‘He can’t have more than two or three thousand men left - and there’ll be a steady flow of deserters until he can give them another victory. Caratacus will need to pick a fight; the sooner the better as far as he’s concerned. So let’s make things even more difficult for him. See how the marsh curves round on its northern edge?’

Plautius examined the map and nodded.

‘I should be able to cover it, sir. If you permit me to post some blocking forces on every track and trail leading into the marsh from the north, with the Third Cohort blocking the south we should be able to strangle Caratacus’ supply lines eventually. With no food coming in, and no foraging parties able to get out, Caratacus and his men are soon going to get hungry. Then, either they starve, or they fight. They’ll fight, of course. And when they come out and face us, we’ll be ready. Assuming they take the bait.’

‘And what if they do take the bait and you’re too late to save the Third Cohort?’

Vespasian shrugged. ‘Then let’s hope they’ll have served their purpose.’

And, he thought, buried the shame that would otherwise have attached itself to the Second Legion, and its commander. Vespasian was stabbed by a shard of guilt at this casual reflection that implied the deaths of nearly four hundred men. But they might survive, and win back some honour for themselves. There was a slight chance that most of the damage Maximius had caused might be repaired by a hard-fought battle and a glorious conclusion to the campaign.

One of the general’s staff officers raised a hand.

‘What is it, Tribune?’

‘Even if Caratacus does emerge from the swamp to attack the Third Cohort, we’ll probably fail to catch him. He’ll simply throw a rearguard at us, to buy time for the rest of his men to slip back into hiding. Then we’re back where we started, minus one cohort, of course.’

‘Yes, that’s a possibility,’ Vespasian nodded thoughtfully. ‘If that’s the case, we’ll just have to starve him out. Either way, if we act now, he’s had it. The virtue of forcing him into a battle is that we can finish him off as soon as possible, and stop him trying to whip up any more support from the tribes who are still outside of our control.’ Vespasian turned back to the general. ‘And it gives Maximius and his men something useful to do, while they’re being punished.’

The general frowned.’With luck, they’ll be taken care of by Caratacus.’

‘Yes, sir. I don’t expect they will survive when Caratacus comes for them. Not after what they will have done to his people.’