I strode to the stable area to collect Remus. When I arrived he appeared unconcerned by the frenetic level of activity surrounding him — he was always more calm living outdoors as opposed to being cooped up in the palace stables. He was now a veteran of many battles and campaigns and had seen it all before. He could still be feisty and stubborn but in battle he was brave and steady, a perfect Parthian mount despite his Roman heritage. He stood still as I threw the saddlecloth on his back and then strapped on his saddle and bridle. Around me some horses, sensing the nervousness of their riders, became skittish and had to be calmed, but Remus merely flicked his tail and waited for me to finish. I slid my bow into its hide case and fastened it to one of the rear horns of the saddle. I placed my helmet on my head, the large cheekguards protecting each side of my face. A farrier handed me my quiver whose strap I threw over my right shoulder so the arrows hung on my left side. Then I rode from the stables to where the senior officers of the horse archers were waiting on their horses.
‘Well, gentlemen, today we will be the bait that hopefully entices the enemy into our trap. Prince Orodes has explained what your mission is?’
They all nodded their heads.
‘Good, then may Shamash protect you all, and good luck.’
They bowed their heads and then wheeled their horses around to ride in a single file down the side of the camp’s central avenue, which was now filled with legionaries marching six abreast to their battle positions. Marcus stood watching them go.
‘I feel useless,’ he muttered, clearly unhappy at being left behind to guard the camp. He had a gladius in a scabbard strapped to his belt and a helmet on his head.
‘You are far from useless,’ I replied. ‘Just make sure the camp is secure. You and your engines will be needed when we reach Ctesiphon.’
He was far from convinced. ‘If you kill Mithridates today then there will be no need to breach Ctesiphon’s defences.’
I had not thought of that and it brought a smile to my lips.
‘If we kill Mithridates today, then afterwards we will march on Persepolis. Then you can batter the walls of Narses’ capital, I promise.’ I raised my hand at him and he bowed his head in return, then I cantered from the camp to join the horse archers.
We were around twenty miles from the Tigris, too far away to be battling on cultivated land. The stretch of ground we would fight on today was hard, flat, featureless and arid — ideal cavalry country. Normally in such terrain it was customary for the horsemen to be placed on each wing with the foot in the middle but today would be different. In front of the foot would be the screen of horse archers, while behind the foot, on the extreme edges of their right and left flanks respectively, would be the cataphracts. There would no reserve. If everything unfolded according to plan there would be no need for one. If all went according to plan!
It took two hours for the legions to assemble in their battle positions, all the time the horse archers in front of them keeping a watchful eye for the enemy, and beyond them rode Byrd, Malik and the scouts. Domitus placed the Duran Legion on the right, the place of honour, and the Exiles on the left. Many Parthians derided Dura and its ‘foreign’ army made up of former slaves, exiles from foreign lands and what they saw as the scrapings of humanity. But Domitus had forged his two legions into fearsome weapons and they were as yet undefeated in battle. Many kings in the empire could raise larger armies than Dura’s it was true, but they were comprised mostly of civilians, farmers in the main, who spent their lives growing crops and tending animals. All my men were full-time soldiers who spent every day on the training fields perfecting their skills. The Romans had taught me that discipline, endless training and the right equipment were the keys to victory, and I liked to think that Dura’s army had all three in abundance. Above all, drill and discipline were worth far more than thousands of ill-trained levies. That was the reason I did not bring along the lords and their retinues. Fearless they might be but they were also a law unto themselves and uncontrollable once the fighting began.
Normally each legion was drawn up in three lines for battle but today Domitus had arranged them in two lines, five cohorts in the first line and five in the second. This was to extend the frontage of the army and also hide the presence of the cataphracts from the enemy, when the enemy appeared that is. Each cohort was made up of six centuries deployed side by side, each one composed of eight ranks, each rank made up of ten men. Each century had its own commander — a centurion — who stood in the front rank while his two second-in-commands were located at the rear. There was very little space between each century in the cohort but there was a gap equating to the frontage of a cohort between the cohorts in the first line. The cohorts of the second line were arranged in such a way that each one could march forward and fill the gaps in the first line, after which the legion would have a frontage of ten cohorts in a single line.
On the left flank the Exiles were arrayed so that the cohort on the extreme left of the second line extended to the left of the furthest left-flank cohort in the first line. This was done to allow it to deploy left to form a flank defence against any sudden enemy attack. With the Duran Legion it was the reverse, with the second line extending right to offer flank protection against an enemy assaulting that wing. It had taken years to perfect the drills that the legions would perform today, but I had every confidence that they would carry them out effortlessly, even in the white heat of combat.
The legionaries presented a magnificent sight as the sun began its ascent in the eastern sky and glinted off helmets and javelin points. Each legionary was dressed and equipped exactly the same as his comrades — helmet with cheekguards, neck guard, forehead cross-brace to deflect sword blows from men in the saddle, white tunic, leather vest over the tunic and mail shirt over the vest. On his feet he wore hobnailed sandals. His weapons were a gladius in a scabbard on his right hip, dagger on his left hip and javelin. Though the curved, oval shield is a defensive piece of equipment, comprising strips of planed wood laminated in three layers, faced with leather painted white and sporting red griffin wings and edged with brass, in battle it could also be used offensively. Held by the horizontal metal grip spanning the hole in the middle of the shield, over which is a round, bulging metal boss, a legionary could barge the shield into opponents and use the boss to unbalance or topple them. The clothing and equipment of the legions were sturdy and functional, though I did allow one indulgence in that every man had a white plume fastened to the top of his helmet. Domitus scoffed at such displays but it added to the impressive sight that the legions made on parade and in battle. It also made the legionaries feel that they were not the poor relations of the cataphracts.
Once in position the legionaries grounded their shields, took off their helmets and laid their javelins on the ground to conserve their strength. It might be hours before they would be fighting. If they fought at all for the enemy was conspicuous by their absence!
Mounted on Remus I was behind the Duran Legion with Vagharsh behind me as more horse archers cantered past us to take up position in front of the legion. I saw Byrd and Malik riding in the opposite direction, both of them careering to a halt in front of me.
‘Enemy come,’ said Byrd. ‘They five miles to east.’
‘How many?’
Byrd looked round at the foot drawn up, the horse archers riding into position and the cataphracts making their way to their battle stations.
‘Twice as many as you, maybe more.’
‘All horsemen, Pacorus,’ added Malik, ‘we did not see any foot.’
‘And did you see Mithridates?’ I asked.