The Helvetii lowered the boat with a rhythmic chanting and held it steady in the shallows while a team of rowers took their places. Even with three men to a side, Julius saw they would have to work hard against a current that threatened to sweep them downriver. The idea of an invasion to follow it was ludicrous, and there was no tension amongst the Romans who watched them.
Even a rough estimate by centuries was impossible. Julius had been told the Helvetii had burnt their land behind them to come south, and he didn’t doubt it. Unless they could be stopped, their path lay right through the narrow Roman province at the base of the Alps.
“I have never seen such a migration,” Julius said, almost to himself.
The Roman officer at his side glanced at him as he spoke. He had welcomed the legions Julius brought with him, especially the veterans of the Tenth. Some of those in the trading outpost had resented the shift in authority that Caesar had brought, but for others it was like a sudden immersion in the energy of their old city. When they talked amongst themselves, it was with restrained glee and a new confidence in their dealings. No more would they have to suffer the scorn of Gaulish merchants and know they were tolerated but never accepted. With only one legion, the outpost was barely acknowledged by Rome, and without the trade in wine, the province might have been abandoned completely. Those who still dreamed of promotion and a career welcomed Caesar with open arms, and none more so than their commander, Mark Antony.
When Julius had presented him with the orders from the Senate, the general could not help the slow grin that spread across his face.
“At last we will see action, then,” he had said to Julius. “I have written so many letters and I was beginning to lose hope.”
Julius had been prepared for dismay, even the threat of disobedience. He had come into the Roman town with a face like thunder to impose his will, but at this response, the tension had vanished and he had laughed aloud at Mark Antony’s honest pleasure. They weighed each other up and both men found something to like. Julius had listened in fascination to the general’s summary of the region and the uneasy truce with local tribes. Mark Antony held nothing back of the problems they faced, but he spoke with a deep insight and Julius had included him immediately in his councils.
If the others resented the sudden rise of the new man, it did not show. Mark Antony had been in the province for four years and painted a detailed picture of the web of alliances and feuds that were the mire of trade and the bane of efficient administration.
“It is not so much a migration as a march of conquest, sir,” Mark Antony said. “Any smaller tribe will lose its women, its grain, everything.” He was in awe of the man Rome had sent, but he had been told to speak freely and he enjoyed the new status it had given him, especially amongst his own men.
“Then they cannot be turned?” Julius asked, watching the shifting mass on the far shore.
Mark Antony looked down from the rampart to where the legions were arrayed in full battle order. A pleasurable shudder touched him at the thought of the strength represented in those squares. As well as the ten thousand men Julius had brought, another three legions had been summoned from the north of Italy. As nothing else could, it demonstrated the new power Julius had been granted that he had only to send riders carrying copies of his orders for them to return with fifteen thousand soldiers at a forced march over the Alps.
“If they are turned, they will starve to death this winter, sir. My scouts reported four hundred villages in flames, with all their winter grain. They know they cannot go back and they will fight all the harder as a result.”
Brutus reached the platform behind them, letting Cabera down onto it so that he could grip the wooden railing with his good arm and watch the proceedings. Brutus saluted as he approached Julius, more than usually conscious of the appearance of discipline in front of the newcomer. He could not be said to like Mark Antony, exactly. Something about the way he seemed so completely in accord with Julius’s aims and ambitions struck a false note with Brutus, though he had said nothing rather than have it interpreted as jealousy. In fact, he felt a touch of that very emotion at seeing the two men talking as easily as old friends while they watched the army of the Helvetii on the far bank. Brutus frowned as Mark Antony made a humorous comment about the vast host and both he and Julius appeared to be trying to outdo the other in studied casualness.
It did not help that Mark Antony was such a big, hearty man, the sort that amused Julius on the rare occasion that he found them. Brutus knew Julius enjoyed nothing as much as the booming laugh and courage of men like his uncle Marius, and Mark Antony seemed to fit that type as if he had known the man personally. He stood a head taller than Julius and his nose shouted to the world that he was a man of ancient Roman blood. It dominated his face under heavy brows, and unless he was laughing, in repose he looked naturally stern and dignified. At the slightest prompt, he would mention his family line, and Mark Antony seemed to believe he was of noble blood simply by the number of ancestors he could name.
No doubt Sulla would have loved the man, Brutus thought irritably. Mark Antony was full of the things that could be achieved now Julius had arrived, yet somehow he had not managed to do any of them on his own. Brutus wondered if the noble Roman realized what Julius would have achieved in his place, one legion or not.
Putting these thoughts aside, Brutus leaned on the railing himself and looked out as the boat approached the Roman side and the oarsmen leapt out into the shallow water to drag it clear of the river. They stood in the very shadow of the wall the Romans had built to stop them. Even with their numbers, Brutus didn’t think they would try to break the Roman line.
“They must see we could sink every boat with spears and stones before they can land. It would be suicide to attack,” Julius said.
“And if they go in peace?” Mark Antony asked, without taking his eyes from the messengers that stood aside from their oarsmen below.
Julius shrugged. “Then I will have demonstrated Roman authority over them. One way or another, I will have my foothold in this country.”
Brutus and Cabera both turned to look at the man they knew and saw a savage pleasure in his face as he stood tall on the rampart to hear the words of the Helvetii.
They had seen a similar expression when Mark Antony had addressed the first council of generals months before.
“I am glad you are here, gentlemen,” Mark Antony had said. “We are about to be overrun.”
Julius had wanted a wild land to win, Brutus thought to himself. The Helvetii were only one of the tribes in that region, never mind the entire country that Julius dreamed of taking for Rome. Yet the dark moods of Spain could never be imagined in the man who stood with them on the ramparts. They could all feel it and Cabera closed his eyes as his senses were cast loose against his will into the tumbling roads of the future.
The old man slumped and would have fallen had Brutus not caught him. No one else moved as the messengers spoke and Julius turned to his interpreter to hear the words in halting Latin. Out of sight of the riders, he grinned to himself, then stood to face them, both hands on the wide railing.
“No,” he called down. “You shall not pass.”
Julius looked at Mark Antony.
“If they march west around the Rhone before striking south, which tribes lie in their path?”
“The Aedui are directly west of us, so they would suffer most, though the Ambarri and Allobroges—” Mark Antony began.
“Which of those is the richest?” Julius interrupted.
Mark Antony hesitated. “The Aedui are reputed to have vast herds of cattle and—”
“Summon their leader to me with the fastest riders and guarantees of safety,” Julius said, looking back over the railing. Below, the boat was already pulling for the far shore, still close enough for him to see the anger of the men in it.
Two nights later, the small fort was quiet, though Julius could hear the tramp of feet as the watch changed on the walls. New barrack
s had been built for the soldiers he had brought from Rome, but the three legions from Ariminum still slept in their tents in fortified camps. Julius didn’t intend building anything more permanent for them. He hoped it would not be necessary.
He waited impatiently as his words were relayed to the chief of the Aedui through the interpreter Mark Antony had supplied. The man seemed to ramble on far longer than Julius thought was justified, but he had decided not to tell them Adàn could speak their language, preferring to keep that advantage secret. His Spanish scribe had been startled when they had first heard the words of the Gauls. His people spoke a variation of the same tongue, enough for him to understand most of the conversations. Julius wondered if they had been one nation at some time in the far past, some nomadic tribe from distant lands who had settled Gaul and Spain while Rome was still a small village amongst seven hills.
Adàn attended every meeting after that, masking his listening with laborious copying out of Julius’s dictated notes and letters. When they were alone, Julius would question him closely and his memory was usually faultless.
Julius glanced at the studious young Spaniard as the interpreter repeated the danger of the Helvetii in what must have been endless detail. The leader of the Aedui was typical of his race, a dark-haired man with black eyes and a hard, fleshless face, partly hidden by a growth of beard that shone with oil. The Aedui claimed to have no king, but Mhorbaine was their chief magistrate, elected rather than born.
Julius tapped the fingers of one hand on the other as Mhorbaine answered and the interpreter paused to consider his translation.
“The Aedui are willing to accept your aid in repelling the Helvetii from their borders,” the interpreter said at last.
Julius barked a laugh that made Mhorbaine jump.
“‘Are willing’?” he said with amusement. “Tell him I will save his people from destruction if they pay in grain and meat. My men have to be fed. Thirty thousand men need more than two hundred cattle slaughtered each day, as a minimum. I will accept the equivalent in game or mutton, as well as grain, bread, oil, fish, and spices. Without supplies, I do not move.”
The negotiation began in earnest then, delayed at every stage by the slow translation. Julius ached to throw the interpreter out and have Adàn’s quick wits in his place, but held his patience as the hours stretched on and the moon rose orange over the mountains behind them. Mhorbaine too seemed to be losing his patience, and when they were all waiting for the interpreter to complete another hesitant phrase, the Gaul chopped his hand in the air, speaking in clear Latin, with an accent of Rome.
“Enough of this fool. I understand you well enough without him.”
Julius broke into laughter at the revelation. “He murders my language, I know that. Who taught you the words of Rome?”
Mhorbaine shrugged. “Mark Antony sent men to all the tribes when he first came. Most of them were killed and sent back to him, but I kept mine. This miserable creature learned from the same man, though badly. He has no ear for languages, but he was all I had to offer.”
The negotiations went faster after that and Julius was amused by the Gaul’s attempt to conceal his knowledge. He wondered if Mhorbaine guessed at Adàn’s function at the meeting. It was probable. The Aedui leader was sharply intelligent and Julius could feel the man’s cool assessment of him right to the end.
When it was finished, Julius stood to clasp Mhorbaine by the shoulder. There was muscle there, underneath the woolen cloth. The man was more a battle leader than a magistrate, at least as Julius understood the role. He ushered Mhorbaine out to the horses and went back in to where Adàn stood to meet him.
“Well?” Julius said. “Did I miss anything useful before Mhorbaine lost his patience?”
Adàn smiled at his amusement. “Mhorbaine asked the interpreter if you had the strength to turn the Helvetii and he said he thought it likely. That’s all you did not hear. They have no choice if they do not wish to see their herds swallowed by the Helvetii.”
“Perfect. I am transformed from a foreign invader every bit as dangerous as the Helvetii, to a Roman answering a call for help from a beleaguered tribe. Put that in the reports back to the city. I want my people to think well of what we do here.”
“Is that important?” Adàn asked.
Julius snorted. “You have no idea how important. The citizens do not want to know how countries are won. They prefer to think of foreign armies surrendering to our moral superiority rather than our strength. I am forced to tread carefully here, even with my orders from the Senate. If the powers shift in Rome, I can still be recalled, and there will always be enemies who would delight in seeing me disgraced. Send the reports with enough coin to have them read on every street and in the forum. Let the people know how we are progressing in their name.”
Julius paused, his amusement fading as he thought of the problems he faced.
“Now all we have to do is defeat the largest army I have ever seen and there really will be good news to send back to Rome,” he said. “Summon Brutus, Mark Antony, Octavian, Domitius, all of my council. Renius too, his advice is always sound. Tell Brutus to send out his scouts. I want to know where the Helvetii are and how they are organized. Quickly, lad. We have a battle to plan and I want to be on the march by dawn.”
CHAPTER 23
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Julius lay on his stomach to watch the Helvetii move across the plain. Even as he concentrated, some part of him noted the lush greenness of the land. It made the soil of Rome look poor in comparison. Instead of the barren mountains of the south he knew, where farmers scratched a living, he saw vast rolling plains of good earth and hungered for it with all the primitive desire of a man who had worked his own crops. Gaul could feed an empire.
The light was beginning to fade and he clenched his fist in excitement as he heard the notes of wailing horns carried to him on the breeze. The great column was halting for the night. One of his scouts came to a skidding stop by him, panting as he too stretched out.
“It looks like all of them, sir. I couldn’t see any sort of rear guard or reserve. They’re moving fast, but they must rest tonight, or they’ll start leaving bodies on the plain.”
“They’re stopping now,” Julius said. “Can you see how the soldiers are settling into groups around the core? Greek spear phalanx, it looks like. I wonder if they came to it on their own, or if their ancestors ever passed through that land. If I have the chance, I’ll ask one of them.”
He scanned the plain, considering his alternatives. A mile behind him in the woods, he had thirty thousand legionaries ready to descend on the Helvetii, but after forcing a march of almost forty miles to intercept the tribe, the men were exhausted. Julius felt frustration that he had been unable to bring the great war ballistae and scorpion bows that formed such a part of the legion’s power. The plain would have been perfect for them, but until he cut roads through the land, they stayed in pieces on the carts he’d brought from Rome.
“I’ve never seen so many warriors,” the scout whispered, awed by the army they faced. The Helvetii were too far away to hear, but the sheer size of the migration was oppressive and Julius pitched his voice as low to reply.
“I’d guess eighty thousand, but I can’t be sure amongst the followers,” he replied.
It was too many to send the legions in a straight attack, even if they were not worn down by the march.
“Bring Brutus to me,” he ordered.
It was not long before he heard running footsteps and Brutus was there with him, crouching in the damp leaves.
The Helvetii had marched through a wide valley that led into the lands of the Aedui. They had forced a hard pace to skirt the river, and Julius was impressed at their stamina and organization as the night camp began to form on the plain. If they struck any deeper into Aedui lands, they would be into heavy forest and the legions’ advantages would be lost. These were not the wide-spaced woods he knew from Rome, but dense undergrowth that would trap horses
and make any sort of organized fighting impossible. Sheer numbers would carry the day then, and the Helvetii had a host of warriors, with nowhere to go but onward.
The tribe had burnt the first village they came to on the border of the Aedui, and the scouts reported no one left alive. Women and animals had been taken into the column and the rest butchered. Village by village, they would cross the land like locusts unless Julius could catch them on the plain. He thanked his gods that they were not pushing on through the night. No doubt their numbers made them overconfident, though even with his legions ready, it was difficult to see how to attack so many and win.
Julius turned to Brutus. “You see that hill to the west?” He pointed to a solid crag of layered green and gray in the dim distance. Brutus nodded. “It’s a strong position. Take the Tenth and Third to the crest, ready for dawn. The Helvetii will see the threat and they cannot leave you there to harry them. Take the archers from Ariminum, but keep them far back from the front. The bowmen will be better used on your hill than on the plain.”
He smiled grimly and clapped Brutus on the shoulder with his hand.
“These tribesmen have never fought legions, Brutus. They will see a mere ten thousand facing them as the sun comes up. You will educate them.”
Brutus looked at him. The sun was already setting and its light was reflected in Julius’s fierce gaze.
“It will be dark before I reach it,” Brutus replied. It was the closest he would come to questioning an order with the scouts listening all around them.
Julius seemed not to notice his reservations, continuing quickly, “You must have silence as you move up. When they see you and charge, I will hit them from the rear. Go quickly.”