Peter Darman - The Parthian

The centurion said nothing as he gazed at Spartacus. I could feel rivulets of sweat run down the sides of my face as I purposely stared directly ahead at the gates. The centurion pulled away from the wall and shouted down.

‘Open the gates.’

There was a scraping sound as some sort of barrier that held the gates closed shut was removed, and then they both opened. Spartacus turned to me.

‘You take the right-hand tower, I’ll take the left.’ He jabbed his knees into the horse’s flank and moved forward, as did I and those who were following. Then we were through the gates and inside the town. Spartacus halted his horse and dismounted. I did likewise.

‘Centurion,’ shouted Spartacus, looking up at the Roman on the wall, ‘ I have something here that will be of interest to you.’

I could see three other guards on the wall, but doubted not that others were in the two towers. There were shops and red-tiled houses either side of the road, though there were few people milling around. No doubt the garrison commander had imposed rationing until the emergency of the slave rebellion had passed. The centurion came down the stone steps from the ramparts and ambled over to where Spartacus was standing. There were two other soldiers standing a short distance from my horse, leaning on their shields and idly watching us.

‘What is it? I have to report back…’

Spartacus’ right arm flashed as he plunged a dagger through the centurion’s throat. He left it there, drew his sword and then raced up the steps and onto the ramparts. His agility was astounding as he cut down two other soldiers before they had time to draw their swords. The other Romans stood open-mouthed at what had taken place, while the centurion, a fountain of blood gushing from his throat, collapsed in a heap on the ground, dead. I drew my sword, leapt from my saddle and plunged it into one of the soldiers standing to my right.

‘Clear the towers!’ I bellowed at my men as a Roman came towards me with his spear levelled and shield protecting his body. Seconds later my men were running up the steps and into the stone towers. Mercifully, they contained only a handful of men. The Roman came at me but I parried his clumsy spear thrust with my sword, drew Cookus’ dagger from its sheath on my belt with my left hand and slashed his right calf as he went past. He screamed in pain and turned to face me again.

‘You don’t have to die,’ I said to him. ‘Lay down your weapons and your life will be spared.’

He seemed to relax a little, but then tensed as the spear slammed into his back, thrown by Spartacus, who had reappeared on the ramparts. He pointed at me as the Roman breathed his last. ‘Get up here and stop pissing around.’

Along the street people were fleeing in terror, women sweeping young children into their arms and running fit to burst. I raced up the steps and stood beside Spartacus. The gatehouse was secure, but it would only be a matter of minutes before the garrison was alerted.

We stood on the rampart above the open gates and peered down the arrow-straight road. Roman roads were a marvel, I had to confess, always straight and topped with perfectly trimmed flagstones, and this one was especially dear to me because at that moment I saw a column of men pour over the crest of the hill, heading towards the town. Then I heard horns being blown and knew that the garrison had been alerted to our presence. I looked behind me and saw, at the far end of the street, Roman soldiers forming up, perhaps thirty or more. Spartacus saw them too.

‘Scatter them, don’t let them form otherwise they’ll shut the gates in Castus’ face.’

I cast a glance back up the road to see Castus and his Germans running towards us, still a mile away. I bounded down the steps and vaulted onto my horse, my men following.

‘Mount!’ I shouted to them. They likewise reclaimed their lances and saddles. Ahead a centurion was organising his troops into a block in order to retake the gates. The street was about twenty feet wide, so we couldn’t form into a line. I levelled my lance.

‘Straight at them. They’ll break before we reach them.’

I jabbed my horse in the flanks with my knees and she bolted forward. My men followed. We discarded our shields and used the Parthian way to hold our lances, grasping the shaft with both hands and holding it on the right side of the horse. A horse won’t charge at a solid object, but will either attempt to go around it or rear up at the last moment. If the Romans held firm then we would fail and end up as a tangled heap of men and horseflesh. But they didn’t hold. The sight of twenty horsemen charging towards them, screaming and carrying lances created panic among them. Perhaps they were ill-trained levies, but whatever they were in seconds those in the front had turned and were trying to get out of our way. But they ran into those behind and in the blink of an eye what had been a group of soldiers became a rabble. Some were running back down the street as my lance went through the back of a legionary, through his body and into the chest of the man in front of him. I let go of the shaft and drew my sword as my horse careered through one of the gaps now appearing in the dissolving Roman line. I slashed right and left at fleeing figures as the rest of my men thundered past.

‘Don’t let them reform,’ I shouted. But in truth the engagement was over. The Romans had melted away. I reformed my men into a column and led them forward at a gentle pace. We had suffered no casualties, but I told everyone to be on the lookout for archers on the rooftops. We were still very exposed to enemy missiles should the Romans want to launch some at us. I heard muffled shouts coming from behind me and turned in the saddle. All of us instinctively halted as dozens of men, Castus’ soldiers, came racing through the gates and into the town. I ordered my men to dismount, lead their mounts to the side of the street and take off their helmets and cloaks, lest the Germans thought we were Romans. Castus was leading his men, a Roman short sword in his right hand held aloof. He ran past us and on into the town. Several minute passed before all the Germans were inside the town. After they had swept into Nola I ordered my men to stay alert and went to speak with Spartacus. He was still on the ramparts, but when I reached him he had taken off his helmet and was sat on a bench beside the wall. As I approached he looked up and grinned.

‘Well, that worked out well. Never thought it would, actually, but glad it did.’

‘Lord?’

‘The main thing is we’re in. Should be plenty of supplies for the army.’

‘Not if the Germans burn the town,’ I said.

‘Don’t worry about that. Castus has strict orders to keep his men in check.’

‘And he will obey?’

Spartacus looked at me with an intense stare. ‘We are an army not a bunch of bandits. Only through discipline and organisation can we hope to defeat the Romans.’ Then he flashed a smile. ‘That and a bit of luck.’

Thus did Nola fall into our laps like a ripened fruit.

Nola was systematically emptied of anything and everything that was of value. This included weapons, gold, silver, food, sandals, boots, tents and tools. Castus and Spartacus had obviously spent much time thinking about the hoard that the town might yield, for the Germans quickly organised themselves into search parties to scour it from one end to the other for things the army needed, while other groups guarded the captured garrison — three hundred downcast men. And the Germans were very thorough. Their task was made easier by the layout of Nola, which was essentially a large rectangle divided up into a network of streets around square blocks of buildings. I later discovered that there were thirty-two such blocks, each one the same size. The Romans were certainly precise when it came to their town planning. Four gates gave access to the town, one at each point of the compass, and Castus placed guards at all of them to ensure no one escaped. Unfortunately, the garrison commander and several of the town’s leading citizens had managed to flee on horseback via the eastern gate before it had been sealed.