Part 81 (2/2)
I stretched ”Yes I will be ready” As soon as he had left, I got up off the flimsy bed and washed in the cold water that had been provided, then dressed inclothes I looked around the tent oncewhat it was like to make this one's quarters in heat and cold I knew the Ro ordered, fortified camp at the end of each day's march, which added two or three hours to their day No wonder they slept well at night--not only frouarded camps but from sheer exhaustion
I left the tent and found that the entire are--I had not appreciated just how many men a hundred thousand were, and how ons, stakes, food supplies, engineering tools Each soldier had to carry on his person three days' worth of food in a bronze box, as well as a kettle and a handtools: a pickax, a chain, a saw, a hook, palisade stakes, and even a wicker basket forearth--all of that in addition to his javelin, his sword, his dagger, and his shi+eld, and the heavy bronze helmet he wore As I watched these sturdy men, thus laden down, I had to marvel that they could cover fifteen miles a day, day after day, and twenty-five on forced ions setting out for Parthia under his command Some of them were seasoned veterans like the Fifth and Sixth; others were newer Since each legion was considered a living entity, with its own history and often its own distinguishi+ng emblem, when men were lost they were not replaced with new recruits Thus a venerable, battle-tried legion ht be considerably undermanned, with less than the usual five thousand soldiers Antony's noere about at three-quarters strength New recruits were assigned to new legions
This was the finest Roman army to set out in our times--perhaps in any time Even Caesar had not had an arh the crowd, ress because it seee for hihts were elsewhere, he did not show it How splendid he looked, there aet the hundreds ofahead of them, to be painfully and laboriously covered before the actual fighting could begin Today, with the new-risen sun sparkling off the river, all the preparations see
Antony sawanother horse for you, and we'll see the siege and field artillery,” he said His spirits were high, and I could tell he thought no e before hi field, where the road led off to the south, upon which the wagons would soon trundle and the troops march
Before s cut into sections, thousands of stakes, andon a train of flat wagons, an enorht
”How can this ever be transported?” I asked, in wonder The sheer length of the ra trails
”The individual wagons are flexible,” said Antony ”They can bend to fit around curves”
”But the rath--it would breach the gates of heaven What do you anticipate using it on?”
”It is eighty feet long,” he said proudly ”In the open country where we are going, there is no tie works”
I felt apprehensive looking at all this It seemed a chain of iron to tie them down, rather than equipment necessary to win ”Curses that they uarded by mountains” An ominous combination
”I will have to divide the army,” he said ”Naturally the foot soldiers will move more quickly than the heavy equipment But others have done this successfully; it should cause us no hardshi+p”
”And these?” I pointed to the clu placidly in the field
”The biggest one is the 'wild ass--called that because of its kick” It looked like a gigantic grasshopper to me ”It can hurl a boulder over into the forest there--about a quarter of a mile We use it to break down city walls, or to crush men and horses There are shter stones for shorter distances to give covering fire for the troops as they advance on the enemy”
There were so many of these razing Again, my heart sank Hoas all this to climb over the mountains?
A blare of trumpets announced the arrival of Artavasdes and his cavalry, trotting proudly toward the parade grounds The jingle of their bronze bridle ornahtly costumed foot soldiers, so much ; it was almost time to depart
By noon they had left, the co past the stand where I andin columns, the trumpeters, the medical detache wagons and laden mules It took almost two hours for the entire force to pass by, and another hour before it disappeared fro the riverbed
I had wanted to see the departure, but I dreaded the long caer to embark on it, and whether even he had realized what an undertaking it would have been I had cut short an audience with a self-styled pundit on Roman affairs who had remarked that perhaps the very best of Caesar's fa then, he had saved hilorious career: either to be King of Roe his subjects, or to be cut down in Parthia Perhaps the man had spoken truer than I had admitted Certainly even Caesar would not have found the Parthians an easy conquest Their very location, so difficult to reach, served as protective insulation; a Ro theaze froht here, and this ti Artavasdes' palace Its dreariness exactly fitted my mood
The curious lack of words had stayed with us to the end Antony merely saluted me from horseback, and I raised indown the banks of the Euphrates, ice-green and flat, until I reached Syria Then I would go due south and enter Judaea, where I had told Herod I would meet him in Jerusalem I had little heart for it; if I could have waved ypt, that is what I would have chosen to do I felt drained,Antony off with his arnancy Another child, and I was no longer so young--I would be almost thirty-four by the ti to do with Parthia, co a victory there? But it would be too early to know the outcoether we drea from Spain in the west to Parthia in the east, from Britain in the north to Nubia in the south I knew he loved h to alienate his fa in Rome for my sake I had three children, all heirs to a rich future, assuring us of our dynasty But I felt curiously alone, and very tired At the saallop after Antony, surprising hiined it in vivid detail for a moment; yes, if I rode away nowBut no It was too late The sun was already touching the tops of the trees to the west
Chapter 58
My journey southas uneventful, but all the time my mind ith Antony's army as it marched farther and farther away For the first few days I knew I could still ride fast and overtake thereat, and ere gyres widening in opposite directions I had to commend him into the hands of the Gods, of his own patrons Dionysus and Hercules, and pray for their goodwill toward him
I forcedbefore me, lands that had just been returned to Ptolemaic possession after two hundred years-- thanks to Antony I traveled through Dah my seaports of Ptolemais Ace, once the center of Ptolemy Phi lade lphos's rule of Phoenicia, and Joppa and Ashdod The flat coastline shohat poor material the Phoenicians and Israelites had for seaports; there was no natural harbor the whole length of the land The beaches stretched down to the water, allowing for no anchorage and no protection against the wind At Joppa, men had constructed a facsi compared to Alexandria's Nonetheless, I found the country appealing; its cliypt's, and it actually had rainfall, reen rateful that this land had been restored to my family How my ancestor Ptolemy Philadelphos would s to name this new baby after hidoers, richly dressed-- of the Jeelcome you to Judaea,” said one
”And will conduct you to Jerusalem, where our lord awaits you,” said another They sh Herod's sole desire were to see me
As we made our way to the city, the hills, covered in pines and aroround with chalky white rocks rising froly finer I was anxious to see the famous Jerusalem, about which so many claiic, history, a rarefied site Men ere more than men had walked, written, and died here But since the Jews did not believe in deh limited, aura In any other culture, David would have ascended to Godhood, Soloned eternally, and Moses hovered beneficently forever Yet the Jews stated firathered to his fathers”; their bones were in the earth
Just as the horses were becoued from the climb, Jerusalem opened out before us Spread out on its lorious A bank of gray clouds parted overhead to let bea thelow
Hie recently rebuilt walls of the city were broken only by strongly fortified gates, through which ere escorted with due ceremony More ceremony on the other side, and then ere sped to Herod's palace, where he awaited us
In the four years since I had seen him, even more had happened to hiranted hi, they had left him to secure the land for himself The Parthians had overrun his country and taken Jerusaleht bitterly to evict theed city and an eht to refusehe would never be satisfied with less than he now grasped, he was a wise man, albeit a tired one
”My dearest Queen,toward me, hands outstretched A radiant suess that I had just stripped large portions of his kingdom from him He dared not alienate Antony--or Antony's wife A coate A word from Antony, and he was dethroned And so-- ”My dearest Queen!”
”Herod,, and Antony's seal ”It is dodo four years,” he adle orth it”
”Where territory is concerned, it always is,” I agreed
”Co the way to his rooftop, where chairs, couches, awnings and potted plants arden of retreat
The hills spread out on all sides, and I foundout over the roofs of the city It was a fetching sight, as Jerusaleround was a flat plateau, e in its center
”Our terounds were da, but at least it was not desecrated” He paused ”When Pompey came here, the year Octavian was born, he actually entered the Holy of Holies An unbeliever! Although he didn't touch anything, the few minutes he spent in there meant it was desecrated” Herod sounded et it cleansed and restored! Ah well” He nodded to his servitor, who brought a tray of goblets for us
I tasted the sweet yellow liquid; its fiery strength burned ave a soft chuckle
”This is the farove in Jericho,” he said ”They call theth of the bre you understand why people pay so dearly for it” Again, no trace'of any resent about a bouquet of flowers or a handkerchief, rather than a considerable source of incouises its power,” I said ”It ought to be called 'the scorpion' for its sting”
”Of course you ant to inspect the palm and balsam plantations,” he said, ”as well as your bituements for an excursion tomorrow We will have to depart before dawn, as it is so beastly hot this time of year”
I was indeed curious to see them, and particularly the Dead Sea, that unique body of water that waselse They said the waters were so heavy that a man could not sink in thes would never recover Bits of asphalt bitumen rose to the surface at the southern end of the sea, and were skimmed off to be used in various ways: for ainst pests in vineyards, for ypt
”I have had an idea,” he said casually, as if it was of no e to station Egyptian officials in Jericho and on the unGodly shores of the Dead Sea Who would want to be exiled there?”
”I thought Jericho was considered a pleasant place,” I said ”Is it not an oasis? I have even heard rumors that you plan to build yourself a palace there” I smiled sweetly at him; let him knoas no fool, and made it my business to knoent on everywhere
”You have heard much,” he replied ” ”But where you can have heard that-- why, I have scarcely the ed walls of Jerusalem! In order to present ift, I was forced to old platter he had sent ”It was very beautiful,” I told him