The Wald (40 page)

The sentry returned
at last and after seeing them give up their weapons and horses to the guards, led them on foot past the gate.  They walked through a paved, covered corridor that opened onto a large square courtyard.  Before walking into the courtyard, though, where there was a bustle of activity of men and horse going about the daily routines of professional soldiers, the guard escorted them to the left along another passage.  Now on their left, doors opened into sleeping quarters.  On their right, columns about the size of a man held up arched roofs and served as a boundary between the hall and the square.  They skirted the entire court until they were nearly directly opposite from the gate they had entered.

There a set of stairs led up a second floor.  To Berengar
, the stairs seemed to jut from the wall of the building and float in thin air.  He watched the guard clatter up the first few steps before he gathered the courage to follow.  But they proved to be sturdy and so he accepted them as part of the real world and not some vision from the gods.

They entered what must have been quarters meant for the fort’s commander.  Berengar and his father looked down at the floor and stomped on it.  It was the first time either had ever been in a building with a floor above another.  Adalbern raised his eyebrows in approval at its construction. 
Of course, both men had climbed a rickety ladder to lay bark or thatch on their longhouse roofs back in the forest, but the sheer weight of this structure awed them.  A window let sunlight splash across the floor and reflect off the walls, painted white just like the exterior.  The room was well-lit compared to the long homes in which they’d been reared.  Decorations that served no utilitarian purpose hung on the walls, which surprised Berengar.  While he was angered at the oath they would be forced to take shortly, the young man took in all the sights.  Stigr had been right, he thought.  How much more spectacular must Rome be?

A desk with a lamp and writing instruments sitting atop it was positioned toward the back of the room in front of a wood paneled wall.  There seemed to be another room on its opposite side
that must have served as the sleeping quarters for the fort’s captain.  The guard pointed at the floor to indicate they should wait as he went into the back room.

In a blink h
e returned to his place at their side.  Two Roman boys came from around the corner and sat in chairs at either side of the table.  Berengar stared in amazement when he realized one of the Romans was no Roman, but was instead his Cheruscan brother, Ermin.  His long hair had been cut.  Some slave had scrubbed him so that his fingernails were even clean.  They locked eyes. Ermin raised his chin a little higher and shook his head at the fight Berengar was contemplating.

“Ermin, come with us,” whispered Berengar.  “We’ll fight our way out.”

The Roman sentry swung to punch Berengar, but the large young man ducked out of the way.  He looked to his friend for a movement or answer, only to be given the same quiet shake of the head.

Augustus and a slave woman
who stared at the ground came from around the back.  The emperor sat at the desk wearing a simple white toga.  “I had heard you were stubborn,” he said.  “I am surprised that you came, but by coming you’ve saved your people from death – a wise choice.  Now kneel to me and pledge your support of me and Rome.”  The slave woman raised her head to translate her master’s words.  The voice, the face.  It was Dorthe, Berengar’s mother, Adalbern’s wife.

She choked when she recognized her husband and son.  “Dorthia,” said Augustus.  “What is the matter?  I’ll
not spend all day with this trash.”

Dorthe bowed her head, “I am sorry, Lord Emperor.  That man is my husband.  The boy is my son.
”

Augustus knew this
, since it was Drusus who had captured the woman and passed her story on to him.  How fitting, he thought, that the entire family was there to exhibit their submission to Rome.  “Well, tell them my words.”

She did
, trembling.

The guard used a flexed arm to shove Adalbern to the floor. 
He let him.  The old warlord shook with impotent rage.  Adalbern pushed his bent fingertips into the floor so that they turned white.  His lip curled into a snarl more befitting a wolf from the wald than a man.  He knew he could have Augustus killed with his bare hands before the guard could react, but then what?  See his wife killed in some fruitless escape attempt?

Gundahar and Berengar followed
his path to their knees without a struggle.

They spoke their oaths.
  Berengar wanted to feel a weight lifted, but could not as he stared at his mother.  His anger toward the Romans was only just beginning.  He vowed a rescue attempt for both Ermin and Dorthe.  Damn Kolman.  Damn the rest of the lands.  Let them burn, he thought.  His family and friends were meant to be free, alive or not.  The guard called out.

Behind them the door sprang open and a dozen legionaries with weapons drawn poured into the room. 
Dorthe screamed.  Ermin sat forward in his chair.  The soldiers had the three tribesmen sprawled onto their bellies before any of them could react.  The sharp tip of a gladius poked into Berengar’s neck while the soldier’s knee pushed painfully into his spine.

“Now that you’ve pledged your oaths and saved your people from ruin, you’ll spend the rest of your days imprisoned with the knowledge that although the remnants of the Sugambrians live, they will forever be torn from
your precious wald.  Your intransigence has seen to that.  I will send a dispatch to Tiberius, who has returned to his summer camp east of the Rhenus, that instructs him to round up every one of your people and move them into Gaul where we can better
protect
them.  Take them to their cells.  We leave tomorrow.”

“Lord Emperor, no!” said Dorthe, stepping forward.

Augustus stood and slapped her in the face.  Ermin stirred in his chair again, but cooled his emotions after a menacing glare from the emperor.

Dorthe
den tapferen made both her son and husband proud then.  She held her ground, saying, “Lord Emperor, place me in prison rather than my son.  You’ve taken one of the tribes’ boys as your own.  Let mine return to his life and live as witness to your great benevolence.  Let him live as a witness to the oaths his father and Gundahar have given so that our people may be exiled without more loss of life on either side.”

Augustus
softened as he considered her request.  “That will do.  Take the boy to the gate and throw him out.  Put the woman and two men into their cell.  Come now, Gaius and Arminius.”

Ermin, whom the emperor now called Arminius, gave a courageous look to his
ally.  As if they had been brothers who had shared the same womb, there was much exchanged in that look between the friends.  “Patience,” said Ermin.

“I’ll come for you.  I’ll kill them,
” answered Berengar.

“No,” said Ermin.  “In time, I’ll come for you
.  I’ll come for Thusnelda.  Keep her safe for me.  I’ll come to rid Germania of the Roman threat forever.”

THE END

(Dear Reader, See Historical Remarks section to help separate fact from fiction.)

HISTORICAL REMARKS

It is with great trepidation that I pen the historical remarks section of the first work of The Wald Chronicles.  On the one hand, I am eager to detail the astounding true history as recorded by the ancients of the events in this tale and those to come.  But, on the other hand, the reader will not be able to completely gather the long-term consequences the events have had on our global society without a mention of what is to come in the following books.  Context nearly requires me to let the cat out of the bag and mention what comes next.  I, however, hope to avoid such a thing until the last book.  Of course, the reader may do online research on his own and I encourage you do so.  I even encourage you to visit that arcane place in your town called the library for more books and study materials.  Let’s just wait until the end of the last book so that you may find yourself a little surprised on how events play out.  Deal?

Many of my characters are taken directly from the histories.  Ermin, Segimer, Kolman, Adalbern, Marcus Caelius, Avectius, and Chumstintus are just a few.  Others, such as Manilius, Septimus, Cornelius, Paterculus, and Stigr are representations of unnamed folks who played roles in the making of the world in which we live today.

In my story, the character Adalbern most closely represents the real-life warlord Maelo.  Maelo was a Sugambrian chieftain who invaded Gaul in 16 B.C. for plunder.  The lands that we call Germany today were sparsely settled and deeply wooded.  They did not produce much in the way of grain, livestock, et cetera.  Some weeks into his invasion Maelo ambushed and defeated the Roman Fifth Legion, taking its eagle standard which was, of course, considered a devastating humiliation.  Many historians cite this event as what renewed Caesar’s interest in Germania.

Maelo
chose to ally with the Gaul in 12 B.C. to revolt against the Romans.  But Drusus became aware of the invasion somehow ahead of time.  My bit of intrigue with Lartharnius is just conjecture, but the Gallic leaders were treated to a party around the planned time of the invasion and were, therefore, removed from the fight altogether.  Drusus was able to repel the Sugambrians as Maelo’s forces were still crossing the river.  The Roman defeated the would-be tribal invaders with his army, driving them back deeply into their own territory before withdrawing due to his desire to attack the heart of Germania from the north by entering the mouths of the rivers Amisia (Ems River), Visurgis (Weser River), and Albis (Elbe River) from the Mare Germanicum (North Sea).

Drusus’ journeys in the north were widely celebrated in Rome at the time even though he, as a figure in history, is nearly forgotten.  The honors, titles, and parades he received were so rare that he would have been considered second only to his adopted father and contemporary Emperor Augustus.  Not since Julius Caesar had a Roman general received such renown.

I’ve spent a little time mentioning that Drusus had a desire to return Rome to its republican roots and was not supportive of continuing the empire after the passing of Augustus.  Historians at the time, or just several years removed from the reign of Augustus, recorded that Drusus wrote a letter stating as much to his brother, Tiberius, who promptly turned it over to the emperor, creating a bit of tension in the rarely-happy family.  The letter, whether or not it was actually penned, would not have been a surprise to Augustus as it was known that Drusus held these beliefs.

Tacitus, the Roman historian, writes that Drusus discovered another set of the Pillars of Hercules after he left with a smaller portion of his fleet to explore the north.  No one has ever been truly certain about what exactly Drusus had seen.  Tacitus wonders in his writings if they were truly the famed Pillars or if Drusus
, as a gods-believing Roman, simply ascribed the title to anything magnificent that he came across.  He does not doubt, though, that Drusus actually saw something wonderful.  Later historians speculate that the Pillars may have been free-standing tree trunks called Irminsuls that some of the Germanic tribes living on the Jutland peninsula used as central places of worship out in the open skies.  Picture a kind of tall totem pole.  Other historians have said that Drusus saw nothing at all.  These historians say that the brief mention of the Pillars of Hercules was invented by writers and celebrants of Drusus’ day to further link the successful journey to the wonder of the gods.

I, however, believe that Drusus did see the remarkable pillars as I describe them in my tale.  There is today a little island that has alternated over the years between Dutch, British, and German ownership called Heligoland.  It is isolated and truly unique among
the island and mainland landscapes in the region.  Most of the land is low and sandy.  Heligoland is exceptional due to its tall red cliffs and a single red pillar off its northwest coast.  Today the red pillar is called Lange Anna or Long Anna.  There is no longer a white pillar.  There was a white chalk column called Witt Kliff (White Cliff) that was eventually eroded away by the twin actions of harvest for chalk by humans and the storms sent by Mother Nature.  In fact, it was a storm in the early 1700s that simultaneously washed away the last of Witt Kliff and separated Heligoland into the two small islands it is today – Heligoland on the west and Dune on the east.

Finally, to understand why Drusus and those with him would have thought that the northern Pillars of Hercules may serve a
s a gateway to the Mare Caspium (Caspian Sea), the reader is directed to the map in this work that shows the earth as many of the Romans at his time viewed the world.

In my story
, when Drusus enters the Amisia River and travels upstream with a portion of his fleet, the general encounters the Sugambrians.  I’ve done this to cut out just one of the myriad of Germanic tribes to make the tale a bit easier to follow.  In the histories, the tribe that Drusus actually fought in his naval battle was the Bructeri, who were said to be disliked by all their neighbors for their belligerent “overbearingness.”

Speaking of the Mare Germanicum expedition by Drusus in 12 B.C. and its fateful return trip, readers should not judge the man’s navy too harshly with regard to the grounding of their ships.  The area of the Mare Germanicum in and around the Frisian Islands is known to this day as being among the most treacherous in the world with regard to shifting tides and sands.  There are places during the ebb tide when one could walk from the mainland to the islands.  If Drusus found himself caught in one of these areas and then compounded with a storm tide, his navy and legion
s were fortunate to survive intact.  Each year groups of unsuspecting tourists in our modern world find themselves aground while trying to navigate these waters with their pleasure crafts.

The tale continues to 11 B.C. where Drusus led his army from modern day Xanten into the heart of Germania.  The Sugambrians, Suebians, and Cheruscans did, in fact, ally against mighty Rome and as mentioned had the spoils of war already divided ahead of time.  But the Cattans proved to be a fly in the German ointment, attacking the Sugambrians at the request of Rome.  The need for Maelo (Adalbern in the story) to respond with force meant that all of his tribal lands were ripe for Roman taking.  Drusus spent the year driving deeper and deeper into the east until he at last encountered the Cheruscans in their territory.

The battle of the narrow pass is called the Battle of Arbalo by historians.  No one has been able to confirm its exact location though many have tried.  Roman historians write very little in the way of detail to help identify the site.  What is said is that somehow Drusus was duped into allowing his army to travel into a narrow pass and then find themselves cut off from moving forward or retreating.  The historians write that soon the Roman soldiers were overwhelmed and near defeat, but it was the Cheruscans who inexplicably hesitated at the moment of their potentially greatest military triumph to date.  Two young tribunes, Avectius and Chumstintus, made names for themselves that day with their bravery against the Cheruscan horde.

My telling of the
specifics of the tale is conjecture.  Segimer was a powerful warlord of the Cheruscans and was most certainly there in the battle.  Given his later antics in forthcoming books, it will seem clear that he would not have supported a retreat or hesitation at any time in the Battle of Arbalo.  Kolman, on the other hand, may well have been one to favor a pause in the fighting.  I’ve used the name Kolman instead of the character’s real name of Segestes just so it is easier for the reader to keep Segimer separate from Segestes.  In the books to come, the reader will see that Kolman (Segestes) has more to do.

Drusus seized the initiative given to him
by the Cheruscan dithering, and the legions fought their way out, killing many of the tribesmen.  The general was named Imperator by his men after that battle, but his stepfather never reciprocated with the official title.  Instead, Augustus claimed the title as his own and gave Drusus a lesser honor.

Forts were built and the Roman stranglehold on Germania became tighter.  Drusus drove ever-further south year by year.  Finally, in 9 A.D. when the tribes had lost almost all their ability to wage war, except for pitiful skirmishes, Drusus struck out through Cattan and finalized his victory over them.  Then he marched through the Hercynian Forest, curving northeast unt
il he reached the Albis River, long his goal.

At his army’s arrival on the banks of the
Albis, Drusus saw that a monument was erected and announced plans to cross, something that had never even been considered possible before.  He was eager for more glory.  The men began making their plans to cross the landmark river, when the histories say that Drusus had his vision of the Suebian princess.  The famous Roman historians of antiquity have given us her words, though what exactly the dream or apparition said is unknown.  What is known with certainty is that as a result of something disturbing, Drusus immediately changed his army’s course.  They finished the marker and marched back westward toward the Rhenus.  On the way, the legionaries’ morale fell into a deep pit.  Signs and wonders were seen in the most mundane, everyday occurrences.

Powell, in
Eager for Glory: The Untold Story of Drusus the Elder
, speculates that the falling stars noted in the histories were a part of the Perseids meteor shower associated with the Swift-Tuttle comet which affects the skies in late summer.  The omens, from whatever source, were all viewed as portending bad news.  They were correct, for Drusus fell from his horse, breaking his leg, and dying one month later.

Tiberius
, visiting his parents in northern Italy, was found by a messenger and immediately rode off with his Germanic slave to be with his dying brother.  They covered ground rapidly so that Tiberius made it to his brother’s side in the hours before he died.

Tiberius was a very different character than his younger brother.  Always just as successful on the battlefield, but never receiving quite the notoriety of Drusus, Tiberius was used to lurking in the shadows.  He was thought to be behind both of his nephews in the line of succession to becoming emperor.
  It is complete irony that today we remember Tiberius much more than we recall the younger brother, more famous at the time.

Adding to Tiberius’ bitterness and anger wa
s that Augustus forced his older stepson to divorce the one woman he loved, Vipsania.  The emperor made Tiberius marry his daughter, Julia – the mother of the two boys who were in line ahead of Tiberius to succeed Augustus.  The marriage was never a happy one, and produced only one offspring who died as a baby.

All this had gone on behind the scenes by the time Tiberius inherited hi
s brother’s command of the Rhenus army, making the new commander even more sullen or withdrawn than his natural tendencies.  He did not share Drusus’ enthusiasm for the campaign and so brokered the peace quickly with mostly diplomacy as we’ll see.  All the tribes sent representatives to take oaths, but our friends the Sugambrians refused.  Augustus, in his highly political and motivational manner, proclaimed that peace would not be had unless the wayward tribe sent envoys.

After much arguing between the tribes, the Sugambrians did send envoys.  As is shown in our story, Augustus had them imprisoned after giving
him their oaths.  It is from this point that more of the adventure will play out in future works. Ermin and Berengar, Septimus and Marcus, even young Gaius and old Augustus, have many more exploits to bring to us, so I hope you’ll give them more of your attention and find out why the culmination of their story is one of the most impactful events in human history.

Final note:

The Complete Roman Army
by Adrian Goldsworthy gave great detail on the makeup of and life in the legions.  The detail he provided was minute such that I had to pick and choose what to include and what to simplify.  I understand that some of my readers will be upset at some of the choices I made.  For that I ask for forgiveness.