The Amber Road

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The Hypanis River

When the little boats paddled out on to the Hypanis river, Amantius the eunuch was surprised at his own reluctance to leave Olbia. He had felt no particular affection for the decrepit, backwater polis while staying there, and it had nearly been the scene of his death. If the barbarians had stormed the town, he had no doubt the ruins of Olbia would have proved his tomb. Apparently, they had come within a hand’s breadth.

Amantius had seen nothing of the battle. When the Goths had arrived he had rushed to the lodgings of Zeno. The imperial ambassador was not to be found. His two slaves had gone as well. Scattered possessions testified to the hasty evacuation. Amantius’s courage had failed. With his boy, he had fled through the narrow streets of the acropolis to the small temple of Hygeia. There he had kept vigil — through the day, the long night and the following interminable day — praying incessantly to the daughter of Asclepius. The close confines of the temple had been crowded. Women and children had moved and muttered in the incense-laden gloom; at times, they wailed. As far as they could, the women had kept apart from Amantius. They had scolded the children away from the eunuch; away from the exotic thing of ill omen.

The goddess was indistinct. Only her extremities were visible. Apart from face, hands and feet, she was festooned with dedications; swathes of material, and innumerable tresses of women’s hair. For his safety, Amantius had offered her his precious things: his scarlet cloak of Babylonian silk, his golden rings, the ones set with sapphires and garnets.

The goddess may have been half hidden in the dark, but the Most High Mother had heard his prayers. Against all probability, the Goths had been routed. The pious saw the hand of a deity in it.

Many Goths had been killed. The gatehouse was littered with them. Several dozen, unable to escape that killing ground, had been captured. Somehow, Montanus, the strategos, had managed to cool the bloodlust of his fellow townsmen. After the initial euphoria of revenge, the corpses had not been further desecrated, and the remaining captives had not been butchered. They had been deployed in the negotiations which the first archon, Callistratus, had held with the Goths. For the return of both the living and the dead, and a substantial treasure as bloodprice for the latter, the barbarians had agreed to leave. They had not just departed but sworn great oaths to their unpronounceable gods not to return. Unless the annual tribute, now set at a substantially higher rate, was not forthcoming, the Tervingi would never again bear arms against the walls of Olbia. If they did, let the sky fall on their heads.

Even if they had set the payment at a rate that the Olbians could not meet — and Amantius strongly suspected that was the case- the point was that the Goths would not return for at least a year. Until next spring, Olbia was the safest place to be found in the wastes of barbaricum north of the Euxine. It seemed foolish to leave.

To someone thoughtful, such as Amantius, there was more to it than just that: the implications ran deeper. Neither Ballista nor any member of the imperial embassy had taken any part in the negotiations. They had remained out of sight, and Callistratus said he had avoided all mention of them. Amantius did not know if the barbarians were aware of their presence. But, as they were recounted, it was evident that the oaths taken by the Goths only covered the city of Olbia. They did not preclude anything against those outside the walls, let alone anyone unwise enough to venture deep into the country along the rivers. The Tervingi could do what they liked to such improvident voyagers, with no fear that their angry gods would bring the sky down upon their heads.

Amantius looked back down the little boat, past the man on the steering oar and the up-curved stern post, past the rear two boats in the small flotilla. He saw nothing but an ephemeral safety to love in Olbia. The great expanse of scrub grass, wind-bent trees and dislocated stones where the Goths had camped. The low, stubby wall where many of them had died. The tangle of mean streets, some burnt out, down by the port where the defenders’ fires for heating oil had got out of hand. The yet more congested acropolis, where Amantius had prayed and where he had been reduced to living like a slave in a tiny attic room.

Disparagingly, Amantius thought that Olbia might be less crowded in future. When the siege had been lifted and boats had returned to the docks, there had been an undignified rush of citizens booking passage south: to Byzantium, Chalcedon, Miletus, to any place of greater safety. At least the exodus had been of use. During his stay in Olbia, Amantius had not been quietly approached by a frumentarius. It was hardly surprising given the remoteness of the town and the confusion after the fighting. In the absence of an official channel for clandestine communication, there had been a wide choice of merchant vessels all leaving for the Hellespont. For discretion, he had entrusted the arrangement to Ion. A slave boy would have drawn less attention on the dockside than the distinctive figure of an imperial eunuch. Ion was a sensible boy. He had selected a reliable-sounding skipper, who, for a high fee, had promised to deliver the letter to a certain soldier stationed in Byzantium. From there the frumentarius could send it on to the Praetorian Prefect by the cursus publicus.

The missing centurion Regulus entered Amantius’s mind. It was an unwelcome, even vexatious arrival. Amantius did not condemn him for his desertion. If opportunity had offered, and he had thought he could weather the consequences, he would have done the same. Presumably, Regulus would have taken the Fides back to her station on the lower Ister. He would have had to account for her unexpected reappearance, and for the absence of the imperial embassy and most of her crew. Amantius took pride in the veracity of the news he conveyed. It was likely that whatever exculpating tale the centurion had concocted might find its way to Censorinus. The safety of the sacred Augustus Gallienus — the very safety of the imperium — might often rest on the accuracy of the information available to the Praetorian Prefect. If the centurion’s inventions cast Amantius himself in a bad light, the personal consequences might be serious. It might spell the end of his hopes to return to the Palatine and the imperial court. If the charges were grave, it would be much worse. There was never a public trial for those who failed Censorinus, but punishment was inexorable and draconian. The gods willing, Amantius’s report would make clear the true turn of events. In any case, Amantius was sure, things would not go well for centurion Regulus.

The desertion of Regulus and the flight of the refugees had combined to pose serious problems for the embassy. After the departure of the Goths, three days after the battle, Zeno had strode into the Bouleuterion still clad in full armour. The Vir Perfectissimus recounted how he had taken up arms and made his stand on the wall. It was the duty of any man who wanted a name for virtue to do likewise for his friends. Zeno’s rank and a level of tact precluded too close investigation of the claim or his whereabouts since. He had proceeded to rant against the cowardice of Regulus. He would see the centurion executed, and in the rigorous, old-fashioned way. The governor of Moesia Inferior, Claudius Natalianus, was a friend. He would see the thing was carried out, and in public, before the eyes of gods and men. The terrible execution would serve as an example to all. Yet, by all the gods, it could not remedy the fatal blow the coward had dealt to the embassy. The Fides was to have conveyed the mission to the north, and she was gone. All the ships in port were sailing for the south. There was nothing for it. The embassy would have to take passage back to Byzantium, and seek further instructions.

It had been a fine oration, possibly not quite as extempore as it implied, but powerful nevertheless. It was what one would have expected from a man of culture who had been a Studiis to the emperor. In his heart, Amantius could not have agreed more with its conclusion. Yet it had been undone in a moment. The first archon Callistratus had taken the floor. There were boats on his estates at the settlements on the other bank of the Hypanis. They were rustic things, but serviceable, good for shallow rivers. In fact, they were more suited for the portages of the Borysthenes than the Fides itself. As some small recompense for the services to the polis of Marcus Clodius Ballista and Gaius Aurelius Castricius, and of course Aulus Voconius Zeno himself, it would give Callistratus nothing but pleasure to present them to the embassy. He would not hear of accepting payment. Only what you gave to your friends was yours for ever. The councillors of Olbia had shaken back their cloaks and applauded. At once, unanimously, they had voted such extra crew as were required be seconded from the civic militia. The strategos Montanus was to select men suitable for the labours and dangers of the voyage.

Caught, like an insect in amber, there had been nothing Zeno could do but accept. The equestrian had made a reasonable stab at dignified gratitude. But Amantius suspected he was not alone in seeing behind the mask. Amantius knew himself lacking in courage. But he was a eunuch, and his kind were not as robust as others. Zeno was entire, and he was a coward. Spite and cowardice often went hand in hand. Back in the rebellion instigated by Macrianus the Lame, Zeno had run from his province of Cilicia rather than face Ballista. It did not augur well for the two men travelling hundreds of miles in proximity, and it did not augur well for the success of a delicate mission.

Olbia slid out of sight behind a low, wooded island. The Olbian guide in the first boat had led the small flotilla between dank islands, oozing mudflats and treacherous shoals. They would take the far channel of the Hypanis down to Cape Hippolaus. The leading boat was turning south into it now. Splashes, laughter, obscenities and shouted orders indicated they were making a poor fist of it.

Amantius shifted his soft haunches on the hard bench. He gripped the side nervously. The four boats had been a great disappointment. Narrow, low in the water, open to the elements, they were fragile-looking things. They reminded him of the camarae of his childhood in Abasgia, and that was not a good thing.

Each vessel had a local steersman and was paddled by ten men. The two bringing up the rear were crewed by Olbians, but the leading pair had the remaining men of the Fides at the benches. Used to rowing, the Romans were finding it difficult to adjust to paddling facing forwards. As the vessel on which Amantius was an unwilling passenger came about, it yawed and dipped alarmingly, the green water all too close to the edge. He clung on tighter, his chubby knuckles whitening.

The boats could take only four passengers in addition to their crew. The mission had been distributed among them. Ballista, Maximus and Tarchon rode in the first with the guide. Amantius had been assigned to the second with Zeno, the Danubian peasant Diocles and a slave. Castricius and the insolent-looking Egyptian soldier Heliodorus commanded the last two, each accompanied by two slaves.

Amantius was not just uncomfortable and anxious, he was simmering with resentment. Zeno had insisted Amantius travel with him, in case he should have sudden need of a secretary. The imperial envoy now lounged on a cushion at the rear by the helmsman, Diocles next to him in the place of honour. Amantius had been brusquely ordered to the front with one of Zeno’s slaves. Amantius’s own boy had been sent off to the last boat. It was as if Zeno were determined to remove the last shreds of dignitas from the imperial eunuch.

At least the weather was fine. Here the current ran smooth and strong, and there was little labour for the crew. Off to the right, in the creeks between the islets an unruffled calm prevailed, the surface as still and dark as polished wood. Trees grew out of the water, their bare trunks like the masts of a drowned fleet. The mudbanks were alive with wading birds, busy and completely indifferent to the passing boats. Amantius relaxed a little, his mind turning over ideas of the transience of humanity, its helplessness in the teeth of fate.

On the left the muddy shore slipped by, overgrown with reeds and trees. And there, at the river’s edge, stood an enormous creature. Glossy black, it had the form of a bull, but was near the size of an elephant. Massive, double-curved horns overhung the water. Was this the auroch, the great beast of the northern forests of which Caesar had written? Amantius would have liked to ask, but he was not going to demean himself by calling down the boat to the steersman, let alone talking to the slave or soldiers at hand. As they passed, the beast lifted its head. Drops of water fell from its muzzle as it regarded the boats.

The Hypanis bore the boats along. The channel was broader here, other faster-flowing branches joining it from the right. Behind Amantius, easy on their benches, the crew sang an obscene marching song about the needs of a young widow. The sun sparkled on the placid water. Amantius thought of the bull from the sea sent by Aphrodite to bring death to Hippolytus for scorning her mysteries.

A warning shout from ahead. The boat in front was turning hard to the left. The crew — urgent, but all out of time — thrashed the river with their paddles. The voice of the steersman came across the water, taut with anxiety.

Gods, the barbarians could not be upon them already.

Amantius was thrown sideways as the boat heeled to the right. His stomach hit the side. The water was no distance from his face. Fearing his own bulk would overturn them, he levered himself back. The vessel tipped the other way. Amantius found himself entangled with Zeno’s slave. Water slopped around his slippers. In a lather of terror and fury, Amantius fought free of the servile embrace.

Back upright, he held on to the bench beneath his thighs for dear life. On an even keel, the boat was ploughing towards the eastern bank. The air was full of spray and grunted curses as the inexpert crew sweated to drive it faster.

Almost too scared to look, Amantius sought the peril from which they fled. At first he could not comprehend what he saw. It was as if the river god himself had turned against them. The channel running in from the east was full. A mass of timber stretched almost from bank to bank. Low in the water, but incalculably heavy and bearing down fast, it would crush the frail vessels in its path without pause.

Inexplicably, there were men standing on top of the logs. They had poles in their hands, and ran about like ticks on the hide of a hippopotamus. They were shouting and gesturing.

Amantius looked ahead. The bank seemed far away. He looked back at the monstrosity bent on overwhelming them. It was much nearer, travelling fast. The boat was going so slowly. How could Hygeia have spared him from the barbarians only to deliver him to this? Had the rings and the cloak not been enough? He would give more. Most High Mother, accept my last treasure. Take the bracelet, my last link to the sacred court of the Caesars. Spare my life. Save me from the fishes and a watery grave.

With no warning, the boat grounded. Amantius was hurled forward. His head cracked against a piece of wood. He sprawled on the floor. ‘Hygeia, all the gods, do not let me die.’

Men were laughing. The crew were thumping each other on the back. The raft of lashed-together logs was drifting past. The men on it were polling it clear of the bank. They called out jokes.

‘A hazard of navigating these rivers,’ the steersman said. ‘They float the timber down to the Euxine, sell it to merchants. Good timber. Good for shipbuilding.’

In the stern, Diocles was smiling, but Zeno was white-faced.

‘We get going,’ said the steersman. ‘Follow them down.’