Alissar docked quickly and Hamilcar strode down the gang-plank with a guard detail of four men. He ordered his galley to take station in the outer harbour and she was instantly away, her balanced hull turning within a ship- length, her two hundred and seventy oars striking and churning the waters as one.
Hamilcar walked quickly along the dockside, his guard detail ever vigilant behind him, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords. Hamilcar spotted a Roman trading ship unloading ahead and he swept her deck with his eyes before spotting the captain on the aft-deck. The Roman had obviously seen the Alissar dock and Hamilcar knew his every step was now being watched surreptitiously. He returned the scrutiny balefully and he smiled inwardly as the Roman turned away. Hamilcar knew the Roman would report the sighting but he was unconcerned. It would be days before news reached Rome and a single Carthaginian galley in Syracuse was hardly cause for significant suspicion.
Hamilcar and his men left the busy docks and threaded their way through the labyrinthine streets, the soaring battlements of Hiero’s castle guiding them unerringly to their destination. The streets opened out into a large square directly before the guarded entrance to the castle and Hamilcar took the opportunity to study the east facing wall of the castle, as his first visit here over two months before had been at night. The castle was uncomplicated, a square fortification with watchtowers on each corner and Hamilcar nodded at the wisdom of its design, his military mind searching the thirty foot high sheer walls for weakness and finding none.
The Carthaginians crossed the square diagonally and their obvious military bearing ensured that their every step was watched with interest from the battlements above. Hamilcar approached the guards at the gate and spoke to them brusquely, requesting a word with the officer of the day. The officer arrived promptly and Hamilcar identified himself, requesting an immediate audience with the king. The Carthaginians were escorted to the guard- house and the officer disappeared to return within five minutes with permission for Hamilcar to proceed alone to the audience chamber.
Hamilcar glanced left and right as he climbed ever higher and deeper into the castle, the guards preceding him moving quickly, sensing the importance of the Carthaginian commander who had been granted an immediate audience with their king. Every junction and landing was guarded but Hamilcar and his escort moved through them without check until finally they came to the ornate outer doors of the king’s chamber. The doors opened without command and the escort peeled off to allow Hamilcar to proceed alone along the carpeted approach to the king.
The chamber had a vaulted ceiling supported by a complex series of beams, held aloft by flanking columns that ran the length of the rectangular room and Hamilcar’s eyes were drawn instinctively upward. He lowered his eyes and looked directly to the head of the room. Hiero was seated on a low stool on a raised platform, an adviser sitting on a cushion directly to his left while a detachment of royal guards stood unmoved six feet behind the king. The area was strewn with many more cushions and Hamilcar had a feeling that they had been occupied only moments before, his announced arrival prompting Hiero to clear the chamber. A wise move considering what was going to be discussed.
Hamilcar stopped a discreet distance from the raised platform and bowed his head in respect, his eyes remaining on the king’s, searching for any clue to Hiero’s thoughts but the king’s expression was unreadable. Hamilcar straightened up and waited to be spoken to.
‘You are welcome, young Barca,’ Hiero said.
‘Thank you, sire!’ Hamilcar replied, smiling inwardly. The king was no older than himself, perhaps even a year or two younger, but Hamilcar conceded that if achievement was the mark of a man’s age, then Hiero was indeed a lifetime older.
‘You wished to speak with me?’ Hiero continued.
‘Yes, sire, I wished to inform you of my plans personally.’
Hiero’s adviser rose promptly and whispered something in the king’s ear. Hiero nodded his agreement before signaling Hamilcar to continue.
‘As you may know, sire,’ Hamilcar began, ‘my forces have turned the tide once more in Carthage’s favour with a victory at Thermae.’
‘Not as complete a victory as you might have wished,’ Hiero said, studying the Carthaginian commander’s reaction. ‘I understand many of the Roman galleys escaped.’
‘Nevertheless,’ Hamilcar countered, retaining his composure, ‘victory was secured and I am now in a position to advance my army eastwards.’
‘How far east?’ Hiero asked, sitting straighter on his chair.
‘To the borders of Syracuse, sire, in order to split the Romans’ territory in two.’
Hiero nodded, appreciating the audacity of the plan, his mind’s eye creating the map of Sicily, the west held by the Carthaginians, the east the domain Syracuse, the Roman territory dividing them both through the centre of the island.
‘You risk a great deal by revealing your plans to me, Barca,’ the king said after a pause, a smile on his face.
‘No more than you have already risked, sire, by allowing my ships to use Tyndaris in defiance of your treaty with Rome.’
Hiero’s smile broadened. He liked the Carthaginian’s confidence. It matched his own. He had granted Hamilcar the use of Tyndaris because the outcome of the war was still very much in the balance and he wanted the eventual victor, whomever that was, to remember Syracuse as an ally.
‘Nevertheless, why reveal your plans to me?’ he asked.
‘Because when my army reaches your border, there is an opportunity for Syracuse to throw off the shackles of Rome and form an open alliance with Carthage.’
‘To jump from the mouth of one baying wolf to another?’ Hiero asked.
‘Carthage has long been a friend of Syracuse, sire. We are very much alike. We seek only peaceful trade, not submission and dominance as Rome demands.’
Hiero nodded, searching the Carthaginian’s words for the real truth. His adviser rose once more to whisper into his ear.
Hamilcar waited in silence, cursing anew the need to reveal his strategy so soon to Hiero, a premature disclosure caused by Hanno’s plans to stifle the war in Sicily, the victory required by his father needed sooner rather than later.
‘And what of Tyndaris?’ Hiero asked. ‘I hear rumours that Carthage is employing the services of pirates in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy.’
Hamilcar cursed inwardly. The king was too well informed. ‘Not pirates, sire, mercenaries, who are familiar with the territorial waters of Rome.’
The king nodded, a sly smile spreading across his face. ‘There is a thin line Barca,’ he said, ‘between pirates and mercenaries.’
‘Yes, sire.’
Hiero’s expression changed, becoming firm once more, an edge to his voice. ‘I trust you are taking every precaution to ensure the Romans do not become aware of your activities, and my involvement.’
‘Rest assured, sire, the mercenaries are acting under the strict command of one of my finest officers and his orders are to leave no witnesses.’
Hiero nodded again. The Carthaginian’s assurances were hollow and he knew it was only a matter of time before the secret of Tyndaris was exposed. Nevertheless he still believed his decision was sound-if the Carthaginians had indeed turned the tide of the war.
‘Very well, Barca,’ he said, ‘I will follow your campaign closely and if and when the time is right, my army will be committed to yours.’
Hamilcar bowed and began to slowly walk backward, keeping his head low. When he had retreated twenty paces he straightened up and turned, keeping his back straight as the doors leading from the chamber were opened once more. He passed through them and as he heard them close he halted, looking over his shoulder at the intricate designs on the door, the Greek iconography the spoke to the ancestral home of Hiero and his people. ‘If and when the time is right,’ the king had said and Hamilcar bridled at the failsafe approach that Hiero had adopted, the non- committal that placed the entire onus on the forces of Carthage. Succeed and Syracuse would become an open ally. Fail and Hiero could safely deny any pact ever existed.
Hamilcar’s escort returned to lead him once more to the gate of the castle and he fell in behind them. He
