So, if he were correct, the Moon and the Sun each generated two equal and opposite tides, but the combined effect would depend on the angle between them. Around the new or full moon, the tides would bunch closer together in terms of when they occurred from day to day, but when the Moon and the Sun were at cross-purposes, so to speak, the peak of the tide would be at some angle between the two tides. That meant there would be more of a drag between high tides from day to day at this time. He had a prediction and he could test this! Or more specifically, Timothy could test it. Timothy could obtain the information that would lose his own bet! This was highly satisfactory! He heard a sound behind him, so he turned around.
"So, while your men work, you sit on a rock." Gaius looked up to see Vespasian standing behind him, still frowning.
"I was thinking," Gaius shrugged.
"Thinking?" Vespasian mocked. "What's so important that it demands so much of your time?"
"Tides," Gaius said dryly. There was no point in discussing physics with this man.
"A very important topic," Vespasian snorted derisively.
"They rise and fall over thirty feet in this part of the world, so I'm told," Gaius said tonelessly.
"How fascinating." The voice showed this information held absolutely zero fascination for him.
"It's a very large volume of water to be moving."
"And very important for an army commander to know about," came the unimpressed reply.
"I couldn't agree more," Gaius continued tonelessly. "Just imagine an overloaded boat, full of troops. You're setting off, and if the tide is going out, you've got a good flow to ride on. Suppose you get to the other end, you want to disembark, and the tide's against you. Stay here a little longer and watch the speed of the water pouring past that point over there, and imagine the average oarsman trying to beat it. There's no way around it. You get washed back to sea, and the enemy, watching from the hill-tops, laugh their heads off, and have about nine hours to organize your welcoming party while you're floundering around wondering what's happening."
Vespasian looked at him, this time with more respect.
"I've found," Gaius said coldly, "that the men fight better when the morale's high, and the morale tends to be higher when the commander at least looks like he knows what he's doing."
"Your point," Vespasian nodded.
"I think," Gaius said, now with a more friendly tone, "that I can reasonably predict what the tides are likely to be doing here and I'm going to find out what they're likely to be doing there at any given day. I've asked the locals how long it takes to get a boat across, so I know when to leave if I want to arrive at the right time."
"And your right time?"
"Dawn," Gaius shrugged. "The Celts won't see me coming, and I have a whole day to secure enough territory and get fortifications under way."
"We're supposed to be welcomed," Vespasian offered.
"And I can tell from the tone of your voice you're going to rely on that as much as I am," Gaius snorted. "I welcome allies, but I've found that people are more likely to be your allies when they know fine well what will happen if they aren't."
"Their point of view tends not to be in direct opposition to the point of a sword," Vespasian nodded.
"So I came here to check up on the tidal flows," Gaius said. "Now I can see you didn't, so. ."
"I came to see you," Vespasian interrupted gruffly. "Your legion could be on my right flank, so I thought we might get together and agree some tactical signals in the event we have to coordinate our actions."
"Of course," Gaius said. This was the time to try to be cooperative, even though, since the Augusta was ordered to consolidate possession and protect allies on the south coast, the prospect of them even seeing each other was unlikely. "When, and where?"
"My tent, for a meal tonight?"
"You like Pannonian wine?" Gaius offered.
"You just came from there?" Vespasian asked.
"True," Gaius admitted. Of course Vespasian knew, or Sabinus' ability as a staff officer would be rated as totally useless.
"A quiet zone, I gather." Vespasian was fishing.
"Six weeks after I arrived it was," Gaius said cryptically.
"I gather," Vespasian said, in a probing, though cautious voice, "that your actions helped shore up support for Claudius."
"I believe I had a significant role," Gaius responded, as much as a challenge to Vespasian as anything else. The one thing Gaius was not about to do was to let this man gain some ascendancy over him.
"Why?"
"Because it is the duty of the army to support the Princeps."
"It is the duty of the army to defeat the enemies of Rome," Vespasian countered in a flat tone. He was looking for the source of the political strength of a potential political ally or foe, Gaius realized.
"And not to fight each other," Gaius countered. He paused, then decided he should make a further attempt at being friendly. He shook his head sadly as he added, "My branch of the Claudian gens has been on the wrong side of most of Rome's internal spats. I thought. ."
"It was time to pick the winning side!" Vespasian grinned, "and win before winning gets too difficult."
"Something like that," Gaius admitted.
"But why back Claudius so quickly, against the Governor of an adjacent region, and a region from where your legion would normally be based, and who could have looked quite favourably on you? Why not wait and see what happened?"
"Because. ." Gaius paused. How much should he tell? Vespasian was known to be close to Narcissus, but not so close to Claudius. What did that mean? Perhaps he should try his own diversion. He shrugged, and then said, "Perhaps because, as you said, winning then was easy."
"I don't know what you think about Little Boots," Vespasian frowned, "but I can tell you most Romans applauded his demise. Why didn't you think it was time for Rome to get someone vaguely competent?"
Interesting, Gaius thought. From what he had heard, Roman citizens were genuinely hurt by his assassination; it was the rich and privileged who disliked Little Boots. Further, those who hated Little Boots did so because of the actions of Vespasian and his ilk. "I think you'll find Claudius is very competent," Gaius replied.
"Everyone says he's a fool."
"Livia publicly ridiculed him," Gaius countered. "Derision seemed preferable to Claudius than poison, exile, or whatever."
"You've met him?"
"Yes, and corresponded with him."
"You think Claudius is competent?"
"Yes."
"That's good enough for me," Vespasian shrugged, and said, as he got up to leave, "I'll see you at sundown."
* * *
Gaius had decided that he should try to be conciliatory, and in any case there seemed to be little point in arguing about general manoeuvring signals. Accordingly, he had permitted Vespasian to specify a number of general signals and their meaning, until suddenly Vespasian looked up at him.
"You're not saying much?"
"What you've said is quite standard," Gaius shrugged.
"They tell me you've had quite a bit of battle experience," Vespasian said. "You must have something to add."
"Apart from Lussonia," Gaius replied, "my experience has been in the desert. Rivers, forests, swamps, none of them seemed much of a problem in Syria."
"So there's nothing you wish to add?" Vespasian asked.
"I notice so far you've kept clear of cavalry signals," Gaius noted.
"I've never used them much in forests," Vespasian admitted.
"Neither have I," Gaius nodded, "but I intend to use cavalry." He decided not to comment on the fact that Vespasian had seemingly not had much use of cavalry anywhere because he had little combat experience.
"Fair enough," Vespasian nodded. "Since this can't all be one-way traffic, tell me about the unusual cavalry manoeuvres you've been using, and the signals you're using."