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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

In the house of Simon the merchant, Nicopolis

The next day

TIME PASSED, AS it must do. Day and night were as one, sleep and waking so barely distinct that it was hard to notice. There were voices, sometimes people, and they tried to help him drink and even eat a little. The faces were indistinct, until he dreamed, when all was vivid. He dreamed of a ladder, climbing high into the Heavens, but as he climbed a dragon was beneath him, its eyes as coals and its breath like fire. It snapped at him and grabbed him, biting his heels and pulling at his cloak. An angel wiped his brow, the touch cool and damp. She was a tall angel, with long black hair that was soft whenever it brushed against him. The dragon pulled and he was falling, falling into the deep water.

He dreamed of far-off days and days that may never have been, but always he came back to the one place and the one moment and stood in that high chamber off the grand hall of the principia.

Domitius felt their eyes upon him. Most were men he had known for years, men he trusted, respected, and in many cases liked. They had toiled together, stood side by side on parade, taken those magic drinks of men parched after a long march when anything tasted more wonderful than at any other time. Many were friends and all were commilitones, bonded as comrades by the shared suffering, joys and plain stupidity of army life. There was Sextus, squat, broad chested, slow, but always got there in the end. He was frowning, as if puzzled. Annius, always on the fringes, always the cynic, had his usual expression of amusement as if everything was one huge joke. Longus was beside him, eyes excited. He had always been a vicious little bastard who enjoyed seeing anyone suffer, but as the others all said, he was their vicious little bastard, and when it came to it, they knew that they could rely on him. That was the army all over – them and us, and you stuck with us. Others he did not know, for there were men from other cohorts.

Then there was old Caecilius, almost a second father to him, and his face was as rigid as only an old sweat could manage, while his eyes pleaded with Domitius. ‘Just do it, lad, do it.’ He seemed to say, just as he had done the previous night. ‘It’s nothing. Doesn’t mean anything. Just a gesture. No one really cares. Do it, then forget it and think and do what you like the rest of the time. They won’t care. No one will be looking, but they’re looking now and all you have to do is step forward, pour out the cup and say the words. They’re just words, boy – like ‘No, sir’ when someone higher up asks if you’ve got any complaints. Doesn’t mean anything – not a thing. You’re not lying to anyone who matters, are you? This is bullshit, just army bullshit, so treat it like a parade, don’t think, obey all the orders and then forget it.