The Forgotten Legion

Not a single warrior had been killed.

'The bastards didn't even look where they were riding.' There was respect in Brennus' voice.

'I told you they weren't infantry.'

'Have you seen them before?' asked Romulus.

'Heard rumours in Armenia. They're famous for turning in the saddle and loosing. It's called the "Parthian shot".'

'Those Gauls didn't stand a chance.'

'Attacks by the archers weaken an enemy. And when they are in disarray the heavy cavalry get sent in.' Tarquinius grimaced. 'Then they repeat it.'

'Discipline!' cried Brennus. 'The Roman shield wall can take anything if the soldiers stand fast.' He thumped his shield robustly and immediately began to doubt his own words.

Tarquinius said nothing. It was unsettling.

Romulus found it nearly impossible to ignore the dead Gauls, men whose lack of restraint had got them killed. Their bodies were a grim reminder of what happened to those who disobeyed orders. Romulus hoped it would teach Crassus to conserve his cavalry. The Etruscan's veiled comments about the lack of Roman horsemen were starting to make sense and Romulus' unease grew.

High above in the azure sky, the vultures were circling.

Tarquinius studied them for a long time.

Puzzled, Romulus stared up at the broad wingtips silhouetted against the sun. Twelve vultures. No more than he might see on any other day. But when the Etruscan lowered his gaze at last, both he and Brennus noticed that he seemed very troubled.

'Were you ever wrong, Olenus?' Tarquinius said to himself. 'Twelve.'

'What did you see?' asked Romulus.

'I'm not sure,' answered Tarquinius vaguely.

It was obvious he was holding something back.

Romulus began to speak again and Brennus lifted a finger to his lips, trying to forget Ultan's prophecy. 'The man will tell us when he's ready,' he said. 'Not before.' Now that he was more than a thousand miles from Transalpine Gaul, the big man found he did not want to know if his death was imminent.

Romulus shrugged fatalistically. No point pressing the matter. The Etruscan's predictions had got them this far.

Romulus wiped the sweat off his face. 'How much longer before they stand and face us?' he said angrily. 'Why won't the bastards fight?'

Far in the distance, a line of riders danced along the horizon.

The enemy horsemen had pulled away after the abortive Gaulish attack, giving Crassus time to think. But the general would only advance and the hot mercenaries were still trudging through deep sand.

'They've gone for more arrows,' replied the Etruscan.

Brennus smiled thinly. 'Be back soon then.'

Romulus shook a fist at the Parthians. 'Come back and fight!' he roared.

'It's a simple plan, really.' Tarquinius indicated the men around them. 'They're just tiring us out.'

One day in the furnace-like heat had taken a huge toll on Crassus' army. Instead of marching in regulation close order, most cohorts had now sagged apart. The sun beat down, sapping strength from the men. Their water bags long since empty, the weaker men were beginning to sway as they walked, while others leaned on their comrades' shoulders. Figures fell out of rank to collapse on the sand. Kicked and beaten by their officers, most struggled to their feet, while some lay unnoticed and were left to die. Such poor discipline would not normally have been tolerated, but the exhausted centurions had given up shouting. It was enough that the legions were still moving forward, although under the weight of his chain mail, shield, javelins and equipment, every soldier was struggling. Except Brennus.

Publius' Gauls rode beside the slowly moving column, their large horses also beginning to look tired. In stark comparison, the Nabataeans' mounts pranced along, riders chattering busily to each other.

Brennus pointed. 'Easy for them, eh?'

'You'll be glad of the Nabataeans when we're facing the main Parthian army,' said Romulus.

'I suppose. But I don't trust them,' the Gaul growled. 'Forever sniggering and laughing. Look!'

Romulus didn't like the sly glances being cast in their direction either.

'A couple of thousand Gaulish cavalry would be more use.'

'Not if they perform like those fools back there,' said Tarquinius dryly.

In an attempt to find relief from one of many blisters, Romulus hefted his yoke from one shoulder to another and narrowly missed the head of the man immediately behind.

'Watch what you're doing,' the soldier swore. 'Or you'll feel the tip of my gladius.'

Romulus ignored him. 'Why didn't we travel through Armenia?' he asked again. 'Crassus must have known that would be easier.' Tarquinius had not been slow to share his discontent when it became evident the army was not taking the longer, safer route.

'Impatience. This way to Seleucia takes only four weeks.'

'A month in this hell?' Brennus rolled his eyes. 'What about water?'

'Resen, one of my people 's ancestral cities, lies the other way,' added the Etruscan regretfully. He lowered his voice. 'And fewer men would have died in the mountains.'

Romulus noticed him glance up at the vultures and his suspicions grew further.

Tarquinius gestured at the Parthians in the distance. 'We should have been facing that lot on our terms, not theirs.'

'True,' replied the Gaul. 'Broken terrain would suit us far better.'

'Precisely.'

'It's what we did to the Romans in the first year,' mused Brennus. 'Attacked them on our own ground.'

'And now the Parthians are doing it to us,' Romulus chipped in. 'Crassus needs to start using the Nabataeans as protection.'

Brennus nodded approvingly at the observation while a dark shadow passed unseen over Tarquinius' face. His wish to travel east was being fulfilled, but it would be at far greater cost than the haruspex had first thought.

True to form, Tarquinius' words were prophetic. In the hours that followed, groups of Parthian archers rode in close, attempting to goad the Gauls into pursuit. If Publius' cavalry responded, more arrow storms rained down. If they did not, the enemy horsemen used them as target practice. Without bows, there was little the Gauls could do to retaliate and after a number of assaults, they had lost scores of men.

The Nabataeans seemed immune to temptation. Volleys of shafts were released if the Parthians came near, a tactic that worked well. Crassus finally realised this and Ariamnes was ordered to split his cavalry, placing half on each side of the army as a protective screen. The mercenaries were heartened by their allies' presence.

Slowly the army ground forward into the sandy wasteland.

But the Parthians immediately adapted the method of harassment. Groups of riders began picking areas the Nabataeans were not protecting at that exact time and their sudden charges from behind large dunes were harder to predict. Men on the outside of each rank became experts at spotting dust clouds driven up by the enemy's horses, early warning that an attack was imminent.

'Halt! Shields up!' echoed along the line throughout the afternoon. 'Form testudo!'

Despite their exhaustion, the soldiers had learned to respond fast. Each side of the Roman column would become a wall of shields, the men inside lifting theirs to form a roof, creating cover for all.

But no matter how fast they responded, fresh screams always rang out as the showers of Parthian arrows came scything down, the shafts finding gaps in the testudo and the men who'd obeyed orders too late. The enemy quickly realised that aiming both above and below the shields was even more effective. Soldiers dropped to the ground clutching throats, arms and legs. The hiss of arrows competed with shrieks of agony in a terrible crescendo.