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Back The City Save as PDF
Contents ( 111)
  1. BY ADRIAN GOLDSWORTHY
  2. CONTENTS
  3. MAP
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. I
  6. In the hill country
  7. Nearer the Euphrates
  8. The same night
  9. II
  10. The temporary camp of Legio VIIII Hispana, Fifty-five miles east of Cyrrhus
  11. Fifteen days before the Kalends of March
  12. III
  13. On the training grounds outside Zeugma
  14. Fifth day before the Nones of March
  15. In the house of Simon the merchant, Nicopolis
  16. The next day
  17. IV
  18. The temporary camp of Legio VIIII Hispana
  19. V
  20. Outside Nicopolis
  21. Eleventh day before the Kalends of April
  22. Nicopolis
  23. The same day
  24. VI
  25. On the road to the crossing at Zeugma
  26. Tenth day before the Kalends of April
  27. VII
  28. Zeugma
  29. Seventh day before the Kalends of April
  30. VIII
  31. The camp of VIIII Hispana
  32. One day before the Nones of April
  33. Nicopolis
  34. The same day, late afternoon
  35. IX
  36. Outside Nicopolis
  37. Eighth Day before the Ides of April
  38. X
  39. Near Nicopolis
  40. A little later
  41. XI
  42. In the plain in front of Nicopolis
  43. The Ides of April
  44. Nicopolis
  45. The same night
  46. XII
  47. In front of Nicopolis
  48. Eighteenth day before the Kalends of May First day of the siege
  49. XIII
  50. Outside Nicopolis
  51. Seventeenth day before the Kalends of May Second day of the siege
  52. XIV
  53. Outside Nicopolis
  54. Fifteenth day before the Kalends of May The fourth day of the siege
  55. Nicopolis
  56. The sixth day of the siege
  57. XV
  58. Up country
  59. Thirteenth day before the Kalends of May The eighth day of the siege
  60. XVI
  61. Zeugma
  62. That same night
  63. XVII
  64. The siege lines outside Nicopolis
  65. Eleventh day before the Kalends of May The tenth day of the siege
  66. XVIII
  67. The large camp to the east of Nicopolis
  68. Tenth day before the Kalends of May The eleventh day of the siege
  69. Nicopolis
  70. Late on the fourteenth night of the siege
  71. XIX
  72. Before Nicopolis
  73. Fifth day before the Kalends of April Sixteenth day of the siege
  74. XX
  75. Outside Nicopolis
  76. The Kalends of May The twenty-first day of the siege
  77. XXI
  78. Before Nicopolis
  79. The day before the Nones of May The twenty-sixth day of the siege
  80. Nicopolis
  81. The next day The twenty-seventh day of the siege
  82. XXII
  83. North west of Nicopolis, some miles from the road
  84. Fifth day before the Ides of May The thirty-second day of the siege
  85. XXIII
  86. In front of Nicopolis
  87. The day before the Ides of May The thirty-fifth day of the siege
  88. XXIV
  89. Outside Nicopolis
  90. The Ides of May
  91. The thirty-sixth day of the siege
  92. XXV
  93. The breach in the western wall
  94. XXVI
  95. Outside Nicopolis
  96. Seventeenth day before the Kalends of June The thirty-seventh day of the siege
  97. The prison at Nicopolis
  98. Three days later
  99. The forty-first day of the siege
  100. XXVII
  101. The citadel at Nicopolis
  102. The last hours of the fourteenth day before the Kalends of June
  103. The forty-first day of the siege
  104. XXVIII
  105. Nicopolis
  106. The same night
  107. EPILOGUE
  108. The next morning
  109. HISTORICAL NOTE
  110. GLOSSARY
  111. CAST OF CHARACTERS

‘But not handing over the city! Not to Rome, not to anyone – even the Parthians, and they are close enough to fear in normal times. Nicopolis is free, from ancient times, even if that means voluntarily paying taxes to Edessa and obeying the king most of the time. And it’s free inside the walls, so that we Jews have our synagogue and our arguments, others have their own temples, and you Galileans can dip each other in a pool in the basement of one rich fool’s house. It is a good city. A good place to raise children, if I had time to have children.

‘No matter. The magistrates refused Azátē’s request – and would have had a riot if they had done anything else or if they had harmed her. But they won’t risk letting her go, since she is a friend of the Romans. So there she lives, in the old palace just up the hill a little way, and she is attended by her ladies and eunuchs and guarded by a dozen of her own guards, while the rest have been sent from the city. And outside the palace, at a polite distance, her guards are in turn heavily guarded by men set there by the magistrates. We wouldn’t want anyone taking a night-time stroll and opening a side gate to admit the enemy, now, would we? You follow me so far?’

Domitius nodded. He was feeling better and started to drag off his filthy tunic.

Simon wrinkled his nose in disgust. ‘Your people are strange folk. Do you also remember that Sara was summoned to the princess who wished to speak to her and purchase clothing? Yes? Just before they dragged you away. There was nothing strange in the request, nothing at all, but then we did not know Azátē’s plans. Sara remains in the palace. The magistrates probably think she could carry messages out from the princess – and perhaps they are right – and in turn maybe the princess thinks that there is no harm in having a hostage or just likes having a nice Jewish girl trying to run her life for her. Who knows how someone else’s mind works? What it means is that our family is under suspicion. I am appointed as an officer, because I have seen more of the world than most here, and I can be sure that there will be eyes watching me, even from among my own men. To keep Sara safe, I must fight well and be utterly loyal to the city. They probably won’t harm a princess, whatever happens, but a nice Jewish girl…’

‘What can I do?’

‘Good, you can see clearly. What I need you to do is explain to me and the magistrates what the Romans are doing. You don’t have to strike a blow, but will you tell us what they are up to and help us work out ways to stop them?’

‘Yes,’ Domitius said, as sure as he had been that he would not fight. ‘I can do that. And I owe Sara and your family.’