Peter Darman - Parthian Dawn

We set off on an overcast morning, a slight drizzle in the air, marching south on the western side of the Euphrates. As the legions tramped out of their camp and Byrd and Malik rode at the head of a large party of Agraci scouts, I said goodbye to my daughter in the Citadel’s courtyard. Dobbai held her hand. She cried when she realised that her father and mother were leaving her. It was heartbreaking to see her in such a condition, and Gallia had tears in her eyes as she embraced her daughter. Rsan stood on the steps beside Godarz, his head bowed in reverence. Dobbai wore a resigned expression — she was still obviously perturbed by my course of action.

‘Take care of yourself, son of Hatra.’

I scooped up Claudia in my arms and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Have no fear, I will be back in no time. After all, the gods love me, do they not?’

I put Claudia down and she grabbed Dobbai’s hand. Behind me Surena was sitting in his saddle holding Remus’ reins. I nodded to Godarz who nodded back; then I vaulted onto Remus’ back and rode from the Citadel, followed by Gallia and her Amazons. It was just another busy day in Dura as the long line of legionaries, marching six abreast, snaked south towards Mesene. To their front and on their right flank hundreds of horsemen filled the horizon. We marched with nine thousand legionaries, a thousand Agraci cavalry, just over a thousand cataphracts, Kuban’s nine hundred horsemen, five hundred of Dura’s horse archers and another two thousand horsemen that the lords had mustered. It was more than enough to defeat the remnants of the army of Chosroes that had scurried back to Mesene. We also had the Roman engineers and their siege engines with which to batter the walls of Uruk.

The quickest route there was to head east from Dura and then march down the east bank of the Euphrates, but that would entail traversing Hatran and Babylonian territory and I did not wish to antagonise my father or take advantage of Vardan’s friendship, so we marched on the opposite bank. In former times this would have been suicidal with open war between Dura’s rulers and the Agraci, but now it was a pleasant enough journey. We maintained a brisk pace, covering twenty miles a day. Domitus insisted that we built a camp every night and that everyone slept within its ramparts. During the day those horsemen who were not undertaking scouting duties dismounted and walked their horses, not only to save their mounts but also to maintain their physical condition. Men sitting in saddles on long marches with nothing to do are apt to go to sleep, especially if in friendly territory, and this was certainly that. Nevertheless, we still maintained our standard marching order. Far ahead of the army were Byrd, Malik and his Agraci warriors, riding far and wide to ensure our safety and to collect any useful information. The tip of the army comprised small parties of horse archers. If they came into contact with the enemy they were to instantly disengage and ride back to the army to pass on their information. Next came a vanguard of a hundred fully armoured cataphracts followed by the senior commanders of the army and their standards. The Amazons also rode with this assembly. Behind this group came the rest of the cataphracts and their camels carrying their armour and supplies and then mules and carts pulled by oxen carrying the battering rams and other siege equipment of the Roman engineers. Behind them came the colour party of the Duran Legion with its gold griffin and guards. The trumpeters followed them and then came the cohorts of legionaries divided into their centuries. The men marched six abreast and were accompanied by centurions with their trusty vine canes. The Pontic Legion, the Exiles, followed the Durans. It now had its own standard, a silver lion representing the revered beast of Pontus that had also been the standard of Balas. It had been cast from the silver taken from the armour and helmets of the dead Mesenian soldiers recently slain before the walls of Dura. The tents, spare weapons, armour and other supplies for the two legions came after them, carried by hundreds of mules and dozens of wagons. The lords and their followers trailed after the legions, with a body of Duran horse archers forming the rearguard and more horse archers acting as flank guards and scouts. As the day wore on the drizzle ceased as the sun burnt away the clouds, warming the earth. Soon the thousands of feet and hooves tramping across the baked ground had produced a dust cloud hanging over the whole army, stretching for ten miles.

Dura’s territory extended south of the city for a distance of a hundred miles and after that came the empty vastness of the Arabian desert; an endless wilderness of sand that the Agraci called the Rub’al-Khali , the Empty Quarter; yet it was far from empty. It was home to the Agraci and the striped hyena, jackal, honey badger, sand gazelle and white oryx. Within Dura’s borders the land next to the Euphrates was fully irrigated and cultivated, but as we marched beyond my kingdom’s southern border the land turned into a red sand wasteland with great sandstone plateaus in the distance. It was as if we had entered a land devoid of life. On the fifth day, however, a group of Agraci riders joined us; black-clad figures mounted on camels armed with long spears. They were led by the hulking figure of Yasser, one of Haytham’s chiefs I had met when the king had brought his army to face Pompey. The day was waning when he and his men appeared and so we invited him to stay with us for the night.

Gallia and I entertained him in my command tent, along with Byrd, Malik, Orodes, Nergal and Domitus. Gallia sat next to Yasser flattering and teasing the grizzled old warrior. His previous suspicion of us seemed to have evaporated, though he saw no reason for our fortified camp.

‘Haytham rules all this land, there is no enemy here.’

‘We have our procedures, Yasser,’ I said, ‘we stick to what is tried and tested.’

‘You march to make war on Mesene?’ he winked at Gallia.

‘You are well informed,’ I replied.

He smiled. ‘We knew that you would strike at Mesene as soon as you had defeated its army.’

‘You approve of my course of action?’

‘Of course, you cannot allow Chosroes to live after such base treachery.’

‘We do not go to kill Chosroes, Yasser,’ said Gallia, ‘we go to show him that Dura is not a toy to be played with.’

I said nothing but Yasser caught my eye and smiled knowingly. I also saw Domitus smile to himself.

Yasser accompanied us south to the ford across the Euphrates some fifty miles from Uruk. Of the enemy we saw nothing, though Yasser told me that after his losses at Dura Chosroes would have few soldiers left.

‘Prince Malik told us of the great fires that were used to turn the dead Mesenians into ashes.’

‘My men counted near nine thousand enemy dead,’ I said.

‘I doubt that there are any soldiers left in Uruk,’ was Yasser’s approving comment.

The next day I summoned Surena to my tent.

‘I want you to ride south to your people and spread the word that the time of Chosroes is over,’ I told him. ‘Take a company of horse archers and recruit any who can carry a weapon. You can start by enlisting that little group of bandits that you belonged to. Bring any that join you north to link up with the army at Uruk.’

Surena was shocked. ‘They will be slaughtered, lord. My people have no weapons aside from what they have taken from the enemy.’

‘I know this, Surena. But it is not my intention to get your people killed.’

‘I do not understand, lord.’

‘Neither do I,’ added Domitus, who was seated nearby.

‘It is quite simple,’ I said. ‘If Chosroes learns that the marsh people are in revolt, he will send troops to crush them. But we will intercept them before they reach your people, Surena. Yasser is wrong when he states that Chosroes has no troops left, so I want to entice some of them out of Uruk where they can be dealt with in the open.’