The hillfort was the seventh settlement his legion had seized and sacked. This had taken only two days to achieve, yet there were certain aspects of the operation that Vespasian was certain could be improved. A handful of the enemy had managed to slip through his picket lines the first night the legion had camped in front of the hillfort. That was quite deplorable, and the optio in charge of the sentries had been broken back to the ranks. Next time, the legate firmly resolved, he would erect a palisade across any likely rat runs.

Then there had been only a limited supply of ammunition for his artillery engines to lay down a demoralising and destructive barrage upon the defenders. Although they had managed to damage the defences around the main gate, and take down a number of the enemy warriors, the catapults and bolt-throwers had failed to make a large enough breach. When the First Cohort had been thrown into the assault they met a far more determined resistance than they had anticipated. Next time the legion would wait until its artillery was able to lay down the kind of barrage that breaks the enemy’s will to resist, Vespasian decided.

He felt guilty about rushing the assault, and was honest enough to admit the reason behind the order to attack was based on his ambition to have a high tally of victories to his name. Men had paid for his ambition with their blood. The legate quickly tried to repress the self-criticism by moving his thoughts on to a related problem. The Durotrigans were as fanatical in the final fight as they had been in the preparation of their defences. As a result there had been no survivors when the enraged legionaries had burst through the gateway and swarmed into the hillfort’s interior. Every man, woman and child had been put to the sword.

That was a terrible waste, Vespasian reflected. Next time he would insist on taking as many of the enemy alive as possible. A good healthy Celt attracted a premium price in Rome at the moment with the latest fad for barbarian chic raging amongst those with more money than taste. Vespasian’s share of the spoils would earn him a small fortune. Just as it would his men, if they could just manage to restrain their bloodlust long enough to realise that the pleasures of rape and pillage were transitory, whereas the profits from slave dealing could provide a nice supplement to their retirement funds. Orders must be given to the centurions to restrain their men when the legion took the next hillfort, Vespasian resolved. There would be no further waste of valuable lives, Roman or Briton.