THEY WATCHED THE ARABS FOR HOURS. Valens lay with five of the men in a shallow scrape about two hundred paces away. Decimus and Hairan were half a mile back, hidden in a wadi with the animals.

Aulus had been right that the tent-dwellers would make no effort to cover their tracks. Their choice of campsite also indicated that they had no fear of pursuit. They had pitched their shelters at a watering hole which stood out prominently against the bare, rolling country. Their campfires were kindled in a stand of date palms. The light reflected from the undersides of the fronds, shining like a beacon in the dark.

About the numbers of the nomads, Aulus appeared mistaken. Dressed alike in cloaks and boots, all wearing headbands holding back their long hair, they were hard to differentiate. They observed no order, but drifted about haphazardly. Valens had counted and recounted them. By his calculation, the group was twenty-five strong, each armed with a spear and a bow. One or two also had swords. They were too well armed and too many for an open attack in daylight.

As the hours passed, and the evening turned to night, the soldiers observed the arrangements of the nomads. Their rough shelters were skins stretched over upright poles. They were open at the sides, and grouped around the fires. The camels were tethered at one side of the camp, the horses and mules at the other. The Arabs produced hunks of meat from sacks of skins. They cooked them in kettles over the flames. They ignored their usual drink of milk for the wine they had looted from the wagon. Amphorae went from hand to hand. Likewise, the woman was led from one shelter to another. None seemed to feel the need for privacy when they took her, confirming the nomads reputation for lechery. Most of the men raped her more than once. There was nothing the watchers could do to end her suffering and humiliation.

Unaccustomed to the wine, which they drank unmixed with water, one by one the Arabs rolled themselves in their cloaks and went to sleep. Eventually there were just four left awake. They dragged the woman to the bough of a tree in the middle of the camp, tethered her there like another animal, then fell into a loud and heated argument. Roused by the noise, some of their companions also shouted. The outcome was that a young nomad, complaining vociferously, was deputed to stand guard.