Soldier of Rome: Crisis on the Danube (The Artorian Dynasty, #2) by James Mace

Author:James Mace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ancient rome, eastern europe, romania, bulgaria, roman empire, dacia
Publisher: Legionary Books
Published: 2021-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

The responsibility entrusted to Gaius was near overwhelming. He then considered the various ages and experience amongst the legates and ranking equites within the Danube army. Lucius Vettonianus and Marcus Maternus were the only legates he knew of that were over forty. Even Consul Octavius Fronto and the highly experienced Tiberius Marius were still in their thirties. As he was now forty-three, Gaius came to the realisation that he was quite possibly the oldest imperial officer in all Moesia! Being a soldier of Rome was certainly a young man’s profession, even at the upper echelons.

There were exceptions, naturally. Julius Caesar was fifty at the time of the civil war against Pompey Magnus. The future emperor, Tiberius, was also around fifty when he fought his last campaign in Pannonia. And Vespasian, still regarded as the greatest general of the previous generation, was in his mid-fifties when he personally led the assault on Gamala in Judea; a battle which Gaius had taken part in as a soldier with Legio X, Fretensis. That said, most legates and auxilia regimental commanders were in their mid to late thirties. Even career centurions tended to leave the ranks not long after they reached forty. A legion’s camp prefect could be in his fifties; however, this was mostly an administrative post and not one expected to engage in actual combat.

Even barring crippling illness and injury, which tended to cut short many a soldier’s career, life as a legionary or auxilia soldier eventually took its toll. Gaius’ right arm had never fully recovered after the trauma of a grazing ballista shot at the Second Battle of Bedriacum during the civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius. And he’d been relatively young at the time, before too many years of forced marches in armour and kit wore out his back, shoulders, knees, and ankles. He often felt the reason he wasn’t completely hobbled was due to having spent ten years in various civil postings between the Siege of Jerusalem and his assignment as commanding prefect of Indus’ Horse.

That night, he lay on his camp bed, clutching a silver medallion attached to a chain that his beloved wife had given him many years before. The profile portrait of Aula’s likeness had worn some over the years, yet her face was as radiant as ever in his mind’s eye. He held the medallion close to his heart, his eyes suddenly fighting against unexpected tears. By the gods, he missed her! And their children. Claudia would soon reach the age of maturity, with Tiberius and Diana not far behind.

Though he was not a religious man by any means, whenever he did feel the urge to reach out to the divines, Gaius Artorius would call out to Nemesis, Goddess of Fortune and Retribution. Interestingly, she was also the deity most prayed to by gladiators.

“For the sake of my family, especially my beloved Aula,” Gaius said quietly, “please let this be my final campaign.”

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