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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

Ferox was in a chamber, empty save for an engine about the size of a scorpio – presumably the one that was working properly. Another stair led off at an angle, so he went up, Bran close behind and a legionary following him. He had to hope that Sentius was doing as he was told and clearing the other tower, but there was no time to check and he went up the other stairs taking them two at time because he knew that if he slowed down he would not want to go at all. His mind conjured images of spearmen waiting by the opening, ready to thrust, but when his head came up into the next level he saw that it was empty. A ladder went to the top, and a man was coming down it slowly, and without any sign of urgency, still talking to someone up above.

Ferox dashed up into the room. The man saw him, jumped the last few steps and started to fumble with his sword, which jammed as he tried to draw it. Ferox sprang at him, gladius reaching forward.

‘Prisoner!’ he hissed, hoping the man knew the Greek word or could guess. The soldier was round faced, and he nodded nervously. Ferox pointed Bran to the ladder, then when the legionary came up pointed at the captive. ‘Watch him!’ Then he followed Bran.

There were two men on the roof, and the shout of their comrade must have warned them, but in the few moments it took Ferox to get up the ladder, Bran killed one, and left the other crouched on the floor, hands bloody as they clutched at his chest. On the far tower, men were shouting, then Sentius appeared, roaring with rage, and as he drove the guards back more of his men followed him up and the Nicopolitans were overwhelmed. Sentius turned to Ferox and waved his bloody sword in triumph.

‘Get the gates open and jam them that way!’ Ferox shouted across. ‘Get them off the hinges if you can!’

‘Yes, sir!’

An arrow flicked the top of the parapet. On the nearest tower of the main wall, an archer had seen them and was shooting. There did not seem to be anyone with him.

‘Head down, lad,’ Ferox told the legionary, ‘but keep a good watch.’

He led Bran back down to the ground floor. Domitius was outside, helping three legionaries lift the bar from the gate.

‘In the alley over there!’ Ferox pointed. ‘Dump it there!’ The men nodded and staggered as they carried the stout beam away. There was not time to hide it properly or destroy it, so the most that could be done was to make it a little harder for anyone to find. There were catches on the wall, and with Domitius they pushed one gate open and fastened it back, and then did the other. Sentius arrived, and one of the men with him had a crowbar.

‘We’ll see what we can do,’ he told Ferox. Ahead of them, a great swathe of the city seemed to be on fire, for the wind had picked up and was blowing hot air towards them.