Hamedes nodded understandingly and then stretched himself out on his back, resting his head carefully on the bulky kitbag he had brought aboard and settled down to get some sleep. The two Romans watched the receding skyline of Alexandria for a while, taking turns to sip from a wineskin that Macro had bought in one of the markets of the Canopic Way. At length, Macro coughed and turned to Cato.

‘Do you really think Ajax will be down there, with the Nubians?’

‘The more I think about it, the more certain I am,’ Cato replied. ‘It offers him the best way of continuing his war against Rome.’

‘And us?’

‘Why not? There’s every chance of killing two birds with one stone. Where else would we be when the governor needs every soldier he can scrape together to repel the invasion?’

‘I’m not so keen on being considered to be part of the scrapings, if it’s all the same to you.’ Macro flashed a smile. ‘But I take your point. And if you’re right, it should make the task of finding Ajax that much easier. But duty first, eh? Defeat the Nubians and then find Ajax.’

‘Defeating the Nubians might be a rather harder task than you think.’

‘How so?’

‘I had a word with one of Petronius’s staff officers before I left the palace. I wanted some information on the forces available to Candidus. The two infantry cohorts sound like good formations, but the cavalry is under strength. It’s the Twenty-Second I’m not so sure about.’

‘They’re legionaries. They’ll stand up to whatever the Nubians throw at them.’

‘I hope so.’ Cato rubbed his chin and wished that he had taken the opportunity to have a shave in Alexandria before embarking. ‘The fact is that the Twenty-Second is something of an oddity.’

‘Oh? What’s their story, then?’

‘The legion was raised by Mark Antony. He filled the ranks with men from Cleopatra’s army. When Antony was defeated by Octavian, the Twenty-Second was integrated into the rest of the army and has been stationed on the Nile since then. They’re a mix of Greeks and Egyptians from the Nile cities.’

‘You think they might be a bit soft then?’

‘Maybe. They have had no part in a major campaign since the civil war. For most of them, this is going to be the first action they’ve gone into. I just hope they’ve been trained well enough for the job.’

Macro shook his head. ‘Cato, even if the quality of the men is suspect, they’re still commanded by centurions, and centurions, my friend, are the same the world over. As hard and demanding a bunch as you will ever find.’

‘Not all of them. We’ve seen our share of bad officers in our time.’