Norbanus and his officers sat across from them. In a subtle way the balance had shifted. Hamilcar was no longer dismissive of the Romans. He accorded them some deference and the others perforce must follow. This did not go so far as to give them credit for the victory, but it was an acknowledgment all the same.
"Tomorrow," Hamilcar began when the cups were filled, "shall be a momentous day. At first light we shall commence the assault upon Alexandria. The gods of Carthage will smile upon our endeavors." He looked around him and smiled. "As, I am sure, shall the gods of our esteemed allies." If the Romans looked astonished at the idea of Jupiter, Juno and the rest smiling upon a Shofet of Carthage, he affected not to notice.
"The naval forces are now in place. As we attack the western wall, the navy will attack the harbors and the island of Pharos. Before noon tomorrow, you will see my banners flying from atop the great lighthouse." His followers applauded politely.
"A brave sight, I am sure," Norbanus commented, wondering if the Shofet really thought such a trifling gesture to be significant.
"Your legions will have the honor of leading the first assault on the walls," Hamilcar said.
"An honor we must respectfully decline, Shofet," Norbanus said casually.
Hamilcar frowned. "Refuse? How so? Are you Romans not justly famed for martial prowess? Are you cowards that you fear to commence the assault?" Mastanabal and the other Carthaginians of high rank watched them with sardonic expressions, happy to see the arrogant foreigners put into such a position: Accept extreme peril or stand revealed as cowards.
Norbanus seemed not at all bothered by the situation. "My Shofet, generals of Carthage, we are all soldiers here. We know quite well that Alexandria will not fall to the first assault, nor to the second, nor the third. But a great many men will fall in those assaults. You do not waste such soldiers as my legionaries in this costly but necessary business. For this, you use those great mobs from your subject cities, the ones of whose loyalty you are doubtful. They accomplish the necessary work and their loss hurts only those cities you hold in subjection. My advice would be to send them in and station behind them those excellent pikemen sent to you by King Lysimachus of Macedon. Those pikes leveled at their backs should give them any encouragement they might need."
It was some time before the Shofet spoke. "I see. And I suppose you would prefer to remain in reserve?" Hamilcar glowered and his generals all but sneered.
"Oh, by no means," Norbanus said. "In fact, I envision for us a task that is both extremely demanding as well as hazardous. If I may?" He snapped his fingers and a team of Roman slaves entered the tent, carrying on their shoulders a table. They set it on the carpet-covered ground and the occupants of the tent gathered round with interest. It was knee height, perhaps eight feet by five feet, and upon it had been built a detailed scale model of the city, including the Pharos Island, the harbors and the lakeshore.
"This is marvelous," the Shofet said, intrigued in spite of himself. "Did your artisans really construct this since our arrival here?"
"Most of it," Norbanus said. "We already had drawings and surveys to work from and many of the buildings were made in idle hours while the men trained."
"And the origin of these drawings and surveys?" Hamilcar asked, reminding Norbanus that he was no fool.
"Certain Romans have visited Alexandria in recent months," Norbanus told him.
"Certain Romans have visited Carthage as well. Do you possess a model like this of my own city?"
"It is a matter of standard procedure with us," Norbanus said, knowing it was a touchy moment but understanding that protest would sound feeble.
Hamilcar smiled. "I'd have crucified you all if you had denied it." His generals laughed uproariously, as if this were the most hilarious prospect imaginable. "Now, show me your plan."
From one of the slaves Norbanus took a pointer. "The harbor and the western wall are the logical places to assault. You want to deny the Alexandrians the use of their harbor, and it is a weak spot. You could ferry a force to the east and cut them off from reinforcement from that direction, but it makes sense to leave them someplace to run. An army or a city can be demoralized, knowing that an unguarded back door is open."
"As you demonstrated at the recent battle," Hamilcar said.
Norbanus inclined his head slightly. "That leaves the lake frontage." With the pointer he indicated the narrow bench of land between the southern wall and Lake Mareotis. "The wall here is relatively low, weak, and ill-defended. Also, this is Alexandria's access to the Nile."
"It is tempting," Hamilcar said, "but the strip of land is too narrow for offensive maneuvers. It won't support enough troops, we can't get our siege towers onto it and every bit of it is under enemy missile fire. It's no wonder the Alexandrians didn't bother to build their walls high there."
"Give me that part of the operation," Norbanus said. "Let my legions work at the southern wall, and I will cut Alexandria off from the Nile and provide Ptolemy with amusement from that quarter."
Hamilcar stared at the frail strip of land on the table, then at Norbanus. "Are you mad? You will be slaughtered! There is no cover between the wall and the lake."
"We are good at this kind of fighting," Norbanus assured him.
"My Shofet," said Mastanabal, "it seems that these Romans indeed want to take the hero's role. I urge you to let them do as he asks. Why deny them the opportunity to earn so much honor?"
"Why, indeed?" Hamilcar said. "General Norbanus, I agree to your plan. At first light tomorrow, commence your operations against the southern wall of Alexandria."
The Roman party left. Norbanus was smiling and the others were pleased as well.
"That was well done, Titus," Lentulus Niger admitted. "You got us out of a stupid frontal assault and made him think that it's we that will get killed. How long will he stay hoodwinked?"
"As long as necessary," Norbanus said. "Tomorrow his attack will be repulsed, but he'll be happy because he'll see his pretty banner fluttering from the top of the lighthouse. The next few days he'll be enthralled by the sheer spectacle of it all and he won't notice that he's losing men in droves while we're taking hardly any casualties at all."
"He'll notice eventually," Cato said. "If nothing else, Mastanabal will point it out to him."
"By then he'll have accomplished little or nothing while we've cut off Alexandria from the Nile and made good headway at taking the southern wall. He can't argue with that."
"He won't argue," Cato said. "He'll send in his own men to continue the work once he sees how it's done, then he'll order us into the next assault on the western gate. What then?"
"Then," Norbanus said, "it will be time to renegotiate our agreement with our friend the Shofet Hamilcar."
Chapter 19
Titus Norbanus was on Hamilcar’s battle tower when the assault began. He was not needed at the southwestern corner of the city, where his own legions were about to commence their operations. His subordinates knew their tasks to perfection and he was not needed there. A pity, really, he thought. He would have liked to lead his men personally for the sake of the honor, but this was not truly to be a battle. It was more like an engineering project. There would be nothing for him to do, while here, at least, he would be able to observe.
The tower commanded a fine view across the necropolis to the western wall of the city, as well as a good deal of the Eunostos harbor and the Pharos. It made a splendid sight as the sun began to rise from somewhere behind the city. The towers and temple roofs of the splendid polis began to gleam and the bizarre artificial hill of the Paneum took misty shape in the distance.