Marius' Mules II: The Belgae (9 page)

Crispus looked
up questioningly at Balbus, who shook his head.

“
I think that’s all, Florus, thank you. Please inform your
medicus that the legates of the Eighth and Eleventh will be
dropping by shortly to requisition a little of his expensive
oriental paste, if you would?”

Florus nodded
with a smile and, bowing, turned and left the building.

Crispus looked
down at the unconscious patient and then up at Balbus with a
smile.

“
He’s not going to be able to do much about that but admit to
it.”

Balbus
nodded.

“
But the soldiers wouldn’t dare mention it, and those of us
that are close enough to do so know him well enough we know exactly
what to expect. He’ll just have to come up with some convincing and
exciting lie.”

He sighed and
stood.

“
Come on. We need to go get some of that stuff from the doctor
before my hand starts to blossom.”

“
What about him?”

Balbus smiled
like an indulgent father.

“
He’ll sleep for hours yet.”

* * * * *

“
Enter!”

The three men
at the door to Caesar’s office looked at one another. Fronto
entered first, followed by Balbus, with Balventius bringing up the
rear and closing the door. The general sat behind his desk
scribbling on a tablet. Without looking up, he swept his arm,
indicating the three seats across the table from him.

Wordlessly,
the men took their seats and waited patiently for Caesar to finish
his administrative tasks. After a moment, the tablet snapped shut
and the general placed his stylus neatly alongside it, pushed them
off to his left and then, in a moment of obsession, lined them up
neatly with the edge of the table. After that he sat back, raised
his head, took a deep breath, laid his hands on the table before
him and tapped rhythmically.

“
Your face is a mess, Fronto.”

“
Yeth, thir.”

“
Any point in me asking?”

Fronto
swallowed noisily.

“
Twipped on a wabbit hole, thir.”

Caesar stared
at him.

“
Stop that. You sound like an idiot.”

“
Thir?”

“
People always resort to slurring and impedimented speech when
they have a nasal injury or a heavy cold. It’s all psychosomatic,
just like limping. Force yourself to talk properly,
man.”

“
Yes, general.”

The look of
startled realization on Fronto’s face threatened to make Balbus
laugh. Caesar pulled himself straighter.

“
Alright, gentlemen. Time for action.”

The three men
blinked and Caesar nodded, as if in answer to an internal
question.

“
Firstly, tell me about my two new legions.”

“
Well…” Balventius leaned forward. “I think we’re narrowly
avoiding serious trouble, particularly with the Fourteenth. It’s
ridiculous, general. They’re encamped between all the other
legions, but none of them will even exchange a greeting with the
new men. Everyone looks down on them. And it’s not helped by the
fact that the new legions are staying firmly in their own camp and
not even trying to interact. Hell, sir… they don’t even speak Latin
when they’re amongst their own.”

Caesar
frowned.

“
That’s not good at all. I’ll have to do something about this.
Or rather, perhaps I should say ‘I’ll have to have something done
about it.’”

The other
officers’ turn to frown.

“
Caesar?”

“
First let me explain the two legions to you. I know you’re
aware of their origin. However, you won’t have the details. Neither
of them currently has a legate assigned. I was, unfortunately, a
little tied with potential recruits. I would have preferred all
Latin speaking recruits and to have filled every centurion and
optio role with a veteran from Aquileia or Cremona.”

He sighed.

“
Unfortunately, I couldn't find enough suitable men. So, what I
have done is given preference to one of them: the Thirteenth has
all Latin-speaking legionaries, and each officer is a Roman
veteran. I don't want to assign any of my current staff to them, as
most would take the assignment as a demotion, given the Gaulish
nature of the Thirteenth.”

He smiled and
shifted his gaze between the two legates.

“
So, for the time being, I want you two, Balbus and Fronto, to
maintain command of the Thirteenth between you, as well as your
own. You have the patience to work with them. I want them fully
Romanised, integrated into my army and proud of their eagle. You
two can give them that. Once they're settled and proved, I'll look
at assigning them a legate of their own.”

Fronto and
Balbus looked at one another. The older legate raised an eyebrow
and Fronto shrugged, immediately wincing at a number of bruises and
pulled muscles from his ‘fall’.

“
We can do that, Caesar,” Balbus nodded. “And what of the
Fourteenth, then?”

The general’s
expression shifted almost imperceptibly.

“
Sadly, the Fourteenth will take considerably more effort. Only
around a half of them speak Latin with more than a few words. Less
than a quarter of the centurionate are Roman veterans; the rest are
minor chieftains among the Aedui. In all, while they’re trained as
legionaries, they still think and act like Gauls. The chief trainer
at Cremona says he’d trust them to keep formation in battle, but
that’s about as far as it goes.”

“
So…” Fronto grunted, “basically they’re useless?”

“
I wouldn’t say that.” Caesar smiled. “They shall be kept in
reserve. I’m going to give standing orders that they remain as camp
guards or take rearguard in battles to protect the artillery and
baggage trains… that sort of thing.”

Fronto
nodded.

“
I suppose it’s possible that that way they’ll learn
gradually.”

Balventius
laughed; a harsh bark.

“
And they can’t get themselves or the rest of us into too much
trouble that way.”

Fronto nodded
again.

“
So what poor sod are you going to put in charge of them? If
none of your staff will lower themselves to lead your top-notch
Gaulish legion, who’s going to agree to command the
dregs?”

Caesar’s smile
widened.

“
Lucius Munatius Plancus.”

“
Plancus?” Fronto almost spat out the name. “But he’s a prat!
He…” Light dawned on him slowly.

Caesar
nodded.

“
Yes. A legion of unintelligible Gauls in the hands of an
unimaginative and inexperienced commander. Sounds perfect for
guarding the engineers and baggage. And another problem I’d had was
that I owe Plancus’ father a favour and I’ve been wondering what to
do with him. Now I can make him a legate. His father will be
pleased and after a while I can send him back to Rome where he can
climb the ladder and be a burden to the senate instead.”

Fronto
smiled.

“
Very nice, though I’d warn you, Caesar, that we may have to
call on the Fourteenth along with everyone else if we land in deep
shit up north, especially without Crassus’ Seventh
here.”

“
I’m aware of that.”

The general
sighed and stood, wandering over to a large map of Gaul and its
surroundings.

”
I don’t know whether you’re aware… I expect you are, since
Fronto always seems to know about things before even I do… that the
scouts have now all returned?”

The three men
before him nodded.

“
We’re going to be moving very soon. I intend to call a general
staff meeting shortly and pass out the orders to my officers, but,
to assuage your curiosity, this is the situation in a
nutshell…”

He jabbed his
finger into the centre of Belgic lands on the map, where the legend
‘NERVII’ was just visible in the low interior light.

“
Deep in their territory, most of the Belgae have combined to
create one large army. And when I say large, I do mean large. I
have been unable to ascertain numbers no matter how many spies and
scouts I send out, but I have heard words like ‘sea’ and ‘carpet’
used to describe the assembled mass, so I’m going to assume we’re
talking about a very large group. And some of them are Germans
who’ve crossed the Rhine to join in. Most of my other legates are
young and lack the experience that you two have. I’m going to rely
more and more in the coming weeks on the pair of you, along with
Labienus and Sabinus.”

Fronto rubbed
his nose reflectively without thinking and gave a slight yelp.

“
I assume then, Caesar, that you fully intend to take us
against the Belgae, whatever their strength?”

The general
nodded.

“
Frankly, Fronto, I cannot back down now. I’m sure you
understand. The Belgae have the greatest reputation of the northern
barbarians. If we can defeat them, our allies will be safe; no
other tribe will dare move against us. If we run back to
Narbonensis with our tail tucked between our legs, however, we will
lose the respect of the tribes, our allies will likely desert us
and side with the Belgae; we will lose our foothold in Gaul and
with it any hope of loot for the men and a triumphal return to
Rome. The officers will be ridiculed by the senate and the men will
be pensioned with little booty to show for the two years of
activity.”

He smiled a
horrible smile.

“
And then one day the Belgae, who will no longer have any
reason to fear us, will take their cue from the Gauls long ago, and
will cross the border and sack Italia.”

He waited for
any objection from the three in front of him, but no one spoke.

“
No. We must prove ourselves now. We must claim our stake in
Gaul. However, I would prefer to even the odds.”

His finger
moved down the map toward the more southerly Belgae lands.

“
Here, in their nearest territory, is a Belgic tribe called the
Remi. My scouts tell me that, while the Remi are far from the
strongest of the Belgae, they are actually open to Roman
negotiations, and if the Remi are, then it is possible that other
tribes may follow suit. Basically I cannot formulate a full plan
until after we have met with the Remi.”

The general,
his face showing some signs of stress, slapped the area of the
Belgae on the map with the flat of his palm.

“
And herein lies my problem. I need to plan. I don’t like being
unprepared for eventualities, but until I have seen for myself I
have to rely on my gut feelings and the usual couple of tricks I
have up my sleeve.”

Balbus
shrugged.

“
Then why not delay, Caesar? Send ambassadors to the Remi and
stay here until you’re fully apprised of the situation? The Belgae
won’t get any bigger in the meantime.”

The general
shook his head.

“
True: the Belgae will not increase, but there are two other
potential problems. Given extra time it’s quite possible that more
and more Germans will cross the Rhine and sign up to the Belgic
cause. Even if not, it is possible they will decide they are strong
enough, march over or through the Remi and come after us. That way
we lose a potential ally, the incentive, and any hope of choosing
the ground when we do meet.”

He sighed.

“
No, we have to go now. Strike, as the smith says, while the
iron is hot.”

Balventius
nodded professionally and the Fronto cleared his throat.

“
I was given to believe, Caesar, that you were waiting on other
things yet too? Crassus for one thing.”

A dark look
crossed the general’s face.

“
With Crassus, what will be, will be. I had expected to have
heard from him by now. It is entirely possible that the Belgae
already have allies in the west; that they have successfully
stirred up trouble against us there and that Crassus is already
hanging from a tree with his eyes pecked out by the
crows.”

He gave Fronto
a very searching look.

“
A possibility, I might add, about which I have somewhat mixed
feelings…”

The legate had
the grace to look down and avoid his gaze.

“
But I have put a safeguard in place in case of Crassus’
failure and demise.”

He
straightened and squared his shoulders.

“
I cannot tarry for news of Crassus.”

Fronto
narrowed his eyes.

“
What safeguard?”

The general
sighed again.

“
Fronto, you’re one of my senior staff, but you really don’t
need to know everything!”

Balventius
cleared his throat.

“
Caesar?”

“
Yes?”

“
Why am I present, sir? I’m not involved at a command
level.”

The general
returned to his seat and sank gratefully into it.

“
You, however, are the man my senior staff saw fit to land with
the task of arresting and questioning Paetus. And in that role, I
have further use of you.”

Balventius
merely sat straight and raised his eyebrow.

“
My courier returned from Rome this morning.”

Fronto leaned
forward.

“
Slip of the tongue, Caesar? Courier‘s’, surely? You sent a
half dozen riders.”

The general
flashed an irritated look at the legate.