In this stage of the battle the Romans took very few casualties, though the footing grew treacherous with bodies, blood and fallen weapons. This was the sort of fighting at which Romans excelled above all others. The legion thus employed was a vast killing machine. After a few minutes, before the men could tire too much, Aemilius gave another order and the trumpets roared out. The fighting men disengaged arid stepped back as the next two ranks of the legions marched forward. The men who had been fighting fell back through gaps between the advancing soldiers. The enemy, surprised at this maneuver, were still reeling when the second volley of heavy javelins fell among them and the killing recommenced.
The Romans who had been fighting went to the rear to get new pila and have their wounds dressed. Long ago, the Romans had realized that only a small part of the army could be fighting at any one time, so they devised this system to keep fresh men at the front at all times. In the army opposite, the rear ranks were in a close-packed mass, shouting, waving their arms in excitement and getting tired without contributing at all to the fighting strength.
In the center, this battle belonged to the Romans. The flanks were another matter. The great masses of Mastanabal's light-armed troops were pressing against the Roman flanks and their cavalry rushed in, hurling light javelins with great accuracy, riding back before the Romans could come to grips with them. The Iberians, insanely brave and aggressive, charged against the iron-clad Romans with great ferocity. In this sort of fighting, the falcata was as effective as the gladius. The downcurved, wide-bladed sword was not versatile; it was a pure slasher, but swung down by the arm of a strong man, it could shear through helmet and armor, and only quick shield work could save the target. If the unarmored Spaniard missed his blow, he was dead, dispatched by the lightning thrust of the gladius.
The Roman right flank suffered especially, for these attacks fell upon their unshielded sides. If they were to defend themselves, they had to face right, disordering the Roman lines. Seeing this, Aemilius sent his reserve cohorts to reinforce the flanks. This left him with nothing to commit in case of an emergency or an opportunity, but he had no choice, not when he was this badly outnumbered.
The sun rose higher, and the battle wore on. The Carthaginian cavalry made several attempts to encircle the Romans, but the rear ranks faced about and drove them off with volleys of pila, killing some riders and many horses. Mastanabal called his horsemen back. They would be better employed in pursuing the enemy when they broke ranks and fled, speared in their backs as they ran. In most battles, the great bulk of the killing took place in the rout, when helpless, terrified men were slaughtered by the thousands.
One of the Greek professionals who sat his horse next to the Carthaginian general remarked, "These Romans are taking their time about panicking."
"Well, we've heard they were tough," said a man with a Spartan accent.
"They cannot last much longer," the Carthaginian commander said. "They are better than I anticipated; they fight well and hold their ranks. But these men are not the equal of the legions I saw fighting in Egypt. Their commander is not inspired, like Titus Norbanus." In truth, Mastanabal had no doubt that he would be victorious, but at what cost? His army was taking fearful casualties. He cared nothing for the men, who were just foreigners and many of them savages, but every man who fell would mean a weaker army to proceed against Rome.
In another campaign, he would levy troops from the subject cities he passed, but Carthage had demilitarized Italy after Hannibal's conquest. There were no soldiers on the whole peninsula, except for the Romans. If he lost too many, he would have to fall back into Gaul to rebuild his strength. When he returned, he knew he would find far more than two green legions in his way. He had to bring this battle to a successful conclusion, and soon.
His center was being chewed away by the Roman swords and spears, but he resisted the temptation to reinforce it. The center would not collapse any time soon. Both his long schooling and his many years of experience in war told Mastanabal not to waste his resources in attacking the enemy's greatest strength. Concentrate instead on his weakest spots.
"I want all the archers and slingers on the Roman right flank," he ordered. "I want them to pour missiles into that flank until they run out of ammunition."
His officers rode off to do his bidding. Soon the lightly armed troops were on that flank, standing just beyond range of the Roman javelins. The arrows and sling-bullets began to rain into the legion's flank, and this time the disorder in their lines did not allow an effective shield roof to form. Arrows found their marks and the sling-bullets-egg-shaped slugs of lead the size of a boy's fist-wrought terrible damage, smashing exposed faces and necks, sometimes denting a helmet deeply enough to crack the skull beneath. Romans began to fall by the score, then by the hundred.
Aemilius turned to his secretary. "To the noble Senate of Rome. We will need more and better and cavalry. Also, we must find great numbers of missile troops. The enemy is very strong in these arms, and they are very annoying. Our men cannot close with them without breaking ranks, and their effects wear us down." This was the fifth such message he had dictated since the outset of the battle. "Append my seal and send it off."
The messenger galloped off toward the bridge across the Avernus. Aemilius had one tablet and one messenger left. This he would hold until the last minute, to announce either his victory or his defeat. He heard renewed shouting and looked to see its source. The missile troops, emboldened by their success, were creeping forward, raising their trajectories to rain arrows and bullets almost into the center of theRoman lines. A few were transfixed by javelins, but the Romans were running out of spears to throw.
"Buteo," he said, "before our center gets totally disordered, we have to do something about those archers and slingers. I want the rear lines to about-face as they did when the cavalry tried to encircle us. Then I want them to step out, pivoting on their left flank like a big door swinging shut. If they carry it out briskly, they can encircle and kill all those half-naked foreigners."
"That's a parade-ground maneuver," Buteo said, sounding like his throat was very dry. "Do you think these boys are up to it?"
"If you have any better ideas, I'll listen."
Buteo turned to the trumpeter and spoke very urgently, at length. The man nodded and began to sound a very complex series of calls, which were picked up and echoed throughput the now badly depleted Roman army. The rear ranks turned about and began the maneuver. The pivot man at what was now their left flank marched in place while those nearer the center walked and those on the right flank trotted, to keep the wheeling line straight.
From his command prominence, Mastanabal watched with wonder, understanding instantly what his opposite intended. It was a marvel to behold, but it further weakened the Roman forces and he saw exactly how to take advantage of it.
"They are out of those damned spears," he said to his officers. "I want the entire cavalry to go around their left flank and charge into the back of that pivoting line, then turn inward against the Roman rear. Now!"
Moments later the horsemen thundered toward the Romans as if they were attacking the center, then they wheeled right and swept around the Roman flank. Moments later they crashed into the line advancing against the missile troops, spearing them from behind, annihilating them before turning against the Roman rear. As before, the rear ranks faced about, but this time they had no pila to hurl, only short swords with which to face mounted men, and they were tired, slow to get their shields up as the lancers thrust and the Libyans threw their own short javelins with deadly accuracy. The Romans did not die easily, but they died anyway.