Between the throng of eager helpers and Kallippos' hoists, the bits of the catapult were soon in place, and Archimedes afterward realized with astonishment that he had not once had to pull on a rope himself. He was assembling the pieces when Hieron arrived with a troop of guardsmen. He came up to the catapult platform and watched silently while Archimedes threaded the pulleys. Archimedes concentrated furiously to avoid those bright interested eyes.
"Will it work as well as the others?" the king asked when the stock had been fixed upon its stand.
"Unnh?" said Archimedes, fiddling with the screw elevator. "Oh. Yes. Probably won't have the range of the Welcomer, though." He walked back along the stock to the trigger and sighted along the slide- then stood upright with a jerk. There was a vast shadow on the road northa shadow that glittered as the bright noon sun caught upon the points of the thousands of spears. He looked at the king in shock.
Hieron met his eyes and nodded. "I imagine they'll want to set up camp before they test our teeth," he said. "You don't need to rush the tuning."
In fact, the Romans were impatient. The main body of the army halted in the fields to the north of the Epipolae plateau and began entrenching, but a smaller group could be seen assembling on the road. It was easy to make out two masses of men falling into square formations, with an irregular line of other men before them.
Hieron, who was watching out the artillery port, gave a snort of dismay. "Two battalions?" he asked no one in particular. "Two- what do they call them? — maniples? Only about four hundred men. What do they think they're doing?"
As if in answer, the two squares began to march toward Syracuse, one to the left and one to the right of the road. "Anyone with better eyes than me see a herald, or any tokens of a truce?" asked the king, raising his voice.
Nobody saw any evidence that the Romans were coming to talk.
Hieron sighed and stared at the two maniples a moment longer with a look of loathing. Then he said, "Very well," and snapped his fingers. "Get the men drawn up," he ordered his staff. "There are a few things I want to tell them."
The Syracusan soldiers assembled in neat ranks in the fort yard, facing the open-backed catapult platform where the king stood. The Hexapylon had a regular garrison of a single infantry file- thirty-six men- plus servants and errand boys and hangers-on, and the king had brought four more files with him. But the crowd that assembled now numbered well over three hundred, and Archimedes realized that men from other units along the wall must have been arriving while he was busy with the catapult. Hieron had concentrated some strength here, where the first attack was expected- but not too much. All up and down the fifteen-mile circuit of the walls, Syracusans must be standing to the alert, checking the tension on their catapults and arranging supplies of ammunition. Who knew which way the Romans would turn?
Hieron strode to the edge of the platform and looked out at the rows of helmets before him, all with their cheek flaps turned up so that they could listen. Archimedes glanced over the ranks, then, feeling out of place, went back to Good Health and resumed work on the strings. Despite the king's advice, he had been rushing to get the catapult ready to fire, and now it only needed tuning. He climbed up onto the stock with the winding gear.
"Men," shouted the king, in a strong clear voice, "the Romans have decided to send some fellows up to see whether or not we have teeth. We're going to let them come as close they want to, and then we're going to bite so hard that their friends watching will shit for fear."
The soldiers gave a roar of understanding and struck the butts of their spears against the ground. Archimedes waited for the noise to die down, then struck the second set of catapult strings.
"Good!" said Hieron, drowning the note. "So don't do anything to scare them off early! No shouting, and absolutely no shooting, until I give the order. When they're nice and close, we're going to give them a warm greeting. You probably know we have a couple of new catapults here especially designed for greeting Romans. One says 'Welcome!' and the other says 'Good health!' When a two-talenter wishes you health, you'll never be ill again!"
Another roar, of laughter this time. Archimedes glanced around irritably, then tried striking the strings again.
"I want them smashed!" shouted the king, punching the air. "When the catapults have done that, the lads that came up here with me can go pick up the pieces, and carry the bits back. I want prisoners, if we can take them. But the main job today is to let the enemy know what he can expect if he attacks Syracuse. Understood?"
In answer, the men bellowed the war cry, the fierce ululation howled out just before the clash of arms: alala! Hieron lifted his arms above his head, his purple cloak flapping, and shouted, "Victory to Syracuse!" Archimedes set the winding gear down in exasperation. Hieron left the troop cheering and turned around to look at Archimedes. "I hope it is ready to fire?" he asked, in a normal tone of voice.
"It would be," said Archimedes disgustedly, "if you would just keep quiet!"
Hieron grinned and gave an apologetic go-ahead wave of the hand. One of the men who was to operate the catapult struck the fixed strings, and Archimedes hit his own strings. Too low.
He tightened them a turn and a half, struck them again, and nodded to the catapultist. The man rapped out a sharp hollow note while the first sound still reverberated, and the two notes blended low and deadly on the still air.
"It's ready!" Archimedes said breathlessly. The king smiled tightly, gave a nod, and departed to watch from the gate.
Archimedes patted Good Health nervously, then went to the open artillery port to watch. He was vaguely aware of the catapult shifting beside him as its new team of operators tried the wind-lasses and elevator to train it on the enemy's advance. In the fields beyond, the Romans were continuing their slow march up the hill toward the walls of Syracuse.
At the limit of catapult range the Romans were faced with a deep ditch and a bank; they hesitated a moment, then raised their shields above their heads and began tramping down the ditch and up the other side. The shields were painted red, and as the men descended into the ditch they looked like a swarm of brightly colored beetles.
Archimedes heard someone come up behind him, and he glanced around and recognized Straton. "Oh," he said vaguely, and looked back at the advancing Romans.
"I was sorry I missed your demonstration," said the guardsman, as casually as though they were meeting in the marketplace. "The fact is, the captain had me cleaning the latrines that day."
Archimedes glanced back at him, surprised, and Straton grinned. "I'd made some bets with the other fellows in my unit that you'd do it, and there was a bit of argument about it. The captain doesn't like arguments. But you earned me a month's pay when you moved that ship. I've come to say thanks."
Archimedes gave an embarrassed shrug. "I don't know why people thought it was so impossible. Pulleys have been around for centuries." His eyes were drawn irresistibly back to the Romans. They were well within catapult range now, and were looking more like men and less like insects. "How close does King Hieron mean to let them come?" he asked.
"You heard him!" said Straton, surprised. "As close as they're willing to come! See, they've been sent up here to have a look at us, to find out what kind of defenses we've got. They've probably got orders to fall back as soon as we start shooting. The idiots have come too close for safety already- and in loose formation, too."
Archimedes chewed his thumbnail. There was a limit to how far a catapult could be depressed: if the Romans got too close, they'd be inside the arc of fire. "What if they run for the walls?" he asked.
"Shouldn't think they will," said Straton. "If those fellows knew anything about catapults, they wouldn't have come as close as they have- and it takes a lot of experience to convince your feet that you'll be safer running toward your enemy than away from him. But if they're stupid enough to try it, we've got enough men here to wipe them out."