"Three weeks, at the most," I finallyanswered, as an idea began forming in my mind that, while it mightnot solve my personal problem, was a possible solution to thelarger issue of leading an angry army back from an unfruitfulcampaign.
Marcus Primus, under what can only beconsidered an armed escort commanded by Volusenus and Galba, werethe first to depart the next morning. They would be riding, hard,on a similar route to the one we would be taking. For a longmoment, I considered keeping it from them, but finally I went tothe Praetorium to inform Volusenus of my concerns aboutNaissus, and that it would be wise for their smaller party to giveit a wide berth.
"That's very commendable of you, Prefect,"Volusenus said coldly. "Of course, it can be viewed in a number ofways. Although one might think that the Praetor, and Galba, and I,for that matter, falling into the hands of some bloodthirstyThracians eager for vengeance might convince the Princeps thatjustice had been done, one can also view it that if that were tohappen, then you would be the only one left to face theconsequences."
I stared at Volusenus, inflexible, and I waspleased to see him wilt a bit.
"Frankly, Volusenus, at this point, I don'treally care how 'one' might view anything," I replied evenly. "I'venever knowingly allowed Romans to fall into a situation where theywould be badly outnumbered and face possible massacre. Ever."
Somewhat to my surprise, Volusenus met mygaze, a slight change in his expression, reminding me of a manexamining a horse that he is thinking of buying.
"Fair enough, Prefect," he finally answered."I will say that your reputation before this...incident has beenexemplary, from everything I've heard. I apologize if I inferredthat there might be some darker motive behind your warning. Andyes," he finished, "I see what you're saying and I agree. We'llswing out of the way of Naissus. Just in case."
My last sight of Marcus Primus, at least inThrace, was of a frightened, broken, fat little man, with none ofthe bluster or bravado that had been such a feature of our firstmeeting. But it was Masala for whom I felt the most empathy;because of his status as Primus' personal aide and not officiallybeing a Tribune attached to the army, he had to accompany thedisgraced man to his fate. Once I had gotten to know the young man,and more about his situation, I found it impossible to dislike him.He had done many small favors for me, and I knew he had done hisbest to limit Primus' damage, but now he was likely to suffer atleast some of the consequences from Primus' actions. At that point,I was confident that the worst Primus faced was perhaps exile, andthat was only if he was not allowed to keep any of the money thathe had extorted here in Thrace to pay for a massive bribe to thejury. Consequently, Masala would be much less likely to suffer apenalty as severe as Primus, and if his father were wealthy enough,he might yet escape any censure whatsoever. So I believed, anyway.Speaking of the money, Volusenus ordered me to bring the bullionwith the army, warning me that he was in possession of the tabletsthat provided an exact accounting of the sums involved.
"Down to the last sesterce," was how he putit, finishing, "When you arrive at Siscia, you'll receiveinstructions about what to do with it. Until then, it must beguarded with you and your men's lives. Is that understood?"
"Perfectly." I am sure the bitterness I wasfeeling managed to seep into the words, but I did understand thatas usual, the money was more important to the man who ruled Romethan the lives of the Legions.
Perhaps a third of a watch after Volusenusand his party departed, the army began marching, following in thesame direction. As soon as we got fully on the march, both Macrinusand Flaminius left their spots to come trotting up the column,calling to me. The Tribunes were in a similar mood to mine, but Iam sure that it was more about the idea of this campaign being cutshort than any concern about my fate. More likely, they wereworried that somehow Primus' and my disgrace would somehow rub offon them, which I will admit was a reasonable concern. No matterwhat the cause, none of them objected when I turned Ocelus out ofour command group, with an order to continue the march. Drawing offto the side, I walked along the two Primi Pili, none of us speakingfor a moment.
"What did that prick Volusenus have to say?"Macrinus broke the silence, to which I answered with a grunt.
"Just that we need to keep our filthy handsoff the loot," I said finally.
"Pluto's cock, that's really all thosepatricians are worried about, aren't they?" Flaminius spat hisbitterness into the dirt after he spoke.
"Well, it is a good deal of money," Iput in mildly, but my thoughts were elsewhere, trying to determinethe best way to bring up what I had in mind. Finally, I opted tojust jump in with both feet.
"I think I might have an idea about how wecan make sure the men get something out of this campaign."
Not surprisingly, both men were eager tohear what I had in mind, and I wasted no time in describing myplan, such as it was.
The idea was very simple, but of all thethings that I have done during my time under the standard, this isprobably the most underhanded thing I have ever done, and despitethe fact I had no congress with the gods at this point, I knewthere would be a reckoning of some sort. As plans went, it wasdeceptively simple; we were going to fall on Naissus and strip itbare, taking everything worth a sesterce. In essence, I was goingto turn two battle-hardened Legions loose on a town that had, inall
