The Gladiator (18 page)

‘ S o I’ve heard.’

‘Well, the truth of it is that he has been giving me half of what I need for the men and horses, and he’s been doling it out on a daily basis. I will need at least ten days’ supplies, and I will need it in full rations.’

‘I’ve already requested that,’ Sempronius replied. ‘However, Glabius has sent me word that he must put the people of Gortyna first. He will only grant you – those are his words five days’ supplies, at half rations, for you and your horses.’

Marcellus’s expression darkened. ‘That won’t do, sir. In any case, who is he to tell you what he will provide from his supplies?’

‘Who indeed?’ Sempronius smiled weakly. ‘Glabius is the man sitting on the food chest. He’s also the man sitting pretty up there in the acropolis. Until the situation changes, the allocation of supplies is in his hands. In the meantime, you and your men will take what rations he provides for us, and when they are exhausted you will have to live off the land.’

Cato leaned forward. ‘Begging your pardon, sir?’ ‘What is it?’ ‘Prefect Marcellus and his column will not be campaigning through hostile territory. At least, it won’t be hostile to start with. The local people have little enough food as it is, and if our men turn up and start seizing what’s left, then we are hardly going to keep their loyalty, and that’s something we’re going to need in full measure in the days to come.’

‘Well, what of it?’ Sempronius responded in an exasperated tone. ‘Our soldiers have to be fed.’

‘That’s true, but it would be best if they take as little as possible from each settlement they pass through, and also they must pay their way’

‘Pay?’ Marcellus snorted. ‘We’re bloody army, not traders. We don’t pay our way’

Cato pursed his lips. ‘As things are, I would recommend that we pay for the food, sir. Unless we want the peasants, slaves and brigands making common cause.’

‘Let them try,’ scoffed Marcellus. ‘I’ll ride them into the ground.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ said Sempronius. ‘I would imagine the emperor would not be pleased to lose any more tax-payers in this province than is wholly necessary. You’ll do as Cato says and pay for your supplies, and don’t leave people to starve in your wake. Is that clear?’

Yes, sir.’

‘Good, then I want you and Centurion Albinus to prepare your men to march at first light. Your orders will be sent to you later on. I will want regular reports on your progress, Marcellus. Every other day’

‘Yes, sir. Is that all?’

Sempronius stared at him for a moment and nodded. ‘Yes. The briefing is over. You may leave, except for Centurions Cato and Macro.’

They remained in their seats as the other three officers scraped back their chairs and rose to salute and leave the room. Once the door was closed behind them, and the sound of footsteps had receded across the flagstones of the stable courtyard, Macro cleared his throat and leaned forward belligerently.

‘Might I ask why I am not being entrusted with command of the column being sent to deal with the slaves?’

‘It is not a question of trust.’ Sempronius sighed. ‘Rather, it is not a question ofmy faith in you so much as my lack oftrust in Marcellus.’

‘Eh? I don’t follow you, sir.’

‘You saw what he was like. Ambitious, and resentful. Marcellus has been serving in Crete for long enough to favour an insider like Glabius over me. I could be wrong about him, but I won’t take the risk. I’d rather he was kept away from Gortyna while we deal with Glabius. Chasing down the runaways and enforcing martial law will keep him occupied for a while. Besides,’ Sempronius smiled,’I meant what I said about requiring your talents here, Macro.’

‘Sir?’

‘I think it is time I resolve my differences with Glabius and persuade him to retire from his current post. I have no intention of setting Marcellus loose on the southern part of the province short of rations. So, we must get our hands on the supplies up in the acropolis as soon as possible.’

Macro glanced at Cato and winked. ‘Now that sounds like my kind of proposition.’

Cato looked at Sempronius. ‘What do you have in mind, sir?’

‘A little subterfuge, which we will put into effect once Marcellus is a safe distance from Gortyna. Tomorrow afternoon should do.’ Sempronius could not suppress a small chuckle. ‘And then we shall see if Glabius has any backbone to back up his bluster. That’s all for now, gentlemen.’

Macro and Cato were at the door when Sempronius called after them. ‘One other thing. I’ve found out who this gladiator might be. It seems that the governor’s wife bought him on a trip back to Romea few months ago. Apparently he was a rising star and Antonia paid a small fortune for him.’

‘Why?’ asked Cato. ‘I mean, of what use is a gladiator to a Roman matron?’

Macro and Sempronius glanced at each other, and Macro raised his eyes.

‘Oh.’ Cato blushed. ‘I see. Anyway, what is his name?’

‘I didn’t get his real name,’ said Sempronius. ‘Only the one he fought under – “The Iron Thracian”. Not much help, I’m afraid. Still, if he survived the earthquake, he might be the man who is leading the slaves.’

As the sun began to sink behind the mass of the acropolis, Sempronius, accompanied by two men in the plain tunics of clerks, with the bags containing their writing materials slung from their shoulders, made his way up the path leading to the main gate of the acropolis. He had sent a message to Glabius earlier in the afternoon requesting a meeting to discuss the provisioning requirements of his troops. Glabius had consented, and agreed the time that Sempronius had suggested for the meeting.

The shadows were lengthening on the slope leading up to the acropolis, casting gloom over the narrow alleyways between the houses that clustered there. Up on the wall that ringed the top of the hill, a handful of Glabius’s men patrolled along the sentry walk, dark shapes against the brilliant glare of the sky. Sempronius was wearing a white tunic, fringed with the broad red band that signified his social status. Across his shoulder was a sword belt, from which hung a richly decorated scabbard and hilt – a weapon that had been in his family for generations and survived the capsizing of the
Horus.

As the gradient steepened and the route began to zigzag up the slope, Macro turned to Cato and mumbled, ‘This is never going to work.We shouldn’t have let him talk us into it.’

‘The plan will work,
if
we keep quiet.’ Cato tapped his mouth with a finger.

Macro clamped his lips together and shook his head in resignation. He walked a little awkwardly, thanks to the knife bound against his spine under the tunic. Cato also moved warily, and with a slight limp, as he was still recovering from his wound. He wore a felt skullcap to help conceal his identity if they encountered any of Glabius’s men who might have visited the senator’s headquarters. He had met Glabius once, and the man was sure to recognise him when they came face to face, but by then it would be too late for the tax collector to do anything about it.

A vague movement to his side drew Macro’s attention and he saw a file ofauxiliary troops stealing along the narrow alleys that threaded the houses and small shops crowding under the looming mass of the acropolis. This part of the city had not suffered nearly as badly as the rest, but even so, Centurion Plotius and his men would be forced to pick their way quietly over the occasional heaps of rubble in order not to alert the sentries on the walls above them.

The two guards at the gate rose to their feet and hefted their spears as the senator and his followers approached. Cato saw that they were big, heavy men with the broken noses of boxers, or perhaps from time spent in the street gangs that were a feature of every large city across the empire.They moved to bar the way to the closed gate and one raised his hand to halt Sempronius.

‘State your business, sir,’ he said bluntly. ‘I’m here to see Marcus Glabius. He is expecting me.’ T h e guard smiled faintly as he replied.
‘Governor
Marcus Glabius left word to admit you, sir. He said nothing about any companions.’

Sempronius bit back on his anger. ‘These men are my personal secretaries. I need them to make notes at the meeting. Now let us through.’

The senator took a step towards the gate.The guard whistled and the other man on duty blocked their path.

‘Get out of my way’ Sempronius growled.

‘ N o t so fast, sir,’ said the first guard. ‘I have to search these bags before I let you enter.’

He turned to Macro and Cato and nodded towards their haver- sacks. ‘Put ‘em on the ground and step back two paces.’

They did as they were told and watched as the guard knelt down, opened each bag in turn and rummaged through the waxed slates and styli before flipping the flaps back and stepping away. ‘Pick ‘em up.’

Cato could sense Macro bristling with anger at his side as they retrieved their bags, and willed his friend to control his temper. T h e guard approached the gates and bellowed out the order for them to be opened. There was a dull grating from inside as the locking bolt was slid aside, and a moment later one of the doors groaned on its hinges as it swung inwards. The guards stepped aside as Sempronius clicked his fingers and led Macro and Cato into the acropolis.

Like many Greek cities, the acropolis was dominated by temples and shrines to those gods most revered by the local people. In addition, there were a number of administration buildings and barracks built close to the walls that ran around the edge of the hill. There were no priests in view. A handful of men dressed in comfortable tunics were sitting in the shade of a grove as they drank wine from a slender-necked amphora.

‘Seems like the quality of Gortyna are doing all right,’ Macro muttered.

A large group clustered around a game of dice outside one of the barrack blocks, and another six men were patrolling along the walls, occasionally glancing down over the city, or out across the plains in the direction of Matala, and up into the hills behind Gortyna. The earthquake had flattened one of the smaller temples, and large sections of the roofs of the others had fallen in. The two-storey administration building was largely intact, save for the portico, which had collapsed and now lay in piles of rubble on either side of the entrance.

As they passed the Temple of Jupiter, Best and Greatest, Cato saw that it was the newest structure on the acropolis, and the least damaged. Through the columns that surrounded the building he could see sacks of grain and racks of amphorae piled high along the outer walls. The main doors were open, and more supplies were visible in the dim interior. Cato quickened his pace, caught the eye of Sempronius and nodded towards the temple.

‘Enough there to feed the people for a while yet, not to mention our men.’

‘I know,’ Sempronius replied coolly. ‘Damn Glabius.’

He led them towards the administration building, where another one of Glabius’s hired men stood on guard. Sempronius explained his business once again and the guard nodded and escorted them inside with a curt gesture. They passed through the main hall, which was filled with fine rugs, furniture, statuary and boxes of scrolls. T h e contents of Glabius’s house, Cato surmised, carried up to the acropolis for safe keeping until the crisis was over. On the far side, a door gave out on to a small colonnaded courtyard. A staircase on the far side climbed up to a second level of rooms, built directly on top of the wall. The guard led them up the stairs and along a narrow corridor until they reached a door at the end. He stopped and rapped on the frame.

‘Come!’ called a high-pitched voice from inside, and the guard lifted the latch and swung the door open before stepping aside to let Sempronius and his men pass. The room was long and narrow, with windows along one side giving fine views out over the city. Smaller windows, high up on the opposite wall, allowed the afternoon sunlight to fill the room with an amber hue. Glabius sat behind a desk beside one of the windows. A pile of waxed tablets lay before him, with one open on the desk. As they entered, he hurriedly made a final mark in the wax and closed the tablet.

As he strode across the room, Macro studied the man they had come to see. Marcus Glabius was short, a head shorter than even Macro, and heavily covered with fat and flesh that made his cheeks pendulous and quivery. Although his wrinkled face indicated advanced years, Macro was surprised to see that Glabius had fine curly black hair, and then realised that the tax collector was wearing a wig. He wore a silk tunic and soft doeskin boots that laced up to just below his knees. He struggled to his feet and bowed towards his guests.

‘Welcome, Senator.’ He glanced shrewdly at Macro. Cato had manoeuvred himself to stand behind Sempronius’s shoulder. ‘I had not expected you to bring company. Witnesses to our discussion, perhaps?’

‘These men are my secretaries, not witnesses,’ Sempronius replied coldly. ‘They are here to take notes.’

‘Both of them? Surely one would suffice?’

‘For a lesser official, perhaps,’ Sempronius countered. ‘But as a senator, and as acting governor of the province, it is for me to choose how many men I need.’

‘Acting governor?’ Glabius smiled. ‘You have no right to that title, alas. My poor friend Hirtius made that quite clear in his last hours.’

‘Nevertheless, I have assumed the governorship, and have written to Rome to seek confirmation.’

A quick frown flitted across Glabius’s features, before he smiled again. ‘How strange. I have written to my good friend the imperial secretary, Narcissus, to ask for confirmation of my own claim to the post. Ah well, we shall soon see who Romeacknowledges. Anyway, I believe you are here to request rations for your men.’

Macro knelt down and opened his bag.With one hand he began to rummage through the contents, while the other stole slowly round, behind his back. The senator cleared his throat and answered the tax collector clearly.

‘No.’ Sempronius shook his head. ‘Not this time. I have finished with requests, Glabius. Nor will I condone any more payments, at your profiteering rates, for the rancid stocks that you supply to my men. I have come here to demand that you surrender control of the supplies gathered here. Furthermore, I want you, your friends and your hired thugs to quit the acropolis immediately.’