Marius' Mules II: The Belgae Read Online Free Page B

behind them.
    Fronto stepped
to one side so as not to impede the army, but rather to stand in
the way of the command unit. As he placed his fists on his hips in
a haughty gesture, he was further surprised at the commands being
barked at the men by the lower officers. There was no doubt at all
about what he heard. Those commands were issued in fluent Latin,
but with a pronounced Gaulish accent. He was still staring in
disbelief at the passing legions when he became aware that his
three companions had joined him and the command staff had reined in
before them. He looked up.
    “ Fronto! You look bloody disgraceful!”
    Quintus
Pedius, one of Caesar’s senior staff stared down at him and a slow
smile began to creep across his face.
    “ Not that that’s anything new, of course!”
    “ Ha, bloody, ha! What the hell’s going on? Why are you dressing
up the auxilia as legionaries?”
    Pedius gave
him a sharp glance.
    “ You’d be well advised to sheath that mouth of yours,
Marcus.”
    The staff
officer turned to the tribunes behind him.
    “ Menenius? Hortius? Get the legions to the nearest appropriate
flat ground, preferably between these other encampments and have a
temporary camp set up for each. Once they’re settling and underway,
I want the two of you at the headquarters. Report to me
there!”
    The two men
saluted and rode off to find the primus pilus of each legion. As
they went about their business, Pedius dismounted and gestured
toward the bridge. As the four officers walked steadily back along
their track and the distance between the five men and the legions
increased, the staff officer handed his reins to Crispus and
removed his helmet with a sigh of relief.
    “ I need a bath and a shave. And a jug of wine, but that can
wait until I’ve had the bath and the shave. But sadly, both of
those will have to wait until I visit the headquarters. Are you
gentlemen accompanying me?”
    Balbus
nodded.
    “ We were on our way there anyway.”
    “ Good. Now, Fronto, what’s irritated you?”
    The
dishevelled legate scratched his bristly chin.
    “ They’re Gauls. They’re not Romans, Quintus… they’re Gauls!
What are they doing in legionary equipment? When the ordinary
soldiers find out about this there’ll be riots. It demeans the
whole purpose of the legion. That’s what the auxilia is
for!”
    Pedius
sighed.
    “ Calm down Fronto. You’re going to have a fit if you go on like
this.”
    “ Well?”
    Balventius
nodded. “It’s true sir. This is the citizen army. It’s against the
rules to enlist foreigners into it. There’ll be hell!”
    Pedius shook
his head.
    “ It’s all above board, gentlemen. I can tell you some of it,
but not all. Present company, you see?”
    He indicated
Balventius, though respectfully.
    Balbus shook
his head.
    “ My primus pilus is as solid as they come. Caesar tried to make
him camp prefect, remember? Anything you can say in front of us,
you can say in front of him!”
    Pedius
regarded Balventius for a long minute and then nodded his head.
    “ Very well. This is in strictest confidence. I expect the
general will put some spin on it for the public, but some of you
will know there’s more anyway. You remember that tribune who
stirred things up in Vesontio last summer?”
    “ Salonius? Yes. He scurried off back to Rome with his tail
between his legs as I remember.”
    “ He did.” Pedius lowered his voice fractionally.
    “ But Caesar thinks the man’s been carrying on his campaign of
disruption in political circles back in Rome. The general has been
blocked with almost every political move he makes. Finally we
managed to find out where we could get to Salonius in private to
‘have a little word’ and before we turned up someone knifed him and
tipped him in the Tiber. Pickpockets was the official line, but
that’s unlikely.”
    Crispus bore a
shocked look. Pedius sighed.
    “ A man called Clodius, who seems to have a network of spies and
an almost unlimited chest of gold,