Eagle in the Snow: A Novel of General Maximus and Rome's Last Stand

“Yes, when the spring comes I may decide to hold the right bank of this river instead of the left, as we did in the old days. I await only my other legions. But by that time you may be hungry. I will pray that the winter is a mild one.” I turned to the Aleman king. “I hope that your harvest was good so that you may feed your guests with true hospitality. It would be cruel if they were to be a burden to you.”

Rando said stiffly, “My friends are my friends.”

Quintus laughed, and his sudden laughter startled them. “Of course. Why not? For myself I never let my friends stay too long lest they come to think of my home as their own. Guests are thoughtless people.”

As they turned to go I said, “Remember, King of the Alemanni, there is peace so long as the river is between us. But let one of your people set foot on my bank without permission and he will be killed before he has time to dry himself.”

They left, discomfited, and we returned to Moguntiacum.

Lucillius, my senior tribune, unlaced his helmet. “I’m glad that’s over,” he said. “They scared me.”

“The question is,” said Quintus, “whether they believe our bluff.”

“They have to,” I said.

Lucillius said, “They were worried at the start when you mentioned the cavalry.”

“That was what I intended.”

Quintus raised an eyebrow. “I hesitate to criticise but—was it wise to put our dice on the table.”

“Why not? If we were strong enough I would be happy to encourage them to do battle, and beat them. But we are not, so I must discourage them from attempting to cross in any way I can.”

“But if they know how many men we have—”

“They don’t. They suspect we are a small force. Their spies told them as much. Remember, I kept the cavalry this summer always apart in small detachments. They thought us a legion in the old formation. As Lucillius says, they were alarmed at my having a master general of horse.”

“Fifteen hundred cavalry,” said Quintus softly. “Oh, Mithras.”

Lucillius said, “If only the Vandals want to cross—well, surely, there aren’t many of them, sir. Wouldn’t it be better to come to terms? We could absorb them easily.”

“Is that what you think?” I said. “Why did the Aleman king say—and he did not mean to let it slip—that we could not hold out against even one of them? Because the Vandals aren’t the only tribe who wish to make the crossing.”

Quintus looked at me sharply. “Are you sure?”

“I am certain of it. Radagaisus’ men included Ostrogoths and Quadi. They were the advance guard. If their Italian raid had been successful the rest would have followed. But they failed, their retreat home was cut off and they were forced to take refuge in the Aleman country. The Aleman are too strong to be pushed out but not rich enough to feed their unwilling guests for ever.”

“If the Aleman are so strong why don’t they do the pushing?”

“Probably because the Quadi, for one, provide a fine buffer state between them and—” I hesitated. I said slowly, “You heard what Gunderic said. They have the sea to the north as a barrier, and we are the barrier to the west and the south. The barrier in the east is not the desert—it is the Huns.”

Lucillius shivered and crossed himself.

Quintus said, “Will they fight each other? That is what you want them to do.”

“Yes.”

“And if they try to cross now?”

“They won’t. They are afraid of my cavalry and they think I have reinforcements coming.”

“And just how long will they continue to think that when the west bank is riddled with their spies?”

I said hopefully, “There are other ways of winning battles than by fighting them.”

That afternoon I called a council of my cohort commanders. They had all come in from their forts to witness the meeting on the island but, upon my orders and much to their disappointment, had remained in camp. Briefly I told them what had happened. Even more briefly I told them what we must do. I shouted an order and one of the centurions in gilded armour came in and saluted. “They thought this man a general,” I said. “And there were nine others dressed alike.” There was a roar of laughter. “Now,” I said. “They must go on believing that we have the men to serve these generals. It will not be easy but it can be done.”

A week later the six ships of the Rhenus fleet made their appearance on the river and I spent a day on board Gallus’ flag-ship, Athena, testing their efficiency. The rowing was competent but not first class. I did not worry about that. It would improve, inevitably, with practice. The archery of the marines was accurate but too slow and the ballistae crew were below standard. The fire tubes were handled efficiently enough, but as weapons they were useless except against other boats at extremely close range. Gallus said he would try to do something to improve this. It was agreed that one ship each should be stationed at Confluentes, Borbetomagus and Moguntiacum, and the remainder should operate from Bingium which Gallus would make his headquarters.