Colleen McCullough - 5. Caesar

But it was in the oak grove at Carnutum that Vercingetorix had to fight his most difficult battle; here he had to summon up the power and the persuasiveness to have himself appointed leader. Too early to insist that he be called King that would come after he had demonstrated the qualities necessary in a king. "Cathbad is right," he said to the assembled chieftains, and careful that he kept Cathbad's name to the forefront rather than the name of Gutruatus. "We must separate Caesar from his legions until the whole of Gaul is in arms." Many had come whom he hadn't expected, including Commius of the Atrebates. All five men with whom he had concluded his original pact were there, Lucterius chafing to be started. But it was Commius who turned the tide in Vercingetorix's favor. "I believed in the Romans," said the King of the Atrebates, lips peeled back from his teeth. "Not because I felt a traitor to my people, but for much the same kind of reasons Vercingetorix gives us here today. Gaul needs to be one people, not many. And I thought the only way to do that was to use Rome. To let Rome, so centralized, so organized, so efficient, do what I thought no Gaul could ever do. Pull us together. Make us think of ourselves as one. But in this Arvernian, this Vercingetorix, I see a man of our own blood with the strength and the purpose we need! I am not Celtic, I am Belgic. But I am first and last a Gaul of Gaul! And I tell you, my fellow kings and princes, I will follow Vercingetorix! I will do as he asks. I will bring my Atrebatan people to his congress and tell them that a man of the Arverni is their leader, that I am merely his lieutenant!" It was Cathbad who took the vote, Cathbad who could say to the warlords that Vercingetorix was elected leader of a united attempt to eject Rome from the homelands. And Vercingetorix, thin, febrile, glowing, proceeded to show his fellow Gauls that he was a thinker too. "The cost of this war will be enormous," he said, "and all our peoples must share it. The more we share, the more united we will feel. Every man is to go to the muster properly armed and outfitted. I want no brave fools stripping naked to demonstrate their valor; I want every man in mail shirt and helmet, every man carrying a full-sized shield, every man well provided with spears, arrows, whatever is his choice. And each people must work out how much food its men will eat, make sure they are not compelled to return home prematurely because they have no food left. The spoils will not be great; we cannot hope to reap enough to pay for this war. Nor are we going to ask for aid from the Germani. To do that is to open the back door for the wolves as we thrust the wild boars out the front door. Nor can we take from our own unless our own choose to support Rome. For I warn you, any people which does not join us in this war will be deemed a traitor to united Gaul! No Remi or Lingones have come, so let the Remi and the Lingones beware!" He laughed, a breathless little sound. "With Remi horses, we will be better cavalrymen than the Germani!" "The Bituriges aren't here either," said Sedulius of the Lemovices. "I heard a rumor that they prefer Rome." "I had noticed their absence," said Vercingetorix. "Does anyone have more tangible evidence than rumor?" The absence of the Bituriges was serious; in the lands of the Bituriges lay the iron mines, and iron to turn into steel had to be found in sufficient quantity to make many, many thousands of mail shirts, helmets, swords, spearheads. "I'll go to Avaricum myself to find out why," said Cathbad. "And what of the Aedui?" asked Litaviccus, who had come with one of the two vergobrets of that year, Cotus. "We're with you, Vercingetorix." "The Aedui have the most important duty of all, Litaviccus. They have to pretend to be Rome's Friend and Ally." "Ah!" Litaviccus exclaimed, smiling. "Why," asked Vercingetorix, "should we display all our assets at once? I imagine that as long as Caesar thinks the Aedui are loyal to Rome, he will also think he has a chance to win. He will, as is his habit, royally command that the Aedui give him extra horse troopers, extra infantry, extra grain, extra meat, extra everything he needs. And the Aedui must agree to give him eagerly whatever he commands. Fall over themselves to help. Except that whatever has been promised to Caesar must never arrive." "Always with our profuse apologies," said Cotus. "Oh, always with those," said Vercingetorix gravely. "The Roman Province is a very real danger we ought not to underestimate," said Lucterius of the Cardurci, frowning. "The Gauls of the Province have been well trained by the Romans they can fight as auxiliaries in the Roman style, they have warehouses stuffed with armor and armaments, and they can field cavalry. Nor will we ever prise them away from Rome, I fear." "It's far too early to make statements as defeatist as that! However, we should certainly make sure that the Gauls of the Province are in no condition to aid Caesar. Your job will be to make sure of it, Lucterius, since you come from a people close to the Province. Two months from now, while winter is deep, we will assemble under arms here on the plain before Carnutum. And then war!" Sedulius picked up the cry. "War! War! War!"

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Trebonius in Agedincum was aware that something odd was going on, though he had no idea what. He had heard nothing from Fufius Cita in Cenabum, but nor had he heard a whisper of Fufius Cita's fate. No Roman or Greek anywhere in the vicinity had survived to tell him, nor did one Gaul come forward. The granaries in Agedincum were almost full, but there hadn't been any wagons in more than two nundinae when Litaviccus of the Aedui popped in to say hello on his way back to Bibracte. It always fascinated Litaviccus that these Romans so often seemed unwarlike, unmartial; Gaius Trebonius was a perfect example. A rather small, rather grey man with a prominent thyroid cartilage in his throat always bobbing up and down as he swallowed nervously, and a pair of large, sad grey eyes. Yet he was a very good, very intelligent soldier who was greatly trusted by Caesar, and had never let Caesar down. Whatever he was told to do, he did. A Roman senator. In his time, a brilliant tribune of the plebs. Caesar's man to the death. "Have you seen or heard anything?" asked Trebonius, looking even more mournful than he usually did. "Not a thing," said Litaviccus blithely. "Have you been anywhere near Cenabum?" "Actually, no," said Litaviccus, bearing in mind that his duty was to appear Friend and Ally; no point in telling lies he might be found out in before the true loyalties of the Aedui came to light. "I've been to the wedding of my cousin in Metiosedum, so I haven't been south of the Sequana. Still, everything's quiet. Didn't hear any shouting worth listening to." "The grain wagons have stopped coming in." "Yes, that is odd." Litaviccus looked thoughtful. "However, it's common knowledge that the Senones and the Carnutes are very displeased by the execution of Acco. Perhaps they're refusing to sell any grain. Are you short?" "No, we have enough. It's just that I expected more." "I doubt you'll get more now," said Litaviccus cheerfully. "Winter will be here any day." "I wish every Gaul spoke Latin!" said Trebonius, sighing. "Oh well, the Aedui have been in league with Rome for a long time. I went to school there for two years. Heard from Caesar?" "Yes, he's in Ravenna." "Ravenna ... Where's that, exactly? Refresh my memory." "On the Adriatic not far from Ariminum, if that's any help." "A great help," said Litaviccus, getting to his feet lazily. "I must go, or I won't go." "A meal, at least?" "I think not. I didn't bring my winter shawl or my warmest pair of trousers." "You and your trousers! Didn't you learn anything in Rome?" "When the air of Italia floats up your skirts, Trebonius, it warms whatever's up there. Whereas the air of Gaul in winter can freeze ballista boulders."