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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

‘Of course.’

‘Good, now I must see to everything – as usual. Keep an eye on him, old man, and take good care.’

‘I’ll only hit him if it’s for his own good.’

‘Huh!’ Sara’s expression took on the air of a determined child. She scowled at her grandfather, then came over to the bed, leaned forward and kissed Domitius on the forehead. With another fierce and wholly insincere glance at the old man, she strode out of the room.

‘My grandchild,’ the old man rumbled. His pride was as obvious as his affection. ‘She could rule the world if she chose, God help us! But she is mine, so that I too am in your debt. If you had not come, then I dread to think what would have happened. I am too old now to protect her, and it was vanity to make the journey, and her kindness to hang back from the caravan because I was so weary. If it was God who brought you, then I praise him, and I never thought that I’d say that to one of you monsters.’

‘We are not in the province?’ Domitius asked warily.

‘Do you think I could live under Roman oppression? Of course not, when I can be oppressed by other Gentiles. No, my boy, we go to the lands of the Romans when we must, but do not live there. We went there to do business, and because an old fool wanted to see Antioch once more before his bones are laid to rest, and could not keep up when that brigand found us alone, knocked me down and wanted to take the child. Pity the master who bought her as a slave! I got up and chased, saw a man standing over her and hit you on the head. Prudent folk would have left it at that, burying you out of respect, but the child insisted that we bring you with us. We crossed the river the next morning and left your people’s lands.’

‘And where am I now?’

‘Nicopolis, which some say is in Osrhoene and some do not,’ the old man told him, and then his voice grew louder and more deliberate. ‘In the house of my son-in-law, a foolish, conceited man, who indulges his children.’

‘And an old man, who tries my patience every day!’ A tall, very thin man had entered. His tunic was a fine one, if a little stained, and he was wiping his hands on a cloth after washing them. ‘They told me that you were well, and I am glad to see it.’

The old man snorted. Domitius noticed that Simon, as this must be, stooped and blinked as he stared at him. He came closer until he was at the side of the bed.

‘That is better.’ Simon pointed to his eyes, which were pale, just like his daughter’s but without her strong gaze. ‘Too many years of work make it hard for me to see anything that is not close.’ He had a short, well-trimmed beard and a thick mop of hair. Both had streaks of grey in them. ‘Well, let me thank you for what you have done – and do not thank me for our care. Sara will not allow it!’