—Caput XXXII—
"This time Caesar was in some ways a victim of his own success, since it could be argued that the public thanksgiving he has received after his great victories showed that the war had been won, and there was no need for him to remain for the full five years of his command. "(1)
It wasn't long before the attack against the Veneti and their allies began, even if it had never been in Julius' original plans to fight against these people. He had wanted to go to Illyricum and start a new campaign against Dacia to, as he had explained to Camillus, open a new path to Asia. But apparently the Gods were obstinate in keeping him in Gaul and here he was. Labienus was back from his mission with the Remi, and not only came back with news of the tribe's loyalty, he came back also with a new warrior. Iccius had sent Ansgar to serve under Julius' orders as a punishment for his past actions, something that had been very far from making Ansgar happy, but he couldn't refuse.
He still hated the Romans, and stubbornly insisted he had done nothing wrong fighting against them, but now at least admitted these people from the south were worthy opponents (who would have thought that people so short could be so strong); especially Julius, whom he swore to defeat one day. And there he was, at the Roman camp to serve with the allied cavalry. Ansgar had never before fought against the people from the Atlantic Coast, and had to admit he was excited. Many things were said about them, the most fascinating, that they could travel beyond the sea to a strange island of brave warriors called Britons. He truly hoped to be able to fight against them too one day.
For Rebilius', Decimus' and Pedius' disappointment, Publius Crassus was sent to deal with the possible reinforcements of the Veneti at Aquitania. Julius had entrusted him with 12 Cohorts, little more than a Legion, to stop them if they tried to help the Veneti; he couldn't risk to get trapped between 2 armies at the same time, and on land and sea to make it worst. Sabinus for his part went with 3 Legions against the Venelli, Coriosolites and Lexovii, the Veneti's allies, and Decimus Brutus was in charge of the fleet.
But attacking the Veneti wasn't as easy as they all thought, drunk with their victories and successes against the Helvetii, the Suebi and the Belgae; most of the new enemy strongholds were cleverly situated on the end of spits or headlands, and whenever the tide rushed in from the open ocean, something that happened 12 hours each day, it was impossible to approach by land. They soon discovered it was also difficult to attack by sea, since at low tide the ships would run aground on the shoals.
The Veneti were a seafaring people and they forced the Romans to fight in the sea, a sea strange for the invaders used to the tranquil waters of the Mediterranean. It didn't take long for Julius to understand how much of a challenge would be to defeat the Veneti, and that day, while standing on a cliff, with the wind whipping his cloths and hair, he confirmed how formidable was his opponent. He watched several ships drawing away from a stronghold, Gallic ships, it was easy to distinguish them, with much flatter bottoms than the Roman ships, high bows and sterns, hulls of oak, anchors secured with iron chains instead of ropes. Even their sails were different, made of raw hides or thin leather.
At first, they had thought the Veneti chose these materials out of ignorance but soon found out it was because of the violent winds. These waters were as impetuous as they were beautiful, mysterious and stormy, in a word: wild—. And the enemy have sailed them their entire lives —the Veneti also had their own harbors, knew the waterways and had enough supplies to withstand a conflict for a long, long time.
— They are escaping again — Labienus approached Julius, dragging his feet over the white sand, and shielding his eyes with his hand—. It's the third time. As soon as they see the boys digging huge dykes, to approach the strongholds, without the fear of drowning, they gather their fleet and run away to another bloody stronghold —he cursed—. Why aren't we stopping them? What's our fleet for?
— We can't do a thing because of their ships —Julius answered with calm, his eyes always on the Veneti's fleet, frowning thanks to the strong sun—. Their ships are built to withstand this sea of violent storms, treacherous gales and squalls, this is not the Mediterranean and the only advantage we have here is our speed. We can't stop them by ramming since theirs are stronger vessels and our missiles can't reach them thanks to their high, nor can we board them since they are much bigger.
Not to mention that, as soon as a storm begins, the enemy ships are better equipped to come back to the shore than ours —and so far, all Julius had accomplished was to seize empty enemy strongholds, captured after the Veneti escaped, but was unable to stop them or to defeat them—. If only this were a battle on land the Legions would have had no problem crushing them.
— What are you saying then? We can't defeat them? —Labienus refused to believe that, an enemy capable of overcoming the Legions of Rome? Pff! That was insane!
This time Julius turned to look at him and smiled, glad to know Labienus hadn't given up yet.
— I never said that —he said in that mysterious purr that Marcus loved so much—. Come with me, let me show you what we have planned.
— We?
But Julius didn't answer and walked with him back, through one of the many stretches of white coastal sand, running along meadows, patches of grass or even long fields of flowers. It was a beautiful place, the water of an intense blue that during evenings had remembered him of Marcus' eyes the first-time Julius saw it; all along the coast where sandy beaches and lines of very flat land, a few of them marshy, and parts where the steep coastline was confronted with a sea front. The air blew all day, sometimes it was just a weak breeze, other stormy gusts, but these, along with the rhythmic coming and going of the waves, made the Atlantic Coast of Gaul a magical place.
But despite the sea and its mysteries, and all the beauty surrounding them, Julius couldn't find in him to like the sea. Not only he despised the strong sun, burning his skin all day but never tanning it, and the smell of rotten fish that appeared to be everywhere, he loathed the heat, the sand getting inside everything and, since that time when a group of Cilician pirates had had the great idea of kidnapping him, he had listed seafaring as one of his least favorite things to do—. Which makes this campaign my dream come true —he thought, fed up.
Julius and Labienus arrived at one of the few ports they controlled, finding the place bursting in activity, Roman vessels with men running everywhere like ants over fruit—. If it weren't for the Veneti I would swear this was Ostia —thought Julius, remembering the famous harbor city so close to Rome. Since Ostia was situated at the mouth of the Tiber, every product arriving by sea had to cross Ostia in order to reach Roman markets, especially the much precious grain, making Ostia an extremely important and busy city.
Decimus had sent a message saying they had a plan to fight the Veneti and waited for Julius and Labienus at the dock. It didn't surprise Julius to find also Rebilius, Pedius and the new member of the peculiar group of friends, Gaius Volusenus Quadratus, the hero of the Twelfth; a smart and courageous boy, who appeared to have endless reserves of energy and was unable to stay without doing nothing. Quadratus didn't have long with the army but had won the respect of the whole Twelfth Legion, and the respect of the Primus Pilus Baculus, in one campaign—. Not bad for a 27 years old boy —thought Julius.
— It was the Centurions' idea —Decimus explained, as soon as his superiors arrived—. We have tried everything to stop the Veneti's vessels, we even tried to build turrets on our ships but the enemy's sterns were still impossible to overcome. Then, it was when the Centurions came with this —Decimus stopped next to pointy hooks fixed into the ends of long poles, resting on the ground, not unlike the tools they used during a siege to climb a wall.
— It's too small if you are planning to use this like some kind of corvus –Labienus pointed out.
— A corvus would be useless against the Veneti, sir —Quadratus answered this time, with all courtesy—. The corvus was designed to board Carthaginian ships during the Punic wars; as we all know, it's a bridge with a small parapet on both sides and a heavy spike, shaped as a bird's beak, on the underside of the device to pierce the enemy ship's deck. But the Veneti´s vessels are huge, it would be impossible to board them with a corvus.
— Instead of that we are aiming to their sails —Decimus continued with Rebilius nodding behind him—, to the halyards, to be more precise.
— You are planning to leave the enemy with no sails and, since their vessels don't have oars, that would immobilize them —Julius summarized and Decimus and Quadratus smiled.
— It can work —Labienus admitted, scratching his chin with the back of his hand—. It won't be easy, but it can work.
— And it's the only plan we have —Julius nodded, thinking about it just for a moment—. We'll do it. Decimus, see that each ship has at least 3 of these —he pointed to the poles on the ground—. We'll attack as soon as we are ready, can't lose more time.
— Yes, sir —answered an extremely excited Decimus. Quadratus was about to leave to start the preparations when a Legionary arrived.
— Sir! —he stopped without breath and saluted in front of Julius.
— What is it?
— There is a group of Veneti on a boat —he answered—, near the coastline, they are asking for you, sir.
Julius, Labienus, Decimus, Quadratus, Rebilius and Pedius saw the Legionary with the same confuse expression, appearing to have a question mark floating over their heads.
— Could they be looking for terms? —Pedius ventured to ask when the silence stretched.
— Why would they do that? They are winning —answered Quadratus.
— They could have found out something we don't know, or maybe they are running out of supplies —said Rebilius.
— Or we could stay here all day wondering —said Julius—. Show me where they are —and the Legionary took him, and his curious group, to a place with no beach, where the sea met the steep ground making it difficult to follow the boat if they decided to do so.
By the time Julius arrived, there was already a large group there, mostly soldiers ready in case this was some sort of attack, others curious with nothing to do, army slaves, servants, allied Gauls, including Ansgar, and even a couple of camp followers. The Veneti were closed enough to be heard and far enough to escape if necessary. Cotta was there, the same as Galba and Fabius, only the interpreter was nowhere to be seen, but as soon as he arrived the Veneti delivered their message.
— Sir, they say they have an important hostage with them —said the interpreter.
— Not again —growled Galva—. Who was stupid enough to get caught this time by these sons of a bad mother?
— We don't have reports of someone gone missing —said Fabius—, since they kidnapped our envoys we doubled our precautions.
— But we haven't heard from Crassus and Sabinus, could be one of their men —said Cotta.
The Veneti kept talking.
— Sir, they demand that we release the hostages they gave us and leave at once, or they will deliver you the hostage's head by tomorrow's evening —the interpreter said, and indignant cries rose all around Julius.
— They are out of their mind —said Labienus, arms crossed over his chest.
— Ask them first who is this very important hostage —said Julius. The Veneti said something and his interpreter went pale.
— Sir, he-he… he says is your sister.
Julius was very close to burst out laughing— My sister? Yes of course, because that has all the sense in the world.
— Is that true? —asked a very surprised Rebilius, shocked as if it were his own sister they were talking about.
— No Rebilius, it's not, both my sisters are in Italy —Julius answered and Pedius nodded, knowing perfectly well that his grandmother Julia rarely left her house at the countryside—. Unless the Veneti went all the way into their houses and kidnapped them, it is impossible.
— These Veneti are desperate —said Galba—, they don't know what to say.
— Tell them I don't have time for this nonsense —Julius said to his interpreter—. And if they want us to release their hostages and leave, they would have to force us —his men celebrated the answer with cheers but the man on the boat kept insisting, angry now, gesticulating and shaking something in his hand.
— Sir, he swears it's true they have your sister, he says her name is Julila, and he has a proof.
They know my sister's nickname? —he didn't like that and was starting to have a bad feeling. It was not impossible for them to know Julila's nickname, after all they had a spy before, they could very well have another, but still…
The man threw what he had in his hand and one of the Legionaries ran to catch it. Julius' eyebrows raised when he saw the diamond in the shape of a tear—. It is impossible —could his enemies at Rome have gone as far as to sell his family to the Celts? He felt cold running through his veins, he was revolted at the sole of idea of his sweet sister at the hands of the Veneti, revolted and furious, remembering her cheerful smile. The man said something more and the Veneti retired, without waiting for an answer. The interpreter had to clear his throat several times before being able to speak again.
— He says that, if we haven't done as he said, by tomorrow's evening he will come back with Julila's head, sir —said the interpreter and Julius raised his eyes, watching the boat getting far from them.
— Pedius!
— Yes, sir —his nephew felt cold running down his spine watching those aquamarine eyes shining with intensity.
— Issue orders to follow that boat, I want to know where is heading.
— Yes, sir.
— Do you think is true, then? —asked Labienus, he was no longer calm and confident, the same as Rebilius, felt this as a personal insult. Celts kidnapping a Roman patrician woman? It was too much.
— Yes, this —Julius showed them the diamond—, is a gift I sent to Julila months ago. Besides, they know my sister's nickname.
— But, how they did this? How did they manage to kidnap her? —for once Galba asked a clever question.
— I have no idea, this situation has no sense but trust me, I will find out.
— What are we going to do? —asked Cotta— Are we surrendering to their demands?
— No, we are not. I have another plan —said Julius, squeezing his brain to find a solution—, I'll rescue my sister.
— We'll need to know first where she is —Decimus pointed out.
— That is why I want to know where is that boat heading —Julius took a deep breath—. Fortune has never abandoned me, I will find out.
But what if they are heading to one of their strongholds? —he would never get there on time to take her out, if Julius tried to rescue her they would just run away with their fleet, as they had been doing for the past weeks—. I need to focus and find a solution.
And Fortune didn't abandon him. He was still checking the map of the area, trying to find out where could the Veneti had taken Julila, and trying to find a solution, when he learned that 2 men were asking to see him, one of them named Philo. Julius was in shock, he had still harbored the hope that the Veneti were just bluffing and Julila were safe back home, but saw all his illusions crashing in the same moment Philo appeared.
— I'm… so… so sorry domine… —Philo cried and threw himself at his feet—, I did… everything I could… but…
Julila's slave looked truly bad, not only emotionally shaken, but covered in dirt and blood, his cloths torn, several bruises could be seen on his arms and legs. Julius didn't know the other man that came with Philo, he was strong but in no better condition than his sister's slave, he bled profoundly from several wounds, looking mortally pale, it had been a miracle he had managed to get here.
— What happened Philo? Where is Julila?
— They… have her, domine! … —sobbed the slave— they… they attacked us at the… forest and… Tetraites and… I … tried everything… to stop them but…
— Philo calmed down, I can't understand you. What forest are you talking about?
— Domine, your sister came to Gallia Comata to see you —Tetraites intervened, he felt about to faint at any moment but needed to know that someone was going to help Julila, and Philo couldn't stop crying and make a decent report—. I was ordered to guard her but… while crossing the forest to arrive here we were ambushed. They were too many for me…
Very few times in his life Julius had been this surprised and confused, there were so many things wrong there he didn't even know where to begin—. Julila, my Julila was crossing Gallia Comata to see me? Why was Julila coming? How did she get here? When did she leave home? —hello headache.
— Do you have any idea where they took my sister? —that was the most pressing problem.
— Yes, domine —answered Tetraites—. I followed them to the beach, they took lady Julila into a ship.
Oh, that's bloody fantastic! —Julius wanted to pull all his hair.
— Where was that?
— Not far from here. It's a huge ship with 2 dark blue sails, they have a strange symbol on them. I can take you there —Julius watched him from head to toe, Tetraites screamed "gladiator!" from miles away, and this only added another question to Julius' collection: what was his sister doing with a gladiator as her bodyguard? Julila will be the end of me.
— With those wounds you are not going anywhere.
— I've had worst, domine —Julius knew he was bluffing but said nothing.
— Your name is Tetraites —the lad nodded— and you are a gladiator —Julius wasn't asking.
— Yes, domine.
— Who is your master?
— Sextus Propertius, domine.
How is that Julila knows Propertius? —Julius had heard that name on the lips of people of dubious reputation— This story gets more complicated at each turn.
Julius sent both of them to the medicus and stayed at the praetorium to think, taking a seat in front of his desk—. If Julila was taken on a ship is not so terrible, a fortress would have been impossible to storm —he also thought the possibility of threatening the Veneti with the hostages he had from them but discarded the idea—. They can react bad and kill Julila on the spot —a rescue operation would also endanger his sister's life but there was a better chance to succeed. Julius clenched his teeth— Why Julila had to come? —he loved his sister, Julila was one of the few people he truly loved and cared for, and the idea of losing her sent shivers down his spine. He couldn't imagine his world without her kind smile but, at the same time, he couldn't compromise the entire campaign for her. He was trapped between Julius the Imperator and Julius the Brother, both with different responsibilities, obligations and different interests.
The Imperator couldn't risk the Legions yielding to the Veneti's demands because, if he did as they wanted, the rest of the tribes in Gaul would take this as weakness and would attack them at their first opportunity—. But if I do nothing, Julila… —his sister would not only die, only the gods knew what would she have to suffer before exhaling her last breath. Julius clenched his jaw until it hurt.
Oo0oO
— The men of the boat went back into a ship with 2 dark blue sails and my men said the sails have a strange symbol painted on them —Pedius came to inform before sunset.
— Where is this ship? —Julius asked.
— Not far from the coast. The good news is there is no wind, so they are not going anywhere —Julius fell silent for a moment—. Do you still think we should try to rescue aunt Julila?
— Yes, but we'll have to do it tonight.
— It will be dangerous —everybody knew that night operations were a tricky business, worse at sea.
— I know, but I have no other choice.
Pedius wanted to say he could always do as the Veneti demanded, released their hostages and leave, but one look at this uncle told him this was not an option. He knew his uncle deeply loved his sister, but he couldn't compromise the Legions of the Republic for her—. If I were my uncle, would I be able to choose my duty over my loved ones? —Pedius wasn't sure and this greatly increased the respect he felt for Julius. In a way, his uncle reminded him of Lucius Junius Brutus, the man who had overthrown Tarquinius, the last of the Roman Kings. Brutus had made all the citizens swore an oath that never again they would tolerate a King in Rome and the Republic was born; but it wasn't long before a conspiracy was discovered to bring back the monarchy, and among the conspirators were Brutus' own 2 sons. Brutus watched their execution and did nothing to save them from their deserve punishment, even though he suffered greatly for his personal lost, and gained an immense respect for his actions.
Let's hope this situation won't have to come to that, to force my uncle to choose between aunt Julila's life and the campaign —Pedius thought.
Oo0oO
Marcus arrived at the praetorium without breath after running all the way here in record time. He had heard a rumor that the Veneti had a new hostage and that appeared to be a very important person, and he probably wouldn't have thought about this again if Julius hadn't sent for him—. And he sent one of his guards not Niketas to fetch me —something that truly intrigued him—. The lads must be right and this new hostage must be someone very important —Niketas quickly took him to his master's quarters and it didn't pass unnoticed for Marcus the nervousness of the slave, he didn't say a word and was obviously tense—. What the fuck is going on here? —he found Julius sitting in front of his desk always full of papers and wax tablets, his aquamarine eyes lost far, far away and appeared not to have hear him coming in.
— What happened? —asked Marcus, approaching him as soon as Niketas was gone.
— The Veneti have my sister —Julius said slowly, turning to look at him and Marcus knew at once he was beyond fury… and worry.
His sister?! Wow! —now he was starting to understand.
— How?
— That's exactly what I want to know —Julius was very close to start breathing fire but never raised his voice—. Her slaves said she came to Gallia Comata to see me, and the Veneti ambushed them on their way here —in Marcus' opinion, this had even less sense.
— Why was your sister in Gallia Comata?
— If you know, please be kind enough to explain it to me because I have no idea —if Marcus had thought Julius was angry when the Atuatuci betrayed them, now he knew that had been nothing compared to this. Julius took a deep breath—. I need your help.
Marcus nodded.
— Just name it.
— The Veneti are threatening to kill my sister if we don't release our hostages and leave by tomorrow's evening. I can't yield to their demands so… I need you to rescue my sister —Julius held his gaze and Marcus saw something more than just an order in them. Julius was asking, almost pleading…
— Have any idea where could she be? —Marcus spoke sure that he was capable of stealing the moon if that was what Julius wanted. And Julius breathed easily hearing his answer, he felt better knowing Marcus would help him, almost as if he could solve all his problems just by having his lover at his side.
— Yes, come —Julius showed him a map of the zone and pointed at the coast—. Here is a ship with 2 sails, my sister's slaves saw the Veneti taking her inside and Pedius tells me there is no wind tonight and the ship it's not far from the coast.
— How many men can I take with me?
— How many do you need? —Marcus mused over this for a moment.
— 2 Centurias.
— Are you sure? —Julius frowned— Why not a Cohort? —Marcus shook his head.
— Too many men, we need to move fast and rescue your sister before they know what hit them.
— All right. I trust you, you are the expert —Marcus felt like floating. Julius trusted him? He didn't care if he had to kill single handed every single Veneti, he would bring his sister back. He rested his weight on one foot.
— I'm guessing your sister's name is Julia.
— Oh dear Jupiter, Mark! That was truly clever of you —Julius mocked him.
— Oh, shut up! —Marcus fell like an idiot— Be like that and you'll need another fool to rescue Julia —Julius smiled, feeling much better.
— We called her Julila, and she is just 11 months older than me.
— How would I know who she is? What does she look like? —Julius' smile was suddenly huge and mischievous.
— Don't worry, you'll know who she is when you see her.
Oo0oO
Julila was scared. Never in her entire life had she felt like this, since that morning when the Gauls attacked her small group, riding like demons, shouting their war cries, as if they came from everywhere, the fear hadn't left her, gripping her heart between its claws. Such a terrible feeling! Cold sweat running down her spine, her mouth dried, her heart beating wildly and a mortal cold running through her veins. Fear was a terrible feeling, and one that didn't appear to want to leave her. Why had she come? Why had she thought it was a good idea to cross Gallia Comata? Julila trembled remembering the horses approaching, they couldn't see anything thanks to the trees, just hear, tum, tum, getting closer and closer. Even the earth trembled, and she couldn't remember when or how, but suddenly someone was grabbing her, pulling her up on a strange horse.
No! She didn't want to go, but no matter how hard she tried everything was useless, and soon Julila lost sight of Philo and Tetraites. All around her was a chaos of sounds and trees, strong smells and the savage beating of her heart, a sound she confused with the horses from time to time. It wasn't until they reached the coast that Julila started to understand what was happening and how her destiny had changed. The men around her looked like monsters: tall, strong, hairy and hostile. A scream woke Julila up from her nightmare, watching Peri trying to break free from her captors, one of them lost patience and hit the girl so hard in the face that Julila feared he had broken Peri's cheekbone.
— Enough! Let her go! —Julila remembered to have shouted, or maybe she just dreamed it. Gods! She was so scared, what was going to be of them?
The men had taken them into a boat and then they had boarded the biggest ship she had ever seen. The place was full with men and Julila had felt her knees trembling, they could do whatever they wanted with she and Peri, and no one would move a finger to help her. It was too much and Julila had fainted. When she woke up it was almost dark. She tried to move but found her hands tied, in a knot so tight, it was painfully biting her delicate milky skin—. Where am I? —slowly the memories came back to her, along with the fear.
— They left us some food, domina —said a terrified Peri sitting at her side. They were on the deck, next to the mast and several boxes that didn't let them see beyond. Julila looked down and found 2 pieces of bread and water.
— I'm not hungry —she felt dizzy and sick, the sight of the bread just revolted her. Both jumped scared when the men burst out laughing, they could only guess what where they doing but were too scared to expect something good. It was a night with no moon and everything was under the cover of a thick darkness that was getting on their nerves—. How are you Peri? How is your cheek?
The girl started sobbing.
— It… it hurts and… and… I'm so scared, domina…
— It's fine, it's fine… we'll be fine —Julila moved closer and Peri rested her head on her mistress' shoulder. Julila's words felt like ash in her mouth, she didn't know what was going to happen to them, didn't know if someone would rescue them or what did these men wanted… but she needed to comfort Peri, even if all she had were empty words.
What if they tried to escape? Julila looked around her but found nothing useful. They were on a ship, and she didn't know how to swim, and even if she knew her hands were tied and didn't know how far the coast was. If only she knew what these men wanted—. Maybe they want a ransom… maybe they are pirates, like those who kidnapped Gaius, and they did nothing bad to him, they just wanted money… —but something told her they weren't pirates.
Oo0oO
Marcus took with him 160 men who could swim, including: Scaeva (his friend was definitely the kind of man you wanted at your side in a mission like this), Otacilius (his Optio), and a veteran Legionary, from a fishermen family, named Durus, a man the whole Legion thought was Neptune's bastard because was an extremely good swimmer. It wasn't difficult to find the ship following Tetraites, the gladiator had insisted in coming with them, despite his wounds he claimed he could be useful and Marcus had only agreed because he knew the ship's location but had been very clear that, if Tetraites gave problems, he would abandon him to the enemy. Tetraites had been fine with that. Just like Pedius' men had said, the ship was close enough to the beach and it wouldn't be difficult to reach it—. Of course, this can work in both ways: it's easy to get there and also to chase us back.
— Even if it's a night with no moon, we'll risk to be seen on a boat, sir —Durus explained —. The enemy is close to the shore, we can reach them swimming, climbed the ship and have ready a boat as soon as we have the Imperator's sister with us.
Marcus scratched his chin with the back of his hand. He knew it was the best plan they had but didn't like the idea of exhausting his lads swimming to the ship, possibly fighting on it, and swimming back—. They are soldiers of Rome, they are used to hard exhausting situations but Julila will slow us down.
— Fine —Marcus nodded—, we'll do it your way but we can't forget that, as soon as these bastards react, they will chase us back here.
— We can leave a Centuria here, on land, sir —said Scaeva.
— Half a Centuria, I want as many men as possible with us on that ship —Marcus turned to look at the sea, an immense dark, an imposing sight, under the sky of thick clouds, storm heralds—. Let's do this, we can't lose more time.
— I'm coming too —Tetraites stubbornly approached and Marcus laughed.
— No, you are not. You'll only be a hindrance —Tetraites clenched his jaw angry—. You will wait here and that is final. Understood?
Tetraites felt his blood burning, his muscles tense as they were every time he was on the arena ready to fight, he felt the urge to hit Marcus but knew it was the worst thing he could do—. Bloody Gauls! And we had to find them on our way here. We were so close, if we haven't stopped so early the day before, maybe we would have reached the army before they found us… —for now, he had no choice but wait with other 40 men for their comrades to come back. And, for the first time in many years, he found himself praying for someone else's safety.
(1) Adrian Goldsworthy. Caesar: Life of a Colossus. Yale University Press, p 261