I saw Gaius in a new light. This was not simply a hardened warrior, but also an intelligent thinker. He might lack the family connections or the wealth to rise up the system. If ability was the key, then he would surpass Gallinas by a long way.
He was giving Gallinas the means by which he could propel himself further up the chain of command.
“Good point, Gaius, an excellent point; I had not fully considered that. I would, however, be loathe to grant her too much freedom, for I am not convinced I could trust her loyalty.”
I decided to have my say at this point.
“It is rude to talk about me as I am standing here listening. Where I am from, women and men are equal in all aspects of society, and yet I have to stand, wearing crude clothing and stinking of the prison you keep me in, while you sit and talk about me. If you wish to know what use I might be, why not ask me?”
“You are no longer where you come from, wherever that might be. This is part of the Roman Empire, and women do as they are told.”
“Then you, my dear Tribune, have a lot to learn about good management techniques.”
“You think that you will win favour by insulting me?” he asked, going red in the face.
“I am not insulting you. If I were to actually insult you, you would be exceptionally angry and probably asking this man to kill me on your behalf. I am merely pointing out your shortcomings, as it is quite clear that few people entrusted with your education have ever done such a thing in the past.”
He stared at me for a moment, clearly unsure how to take both me and what I said.
To give him due credit, he remained calm.
“What gives you the right to tell me my shortcomings?”
“You have assumed the right of being the lord of life and death over people who know nothing of Rome or your emperor, so by the same power I claim the right to speak my mind. Bear in mind that although I appear to be a member of the female sex, I am more than a match for any man. Indeed, I have forgotten more about the art of fighting than you have ever learned.”
He sat for a moment, regarding me and frowning. Then he pointed to one of the benches.
“Sit, woman, and convince me of your merits.”
It was a heavy stone bench, probably having remained in that one place ever since frost placed there some time ago now. I lifted it and carried it closer to where he and Gaius sat, dropping it and sitting down.
Both men stared at me with expressions something akin to awe.
“Your soldiers are fine for set pieces and strategic action against armies and bands of ill-disciplined warriors in the field. They are completely unable to deal with a guerrilla style of warfare. Your legion was attacked by a band of warriors, which caused some considerable damage and certainly lost you your captives. What action would you have taken against the settlement when you would have reached it?”
“I’d have raised it to the ground and taken those not slaughtered into captivity,” he answered without hesitation.
I smiled, shaking my head.
“Spoken like a true Roman commander. By taking punitive action against civilian and non-military targets after sneak attacks by unidentifiable persons, all you will succeed in doing is alienate the populace and instil the seeds of rebellion and hatred. Even if you take those survivors into captivity, the feelings of resentment and hatred will only fester and brew until, given the opportunity, revenge would be swift and terrible. It would probably end up being against some innocent person who had no knowledge of the original atrocity. To get the most from any occupation, even if initially initiated by force of arms, is to become invaluable to the people, who have amazingly short memories when supplied with a better standard of living than previous administrations.
“The Roman Empire succeeds where others have failed by a positive approach to the assimilation of other cultures into the Imperial way of life. Religions are not stamped out, but simply absorbed and brought in alongside the existing Parthenon of deities. Look at your approach to the new religion in Palestine. By allowing the Jews the freedom to execute their alleged Messiah, this new faith has started to spread. By making it illegal and forcing it underground, it will continue to flourish and grow in both strength and numbers. I guarantee that as soon as one of your Emperors adopts the new Christian religion as the legitimate religion of the Roman Empire, then its strength and appeal will falter and it will become another political machine within the empire. Indeed, I foresee that the Empire will fall, but it will continue under the guise of a Roman Church with the Emperor changing his role to that of a spiritual leader and calling himself Pope. It will transform the faith into one of the strongest political organisations on the planet, dominating people’s lives across national boundaries on every continent.
“You do the same with languages, customs and festivals; as all are respected and permitted, as long as they are consistent with what already exists. If one people group worships the god of the sun, then they are permitted to continue and simply allow the name of the god to be another name of the existing deity.
“In military matters, you have a vast infantry machine that is highly disciplined and trained to face a myriad of military scenarios. You use cavalry as an auxiliary force, which is fine in open plan battlefield situations, but you rely too much on the set-piece scenarios. Here, in these isles, you face diverse tribes that are not unified or cohesive as a military force. You have three disadvantages. One is the climate. The next is the topography of a forested land with few open spaces and lastly the fact that they know the terrain and you don’t. These disadvantages are outstripped by the Imperial Roman military machine you possess. By assimilating a few tribes at a time, you already have a large following of tribes that have been turned. Some by force of arms, but others have seen the benefits of being allies. When you break a dominant tribe that has subjugated other smaller tribes, these tribes automatically see that you are an ally, and this is confirmed by the advanced civilisation you represent. Why be a savage painted in woad when you can live in a proper house with central heating and benefit from the protection that Rome offers?”
The Tribune said nothing, but raised his head to allow me to continue.
“My women warriors were successful because of three factors: one, you were not expecting an attack, two, the attack came at night when you were unable to identify who was friend and who was foe, and three, we did not hang about and wait for your military machine to swing into action. We struck fast and light, causing major disruption and confusion while we could. After that, we never attacked, except for small harries against your supplies and the fringes of the column that was unable to respond to our greater agility and speed.
“Imagine that as you advance into unknown territory and as your columns are vulnerable, you deploy an extra unit whose task is to secure the flanks and the area to the front for a good measure so that ambush and sneak attacks are not possible. Take that one step further; this advance unit is trained to undertake searches to contact the enemy and then swings into action. Its primary function is reconnoitre, and the secondary function is to strike but not as a large and lumbering machine, but as a snake - fast and deadly, causing maximum confusion and disruption to the enemy to allow the main column to prepare for the battle proper.
“This unit would be as content on horseback as on foot, whether in open country, in the forest, or even a town or settlement. The key to this unit is a system of rapid communications to feedback up-to-the-minute intelligence. In daylight, this could be done by shiny metal using the sun’s rays to reflect a simple coded message, when dull or at night, then either a flag system, with two flags depicting different letters or by flashing lights, doing the same.