

Crispus shook his head.

“
Nor I, General. Nonetheless I
do
have a suggestion for you.”

Caesar frowned.

“
Go on.”

“
Diplomacy. Give the legions the leisure to come to terms with facing the German horde. Let them
behold
the Germans and they will undoubtedly arrive at the conclusion that Ariovistus’ forces are merely men after all.”

The General’s frown deepened.

“
I don’t want diplomacy any more. I want that German’s head on a pilum standing outside my headquarters.”

Crispus’ eyes narrowed.

“
You do not desire diplomacy, and yet you do crave a killing mood among your men, yes?”

Caesar nodded in irritation.

“
Yes, yes.”

“
Then you could use diplomacy to create an incident.”

“
What?”

“
You could do something to incense Ariovistus. Provoke him into making a move that will inflame the legions. In one fell swoop you would have the homicidal tendency among your men and your excuse for battle.”

Caesar’s frown slowly metamorphosed into a smile.

“
Balbus, Sabinus? What do you think?”

“
It should work, Caesar. The legions hate thinking that barbarians have one up on them. Legions might be with you on the march, but that doesn’t mean they’d follow you into battle. If you gave them a reason to hate and resent the Germans,
then
you’d have your army.”

Caesar nodded.

“
Very well, I’ll have a think on the matter and see if I can come up with anything useful. If any of you have a notion, let me know. For now I intend to head to the Citadel and gather everything up. We’re moving out tonight.”

Balbus looked around the path, wondering where Tetricus had gone. He finally spotted him way behind the column of Caesar’s staff, walking with the front number of centurions. He smiled as he recognised Priscus and Balventius among the number. Bidding good day to the others, he stepped to the side of the track and waited for the centurions to catch up.

Tetricus saw Balbus and nodded to Priscus. The two of them jogged out ahead and met the legate of the Eighth.

“
We need to talk, legate.”

Balbus raised his eyebrows.

“
Very well, what about?”

Tetricus frowned.

“
Let’s step aside and let the army pass by. I think we need a little privacy for this.”

The three walked a few yards into the woods and watched as the collective centurionate of six legions walked past. Once they had gone and the only sound was the twittering of birds and the hum of bees, Balbus straightened his back.

“
Alright, what’s up, tribune?”

“
Do you remember a tribune called Salonius from the Ninth?”

“
Salonius? No. Should I?”

Tetricus sighed.

“
I shouldn’t think so. I don’t remember him either, but it seems he’s been very vocal recently on the subject of Caesar and the Germans. I gather he’s also been seen among the other legions at camp. I wanted to get hold of him and ask him a few direct questions, but no one’s seen him for two days now. Odd that, isn’t it?”

Priscus and Balbus looked at each other and then back at Tetricus.

“
Salonius. A tribune from the Ninth. Before we go to Caesar with this, I want to find Longinus. He’s going to know a thing or two about this man. I want to be sure and fully armed with details before I accuse a tribune of anything like this. Nice work, Tetricus. Stay with Priscus. Once I’ve found Longinus I’ll come back to you. I don’t want to rush into anything.”

Tetricus smiled.

“
What should we do in the meantime?”

Balbus grinned back as he walked off through the woods.

“
Pack your kit, man. Pack. We’re departing at nightfall, remember?”

Chapter
17

(Among low hills between Vesontio and the Rhine)

“
Tabularium
: The records office. In Rome the Tabularium is in the Forum, though each fort had its own based in the centre of the camp
.”

“
Valetudinarium
:
The military hospital in a camp or fort
.”

Caesar leaned forward in his seat and frowned.

“
So where is this Salonius now?”

Publius Sulpicius Rufus stood and met the General’s gaze with a calm and level look.

“
The tribune is one of three that has been missing since before your conference with the centurions, General. I gather a number of tribunes applied for permission to resign their posts and to return to Rome, and I believe Salonius is one of them.”

Caesar gave a low growl.

“
I gave no one permission to leave. Everyone who requested it was assigned to my staff.”

Caesar looked at Longinus.

“
Is there any chance of us picking those three up somehow?”

Longinus shook his head.

“
Only in Rome. Can’t see any way to get them in the meantime that doesn’t involve the entire cavalry. Do you know who the man actually was?”

Another growl.

“
Only that he was recommended by the Senate and requested permission to be assigned. I daresay when I get back to Rome and pay a visit to the Tabularium, I’ll be able to trace his patron and find out how he got assigned. In the meantime, I think we’ll have to work on the assumption that he was the highest this thing went and try and get on with the business of campaigning.”

Rufus nodded.

“
It irks me that the man was one of mine.”

Balbus reached out and patted his comrade on the shoulder.

“
Not your fault Rufus. Could have been any of us, really. Just lucky to have got rid of him.”

Caesar relaxed a little and opened his mouth to speak as one of the guards outside the tent flap knocked on the frame and entered.

“
Caesar, I beg to report the arrival of riders, sir.”

“
Riders?”

“
Looks like several cavalry alae, sir.”

Caesar’s brow creased as he turned to Longinus.

“
How many alae have we got out there?”

The cavalry commander shrugged.

“
A few scout groups of auxiliary riders, nothing more. Oh, and the ala that was with Fronto.”

Caesar frowned at the guard.

“
Any infantry with them?”

“
No sir, just looks like several hundred horse.”

Caesar turned back to Longinus.

“
Best get out there and see who they are, then.”

The officers in Caesar’s command tent made their way out into the late afternoon sun. The grass was light and pleasant and the legions were now resting after having made camp and stored away supplies. The legions’ morale seemed to be holding, but the commanders were still aware of rumblings among the men. A number of the senior officers were of the opinion that a good fight would sort out the problem. Caesar, on the other hand, reminded them that a good fight may just have entirely the opposite effect and he wasn’t willing to stake the Roman position in Gaul on a roll of the dice.

Balbus nodded in satisfaction as they passed the billets of the Eighth. Everything was squared away properly and a soldier saluted as the officers passed. As they made their way down the hill toward the turf wall-flanked gateway, Balbus could now see the column of riders coming down the hill opposite. They were indeed all cavalry, though not the lightly-armed and Celtic-attired auxiliaries. These were proper alae of heavy cavalry. Moments later he saw a second, much smaller group of riders around half a mile behind.

As they reached the gate, the camp prefect had called the guard together and a reasonable defensive force now stood at the north rampart in case of any unforeseen trouble.

Balbus watched, poised, ready to spring into action as the cavalry came into close view past some trees.

“
It’s Fronto.”

He turned to Longinus.

“
It’s bloody Fronto. And his whole cohort. On horses!”

Longinus grinned.

“
Ingenuus is with him. Looks like German riders behind them. Can’t be chasing them though. There are only half a dozen of them.”

The Roman column crossed the stream and cantered up the slope to the gate where the officers stood. Every one of the riders was almost grey with dust and travel-worn. Fronto, Ingenuus and Velius rode in the lead and reached the gate at the same time. Ingenuus sprang lightly from his horse and landed with agility, coming straight to attention and saluting the General. Fronto and Velius, on the other hand, brought their leg out of the saddle and over to dismount with a great deal of physical discomfort. The pair slid unceremoniously from the saddle and to the floor. Fronto staggered a little and saluted without any real attention stance. Velius merely collapsed in a heap on the floor, rubbing his posterior and wincing.

Caesar smiled.

“
Good to see you again Fronto. No doubt you have adventures to recount to us over wine later.”

He gestured at the various bloodstains on the officer’s clothes.

“
It’ll have to wait for a moment, however, while we deal with these other horsemen.”

Fronto nodded and sank to the floor beside Velius. Ingenuus watched him collapse, shrugged and gave the order for the column to dismount.

“
Fall out and find your units to billet with.”

Grinning he sat, crossing his legs, next to the others.

“
You’d never make it in the cavalry, Marcus. That was just a nice country ride.”

Fronto growled at him and left it at that. Velius looked across accusingly at the cavalry prefect.

“
Both of my buttocks have gone completely numb. And it’s a bloody blessing I tell you. Those last few miles I thought somebody was going at my arse with a branding iron!”

The three fell quiet at a gesture from Balbus, as the German riders approached the camp.

Caesar stood resolutely in the gateway.

“
Why are you here?”

The six riders reined in before the party of officers, two of them watching with amusement the three men on the floor and the Roman column falling out, many of them stiff and painfully. One of the Germans walked his horse out in front.

“
You Caesar?”

The General nodded.

“
I am.”

“
King Ariovistus say now time for you to talk. You and he talk, yes?”

Caesar squared his shoulders.

“
If your King wants to meet with me on equal terms, then I agree. Five days from now, at a place equally distant from both our armies. Honour escorts only, though.”

The German looked confused for a moment, as though he were turning over the words in his head and translating them.

“
Yes. Only horses. No legion. Just horse.”

Balbus realised that, as he spoke, the German was looking over the top of them at the array of heavily-armoured infantry lining the walls of the camp. He was surprised to hear Caesar’s voice in an affirmative.

“
Agreed. Cavalry escort only.”

He turned to Longinus.

“
Any appropriate terrain around here your scouts have found?”

Longinus smiled. He’d been scouting for good battle terrain on the General’s orders for a week.

“
There’s a good plain around ten miles from here, with a small hill. Reminds me very much of that one where you talked to the Helvetii. North east from here.”

Caesar smiled back and then turned to the Germans.

“
Did you understand that?”

“
Yes. We see hill too. Meet there, five days, only horse.”

The riders wheeled their horses and rode away from the camp, back towards the German army so many miles distant.

Caesar smiled at Fronto. A moment later Longinus broke into a wide grin.

“
What?”

Balbus reached down to help Fronto stand.

“
I don’t think your cavalry days are over, Marcus. I think you’re about to become a ceremonial cavalry guard.”

Fronto turned and glared at the General.

“
You can’t be serious. Longinus has plenty of trained cavalry and we’re infantry. Use him.”

Behind him, the officers could hear Velius muttering “my arse, my arse,” and feeling his rump.

Caesar grinned at Fronto.

“
Ah, but I want the Tenth. He doesn’t want me to bring infantry, so I presume you’ve given him good reason for that. If he doesn’t want the Tenth there, then I
do
. Longinus, have horses transferred temporarily from the auxilia to the Tenth. I want the whole legion mounted and trained in the next three days to sit a horse like a natural.”