“I occasionally hold meetings with my centurions in here,” Taurus explained. He then snapped his fingers and the same servant entered with clay goblets of wine.
“Your mission is to patrol the main roads of the province,” Artorius said, “Yet, you are too few in number to effectively hinder bandits from harrying the populace.”
“Hence, those who can afford it bring an armed escort with them,” the cavalry centurion replied. “The rest are left to take their chances in the wild. We cannot prevent outlaws from plying their trade, although I would like to hinder their access to weapons.”
“That is where, perhaps, I can help you,” Artorius conjectured. “My men have been doing little except trying to train the local garrisons. They need a real mission. What do you know about the zealots and other rebels within the region?”
“Only that they are disorganized and lack central leadership,” Taurus answered.
“They are also better armed than simple bandits,” Artorius added. “Capturing some of them may lead us to where they are getting their weapons.”
“Possibly,” Taurus conceded. “However, it is not like there is only one arms supplier in the region.”
“No, but if we can eliminate one of them it may dissuade others. There have been several weapons shipments from the imperial depots that were bound for the legions and have disappeared. I know we cannot stop the flow of unlawful arms completely, but to do nothing is simply unacceptable. Especially if we are dealing with stolen legionary weapons. I have an entire cohort at my disposal. What say we conduct a joint mission, utilizing all of our assets to bait some of the better armed and more organized rebels into a brawl?”
Chapter XXI: Punish and Enslave
It had taken a bit of convincing in order to get Pilate’s authorization, though in the end he reckoned hunting renegades and arms smugglers was a better use of his legionaries than simply training the local auxilia. For this particular venture, Artorius would take a single century of legionaries on a road march to the port city of Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee. It was the seat of the Jewish king, Herod Antipas. The publicly stated purpose was for the soldiers to bring a number of state gifts from Pontius Pilate, as well as give Herod a personal display of Roman power.
Tiberias was only a couple days’ march from Caesarea. It would take them through rolling hills near Nazareth that were thick with woods and vegetation. Such terrain would offer much cover for any bands of renegades or zealots. It also allowed a contingent of Taurus’ cavalry to parallel the main road mostly unseen. The intent was for the legionaries to draw their foe into the open and have the cavalry cut off their escape. Artorius only took one century with him, as he felt that any larger of a force would be viewed as too formidable for a zealot band to risk attacking.
They left one morning in early August, just as the predawn cast its glow and before the heat of day. Artorius rode at the head of the contingent, his signifier marching alongside his horse with the century’s signum held high. The cohort had a lone cornicen, who walked behind the signifier, his curved horn draped over his shoulder. Felix, the tesserarius, was at the head of the column, just in front of the first pack mule. All the logistics animals bearing the soldiers’ rations and tents, as well as some exotic spices for them to present to Herod, were in a long line. Legionaries marched in a file on either side of their supply animals. Behind the column marched two squads, led by Optio Valens, who also had a horse. His slave, Erin, walked beside him and was the only woman within the group. Taurus led a detachment of fifty cavalrymen, who in the open regions kept at least a single terrain feature behind Artorius’ men.
The first day passed uneventfully enough. Occasionally, Artorius would have his men search the passing wagons, though there was little to be found that would arouse suspicion. As night fell, they arrived at the town of Nazareth. It was mostly a farming community, the actual urban center consisting of mostly single story buildings. Only the single inn that they could see from the outskirts had a second floor.
“We’ll bivouac outside the town,” Artorius directed his officers. “Have the men set their tents on the west side of the road. We’ll make our presence know, though we are not here to cause any undue disruptions.”
Shepherds led their flocks along the road as legionaries went about setting up their camp for the night. The men hurriedly guiding their sheep past the camp gave the armored soldiers an occasional nervous glance. Within a half hour, ten squad tents stood erected in a perfect hollow square, with separate tents for the principle officers, as well as Artorius’ private tent in the center.
“Not much in the way of entertainment in these parts,” Valens grumbled as Erin helped him out of his armor.
“There will be plenty to keep us amused in Tiberias, I’m certain,” Felix replied with a chuckle. He then looked lost in thought for a moment. “You know, I heard there’s a rather famous Jewish teacher from this area.”
“From here?” Valens asked, bemused. “I find that difficult to believe. There is little here that makes me think of it as the home of any sort of learned person. These people are mostly shepherds and farmers.”
“I can only go by what I’ve heard,” Felix remarked. “I’ve never met the man personally. Apparently though, he often speaks out against the Sanhedrin, calling them hypocrites who should act to help the people instead of acting all pious and praying loudly. Publicly they denounce him as a heretic, although given his popularity with many of the people, I think they are afraid of him.”
“Well, then, I’m amazed Pilate has not invited him over for supper. It seems those two would get along famously!”
The large door flap of their tent was rolled open, and they leaned back on their cots, watching the sun slowly set behind the low hills as the occasional legionary walked past.
“There is a certain peacefulness about this place,” Felix said after a few minutes. “I can’t quite place it, but somehow I understand why the Jews love it here.”
“They call it their promised land.”
The soldiers were gone before the people of Nazareth had roused themselves for the day. It was still another full day’s march to Tiberias, barring any unforeseen crises. As much as Artorius wanted to get his men some actual experience, he knew it was far better if their march proved uneventful.
“Contact right!” a soldier shouted, dashing any chance of a monotonous trek to the Sea of Galilee. Instinctively, all legionaries on the right side of the column turned in the direction of the threat, forming two battle lines, shields together. The sun was just starting to crest over the hills to the east, its orange light glaring in their faces. Two squads on the left side faced out the other way, lest they be attacked from both sides.
Artorius, at first, thought the legionary may have simply panicked at the sight of a shepherd, but then his eyes grew wide as dozens of men rose up from behind the line of sagebrush plants, slings whirling over their heads.
“Down!” Felix shouted as a barrage of sling stones bounced off the wall of shields.
“Rear guard, hold in place!” Artorius ordered, instinct and training taking over. After all of his years in the legions, it came reflexively to him. “Right wing, advance! Left wing, on me!”
Without waiting for further orders, the cornicen sounded several loud notes from his horn that echoed through the valley. As the men on the right of the column started to slowly advance, sling stones hammering their shields, Artorius led several squads of legionaries off to the left of where the enemy was engaging them. With no sign yet of their cavalry support, he feared they would simply let off a few volleys of harassment before disengaging. They were too few in number to effectively threaten his column, however, as they were unencumbered by armor and heavy weapons, he had no doubt that the zealots could outrun his men whenever they chose to break.