‘No.’ Macro quickened his pace slightly so that he drew slightly ahead of Cato, and then advanced, his ears and eyes straining to detect any sign of movement ahead of them. To their left the walls of the fort were clearly visible in the glow of the dying embers and the silhouettes of Parmenion’s men could be clearly seen manning the towers and patrolling the walkway. As they marched in a wide arc round the fort the enemy camp came into view: a sprinkling of fires, twinkling in the distance. Half a mile to the north of the camp was a slight fold in the landscape that had been chosen as the site where the force would form up.When Macro judged that they had skirted round far enough to avoid being detected he changed course and began to lead the column towards the enemy camp at a tangent. Now was the most dangerous moment. If they were spotted before they could deploy for attack Bannus could bring the full weight of his army to bear and the Romans would be overwhelmed in short order.

As they approached the fold in the ground, there was no shout of alarm, no call of a trumpet to indicate that the enemy had detected their presence. Then, at last, the ground began to slope down and there ahead of them lay two darker masses separated by a stretch of open ground: the small forces of cavalry sent ahead of the main column. Cato pointed them out to Macro who nodded, and led the column to a point midway between them. As the column deployed, a horseman trotted down the line and stopped when he saw the crests on Macro’s and Cato’s helmets.

‘Sir?’

Macro at once recognised the quiet voice as Scrofa’s.

‘Is that the prefect?’

‘Yes. Come here.’ Macro beckoned to him. ‘Anything to report?’

‘We took care of their outlying pickets, sir.Their relief came out of camp a short while back. We took care of them too. Surprised them quickly enough to stop anyone raising the alarm.’

‘Good. But the men coming off watch will be expected back. We’ll have to attack at once.’

Cato had a sudden thought. ‘Wait. Perhaps there’s a way to maximise the surprise of the attack.’

‘What?’ The gloomy shape of Macro turned towards him. ‘What do you mean?’

Cato looked up at Scrofa. ‘The bodies of the relief. Where are they?’

‘Just over there.’ Scrofa pointed to the ground rising up in the direction of the enemy camp.

‘Cato,’ Macro cut in. ‘What are you thinking of doing?’

‘They’re expecting a party of men to come off watch. What if I, and some of our men, took their place? We overpower the guard on the edge of the enemy camp, and I signal you to approach. Sir, we could be inside the camp before they even knew we were here.’