Parthian Vengeance (57 page)

He rested his hands on the wall and cast his head down.

‘I did not know that the death of Sinatruces would presage so much misery and tyranny.’

I said nothing. Perhaps he was thinking back to the Council of Kings at Esfahan and his decision to support Phraates in becoming king of kings. Perhaps he was regretting not putting himself forward for the high crown. But then, Mithridates and Narses would have still schemed to promote their own interests. Perhaps we would have been in exactly the same situation as we currently found ourselves in. In front of us the funeral pyres burned brightly and above us the gods laughed at our discomfort.

We stayed at Assur for a few more days to allow the men to rest and the wounded to recuperate. During this time Herneus and his troops rode back to the city after their pursuit of Cinnamus and Vologases. He reported that the two kings had beat a hasty retreat east in the direction of Ecbatana, leaving a host of stragglers and wounded behind them. These he had destroyed but he had been unable to engage the main enemy army, only its fleeing rear guard. He reported that the enemy had left a trail of devastation in Media, burning villages and massacring their inhabitants, sometimes hanging their mutilated bodies from trees to spread terror. He had encountered no living Median who could tell him if Farhad was alive or not. My father sat grim faced in the main hall of the governor’s palace listening to Herneus’ report, and afterwards sent word to Hatra for Gafarn to march with thirty thousand horsemen to Assur. He told me that he was going to march to Farhad’s capital, Irbil, to relieve the King of Media. No one said anything about Aschek but everyone feared the worst and assumed that he was dead and his kingdom conquered by the combined armies of Yueh-Chih and Aria.

The next day my mood lightened when a letter came from Gallia informing me that Axsen was still holding out at Babylon (she had obviously been alerted to the city’s peril) and Nergal had thrown back the forces of King Phriapatius from the walls of Uruk with the aid of Lord Yasser and his Agraci warriors. Phriapatius was still occupying parts of Mesene but had withdrawn his army to the Tigris. I showed my father the letter and his spirits seemed to lift a little. She finished by saying that the border with Roman Syria was quiet.

‘That may change,’ he said, handing me back the letter, ‘when the Armenians begin to complain to their masters about their recent differences with Parthia and they learn that conflict has again broken out within the empire.’

I was more worried about the Romans discovering that Dura was supplying the Jews with weapons with which to liberate Judea, but said nothing of this to him.

‘With the Romans quarrelling among themselves, father,’ I tried to reassure him. ‘I think Mithridates presents more of an immediate threat.’

In camp I sat with Domitus, Orodes and Kronos as we tried to work out our course of action. The city of Babylon lies just over two hundred miles south of Assur – ten days’ march following the course of the Tigris and then heading southwest for the final thirty miles of the journey. Orodes was all for reaching Babylon by the most direct route, which was understandable considering that his future bride was trapped inside it. Domitus and Kronos, however, argued that it would be best to follow the Tigris until we reached Hatra’s southern border – one hundred miles south – and then swing west to the Euphrates and there link up with reinforcements that Gallia could send from Dura. In this way, they argued, we would have more men with which to relieve Babylon. However, it would add another five or six days to the journey.

‘Babylon is surely hard pressed,’ argued Orodes. ‘The longer we delay reaching it the more likely it will fall.’

‘I do not doubt it, my friend,’ said Domitus, ‘but Dura’s army is only fourteen thousand men. What if Mithridates has an army the same size as the one that we fought a few days ago?’

‘What Domitus says is correct,’ added Kronos. ‘We need reinforcements if we are to relieve Babylon. There is no point in fighting our way through to the city if then we are also trapped inside.’

‘I cannot believe that Narses and Mithridates have mustered a hundred thousand men to besiege Babylon,’ I said, not knowing if they had or not, ‘so we will march directly to Babylon.’

Orodes appeared mightily relieved and Domitus and Kronos looked at me with confusion on their faces. But I merely smiled at them. Orodes had been a good friend and had remained with the army when he could have ridden to Babylon before the Battle of Makhmur, but he had stayed. The least I could do now was to ride with him to save his beloved Axsen.

Chapter 13

The march south along the Tigris was uneventful until we approached Hatra’s southern border and began to encounter groups of fleeing civilians making their way north to safety, or what they thought was safety. The first to encounter them was Byrd and Malik and their men, who stopped to talk with these frightened wretches who had lost their homes and livestock, their only possessions being the clothes on their backs. It soon became clear that Mithridates was not only laying siege to the city of Babylon, he and Narses were systematically destroying the kingdom’s agriculture and either forcing its population to leave or enslaving them. The ones Byrd and Malik had encountered on the road were the lucky ones for they had heard rumours of horsemen attacking villages further south and carrying off their populations, so they had fled for their lives, seeking sanctuary in Hatra.

When we progressed further south into Babylonian territory we saw for ourselves the destruction that had been visited on the kingdom – villages levelled, irrigation ditches and canals wrecked and livestock taken, no doubt to feed the army besieging Babylon. An eerie silence hung over the land that had seemingly been emptied of all life. If the enemy had laid waste to the whole kingdom in such a manner then it would take years before Babylon recovered. Orodes was appalled at the scenes that met his eyes. It not only offended his sense of decency but also his code of honour. This was not how war should be fought, not at all.

‘Ha! You need to spend a few years in the Roman army to learn how war should be fought,’ said Domitus as we relaxed in my tent after another day marching in the dust and heat of a Mesopotamian summer. We had covered a hundred miles since leaving Assur and were nearly halfway on our journey to Babylon.

‘Lucky for Babylon,’ continued Domitus, ‘that Mithridates and Narses don’t have siege engines like the Romans do; otherwise its population would be being marched off into slavery by now.’

Orodes shuddered at the thought of his beloved in chains.

‘Only Dura among Parthia’s kingdoms has siege engines,’ I said, trying to allay Orodes’ growing concern.

‘How I would like to take those siege engines to Persepolis,’ said Orodes through gritted teeth, ‘to breach the walls of Narses’ capital.’

‘Alas, my friend,’ I said, ‘Persepolis lies four hundred miles to the southeast of the Tigris.’

‘Seleucia lies nearer,’ remarked Byrd casually.

We all looked at him.

‘Seleucia?’ I said.

‘Great city on the west bank of the Tigris,’ said Byrd, chomping on a biscuit.

‘I know where it is, but we do not have the siege engines with us,’ I answered. ‘In any case we march to relieve Babylon, not assault Seleucia.’

Seleucia was the ancient city that stood on the western side of the Tigris, opposite the palace complex of Ctesiphon that had been built on the other side of the river. Seleucia protected the great stone bridge across the Tigris that Mithridates and Narses had used to bring their armed forces into Babylonia. Though Seleucia was actually within Babylonian territory, the kings of Babylon had always regarded it as the city that served the court of the high king at Ctesiphon and had thus made no claim upon it – a fatal strategic error.

‘Mithridates and Narses not know you have no siege engines with you,’ replied Byrd.

Domitus looked thoughtful. ‘If we head towards Seleucia instead of Babylon then they might break off the siege of the city to secure the bridge over the river.’

Orodes was not convinced. ‘And they might not. It is far too risky.’

And yet Byrd’s suggestion had merit. If we could draw away the enemy from the walls of Babylon then we would accomplish what we had set out to achieve, irrespective of whether we endangered Seleucia or not. I looked at Byrd and Malik in their Agraci robes and smiled.

‘Perhaps we may both frighten the officials of Seleucia into appealing to the kings besieging Babylon to march north to save them, thereby saving Axsen, and still march towards Babylon.’

The next day I sent Vagises and five hundred horse archers south towards Seleucia, preceded by Malik, Byrd and their scouts. We were only seventy miles from the city so the horsemen would reach it in two days. Vagises was ordered to ride up to the city walls and shout at the defenders that King Pacorus and the army of Dura, with its terrible siege engines, were going to breach their walls and put everyone inside to the sword. For added effect Byrd, Malik and their scouts were also to form up in front of the walls, and then Vagises would announce that they were the vanguard of a great Agraci army that was accompanying King Pacorus. Finally, if the garrison sallied from the walls Vagises and his men were to immediately retreat.

‘You really think that such a hare-brained scheme will work?’ Domitus was far from convinced as I walked beside him as the army made its way south once more, the Tigris on our left flank. It was another blisteringly hot day.

I shrugged. ‘It does not matter what I think, it’s what the authorities in Seleucia think.’

‘If they think at all,’ he said dismissively.

‘They know that Dura is a friend of Haytham and they also know as a consequence of our storm of Uruk that I possess siege engines capable of breaching city walls. When they see hostile horsemen before their walls they will appeal to Mithridates for help.’

‘Seleucia might have a large garrison, have you thought of that?’

I shook my head. ‘A thousand at most. I remember from my time when I was lord high general of the empire. Like Ctesiphon, Seleucia’s defences have been neglected.’

‘And what if Mithridates and Narses break off the siege of Babylon and march towards us with a hundred thousand men?’

I laughed. ‘They don’t have that many. Remember we inflicted heavy losses on their army last year, and killed quite a few of their heavy horsemen as well.’

‘You sound very certain.’

‘You know, Domitus, for the first time in weeks I am. Byrd’s idea is a good one, I should have thought of it.’

My chief scout and the other horsemen returned in three days, in which time we had marched to within twenty miles of Seleucia, passing by the now usual sights of destroyed villages and smashed dykes and irrigation systems. Next spring this whole area would be flooded when the Tigris would be swelled by the northern melt waters, which would breach the broken dykes and inflict yet more damage on an already wasted land.

We had already made camp when Vagises, accompanied by Byrd and Malik, rode through the main entrance with their horsemen. All three reported to me after they had unsaddled their horses and eaten, their clothes and faces covered in a fine white dust that gave them the appearance of phantoms.

‘I did not shout at those on the walls,’ said Vagises, ‘but rather sent a messenger to the city governor with a letter I had composed.’

‘Saying what?’ I asked.

‘Informing him that King Pacorus and Dura’s army would be arriving imminently and that he was to surrender the city when he, that is you, arrived. Failure to do so would result in the destruction of the city and the deaths of its inhabitants. I also told him that King Haytham and his Agraci warriors were marching with you and that I had brought some of his warriors with me to show that I spoke the truth.’

Malik and Byrd smiled at me.

‘And what was his reply?’

‘That he did not have the authority to treat with kings and that he would have to consult with Mithridates first.’

‘Playing for time,’ said Domitus, ‘an old trick.’

‘Indeed,’ continued Vagises, ‘so I ordered the outlying homes to be torched, after which we withdrew as ordered.’

The expansion of Seleucia during the long reign of Sinatruces had resulted in many homes being built outside the city walls. No thought had been given to building new walls to encompass these dwellings.

‘You did well, Vagises,’ I said. ‘That should stir Mithridates up, if only for the fact that his dear mother resides in Ctesiphon, just across the river from Seleucia.’

The next day before dawn Byrd and Malik rode out of camp with their scouts. I was half-tempted to attack Seleucia anyway. Its walls were old and crumbling, its garrison was small and even without siege engines we could probably scale the walls that were no higher than twenty feet in most places. Even a show of force might be enough for the governor to lose his nerve and surrender the place without a fight. But Orodes was adamant that we should make Babylon a priority and for the sake of our friendship I agreed. Most days he was with the vanguard, I think because he believed that if he rode at the very tip of the army then he was always the closest to Axsen. How curious are the thoughts of men when they are besotted!

We had not marched five miles when he rode back to the main column with Byrd and Malik in tow.

‘Enemy force approaching from the southwest, Pacorus,’ said Orodes.

‘Looks like Mithridates took the bait,’ I said to Domitus with relish.

Domitus looked up at Byrd. ‘How many?’

‘Not many, five thousand, perhaps.’

Domitus scowled. ‘That is just the vanguard. How many behind?’

Malik shook his head. ‘No, there are none following the foot soldiers.’

‘They are foot soldiers only?’ I said with disbelief.

‘Well, we can’t ignore them,’ snorted Domitus.

The army was halted and then deployed into battle formation with horse archers on the wings and the legions in the centre, after which it moved slowly in a southwesterly direction. I had Byrd and Malik send their men out far and wide as I could not believe that five thousand foot soldiers were going to engage us. There must be additional forces nearby. But the scouts reported seeing nothing and the flat desert meant that there were no hills, forests of ravines in which to hide another army. The cataphracts donned their armour and the squires formed a reserve in the rear of the army, guarding the wagons, camels and mules.