A swelling rage began pulsing through Spartacus. His very eyeballs throbbed; his chest felt as if iron bands were strapped tightly around it. He felt angrier than he’d done in years. This was the moment he’d dreamed of. Longed for. Vengeance will be mine. All he wanted to do was kill. Slash, hack, chop into little pieces every motherfucking Roman who came within reach of his sword.
He called for his trumpeters. ‘Remember the arranged signal. Act the instant I give you the command. Mess it up, and I’ll cut your balls off. Understand?’
The trio nodded dumbly. Fearfully.
Spartacus waved them away, to the safety of the ground behind his men. He surveyed his troops for the final time. He’d ordered three lines, and arrayed them in cohorts, as the Romans did. Nearly all the soldiers were armed with pila. Most were armed with a gladius and a scutum, and wearing a bronze crested helmet, as the legionaries did. They were a magnificent sight.
‘I see you!’ Spartacus shouted. ‘I see you, my soldiers, and my heart is filled with pride! Do you hear me? PRIDE!’
They cheered him for that until their throats were hoarse.
‘Today, you are going to fight a full-strength Roman legion for the first time. It is an occasion to be grateful for. To rejoice in! To thank the gods! Why? I hear you ask. Because we are going to take on the legionaries and tear them into bloody shreds!’ Spartacus barked a triumphant laugh. ‘The moment that Carbo blocks the defile, the battle will begin. When the bastards hit our lines, our trumpets will summon ten thousand of our comrades from their hiding places. They will fall on the Romans’ left flank, and sweep all before them. We shall do the same from our position. By the end of the day, I swear to you that this field will be littered with the enemy’s dead! Every man of you will have slain until his sword arm is shaking with weakness. Every one of you will be properly equipped. There will be more grain and wine in the Roman camp than we can eat, enough silver to fill all your purses, but best of all,’ and Spartacus pointed his sica at the silver eagle that stood proudly above the centre of the Roman line, ‘we will have two of those in our possession. What more proof of the gods’ favour can there be?’
‘SPAR-TA-CUS!’ they roared. ‘SPAR-TA-CUS!’
Keeping rhythm, Spartacus began to hammer his blade off his scutum.
Clash! Clash! Clash!
Roman soldiers advanced in complete silence, a tactic that intimidated most opponents. Fuck that, thought Spartacus, and redoubled his efforts. Let Lentulus hear my name, and the thunder of my men’s anger, and tremble in his britches. Let his troops soil themselves with fear.
‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’
Spartacus smiled grimly and resumed his place in the midst of his men.
The deafening noise went on and on and on.
Spartacus squinted at the enemy lines. Good. There must be nearly five thousand Romans in view. Carbo will act any moment now.
The waiting that Carbo had had to endure before previous ambushes paled into insignificance beside that morning. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him to heave the first rock over the edge. To add to his own concerns, his men were on tenterhooks. The immensity of their task and the dreadful effect it would have were all too clear now. They were desperate to start the fight, and Carbo had his job cut out to maintain discipline. ‘Spartacus told me when to attack, understand?’ he growled over and over. ‘We must split the legions in two. Too soon, and we’ll leave Castus and Gannicus with all the work to do. It’s all down to us, and we have to get it right.’
Eventually, his message seemed to sink home, and the men relaxed a fraction. However, the knot in Carbo’s belly did not go away. For upwards of half an hour he watched the legionaries marching steadily through the defile. Although they were the enemy, it was a magnificent sight, and a tiny part of his heart ached that he had never been able to join the legions. The pricks wouldn’t accept me, he thought savagely. Only Spartacus was able to see something in me. He glanced at the piles of boulders, some of which were larger than ox carts. Those will be their punishment.
The sound of shouting and metallic clashing rang out, and Carbo’s head went up. He couldn’t discern any words, but it had to be Spartacus’ men who were making such an immense amount of noise. The gods be with them.
When he looked down again, Carbo saw a break in the Roman column. Deep in the ranks of the next units he also saw the glint of an eagle standard. This was the second of Lentulus’ legions, and it was about to pass directly below his position.
‘All right,’ he said in a low tone. Abruptly, he grinned. There was no need for silence now. ‘At the count of three …’ he shouted. ‘Spread the word.’ He waited as his order passed down the lines of men. A moment later, the men at the far end lifted their hands in acknowledgement. Carbo licked his lips, and placed his palms against a rock nearly the same size as himself. Then he cried, ‘ONE! TWO! THREEEE!’
With a great heave, he pushed it over the cliff. Awestruck by the speed it instantly gained, Carbo glanced to either side, watching as his men did the same with scores of other stones, slabs and chunks of rock. Dust sheeted the air as the missiles bounced and pounded off the sheer faces, setting off mini-landslides. The earth shook with a terrible, ravening thunder.
Carbo didn’t look to see what effect their barrage was having. He didn’t need to. It could only result in utter devastation. Great swathes of legionaries were a heartbeat from being wiped out of existence. Unsurprisingly, his men were peering down with macabre interest. ‘Don’t stop!’ he shouted. ‘More! I want more rocks going over! We have to block the defile completely.’
‘Kill them all!’ roared the bowman. ‘Every last pox-ridden whoreson!’
‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’ answered the slaves, renewing their attack with a savage, disquieting glee.
Carbo closed his eyes briefly. The gods have mercy on the poor bastards down there. Let them die quickly.
Then he got back to work like everyone else.
When the rocks started rolling from the cliffs, virtually all sound was blocked out on the flat ground beyond. The slaves’ mouths opened and closed in silent mime, their javelins and swords moved innocently up and down off their shields. What would follow, however, thought Spartacus grimly, would be far from innocent.
A huge dust cloud rose into the air above the defile. Romans and slaves alike stared in either horror or delight. A fierce glee gripped Spartacus. The almighty din meant that Carbo was doing exactly as he’d been asked. ‘Steady!’ he roared. ‘Let fear tear at the enemy! The dogs know now that they’re on their own.’ He glanced at the mouth of the side valley where Egbeo and Pulcher lay in wait with their troops, but could see nothing. Good. Their discipline is holding.
The rumbling of the rockfall died down. It was replaced by a terrible, new sound: that of the men who had been mashed or trapped beneath the stones, but not killed. The gorge rang with their screams and wails. Most were begging for death, an end to the agony of crushed limbs, pelvises or broken backs. Spartacus’ soldiers whooped with elation, and clattered their weapons off their shields with renewed vigour.
Lentulus acted fast. Aware that the noise would soon spread panic among his legionaries, he had the bucinae sound. His soldiers marched forward in good order, and his cavalry cantered off to the right, no doubt charged with wheeling around to fall on the slaves’ rear.
Although he’d expected this, Spartacus cursed silently. He hoped that the men at the back remembered their orders. They’d been trained to thrust their javelins out together, forming a network of iron points that most horses wouldn’t approach. Of course being shown how to do it and having to do it when being charged by the enemy were two very different things. Placing his trust in the gods, Spartacus ordered his trumpeters to signal the advance.
‘Stay in line! Move together!’ His words were repeated all along the front ranks, and the slaves began tramping forward in one great mass. ‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’ they yelled.
&nbs
p; They were too far away to see the expression on the men’s faces, but Spartacus fancied that there was already some wavering in the enemy ranks. In contrast to the neat appearance of his own forces, he could see gaps here and there among the legionaries. We can do it! Great Rider, grant me the might of your right arm to smite the whoresons, and smash them into the mud where they belong.
They closed to within a hundred paces. The air crackled with tension, and it was flavoured with a slick tang of fear. For all the bravado that had gone on in the moments prior, this was the time when men were about to begin dying. The slaves’ faces were taut; their jaws were clenched; they muttered prayers or growled encouragements at one another. Yet their shouting did not die away. If anything, it increased in volume.
‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’
Spartacus was revelling in it. They want to fight. They want Roman blood, as I do. ‘Front three ranks, ready javelins!’ he cried.
All around him, thousands of arms went back, and a forest of barbed metal tips pointed upwards at the sun.
‘Hold! Hold!’ He counted the paces as they drew nearer to the Romans. Ten. Twenty. Forty. At last Spartacus could see the individual legionaries. Like his men’s, their faces were twisted with emotion. Rather than tension, however, it looked like pure fear. The only exceptions were the legionaries around the silver eagle, who looked grimly prepared. Dimly, he heard the enemy officers shouting encouragement, ordering a volley of javelins. Now! ‘One! Two! Three! LOOSE!’ he shouted in response.
There was a loud humming noise as his order was obeyed.
The same command rang out again from the Roman lines.
In graceful arcs, two separate clouds of pila shot upwards. For several heartbeats, they darkened the sky between the two armies. It was a beautiful but dreadful sight, thought Spartacus. This was when the men’s training would really become evident. ‘Shields up!’ he roared, raising his left arm. ‘Shields up!’
Clatter, clatter, clatter. A wall of scuta presented itself to the sky.
With heavy thumping sounds, the Roman javelins landed in a torrent of deadly iron. Inevitably, some found tiny gaps between the slaves’ shields or ran through the layered wood to pierce an arm. Roars of agony and savage curses went up from those who’d been injured, manic laughs and shouts of thanks to the gods from those who hadn’t.
Spartacus was unhurt. A quick glance over both shoulders told him that their casualties were reasonably light. He studied the Romans, coming to the same conclusion about them. As usual, the javelins’ primary effect had been to lodge in men’s scuta, rendering them unusable. ‘If anyone in the front two ranks needs a shield, get the men behind you to pass theirs forward,’ he shouted. ‘Advance!’
As they marched on, those without protection hurriedly demanded their comrades’ scuta.
Another exchange of javelins took place, causing a few score more casualties, and then the two sides were only thirty steps apart. Spartacus raised his whistle to his lips, and saw a centurion opposite do the same. Instead of sounding the charge, however, Spartacus blew an odd series of notes that had his men frowning in surprise. But not the trumpeters. They blew their instruments with all their might, a sharp tan-tara-tara. Twice they repeated it, and as the sound died away, it was replaced by a long shrill from Spartacus’ whistle, which was echoed by those of his officers.
Their call was met by the indignant shrieking of the Romans’ whistles.
‘Shields together,’ roared Spartacus. ‘Forward!’ He began trotting towards the enemy, his gaze roving over the legionaries he’d be most likely to clash with. One was a youth of about nineteen or twenty, whose eyes were already wide with terror. The other was a man in his twenties, hard-faced, jaw clenched, probably a veteran. Instantly, Spartacus aimed for the second soldier. He was the more dangerous; killing him first was imperative.
An inanimate roar – the sound of thousands of war cries melding as one – ripped through the noise of battle, dragging men’s attention away from the fight. It came from Spartacus’ right, and the Romans’ left. Thank you, Great Rider.
Egbeo, Pulcher and their men were attacking.
Understanding the noise’s significance, the slaves cheered at the tops of their voices. ‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’
‘Stay close!’ cried Spartacus. ‘Watch out for each other!’ They were the last commands he gave. From now on, no one would be able to hear. The world closed in around him as Spartacus rushed the last few steps to the Roman front rank. All he was aware of was the close proximity of a man on either side, and the wild eyes of the enemy soldiers over the tops of their scuta. His heart pounded in his chest; sweat stung his eyes and he blinked it away.
Roaring a war cry, he smashed his shield boss into that of the hard-faced legionary. The force of the strike rocked the man back on his heels, and before he could retaliate, Spartacus’ sica went skidding over the top of his scutum to take him through the neck. The iron grated through muscle and cartilage to lodge in the Roman’s spine. Spartacus ripped it free, and the other’s mouth opened in a terrible scream. The sound was cut short by the tide of arterial blood that sprayed from the back of his throat.
There was a flicker of movement at the corner of Spartacus’ vision. Instinctively, he ducked his head. Instead of taking out his eye, the young legionary’s gladius rammed into the crest on the top of his bronze helmet. It punched Spartacus backwards, momentarily stunning him. The iron blade stuck in the torn metal, and Spartacus’ head was dragged from side to side as the Roman frantically tried to free it. There was no chance of untying the leather chinstrap that held his helmet in place. With a screech of metal, the legionary ripped his gladius half out. His lips peeled back in a snarl of satisfaction. Utter desperation filled Spartacus. His opponent pulled his arm back again, so he shoved forward instead of trying to fight it. The Roman staggered, and his grip on his sword weakened. Spartacus screamed like a lunatic, and the startled young legionary let go.
Spartacus brought up his sica and thrust it into the other’s left eye socket. There was an audible pop, and aqueous fluid spattered on to the front of his shield. The legionary jerked with agony as the blade sliced through bone and into his brain. He juddered and shook, a dead weight on the weapon’s tip. Spartacus tugged it free, letting the corpse drop to the ground. It was immediately stamped underfoot in the press.
There was a heartbeat’s pause in the fighting. Quickly, Spartacus undid his chinstrap and let his ruined helmet fall. ‘Come on!’ he roared at the legionaries in the next rank. ‘Hades is waiting for you!’
‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’ boomed the men around him.
With dragging feet, the Romans shuffled closer. A few rows back, Spartacus spotted an officer using his vine cane to beat men forward. He exulted in the sight. It was an ominous sign so early in a battle. ‘The cocksuckers are scared!’ he shouted. ‘They’re fucking terrified!’
Then his eyes fixed on a standard some thirty paces off to his left. He levelled his sica at it. ‘Take the eagle!’
With loud cries, the nearest slaves shoved onward, slamming their scuta into those of the legionaries and driving them back a step. Shield bosses smacked off each other and gladius blades sank deep into flesh. Men got close enough to head butt their enemies or ram a dagger home into their necks. They spat in the Romans’ faces, screamed insults and called down the fury of the gods on their heads. Stunned by the slaves’ sheer fury, the legionaries withdrew another pace.
In that instant, the world changed.
There was a noise like a striking thunderbolt, and the Roman lines shook with a massive impact. It was Egbeo and Pulcher, thought Spartacus. ‘NOW! PUSH THEM!’ he roared. Bare-headed, spittle flying from his lips, he threw himself at the nearest Romans. Like a pack of baying hounds, his men followed.
‘SPAR-TA-CUS! SPAR-TA-CUS!’
The legionaries could take it no more. Their faces pinched with overwhelming terror. Desperate to flee from the madmen who were bearing
down on them, they shoved at each other like trapped animals. In the space of a dozen heartbeats, the centre of Lentulus’ line turned about and engaged in a full-scale retreat. Shields and weapons were flung down. The wounded, and those who were simply weaker, were knocked to the ground where they were trampled to death.
The slaves advanced, slaying all before them, showing mercy to no one.
The aquilifer, the soldier carrying the legion’s eagle, and the men charged with protecting him, were the only ones to hold their position. A tight little bloc of shields and swords, they roared and cursed at their comrades, calling on them to stand and fight.
It made no difference. Like a wave ebbing from the shore, the legionaries melted away from the front line.
Then Spartacus charged forward, bellowing like a rogue bull.
Too late, the aquilifer realised that his fate was upon him. Too late, he saw that the precious eagle was about to fall into enemy hands. ‘Retreat,’ he cried. But Spartacus and a score of slaves surged in, and they had to fight. The standard-bearer and his comrades went down in a vicious blur of hacks and slashes. The standard fell from his slack fingers, but before it could hit the ground, Spartacus snatched it up. ‘Look, you shitbags,’ he bellowed in Latin.
Amidst the mêlée, a few terrified Roman faces turned around.
‘The eagle is ours. The gods are on our side!’ Spartacus shook the standard defiantly at them. ‘Cowards!’
No one answered him, and his men yelled with delight.
He took a quick look around. The legionaries on the left flank were also in full retreat. Those on the right, who until that point had held their position, were wavering. It wouldn’t be long until they also broke, thought Spartacus with certainty. He had no idea where the Roman cavalry were, but they couldn’t have made much of an impression because the ranks to his rear were still solid. The battle on this side of the defile was as good as won. He had a hunch that with the advantage of all their horsemen, Castus and Gannicus would be achieving the same on the other side.