The arrows continued to fall, but at a diminishing rate as the Syrians conserved ammunition. Individually they had closed the distance and were now taking pot shots whenever a target made itself available. But the narrow strip of the hummock made it impossible for the archers to enfilade the legionaries. So, after a little while, it became apparent that a stand-off had been reached. The legionaries, stripped of armour and with only two shields between them, dared not rush the archers; and the archers, lightly armed and a poor match for well-trained heavy infantry, dared not take the legionaries on hand-to-hand. The Syrians only hope was to incapacitate enough of Macro’s force to make their numbers decisive.

The arrow fire ceased, but the legionaries remained under cover in case it was a ruse.

‘Macro!’ Vitellius called out. ‘Macro! Still with us?’

‘Yes, sir!’ the centurion shouted out, automatically responding to his superior.

‘That’s good. Now look here, Macro, I will have that chest in the long run. You’re trapped where you are and I’ve sent for more men. It’ll take them a while to arrive. We can spend that time sitting here staring at each other or you can give me the chest and I’ll let you and your men go.’

‘Fuck off, sir!’ Macro shouted back. ‘If you want it, you’ll have to fight for it!’

‘Hear me out, Centurion! If you make me wait then there will be no mercy. We will over-run you and you’ll be killed. Give me the chest now and you’ll live. You have my word on it.’

‘His word?’ Cato raised his eyebrows. ‘What kind of idiots does he take us for?’

‘My thinking exactly, Optio,’ replied Macro.

‘Macro!’ the tribune called out again. ‘I’ll give you a few moments to talk it over with your men. Then you choose; delay the inevitable and it’s death for all of you, or give me the chest and walk out of here.’

Macro turned back to his men. ‘Well?’

‘There’s no way he’s going to let us live,’ Pyrax said firmly. ‘No matter what we decide.’

‘You’re right.’ Macro nodded. ‘So what do we do? A charge is out of the question.’

‘Unless we can hit them from two sides,’ Cato suggested.

‘And how do we achieve that?’

Cato rolled over and propped himself up on an elbow so he could point out directions as he talked.

‘Some of us go back down the track. The grass is long on either side, so if you keep low enough you should be screened. Then, where it dips into the marsh, you swim round in a wide arc until you come back on to the trail behind them. Then we charge from both sides — hopefully the surprise should be enough to put them off their aim for just long enough.’

Cato finished, but saw that the others were still looking at him expectantly. ‘Sorry, that’s it.’

‘That’s a plan?’

Cato nodded.

‘Fair enough. It’s that or die, I suppose,’ Macro said. He looked around the surviving members of his squad. ‘Right then, you take Pyrax, Lentulus and Piso. When you get round behind them you charge and make as much noise as you can.’