Saviour of Rome

XLII

‘We march on Tarraco in one week.’ In the shocked silence that followed, Marcus Atilius Melanius waited for the inevitable protests. Why should they look surprised? He’d been telling them for months this was the only way to save their skins. Had they really been so deluded as to think it would never happen?

‘But you said Verrens and this other man …’

‘They call him Nathair, dear Severus,’ Melanius said patiently. ‘A Zoelan troublemaker who previously worked with Petronius.’

‘You said they were dead.’

‘Obliterated,’ the leader confirmed. ‘All our searchers found were a few scraps of tattered flesh and splintered bone.’

‘I’d still have preferred to see their heads.’ A new voice, harsh and heavily accented.

‘That is because you are still at heart a barbarian, prefect.’ Melanius graced Claudius Harpocration with a smile that took the edge off his words. ‘You have seen ruina montium. Can you imagine what it must have been like in that mine? I cannot think of a worse or more terrifying death than being torn apart in the bowels of the earth. Quite fitting, I think, and they will certainly never trouble us again.’

‘But that is my point,’ Severus persisted. ‘With Verrens, this Nathair and the traitor Nepos disposed of we have nothing to fear.’

Melanius sighed. For a man with such a high opinion of himself Asturica’s duovir could be such a fool. It was like herding a flock of sheep with the wolves howling in the distance. Yet he had to admit that, if they were nervous, it was with some justification. Because this was truly the point of no return. He must be patient.

‘We are safe,’ he agreed, ‘for now. But all we are doing is delaying the inevitable.’ A stillness fell over the room and he met the gaze of each man in turn. ‘What has been done cannot be undone. We are all agreed upon that?’ He waited until each man nodded and he saw resistance replaced by equal measures of resignation and resolution. ‘And we are all aware of the repercussions if our … private arrangements … are discovered. The very painful repercussions, both for ourselves and for our families. Let me be entirely frank with you, gentlemen; if we do not act now – agree this very day – then we would be as well going home, taking to our beds and cutting our wrists.’

‘Aren’t you being overdramatic, Melanius?’ Ferox, the other dissenter, flushed with his success at the mine. ‘Without Nepos and the information he stole they have nothing. Much can be done in the matter of covering up any evidence.’

‘Are we so certain Nepos was the only informant?’ Melanius demanded. ‘And we have no idea if anything was taken from Fronton’s villa before the fire. His daughter is still missing, I understand. What else is still missing? We all know he was our greatest weakness. A man prone to keeping records. I should have dealt with him earlier. But that is not the point. We have one chance and one chance only. If we do not take it we do not deserve to survive. I have had dispatches from Rome suggesting that Vespasian may be preparing to send a full legion to Hispania Tarraconensis to replace or reinforce the five cohorts of the Sixth stationed at Legio.’ An indrawn breath from Ferox, and Melanius saw Severus’s fists clench convulsively. They’d heard the rumours, but this was close to confirmation, and they knew what it meant. Melanius used the opportunity to reinforce his point. ‘In another month it will be too late. If we do not march now the campaigning season will be over by the time we reach Tarraco. Our wagons will be up to their axles in mud and Pliny will have time to close the gates on us. If we act swiftly, we can take him by surprise. The Sixth are ready, Calpurnius?’ He already knew the answer, but it did no harm to allow the Peacock to have his say. Piso had been quivering like a hound who’d sighted a deer since the meeting had started.

‘Proculus is being his usual obstructive self,’ the young tribune complained. ‘But he knows he either does as we say or falls on his sword. He is not of a sacrificial inclination. The tribunes are with me, the palms of the centurions well filled with gold and their heads with promises of advancement. The soldiers will do as they are ordered. They think they are reacting to an insurrection in Tarraco and are looking forward to some action against lightly armed rebels.’

‘Good,’ Melanius congratulated him. ‘And of course,’ he bowed to Harpocration, ‘we can depend on our faithful auxiliaries of the First Parthorum.’

‘They will follow me to Hades,’ the bearded prefect assured him.

‘But we are so few,’ Severus stuttered.

‘Enough and more to take the city,’ Melanius assured him. ‘But you are right: if we are to hold it we will need more soldiers. Calpurnius, perhaps you would like to tell us about your successful visit to our friends in Germania?’

‘The men of the Tenth have not been paid for two months.’ Piso’s eyes shone with boyish enthusiasm. ‘They feel no loyalty to Vespasian, are sick of the damp and chill winds of the Rhenus frontier and wish to return to Hispania. My cousin has been working on our behalf and I have an assurance from their senior officers that they will join up with us outside Tarraco at the end of July. It will take them a week longer to make the journey so they may already have started their march. The other legions on the Rhenus are still furious at Vespasian for the way he sacrificed them to the Batavians during the civil war and for cashiering their comrades in the First Germanica and Fourth Macedonica when Civilis was defeated.’

‘We will take Tarraco and hold it.’ Melanius skilfully regathered the reins of the meeting. ‘The timing will give Vespasian no opportunity to react before winter sets in. Once the Tenth and the Sixth have hailed Calpurnius Piso, descendant of Divine Caesar, as Emperor, the legions of Germania will do likewise. In the spring, we will combine and march on Rome before Vespasian can summon help from Syria.’

‘What about the legions of Pannonia and Illyricum, and those on the Danuvius?’

‘The Danuvius was where Marcus Antonius Primus sent the legions he shattered at Cremona,’ Melanius said dismissively. ‘They have no reason to love the Flavians. He cannot afford to move the others because of the threat from the tribes beyond the river who will take advantage of any weakness. No, we will reach Rome before any force can be gathered to stop us and the Senate will open the gates to us and anoint Lucius Calpurnius Piso to the purple.’ He looked each man in the eye with a confident smile. ‘And when that happens there will be estates and honours for all those who stood by him.’

He looked to Piso for support. The young man returned the smile, but with a twist to his lips that said that once he took his rightful place he’d rather be dragged through the Cloaca Maxima by his heels than have anything to do with these provincial rustics. But that was for later. Enough for now that he acknowledged Melanius with a nod and that Severus and Ferox were too blind to question his sincerity. Though Melanius did face one further hurdle, which he had expected and was prepared for.

‘But surely,’ Severus demanded, ‘you cannot expect us to fight in the front rank like common soldiers? Naturally, we are happy to ride at our young prince’s shoulder when the time comes, but experience tells me that in battle or siege it is much better to leave military matters to the professionals.’

‘Of course,’ Melanius conceded Severus’s point with grace, ‘but the officers and men of the Sixth need something to follow. They believe they fight under the orders of the government of Asturica Augusta to help put down an insurrection Plinius Secundus does not have the power to defeat. They will require to see their leaders in the vanguard of the column, and that is where we will ride, you and I.’ Melanius smiled at the other man’s discomfort. ‘Ferox will remain in Asturica to ensure production from the mines continues uninterrupted.’

He turned to the two soldiers. ‘We will muster here in Asturica. Gather your men and supplies and be ready in one week from today. All Hispania will be ours in a month.’