Tribune of the People by Dan Wallace

Author:Dan Wallace [Wallace, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733572507
Publisher: Wylisc Press
Published: 2019-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19. The Blessings of the Nementon

They rode for two days, over ground that should have looked familiar, Sextus thought, grassy rises turning to wooded knolls, the river never far away. He should have been able to figure out the time it would take to retrace their tracks, but he was having trouble focusing. In the aftermath of the fighting, he could distract himself by watching Tiberius ready the Ninth to march back to Hispania Citerior. The tribune instructed Casca to plan on shadowing Mancinus’s main force from high ground to enable the Ninth to protect the exposed ranks of Mancinus’s four legions from ambush. The Numantines had demanded that all remaining horses be surrendered in exchange for oxen to pull the wagons. Since every horse in the Roman camp had been eaten, it was almost a generous stipulation. Nonetheless, Tiberius countered by insisting that the Numantines allow the withdrawal by the Romans be executed in two contingents. Some of the chieftains grumbled, but Avarus agreed. Still, everything had to be sanctified by the Celtic gods in their sacred groves, the destination of Tiberius and Sextus now.

Sextus assumed that, like so many religious ceremonies in Rome, this would be a matter of routine after the politics had been settled. Of course, who really knew what barbarians did in their rituals? Romans gutted a few birds, maybe a lamb, even a bull now and then. Suppose the Numantines sacrificed humans to their gods? If so, who would they sacrifice? Not their own when they had enemy captives on hand. He and Tiberius might be opened up after all, by the Numie priests. He shuddered at the thought, then gritted his teeth; he wouldn’t go easy.

He wasn’t fond of what the Numantines called a horse, either. His feet almost dragged on the ground, his mount was so sway-backed. It clopped along at its own pace, its bony frame hitting him in the wrong places. Apparently, it covered the ground, though. After another half day of riding, they emerged from a wood into a clearing at the foot of a rising hill. On top of it stood the city-fort of Numantia, and though the battle at the city-fort had taken place just a few weeks ago, Sextus was stunned by the change he saw.

The wooden beams of the stockade surrounding the city showed some scorch marks from the incendiaries fired at it, but everything else had been removed. Not a corpse remained, not even a horse. Not one vulture spotted the sky above the Numantine bastion. Every arrow shaft, broken pilum, sword, shield, and siege engine had been removed. More astonishing, not a trace of the Roman camp could be seen. It was as if the bloody battle hadn’t occurred, that the legions of Rome had never been there at all. Instead, sheep and long-haired steers grazed before the back-switching walls of Numantia.

“Shades of Dis,” uttered Sextus. He glanced at Tiberius and saw that he was equally amazed, taking in the pastoral panorama before him.

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