Antioch."

"The Emperor's agents have probably intercepted them by now. They are

either dead or sold into slavery."

Venator shook his head disbelievingly. "I have friends in power who

will protect them until my return."

"Friends can be threatened and bought."

Venator's eyes widened in sudden defiance. "No sacrifice is too heavy

for what we have achieved. All would be for nothing if we did not

return with a record and chart of the voyage. "

Severus was about to reply when he observed his second in command,

Artofius Noricus, running up the slight grade toward the tent. The

young legionary's dark face glistened in the noonday heat, and he was

gesturing up at the edge of the low cliffs.

Venator held up a hand to ward off the sun and stared upward. His mouth

pressed into a tight line.

"The barbarians, Severus. They have come to pay back the sack of their

village."

It was as if the hills swarmed with ants. Over a thousand barbarian men

and women stared down at the cruel intruders of their land. They were

armed with bows and arrows, shields of leather hide and spears with

chipped obsidian points. Some gripped clubs of rock tied to short

wooden handles. The men wore only waistcloths.

They stood in stony silence, expressionless, savage, and as ominous as

an approaching storm.

"Another force of barbarians has massed between us and our ships!"

Noricus shouted.

Venator turned, his face ashen. "This is the result of your stupidity,

Severus." His voice was vicious with anger. "You have killed us all."

Then he dropped to his knees and began to pray.

"Your divinity will not Turn the barbarians into sheep, old man,"

Severus said sarcastically. "Only the sword can provide deliverance."

He turned and took Noricus by the arm and began issuing commands. "Order

the bugler to sound battle assembly. Tell Latinius Macer to arm the

slaves. Form the men in a tight fighting square. We'll march in

formation to the river."

"Bugler!"

Noricus threw a taut salute and ran for the center of the camp.

The infantry unit of sixty soldiers quickly formed in a hollow square.

The Syrian archers took their place on the flanks between the armed

slaves, facing outward, while the Romans formed on front and rear.

Screened in the center were Venator and his small staff of Egyptian and

Greek aides and a three man medical unit.

The main infantry weapons of fourth-century Rome were the gladius, a

double-edged pointed sword eighty-two centimeters long, and the pilum, a

two-meter throwing and thrusting spear. for protection and armor, the

soldiers wore an iron helmet with hinged cheek pieces that tied under

the chin with a strap and looked like a jockey cap with the brim turned

backward, a cuirass made up of overlapping metal plates encircling the

body and covering the shoulders, and a guard worn over the shins called

a greave- Their defensive tool was an oval shield made out of laminated

wood.

Instead of rushing in to attack, the barbarians took their time and