~ ~ ~ ~
I think that Caesar must have decided that he deserved a respite from all the trials and travails of the last seven months. I cannot say that I blame him, particularly since we were the recipients of this leisure time. To be more accurate, I should say that it was the 6th who were the beneficiaries; the other two Legions were sent back to Alexandria to help clean the city up, much to their dismay and our delight. When I said that Caesar brought the Egyptian fleet, I am not exaggerating. There were at least 300 ships of varying types, and it is testament to the massive size of the Nile River that the entire fleet could sail on the river without running into each other. The royal barge was the most massive vessel I have ever seen, literally a floating palace, with a dining room, throne room, and gods know how many private chambers. It was powered by sail and oar, and I did not envy the men chained below decks who had to move that massive craft. My men and their Centurions were spread out so that we were not nearly as cramped as we were on any of our other voyages. In most cases, each Century was given their own ship and the men scarcely knew what to do with such luxury. I was given accommodations aboard a trireme, with the captain’s cabin as my private quarters, something that he was not particularly happy about. When Appolonius and I met so he could discuss our arrangements, I asked him what was going on.
In his maddeningly typical Greek way, he answered my question with a question. “What does it matter? You’re going to be living like a king, and so are the men.”
“Can you swim?” I asked this in a pleasant enough tone, but he did not mistake my meaning.
He put his hands out in a placating gesture. “Pax, Pullus. By the gods, you’re touchy as a Vestal about the flanks.”
I grimaced at the comparison, but he was right. “I apologize. It’s just my damn leg hurts like I don’t know what. You’d think that this was the first time I had been wounded.”
“I know why it pains you so much,” he replied, and I was in so much discomfort that I did not notice the gleam in his eye as he said this.
“Why then? Come on, out with it you miserable Greek cocksucker!”
“It happens to every man. When they get older, it takes them longer to heal. You’re getting old, that’s all.”
He was a quick one all right, and not just with his tongue, dodging out of the way when I took a swing at him.
“Old? I’m not even 30 yet!”
The moment I said it, I knew I had made a mistake, though he did not seem to notice. While I was not particularly worried any longer about the lie that had gotten me into the Legions a year early, it was still not something I wanted known, but Appolonius simply laughed. I pushed the conversation back to the original topic, repeating my question about what Caesar had planned.
He shrugged. “Nothing. Cleopatra has been at him for months to let her show him Egypt and all that it has to offer, and now that things are back in order, he’s agreed.”
“So we're on a holiday?”
“Something like that. Oh, I suppose that you’ll be called on for ceremonial duties whenever Caesar wants to give the natives a show that impresses upon them the might of Rome. And there's to be a Century on guard on the barge at all times. Otherwise, you’re free of any duties. And Caesar has ordered that the wine ration is doubled for all men.”
Now, this might seem like wonderful news, and in some ways it was, but mostly it was a boon for the men. For the Centurions, it was as close to disaster as we could get. Something that every Centurion knows from the first day they pick up the vitus is that idle men mean trouble in one form or another. Keeping them busy, any kind of busy, is the key to keeping them, and yourself out of trouble. The fact that they would be in close proximity onboard ships was something else to worry about, while the double wine ration just compounded matters. I sighed, knowing that this was not going to be a holiday for anyone wearing the transverse crest.
~ ~ ~ ~
We began our procession up the Nile, and that is exactly what it was, a royal procession with all the panoply and pomp that only royalty can produce. The men lined the rails to watch whenever we stopped at some village or small town, where the locals would turn out, the elders wearing their finest, dropping into the dust at Cleopatra and Caesar’s feet. All the wailing, beating of breasts and tearing of clothes when the royal couple departed was a sight to behold, at least the first two or three times we witnessed it, though it got old very quickly. What we found infinitely more interesting were the creatures that lined the banks of the river. While we had seen some of the crocodiles that the Egyptians kept as pets, we had never seen any as large as what we saw sunning themselves on the bank. I was just glad that we had been warned about entering the water when we were close to shore, but that did not stop some of the men from goading each other into leaping off the boat and swimming back before being devoured. Fortunately, not many of the men knew how to swim, so this was relatively isolated. Huge herds of large cow-like creatures with wide, sweeping horns would come to the edge of the river to drink twice a day, in the thirds of a watch just after dawn and just before sunset, and we soon learned that this was when the crocodiles would go hunting. Very quickly, this became one of the favorite pastimes of the men, lining the rails and wagering with each other on when the crocodiles would strike and which animal it would take. The roars of laughter and howls of delight or despair as the crocodiles would suddenly rear out of the water to snatch some unlucky beast rolled across the river. I must say that I participated with equal enjoyment and enthusiasm. Although I appreciated having a ship more or less to myself with only Diocles as my companion, it soon got old, so it was only a day or two into our journey that I summoned some of the other Centurions to take the small boats each ship carried to row to my vessel. Usually it was Felix, Clemens, Sertorius, and Valens, but I knew that at some point I had to deal with Cornuficius and Fuscus. However, I was not ready, because I was not yet sure what I should do about it. On the second night after we set out, Apollonius rowed over to my ship to inform me that there was going to be a victory banquet that night, with all the Centurions invited. The banquet was on Cleopatra’s barge, with over a hundred guests, which should give an idea of the massive size of the vessel. Calling a meeting for the Centurions onboard my ship, I pressed Appolonius into duty as teacher on the proper way to behave. Needless to say I was very nervous; while I had dined with Caesar in the officers’ mess more times than I could count, this was the first formal affair that I had been invited to attend. With royalty in attendance, it was even more nerve-wracking. Having to worry about 12 other men, some of whom I did not trust at all made it even more so, but Apollonius did his best to soothe my nerves.
“You'll be dining on couches, in the normal manner,” was how Apollonius started out, prompting a chuckle from some of us.