and gave the password, identifying his name, rank and unit. The soldier immediately stepped aside, and he ran on toward the headquarters building at the centre of the fort.
Inside, the building had changed tremendously since Fronto and his men had had their briefing here less than a week ago. The rooms that had before been occupied by pay staff and accounts clerks had been cleared out, with all such mundane offices now located in the small annexe to the west of the fort. The rooms were now occupied by staff officers and the senior officers of the Eighth. Two large rooms had been devoted entirely to the officers of the newly raised Eleventh and Twelfth, there being a large amount of organisation and paperwork involved in such a task. The officers had been drawn from the centurionate of the current four legions or the general staff. Aquilius, the Eighth’s chief training officer (and Velius’ current second in command) occupied the same room, trying to organise the newly-raised officers into an effective command unit. From what Fronto had heard, Balbus himself had been giving advice and pointers to the new officers, which could only help, given the legate’s lengthy experience in command.
Maps and documents lined the walls as Fronto made his way through the busy, hectic and overcrowded headquarters to Caesar’s office.
A Greek-speaking slave attempted to arrest Fronto’s progress at the general’s door, but Fronto ignored him and banged loudly twice on the door.
“ General?”
Caesar’s clear and commanding voice came from within.
“ Fronto? Come in.”
Angrily pushing the Greek slave to one side, Fronto hammered the catch up and, swinging the door back, stepped in. Remembering his etiquette just in time, he skidded to a halt on the marble and came up straight, saluting. Caesar had not even looked up. From his campaign chair, with his eyes scanning a document, the general addressed his officer.
“ Yes, legate?”
“ The Helvetii sir. They’re approaching the lake. I would estimate less than an hour away. I’ve made all the arrangements I could on the way sir.”
A second voice asked “How are the new recruits looking, Marcus?”
Fronto swung around to see Balbus sitting in a dark corner.
“ They’ll be useful enough, Quintus, never fear about that.”
Caesar finally looked up.
“ Take a seat, man, for heavens’ sake. If they’re an hour away and you’ve informed everyone that needs to be organised, then we have a few minutes yet.” He turned to Balbus. “Do go on.”
Balbus cleared his throat. “Not much left to say, Caesar. The first two cohorts of the Eighth will continue to occupy this site until we are faced with immediate confrontation, at which point they can be through the north gate and at the wall in about five minutes, where they will spread out and occupy the three miles closest to the lake. The Third Cohort will play rearguard, covering the eastern end of the settled area, from the lakeshore up to the mountain road. The Fourth to Seventh Cohorts will be given the six miles of defences at the far end, near Mount Jura, and the Eighth to Tenth will take the central section. The Eleventh and Twelfth Legions will be positioned to overlap. They will be split by cohort, but never too far from the rest of their legion and close to a more experienced unit. This defence may be eighteen miles or so, but that way we’ll have fifteen thousand men covering it. If all else fails, the Third Cohort will be within an hour’s march of the defences, should we need them. I cannot foresee a circumstance in which the Helvetii, even if they come full force, can break such a defence. And, by the way sir, Fronto’s excelled himself with the quality of the defences.”
“ Has he indeed?” Caesar smiled. “I know how much you hate taking a defensive position, Fronto. I also know that that means you will put together the best possible system. Why on earth do you think I assigned an engineer’s job to
Inside, the building had changed tremendously since Fronto and his men had had their briefing here less than a week ago. The rooms that had before been occupied by pay staff and accounts clerks had been cleared out, with all such mundane offices now located in the small annexe to the west of the fort. The rooms were now occupied by staff officers and the senior officers of the Eighth. Two large rooms had been devoted entirely to the officers of the newly raised Eleventh and Twelfth, there being a large amount of organisation and paperwork involved in such a task. The officers had been drawn from the centurionate of the current four legions or the general staff. Aquilius, the Eighth’s chief training officer (and Velius’ current second in command) occupied the same room, trying to organise the newly-raised officers into an effective command unit. From what Fronto had heard, Balbus himself had been giving advice and pointers to the new officers, which could only help, given the legate’s lengthy experience in command.
Maps and documents lined the walls as Fronto made his way through the busy, hectic and overcrowded headquarters to Caesar’s office.
A Greek-speaking slave attempted to arrest Fronto’s progress at the general’s door, but Fronto ignored him and banged loudly twice on the door.
“ General?”
Caesar’s clear and commanding voice came from within.
“ Fronto? Come in.”
Angrily pushing the Greek slave to one side, Fronto hammered the catch up and, swinging the door back, stepped in. Remembering his etiquette just in time, he skidded to a halt on the marble and came up straight, saluting. Caesar had not even looked up. From his campaign chair, with his eyes scanning a document, the general addressed his officer.
“ Yes, legate?”
“ The Helvetii sir. They’re approaching the lake. I would estimate less than an hour away. I’ve made all the arrangements I could on the way sir.”
A second voice asked “How are the new recruits looking, Marcus?”
Fronto swung around to see Balbus sitting in a dark corner.
“ They’ll be useful enough, Quintus, never fear about that.”
Caesar finally looked up.
“ Take a seat, man, for heavens’ sake. If they’re an hour away and you’ve informed everyone that needs to be organised, then we have a few minutes yet.” He turned to Balbus. “Do go on.”
Balbus cleared his throat. “Not much left to say, Caesar. The first two cohorts of the Eighth will continue to occupy this site until we are faced with immediate confrontation, at which point they can be through the north gate and at the wall in about five minutes, where they will spread out and occupy the three miles closest to the lake. The Third Cohort will play rearguard, covering the eastern end of the settled area, from the lakeshore up to the mountain road. The Fourth to Seventh Cohorts will be given the six miles of defences at the far end, near Mount Jura, and the Eighth to Tenth will take the central section. The Eleventh and Twelfth Legions will be positioned to overlap. They will be split by cohort, but never too far from the rest of their legion and close to a more experienced unit. This defence may be eighteen miles or so, but that way we’ll have fifteen thousand men covering it. If all else fails, the Third Cohort will be within an hour’s march of the defences, should we need them. I cannot foresee a circumstance in which the Helvetii, even if they come full force, can break such a defence. And, by the way sir, Fronto’s excelled himself with the quality of the defences.”
“ Has he indeed?” Caesar smiled. “I know how much you hate taking a defensive position, Fronto. I also know that that means you will put together the best possible system. Why on earth do you think I assigned an engineer’s job to
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