‘And that goes for the Amazons,’ I told Gallia who was securing the straps of her helmet’s cheekguards under her chin.
‘You are becoming very bossy in your old age,’ she said. ‘In any case my women always hit what they aim at.’
‘That may be, but you and they will remain with me today.’
She turned to Zenobia. ‘He’s frightened that all those hairy arsed Roman soldiers will rape him.’
Vagharsh laughed aloud.
‘Is there any hope that you might one day respect your king and lord high general of the empire?’ I remarked sarcastically.
‘Not much,’ he replied.
With the squires trailing well to the rear our outnumbered forces trotted towards the enemy who now filled the horizon: a great line of black shapes slowly getting larger as the range between the two sides decreased. As Gallia and I rode forward the cataphracts put on their helmets to present an inhuman visage of steel to the enemy and then brought down their lances to grip them with both hands lest the Roman horsemen suddenly charged us.
For a third time Byrd and Malik left us to gallop ahead as Vagharsh unfurled my banner and the red griffin spread its wings. I felt a sense of elation sweep through me as I turned to look left and right to see a thousand of the empire’s finest horsemen break into a canter as we closed to within half a mile of the Romans.
I drew my spatha and peered ahead and saw that the Roman line was shortening. What trickery was this?
‘They are forming square,’ shouted Gallia, reading my thoughts.
I could discern trumpet blasts now and see Roman soldiers running back towards their centre as the horsemen on the flanks disappeared. I was tempted to order a halt and then a withdrawal as we would not be able to break the Roman square and at this very moment the enemy might be setting up their ballista to shoot at our horsemen. But then Surena appeared by my side. He too could see that the Romans had formed a square.
‘Let my archers attack them, lord,’ he begged, his eyes aflame with excitement.
‘They may have ballista,’ I cautioned.
‘If they do then we will withdraw, but they are stationary and we are mobile and should take advantage of the enemy’s mistake.’
He was right, of course. ‘Very well, Surena, may Shamash go with you.’
He smiled and peeled away as we continued to canter towards what was now a huge hollow square of locked Roman shields. As we neared the enemy I noticed a hillock on the right and gave the order for the cataphracts to make for it. I heard a succession of horn blasts behind me and the heavy horsemen slowed and then changed direction to head for the hillock, while six thousand of Surena’s men spread into line and prepared to engulf the Roman square.
We rode to the hillock where the horsemen thrust the butt spikes of their lances into the earth, shoved back their helmets on the top of their heads and watched the spectacle unfolding before them. Vagises arrayed his dragons of archers into three groups to the north, east and south of the square, well out of the range of any ballista bolts. He then rode with a company to join me on the hillock as Surena’s horsemen swarmed round the square like angry hornets. The air was filled with a constant hissing noise as if a giant snake was above us as Gordyene’s men shot at the enemy.
‘I don’t see many saddles being emptied,’ he remarked.
‘Perhaps they have no ballista or have left them in camp,’ I said.
The companies of horsemen from Gordyene continue to rake the sides of the Roman square with arrows, loosing some at the locked shields but most over the heads of the legionaries, hoping to hit unprotected heads and torsos of Syrian auxiliaries taking cover behind them. Judging by the size of our own squares that we had formed in training and on the battlefield I estimated that each side the square in front of me was made up of twelve cohorts — around six thousand men — which meant that inside the square were a further twenty-eight thousand men, including horsemen.
A group of horsemen galloped towards us, the silver lion banner of Gordyene fluttering behind its king. Surena brought his horse to a halt and raised his hand in salute.
‘No ballista, lord,’ he grinned. ‘The Romans are standing there like dumb animals.’
Vagises pointed past him. ‘Not all of them.’
Surena turned in the saddle as the cohorts on the north side of the Roman square parted and hundreds of horsemen and foot soldiers flooded onto the plain.
‘Syrian auxiliaries,’ I said.
Crassus was no fool and knew that his legionaries could not get to grips with our light horsemen, but his similarly armed and equipped Syrian horse archers were ideal for dispersing the hundreds of enemy horsemen who were loosing missiles at his square. And so the legionaries moved aside to allow his Syrians to attack Surena’s men. The horse archers thundered out of the square shooting their bows and immediately emptied dozens of saddles as their arrows hit both men and horses, the latter rearing up in pain before collapsing on the ground and writhing around in agony. And behind the Syrian horsemen came foot archers in light brown tunics, red leggings and wearing helmets, who sprinted in all directions, shooting more arrows at Surena’s horsemen. Accompanying them were spearmen on foot who wore white tunics, white leggings and carried large, round wooden shields along with their short stabbing spears. Groups of spearmen followed the foot archers as the Syrians on horseback chased after Surena’s men.
But the soldiers of Gordyene were well trained to deal with enemy attacks and they instinctively retreated out of the way of the Syrians, galloping away from the square and shooting arrows over the hind quarters of their horses at their adversaries as they did so. The Syrians, having seen how their charge had easily scattered the Parthians, gave chase in expectation of hunting down and slaying their prey. But they knew little of Parthian tactics.
The Syrian archers galloped directly north straight into a hail of arrows shot by the dragon of Duran horse archers that was positioned in front of them. Discovering this large body of horsemen the Syrians came to a halt, to be attacked on both flanks and in the rear by Surena’s returning soldiers. Having a short time before been pursuing a seemingly defeated enemy, the Syrians now found themselves under a deluge of arrows as Surena’s soldiers shot the densely packed Syrian block of horsemen to pieces. Having far outpaced their supporting foot soldiers, the Syrians had no answer to the rapid, accurate shooting that Surena’s men subjected them to and soon individuals were fleeing for their lives, attempting to escape from the trap they had unwittingly galloped into. The majority failed to do so.
The Syrian soldiers on foot, having been deserted by their horsemen, attempted to run back to the safety of the square. But their initial charge had carried them at least five hundred paces from the locked Roman shields and now there were companies of horse archers galloping to head them off as they turned tail and ran. All semblance of order and discipline disappeared as individuals moved as fast as their legs could carry them towards the long line of Roman shields. Discarding their weapons and shields to lighten their load, many Syrians tripped and stumbled, twisting ankles and breaking legs. Horse archers rode parallel to groups of fleeing soldiers, loosing arrows at them as they did so, some drawing their swords to cut men down, while others galloped after them, shooting arrows into their backs as they closed to within touching distance of their foes. Perhaps a quarter of the Syrian foot made it back to the square alive but most of the horse archers were killed and none made it back to their Roman allies. At a stroke Crassus had lost most of his Syrian auxiliaries.