Scourge of Rome

XXXIV

Titus took the failure of the mission with an equanimity that convinced Valerius he was secretly relieved. Perhaps it suited him for the Judaeans to resist at least long enough for him to prove his skill as a siege commander. To shed just enough blood to persuade his father to grant him a triumph when he eventually returned to Rome. The Emperor’s son didn’t enquire how they had entered the city. Spies had their ways. If the route could help shorten the siege he clearly trusted Josephus to mention it, so Valerius also kept his counsel.

‘I had no great hopes for it,’ Titus told them. ‘These are men without the moral courage to save their people, but I thank all of you for your efforts.’

Josephus left the tent, followed by Serpentius, but Valerius hung back and Titus looked up from the map he’d been studying. He smiled. ‘You look terribly weary, Valerius. You should find a bed.’ He gestured to the map. ‘I’ve been examining this city from every angle and the more I look the more difficult it becomes. What do you think of Jerusalem, now that you are one of the few in this army to have seen it from the inside?’

‘Your words might have been a prophecy. A fortress within a fortress within a fortress. It was dark, but we must have passed twenty buildings capable of being fortified to keep this army at bay for a month.’

Titus nodded grimly. ‘We’re already running out of timber for the siege works, but I’ve ordered an amount kept back. I calculate that when the first assault succeeds, we will require a further three or four attacks unless the Judaeans see sense and surrender. I fear my other prophecy, that I would win this city for my father in three months, will not prove so accurate.’

‘You’ve chosen a section of wall to assault?’

‘Yes.’ Titus drew him forward so he could see the map and his voice became animated. ‘It must be here in the north.’ He pointed to a position two miles from the legionary camps. ‘The open spaces of the New City will give my legions room to fight. If we attacked the Upper City or from the Cedron valley it would be a much more difficult assault. We’d get bogged down in the narrow streets, with those buildings you mentioned a redoubt on every corner. So we will attack here, either side of the Tower of Psephinus. When we break through, the Fifth and Fifteenth will hook right and left like the pincers of a crab’s claw, while the reserve cohorts from the Twelfth hold the defenders in place. With Fortuna’s aid we’ll kill or capture almost half of Jerusalem’s garrison in a single attack.’

Valerius studied the map, drawn by Titus’s engineers from a viewpoint on Mount Scopus. It was a good plan, but it depended on the cooperation of the Judaeans. If they had orders to run, Titus’s claw might close on a few terrified refugees. Which raised a question.

‘From the hillside we could see the tents of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Is it possible Clemens was correct and they will hamper your plan?’

Titus gave Valerius a sharp look. ‘I see you would still advise me to allow them passage. But I need them in the city putting pressure on the Judaean commanders, not outside wondering how to stab us in the back. As to your question, I do not intend to let it happen. While the legions assault the walls I will … encourage … the civilian inhabitants of the New City to retreat through the second wall to the Upper City. See, the Fifteenth and the Fifth will attack here, and here. Meanwhile our artillery will bombard not only the walls, but the city beyond them. The Tenth will also concentrate its artillery on the tents and shelters. If they are as densely packed as we think, the arrival of a few hundred missiles and a shower of shield-splitter bolts should be enough to send them scuttling to safer positions. It must be here.’ Titus sounded as if he were trying to convince himself. ‘Once we’ve triumphed it will give us a base to draw breath for the next operation.’ He pointed to the Upper City and a wall even more formidable than the one they faced.

‘It is a good plan,’ Valerius congratulated him. ‘You seem to have thought of everything.’

Titus laughed, but he made the sign against bad luck with his fingers and didn’t hide it from Valerius. ‘No commander thinks of everything, as a man with your experience would know better than any. Things will go wrong. There will be setbacks, but I will take this city.’ Valerius bowed, but Titus put out a hand to prevent his leaving. ‘But I do not think you stayed behind to hear me talk tactics.’

Valerius shook his head. How could he have forgotten? ‘When Simon barred me from the negotiations a man called Zacharias gave me this.’ He handed over the tiny roll of papyrus. ‘He is close to bar Giora, perhaps one of his aides.’

Titus unrolled the scroll and took an oil lamp to his campaign desk in order to study it more closely. ‘Yes, it is confirmed here.’ He looked up at Valerius. ‘This could have been his death warrant if they’d discovered it, and yours. He asks for safe passage for his wife and child. In return he offers regular reports of bar Giora’s strength and the disposition of his troops.’

‘How will he provide it?’

‘He talks of somewhere called the Leper Gate? His couriers will wear something red.’

Valerius explained about the leper colony and the gate in the wall and Titus scowled. ‘If I’d known, I would have stopped it and had the guards whipped. Clemens should know better. You can only win a siege by being harder than the enemy. But now …’

‘Now the situation is transformed,’ Valerius completed the thought. ‘The Leper Gate is like a dagger aimed at the heart of the city.’

‘His wife will dress as an old woman and she’ll carry the child in a basket, as if food for the lepers. He asks if we can provide some sort of distraction to allow them to separate from the others. Can it be done?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ Valerius said. ‘The question is, do you trust him?’

Titus’s voice turned hard. ‘Once we have his wife and child in our possession it would take a very cruel man to go back on his word.’

For a moment the tent seemed to spin and Valerius swayed on his feet. He hadn’t realized quite how tired he was. Titus took his arm and steered him towards the entrance. ‘Why did you not hand this to me when Josephus was here? Do you not find him trustworthy?’

‘I think he is trustworthy in many things,’ Valerius said, choosing his words carefully. ‘But I sense he shouldn’t know everything.’

Titus held his stare for just a fraction longer than necessary. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘You may leave us.’

Valerius blinked in the early morning light outside the pavilion. Which way to his tent? He was just beyond the circle of Titus’s personal bodyguards when a slim arm hooked into his and pulled him in a different direction. ‘We are in a house close by,’ Tabitha whispered. Valerius staggered slightly and she stopped and looked up at him, taking in the pallor of exhaustion and the lines that had deepened overnight. ‘You have had a busy night, I fear. Perhaps you’d like to go to your own bed and sleep.’

He looked into the deep blue eyes and something stirred deep inside him. ‘No.’ He swallowed. ‘I don’t think so. But I must be back by noon. Serpentius …’

‘Can look after himself. No,’ she said decisively. ‘They can spare you for a day … at least.’