That brought me up short, and I found a seatin his quarters so I could digest this. Somehow, I knew that he wasright immediately after the words came out of his mouth. I mustadmit that my initial reaction was one of happiness; the death ofBalbus still a raw, open wound, even years later, while the thoughtof drowning that memory in blood was very appealing, to say theleast.
“And you think that Octavian sanctioned thiscampaign?”
Scribonius shrugged, his face reflecting hisindecision.
“That I don’t know. I can’t see how Primuswould dare to launch an expedition like this without hisblessing.”
Neither could I, although I did not know ifit made me felt better or not. All I was sure of at that point wasthat, once again, we would be marching, and I must admit that Iliked the idea. It would relieve the monotony and boredom of lifein garrison. Despite being suffused no longer with the same martialardor as in my youth, I was not quite ready to sit quietly by thefire, waiting for my time on this Earth to end. After finishingwith Scribonius, I hurried over to tell Macrinus, except that wasjust an excuse to tell Gaius, but I knew that if I had gone to tellone of his Centurions of the upcoming move without talking to himfirst, that would be a mortal insult. Besides, I liked andrespected Macrinus and did not want to ruin what had become afriendly relationship. At first, he was not happy with the newsuntil I told him what it was probably for, then his face took on alook of grim satisfaction.
“Good,” he replied. “I’ve been hoping toexact some retribution on those bastards for a while now.”
With Macrinus informed, I went to findGaius, who was understandably less than happy with the news. Unlikeme, Gaius enjoyed life in garrison, but I put that down to his lovefor Iras and his family. Little Titus was now a very activefour-year-old, Livia was toddling about, and Iras had just informedus one night at dinner that she was pregnant again, normally a hardtime for a young mother, yet I had never seen Iras look happier.She was still technically my property, but I had promised that Iwould manumit her as soon as I got around to going through therequired steps. Iras hadn’t spent a night in my household foryears; the way in which she had come into my possession and thecircumstances surrounding how we met had long been forgotten. Irashad proven to be as faithful a wife to Gaius as a man could askfor, despite the union not being legally or religiously sanctioned.The wife was as unhappy as the husband about being sent off toMacedonia, but there was no question that he would obey, and Ithink he was secretly relieved. Despite the love a man might havefor his family, small children can be very trying, making anychance to escape from their clutches usually welcomed, no matterhow much the man may protest otherwise.
Diocles was his usual efficient self; bynightfall of the day I told him, most of what I would be takingwith me had already been packed up, with a wagon procured to haulmy baggage. Even now, after all these years and some five yearsinto my time as Camp Prefect, I was bemused at the sight of all thethings that I had accrued over the years, well remembering the timewhen all of my worldly possessions fit inside the pack suspendedfrom my furca. The two Legions were in a similar state ofactivity, on a much larger scale, of course, and it was less than aweek before we were ready to begin the march.
Since Norbanus was staying behind, onceagain I was in command of the 8th and 13th,along with the requisite baggage and attendants. Norbanus gave mefree rein to select the route and best method to get the men toPhilippi.
“Frankly, I don’t care what you do,” was howhe put it. “I'm giving Primus my best Legion and I've done thatmuch. After that, I wash my hands of the matter, so if you want toget to Philippi by way of Hispania, that's fine with me.”
It may have been all right with Norbanus,but I knew who would be blamed if we did not make the march in thebest time possible. Starting out a couple weeks before myfifty-fourth birthday, we marched south, skirting the Dinaric Alpsto our west. We were taking the overland route, which I was nothappy about. However, between the fact that there was not a portcity in this part of the coast that was large enough to accommodatethe number of ships needed to transport two Legions and baggage,and the fact that the prevailing winds were now coming from thesouth, I did not feel we had much choice. My main fear was thetemptation that our baggage train would provide for first theDalmatian tribes, then the Moesians when we passed through theirterritory. I was most concerned with the Moesians, who I was surewere still smarting from not just the defeat we had dealt themunder Marcus Crassus five years before, but the talents that he haddemanded as part of the cessation of hostilities. I could notdiscount the possibility that the Moesians would see an opportunityto strike a blow at Rome by attacking us on our march throughMoesia, despite the fact that, for all intents and purposes, Moesiawas now part of the Roman world. I knew from experience that oftenthe people we had conquered did not view themselves as such, andwhile Moesia had been quiet, all it took was one lapse on our partto give them what they might consider an opportunity that theycould not pass up. However, first we had to make our way throughDalmatia.
After the first three days on the march,where I allowed the men to work themselves into some sort offitness for the long march, I ordered the men to don their armor,but not their helmets, ordering them to uncover their shields aswell. I was determined that we
