“How was your crossing of the Alps, gentlemen?” Caesar asked politely, after looking up from a report he had been studying throughout most of dinner. The two senators had welcomed the fine venison Caesar’s table offered.
“Fair,” The gray-haired senator answered. “The early summer rains made the passes cruel – a bit more difficult than I remember them.”
“I am glad you made it safely, Valens,” Caesar smiled pouring the senator more wine.
Senator Valens nodded a thanks. Though Valens’s hair was gray, he was far from being elderly. He appeared in the prime of his life, much like Caesar, and he carried the same cordial, aloof presence about him, inferring that his affections were not as freely given as his gratitude.
“I must admit, Gaius, you have amassed an impressive army.” The other senator, a portly man and quite the opposite of Valens, now chimed in. He ate ravenously, as if he had starved on the ride from Geneva. The plump senator now paused to shove a handful of meat into his mouth. After a loud belch, he continued. “I have never seen this many legions in one spot. Why, even great Pompey didn’t have as many legions when he subjugated the East. How do you manage it, Gaius? How do you maintain order and discipline? And this is such a dismal place. Judging from the wretched maidens we encountered on our journey out here, I imagine the common soldiers must be plum out of their minds for an Italian girl. They must be deserting by the hundred.”
“I have excellent legates, Porcius.” Caesar answered, smiling, and then raised his cup to Valens. “These men are the best in Rome.”
“But they are not all from Rome,” Valens replied. “Most come from the provinces or the colonies.”
“True, Senator Valens,” Caesar said dismissively. “But they are Roman citizens, and they are led by the finest youth of Rome. Your nephew Piso, for instance. With such excellent tribunes, how can we ever meet with misfortune?”
“Yes, indeed.” Valens replied, his tone indicating that he had detected the hint of sarcasm in the remark.
“I am so looking forward to meeting your nephew, Valens,” Porcius said, oblivious to the tension between the other two men. “It’s always so encouraging to see the younger generation taking up the sword, carrying on where we left off. It warms my heart. There is hope for the republic yet. Where did you say young Piso was, Gaius?”
“I believe he is currently commanding a reconnaissance from the Seventh Legion,” Caesar said indifferently, while sifting through the latest correspondence from Rome. “Is that right, Labienus?” He said this to a general sitting nearby, as if to hand off the annoying senator.
Labienus was caught in mid-drink. “Uh, yes, Caesar,” he finally said, after swallowing a mouthful of wine. As Caesar’s deputy, the second-in-command of the army, Labienus was obligated to dine with the proconsul and the guests from Rome, but his mind had been elsewhere. There were a thousand things to do in the days leading up to the army’s movement, and he preferred leaving politics to the politicians. Seeing that Caesar was further distracted by the letters, Labienus addressed the two senators directly. “Tribune Piso’s probe has been recalled. Our couriers found them yesterday, twenty miles from here. They should be returning soon.”
“Am I correct to assume, then,” Valens said, “that you are planning to move the army?”
“Indeed, Senator,” Labienus replied, after darting a glance at Caesar. “The Nervii lands lie before us. They are the most powerful tribe in all Belgica. Defeat them, and the whole region will fall. We are preparing to make our final push in the coming days. If it’s a battle you’re looking for, I would say you have come at a propitious time.”
“Oh, I would love to see our legions in action!” Porcius said with eagerness. “Especially against such an intriguing foe. I must admit, I spent most of my military service in Africa and have never set eyes on one of the ferocious barbarians of the north. Are they really as fierce as your reports say, Gaius?”
Caesar finished reading a line before looking up. “Forgive me, Porcius. What did you say?”
“Your accounts of the barbarians,” Porcius said, a bit miffed at having to repeat himself. “Are they authentic, or are they embellishment to amuse the mob?”
“I hope you may judge for yourself, Porcius,” Caesar answered casually.
At that moment, a young officer stepped into the tent and saluted Caesar.
“Pardon me, Consul. Riders approaching, sir. They display the banner of the Seventh Legion.”
Caesar nodded. The officer then handed him a document before exiting the tent.
“That would be your nephew’s cohorts, Senator,” Labienus said to Valens. “They are the last of the punitive forays we sent into the Nervii country.”
“Punitive?” Porcius started in a surprised tone.
“A reconnaissance in force, nothing more,” Caesar said with a wave of his hand. “They bring good tidings, I am sure.”
Caesar thought there was little sense in mentioning that he had sent the advance cohorts into the Nervii lands to pick a fight. The Belgic tribes fought recklessly, and were even more reckless when on the attack. If a few raids could entice them into confronting him when his army was secure behind their camp fortifications, he would gain the advantage. Certainly he had taken a risk in sending two and three cohorts at a time, but in his mind it was worth the risk. Had one of the expeditionary groups been annihilated, what better rallying cry was there than revenge to inspire the rest of the army to action?
It was all so bloody simple.
“And this tells me,” Caesar said after glancing over the message, “that, in two days’ time, our provision train will be complete. Before the week is out, gentlemen, this army will march. We will move into the land of the Nervii and neutralize the threat they pose to our province.” Caesar raised his cup. “To the Senate and People of Rome, gentlemen!”
Each raised his cup in answer to the toast, Caesar theatrically pouring out a little wine as tribute to Mars before drinking his. After they had settled back in their chairs, the jittery Porcius seemed to have gained some confidence from the effects of the wine.
“If I may, Gaius,” he said carefully. “What of the reports we get in Rome, of women and children being put to the sword? Oh, I know it’s probably all exaggerated nonsense, but we do hear such things, you know. Such rumors have reached the senate floor no less. As much as we applaud your noble deeds here in Gaul and the extension of our influence among these people, there are those who question the legality of such measures. There are Senators back at home who are not your friends, you know, and would love nothing better than to see Gaius Julius Caesar brought back to Rome to face these accusations.”
Caesar knew that he was looking at two such senators now, but he smiled softly and met Porcius’s gaze. “Such atrocities never came by my order.”
That was true, for the most part, but a prolonged throat clearing by Labienus did little to bolster the guests’ confidence.
“And, as to my returning to Rome,” Caesar continued, after darting an inconspicuous glance at his red-faced deputy. “I will certainly do that, once my work here is finished. I have been legally appointed as proconsul of these regions. It is my duty to see to it that Rome faces no threat from these marauding tribes. Perhaps some of my colleagues have forgotten our not too distant shame, when Gauls and Germans put our legions under the yoke. I have not forgotten it, nor shall I abandon my duties.”