Ennius jerked his head towards the rough track leading up to the tent, where a man on horseback had clattered up and dismounted beside the guard post. ‘Speaking of Lucullus, that looks like one of his gallopers. Let’s hear what he has to say.’
11
The messenger who had dismounted from his horse hurried towards them, putting his right hand on his chest in salute. He was a man Fabius knew and trusted, Quintus Appius Probus, an experienced legionary of the old guard who had been made a messenger because he could ride and had been wounded in the leg. ‘I have news from Cauca. The oppidum has fallen.’
Ennius looked at him sharply. ‘Fallen? But my catapults weren’t ready. Without them, they’d never have breached the walls.’
‘They didn’t have to. It was a negotiated capitulation.’
‘Negotiated? Lucius Licinius Lucullus? That’s one for the books.’
‘It wasn’t the general who did the talking. It was the senior tribune on his staff, Sextus Julius Caesar.’
‘Ah,’ Ennius replied. ‘Julia’s brother.’ He turned to Scipio. ‘He’s a linguist, and can speak their language. One of their household slaves in Rome was an old Celtiberian chieftain, a warrior whom Hannibal brought over to his cause when he marched through here with his elephants on the way to Rome. Do you remember him, Scipio? He taught us how to use the Iberian double-edged sword.’
Scipio nodded, and then peered at the man. ‘You look troubled, Quintus Appius. There’s more to tell, isn’t there? You can speak freely. You have my word.’
Quintus cleared his throat. ‘Sextus guaranteed the safety of the people in return for them allowing a Roman garrison to occupy the oppidum. Lucullus himself led them in. But it was a maniple from the new legion, the men Lucullus himself had recruited from the fourth district in Rome, promising them plunder and then press-ganging those who refused to volunteer. I grew up on the edge of that quarter, and I know what they’re like. They make the best legionaries if trained with an iron hand, the worst if not. The only action these men have ever seen is gang warfare in Rome after the chariot races; the only discipline the lashes from the military proctors when they were herded into the ships for Iberia.’
Scipio’s jaw was set grimly. ‘So what happened?’
Lucullus allowed them to plunder the oppidum. But we all know that the Celtiberians have little to offer. They’re shepherds and cattle-herders, not traders. These new recruits have been spoiled by stories of loot from Macedonia, and think every foreign city is heaped high with gold and silver. But when they found nothing in Cauca, Lucullus gave them second best. He is a good enough general to know that men sent to war who have not yet killed will want their bloodlust satiated, and then when they have done so it will occupy their thoughts for days to come, until they want more.’
Scipio stepped back, shutting his eyes for a moment and pinching the top of his nose. ‘Don’t tell me.’
‘All of the male inhabitants. They rounded them up and hacked them to death, and then set fire to the place.’
‘Jupiter above,’ Ennius muttered.
Scipio took a deep breath, and gritted his teeth. ‘How long ago?’
‘Six hours. I came as fast as I could. I am to warn you that Lucullus is on his way here, and his men will expect more of the same. They should arrive by nightfall.’
‘The entire legion?’
Quintus nodded. ‘Including the maniple that went into the oppidum. That place has no need of a garrison any more.’
Ennius grunted. ‘At least they’ll bring the ballistas with them. Then I can begin bombarding Intercatia properly. If they don’t capitulate soon, it’s the only way we’re going to force their surrender. It’ll only be a matter of time before they hear what has happened at Cauca. They use runners to pass news between the oppida, and sometimes we don’t catch them.’
Quintus turned to Scipio. ‘There might still be a chance for you to negotiate a surrender before Lucullus arrives. The Celtiberian prisoner who interprets for us at headquarters told me that there are only two Romans they know to be with the army in Spain that they trust, Sextus Julius Caesar and Scipio Aemilianus. Sextus negotiated the peace with them last year before Lucullus arrived to start his own war, but now of course they will have lost all faith in Sextus’ ability to make his general keep the Roman side of the bargain. With you, though, it might be different. You were not part of the previous campaign, so they don’t know your measure. They only know you as one who shares the name of Scipio Africanus, the great general who defeated Hannibal and was magnanimous to the Celtiberian warriors in Hannibal’s vanquished army, keeping only a few as slaves in Rome and executing only the top chieftains. You, they might still listen to, and trust.’
‘Only if I show them that I can back my words with force,’ Scipio murmured, squinting up through the drizzle at the walls. ‘I need to assault the oppidum, and bring them to their knees. Only when they see that the legionaries are under my control will they believe my word.’
Ennius looked at him. ‘Be careful about taking matters into your own hands, Scipio Aemilianus. Remember that Lucullus is your general, and your patron. Think of where you’d be without him.’
‘I know too well,’ Scipio said. ‘I’d be back in Macedonia, a provincial aedile under the thumb of Metellus, setting up a law court in some town so obscure it would hardly be worth Metellus’ while to try to make me disappear for good, with my continuing survival as a dead-end official giving him something to gloat over. I have Lucullus’ boorishness to thank for that, the quality that allowed him to ride roughshod over the Senate when I volunteered for Spain and to have my appointment to Macedonia postponed. But I also know how it works in Rome. Lucullus is consul, but that’s only for a year. He’s a novus homo, a new man from an unknown family. He’s already been placed under house arrest by the tribunes for his heavy-handedness in recruiting for his legion in Rome, and now he’s gone against the express instructions of the Senate by reigniting the war when he was only supposed to come out here to establish a garrison. I have to be thankful to Lucullus and his war for giving me my first field appointment since Pydna. But a Lucullus is no patron for a Scipio. I’d never rise above military tribune, and a year from now I’d be looking back on a military career that would be the envy of nobody, of promise unfulfilled.’
‘So what will you do?’ Ennius said.
Scipio paused. ‘I always remember the words of my father: The only true path to glory is through your own deeds on the battlefield, as a warrior and as a leader of men, and it is only those deeds that will secure your reputation. I will earn the esteem of my men, and the trust of my enemies. If there is to be a future for Scipio Aemilianus it will be won through his reputation and his fides, his word of honour.’
Ennius eyed him, and then jerked his head towards the walls. ‘Will you take an assault force through the breach?’
‘We have five hours until sundown, and then the arrival of the legion. The Celtiberians are always on the alert, but will not be expecting an attack this late in the day. How soon can you be ready?’
Ennius peered intently at him. ‘We have five hundred men waiting on your every word. They are itching to go. We can launch an assault within the hour.’
Scipio nodded, and then looked at Quintus. His face was set, and he had fire in his eyes. ‘Find a pilum, and sharpen your blade. We are going to war.’
Quintus saluted and left. Fabius turned to Scipio. ‘You should know that there is discontent among the centurions.’