Peter Darman - Parthian Vengeance

Domitus and Orodes nodded in assent and the clerk recorded my decision.

I tried to lighten the mood. ‘How is Aaron getting on, Rsan?’

‘Quite well, majesty. He has a quick mind and a head for figures. His tongue is apt to take on a mind of its own but aside from that he shows great promise.’

Gallia began to drum her fingers on the table, causing Rsan to fidget in embarrassment. Orodes pretended not to notice and Domitus stared blankly at the table top.

‘Is there something you wish to say?’ I asked her.

‘When are we marching against Mithridates?’

Domitus smiled and Orodes looked thoughtful. Rsan looked alarmed. The prospect of war always filled him with dread, not out of fear but because war meant a reduction in trade and an increase in costs, which meant his precious reserves of treasury gold would be called upon.

‘In a month’s time,’ I replied.

She slammed a fist on the table, causing Rsan to flinch in alarm. ‘That long? We can muster the army and be across the Euphrates in less than a week.’

She was right. Take the army across the river and then strike southeast towards Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian Empire. The residence of Mithridates was a large palace complex behind crumbling walls on the eastern bank of the Tigris. The distance was around two hundred miles as the buzzard flies.

‘No,’ I replied. ‘I will not violate the territorial integrity of Hatra and Babylon by marching unannounced through their kingdoms.’

Gallia rolled her eyes in despair. ‘Hatra and Babylon will not object to you crossing their lands. They are our allies, after all.’

‘That may be,’ I said. ‘But I will have their agreement first before starting a war with Mithridates.’

‘We could march down the western side of the Euphrates,’ offered Orodes. ‘Like we did when we campaigned against Chosroes.’

It was not a bad idea. The territory south of Dura for a hundred miles was my kingdom. Beyond that the Agraci ruled. Haytham was a friend and we had used that route when we had attacked Uruk to put Nergal on its throne. But that would add another hundred miles to our journey and we would still have to cross Babylonian territory when we swung east to cross the Euphrates and then head directly for Ctesiphon.

‘No,’ I said. ‘We would still need King Vardan’s agreement to march through his territory. It is better to cross the Euphrates here, at Dura, and then strike for Ctesiphon.’

Domitus looked thoughtful. ‘Mithridates will know by now that you are still alive. He might scarper from his palace and seek refuge further east, with Narses.’

‘He might,’ I replied, ‘though even Mithridates will think twice before running from me. The eyes of the empire will be on him. He and Narses will have no choice but to meet us in battle.’

Mithridates was king of kings and in theory commanded the respect and obedience of all the other kings of the empire. In reality he could only rely on the eastern kings of the realm, including his lord high general Narses, King of Persis and Sakastan. In the northeast corner of the empire lay the kingdoms of Margiana and Hyrcania, and men who were friends of Dura ruled those two domains. And in the western half of the empire the kingdoms of Atropaiene, Media, Hatra, Babylon and Mesene were no friends of Mithridates. But that did not mean they would fight him.

‘This is my fight,’ I said. ‘I have no desire to involve other kingdoms in my quarrel.’

‘Narses will muster a large army, Pacorus,’ said Orodes.

‘I know that, my friend. But we have beaten Narses before and can do so again.’

‘Except we had other kings with us then,’ remarked Domitus grimly.

‘Dura’s army is strong, Domitus,’ said Gallia,’ you have made it so. And we can call on Haytham’s help to swell our numbers.’

‘I will ask Malik and his scouts to accompany us,’ I said, ‘but we will leave the Agraci out of it.’ I looked at them all. ‘It is no small thing that we embark on but if we do nothing Dura, and me for that matter, will appear weak and helpless. Mithridates has made the first move in what will be the final confrontation between us. There is no room in the empire for both of us, therefore let us end it now and rid the world of the villain. Domitus, muster your men!’

Dura’s army was spread far and wide, not only in the camp west of the Palmyrene Gate but also stationed in the small forts that had been built to the north and south of the city. Each one held a garrison of forty men, whose duties ranged from policing the roads, maintaining the irrigation ditches and dams that controlled the flow of water from the Euphrates onto the land, to catching thieves and other criminals and sending them to Dura for punishment. They were also a visible symbol of Dura’s strength. Other, larger forts had been constructed at the extreme ends of the kingdom. Each of these held a garrison of a hundred horse archers who patrolled the borders and ensured no undesirables wandered into Duran territory. There were three such forts at the northern extremity of the kingdom, for that was where Dura ended and Roman Syria began. The Romans had also constructed forts on their frontier so each side watched the other warily, though in truth there had been no trouble with the Romans. There had even been a degree of fraternisation between Dura’s horsemen and their Roman counterparts. I had given orders that this was to cease — I did not trust the men of the Tiber any more than I would a cobra.

At the southern edge of the kingdom were two more forts, though there was never any problem there since south of them was Agraci territory. There were no forts along the long western edge of Dura’s border as the entire length of the frontier also abutted Agraci territory.

Shamash had blessed Dura with the Silk Road and the duties that were levelled on this trade route financed the army. It was common knowledge throughout the empire that Dura possessed two legions modelled on the same formations found in the Roman army. In addition, there was a replacement cohort that recruited and trained new volunteers to ensure that each legion was kept at full strength. The Duran Legion had been the first formation and had been assembled even before we had arrived in Dura. The second legion, the Exiles, had originally been composed of soldiers who had fought in the army of Pontus against the Romans, and who had made their way south to Dura in the aftermath of their defeat.

These legions were trained, organised and equipped in the Roman fashion but they wore white tunics and their shields carried the griffin symbol of Dura.

As well as the foot soldiers there were three thousand horse archers. Originally Dura’s horse archers had been equipped with helmets and mail shirts, but in recent times they had done away with the mail shirts and wore only loose-fitting white shirts with silk vests worn underneath. Each horse archer carried a quiver holding thirty arrows, but on campaign the horse archers were accompanied by a camel train equipped with tens of thousands of spare arrows. In battle it was the task of the horse archers to pepper the enemy with arrows, to harass and disorientate them, to weaken but not to fight them at close quarters. That was the task of the two legions that could cut their way through enemy foot soldiers and fight off opposing horsemen. But the jewels in the crown of Dura’s army were its cataphracts.

The cataphracts were men on horseback who wore scale armour — thick hide coats covered in overlapping metal scales that protected their torsos — steel leg and arm armour and full-face helmets on their heads. They went into battle armed with the kontus , a long, thick lance that was held with both hands. They also carried swords, maces and axes for close-quarter combat. Their horses were also protected by scale armour so that man and beast were encased in thick hide and metal. Each cataphract was served by two young squires who cared for his horse, weapons and equipment. They in turn trained to be cataphracts themselves once they had served their apprenticeships, thus ensuring that Dura had a constant supply of heavy cavalry. But cataphracts were massively expensive to raise, equip and maintain, and it was a source of pride to me that Dura had a thousand of them. All the cataphracts were billeted in the city, along with their squires and horses. The camels that carried their weapons and armour were stabled outside the city.