My own was a little more comfortable than the body armour I wore in the Marines. The tunic, armour and cloak managed to disguise the gender of the wearer, while the helmet fit snugly and offered sound protection. The armourers had done a remarkable job.
“Green does not look as smart as the red,” Iona observed.
“Smart be damned, we’re wearing the right stuff so as not to be seen. Red shows out from miles away, just as nice shiny armour and gleaming weapons. Our people can lie in a meadow under our cloaks and rise to strike the enemy who have come close without being aware of our presence.”
“But the Romans like parades and things,” she said.
“If we ever live that long, I’ll order a second set of cloaks and uniforms that will look the part.”
“In red?” she asked, hopefully.
“Black.”
She frowned but then nodded.
“That will look good.”
“You’d better believe it.”
Now all I had to do was train my trainers and recruit the first forty girls.
Chapter Six
The dew made the meadow very damp. It was high summer, and the enemy were encamped just a couple of hundred meters away. The recon unit had crawled through the high grass inch by inch, barely disturbing the grass or the creatures that dwelled here.
The forest had been dense to work through, but here, in a land that had been cleared by previous generations to feed their flocks, the trees gave way to lush meadows and meandering streams.
This was a moment of truth for us, as we were finally being permitted to go into action. We were in what would eventually be called Northumberland, that county in the north-east of England, to the north of which lay Alba, or Scotland, inhabited by the Picts and other tribes who were no friends of Rome.
Here, in the north of England, the Brigantes dwelled. This war-like tribe inhabited most of the north of what is now England, and were probably the largest tribe in the country. They had a chequered past, as far as the Romans were concerned. Having made a pact with them early on in the occupation, there were many uprisings over the years, and there is some conjecture that it was because of them that Hadrian’s Wall (and later the Antonine Wall) was built across the country.
From my uploaded data, I knew that modern archaeologists have found tools, ornaments, building structures and cairns dating to the bronze and iron ages, when the area was occupied by Brythonic Celtic peoples who had migrated from continental Europe. These were most likely, the Votadini whose territory stretched from Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth in the Scotland of the future, to Northumberland.
Certainly, as far as the Legion mapmakers that I had quizzed before setting forth, it is not at all clear where the boundary between the Votadini and the Brigantes actually lay. Roman maps were not that accurate, as there were few landmarks within the heavily forested areas of this bleak country. Coastlines could be mapped from the sea, so rivers and coastal regions were reasonably accurate, but once you get into the heartland, away from big rivers and the sea, one could easily get lost.
The borders between tribal areas frequently shifted as a result of wars and as smaller tribes and communities changed allegiances. Unlike neighbouring tribes, Votadini farms were surrounded by large walls, banks and ditches and the people made offerings of fine metal objects, but never wore massive armlets. There are also at least three very large hill forts in their territory (Yeavering Bell, Eildon Seat and Traprain Law), each was located on the top of a prominent hill or mountain. The hill forts may have been used for over a thousand years by this time as places of refuge and as places for meetings for political and religious ceremonies.
There was yet another up-rising, this time involving the attack on the Roman fort at Corstopitum (Corbridge). This fort was later to become a central fort close to the great Hadrian’s Wall. However, that was yet to be built, and the garrison at Corstopitum was vulnerable and prone to be cut off for weeks if not months at a time.
Close to the local town of Coria, the name given by the local people who were part of the loose Brigante’s federation, this garrison fort was essential in maintaining a safe haven for the legions in their quest to dominate the region. In the first century AD, it was a volatile area, and so the legions needed all the safe havens they could build.
The fort had held, but the soldiers were besieged for many weeks. A single rider escaped in the middle of a terrible storm at night, and was able to get to Eboracum (York) and so three cohorts of the Ninth Legion were duly despatched to relieve the fortress: the First, Third and Fourth Cohorts.
Along with the cohorts was a detachment of cavalry and the brand new, all-female recon unit. There followed the usual band of followers, including many women, driven animals for the pot and the usual craftsmen who supported the soldiers.
Our uniforms were primarily practical. We were neither trained nor physically equipped to be front-line legionaries with the swords, shields and pilum.[iii]
In the intervening few weeks, I had recruited a single platoon strength – thirty girls. Funnily enough at least ten were part of the group of warriors I had previously trained and led into battle. They had decided not to return to domestic bliss, and instead followed the two Roman cohorts as they marched south with their captives.
I have no idea what they planned, but York was a bustling town so they were able to secure work and wait to see what transpired, when they saw me and Iona in the company of the Centurion Gaius with two of his men.
We set up a recruiting booth in a small square outside the fort and opened for business. We were an unusual spectacle – two women in military uniform bearing weapons.
We even staged a mock battle with two legionaries, in which we beat them soundly.
This attracted a crowd that initially believed we were street entertainers. Then the Romans asked if any man wanted to try to beat us with wooden swords.
This was a good ploy as many of the local people had been warriors at one time, despite the Pax that the Romans imposed.
Four big and hefty men believed they could subdue weak and feeble women, and so attempted to better us, and we efficiently beat them within a few moments.
Then Gaius announced that we were recruiting women to join an elite unit. We received some funny looks, but no recruits. Word of mouth must have worked, for the crowd that gathered on the next day was several time larger, including, I noted, many off-duty Roman soldiers.
This time twelve men thought they could beat us.
They failed.
I give Iona due credit here, for she was without my enhanced physical attributes, yet she was as good at this as was I.
We stood there, glistening with sweat, probably getting most of the local men’s blood pumping to another organ entirely, but this time we had a few women come forward.
In the end, we managed fifty. However, within one day, I reduced it down to thirty, as twenty were simply not up to it. Some of the thirty were probably border-line, but I had to work with those who volunteered.
It was good that ten were already partially trained, as we now had our male section leaders, so we had females to act as deputies if needs be. I split the girls into teams of three. That way I had a partially trained warrior in each team along with their instructor.
We had little time, as Gallinas was eager to try us out. I think he hoped we would fail, thus preserving his innate belief in the superiority of man. However, we trained these poor girls mercilessly.
For the first week, we made them run carrying packs of rocks. We ran them for miles, round and round the track that surrounded the camp. Then we went out and up the nearest hill, and down the other side. By the end of the week, they could manage ten miles. I then started on the weapons training in between the runs and weight training.