“Fair enough,” he agreed as we walked back to the men, who had taken the opportunity at our inattention to lean on their shovels and picks.
A couple of whacks with the vitus fixed the problem neatly.
~ ~ ~ ~
I suppose at this time it would be appropriate to talk about matters between Vibius and me. He was still Scribonius’ Optio, and even I could see that he was very good at his job. Our relationship was strictly professional, and we treated each other with a coldly polite correctness that would lead an outside observer to think that we did not know each other at all, which I suppose at that point was more true than not. I was secretly pleased to learn that he had actually not been one of the ringleaders of the unrest on the Campus Martius, in fact arguing against the idea of looting the homes on the Palatine, but men like Didius had carried that day. This is not to suggest that Didius was in any way a leader of the mutiny. However, he was more than happy to go along with the idea of grabbing as much loot as he could. Still, I was not willing to make peace with Vibius and he evidently felt the same way, for he never approached me, nor I him, and that was how matters stood between us. Poor Scribonius was the one caught in the middle, since he had managed to maintain his friendship with both of us, in fact serving as something of a go-between for the two of us. For instance, when I learned in a letter from Valeria that Juno’s husband had died in some sort of accident, I casually mentioned this to Scribonius, knowing that the news would make its way into Vibius’ ear. Sure enough, the day after I told Scribonius, Vibius was walking around camp smiling from ear to ear. I almost took a step towards reconciliation that day, because I was not only genuinely happy that Vibius was so clearly pleased by the news, I was also curious to know whether it was because the man who had stolen Juno from him had died, or if she were now free. Perhaps it was a combination of the two, but something kept me from taking that step, so I never asked him. When it came to our official duties, I did not have that much interaction with him, since he reported to Scribonius and Scribonius to me. I think we both liked it that way.
~ ~ ~ ~
In addition to the ditch, Caesar had us add sharpened stakes, along with his favorite lilies, which we no longer thought of as useless after seeing the damage they did at Alesia. We worked hard, making the men wonder if Caesar knew that an attack was imminent, but I assured them that he was simply being prudent. What I did not share with them was the information gathered by a combination of deserters and prisoners, who informed Caesar of the real numbers facing us. Scouts were sent out to confirm what he had been told, and they came galloping back with grim news. Scipio was approaching at the head of an army consisting of eight Legions and about 3,000 cavalry. Adding these numbers to those already in the field under Labienus and Petreius, we were once again significantly outnumbered. Compounding our problems was a continuing lack of supply, since we had been stopped from actually harvesting the grain we marched out to gather. Unfortunately, the enemy had not, so the bounty from those fields was now in their granaries and not ours. Caesar was sending ships to every point he could think of with requisitions, yet to that point, only small amounts had made it to us. To augment our forces, Caesar pulled the rowers and crew of the ships of the fleet, training them as missile troops. Most of the Centurions were doubtful of what use they would be with only a few days of training, though I suppose it was better than nothing. He also pressed some of the locals into the role of skirmisher to work in conjunction with our cavalry in the same manner as the enemy had used against us.
We were also running out of timber, so some of the ships were sent back to Sicily to get wood of sufficient length and quantity to make the number of towers that Caesar had decided we needed. The men worked from dawn until dusk, digging and chopping, so exhausted by the end of the day that they would trudge back to their tents, chew their food listlessly, make only the most desultory of conversation, then fall back into their bunks. The best result for the officers was that the punishment list was non-existent, as the men were too tired to make their normal mischief of sneaking out of camp to go into Ruspina, not that Ruspina was much of an attraction. As we strengthened our position, we passed the next few days in this manner..Scipio arrived, making camp next to the one already occupied by Labienus and Petreius, so of course it was not long before the one thing that Caesar wanted most to keep quiet became known, causing a near panic.
~ ~ ~ ~
“Scipio has elephants!”
I heard the words yelled down the Cohort street and leapt from my cot, cursing whoever it was that had uttered them, both the man who had just yelled out and whoever had told him. I only grabbed my vitus, leaving my tent ready to thrash someone. As is normal in these situations, the bringer of the bad news had chosen the evening meal, when all the men were gathered about their fires, so there was the maximum audience. There have always been, and I suspect always will be, men who thrive on being the bearer of bad tidings. The only blessing with a group as veteran as the 10th was that the list of suspects was relatively short and well known to all of the officers by this time. The men were on their feet, a sure sign that they were agitated, given their exhaustion, talking excitedly to their neighbors at the next fire or across their street.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do about elephants?”
“I’ve never seen one. Are they as big as people say they are?”
“Bigger than anything you can imagine. They step on you and you’re dead, no doubt about it.”
“It’s not their feet you have to worry about. It’s those damn tusks. They can spear three men just like chickens on a skewer.”
“Quiet!” I roared. I was happy to see the men immediately stop talking and while not coming to attention, at least shut up. “You sound like a bunch of old women! So what? The enemy has elephants. You’re the 10th Legion! How many times do we have to go through this, where you act like a bunch of scared tiros whenever something new pops up? Have you forgotten all the things we’ve faced over the years? And we have been and will always be victorious! So shut your mouths and eat your meal and let Caesar decide how to deal with the elephants!”
The men looked suitably ashamed, shuffling and looking at the ground, mumbling that they had gotten the message. With that, I turned to make my way to the next street over to repeat the same speech, knowing that I was going to have a long night before I was done. Being truthful, I was just as worried as the men were. I had never seen an elephant in anything but chains, and that had been relatively recently in Alexandria, the beast being part of the large menagerie of animals belonging to the Ptolemies. It was huge, dwarfing even as large a man as myself, which was a distinctly uncomfortable feeling. I had been told by Apollonius that when used for war, the animals were covered in armor plating, while a miniature fort was strapped atop their backs where several men, usually archers or javelineers were perched. They had a driver as well, but from everything I had been told before, the animals are notoriously hard to control, prone to fits of temper that make them almost as dangerous to their own side as to the enemy, which was why Caesar disdained using them. The biggest effect of elephants is psychological, and that effect was clear to see on the men before they even laid eyes on one, but as bad as it was with the 10th, it was much worse with the youngsters in the other Legions. They were positively beside themselves, as for a day or two it was the only topic of conversation, with the men getting closer and closer to the point of hysteria. Finally, the Primus Pilus of the 5th Legion came to Caesar with a request that they be given the responsibility for combating the elephants, a gesture that the rest of the army simultaneously thanked them for and thought them quite out of their collective minds for doing. Nonetheless, it had the effect of quelling the fears of the army, and while it was never confirmed, I smelled the hand of Caesar in this.