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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

‘That’s a relief. Thought we might have come to the wrong place.’

‘This is Nicopolis!’ the first voice called. ‘And I am Athenodorus, Strategos, and I speak for the high council of the city. You are not welcome here! Go!’

‘May we speak to the princess?’ Arrian shouted up.

‘Her highness is indisposed. This is our city, and I speak for it. Leave our lands! Go in peace and the friendship between us and Syria and Rome itself will remain unsullied!’

‘We are but the first. Many thousands come behind us. A whole army is on its way in answer to the call of the Princess Azátē, friend to the Lord Trajan. My king will wish to be assured that her highness is safe. Only if we hear from her, will we know that this is true.’

‘Go!’

‘Let me come in and speak with you!’

‘Leave. If you do not then we will treat you as enemies. Nicopolis is a free city. It is free because its citizens rule themselves and do not give way to force. Go!’

Cerialis walked his horse forward to talk to Arrian. A moment later they both wheeled around and went back to the ala. That was always hard, keeping to a slow pace and showing no trace of fear when a man was bound to wonder whether he was about to be spitted by a bolt.

‘Oh well,’ Vindex said. ‘We’re humped again.’

They withdrew back beyond the low ridge, leaving only a few of the Brigantes in plain sight to show that they had not gone further. Riders came out from the city, but none came closer than half a mile. For all their defiance, the Nicopolitans did not appear eager to start a war. Arrian, escorted by Vindex and a dozen Brigantes, went back to find the infantry column.

The morning passed slowly. Cerialis always kept a quarter of his men fully equipped and either standing beside their mounts or riding them, but gave orders that all in turn were to care for their horses, check their own equipment, take some food and rest. The sky was clear and the sun grew bakingly hot. Men burned their hands when they touched a helmet or anything else metal that had been left to lie. It was too hot even for the men to spend time watching the little lizards standing so still and then scurrying about.

There was some thin woodland to the north and Cerialis ordered the troops who were resting to move there. A little before noon he summoned Ferox to him.

‘What are the chances of an escalade?’

‘Next to none. You’ve seen the walls. Arrian’s fellows will be tired when they get here. If the night’s clear,’ he said, glancing up, ‘and all the odds say it will be, then there won’t be much cover from darkness. Unless they’re dumber than philosophers then they’re bound to realise that we are hanging on for a reason, so they will keep a close watch. There aren’t enough ladders or enough men to threaten at so many points that we strike a weak spot.’