THE INVASION OF GAUL

Marius’ Mules

“
Marius’ Mules: nickname acquired by the legions after the General Marius made it standard practice for the soldier to carry all of his kit about his person.”

Dedicated to my beautiful wife, Tracey, who has

done nothing but encourage me,

so it’s mostly her fault!

Also to my grandfather, Douglas, who is responsible

for my irrepressible love of history.

Published in 2010 by YouWriteOn.com

Copyright
S.J.A.Turney

Second Edition

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Published by YouWriteOn.com

By the same author:

Interregnum (2009)

For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished as the mad Emperor Quintus burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general. Against a background of war, decay, poverty and violence, men who once served in the proud Imperial army now fight as mercenaries, hiring themselves to the greediest lords. On a hopeless battlefield that same general, now a mercenary captain tortured by the events of his past, stumbles across hope in the form of a young man begging for help. Kiva is forced to face more than his dark past as he struggles to put his life and the very Empire back together. The last scion of the Imperial line will change Kiva forever.

Ironroot (2010)

Captain Varro of the Fourth army is about to have the worst day of his life. Wounded in battle and fearing for his life and his future, he stumbles upon a plot that reaches deep into the past and into the roots of everything in which he believes. Accompanied by a young engineer from his unit and the daughter of his commander in chief, he begins to unpeel layers of treachery and murder that threaten not only himself, but the people that he loves. Ironroot is a tale of treason and revenge set in the world of the Interregnum, some twenty years after the events of that book.

Marius’ Mules II (2010)

57BC. The fearsome Belgae have gathered a great army to oppose Rome and Fronto and the legions assemble once more to take Caesar’s war against the most dangerous tribes in the northern world. While the legions battle the Celts in the fiercest war of Caesar’s career, the plots and conspiracies against him, both at Rome and among his own army, become ever deeper and more dangerous.

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Part One: Acts of Aggression

Part Two: Ariovistus

Dramatis Personae (List of Principal Characters)

Marcus Falerius Fronto

Commander of the Tenth Legion, ex Commander of the Ninth, Veteran of the Spanish Wars, friend of Caesar and native of Puteoli in Italy.

Gaius Longinus

Commander of the Ninth Legion, ex cavalry tribune in the Spanish Wars and old acquaintance of Fronto.

Gnaeus Vinicius Priscus

Chief centurion of the Tenth Legion

Lucius Velius

Senior centurion training officer of the Tenth Legion

Quintus Balbus

Ageing commander of the Eighth Legion.

Aulus Crispus

Commander of the Eleventh Legion, ex. Civil servant in Rome.

Titus Balventius

Chief centurion of the Eighth Legion, veteran having served several terms of service.

Aulus Ingenuus

Lesser officer of Eighth Legion’s cavalry wing

Gaius Tetricus

Military Tribune attached to the Seventh Legion and expert in military defences and earthworks.

Florus

Young legionary in the Tenth Legion

Quintus Atius Varus

Prefect of the Ninth Legion’s cavalry wing

Quintus Titurius Sabinus

Senior staff officer

Titus Labienus

Senior staff officer and lieutenant of Caesar

PART ONE: ACTS OF AGGRESSION

Chapter 1

(Tenth Legion’s Summer Camp at Cremona)

“
Cursus Honorum: The ladder of political and military positions a noble Roman is expected to ascend.”

“
Tarpeian Rock: Cliff on the Capitoline Hill of Rome from which traitors were hurled.”

“
Latrunculi: Roman board game involving stones of two colours on a board, resembling the Chinese game of Go.”

Marcus Falerius Fronto trudged through the mud between the headquarters pavilion and his tent, kicking in irritation at errant stones, which disappeared into the dark with a skittering sound. He would have given good money to be back at the winter quarters in Aquileia, on the warm Adriatic. For all that Cremona was a reasonably sized town with all the facilities and amenities a Roman gentleman could enjoy, the camp itself, almost a mile away, was much the same as any practice camp throughout the Empire: cold, damp and dirty. Like many of the mighty General’s senior officers, Fronto’s quarters were considerably closer to the centre of command than he would truly wish. Though concentration of the officers made for better organisation and a certain camaraderie, the great Caesar slept little and late and had a tendency, when thoughts occurred in the dark of night, to wander among the tents of his officers and seek out their opinions of grand designs and obscure schemes. It was said by some of the men that Caesar never slept, though Fronto knew the truth, having just removed the cup from the General’s hand, emptied the dregs outside the tent and draped a blanket over the figure slumbering in the folding campaign chair.

Fronto’s mind wandered back over the briefing earlier in the evening and the array of maps on the campaign table that he had tidied and gathered up before he left. Some of the officers present had had the foresight to heavily water their wine, knowing how Generals tended to drag out these meetings for many hours, considering every minute detail. Those who were unprepared had begun to doze hours ago and would be looking to the security of their careers in the morning. The General himself, as always, drank a half and half mixture of good Latin wine and water, remaining sober until most of his officers had left, and never drinking enough to lose control of his tongue. This was a man with many secrets, Fronto was reminded.

There had been much speculation among the officers over the last couple of days as to why Caesar had come to Aquileia at all, yet alone to a practice camp for three legions in the hinterland. He had been quietly settled in Rome ever since his governorship had been confirmed and had shown no special interest in the troops under his command. Then suddenly he had arrived in camp with an entourage of his favourite staff officers and a wagon full of maps and supplies. Fronto had been apprised of the imminent arrival of a party of soldiers by the sentries, had immediately recognised the standards and the man in the red cloak on the white horse, and had alerted the other officers without delay. He had his own theories concerning the General’s presence.

Caesar had had a command tent raised and with barely a nod of recognition to the officers with whom he had served before, called for a meeting and disappeared within. An hour later, the General had briefed all present on the nature, geography and politics of Gaul and the Gaulish tribes, though still no one had been enlightened as to the reason for this meeting and the information divulged.

The ordinary civilian back in Rome tended to label anyone from north or west of Roman territory a ‘Gaul’ though in truth, the land to the north was held by the Helvetii, above them the Belgae and the Germanic tribes and to the far west, by the sea, the Aquitani peoples. The Gauls consisted the tribes that lay between these others.