He held it out to me. ‘Take another shot.’
I walked back to my shooting position and knocked the arrow in the bowstring. I raised the bow and pulled back the bowstring so the three goose flight feathers were adjacent to my face, then released the string. The arrow flew straight and true and slammed into the shield, just above the central steel boss. Arsam was grinning like an idiot.
‘Now go and take a look at the shield, majesty.’
I handed the bow to Scarab and told him to follow me as I walked over to the target. When I reached the shield I saw that the arrow had pierced the layers of wood and one of the reinforcing strips attached to its rear and had exited the other side to a length of six inches.
‘If it will go through our shields then it will also pierce Roman ones,’ said Arsam with satisfaction. ‘We’ve tested them on helmets as well. They go through them like a knife through parchment.’
Most of the arrowheads used by my horse archers were three winged and cast from bronze. As such they were relatively cheap and hundreds could be produced on a weekly basis.
‘These new arrowheads are steel?’ I asked.
Arsam nodded. ‘Heated in the fire and then shaped on an anvil.’
‘Which means they are more expensive and will take longer to make than bronze arrowheads.’
‘But are more effective,’ he replied. ‘With Crassus’ legions on the way it would be advantageous to have the armoury well stocked with these little beauties. Marcus thinks it is a good idea.’
‘Very well,’ I said, ‘begin production of the new arrows, though you cannot recruit any more armourers. Four hundred plus their apprentices is quite sufficient.’
‘But I have your permission to offer overtime, majesty?’ he quizzed me.
I jabbed a finger in his broad chest. ‘Just make sure that this new venture does not turn into a way of making your armourers richer than they already are. Aaron has shown me the expenses incurred by your workshops and they are already prohibitive.’
He looked hurt. ‘Your soldiers are equipped with the finest weapons and armour that men can make, majesty, and I have assembled the most skilled smiths in the world. But they don’t come cheap.’
He had a point, but my treasury was not a bottomless pit. ‘Just keep costs under control, that is all I ask.’
Afterwards I went to see Marcus Sutonius, a former Roman captive and now my quartermaster general. He still lived in the walled residence where he and his fellow Romans had been held following their capture after I had defeated Lucius Furius before the walls of Dura. Then they had been surly prisoners but now they were enthusiastic members of the army. Many had married Parthian women and lived in the city with their wives and children, but Marcus, a confirmed bachelor, had remained where he had first been confined. The building was now full of studies, archives and workshops and he had a small team of young men that he was training to be future engineers of the army. He was now almost completely bald and rather portly, but his mind was as sharp as ever.
I found him pouring over notes at his desk in his study. The walls of which were filled with pigeonholes holding a multitude of scrolls. He waved me in when he saw me and looked surprised when Scarab followed behind.
‘This is Scarab, Marcus, my new squire.’
He smiled thinly at him and then pointed at a chair on the other side of the desk. I removed some notes that lay on it and sat myself down.
‘I have just been to the armouries where Arsam showed me his new arrows.’
Marcus looked up and smiled. ‘Very efficient, aren’t they? You should equip all your horse archers with them.’
‘That is what Arsam said and as I told him, the treasury does not hold an inexhaustible amount of gold.’
He leant back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. ‘It would be a wise investment.’
‘Mm. Well, let’s see. Three thousand horse archers each with a quiver of thirty arrows. That equates to ninety thousand arrows. Then there is the camel train carrying spare quivers: a thousand camels, each one carrying fifty full quivers. A further…’
I tried to do the sums in my head.
‘One and a half million arrows,’ Marcus answered for me.
‘Quite impossible,’ I said. ‘The cost would be ruinous.’
‘You sound just like Rsan,’ he smiled. ‘The city’s finances are in a healthy state, are they not, majesty?’
‘They are,’ I agreed. We still had much of the Jewish gold that we had received in return for arming Alexander’s soldiers in Judea.
He leaned forward, his visage serious. ‘Then I would strongly advise you to begin equipping your archers with these new arrows. It will pay dividends.’
I had always heeded the advice of Marcus and I did so now, though I still had serious reservations about such a large outlay of money.
‘As your quartermaster general, majesty, it is my task to ensure that your army is equipped with the most effective weapons and armour.’
‘That is just what Arsam said,’ I replied.
‘He is a wise man.’
I had a feeling that they had worked out their strategy before they brought this matter to my attention. They had conspired to outmanoeuvre me and had succeeded so I gave in gracefully.
‘You are authorised to begin equipping the horse archers with these new arrows, Marcus, though I have told Arsam he will have no extra staff to produce them. That being the case, how long will it take?’
Marcus rose from his chair and walked over to the pigeonholes facing his desk and pulled out a parchment. He unrolled it and handed it to me.
‘Six months should suffice.’
He had compiled a most detailed production schedule, though I noticed there were no details of costs.
‘Very comprehensive, Marcus, my congratulations, though costs are conspicuous by their absence.’
‘No expense is too great if it safeguards the kingdom, majesty.’
I left his office a happy man, content in the knowledge that he and Arsam had the best interests of my kingdom at heart.
On the way back to the Citadel Scarab questioned me about the armouries, wanting to know whether those who worked in them were slaves.
‘No,’ I told him, ‘they are all free men who are paid for their services, very well paid in some cases.’
‘Then what is to stop them running away, divinity?’
I laughed. ‘Nothing. If they do not wish to work for me then they are free to seek employment elsewhere.’
‘But the work they perform is important to you, divinity?’
‘Invaluable,’ I replied.
He looked thoughtful. ‘Then would it not be better for you to employ slaves to do this most crucial work, knowing that they cannot leave your city?’
‘I do not keep slaves, Scarab, and never will. Besides, I have found that men work better if they have a choice in the matter, and toil harder if their backs are not lashed by the whip.’
When we reached the gates of the Citadel I stopped and pointed down the main street of the city that led to the Palmyrene Gate. I dismissed Thumelicus and his escort and stood with Scarab observing the crowd of people that filled the thoroughfare, along with their carts, camels and mules.
‘There are no slave markets in Dura, Scarab, and the city is all the better for it. Slavery brings nothing but misery and I will not tolerate it.’
When we walked into the Citadel I saw Dobbai standing at the top of the palace steps. She beckoned me over. I told Scarab to go and find the chief stable hand, whom I had spoken to earlier concerning finding a suitable mount for my squire. As we walked through the porch and entrance hall I told Dobbai about the new arrows that Arsam and Marcus had been developing. She was underwhelmed to say the least.
‘It will take more than a few arrows to defeat the Armenians and Romans. The empire is in great danger. Its enemies grow stronger while Parthia grows weaker. I have underestimated the threat it faces.’