Final Campaign

rampart spoke Greek. There was no guarantee it wouldhelp if one of the men of the relieving force called to them intheir tribal tongue, but that could not be avoided. Before theleading elements of our army were in sight, one of the lookoutsshouted down to us, pointing in the direction of Serdica. Takingoff my helmet, I ran up to the rampart to get a look. At first, Isaw only a black smudge, slightly detached from the black line thatI knew to be the walls of the city, and I felt a bit foolish attaking the precaution of removing my helmet. Hanging just above wasthe cloud of dust that marked the tramping feet or hooves, exceptthey were still too far away to tell the composition or size of theforce. I stood watching, knowing my presence made the men on therampart nervous, and I tried to lighten their mood, joking aboutthe fake beards that some were wearing, but it did not help much. Iwas not the only reason they were tense, of course; if this rusefailed, these men would be the most likely to bear the brunt of theSerdi retaliation. Ever so slowly, the enemy column inched closerto us, and it seemed to me that they were not marching with muchpurpose, taking their time. Although it was a good sign that theywere not suspicious, it was wearing on the nerves. Hearing acommotion, I turned to see the first Legionaries of our armyarriving, squeezing through the hole in the eastern wall. Idescended to the ground and trotted over to where Macrinus wasstanding, calling out to the men to hurry as they filed in.Reaching his side, I told him what I wanted.

“Fill the barracks buildings with as manymen as you can stuff inside, and have them keep the shuttersclosed. Then, put as many men in the stables and storage buildingas will fit, and get some down into the cisterns.”

“That’s not going to be nearly enough room.That will be maybe half the Legion at best,” Macrinus pointedout.

“I know. The rest I want formed up outsidethe wall at the southeast corner. Just keep them away from the holeand, by the gods, keep them quiet.”

Macrinus saluted before he hurried off toinform his Centurions my instructions, while I waited for Flaminiusto arrive. There had been a major oversight on my part; I had nottaken the time or trouble to figure out exactly how many men wecould hide inside the fortress. There had been plenty of room forthe small detachment that eliminated the scouting party, yet I nowhad the bulk of two Legions. Along with the auxiliaries, Evocati,and command group, I had to make sure the rest of the Legions werenowhere in sight and yet were still readily available. I could, andperhaps should have left one Legion behind at the hiding spot, butuntil I knew exactly how many men we would be facing, I did notwant to risk not having them nearby. I ran up to the rampart again,cursing the burning in my thighs as I scrambled up the ramp usedfor the artillery. For a fleeting moment, I regretted havingdestroyed the Thracian artillery, thinking that it might have beenuseful in the event that we let some men escape from the fortress.However, the presence of scorpions and ballistae seeminglyleft behind on the rampart would have looked extremely suspiciousto the men entering the fort. Huffing and puffing, I gazed north,seeing that the Serdi were now close enough to make out. I waspleased to see that the force was composed almost entirely ofinfantry, the only horsemen riding at the front of the looselyorganized column undoubtedly tribal nobles that were the leaders.The Serdi rankers were carrying their shields and weapons, theusual variety of spears and swords, while trailing behind them wereseveral wagons carrying their supplies and baggage. Now that theywere close enough, I made a quick estimate of the strength that wewould be facing. There were about 2,500 warriors, approximatelyhalf the remaining garrison of Serdica, except in reality byleaving the cavalry behind in the city, it was effectively morethan that in terms of useful warriors. Perhaps the cavalrymen wereexperienced infantry, but I had found that to be extremely rare.Seeing what was coming, I did not believe that the 13^thwould be needed for the moment, and I ran down the ramp to findFlaminius had arrived, supervising his own men, already enteringthe fortress.

“I hate to do this to you, but I need tostop you,” I told him, going on to explain why they would not beneeded.

He was clearly disappointed, but wasprofessional, and the men were quickly turned around. I did nothave Flaminius’ men march all the way back to our hiding spot,instead directing them to stay just outside the fortress a fewhundred paces back along the trail. I did not want any lingeringdust blown by a stray breeze ruining everything that had gone sowell to that point. With the Serdi just moments away, we hurried tofinish making everything ready, and I made my final dispositions.Calling on Caldus one more time, I had him go back into his hidingspot, with the same instructions.

“You need to wait until you’re sure thatthey’re all inside,” I told him, and while he swallowed hard, hesaluted and said that he would. I gave him a pat on the back toreassure the boy.

“I know you will, and you’ve done perfectlyso far, and you’re going to be rewarded for this, I promiseyou.”

Perhaps I should have known better, knowingMarcus Primus as I did. I was about to leave the fortress myself,then on the spur of the moment, I ran at almost a full sprint tothe nearest barracks building, where I pulled two sections of men,having the men around them give up their javelins, giving them foureach.

“Follow me,” I told them and, running up theramp, I crouched to avoid being spotted as I got up to the rampart,except I forgot to take off my helmet the one time it would havebeen useful.

The men already there were trying not tolook in my direction, not wanting to be seen doing so by theapproaching Thracians and inadvertently alerting