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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

‘My grandson tells me that there are rumours the Romans are coming,’ the old man said as they sat on a stone bench watching people, mostly women, coming to draw water from a fountain. John liked coming here, because it was always busy, but not so busy as the main thoroughfares of the markets, and far less noisy than the markets. It was quieter and he liked watching people, especially women.

‘There was talk of an expedition to Armenia,’ Domitius said. ‘The emperor was at Antioch at the start of the year and was massing a great army.’

‘Everyone knows that,’ the old man said dismissively. ‘I mean here in Osrhoene. When Parthia is strong the Romans would not dare, but Parthia is weak as king turns against king and great empires like to flex their muscles. Rome is rarely subtle.’

‘A famous Greek once wrote that the Romans instinctively turn to brute force to solve a problem.’

Simon nodded, running his fingers through his little beard. ‘The Greeks write a lot of things, and much is nonsense or so clever that it amounts to the same thing. And then to spite us all they keep coming out with wisdom.

‘This emperor of yours likes to be strong. He will see Parthia as a challenge – and best of all a challenge less strong than usual. I’m rambling as an old man will. What I meant to tell you was that before my grandson met up with the princess and her escort, he camped one night near to the entourage of her brother, the prince. I know, I know, how is it my family hob-nobs with royalty? I would not trust any king or prince further than I could throw them, but I am old, so my wisdom does not matter. The boy did not speak to the prince – his sister is unlike the rest of her family in honouring the true God – but knew one of the soldiers and spoke to him. They were on their way back from visiting your emperor and watching the Romans show off their might. The emperor wanted him to pledge loyalty on behalf of Osrhoene. Those were not his instructions from King Abgarus, and the emperor was angry about this and because the king had not come but merely sent the prince.’

‘That does not sound a prelude to war,’ Domitius said.

‘Men have fought over far less. But there was more if you had not interrupted me! This princess is a fine young woman in many ways, but she is a princess and ambitious and very determined. Ha, I sometimes wonder if she should not have been born Jewish! The court bickers and she defies her father and will not marry the man he has chosen for her. Worse, she talks to the Romans and, worse still, her brother and probably father know that she does this. In the prince’s case, it is because he is also secretly sending messages to the Romans – and by all accounts to two of the Parthian rivals.