“You’re going to kill me,” he shrilled, making a move to try and run, forcing me to grab a handful of his nightclothes, picking him up off the ground so his feet could not get traction, though that did not stop his feet from moving like he was, a comical sight, I can assure you.
“That's not true, Highness. These men aren't dead; they're simply knocked unconscious. Look.” I nudged one of them with my toe, eliciting a low moan. “See? They’re just out cold. They'll wake up with a headache and nothing more.”
That settled his nerves, but just a bit, although he did not give us any more problems and we brought him to Caesar as ordered. The other sections had also collected his younger siblings, a girl named Arsinoe and another Ptolemy who was a few years younger than the king. Cleopatra had also been brought to Caesar, albeit more gently than her other siblings, but nonetheless the entire Egyptian royal family was now located at Caesar’s headquarters. I was standing in a corner of the room when Caesar appeared to face the confused and angry youngsters. I do not know if Ptolemy XIV appointed himself the spokesman for his siblings or just took it upon himself, but he angrily confronted Caesar.
“What is the meaning of this?”
By this point, he was almost apoplectic with rage. Whatever timidity he felt when I roused him from his bed had been washed away with anger, but Caesar did not seem put out in the slightest.
“Your Highness, I have received reports that your general Achillas has decided to move his army against my forces. This is merely to ensure your and your family’s safety.”
“Our safety? We have nothing to fear from Achillas! You’re the only one who has anything to fear!”
“That remains to be seen,” Caesar said coolly. “But regardless, the situation is very dangerous and I'm doing this for your safety.”
“You are doing no such thing,” Ptolemy scoffed. “We're nothing but hostages!”
I do not know if I was the only one who saw the corner of Caesar’s mouth twitch as he suppressed a smile.
“I can certainly see how you might see it that way, but nothing could be further from the truth, Your Highness, I assure you. I have only your welfare and the welfare of your family as my goal. We will do everything we can to make your stay as comfortable as possible, but I'm afraid that space is at a premium and your accommodations may be more cramped than you're accustomed to.”
Ptolemy was clearly unhappy, but was intelligent enough to know that there was nothing he could do about it. With the royal family secure, my men and I were dismissed for the time being to return to our quarters. I went looking for Diocles to talk over all that had transpired and to find out what he knew of the situation from Appolonius. Meanwhile, Caesar had a use for Ptolemy, and he put the next phase of his plan into operation.
~ ~ ~ ~
Caesar ordered the boy king to summon two of his advisers, named Serapion and Dioscorides, giving them instructions to go find Achillas and order him to turn around in the king’s name. Not only did Achillas not listen, he tried to kill both of them, succeeding with Serapion while seriously wounding Dioscorides, who barely managed to escape. He made his way back to Alexandria, carried in a litter by his servants, only being allowed back into the city gates because of his status as Ptolemy’s ambassador. The City Guard had learned of Caesar’s taking of the royal family, but they were too poorly organized, trained, and led to do anything other than shut the city gates and wait for Achillas’ army. I was summoned shortly after Dioscorides came back to find that all of Caesar’s staff was already present, all of them looking grim.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to Apollonius.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s good news.”
“I can pretty much tell that, thank you,” I snapped, moving off towards Caesar and his generals. Caesar saw me, indicating to take a seat, which I did.
“Cartufenus should be arriving shortly,” he announced, “so we'll wait for him before we begin.”
He arrived a few moments later, taking his own seat.
Without waiting any longer, Caesar began. “As you all know, Achillas approaches with his army. That's no surprise. However, what poor Dioscorides has informed me about that is a surprise is the composition of the army of Achillas. Do you remember how it was something of a mystery what happened to the bulk of Gabinius’ army?”
The generals nodded their heads, but I was only vaguely aware of the story of Gabinius and his trials for extortion and corruption, nevertheless, I nodded along with the rest of them.
“Well, it appears that a good number of his former men joined the army of Ptolemy, and have been acting as cadre for the rest of the army. They've been training the Egyptians in our tactics, although I do not know to what extent. What I do know is that they're battle-hardened veterans.”
“Any idea of their numbers?” This came from Pollio, I believe.
“Approximately four thousand.”
Someone let out a low whistle.
“That’s almost a quarter of their total numbers.”
“Thank you for that lesson in figuring sums,” Caesar snapped, somewhat peevishly. “The question at hand is how we handle this information.”
“Bribe them,” Hirtius said immediately. “They’re Roman, after all. It shouldn’t be too hard to bring them back to our side.”
“That may have been true at one time, but there are a couple of factors that I think would make that impossible. First, these men have been here for many, many years. From what Dioscorides said, most of them have gone native, taking wives and raising families. Besides that is the fact that they were originally raised by Pompey. I don’t think they would be well disposed to serving the man who brought their original patron down.”
“The men of the 6th did, as well as the ones who formed the 36th and 37th,” pointed out Nero, and despite the truth of what he said, I felt a flash of irritation at his smug tone.
“The men of the 6th were at the point of a sword, and the rest of them had just been defeated. These men haven't tasted defeat yet, and they're not likely to be well disposed towards the man who conquered their patron.” Caesar repeated, looking around at us. Seeing that we accepted this, he continued, “So we must determine whether or not we leave the walls and meet them in open battle, or if we wait for them to come to us.”
Pollio spoke immediately. “If you have any hope of employing my cavalry, we’ll have to meet them on open ground. We’ll be practically useless inside the walls of the city.”
“But if we move to meet them on open ground, they can bring their numbers to bear on us,” protested Hirtius, and I for one agreed with this assessment. “We need to find a way to negate their numbers, especially now that we know that they have Roman veterans in their ranks.”
“We don’t have enough men to man the walls of a city this size,” Pollio pointed out, and this also was true. This was the nature of the argument back and forth for some moments, during which time Caesar only listened. Finally, he lifted a hand to silence the others, looking to Cartufenus and me.
“Cartufenus, what do you think?”
All eyes turned towards Cartufenus, who shifted uncomfortably, shooting me a sidelong glance before clearing his throat. “Well, Caesar. I don’t think we can face such a large host in open battle, especially with my boys.” The men around him gave him sharp looks, and he hurriedly continued, “I’m not saying they’re not good men, but you all know that they’re not the most seasoned troops. So I think anything we can do to give them every advantage, we must do if we’re to have a chance.”
Caesar turned to me. “Pullus?”
“I agree with Cartufenus, but I’d take it even further. I think we need to choose one point in the city to defend and pull all of the men in to give us the best chance.”