Behind the legions I had placed Silaces’ eight thousand horse archers and behind them the rear guard made up of the remaining Duran horse archers — five hundred men.
We marched inland from the Euphrates, away from villages and cultivated land as a thousand cataphracts, two thousand squires, eleven thousand horse archers and ten thousand legionaries can cause much damage tramping over fields and irrigation ditches. In addition to the horses and men there were the cataphracts’ two thousand camels, a further thousand camels carrying spare arrows, two thousand wagons and three and a half thousand mules that accompanied the two legions. As with the camels carrying spare arrows, the drivers of the wagons were all civilians under Marcus’ command.
It was only when the army was fully assembled did I realise what a massive organisation it was, and how much wealth was required to keep each part of it armed and provisioned.
We marched for four days north parallel to the Euphrates and then headed inland in a northeasterly direction towards Nisibus. It took a further five days before we made camp ten miles south of the city near the River Mygdonius, which ran through the city further north. During our march the country had changed from desert to steppe and finally to fertile plains as we neared the great Taurus Mountains that separated Hatra from Armenia.
The camp was its usual square shape, each side measuring twelve hundred yards comprising an outer ditch and earth rampart with wooden stakes planted on top. I decided that this spot would be our base until we returned home. We were near water and the area around the city itself would be crowded with tents containing soldiers from Media and Atropaiene and others from the garrison. My father’s entourage filled Nisibus itself. After the evening meal I assembled the senior officers in my tent and briefed them on the course of action for the following days. Byrd and Malik had returned to us and sat at the table with Alcaeus, Domitus, Kronos, Surena, Orodes, Silaces and myself. The mood was relaxed, confident.
‘We will stay here,’ I announced, ‘as we are near water and the city and the surrounding area will be thronged with soldiers and people. I see no reason to add to the multitude.’
‘The more people there are in a confined space,’ said Alcaeus, ‘the more likelihood of pestilence. I’ve seen armies reduced to nothing when sickness sweeps through them.’
‘I have sent word to Vata, the commander in these parts, that we are here,’ I continued, ‘and will await my father’s summons.’
‘When do we fight the Armenians?’ asked Surena with relish.
I gave him a disapproving look. ‘We don’t, unless they provoke us. We are here to impress them, to awe them, Surena, not to fight them.’
‘I’ve always found that grinding an enemy into the ground impresses them,’ sniffed Domitus, to which Kronos, Malik and Surena banged the hilts of their daggers on the table. I held up my hands to still the hubbub.
‘We are here to support my father, and he prefers to try the route of negotiation first.’
‘And if that doesn’t work?’ pressed Domitus.
‘Then, my friend,’ I answered, ‘we will do things your way.’
The others cheered, even the normally reserved Orodes, and I smiled. Their morale and that of the army was excellent and I knew that the legions wanted to avenge the near defeat they had experienced not far from the Tigris last year. The fact that their discomfort was not at the hands of the Armenians was irrelevant. They sensed an opportunity to wash away the bitter taste of defeat by dipping their swords in Armenian blood.
There were sounds of horses’ hooves and voices outside and the tent flap opened. One of the sentries entered and saluted.
‘Lord Vata is here to see you, majesty.’
I was delighted. ‘Vata, here? Have him shown in and have more wine sent to us.’
He saluted and then held the flap open to let my childhood friend enter. I hardly recognised the squat, round-face individual who strode across the carpet to embrace me. The son of Bozan had always been shorter and stockier than me, but his big round face had always worn a smile to reflect his happy-go-lucky nature, but now his countenance was severe, pitiless and also haggard. He looked more than his forty years of age; perhaps I appeared the same to him.
‘Welcome, my old friend,’ I said, ‘take the weight off your feet.’
I poured him a cup of wine and introduced my officers to him as he drained the cup and helped himself to another. I noticed that he looked at Malik disparagingly.
‘Your father and the other kings are in Nisibus and their forces are camped outside,’ he looked at me with dark-ringed eyes. ‘In two days’ time Tigranes the Great, so called, will grace us with his presence.’
‘Who is Tigranes?’ asked Surena.
Vata cracked a smile. ‘The king of the Armenians and the bastard who, for the last few years, has been sending raiding parties through the Taurus Mountains and lately from Gordyene into northern Hatra.
‘Every caravan that passes through these parts I have to furnish with an escort to see it reaches Antioch safely. They already pay duties to travel through Hatra so we cannot charge them any more. So the king, the father of Pacorus, has to pay for the additional troops that garrison this region out of his own treasury.’
‘You say the caravans are protected,’ said Orodes.
‘That is correct, lord prince.’
‘Then surely they are safe from raiders.’
Vata drank another cup of wine and I noticed a nasty scar on his right hand. ‘I don’t have enough men, lord prince, to protect all the caravans and all the towns and villages in this area. If I provide protection to all the caravans then the villages and farms are raided and crops and livestock plundered. If I station troops in the villages then the caravans are vulnerable. So you see, lord prince, I face a dilemma.’
‘One that will now be resolved,’ I reassured him.
His mouth broke into a weak smile. ‘Let us hope so, my friend, for the stakes are high.’
They were indeed. Northern Hatra was the richest part of the kingdom, a fertile area containing countless springs and brooks that irrigated land that produced grapes, rice, grain, olives, figs, pomegranates, apples, pears, apricots and dates. The estates of the lords who lived in the area possessed great herds of horses that supplied my father’s army with mounts, while the royal estates here also raised camels and mules. The great number of villages provided troops for the army and farmers to work the land. If these resources were lost Hatra would lose a great source of wealth, in addition to endangering the Silk Road that ran from the city of Hatra north to Nisibus and then west to Antioch.
‘Still,’ said Vata, ‘now the army of Dura is here I think Tigranes will think twice before continuing provocations.’
I looked at the others. ‘I would speak to Lord Vata alone.’
They saluted Vata and filed from the tent back to their commands, my friend nodding to each of them as they left.
‘You’ve collected a strange bunch, Pacorus. The one with the face tattoos, he’s Agraci, isn’t he?’
‘An Agraci prince,’ I corrected him.
His eyes were wide with surprise. ‘And he fights for you?’
‘Of course, he is a good friend.’
Vata shook his head. ‘I heard about the scrape you got yourself in last year. When your father came back he was far from happy, as were a lot of people, that ten thousand Agraci had crossed the Euphrates.’
I refilled my cup with wine. ‘Well, the Agraci helped save my neck and for that I am in their debt.’
He suddenly looked alarmed. ‘You didn’t bring any Agraci with you, did you?’
I laid a hand on his arm. ‘Only Malik and a handful of his men, Vata.’
‘Your father does not want a war,’ he said gravely.
‘He sent you to tell me that?’
‘No,’ he replied, ‘but I know he is worried that a full-scale war will erupt between Hatra and the Armenians. He can’t afford two wars.’