by Miller, Ian
"That's odd," Gaius frowned.
"What's odd about the outside of a letter?" Vipsania said. "If only the inside's merely odd . . ."
"It also has Claudius' seal, and not Little Boots'," Gaius frowned. He opened the letter and added, "It's Claudius' writing!"
"Claudius?" Vipsania frowned. "You mean . . ."
"The stutterer," Gaius grinned, "but also the man I've been corresponding with for some number of years."
"Hah! Your source of influence! That's how you got a legion!"
"I'm not too sure about influence," Gaius said, then paused as he saw the signature, "Until now, that is."
"He's been promoted by Little Boots?"
"Not exactly," Gaius said, "but you can sleep soundly and without fear of Little Boots."
"Ho! Ho! You don't know the man!" Vipsania said scathingly.
"I don't have to," Gaius replied. "Listen!
Gaius, Greetings! Congratulations to you and Vipsania on your recent marriage. May your lives be long and prosperous. When either of you return to Rome, please come and see me immediately.
I have long valued our correspondence and your thoughts. I trust you will continue to give me the benefit of both. I need every real friend I can get.
Gaius Caesar's fear of conspiracies seems to have been well founded, as he has been assassinated. You may be interested to know that he had consulted the oracle at Antium, who warned him to beware of Cassius. Accordingly, he recalled Gaius Cassius Longinus, whose brother, Lucius, had been married to Drusilla. These two, and Lucius in particular, had a very bad habit of pointing out they had descended from the Cassius who murdered the other Gaius Julius Caesar. Fortunately for this Cassius, he did not return to Rome fast enough.
On his last day, Little Boots was in good spirits, but the portents were bad. He went to the theatre on the Palatine, where he sacrificed a flamingo to Jupiter, but he did it clumsily, and blood went everywhere, including over the toga of Publius Nonius Asprenas. However, Caesar, this day, took no notice of the portents, and when he was returning for lunch he was struck down by the Praetorian Tribunes Cassius Chaerea, Cornelius Sabinus, and a number of lesser men. Interestingly, the only attempt to protect Caesar came from the litter-bearers, the humblest there, who tried to use their poles.
I now know something about the plots. The chief plotter appears to have been Annius Vinicianus, and you should be warned that one plotter appears to have been Valerius Asiaticus, although he seems to have kept a distance from the event. Vinicianus was lucky, at least for a while, to be seized by more loyal Praetorians and brought before Clemens, who let him go. German bodyguards became involved, and killed a number of conspirators, including the senators Asprenas, who had not taken the warning, Lucius Norbanus Balbus, as well as a number of people who could not resist trying to look at the dead Caesar. At the same time, different plotters murdered Caesonia and little Drusilla.
Why is not clear. You might be amused to hear that there were even rumours running through Rome that the Legions on the Rhine and on the Danube were uniting to get rid of Caesar. Perhaps the Praetorians were struck by the realization they just might have to stand and fight soldiers, and they were not very keen to do that. As to how such rumours started, your guess is almost certainly better than mine!
Whatever the reason, what followed was sheer ineptitude. While the crowds were furious, rather than proceed to restore the Republic, all the senators could do was to bicker amongst themselves as to who would be Princeps. Leading contenders, who vetoed each other, were Vinicianus, Asiaticus and Saturninus, who spoke out most strongly in favour of getting rid of me! I am afraid that this last chance to restore the Republic was lost. The senators were completely self-serving, and gave no thought at all to the average Roman. Accordingly, the average Roman gave no thought thereafter to them, and even the Praetorians realized that they could not put up with all this self-interest. All that wretched Saturninus could moan about in the Senate was the hard life of the privileged!
At this point the Praetorians then seemed to have decided they needed some dummy to authorize their keeping the Senate under control and avoid civil war, so they searched through the palace, and found me.
Needless to say, I am no dummy. I have had Cassius commit suicide. Some in Rome think he should have been rewarded, but I feel we cannot have soldiers assassinating the Princeps. Such action must be discouraged.
I trust I can count on your continued support and loyalty. Please let me know what the army thinks.
Your stuttering Claudius,
Princeps.'"
"Princeps?" Vipsania asked in amazement.
"That explains the seals," Gaius nodded. "The penalty for use of that seal by any other than the Princeps is death."
"You're on that close of terms with the new Princeps?" she asked in complete amazement.
"So it appears," Gaius replied.
"My!" she grinned. "Won't I be able to lord it over one or two noxious Roman matrons!"
"You might even be able to do that," Gaius nodded, "but if nothing else, you are now quite safe. You can go to Rome whenever you wish, and you will have the protection of the most powerful man in Rome."
Chapter 13
It took little time before Gaius was summoned before Plautius. As Gaius strode into the room, he had a strange feeling that Plautius was deferring to him, rather than the other way around. "I gather you've received a message from the new Princeps?" Plautius asked cautiously, before Gaius could even begin to greet him.
"Yes, Governor," Gaius said, then he explained, "It was merely informing me of the transition, and requesting my loyalty, which, of course, I give without question."
"Nobody else got a letter like that," Plautius added, perhaps a little peevishly. He was certainly nervous.
"I have been corresponding with Claudius since I was a boy," Gaius admitted, "and I think that's the reason."
"I've been required to communicate through Narcissus," Plautius added sourly. "From what I gather, he's a freed slave."
"He's been Claudius' secretary for some time," Gaius said. "He's one of the few people Claudius can trust right now, so I'd guess Narcissus will become very influential."
"I see . . ." Plautius was struggling, as if he wanted to ask something, but his natural caution prevented him.
"May I make a suggestion, sir?"
"Go on," Plautius said, with a strange mixture of eagerness and apprehension in his voice.
"Call the Pannonnian Legates, and other high officials, get them to swear allegiance to the new Princeps, and report to Rome that you have done exactly that." He smiled, and added, "First in gets the pick of the favours."
"Very sound," Plautius nodded sourly, as he could virtually assume that Gaius would reply to the new Princeps that he had made such a recommendation.
* * *
Shortly after the meeting, Gaius sent Claudius a message confirming that which Plautius had sent, and he added that he had personally spoken to the other legion commanders, and that the army of Pannonia was loyal to the Princeps, it trusted his term would be long and successful, that he would restore prosperity and order to Rome, and restore the dignity that was due to Rome, and which had been dissipated by Gaius Caesar.
Some time later, a message came from Claudius. It thanked him for the loyalty, and he wished Gaius to convey his and Rome's good wishes to the Iazygian chief when the weather improved. He approved of Gaius' agreement, and if need be, approval was hereby given for the Legion to take military action to support these Iazyges. Meanwhile, Claudius was a little concerned that he had received no promise of support from Scribonianus. Could Gaius determine where the loyalties lay with the other legions, particularly the seventh?
Gaius replied that he was on good terms with Lucius Cornelius Cinna, the Legate of the seventh who was a descendant of a rather famous Roman General with the same name, and with the Tribunes, as they had shared many meals over the winter. He had personally spoken to each of them, and they had sworn
their loyalty. He could not speak for Scribonianus, but as far as he knew there was no reason to believe that he too was not loyal.
* * *
As the spring came, Gaius decided the legion should return to Lussonia. He had clear orders from the Princeps, and additionally, he did not like the idea of a legion sitting around in barracks. That left the issue of Vipsania.
"I don't think the frontier is a good place for you," he said, one evening.
"And what do you wish?"
"Go back to Rome," Gaius said.
"And do what?"
"Manage my property, amongst other things," Gaius said. "Of course, the ranch has a steward, and for most practical purposes, he should be left to get on with his job, but I trust you, and there has to be someone with authority, and who can tell me what is really happening, as opposed to what they think I want to hear."
"Who's doing that now?"
"Quintus Flavius. He's Lucilla's husband. Lucilla's my sister."
"You don't trust him?"
"As it happens, I see no reason not to, but he is now head of his own family, and he will have more important things to do, at least as far as he's concerned."
"And that's all?"
"Once you get to Rome, remember, Claudius has asked to see you, so you should do so promptly. Also, I want you to keep your ears open. It seems there were a lot of people plotting against Little Boots, and it wouldn't surprise me if the same didn't happen to Claudius."
"And if I hear something?"
"If it's urgent, warn Claudius. If it isn't specific and immediate, let me know."
Gaius could see that she was not exactly happy to have to go back, but as he pointed out, if a significant campaign started, she would see nothing of him anyway, and he would feel much better if he did not have to worry about what was happening to her. It was something of a surprise to her when he countered her argument that she would be well behind the front lines with the comment that there were no such things. Yes, the Danube acted as a boundary, but only a boundary beyond which Rome had no claim. There was nothing to stop large raiding parties crossing the river, and indeed such an event happened the time they first met. Such parties could travel unhindered for well over a hundred miles, because there was no solid line of Roman fortifications. As long as they raided quickly, they could get away with it, because it would take time for the Roman army to find them. While it might be unlikely for a place like Lussonium to be raided, it was far from impossible.
Accordingly, a few days later Vipsania was put on a boat, and began her journey back to Italy.
Chapter 14.
The Legion had been at Lussonium for a week, and having become established, the usual procedure appeared to be that various centuries would march to various fortifications along the Danube, to maintain a presence and establish the Roman boundary. This time would be different. Gaius called the Tribunes and Prime Centurions to a meeting.
"The standard way that Rome fights," Gaius began to address them, "is to form a line, lock shields, push and stab, and as the line gets tired, replace it with a fresh line. This is extremely efficient because the Roman troops are sufficiently disciplined to pull this off, while the other side fight until they tire, which as you know doesn't take all that long. It also works because our armour is very effective, and in general our opponents are relatively poorly armoured. In the one battle we've fought together, the third cohort will tell you how efficient this method is, particularly when the terrain is advantageous, as it was in that battle.
"Why am I telling you all this? Well, there's a problem. In the battle I just referred to, we chose the terrain, and we can't always do that. The basic weakness of this method is that if the enemy can break the line and get in behind us, then the heavy shields are less of an advantage, the armour means our field of vision is less than it might be, and quite simply, heavy means slow. The nimble get in behind and can do a lot of damage.
"The basic problem with the terrain around here is that it's all forest. We can't advance through trees with a fixed line, which means we can't prevent enemy getting in between us or behind us. If they get to intermingle with us, the battle ends up as a one on one slogging match, and if they get in behind us, they get free shots. If we're not careful, the enemy can slaughter us. If you don't think so, remember the Teutoberg Forest.
"Yes, part of the problem there was that Varus was a fool. He went on a punitive expedition without properly scouting out the route and he let his men store their arms in carts. He accepted tracks where marching was little better than single file, and he had an enemy who knew how the Roman army fought and had planned the right way to defeat a legion in a forest. The net result was that his men were ambushed in thick forest, where it was impossible to form proper lines, and in any case the men couldn't even get at their weapons quickly. Those sorts of stupidities are avoidable, but even so, the evidence from other campaigns, such as those of Tiberius in this general region, are enough to indicate we are making things hard for ourselves in the forest.
"Maybe the Varus-type ambush won't always work, but the fact remains, fighting in a forest puts us at a disadvantage, unless . . ." He paused, and watched for reaction. The faces were impassive.
"Unless we have worked out a better way to fight in forests," Gaius continued. "Accordingly, this summer we are not going to just occupy defensive positions along the side of the Danube. We are going to have forest drills. Each cohort will divide into two sections, which means some centuries may have to temporarily merge with others. For the purposes of this exercise the first will split into four such sections, as if it were two cohorts.
"Each of these sections will have names, and will take part in exercises in which they are either defensive or offensive. The defensive sections will have to march between two points through parts of the forest. The offensive section has to ambush them, and for the purposes of these exercises, while every soldier will fight with wooden swords, if they are struck with a wooden sword they will behave as if it were real, and there will be an assessor with each attacking party. Archers will have arrows with large soft round ends. Just in case troops run into raiders, each soldier will also carry a gladius, but they will not under any circumstances use them on other soldiers, or else.
"Now, the purpose of this, and why you are here. I want this to be a competition, so we can work out what works and what doesn't in the forest. I also want to see which of you Tribunes can contribute tactically, so feel free to use your imagination, which gets me to the next point of this meeting. Too many Tribunes spend too much time in tents. Now I know some of you are using this period to start a career in administration, and in the end will spend a relatively short period in the army, and I know the senior Centurions effectively lead the cohorts into battle. They do this because they have the experience, and we don't want amateurs blundering around."
Gaius paused, and thought to himself that that was exactly what the Centurions had thought of his actions in his first major battle. They had not been ready for a Tribune who wanted to control the strategy. Yes, he had won, but as he had begun to see more of the Tribunes in different legions, he realized the Centurions' fears would have been appropriate for most of them.
"You will have to decide whether you wish to contribute to controlling your part of the battles or not. I shall set the overall strategy for a battle, and I shall order certain advances and certain tactics, but in the heat of the action, messages do not easily get through and I need officers with the ability to control two or three cohorts to be in the field. I need to know who here has any ability. At least three of the Tribunes will be field officers and not staff officers.
"Now, to the point of these exercises. I don't mind your trying something that doesn't work, but I will be more than a little peeved if nobody tries anything. I need to find out who amongst you Tribunes has any ability, so if you think you have, now will be a good time to show it. That also means there are limitations to what you can do in these exercises. While evading the e
nemy is often a good idea, the marches will be long enough that it should take about five hours by the shortest route. I don't want the defensive side to win by going some other way. That could well be the best thing to do in the field, but it won't teach us anything about tactics. Right, that's it. Let's see what we can learn."
At first, nothing much was learnt, apart from the fact that some Tribunes were better than others at setting ambushes. If that was ignored, there was a further problem: both sides always fought like Romans. While this was hardly surprising given that the advances were led by very experienced Centurions, and while in many ways it was good, it also limited what could be learned. The one lesson that stood out above all else was that those not ambushing usually prevailed only when their scouts located the ambushers well before engagement. This was not exactly surprising, but it did lead Gaius to encouraging as many of those who had originated from forested areas to learn scouting.
Gaius also decided that it was better to march with centuries reasonably separated, but otherwise as compact as they could manage. That way, it would be difficult for all centuries to be ambushed at the same time, and while some would have a more difficult job defending themselves, at least for a time, the others would have the freedom to get in behind the ambushers. Would that work? He did not know, but it seemed plausible. But if he were to do that, it would be almost essential to split the archers up, and march them with centuries. That way, if an ambush commenced, the century under attack could form a small defensive square, or circle, with some archers in the middle. This might buy time.
How to attack? And what with? The gladius was an ideal weapon for the infantry in an advancing shield wall. Where the wall could close up on the opponent, the shields made it very difficult to be struck by a swinging weapon, and the offensive strike was made by a quick stabbing action. But in a forest, it was not so easy to close in on an enemy. Here, the lighter auxiliaries might be of more value. They could move faster, and might be better at fighting in open file, where quick movement and a longer reach might be important. In which case, for them longer swords and long spears, as used by the Iazyges, might be better weapons. After all, those who fought all their battles in forests had probably developed the most suitable weapons for that sort of fighting. Such a style of fighting was hardly standard Roman tactics, but one style was not necessarily applicable to all terrain, and the fact remained that it was in forested areas that the Roman army had had most of its difficulties.
