But in truth we had achieved nothing. Crassus had made easy gains, Artavasdes hovered over Hatra like a thundercloud and Gafarn’s nerve was visibly crumbling. The Romans and Armenians had witnessed his propensity for rashness and were almost inviting him to attack them, knowing that if he did they would easily defeat him.
‘We should invade Syria,’ remarked Domitus casually, ‘take the fight to the enemy.’
‘You would like that, wouldn’t you,’ I said.
Domitus stood and began pacing in front of the map of the empire, then stopped and pointed at Antioch with his cane.
‘With Peroz’s men we have nearly twenty thousand troops. We can march north, cross the border and be in Antioch in a week.’
‘To what aim?’ I asked. ‘Crassus’ army is mustered in the north, near Zeugma.’
‘To burn Antioch,’ replied Domitus.
I shook my head. ‘No, Domitus. Burning Antioch would avail us nothing and would only provoke Crassus into action. If he severed our line of retreat we would have to fight him, outnumbered most likely, in hostile territory. The risk is too great.’
‘Then enlist Nergal and Atrax to your cause,’ he suggested, ‘that will even the odds.’
‘Syria,’ I told him, ‘is not the problem, Crassus is. And I would prefer to fight him on a ground of my own choosing.’
Domitus muttered to himself and sat back down, which brought the meeting to a close. As my right hand was still sore afterwards I borrowed one of Aaron’s treasury clerks and dictated a number of letters, one to Gafarn accepting responsibility for Domitus’ insolence and promising that I would deploy troops on my northern border to give the impression that I was preparing an invasion of Syria. I sent a letter to Phriapatius saying that Peroz had turned into an excellent commander and had distinguished himself in the recent battle with the Egyptians. Finally I sent a despatch to Surena requesting that he travel to Assur where we could discuss recent events.
The next few weeks were remarkable only for their inactivity. The troops of Mesene, Media, Babylon and Susiana returned to their homelands as an uneasy peace descended on the empire. Byrd rode from Palmyra and brought news that Crassus was awaiting the arrival of horsemen from Gaul who were commanded by his son. It was an indication of his lack of trust in Syrian cavalry that he was wished to receive reinforcements from hundreds of miles away rather than recruit mounted troops locally. Gafarn sent a terse note complaining about Domitus’ attitude but thanking me for deploying more troops on the Syrian border. Phriapatius, on the other hand, sent a very long and appreciative letter thanking me for nurturing the talents of his son and informing me that his eastern army was assembling slowly but steadily. Accompanying the letter was a consignment of gold to pay for the wages of Peroz’s soldiers and fodder for their horses. Aaron was most pleased when I informed him.
I stood with him in the courtyard as the bars of gold were unloaded from the camels and itemised on papyrus. Two thousand Carmanian horse archers had escorted them, and in gratitude I sent back with them two-dozen warhorses bred on Dura’s stud farms for their king.
When Godarz had been city governor it had been agreed that Dura should breed its own horses for the army, though it had proved a long, difficult and costly business. Even my father had refused to sanction the purchase of stallions from Hatra’s studs to Dura. My father’s pure whites that provided the mounts for his royal bodyguard were the envy of the empire and were fiercely protected. Horse theft was a capital offence and the sentence was also visited upon the family of the perpetrator. I had dreamed of my own cataphracts riding pure white horses but Strabo, whose knowledge about horses and how to breed them was exemplary, told me that I was wasting my time.
The finest Parthian horses were a breed called Nisean that were found in Hatra, Media, Atropaiene and Hyrcania. Descended from ancient Scythian stock they were very strong, tough and resilient. Noted for their speed and endurance on long marches they were ideal for Parthian warfare. My friendship with Atrax and Aschek resulted in Strabo being able to purchase a number of pure blood mares and stallions from both of them that formed the foundation of Dura’s breeding programme. My father also relented and authorised the sale of a number of horses from his own farms, though no whites.
I had wanted Remus to sire a line but Strabo was at first against it.
‘We don’t know his ancestry,’ he told me. ‘He might pass on a deformity or weakness to a foal.’
‘Remus is a fine warhorse,’ I said to him.
‘None finer,’ he agreed, ‘but within him he may have an ailment that he is immune to but one that he could still pass on to his offspring.’
‘We will just have to take a chance on that,’ I replied.
And so we did, mating him with a cremello mare brought from the lush green plains of Media. Despite Remus being the king’s horse and the veterans of many battles the mare must have had the dominant blood for the foal that she produced was golden in colour like many Nisean horses, with a coat that shimmered in the sun. We named him Tegha, meaning ‘blade’. Like all Niseans he had long ears, almond-shaped eyes and a sparse mane and tail, with a lightly muscled long back, flat croup, deep chest and long neck. My dream of having a herd of whites may have come to nothing but as the years passed Dura produced a good number of homebred bays, blacks, palominos, chestnuts and greys.
Though the cost may have been high the revenues from the trade caravans, the taxes paid to the treasury from the lords’ estates and duties imposed on the businesses inside the city meant the treasury was always full, and that meant Aaron was mostly happy. Rsan had trained him well, though, and he kept watch over the kingdom’s wealth like a hawk. To the continual annoyance of Domitus every item of expenditure had to be discussed at the weekly council meetings and itemised once it had been agreed upon.
Two weeks after the horses had been sent to Phriapatius I went to see Aaron in his treasury, as usual surrounded by diligent and serious clerks making notes. The treasury was positioned directly opposite the palace and was a two-storey building above ground with a basement beneath that had been hewn out of the rock upon which the Citadel stood. This was where the bars of gold and chests of gold coins and drachmas were stored. The ground floor comprised two rooms that held records and another two where Aaron’s clerks worked. The first floor was where Aaron had his own office, with three other rooms that housed more records and his chief clerk.
Two guards always stood outside the treasury’s main entrance when the door was open during the day, with another two standing at the top of the stone steps that led down to the underground basement where the gold and money was stored. At the top of the steps was a metal grill that barred access to the gold and money, and only Rsan and Aaron carried keys to the lock that secured it. The basement itself had been converted into a number of rooms where the kingdom’s wealth was stored behind iron bars. Only a select few individuals were allowed in the treasury: including myself, the queen, Domitus, Rsan, Aaron and his trusted clerks.
I walked up the steps and into Aaron’s spacious and bright office, the pair of shutters at the windows open to give a view of the Citadel’s courtyard below. He stood up and bowed his head but I gestured for him to sit. I sat down in the chair in front of his large desk as he finished his writing and put down his pen.
‘How can I help you, majesty?’
‘Have you heard from Alexander lately?’
Alexander Maccabeus was a Jewish rebel who had been fighting the Romans for years. With gold he had purchased a great numbers of weapons from Dura with which he hoped to liberate Judea, his homeland, from Roman rule. But Aulus Gabinius had defeated him and though he still carried on his war against the Romans, he was now little more than a bandit hiding out in the hills of eastern Judea.