Soldier of Rome: The Centurion (The Artorian Chronicles) (20 page)

“What orders
do you bring for us on this glorious day?” Olbert, who was one of the leading regimental commanders asked.

“We are to lay siege to the fort at Flevum,” Tabbo replied, eliciting an excited cheer from his men. “Easy, my friends! Remember, the fort is not the prize we seek. The
King does not wish to lose men needlessly assaulting it. We will give the Romans time to surrender peacefully. If they refuse, then we will take the fort by force.”

“Why give the Romans any time?” Sjoerd asked, stepping forward in front of his men. “We gave them two years while that bastard Olennius starved and brutalized our people! Why should we give these Romans any quarter?”

“Because if we don’t, the Emperor Tiberius will unleash the entire Roman Army against us,” Tabbo retorted. “Let us not forget their response to the Cherusci. Some of you fought beside me at Idistaviso. You
know
the enemy we face. If we are to bloody the Romans, it will be when they send the Army of the Rhine against us. I have no doubts that they have already been mobilized and are on the move. Besieging Flevum is little more than a tactic to drive them into us.”

“And where do you plan to face them?” Olbert asked, to which Tabbo smiled and pointed to the ground at his feet with his axe.

“Right here,” he replied. “The Romans will not be able to mass their forces while crossing the bridges. If we can smash just one of their legions it will avenge our people. It will also make the Romans think twice about trying to attack us on Frisian soil. As soon as the Army of the Rhine has been halted and thrown back across the Rhine in defeat, the King will sue for terms with the Governor General, provided he survives. Legate Apronius is the type of Roman who leads from the front, so there is a great possibility he will fall during the battle.”

“All the better for us!” Sjoerd shouted, which brought further cheers from the host.

“One question that troubles me,” Olbert interjected. “How do we intend to contain a single legion on this side of the river and not allow the rest of their army to cross?” The ominous grin that crossed Tabbo’s face told his men that he already knew how to deal with containing the Army of the Rhine.

As the meeting broke and Tabbo started to walk his horse away, a voice calling his name interrupted him. It was Amke, her voice filled with annoyance. Tabbo already knew what she wanted to talk to him about.

“I beg you,” she pleaded. “Let the Daughters be one of the regiments to attack Flevum!”

“It is not my place to do so,” Tabbo replied with a shake of his head. “Your warriors are part of the King’s personal guard, therefore only he can allow you to take part in any battle.”

Amke’s face darkened at the explanation.

“Why is my uncle holding us back?” she asked, glaring at the war chief. “Are we to be nothing more than fetching girls, carrying weapons and wearing scant leather armor for the old warriors to jerk off to?” She was enraged, and her frustration had reached the boiling point.

“Amke, why would you say such a thing?”

“Because that’s all I am!” she retorted. “As great a warrior as Lourens is, his lust for me makes me feel dirty. Were I not clad as I am, enabling some twisted fantasy in him, and doubtless others, he would not spare me a second glance! It makes everyone feel good about having a regiment of female warriors, as if that makes our people more civilized, and therefore superior, to other tribal nations. And yet if we are not allowed to fight, then we are nothing but sexual fantasy material for a bunch of perverted old men and pubescent boys!”

Tabbo let out a sigh and knew Amke made a compelling argument.

“Daughter, I sympathize with your plight, believe me. Know this: the siege of Flevum will be but the first step towards freedom for our people. Also, remember what I showed you of the Romans. Though the King wants to avoid as much unnecessary bloodshed as possible, I know that Apronius will unleash the entire Army of the Rhine on us. Our warriors are encouraged because they have been without hope for so long, but deep down they understand that this victory will come at a terrible price. Many will die, and I promise you that some of the Daughters of Freyja will be amongst them. The King knows this, and he fears for your safety. He also knows that he will need every able-bodied warrior before this is done. I give you my word; you will get your chance to avenge yourself against the Romans. Just be careful what you wish for.”

Gaius was practically giddy with excitement as his section laid out their tent and all its components. It was standard
practice before any unit movement to inventory and check the serviceability of all equipment they would take with them.

“Weapons and full kit inspection will be done before supper tonight,” his Decanus said as he read off the wax tablet where he had hastily taken as many notes as he could during the Century’s leadership meeting.
“Any issues will be fixed before first formation tomorrow. Centurion Artorius and Optio Praxus will be conducting an inspection of the entire Century. They will have more details about the pending expedition then.”

“And I thought I was going to serve out my entire tenure in the legions without seeing any real action!” a legionary stated, causing a short laugh from Gaius. “What? I’ve been in the army for six years now and haven’t done shit with my gladius except sharpen and oil it! I mean
, how many years has it been since this legion saw any real action?”

“Eight,” the Decanus answered abruptly. He then let out a sigh.

Though still a young man himself, the Sergeant was the only soldier in his squad who served during the rebellion of Sacrovir and Florus. He had enlisted just after the campaigns of Germanicus Caesar, so he understood how his men felt. He realized that the soldier who had asked the question was the oldest in the squad besides him. As he glanced at their collective faces he saw young boys. Three of his men, including Gaius Longinus, were fresh out of recruit training. The Decanus then shook his head. Youthful they may have appeared, but these were still trained legionaries. They would soon embark on the final test that would define them as men.

Artorius sat deep in thought as he scribbled notes on a copy of his Century’s roster. Though he knew most of his men by both face and name, there were many that he had to stop and think about before realizing who they were.

“You alright?” Praxus’ question startled him. He did not even realize that the Optio had been standing in front of him the entire time.

“Sorry,” he replied, sitting back in his chair. “I was just going over the roster. I’m still trying to put all the names to faces of our men.”

“Well
, that’s what happens when you have an overly successful recruiting drive,” Praxus replied with a wink. “Hell, I worked with them through recruit training, and I’m still trying to remember all their names. Of course, you know in another twenty years this century will be going through another mass discharge when they retire.”

“Yeah, well we’ll be long since gone by then.” Artorius leaned forward and rested his chin in his hand. He sat pondering for a minute before speaking again. “I think we’re going to have to rearrange
the squads a bit. Some are stacked with veterans, while others are full of recruits. There’s one that only the Decanus has served on campaign. And speaking of which, we have two Decanii who have never seen combat!”

“That happens when
this corner of the Empire is at peace for so long,” Praxus observed.

“I’ve gone through the roster,” Artorius continued. “The Sec
ond Century has seventy-six men, the most we’ve ever had. Now of those, eighteen have just recently completed recruit training. Another seven have been in longer, but still joined after the Sacrovir Revolt. That means one in every three of our legionaries will be seeing their first action in Frisia.”

Praxus thought about his
Centurion’s statement and then nodded.

“They may be inexperienced, but we trained them well,” he replied. “I agree we should spread out
our recruits some. It will help for the rookies to have somebody next to them on the line that’s had the enemy’s blood splattered in his face.”

If one were to ask Tribune Aulus Nautius Cursor what he thought about the pending invasion of Frisia, he would say that as a soldier his job was to follow the orders of the Emperor a
nd the Governor General. Inside, he was troubled. The Frisians had been a loyal and faithful people since being pacified by Drusus Nero. Now suddenly, they were hanging taxmen and causing the magistrate to flee for his life. It did not make any sense. He wanted to see Rodolfo about it, seeing that he was originally from Frisia. It was pointless, though. The Centurion had moved from his homeland to Gaul when he was in his late teens. The man had spent almost all of his adult life serving in the Roman Army as a cavalry officer. He had already been given citizenship when he was promoted to Centurion, with his wife and children sharing in the benefits granted to pure born Romans. No, Rodolfo would not have any answers as to why his native people had suddenly taken up arms against the Empire. Besides, there was an issue that was far more important for Cursor to address with his senior ranking Centurion.

“You going to be alright?” Cursor asked as he watched his ranking
Centurion pack his kit into his saddlebags.

Rodolfo turned and gazed
at him, perplexed.

“I fail to see why I wouldn’t be,” he replied. Cursor gave a brief smile
, then bit the inside of his cheek, thinking he needed to phrase his next words carefully.

“It’s just that I know you are of Frisian ancestry…” he stopped speaking as he watched Rodolfo tense up.

The Centurion had turned back to fixing a strap on his bag when Cursor spoke.

“I thought you knew my loyalty better than that,” he said quietly before turning to face the Tribune. “You want to know if fighting my kinsmen will be hard for me; well the answer is
yes
. This is not easy for me, and I daresay I will have many a sleepless night over the pending ordeal. The other thing you want to know is if I am still loyal, and will I still fight. If you are questioning my…”

Cursor raised a hand, catching the growing anger in Rodolfo’s voice.

“I have never questioned your loyalty,” he replied. “You have been as loyal a soldier and friend as any could hope. It’s just…well, I cannot help but think how unfair this must be for you.”

Rodolfo cocked a sarcastic half smile.

“Forgive me, sir, but since when has life ever been fair? I confess I am deeply troubled by this sudden rebellion in my former homeland. One of the war chiefs, Tabbo of Maloriks, was a close boyhood friend of mine, and we briefly reconnected after Idistaviso. I cannot imagine what would have driven him to fight against Rome.” Rodolfo shook his head while gazing at the ground. He then nodded in resolve and faced Cursor once more. “Whatever their reasons, they have broken alliances and committed treason against the Emperor. I swore an oath, the same as you. I
will
honor it!”

Cursor ran his hand over his bald head as he walked back towards his billet. Though a fancy manor house could have easily been his, he reasoned that while deployed with his cavalry regiments, it was far more practical to live in similar quarters as his troopers. He smiled when he saw a familiar face dismount his horse and walk briskly towards him.