Both of us laughed at that, long and hard. Ibelieve this is something only fighting men will ever understand.Before I sent him off, I struggled to my feet and, no longer caringabout appearance, I hugged my nephew, hard. For the first and lasttime, I broke a vow I had made some six years before.
"May Fortuna, Mars, and Bellona bless you,boy," I whispered into his ear, not even minding the tears runningdown my cheeks.
"Thank you, Uncle." Gaius squeezed my arm,impressing me with his grip. "I won't let you down."
"That's something you could never do," Itold him before I sent him on his way.
I watched him stride off, tall and proud, aprofessional preparing himself and his men for the horrors thatcome when the Legions of Rome throw themselves into a breach.
Despite Flavianus' hesitance at predicting atime, he was very close. It was perhaps a third of a watch pastmidnight, the beginning of fourth watch, when even from where I wasseated on my couch, gnawing on a piece of bread, I heard a deep,rumbling sound, followed by a tremendous burst of noise,accompanied by flames shooting briefly into the air as the groundunderneath the wall collapsed. The fire that had been set insidethe tunnel had done its work, but now it presented a new challenge.Unlike a stone wall, a timber wall that collapses is also likely tocatch fire, and that is what happened now. As far as the worstpossible thing happening, outside of a wall not collapsing forwhatever reason, a wall catching on fire is next to it. Some of thehuge logs that formed this section of the wall, each one more thantwenty feet above the ground with perhaps a quarter of its totallength buried, toppled over once the ground underneath them nolonger supported their massive weight, one falling inward into thecity, one falling outward. Others seemed suddenly to settle down,falling straight down into the now burning cavity that had beenfilled with brush, rubbish, anything flammable that was set alight.Unfortunately, of those logs that fell over, in only two or threespots did logs standing side by side topple over, so that the gapswere not wide enough for more than perhaps three men abreast tocharge through the gaps. Even if we were to send men in, they wouldhave to worry about not just whatever defenders kept their witsabout them to try and plug the gap, but the heavy smoke and fireroiling up from the ground, as if Hades itself had been exposed inall its sulfurous majesty. The thick smoke served to diffuse thelight of the flames that were licking up the logs, casting adancing, shifting play of light and shadow that I sat watching frommy couch. Suddenly, sending Gaius into that did not seem even aremotely good idea, but there was nothing I could do but watch.Flames would seem to flicker, then disappear in the thick smoke,and the first few times it happened it gave me hope that they hadbeen smothered, but then they would come roaring back to life. Inoticed that as time passed, it seemed that the flames were risingeven higher in relation to what had been the top of the logs, andwhen Flavianus came to report, I commented on it.
"The bottoms down in the cavity are beingconsumed by the fire," he explained.
"So we're going to have to wait for this toburn out?" I asked in dismay, sure that it would be well pastdaylight.
"It won't take that long," he assured me,but that was the end of the good news. "Of course, it all dependson how willing your nephew is to go plunging into that breach whileit's still hot."
Biting back a curse, I could only sit backin helplessness, my mind racing as I tried to think of somethingthat could be done. As it would turn out, my nephew was more thanup to the challenge that this breach presented, so that I did nothave to do anything more than sit and fret. That, at least, I coulddo very well. Gaius had his men completely douse themselves withwater from the river, thoroughly soaking their tunics and skin. Inaddition, he not only had the men keep their leather covers on. butsoak them as well, since wet leather is more resistant to flames.To combat the smoke that was still billowing up, he had them soaktheir neckerchiefs and tie them around their faces, althoughnothing could be done to protect their eyes. For our purposes, thesmoke actually turned out to be in our favor. A slight southerlywind blew the smoke back from the wall into the faces of theMoesians that had gathered there, knowing this was the spot whereRome would come to take its vengeance. Perhaps two thirds of awatch after the fire started, it had consumed the wall.
This was the most anxious, nerve-wrackingbattle in which I ever participated, sitting as a spectator andbeing able to do nothing to influence the outcome. Between thegloom and the distance, I could only tell that Gaius and hisCentury entered the breach by the great shout that came rollingback through the night. Sitting forward, I strained my ears, tryingto pick out any sound that would give me a hint of what washappening. Finally, in frustration, I stood up, grabbed mycrutches, and carefully climbed down the steps to the rostra, thenbegan hopping along toward the city walls. The other Centuries ofthe 8th were standing in a row, waiting for theirCenturions to lead them into the breach, each Legionary doing thosethings that men do before a fight; excessively yawning, tappingtheir shields with their fingers, partially drawing then replacingtheir swords back in their sheaths to make sure that when they werepulled in anger, they would not stick. These men I shouted out ofthe way, and quickly the cry was picked up so that men dodged outof the way as I hobbled by. For the first and only time in mycareer, I did not try to offer men encouragement, nor did I careabout what kind of appearance I made. All that mattered was to getcloser
