The Gladiator

'It is.'

'You're obviously an impressive young officer,' Fulvius conceded. 'And I'm sure you will go far, in time. But ask yourself, is this the right moment to take such a risk and appoint youth over experience?'

'I thought the point of the governor's remarks was to prove that I dohave experience,' Cato responded tersely. 'In any case, the question of who should command is academic. The governor has appointed me. Of course, I will be happy to hear any suggestions you might wish to make during the course of the campaign.'

Fulvius nodded, and Cato decided that he had better make sure that Fulvius did not take this as an invitation to undermine his authority.' Be clear on one thing, Fulvius. I will not brook any attempt to contradict me in front of the other officers, or the men.

Is that understood? If you disagree with any of my decisions, you may make your case in private only'

'I understand.'

Cato took a deep breath.' From now on, you will address me as "sir".'

Fulvius bit back on his irritation and saluted formally. 'Yes, sir.'

'Good.' Cato was relieved that the confrontation had been avoided, for the present. In truth he was not certain that he would be a better man for the job than Fulvius, let alone Macro. However, there was no avoiding the responsibility Sempronius had thrust upon him. Not without surrendering all of his authority to Centurion Fulvius, and he would not do that while Julia and Macro were still prisoners of the rebels. He paused, and smiled to himself as he realised that this was precisely why Sempronius had chosen him to command the force. He needed some one who would not put his daughter's life at risk. The only man who had as much stake in Julia's survival as her father was Cato. The extolling of Cato's record merely a ruse to win Fulvius's respect, he decided bleakly. Be that as it may, he would do everything in his power to end the rebellion and save the lives of Julia and Macro.

Fulvius was watching him impatiently and Cato cleared his mind in order to consider the details of the coming campaign.

'We have to plan the advance, and co-ordinate with the warships.

You'd better send for your headquarters staff. We've got a long night ahead of us.'

'Yes, sir.' Fulvius rose up, saluted and left the office. Cato stared after him for a moment, then sighed and reached for a blank wax slate and stylus to begin making his notes outlining the order of march for the men of his new command.

The column was already on the move as dawn lightened the eastern horizon in a watery pink glow. Two squadrons of cavalry rode half a mile ahead of the first cohort of legionaries. The mounted men were spread out in a screen to provide early warning of any possible ambushes, and to run down and kill or capture any rebel stragglers they might encounter on the road to Olous. Cato had made it clear to the decurions of each squadron that he wanted prisoners to question. More than anything he needed to know that Macro and Julia were still alive. There was little doubt as to the route the rebel army had taken. The country ahead of the Roman column had been ravaged by the enemy, and was marked by burned buildings, occasional bodies and the remains of fires. Cato was still puzzled by the decision Ajax had taken to abandon his siege of Gortyna so abruptly and make for the eastern coast.

Cato sat on his horse by the city gate and watched as the long column of legionaries, followed by the baggage train and then the auxiliaries, snaked out along the road that climbed towards the rolling hills on the horizon. In a few hours the warships at Matala should receive their orders and begin making their way along the southern coast. Even though the army had only sixty miles to march across the spine of the island and the fleet had to sail at least four times the distance, the ships would arrive first, with orders to seal the entrance to the bay and prevent any ships entering or leaving. If the rebels were thinking of escaping by sea, then that route would be closed to them and the approach of Cato's force would give them very limited room to manoeuvre, especially as they would be slowed down by their non-combatants.

As the tail of the column began to emerge from the city gate, Cato saw Sempronius pass through the small side arch and stride towards him.

Cato saluted.' Good morning, sir. Come to see us off?'

Sempronius reached up and took Cato's hand.' The gods protect you, Cato, and Julia and Macro.'

Cato nodded. 'I'll do whatever I can to bring them back.'

'I know you will.' Sempronius released his hand and stepped back a few paces as Cato tugged gently on the reins and dug his heels in, trotting the horse along the line of the auxiliary troops, burdened down by their marching yokes as they headed into the dust stirred up by those ahead of them in the column.

It took two days of hard marching to reach the hill town of Lyttus.

The walls had been shaken to pieces by the earthquake and the rebels had pillaged the town and put most of the survivors to the sword. A handful of old men, women and children wandered through the ruins with numbed expressions. Cato gave orders for them to be fed and detailed a century to escort them back to Gortyna. Then, as the men made a makeshift marching camp out of the rubble from the walls, and settled for the night, Cato joined Fulvius and his staff in the small temple to Athe na that had survived intact in one corner of the forum. One of the clerks was already lighting the oil lamps and distributing them to his colleagues as they sat cross-legged on the floor ready to carry out the usual compilation of strength returns and ration consumption. While Fulvius signed off each of the completed records, Cato began to read through the daily reports from the scouts that Sempronius had sent to follow the rebel army. They confirmed that Ajax was still heading east, towards Olous. Cato nodded with satisfaction. By now the rebel army would have reached the sea, and walked into a trap of its own making. It was hard to believe that Ajax could make such mistake, and for a moment Cato felt a sudden anxious doubt. There had to be something he had missed. Some reason to explain the gladiator's apparent foolishness.

Once he had finished, Cato was about to bid good night to Fulvius when there was a clatter of hooves in the forum outside the temple. One of the headquarters guards shouted a challenge as Cato looked round. A moment later a scout came running in through the entrance. He glanced round until he saw Cato in his red cloak, then hurried over and saluted.

'Beg to report, sir, I have an urgent message from my decurion.'

'He's already reported today'

'Yes, sir. That was before we moved on a little further to camp where we could overlook the rebel army at Olous.'

'Well?'

'Sir, the bay's full of cargo ships. Big ships, sir. Most of ' em are damaged. Broken masts and suchlike. Some of them were beached, being repaired it looked like.'

Cato frowned. Where on earth could the rebels have secured so many ships? A fleet of cargo ships from the sound of things. It suddenly struck him that there was only one such fleet on the seas of the eastern Mediterranean at the moment, and he chewed his lip briefly before he asked,'Did you see any kind of identification on the ships?'

'Yes, sir. We did. There was a purple pennant flying from the top of each mast.'

Cato took a sharp breath and glanced at Fulvius. 'You heard?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Then you know what it means.' Cato felt a sudden chill of apprehension. 'Ajax has captured the grain fleet.'

'If it's true, then what in Hades is it doing in that bay?' asked Fulvius. 'They should be well on the way to Ostia by now '

'It was that storm,' Cato explained. 'It struck a few days after the grain fleet left. Must have blown them far off their normal route, probably wrecking some and damaging the rest. They must have put into the bay for repairs.'