Peter Darman - Carrhae

The next day Rasha was thrilled when Gallia rode into Palmyra at the head of the Amazons and twenty thousand horse archers. As usual the latter were led by the old brawler Spandarat, who was itching for a fight. Byrd wanted to give a great feast to celebrate the arrival of Gallia and my lords but I declined the offer. For one thing I did not want Spandarat and his fellow nobles getting roaring drunk and being unfit for duty the next day. So he went to bed an unhappy man but at least woke without a hangover and was in the saddle before dawn to ride alongside Gallia, Vagises and me as we headed west into the desert across the rock and gravel steppe. It was already hot and everyone was wearing either floppy hats or head cloths, their helmets dangling from the horns of their saddles.

Five hours after leaving Palmyra I saw a great dust cloud on the horizon and ordered a halt.

‘Is it a sandstorm?’ asked Vagises.

I shook my head. I had seen many sandstorms during my life, had observed the terrifying orange-brown wall of sand come out of the desert, the bottom of which appeared to contain millions of desert flies. The wall of sand could be up to a mile high and swallow whole towns and cities in its path. The storms could last for hours, days or even weeks but this was not one. This dust cloud was too sparse and immobile: the particles were being kicked up by thousands of horses and men. We had found Haytham and the Romans.

I gave the order to deploy into battle formation: a thousand of Dura’s archers on the left wing, another thousand on the right and the remainder in the centre with the Amazons. The lords were deployed behind the centre — twenty blocks of horsemen numbering a thousand riders each. And behind them were the camels carrying spare arrows. Vagises sent a score of horsemen to scout ahead while we advanced at a trot towards the battle on the horizon.

They returned to report that the Romans and their allies were advancing towards us in a long line, having apparently routed the Agraci. The latter were still launching attacks against the enemy but their efforts were uncoordinated and haphazard. I turned to Vagharsh and told him to unfurl the standard, then ordered a general advance.

Ahead I could see a mass of black riders — Haytham’s warriors — and could hear shouts and screams as men fought and killed each other. We broke into a canter as we headed towards the battle and then I saw a party of Agraci galloping towards me. I ordered a halt as Malik and fifty of his men pulled up their horses. The prince looked tired and angry.

He nodded at me. ‘Greetings, Pacorus, you are a sight for sore eyes.’

He noticed Gallia and bowed his head at her.

‘I am glad to see that you are unhurt, Malik,’ she said.

He glanced back at the battle raging around a thousand paces in front of us. ‘The same cannot be said for many of my people.’

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘The Romans and their treacherous allies from Emesa appeared two hours after dawn and my father ordered an immediate assault on them. I have ridden with you too long, my friend, not to know that our horsemen would not be able to break their formation but he would have none of it. So we attacked and their archers and slingers positioned among the legionaries cut down many of our riders before they could get close to their ranks.’

‘They deployed into a square?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘A great hollow square that we attacked on all sides and inside it they hid their horsemen, and when our losses mounted and we tired they formed into line and then their horsemen attacked us.’

‘Where is your father now, Malik?’ asked Gallia.

‘Desperately trying to halt the Romans.’ He turned to me. ‘He needs your help, Pacorus.’

‘We will halt the enemy’s advance, my friend,’ I replied. ‘But the first thing you must do is to ride to your father and convince him to pull his warriors back, to disengage from the enemy.’

Malik shook his head. ‘He will never agree to that.’

I leaned over and grabbed his arm. ‘You must convince him to do so, otherwise the Romans will be in Palmyra this time tomorrow.’

He turned from me and made to kick his horse forward then swung in his saddle.

‘Lord Vehrka is dead.’

I was shocked. ‘How?’

‘Killed by the Roman horsemen. They are very good, Pacorus, well led.’

He urged his horse forward and then he and his escort were galloping back to the battle line.

The Agraci did not fight as part of an organised army but as individuals grouped round their lords, much like the retainers of my own lords, and though brave and fearless were no match for the discipline and fighting skills of the Roman Army. Now they fell back in dispirited and angry groups, passing through my men as Haytham and his son rode up to where Gallia and I waited on our horses. With them were Yasser and a dozen other Agraci lords. Haytham wore a livid expression. He bowed his head to Gallia and nodded at me.

‘I thank you on behalf of the Agraci people for coming to our aid, Pacorus. Byrd exceeds his authority, I think.’

‘We are happy to help our friends and allies, lord king,’ said Gallia.

‘We are glad to fight alongside you, lord,’ I said.

‘These Romans are like cockroaches, difficult to kill,’ he spat.

I looked beyond Haytham to see long lines of red shields advancing towards us with horsemen on their flanks.

‘There are slingers and archers interspersed among those legionaries,’ warned Malik.

‘If your men form up behind my own,’ I said to Haytham, ‘then we will first bring the enemy to a halt.’

By now the vast majority of the Agraci had passed through the gaps between the lords and their men in the centre and Vagises’ horse archers on the wings. The latter now moved to position themselves directly opposite the Roman horsemen on the flanks of the legion and a phalanx of Emesian spearmen that were moving forward at a steady pace. I turned in the saddle and waved Spandarat forward.

I pointed at the enemy troops approaching. ‘Spandarat, we must halt those troops opposite. Therefore if you and the other lords would assault them I would be eternally grateful.’

He rubbed his hands together and grinned. ‘Lovely.’

He withdrew to where his fellow noblemen waited on their horses and imparted my wishes to them. Moments later they were galloping to take up position in front of their men and then led them forward.

Within minutes twenty thousand horse archers were unleashed against the ranks of the enemy. They charged in twenty great columns, each one grouped behind their lord and began shooting their arrows at a range of seven hundred paces from their foes. The missiles arched high into the sky and then fell onto the heads of the Romans and their Emesian allies, the latter in their great phalanx were not able to lock their shields above their heads like the men of the Tiber. The slingers and archers interspersed among the Romans suffered the most casualties, being struck by dozens of arrows that suddenly fell among them.

My lords may not have led the most disciplined or well-equipped soldiers in the world but they knew how to conduct themselves in battle. They knew that if they moved at speed and kept out of range of the enemy they would improve their effectiveness and reduce their own casualties. And so at a distance of four hundred paces from the front ranks of the enemy their men wheeled their horses right and right again to ride back to their starting position, twisting in the saddle to shoot a parting arrow at the opposition over the hindquarters of their horses as they did so.

While the enemy’s centre was being subjected to this arrow storm Vagises’ horse archers on either wing held their positions, while behind where I watched the drama beside Gallia, Haytham and his warriors reformed and strained to be unleashed once more. To our front the lords’ men were shooting around five arrows a minute, meaning their would empty their quivers in six minutes, but in that short space of time they managed to halt the advance of the enemy. As the lords led their men to the rear to replenish their quivers from the camel train a dust-covered Spandarat rode up to me with a big grin on his face.