Marius' Mules XIV: The Last Battle by Turney S.J.A

Author:Turney, S.J.A. [Turney, S.J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Victrix Books
Published: 2021-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

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Fronto stood with Atenos on the tower once more, watching the city walls. Two days had passed since the executions, and no further sign had come of a pro-Caesarian resistance within. Despite such , hope prevailed, for this Tullius at least still lived within the city, and the men around the siege lines had been all the more determined to win since the Pompeians’ display of cruelty.

The pile of corpses outside the walls had remained in place, attracting scavengers at night and clouds of flies by day, for no one in the city seemed inclined to do anything about them, and on the several occasions men had attempted to leave the siege lines into the open ground and retrieve them for proper burial, they had been attacked and driven back by missile shots from the walls. Indeed, one last attempt had been made at dusk this day, and two legionaries had been injured in the action, one with an arm broken by a sling bullet, the other suffering burns from a cast down fire brand.

Now, on Fronto’s orders, as darkness truly fell and the frosty cold settled across the world, a small party of men had gathered at the lines below. Ten of them, carrying jars of pitch and blazing torches. There was no longer any hope of retrieving the bodies, but at least they would attempt to get close enough to the pile to immolate them and render them to ash.

He watched in silence with the centurion as the small cremation party began to run. In order to give them the best chance of reaching the bodies intact, artillery thudded along the lines, trying to keep the walls cleared of men. Fronto watched until the pile of corpses began to blaze and the successful party of legionaries hared back across the open ground, arrows and stones falling all around them. One was hit by something, pausing, falling, yet rising again, aided by a friend , and staggering back safely to the lines.

Fronto had been about to wish Atenos good night and descend the tower ladders when a distant noise had instead drawn his attention, his eyes rising to the gate and walls of Ategua. His sudden joy that the Caesarians within had succeeded in opening the city to them crumbled as he realised that the figures in the gate were no outraged citizens.

As artillery began to loose all along the walls of Ategua, a legionary force emerged through the gate at speed, forming as they ran. A legio n’s standard rose in their midst and Fronto , peering myopically into the darkness , could just make out the symbols of the First upon it, one of Pompey’s veteran legions, and likely the preeminent force within the garrison. They came out like floodwater, crashing down the slope towards the Caesarian siege lines.

‘Ad signum,’ bellowed Atenos, as whistles and horns blew all along the lines, standards rising for men to muster on. Legionaries burst from their quarters, either tents

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