“Enough of this fool. I understand you well enough without him.”

Julius broke into laughter at the revelation. “He murders my language, I know that. Who taught you the words of Rome?”

Mhorbaine shrugged. “Mark Antony sent men to all the tribes when he first came. Most of them were killed and sent back to him, but I kept mine. This miserable creature learned from the same man, though badly. He has no ear for languages, but he was all I had to offer.”

The negotiations went faster after that and Julius was amused by the Gaul’s attempt to conceal his knowledge. He wondered if Mhorbaine guessed at Adàn’s function at the meeting. It was probable. The Aedui leader was sharply intelligent and Julius could feel the man’s cool assessment of him right to the end.

When it was finished, Julius stood to clasp Mhorbaine by the shoulder. There was muscle there, underneath the woolen cloth. The man was more a battle leader than a magistrate, at least as Julius understood the role. He ushered Mhorbaine out to the horses and went back in to where Adàn stood to meet him.

“Well?” Julius said. “Did I miss anything useful before Mhorbaine lost his patience?”

Adàn smiled at his amusement. “Mhorbaine asked the interpreter if you had the strength to turn the Helvetii and he said he thought it likely. That’s all you did not hear. They have no choice if they do not wish to see their herds swallowed by the Helvetii.”

“Perfect. I am transformed from a foreign invader every bit as dangerous as the Helvetii, to a Roman answering a call for help from a beleaguered tribe. Put that in the reports back to the city. I want my people to think well of what we do here.”

“Is that important?” Adàn asked.

Julius snorted. “You have no idea how important. The citizens do not want to know how countries are won. They prefer to think of foreign armies surrendering to our moral superiority rather than our strength.

I am forced to tread carefully here, even with my orders from the Senate. If the powers shift in Rome, I can still be recalled, and there will always be enemies who would delight in seeing me disgraced. Send the reports with enough coin to have them read on every street and in the forum. Let the people know how we are progressing in their name.”

Julius paused, his amusement fading as he thought of the problems he faced.

“Now all we have to do is defeat the largest army I have ever seen and there really will be good news to send back to Rome,” he said. “Summon Brutus, Mark Antony, Octavian, Domitius, all of my council.

Renius too, his advice is always sound. Tell Brutus to send out his scouts. I want to know where the Helvetii are and how they are organized. Quickly, lad. We have a battle to plan and I want to be on the march by dawn.”

CHAPTER 23

Julius lay on his stomach to watch the Helvetii move across the plain. Even as he concentrated, some part of him noted the lush greenness of the land. It made the soil of Rome look poor in comparison.

Instead of the barren mountains of the south he knew, where farmers scratched a living, he saw vast rolling plains of good earth and hungered for it with all the primitive desire of a man who had worked his own crops. Gaul could feed an empire.

The light was beginning to fade and he clenched his fist in excitement as he heard the notes of wailing horns carried to him on the breeze. The great column was halting for the night. One of his scouts came to a skidding stop by him, panting as he too stretched out.

“It looks like all of them, sir. I couldn’t see any sort of rear guard or reserve. They’re moving fast, but they must rest tonight, or they’ll start leaving bodies on the plain.”

“They’re stopping now,” Julius said. “Can you see how the soldiers are settling into groups around the core? Greek spear phalanx, it looks like. I wonder if they came to it on their own, or if their ancestors ever passed through that land. If I have the chance, I’ll ask one of them.”

He scanned the plain, considering his alternatives. A mile behind him in the woods, he had thirty thousand legionaries ready to descend on the Helvetii, but after forcing a march of almost forty miles to intercept the tribe, the men were exhausted. Julius felt frustration that he had been unable to bring the great war ballistae and scorpion bows that formed such a part of the legion’s power. The plain would have been perfect for them, but until he cut roads through the land, they stayed in pieces on the carts he’d brought from Rome.

“I’ve never seen so many warriors,” the scout whispered, awed by the army they faced. The Helvetii were too far away to hear, but the sheer size of the migration was oppressive and Julius pitched his voice as low to reply.

“I’d guess eighty thousand, but I can’t be sure amongst the followers,” he replied.

It was too many to send the legions in a straight attack, even if they were not worn down by the march.

“Bring Brutus to me,” he ordered.

It was not long before he heard running footsteps and Brutus was there with him, crouching in the damp leaves.

The Helvetii had marched through a wide valley that led into the lands of the Aedui. They had forced a hard pace to skirt the river, and Julius was impressed at their stamina and organization as the night camp began to form on the plain. If they struck any deeper into Aedui lands, they would be into heavy forest and the legions’ advantages would be lost. These were not the wide-spaced woods he knew from Rome, but dense undergrowth that would trap horses and make any sort of organized fighting impossible. Sheer numbers would carry the day then, and the Helvetii had a host of warriors, with nowhere to go but onward.

The tribe had burnt the first village they came to on the border of the Aedui, and the scouts reported no one left alive. Women and animals had been taken into the column and the rest butchered. Village by village, they would cross the land like locusts unless Julius could catch them on the plain. He thanked his gods that they were not pushing on through the night. No doubt their numbers made them overconfident, though even with his legions ready, it was difficult to see how to attack so many and win.

Julius turned to Brutus. “You see that hill to the west?” He pointed to a solid crag of layered green and gray in the dim distance. Brutus nodded. “It’s a strong position. Take the Tenth and Third to the crest, ready for dawn. The Helvetii will see the threat and they cannot leave you there to harry them. Take the archers from Ariminum, but keep them far back from the front. The bowmen will be better used on your hill than on the plain.”

He smiled grimly and clapped Brutus on the shoulder with his hand.

“These tribesmen have never fought legions, Brutus. They will see a mere ten thousand facing them as the sun comes up. You will educate them.”

Brutus looked at him. The sun was already setting and its light was reflected in Julius’s fierce gaze.

“It will be dark before I reach it,” Brutus replied. It was the closest he would come to questioning an order with the scouts listening all around them.

Julius seemed not to notice his reservations, continuing quickly, “You must have silence as you move up. When they see you and charge, I will hit them from the rear. Go quickly.”

Brutus slithered back until he was clear and could run for his men.

“On your feet, lads,” he said as he came to the first ranks of the Tenth. “You won’t get much sleep tonight.”

As dawn approached, Julius was back looking over the plain. The sun came up behind him and there was a gray light long before it rose over the mountains. The Helvetii began to move into their marching order, and Julius watched as the warriors bullied the other castes onto their feet. Those with swords and spears had status, Julius could see. They did not carry supplies themselves, remaining free to fight and run. Julius watched for the moment when they would see the legions arrayed on the hill, and the time seemed to stretch endlessly.