Centurion's Rise (12 page)

Once again Caesar raised his hand to induce silence and
spoke.  “A Tribune, solemn representative of the people’s interest, was assaulted on the marble floor of the Senate.  It is unthinkable, it is an unprecedented affront to the traditions and values of our Republic.  Here the duly elected Tribune sits, bloodied from the fists of the very man who accuses me and insults all of you.  Can you imagine a more vile affront to the common citizens of Rome?”

“No,” cried the army.

“Not only to the people of Rome,” Caesar yelled.  “It is an affront to you, men who take action in the field of battle to prove your love of country.  These cowards who don bed sheets and speak between marble columns have no right to criticize you.  Even the lowliest soldier serves his country better than the cleverest crafter of words, for they are all talk.  We are men of action, and action is now required.

“I can comply with their demands, surrender my arms and hand the Republic over to these lawless tyrants.  Or
, I can return to Rome with sword and shield and drive them into the sea beyond.”

The army shouted their agreement.

“They have ordered me to disband this loyal army of the Republic,” Caesar went on.  “By their laws, I am ordered to send you home without dispensation of land you so rightly deserve.  They further demand I return to Rome, unarmed, to face the architects of this plot; the very men who assaulted a Tribune of the people on the floor of the Senate house!”

The army roared their displeasure with the order.
  They spent ten years fighting bloody wars with the promise of land upon retirement, and they would not be denied.

“We all know what awaits me in Rome if I comply, but I will go no
ne the less because it is my duty to serve the interests of the people.  And that interest now is served by fighting these mad men.  With, or without the protection of this army, I will go to Rome and fight for the Republic I hold so dear in my heart.  I ask you now to join me on this road to Rome.  Join me in saving the Republic we all know and love.”

The army exploded with shouts of approval.  The random words soon coalesced into rhythmic chants of “Caesar . . . Caesar . . . Caesar.”

Caesar looked to his orderly.  “Fetch the eagle,” he yelled in between the chants.

Frantically the orderly returned
to the middle of the cross road and presented Caesar a spear with nothing on top along with a small dagger.  “General, the eagle has been taken.  Four men lay dead in the tent and I found this blade in one of their backs.”

Caesar grabbed the weapon and carefully inspected the hilt.  He looked up in shock.  “This blade belongs to a man under Pompey’s employ.  The markings are unmistakable.”

With rage brimming from every pore, Caesar threw the blade to the ground.  “They assault our Tribune, mock our life’s work, and now murder our brothers to steal the honored symbol of this army.  Will we stand for this?”

“NO!” every man
shouted.

“Then we march,” Caesar concluded.  “We march on Rome and the vile betrayers who cower within her walls.”

“YES!” the men bellowed and immediately set about breaking camp for the long march to the capital city.”

Satisfied with
the flurry of activity all around, Caesar nudged his horse toward his private tent.  On the way he rode past his orderly holding the naked spear.  “Well played, now dispose of the bodies.”

Octavian obediently rode
behind Caesar and his officer corps.  Tomal issued a report regarding his cavalry forces.

“
General, my men confirm the Mayor of Segesta will allow the army to pass without incident.  He professes to support our cause though I think he either can’t stomach the thought of Romans fighting Romans, or he’s smart enough to see his garrison doesn’t stand a chance against the thirteenth Legion.”

“Regardless,” Caesar interrupted, “We can press forward without delay
, and we have avoided yet another possible confrontation that would only dwindle our forces.  Well done again.  That gives us every major city in northern Italy except Samarium.”

“That
’s correct, sir,” Tomal confirmed, “and my scouting lines are nearing Samarium as we speak.  It will not come under our control as easily as the others though.  Word from the locals is a Senate army approaches to halt our advance.  The Mayor will undoubtedly wait for the result of the pending battle before standing in our way, or letting us pass.”

Caesar stopped to address the officers he had assembled for the daily staff meeting.  “All
cohorts are to converge on Samarium.  If the Senate army truly is there, I intend to smash it before that untrained rabble they must have pulled from the local prisons can get adequate training time.”

“Yes
general,” the officers all agreed and rode off to rejoin their men in the field.

Caesar beckoned
his nephew to join him.  “Do you understand what I am doing with this army, young Octavian?”

“I see you
advance the army in a scattered pattern with cavalry riding far ahead to detect any resistance,” the young man observed.

“Very good,” Caesar said.  “While marching
, the army fans out to take up hundreds of miles.  Once we discover the location of an enemy force we then come back together and fight as one.”

“To be honest
, uncle,” Octavian said with trepidation.  “I thought it an error to separate the men.  I expected each city we pass to put up resistance that would require a significant show of military might to force their allegiance to your cause.”

Caesar shook his head slightly at the flawed logic.  “These
northern cities are the lifeblood of my army.  These cities supported us with food during the Gallic wars, and most of the soldiers hail from these regions.  I made sure each city was approached by a cohort full of men who enlisted from that city in the first place.  Having a child or nephew of the Mayor approaching to conduct the negotiations all but guaranteed the city would join us.  The farther south we go though, the less local affiliation this army has with the region.”

“What about the Senate army?
” Octavian asked.  “They will have two or three times our numbers.  Doesn’t that concern you?”

“At Alesia
we demolished an army ten times our size with a single cavalry charge because they were not really an army, just a disorganized mob,” Caesar instructed. 

“Those were
farmers with pitchforks,” Octavian interrupted.  “These will be well equipped men with trained Roman officers in charge.  They will not break so easily.”

“
Oh yes they will,” Caesar declared.  “Handing a wide eyed child a sword and shield does not make a soldier.  Neither does forcing a lazy drunk or an imprisoned criminal to stand in formation.  This rag tag army of the Senate may look the part, but they will either disperse at the sight of a real army, or they’ll break with the first volley of arrows shot into them.  I’d stake my life on it.”

“It appears you are staking all our lives on it,”
Octavian said.  “I find no flaw in your logic though. What part would you have me play in the coming battle?”

“None, j
ust watch and learn young man.  Putting you in command of a cohort without experience would make our army no better than theirs.  Soon you will get your chance to lead, Octavian, but not yet.”

Half a day later, five thousand foot soldier
s of the thirteenth legion assembled in an open field of grain just north of Samarium.  Across the field in a depressed valley stood a formidable mass of fifteen thousand soldiers in full armor and formation.  Emboldened by the superior numbers, the Senate army advanced up the hill.

Caesar
sat atop his white stallion grinning ear to ear.  “This commander is so inept it nearly takes the honor out of it.  Octavian, would you mind pointing out what he is doing wrong?”

Octavian
rode up next to Caesar while looking out over the valley to deliver his analysis.  “Their general failed to secure the high ground for this battle giving our archers and artillery superior range.  Plus their men will have to work twice as hard fighting uphill compared to our men.”

“Very good,” Caesar commended.  “He has also failed to use his cavalry as scouts to locate all of our armed forces in the
area.  He will be in for an unsettling surprise when Antony’s cavalry close in on his rear.”

“Sir,” one of th
e officers interrupted.  “They’re moving into range of the catapults.  Shall I give the signal?”

“No
,” Caesar insisted.  “We will hit them with everything all at once to induce a state of shock and awe.  I need them to break with minimal losses to keep the love of the people behind us.”

Another
nerve wracking minute passed as the clanking of swords and shields from the advancing Senate army drew closer.  Caesar casually pointed to a growing cloud of dust coming over the far hillside behind the Senate army.  “There they are.”

On cue,
a thousand cavalrymen crested the hill and descended on the Senate army from their rear.  Shouts of confusion and panic rang out from the ranks of men struggling their way up the modestly steep hillside.

“There’s the shock,” Caesar mused.  “Now it’s time for the awe.  Fire one volley of everything we have.
”

“Light arrows,” the Praefect
shouted and the archers touched the tar dipped tips of their arrows to a nearby torch to set it alight.

“Draw,” the Praefect ordered to the squeaky sound of the bows bending as the archers drew the fletching next to their ear
s.

“Release.”

The thundering snap of a thousand strings and fifty catapults launching their projectiles filled the air.  The flaming cauldrons of pitch launched by the catapults hit the advancing army first due to their more direct trajectory.  Fifty explosions raked across the Senate army lines, and then a faint hiss filled the air as the flaming arrows passed the crest of their arch and fell upon the enemy force already in a state of panic from the pending cavalry charge from the rear.

Caesar drew his sword and yelled, “Charge,” and his foot soldiers advanced en mass
e at a double time pace toward the chaotic army below.

Along
the Senate army lines the face of every man ran white with fear.  Half of them immediately dropped their shields and swords to either run into the hillside or signal their surrender.

As Caesar
’s forces approached a large amount of infighting among the enemy ranks could be seen.  A coup was underway as the thirteenth legion approached to deliver a death blow.

“Stop the cavalry charge,” Caesar ordered.  Immediately the flag signaler behind him repeated three brisk side to side waves and Mark Antony, still across the field, brought his men to a full stop
and awaited further instructions.

“Full stop,” Caesar ordered to the charging foot soldiers.  Trumpets bellowed and the soldiers obediently came to
rest fifty feet from the terrified enemy line.

Caesar strutted behind his line
of veteran soldiers breathing fire down the necks of the green as grass army cowering before him.  “Surrender the Consul and you may all return to your private lives untouched.  I know you are here by force rather than choice so I will only hold your leader responsible.”

He
did not have to ask twice.  Within seconds the Consul was ejected from the enemy line and forced out into the open at sword point by his own men.  Caesar signaled a dozen of his soldiers to take possession of the prisoner and force him to his knees in between the two battle lines.

Caesar nudged
his mount into the wide open inducing a thundering gallop he maintained until coming to a stop over the kneeling Consul. 

“You ar
e either with me, or against me,” Caesar yelled for all to hear.

He made an offhanded gesture toward the ground with his index finger, which signaled the soldier standing behind the Consul to draw his
blade.  He then drove two feet of good Roman iron into the side of the Consul’s neck angling down through the middle of his chest.  Either through a state of shock or an extreme level of bravery, the Consul didn’t make a sound.  His body waivered for a brief moment and then collapsed lifeless to the ground.

No one moved
or made a sound as they witnessed the execution.  Even after the Consul’s body fell to the ground, the air surrounding the twenty thousand men on the battlefield remained so still not even the gods dared breathe a gentle breeze.

“Leave your weapons
and armor where you stand,” Caesar finally spoke, “and you may return to your families unharmed.” 

Caesar then turned to leave the process of enforcing the surrender to his subordinates
and signaled his officers to join him on the ride back to camp.  As he rode next to Octavian, Caesar leaned over to ask, “do you think the Senators in Rome heard that?”

**********

Dr. Holmes finished writing his notes as Hastelloy paused in his story telling to enjoy a glass of water. He shook his head in disbelief at the boldness of the patient’s assertion.

“If I understand you correctly, Julius Caesar’s act of rebellion by crossing the Rubicon River and sparking civil war
throughout the Roman Republic was your fault?” Jeffrey asked quietly.

“Yes, I walked directly into a t
rap the Alpha leader set for me,” Hastelloy confirmed.  “I unwittingly provided Julius Caesar with the means to wage war with Tomal as his cavalry commander.  I further gave him the emotional spark needed to incite his men to follow him to Rome by proposing the Senate measure, which prompted my allies in the Senate to physically attack Tomal as Tribune of the Plebs. 

“To top it all off, I ordered
Valnor to steal and destroy the Eagle of the thirteenth legion.  This prized symbol of the legion’s greatness sealed the deal to enrage his men to the point that they wanted every Senator who stood against Caesar to die a painful death.”

“So you’re the one who brought down the Roman Republic that stood for nearly five hundred years so emperors could rule on high for another thousand?” Dr. Holmes asked.

“Yes,” Hastelloy said in a curt tone that resonated with frustration.

Jeffrey suppressed a laugh and gestured with his hand and pencil upward.  “Would you do
me a favor and stand up please?”

Hastelloy shot him a perplexed look but eventually complied.

“Hum,” Jeffrey mused.  “Somehow I thought you’d be taller.”

“Hah,
I said the same thing to Napoleon” Hastelloy laughed as he sat back down, “and you don’t even know the half of it yet.”

“What about the Alpha now?
” Dr. Holmes asked.  “They talk to you and others in prayer?”

“That’s an accurate description I guess,” Hastelloy affirmed
, but then shook his head back and forth.  “On second thought, describing it as prayer implies a positive influence from the divine spirit.  I would describe the Alpha presence in the relics as the proverbial devil sitting on someone’s shoulder whispering evil thoughts into his ear.”

“Well lucky for you Valnor destroyed the Eagle,” Jeffrey said. 
“It came with the price of Caesar inciting his men to rebellion, but Goron’s life force was destroyed.  One devil down and one to go right?”

“If only
that was the case,” Hastelloy pondered as he took another drink of water to continue his story.