“So, I will give the responsibility of overseeing the governing of this province to the Legate Longinus, but Gaius will hold actually military command of the legion, with the responsibility of ensuring they are well trained and ready. You will operate under his command. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes, sire.”
“I will instruct Gaius to give you due latitude to operate as you feel appropriate. I need intelligence on this supposed king, and I can trust no one better than you to provide it.”
“Sire.”
The audience was over, so I left, smiling. It’s not every day that one is propositioned by an Emperor, and a gay one at that!
Actually, I think he was bi, as history will probably record him as batting both ways.
* * *
Two men held me, one on each arm and they pulled me in opposite directions so I was stretched out. Their captain came over to me, grasping my chin in his hand and turning my head sideways to get a better view.
He was an unkempt specimen in comparison to the Romans. The time I had spent within the Roman environment meant I had come to take their higher level of cleanliness and hygiene almost for granted. This man had matted hair, a rather revolting beard and terrible breath. This was due, in part, to a set of teeth that must give him terrible pain, as they were almost black.
“Where was she found?” the man asked in the Dacian language. I found it ironic that here, in a land that would become Romania and base their language on Latin, this original language was destined to obscurity.
“Down by the water’s edge. She was chatting to the sentries down there. No one knows where she came from.”
“Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Layla, I am trying to get home to my family. I didn’t expect an army to be here,” I replied in his tongue.
“What village?”
“Hiatis; it’s a day’s walk that way,” I said, vaguely waving to the north.
“Where have you come from?”
“The fishermen at Antinum. I was hoping to get some fish for a change, but there are no boats out because of the Romans.”
“Have you seen the Romans?”
“No; should I?”
“They say that their army is close by.”
“And you thought I was a spy?” I asked, laughing.
“Get on your way, if you see the Romans, send word to us. Now, go!”
The two men released me, somewhat reluctantly, I thought. I took my time, wandering through the fortified town. I estimated that there were over ten thousand men here, and more were arriving on a daily basis. The walls had been built by the soldiers hurriedly, over the last few months, as they had in many towns and camps across the region. Decebalus was rearming and it was very obvious he was not going to remain a faithful servant king loyal to Rome and Trajan..
It had been a turbulent time since we were left here, as this was now the third time that Decebalus was exerting his energy to split from Roman influence. Indeed, we had been successfully used in the first two campaigns, but it was now that we were really coming into our own. Recently, one of my girls discovered a plot by deserters to assassinate the Emperor actually in Rome in 104AD.
The girl, Wanda, had taken a lover by the name of Prucius Bulbus. She came across him talking to the king’s advisers in a market, and thought it strange. She came to me for advice, so we watched him for a while. The man was a disaffected soldier-engineer of Rome who obviously wanted more than a pension and citizenship. Decebalus apparently promised him a large plot of land and a pot of gold if he helped with the fortifications of his loyal towns.
Wanda had been willing to get ‘close’ to him and furnished us with intelligence that was sent back to Rome.
It was shortly after this that she discovered a plot by the small group of deserters to kill the emperor. Decebalus was complicit in the plot, encouraging them and promising them wealth beyond their dreams if they succeeded.
History relates that they were not, but history does not reveal that it was my girls who discovered the plot and alerted the Praetorians who guarded the Emperor.
However, the archers that I was looking for were not here. I had been actively searching ever since we remained behind in 102 AD. Eventually, after having had a good look in every part, I left the town, but as I did, I noticed a single cart being pulled by a pair of oxen. It was moving slowly away from camp, entering a track through a forested area to the north. In other words, it was headed directly towards the Roman lines.
One man led the oxen and another two rode on the cart. They wore not the armour of the soldiers buy cloaks not unlike religious brothers.
I watched them for a while and their actions were not of casual farmers. I’m not sure what it was about them, but I sensed they were like me – under cover.
I walked in the westerly direction, and then turned right to head into the forest hoping to intercept the cart. It wasn’t exactly going very fast.
We had heard that after the plot against Trajan failed, Decebalus had seized the Legate Longius and held him for ransom - a hostage against Roman retaliation for the plot.
The Roman soldiers left in the region were hideously outnumbered, so retired to the other side of the Danube. Gaius was safe and not exactly thrilled that we women were the only ones left.
Longius had poisoned himself, thereby removing whatever leverage that Decebalus retained. He yet again invaded the Roman-held territory to the north of the Danube, unaware that Trajan had been preparing and almost hoping for the man to do just this. Trajan was on the move. This time he had prepared by building roads, bridges and canals so his large and well-equipped army could swiftly enter the region, and supplies could be easily sent through the new channels.
It was not very warm, as it was now the end of winter. The snows had gone, but only within the last couple of weeks. One could see snow still on the higher hills and mountains in the distance. Some rivers were still frozen and the river Danube was almost in torrent as the melting snows filled it to capacity and gave it greater volume. In places, one could see flooded areas of pastureland where the ground was so wet that from a military standpoint it would make life difficult.
Wrapping my cloak around me, I set off to try to locate the cart. I had recalled the girls to our forest base, some fifteen kilometres to the west. It was my hope that they were all either already there or on way. Iona was preparing them, as I knew that Trajan with two entirely new legions was about to re-invade for the final time.
This, then, must be the moment for which my enemies had been waiting. All fourteen legions defeated by a new type of enemy – the longbow. I wondered whether they had brought Decebalus into their plot. I thought so initially, but the way they were hiding would suggest that they would be quite happy for the Romans to destroy the errant king, and then they could destroy the legions and bring to power their chosen alternative. Decebalus was his own man and would not kowtow to anyone, be they Roman or not. I doubted whether his track record was such that my enemies believed they could trust him.
This was reinforced by the fact that the king had invaded without taking these new warriors with him. They wanted the Romans to beat Decebalus, thereby removing him from the equation. So, it would be an army that believed their enemy destroyed who would face a new and very different foe.
I smelled the camp before I saw or heard anything, as the trees were thick here. I was down-wind, so could smell their cooking fires. Cautiously, using the trees as cover, I crept closer to where I thought they were.
I saw the cart and then the palisade. A veritable fortress of wood with pointy logs embedded in the earth. This was not a fortress from which they intended to fight, but a camp that was defendable. In short, this was their last staging post before going out and taking the fight to the enemy.