Marching With Caesar: Conquest of Gaul (78 page)

It was during this period and because of Caesar's order that another tragedy befell our army, again hitting the ill-starred 14th Legion. Caesar had chosen an experienced hand in Cicero, or so we all thought at the time, although to be fair it is hard to fault him personally for what happened. When we left the baggage, he told Cicero that he would be gone no more than a week, so there would be no need for him to leave the camp to forage. If Caesar was not delayed, there would have been no tragedy, yet Cicero, having heard no word from our commander for the entire week and now out of food, made a command decision. Ordering five Cohorts, along with about 300 men from all the other Legions who were convalescing to go forage for food, Cicero dispatched a cavalry escort for good measure. What he did not know, and truthfully what Caesar did not know, was that our general's offer for other tribes to maraud the Eburones would end up being the cause of the trouble. One of the tribes across the Rhenus, the Sugambri, had indeed been on the march to plunder Eburones territory, except their scouts spied our camp first, taking the measure of the 14th instantly. The foraging party was not gone more than a mile away when the Sugambri descended on the camp, completely encircling it then throwing themselves at the gates, trying to force a breach. It was only through the efforts of one of the convalescing Centurions, Sextus Baculus of the 12th, who was too weak to accompany the foraging party and rose from his sick bed at the sound of the commotion, that the enemy was repulsed from the gates, despite inflicting heavy losses. Meanwhile, the foraging party, alerted to the danger, began marching back to the camp to come to the aid of their comrades. I do not know exactly what happened then; there was talk in the army that some of the men who were made Centurions in the new Legion were not ready for such responsibility, so when the moment came to be tested, their nerve failed them. Whatever happened, the result was that there was a splitting of the Cohorts, with the experienced men banding together, along with the convalescing men, to march their way back to the camp, cutting their way through the Sugambri. The
tiros
, either refusing to move or being so scared that they were unable to do so, instead stood huddled on a small knoll, watching their more experienced comrades fight their way back to the camp. From all accounts it was a scene of utter chaos, making it easy to see how young, inexperienced men lost their heads. Unfortunately, either because they refused to listen to their Centurions, which is what the surviving Centurions and Optios claimed, or because they were abandoned when they did not instantly obey orders while under attack, which is what was more commonly accepted as fact, the loss of their heads went from the figurative to the literal. A total of a little more than two Cohorts were lost that day, further reinforcing in our minds that not only the site of the camp, but the 14th Legion itself was damned.

The aftermath of this battle was not yet cleaned up when we arrived back at the camp, the word spreading quickly through the column about what happened. I was saddened but not surprised when I saw the stiffening corpse of the young boy I had locked eyes with that day when we marched past, and I offered a short prayer to the gods to speak for him, although I never really knew him. This was the last operation of the season as winter was setting in. Although Ambiorix escaped, his people would very likely not survive the winter, because we not only laid waste to their lands, but also forbade any other tribe giving them aid, on pain of being considered in rebellion with them. We were going to be sent to new camps for the winter, distributed according to Caesar’s wishes, with ourselves and five other Legions going into winter quarters at Agedincum, where we made camp on an island in the middle of the river. Meanwhile, Caesar held a tribunal at Duroctorum, where the chief who we learned was the power behind the scenes that initiated all this business, Acco, was tried and found guilty of fomenting insurrection, and sentenced to death. With the army settling into its winter routine, most of us wondered if we would have another one as active as the last.

Chapter 11- Rebellion of Vercingetorix

The fact that Caesar went to the trouble of actually subjecting Acco to the formality of a trial had an unforeseen consequence because it prompted the chiefs of the various Gallic tribes to discuss this event among themselves. They came to the conclusion that Caesar subjecting Acco to such a punishment could only mean that Caesar was intent on subjugating Gaul to the point where it would be named a Senatorial province of Rome. I cannot say what was in Caesar’s mind, yet speaking from the ranks, it never occurred to us that Caesar held any other goal but making all of Gaul a Roman province. I for one found it puzzling that here, six years into Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul, these Gallic chiefs were just coming to a conclusion that we had assumed as fact for so long. Whatever the case, the discontent and resentment were about to boil over yet again, with the chiefs beginning to plot the overthrow of Caesar and Rome. In their earlier attempts what crippled them was that they still thought of themselves as separate tribes, so that they were either unwilling or unable to put aside old hatred for one tribe or another in order to work together. Then later, once they learned that they would have to cooperate if they were to have any chance of overthrowing us, they were faced with the problem of not having a leader with the vision and charisma needed to unite such a fractious lot. They were saddled with the likes of Ambiorix, who for whatever reason did not excite the other tribes to rally to his cause in sufficient numbers to be troublesome. Indutiomarus had his hands full trying to solidify his power within his own tribe, and replacing his son-in-law alienated as many of his people as it won to his banner. But now, there came the kind of man who was able to unite the tribes, a man who was the first real threat to our control of Gaul. His name was Vercingetorix.

While Vercingetorix was an able enough man in his own right, it did not help that the political situation in Rome was so unstable that word of the upheaval in the city reached the ears of the faraway Gauls. Caesar’s man Clodius, running for Praetor, was murdered by one of his opponents Milo and it was said the streets ran red with blood as the city went mad. Temples were burned, and there was daily rioting in the Forum, inevitably spilling out into the rest of the city. Martial law was declared by Pompey; decent citizens dared not show their face outside, which of course meant that commerce, the lifeblood not just of the city but of the Republic, came to a standstill, causing shortages of staples like bread that ignited fresh rioting. Also, word of the disaster at Carrhae reached us, and even as all of the veterans of the Legion mourned the loss of young Crassus, this event, coupled with what happened to the 14th not once now but twice, ignited a celebration in Gaul. The firebrands and rabble-rousers used these examples as further proof that Rome was not invincible after all. It reached a point that we were not allowed to leave the camp alone, being required to have at least one companion with us at all times, and it was during this period that Vibius and I began to spend more time with Calienus and Gisela. If I had been Calienus I would not have been particularly happy to have us hanging around, yet I sensed a change between him and Gisela. Despite not wanting to pry, I was intensely curious about what was happening, and I also looked forward to these times spent outside of camp because it was only under these circumstances that Vibius and I could be friends. My promotion to Optio had widened the gap between us in terms of our friendship, although Vibius was named Sergeant to replace me, so I looked at the order to not go unaccompanied as a gift from the gods that would allow me to help close what I saw as the growing distance between us. As I was to learn, there was such a rift, except it had nothing to do with our different ranks, but with Caesar, and it was during these off-duty times after a couple cups of wine that I learned just how big a gap was growing between us because of our commander. However, being honest, I will have to say that spending time with Calienus, and by extension Gisela, was at least as important to me, if not more important as trying to repair my friendship with Vibius. I thought I concealed that motive very well, except looking back, I cannot help wonder if I was transparent enough that Vibius was aware of my motives and that this was as big a problem as Caesar was. Perhaps he was remembering how I had felt about Juno, and was upset to see that I was essentially doing the same thing with Calienus and Gisela; I was falling in love with another man’s woman. Sitting there watching the interplay between Calienus and Gisela, as inexperienced as I may have been with women, it was plain to see that things were not right between them. Yet it was several nights, along with several cups of wine before I got up the courage to bring it up. After an especially tedious and trying day, in my exasperation, I decided not to limit myself like I normally did to my standard two cups of watered wine. We were sitting at our accustomed table near the bar, where Gisela came to pick up cups of wine to serve to the other men and their women, some of the latter rented for the evening. Bringing our drinks, Gisela had just slammed down our three cups, shooting Calienus a look that needed no translation.

“By Dis, Calienus,” I remarked in what I hoped was a playful tone, “I can see the frost forming on your eyebrows from the look Gisela gave you.”

For an instant, I thought I overstepped, his head shooting up from staring moodily into his cup, his eyes narrowed as he searched my face. Gisela had always been a touchy subject, as well she should have been, yet when Calienus looked in my eyes I guess I must have disguised my true feelings well enough, because his face softened and he gave a rueful smile. “She’s………..upset with me,” he shrugged, “not that that’s any different than any other day lately.”

I was about to open my mouth, but Vibius beat me to it. He was just as curious as I was about the relationship between Calienus and Gisela, albeit for entirely different reasons. His hope was that he could learn the intricacies of how to manage a relationship with one you loved by watching the mistakes and missteps of others.

“So what did you do this time?” Vibius asked the question as if the cause was a foregone conclusion, and Calienus looked about to protest before sighing then shrugging his shoulders again. Looking at Gisela as she walked to the other side of the bar to serve other customers, he lowered his voice and replied, “It’s not so much what I did do as what I didn’t.”

We waited for more, but nothing was forthcoming, and I was about to open my mouth to urge him to keep speaking when Calienus shot me a warning glance, shaking his head as he nodded over my shoulder. Sneaking a peek I saw that Gisela was grabbing another round of wine, so we remained silent until she walked away. Once he saw her engaged in conversation with one of the other patrons, Calienus continued, watching Gisela furtively to make sure she stayed out of earshot. “I didn’t tell you boys this, but Gisela was pregnant.”

Our initial reaction was to burst out in congratulations before the full meaning of his words cut through the fog of wine building in my brain. “Was? You mean,” I wasn’t sure what the right word was, never having reason to use the word miscarriage before, “she…lost it?”

He nodded, looking more miserable than I had ever seen him, as Vibius and I exchanged a glance, totally unsure what the right thing to say to such news was.

Finally, Vibius spoke hesitantly, “I’m sorry Calienus. That must have been very hard for both of you.” Trying to look on the bright side, he continued cheerfully, “But that doesn’t mean you can’t try again, and that’s half the fun, neh?”

Calienus smiled wanly, but his voice betrayed his sadness as he replied, “That’s just the thing. Gisela is convinced that somehow I’m cursed, and any child borne by her that’s mine is destined to die.”

Vibius and I looked at each other in shock. “Where did she get that nonsense?” I demanded this a bit too loudly, causing Calienus to wince while shooting a nervous glance over at Gisela, who thankfully was still engaged in her conversation. I could see how disturbed Calienus was, because he normally would never have tolerated her talking to another man he did not know for such a long time, but that seemed to be the farthest thing from his mind. “She went to one of her people’s soothsayers, and the bitch told Gisela that any child of mine was destined to die.”

“But why?” Vibius asked. “She had to have some reason for saying that.”

Calienus looked away, and I could not tell if he was embarrassed, or if there was something else bothering him. Keeping his face turned away so that he was not looking at us, he replied, speaking so softly that we almost did not hear him. “She said that the reason our children would die is so they wouldn't have to live without a father. The soothsayer said that I’m going to be dying…..soon.”

We sat there for a moment, stunned. Both of us had heard tales of men who received divinations of one sort or another that foretold their deaths, but none of these men were anyone we knew until this moment. As we sat there absorbing this, there was something that bothered me, and I asked Calienus, “But why is Gisela mad at you? You have no control over what the soothsayer told her, and it’s not your fault you lost the baby.”

Now Calienus looked both embarrassed and pained. “It’s just that……” he stopped, staring down into his wine cup. We sat there for what seemed like several moments before he finally finished his sentence, blurting out, “It’s just that after she lost the baby and she went to the soothsayer, I signed on for another enlistment. That’s why she’s mad at me. She thinks I’m openly defying the gods.”