“Calm yourself, Praetor,” I snapped, but hewas too far gone to hear anything I was saying. Completely ignoringme, he whirled about, almost unseating himself from his horse inthe process, looking wildly about, making me think he was lookingto flee. Instead, he hurried over to the cornicen, andbefore I could stop him, shouted at the man, “Sound the retreat!Immediately!”
It took a moment to recover from the shock,yet another crucial lapse on my part, as the cornicen,accustomed to obeying to orders instantly, raised his cornuover his shoulder, drew in a breath, and, before I could stop him,sounded the series of notes that signaled a full retreat. Becauseof his cowardice and ignorance, Primus had just made matters muchworse. While there was no need to, the proper call would have beento sound the withdrawal, instead of the retreat, which is acompletely different matter. In fact, at that moment, a withdrawalmight have been the prudent choice, because it meant continuing toengage with the enemy, yet instead of trying to advance, taking astep backward after the push with the shield instead of forward.However, sounding the retreat was the signal that the battle wasover and had been lost, meaning those troops not engaged shouldimmediately turn about to flee, and those who were currentlyfighting had to essentially fend for themselves. Performing awithdrawal is difficult; managing a retreat is perhaps the ultimatetest of a Centurion’s leadership abilities, and Primus’ lapse couldnot have happened at a worse time, or to a worse unit than theTenth Cohort of the 13th. They were being hard pressed,that was a fact; the situation was dire, but I had been involvedin, and seen the Legions in much greater danger than they were atthat moment. This was a localized outbreak, with no real chance ofshifting the entire battle, except if we allowed it to happen, yetI also know that when you are the man on the ground, surrounded bycomrades fighting for their lives, what is obvious to the commanderis much less clear when you watch your friends falling and you knowthat your life is running its course in front of your eyes. That iswhy I can assign no real blame to those men of the Tenth who,hearing the call to retreat, were happier to obey that order thanany other they had previously heard, even though against cavalryturning their back essentially sealed their fate. Those remainingLegionaries who had been containing the Thracians now turned torun, ignoring the shouts from their comrades along the line tostand their ground. Before I could make my way over to where thecornicen was standing next to Primus, I saw a number of ourmen cut down with thrusts to the back once they turned to flee,trying to make it up the hill to the second line. Even from where Iwas, the panic on their faces was plain to see and my heart feltlike it was being torn apart, knowing that their deaths were myfault.
“Sound the command to hold,” I roared at thecornicen. “Then sound the call for the second line toadvance!”
“You will do no such thing!” Primus snappedat the poor man, who looked from the Praetor to me, then backagain, his face reflecting the fear and indecision he was feeling.I knew I was putting the hapless boy in an impossible position, buttime was critical, and I was forced to keep an eye on what washappening down the slope.
“Caldus.” I was thankful that I rememberedthe man’s name. “I don’t have time to argue with the Praetor here.You see those Thracians?”
Caldus nodded, gulping as he looked down theslope where at least one Centurion of the Tenth had kept his witsabout him, ordering the back two lines of his Century over to tryto plug the hole, and to their everlasting glory and credit, thosemen had not hesitated. Led by their Centurion, they had thrownthemselves at the Thracian cavalry, darting underneath the horsesand their flailing hooves, managing to take two horses down. Thebodies of the animals were doing as much to plug the hole as thepresence of the extra Legionaries. Because of the obstacle, theleading Thracians were now fighting furiously, trying to cut a wayaround. For the moment, the hole was plugged, yet it was a tenuousblockage that could only hold for a moment. I saw that, much likethe Centurion, who I planned on commending if he survived, one ofhis Thracian counterparts on the ground had seen where the line hadbeen weakened and even now the enemy infantry was throwing itselfat the two-deep section of the Tenth.
“If you don’t sound that call right now,they are going to break through.”
“But I have orders from the Praetor, sir,”the youngster stammered nervously.
“That’s right,” Primus shouted, still in afull-blown panic. “We must save the rest of the army! Those men aredoomed, and if we don’t move now, we will be as well! Carry outyour orders you…you imbecile!”
I had been ignoring the Praetor, knowingthat everything hinged on what Caldus would do, so I saw the flashof hatred in the man’s eyes at the Praetor’s insult. Without sayinga word, he blew the commands I had ordered, the first being theorder for the first line to stand their ground. I was well awarethat it might be too late at that point, yet it had to be done.
“I will have you crucified!” Primusscreeched at Caldus, who visibly flinched.
“He’s not going to touch you,” I assuredhim, except there was no real way I could make that promise withany guarantee.
Despite his fear, Caldus then gave thesecond signal, the second line reacting instantly, as if they hadbeen straining at the leash like one of those hunting dogs that theGauls love so much. Primus was beside himself, watching the otherfive Cohorts begin their march, just in time as the Thraciancavalry had finally managed to overwhelm the last of our men.Pushing past the bodies of the men of the Tenth who had sacrificedthemselves, the Thracians were now faced with a choice; eitherturning to slam into the rear of the first line, compressing thembetween themselves and the Thracian infantry, who were clearlyinfused with new
