Next came the eagle and the other standards, followed by the first cohort of the legion and then the rest in their order of precedence for the day. All marched in a cloud of dust from the boots of those ahead, and the further back in the column the worse the dust, which was the reason for rotating the order and giving everyone the best and the worst positions in turn. Even more dust was churned up by the baggage train following behind, with a cohors equitata on either side to act as a heavy screen. Crispinus remembered how that damned fool Mark Antony had pressed ahead and let his entire siege train follow at its own pace, only to have it snapped up by the Parthians which doomed his entire campaign. He was not about to make the same mistake. It was hard work helping the train along, but more pleasant than it was for the two auxiliary cohorts following behind, who had to stop and wait each time something got bogged down, all the while eating dust and treading their way through the inevitable dung dropped by thousands of animals, many not in the best of health. There were cavalry bringing up the rear, mostly ala III Thracum who had been stationed in Syria for so long that the only Thracian was their commander, who was also a Roman and an eques. Like the vanguard they sent out outposts as a screen, and behind them all came Ferox and the Brigantes because Crispinus wanted good scouts watching the rear, because if there were enemy out there then they would mainly be horsemen and they might come from any direction.

‘They make a fuss of everything, don’t they?’ Vindex commented after a long bout of coughing. They were able to hang back and avoid the worst of the dust, but every now and then the wind gusted, driving the muck into their faces. ‘Not going to take anyone by surprise are we?’

‘They might wonder why a cloud of dust is attacking them?’ Brennus suggested. He was as old as Vindex and had served as a scout and then with the irregular band of Brigantes for as long as Ferox could remember. The man had lost his left eye, and now lifted the patch and scratched at the scar beneath. ‘Taranis, it gets everywhere,’ he added. It bothered Ferox that he could no longer remember when the man had taken the wound. ‘No, think about it,’ Brennus continued. ‘You see this duststorm coming and you might think the gods are angry.’

Bran glanced at Vindex. ‘Don’t think any god looks like that.’

‘Some are ugly,’ Brennus said. ‘That goddess back on the coast was just a lump of rock.’

‘Her face was like stone, but she had a kind heart,’ Vindex said. ‘Plenty of lasses like that.’

Ferox was no longer listening. ‘Come on!’ he shouted as he headed off. They were passing one of the many farms and small settlements dotted around the plains and he had heard shouting. Crispinus had issued strict orders that there was to be no looting and no molestation of the locals until he gave the order. Yet the army was the army, and men always found an excuse to straggle off from the column and see what they could find. Every unit had its incorrigible foragers, so one of the other reasons for putting the Brigantes at the rear was to keep an eye out for trouble. ‘Your fellows know a lot about robbery,’ Crispinus had assured him, ‘so they ought to know how to catch thieves.’