Caesar Triumphant- Chapter 5 (Cont.)
Once it was determined that all Wa on the beach were dead, Caesar had the men of the entire army, once landed, form up in his now-famous acies triplex, the three line formation that had seen the defeat of armies from Hispania to Pandya. It was somewhat difficult, given the problem of so many heaped bodies, but the moment they were formed up, with the orientation that he wanted, Caesar sounded the order to advance. Their objective was not an army, but the large town that lay to the east of the landing beach. The 10th was in their usual spot, anchoring the right of the line, meaning that Titus Pullus, the Primus Pilus, was the last remaining Roman on the right, or unprotected side. It had been this way for so long and so often, save for a couple of times, one being Africa during the civil war, that if Caesar had ordered the Legion somewhere else, Pullus wasn't quite sure how the Legion would have reacted.
But the men of Caesar's army moved quickly into position, and the march began towards the town, which was only protected by a low wall, barely more than a man's height. More importantly, there was only a handful of Wa warriors on the wall, although it was too far away to make out their features. When they were within 200 paces, Caesar ordered a halt, followed by the command for all Primi Pili. Once they were all gathered, he told them, "It doesn't look like there will be much resistance, so I don't foresee this taking very long. However," his gaze turned to the assembled Centurions, "we have to decide what to do about this town. It looks large, so there should be a substantial amount of loot. I doubt we'll find many civilians to sell as slaves, but whatever we find will be rounded up and Zhang's man can see to it." Caesar was referring to a member of Zhang's personal retinue who had acted as broker to sell the slaves that had been rounded up when crossing the Gayan Peninsula. However, his announcement was met with silence, and some furtive glances between some of the Primi Pili. Instantly picking up on it, Caesar pressed his Centurions, and all eyes turned to the giant Primus Pilus of the 10th. Seeing that there was no avoiding it, Pullus, face reddened as he said, "It's just that the men want vengeance for the first assault." Caesar's first instinct was to argue, but he caught himself. While it had been weeks since that first assault was bloodily repulsed, and they had just slaughtered close to 20,000 Wa, he knew that watching men die from a distance, from artillery, wasn't the same as plunging your own sword into the guts of the man across from you, acting in vengeance for the loss of a comrade. In addition, Caesar recognized that his control over the army had been badly shaken by the repulse, and this victory, while it helped, hadn't done enough to restore matters back to what he considered normal. Instead, he simply asked, "What do the men want?" "That the town be given to them, to do with as they will," Pullus answered instantly, causing Caesar's eyes to narrow in suspicion, understanding that this had been planned. While he didn't fault them for being prepared, he still wasn't happy that he was unaware that this was coming. I'm going to have to talk to my network of spies in the army, he reminded himself. Nevertheless, he gave his assent to this, his only admonishment, "Don't let the men start fires. You know I hate that."Assuring him that they would control those men who exhibited this proclivity, the Primi Pili quickly returned to spread the news. As each Legion was informed, they gave a rousing cheer, causing a rolling wall of noise that lasted for several moments. What effect it had on the Wa on the wall, waiting for what came next, was impossible to tell, because not one of them moved a muscle.
The assault on the town, as Caesar and the rest of the officers suspected, didn't take long. Those Wa who stayed on the wall, and most of them did, died fighting, though not with the same spirit and resolution of those on the first beach. "These were probably the sick, lame and lazy," Balbus remarked to Pullus, using the term Romans used for malingerers, as they watched their men pull down the low wooden wall. Very quickly several gaps were torn in the barrier, allowing the men to stream through, those who participated in the first assault being given the honor of leading. More importantly, it gave them the first pickings of whatever loot was in the town. But almost immediately, the flow of men stopped, those still outside the wall forced to stand, shouting and cursing their frustration at their predecessors who seemed to have stopped everything. "What in Pluto's thorny cock is the holdup?" Pullus growled, then pushed his way through the waiting men, bashing those too slow to jump out of the way with his vitus, and he was followed closely by Balbus. Finally getting through the gap and elbowing his way into the front ranks, his snarled command died in his throat, as mystified as the rest of the men. It was Publius Vellusius, the old Gregarius and long-time comrade of both Pullus and Scribonius who sidled over to his Primus Pilus and broke the silence. "What are they doing? Sir?" Pullus amended hastily, but if Pullus took offense he gave no sign. "They're kneeling," Pullus replied in a whisper, although he had no idea why he was doing so. "But why?" "How should I know?" Pullus snapped, instantly regretting it; it was a valid question, and one that Pullus was wondering himself. Then, with an idea, he said, "I suppose they're throwing themselves on our mercy." "They're not going to get any from me," Vellusius replied fiercely, remembering his friend Ganusius, gutted on the beach those weeks ago. For that is the sight that greeted the first Romans through the wall; not a deserted town like they expected, which they could now see was very close to being a city, but the lines and rows of people, obviously the townspeople, kneeling, with heads touching the ground, filling the square and streets of the town. Every open inch of ground was covered by a person or group of people. Just in front of the first row was a smaller group, perhaps ten villagers, all male, but they were in the same kneeling position, and none of them raised their head or looked up. Whatever the men of Caesar's army were expecting, this wasn't it; the normal scene of the sacking of a town was one of chaos, with people running in any direction they thought gave them the best chance for escape, the screams of women either trying to evade being captured and raped, or having been caught and ravished filling the air. Just not this.........silence. It unnerved Pullus, and he could see he wasn't the only one, that none of the men seemed as eager to go about the business of rape and slaughter as they had been just moments before. It was silly, Pullus observed, since this would make rounding them up easier, but that wasn't how he felt. Turning to Balbus, just behind him and as silent as everyone else, he said, "Go get Caesar."
By the time Caesar arrived, Pullus and the other Primi Pili had managed to get most of the men inside the walls of the town, and had them formed up, backs to the wall, in a long single line of Centuries, curving around the contour of the wall and out of sight. A quick check had confirmed that all the streets ringing the wall, or perpendicular to it, were empty. Everyone, it seemed, was gathered in one place. Even Caesar, normally so unruffled, was taken aback, and unbidden, the same thought he had just a short time before came back. Can we beat these people? Like Pullus, he chided himself for precisely the same reason. Here they were, all lined up, waiting for whatever their fate may be, but this was so unlike anything he had experienced, it gave him a deep sense of unease. It was one thing to kill running men and women, as part of the bloodlust following a battle or siege, or to execute one or more kneeling men who had been captured after a fight. But this, to walk up and down the rows, systematically beheading each person, turned even his stomach. Of course, there was no guarantee that these Wa would sit passively and silently accept their fate, but some instinct, deep inside, told him that they would. This, more than anything else, is what troubled him; like most Romans, he had always accepted as fact that his people were the most disciplined and obedient to higher authority people in the world, and none of his conquests had shown him any differently. But he knew that no Roman would be so stoic, so resigned to their fate, without considerable weeping and gnashing of teeth at least. Not these people. "Well, Caesar? What are your orders?" Pullus asked his general. Caesar turned troubled eyes to Pullus and said, "I don't know."
All posts by R.W. Peake on blog.rwpeake.com are copyrighted by the author, 2012.
But the men of Caesar's army moved quickly into position, and the march began towards the town, which was only protected by a low wall, barely more than a man's height. More importantly, there was only a handful of Wa warriors on the wall, although it was too far away to make out their features. When they were within 200 paces, Caesar ordered a halt, followed by the command for all Primi Pili. Once they were all gathered, he told them, "It doesn't look like there will be much resistance, so I don't foresee this taking very long. However," his gaze turned to the assembled Centurions, "we have to decide what to do about this town. It looks large, so there should be a substantial amount of loot. I doubt we'll find many civilians to sell as slaves, but whatever we find will be rounded up and Zhang's man can see to it." Caesar was referring to a member of Zhang's personal retinue who had acted as broker to sell the slaves that had been rounded up when crossing the Gayan Peninsula. However, his announcement was met with silence, and some furtive glances between some of the Primi Pili. Instantly picking up on it, Caesar pressed his Centurions, and all eyes turned to the giant Primus Pilus of the 10th. Seeing that there was no avoiding it, Pullus, face reddened as he said, "It's just that the men want vengeance for the first assault." Caesar's first instinct was to argue, but he caught himself. While it had been weeks since that first assault was bloodily repulsed, and they had just slaughtered close to 20,000 Wa, he knew that watching men die from a distance, from artillery, wasn't the same as plunging your own sword into the guts of the man across from you, acting in vengeance for the loss of a comrade. In addition, Caesar recognized that his control over the army had been badly shaken by the repulse, and this victory, while it helped, hadn't done enough to restore matters back to what he considered normal. Instead, he simply asked, "What do the men want?" "That the town be given to them, to do with as they will," Pullus answered instantly, causing Caesar's eyes to narrow in suspicion, understanding that this had been planned. While he didn't fault them for being prepared, he still wasn't happy that he was unaware that this was coming. I'm going to have to talk to my network of spies in the army, he reminded himself. Nevertheless, he gave his assent to this, his only admonishment, "Don't let the men start fires. You know I hate that."Assuring him that they would control those men who exhibited this proclivity, the Primi Pili quickly returned to spread the news. As each Legion was informed, they gave a rousing cheer, causing a rolling wall of noise that lasted for several moments. What effect it had on the Wa on the wall, waiting for what came next, was impossible to tell, because not one of them moved a muscle.
The assault on the town, as Caesar and the rest of the officers suspected, didn't take long. Those Wa who stayed on the wall, and most of them did, died fighting, though not with the same spirit and resolution of those on the first beach. "These were probably the sick, lame and lazy," Balbus remarked to Pullus, using the term Romans used for malingerers, as they watched their men pull down the low wooden wall. Very quickly several gaps were torn in the barrier, allowing the men to stream through, those who participated in the first assault being given the honor of leading. More importantly, it gave them the first pickings of whatever loot was in the town. But almost immediately, the flow of men stopped, those still outside the wall forced to stand, shouting and cursing their frustration at their predecessors who seemed to have stopped everything. "What in Pluto's thorny cock is the holdup?" Pullus growled, then pushed his way through the waiting men, bashing those too slow to jump out of the way with his vitus, and he was followed closely by Balbus. Finally getting through the gap and elbowing his way into the front ranks, his snarled command died in his throat, as mystified as the rest of the men. It was Publius Vellusius, the old Gregarius and long-time comrade of both Pullus and Scribonius who sidled over to his Primus Pilus and broke the silence. "What are they doing? Sir?" Pullus amended hastily, but if Pullus took offense he gave no sign. "They're kneeling," Pullus replied in a whisper, although he had no idea why he was doing so. "But why?" "How should I know?" Pullus snapped, instantly regretting it; it was a valid question, and one that Pullus was wondering himself. Then, with an idea, he said, "I suppose they're throwing themselves on our mercy." "They're not going to get any from me," Vellusius replied fiercely, remembering his friend Ganusius, gutted on the beach those weeks ago. For that is the sight that greeted the first Romans through the wall; not a deserted town like they expected, which they could now see was very close to being a city, but the lines and rows of people, obviously the townspeople, kneeling, with heads touching the ground, filling the square and streets of the town. Every open inch of ground was covered by a person or group of people. Just in front of the first row was a smaller group, perhaps ten villagers, all male, but they were in the same kneeling position, and none of them raised their head or looked up. Whatever the men of Caesar's army were expecting, this wasn't it; the normal scene of the sacking of a town was one of chaos, with people running in any direction they thought gave them the best chance for escape, the screams of women either trying to evade being captured and raped, or having been caught and ravished filling the air. Just not this.........silence. It unnerved Pullus, and he could see he wasn't the only one, that none of the men seemed as eager to go about the business of rape and slaughter as they had been just moments before. It was silly, Pullus observed, since this would make rounding them up easier, but that wasn't how he felt. Turning to Balbus, just behind him and as silent as everyone else, he said, "Go get Caesar."
By the time Caesar arrived, Pullus and the other Primi Pili had managed to get most of the men inside the walls of the town, and had them formed up, backs to the wall, in a long single line of Centuries, curving around the contour of the wall and out of sight. A quick check had confirmed that all the streets ringing the wall, or perpendicular to it, were empty. Everyone, it seemed, was gathered in one place. Even Caesar, normally so unruffled, was taken aback, and unbidden, the same thought he had just a short time before came back. Can we beat these people? Like Pullus, he chided himself for precisely the same reason. Here they were, all lined up, waiting for whatever their fate may be, but this was so unlike anything he had experienced, it gave him a deep sense of unease. It was one thing to kill running men and women, as part of the bloodlust following a battle or siege, or to execute one or more kneeling men who had been captured after a fight. But this, to walk up and down the rows, systematically beheading each person, turned even his stomach. Of course, there was no guarantee that these Wa would sit passively and silently accept their fate, but some instinct, deep inside, told him that they would. This, more than anything else, is what troubled him; like most Romans, he had always accepted as fact that his people were the most disciplined and obedient to higher authority people in the world, and none of his conquests had shown him any differently. But he knew that no Roman would be so stoic, so resigned to their fate, without considerable weeping and gnashing of teeth at least. Not these people. "Well, Caesar? What are your orders?" Pullus asked his general. Caesar turned troubled eyes to Pullus and said, "I don't know."
All posts by R.W. Peake on blog.rwpeake.com are copyrighted by the author, 2012.
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