The Legion

Cato stood in front of the governor's desk and considered how best to respond to such a rhetorical question.

'Sir, the fact is that we discovered Ajax's base of operations and succeeded in putting it out of action. We took his ships and accounted for over two hundred of his men. He has between forty and fifty followers left. However, I fear that he still poses a considerable threat to the Empire. I shall, of course, continue to pursue him but I will need to have your warrant to ensure the cooperation of the province's officials along the Nile. In addition, I will need men to complete the task. A mounted cohort should suffice.'

Petronius let out a bitter laugh. 'A mounted cohort, you say? A modest request, you might think. But tell me, after having lost one of my warships and its entire crew, as well as thirty of my legionaries, what makes you think I would be prepared to entrust you with any more men? Well?'

'You can't afford not to, sir.'

'Oh, I think I can afford not to. Especially when my forces are thinly stretched as it is. The Nubians have already advanced as far as the first cataract. That fool, Legate Candidus, sent three of his auxiliary cohorts to intercept the Nubian vanguard. They were crushed. I gather barely half of them managed to escape.'

'That is what I heard at Memphis, sir.'

'Then you will appreciate why I seem reticent to lend any more troops to you. Hunting this gladiator down is no longer a priority. I need to concentrate all available forces to strike at the Nubians, and drive them out of the province.'

'I understand, sir, but if we fail to destroy Ajax then you can be sure that he will continue his private war against Rome. He has already nearly cost the Emperor the province of Crete as well as disrupting the sea trade in the eastern Mediterranean. He cannot be permitted to trouble the Empire any longer.'

'Nor will he, once the Nubians have been repulsed. Then, and only then, will I even consider providing you with any more resources to track down this criminal. Do you understand?'

'Yes, sir. I just don't agree with you.'

'Disagreement is not a privilege that a subordinate can exercise, Prefect,' Petronius snapped. 'I am the supreme power here in Egypt. I act in the name of the Emperor and while you are here in my province, you will do as I instruct. That is the end of the matter.' He paused and smiled coldly. 'Well, not quite.'

Cato stood still and silent, waiting for the governor to elaborate.

Petronius rose from his desk and crossed his study to the opposite wall where a long map of the Nile had been painted, from the delta all the way into southern Egypt. Beyond the line marking the frontier, the details were few. He reached up and tapped the map.

'Candidus is concentrating his forces at Diospolis Magna. In addition to the Twenty-Second Legion, he has two infantry cohorts of auxiliaries and two cavalry cohorts. That is all that can be spared. I have scraped together every spare man that I can to join the army. Now it seems that Candidus is short of a number of officers. His senior tribune was the officer commanding the auxiliary force defeated by the Nubians. He was killed in the fight. Candidus is also short of the full complement of centurions. Several of them were on detachment to frontier posts acting as magistrates. They were lost when the Nubians crossed the border.' Petronius turned round to face Cato. 'It is my decision to attach you and Centurion Macro to the Twenty-Second Legion for the duration of the present emergency.'

Cato had seen it coming and had already prepared his answer. 'I'm sorry, sir, but I have my orders from Governor Sempronius. I am to seek and destroy the slave Ajax and his followers. Until that is achieved I am not free to carry out any other duties.'

Petronius's expression hardened. 'How dare you address me so haughtily, you upstart little prig. Who the hell do you think you are? You are an over-promoted junior officer. There is not a drop of noble blood in your veins. You have no family or connections in Rome worth a bent sestertius. You are nothing more than Sempronius's little pet. You would do well to remember that.'

'I hold the commission of prefect, sir.'

'Oh, you may well hold the rank of prefect, for now, but your patron won't be able to save you from cocking up one day soon. Then you'll be broken back down to a rank more suited to your lack of years and experience.'

'Be that as it may, for now I am under the orders of Senator Sempronius.'

'You forget yourself, Prefect.' Petronius smiled. 'In Egypt I act in the name of the Emperor. There is no higher authority. If I give you a command, it is as if Claudius himself gave it. Is that not true?'

Cato pursed his lips. The governor was correct. He had the authority to do as he pleased, until recalled to Rome. He could overrule the orders of Sempronius if he wished and there was nothing Cato could do about it. 'Yes, sir. That's right.'

Petronius nodded his head. 'Then the matter is decided. You, and Centurion Macro, will leave for Diospolis Magna immediately. My chief of staff has already prepared your letters of appointment. You can collect them as you leave my offices. Any questions?'

'Yes, sir. May I take it that once the campaign against the Nubians is over, you will authorise me to renew the hunt for Ajax?'

'As you wish.' Petronius shrugged. 'However, I suspect that it will be some months before the Nubians have been dealt with. Unless the gladiator is a complete fool he will have fled the province long before then. If not, then I will be sure to consider any request you make. Now, Prefect, you are dismissed.'

'So, how did it go?' Macro asked as he slid a cup across the table to Cato and poured him some wine. He had been waiting in a tavern just outside the palace gates on the Canopic Way, the two hundred foot wide avenue that stretched across the heart of the city. Outside, in the midday sun, tens of thousands of Alexandrians discussed their business or conversed with friends, struggling to make themselves heard above the din of street hawkers and the merchants shouting about their wares to passers-by. Cato had brushed past them, ignoring the endless entreaties to examine their cheap souvenirs and antiques. The traders pursued him with promises that he need only look, without being hassled. Their promises were as cheap as the goods they sold and they only relented when Cato snarled at them to leave him alone.

Cato slumped down on to the stool opposite Macro and Hamedes and quickly drained the cup. He glanced at Hamedes.

'Shouldn't you be trying to find a vacancy in the priesthood of some temple?'

Hamedes snorted with derision. 'Here, in Alexandria?'

'Why not?' Cato gestured along the Canopic Way. 'There's hardly any shortage of temples in the city.'

'The temples here are run by Greek parasites. They filch money from the gullible to line their purses. I am a priest from the true temples of Egypt. I will not defile myself by serving in Alexandria.' Hamedes helped himself to a cup of wine. 'Besides, the Alexandrian priesthoods are a nice little earner and there aren't any vacancies right now.' He shrugged.

'A priest is a priest is a priest,' Macro muttered as he took the handle of the wine jug and eased it back over to his side of the table. 'Anyway, how did it go with the governor?'

'Let's just say that he wasn't too pleased that Ajax got away.'

'So is he going to give us enough men to track the bastard down?'

'Give us men?' Cato laughed drily. 'Far from it. You and I are being sent to join the fight against the Nubians.' Cato pulled the orders he had been given from inside his tunic and tossed them across the table to Macro. 'Read, if you want to.'

Macro gently pushed the papyrus scroll aside. 'What the hell is Petronius playing at? He knows how dangerous Ajax is.'

'It's a matter of priorities, apparently.'

'Priorities?' Macro frowned. 'Since when was letting the leader of a slave rebellion remain at large not a priority?'