Hannibal: Enemy of Rome

‘It’s really none of your business,’ said Bostar at length.

Hanno flushed. He glanced at Sapho, whose face was a cold mask. Hanno gave up. ‘I’m going to check on my men,’ he muttered and stalked off.

They waited in vain through what remained of the night. By dawn, the Carthaginians were chilled through and miserable. To avoid any possibility of being spotted, no fires had been lit. While it hadn’t rained, the winter damp was pervasive. Following strict orders, the soldiers remained in the clearing during daylight. The sole exceptions to this were a handful of sentries, who, with blackened faces, hid themselves among the trees lining the riverbank. Everyone else had to stay put, even when answering calls of nature. While some found the energy to play dice or knucklebones, most men stayed in their tents, chewing on cold rations or catching up on lost sleep. Still annoyed by his brothers’ pettiness, Hanno spent his time talking to his spearmen, trying to get to know them. He knew by their muted reactions that his efforts would mean little until he’d led them into combat, but it felt better than doing nothing.

The day dragged past without event.

Night fell at last, and Hanno took charge of the sentries, who were stationed along the river’s edge for several hundred paces either side of the ford. He spent his time wandering the bank, his eyes peeled for any enemy activity. There was little cloud cover. The myriad stars above provided enough light to see relatively well, yet hours went by without so much as a flicker of movement on the opposite side. By the time dawn was approaching, Hanno had grown bored and annoyed. ‘Where are the fuckers?’ he muttered to himself.

‘Still in their beds, probably.’

Hanno jumped. Turning, he recognised Bostar’s features in the dim light. ‘Tanit above, you scared me! What are you doing here?’

‘I couldn’t sleep.’

‘You should have stayed under your blankets anyway. It’s a damn sight warmer than out here,’ Hanno replied.

Bostar crouched down beside Hanno with a sigh. ‘To be honest, I wanted to apologise about what happened yesterday with Sapho. Our argument shouldn’t affect our dealings with you.’

‘That’s all right. I shouldn’t have poked my nose where it didn’t belong.’

A more comfortable air settled about them.

‘We’ve actually been fighting for over a year,’ Bostar admitted a moment later.

Hanno was grateful for the darkness, which concealed his surprise. ‘What, the usual stuff with him being pompous and overbearing?’

Bostar’s teeth glinted sadly in the starlight. ‘I wish it was just that.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘It started when you’d been lost at sea.’

‘Eh?’

‘Sapho blamed me for letting you and Suniaton go.’

‘But you both agreed to do so!’

‘That’s not how he saw it. We hadn’t patched things up by the time I was posted to Iberia, and it flared up again the instant he and Father arrived from Carthage months later.’

‘Why?’

‘They’d had news of what had happened to you and Suni. Sapho was furious. He blamed me all over again.’

‘You mean the pirates?’ Suddenly, Hanno remembered Sapho’s comment the day he’d returned, and his father’s promise to tell him what had happened. ‘I’d forgotten.’

‘There was so much going on,’ said Bostar. ‘All that mattered was that you had returned.’

‘We’ve got plenty of time now,’ retorted Hanno. ‘Tell me!’

‘It was a few weeks after you’d disappeared. Thanks to one of his spies, Father got wind of some pirates in the port. Four of them were seized and taken in. Under torture, they admitted selling you and Suni into slavery in Italy.’

Vivid images flashed through Hanno’s mind. ‘Do you know any of their names?’

‘No, sorry,’ said Bostar. ‘Apparently, the captain was an Egyptian.’

‘That’s right!’ said Hanno, shivering. ‘What happened to them?’

‘They were castrated first. Then their limbs were smashed before they were crucified,’ Bostar replied in a flat tone.

Hanno imagined the terrible scene for a moment. ‘Not a good way to die,’ he admitted.

‘No.’

‘But they deserved it,’ declared Hanno harshly. ‘Thanks to those whoresons, Suni and I should have died in the arena.’

‘I know,’ said Bostar with a heavy sigh. ‘Yet seeing what happened to the pirates changed Sapho in some way. Ever since, he’s been much harder. Crueller. You saw how he reacted to what Zamar said. I know that we have to kill any Romans who might cross the river. Orders are orders. But Sapho seems to take pleasure in it.’

‘It’s not nice, but it’s not the end of the world, surely?’ said Hanno, trying to make light of his brother’s words.

‘That’s not all,’ muttered Bostar. ‘He thinks that I’ll do anything to curry favour with Hannibal.’ Quickly, he related how he’d saved Hannibal’s life at Saguntum. ‘You should have seen the expression on Sapho’s face when Hannibal congratulated me. It was as if I’d done it to make him look bad.’

‘That’s crazy!’ Hanno whispered. ‘Are you sure that’s what he thought?’

‘Oh yes. “The perfect fucking officer” he’s taken to calling me.’