It was late at night before Porus with the three Gauls joined the
rest of the band in their new encampment on the eastern slope of
the hills.
"As soon as the moon rises, Beric, we must be up and moving.
The Romans are in earnest. When they came through the forest they
ascended for some little distance, and then the spearmen halted
and the light armed troops scattered in parties of four searching
the country like dogs after game. They were not very long before
they discovered signs of us, whether footmarks or broken twigs I
know not, but following them they soon came upon the entrance of
the ravine. No doubt our marks were plain enough there, for the
spearmen were brought down. What happened then I know not; no doubt
they entered and found that we had gone. At any rate, in a short
time they set out briskly up the mountain, the spearmen as before
keeping together, and the light armed men scattering.
"All day they searched, and it was well that you crossed the crest.
They halted for the night halfway between the forest and the summit,
and I determined to learn something of their intentions. So after
it was dark I laid aside my arms and crawled into the camp. The
ground was broken and rough, and there was no great difficulty in
getting close to their fires. I learned that the whole of the legion
at Praeneste had been sent into the mountains, and that there were
twenty parties of equal force; they were but a mile and a half apart,
and considered that they could search every foot of the ground for
thirty miles along, and would assuredly discover us if we were still
in this part. More than that, troops from Corfinium and Marrubium
had started to search the eastern slopes, and between them they
made sure that they should catch you, now that they had found, by
the heat of the earth where our fire had been, that we must have
been there but an hour or so before their arrival."
"If that is the case we must make our way to the south at once,"
Beric said. "It is well indeed that we decided to retreat without
fighting, for had we retired, closely pursued by their archers,
their shouts would certainly have been heard by some of the other
parties. It is fortunate we did not light a fire; had we done so it
might have brought some of the troops from Marrubium, which cannot
be far distant from here, upon us. The moon will not be up for
three hours yet, and it is useless to try to make our way among
these mountains until we have her light, therefore let all lie down
to sleep; I will keep guard and will rouse you when it is time to
move."
Beric sat listening intently for any sound that would tell of the
approach of foemen. He had, however, but small fear that the Romans
were moving at present. It would be even more difficult for them
than for his men to make their way about in the darkness; besides,
the day must have been an extremely fatiguing one for them. They
had, doubtless, started long before dawn, had had to climb the
mountains, and had been all day on their feet. They would scarcely
recommence the search before morning. Easy on this score, his
thoughts turned to Rome. That Aemilia had gained the shelter of
the Catacombs he had no doubt, and he wondered how she fared there
among the Christian fugitives. As to Norbanus he had but slight
hopes of ever seeing him alive. Nero's vengeance always extended
to the families of those who offended him, and Norbanus would
certainly be held responsible for the flight of Aemilia. He thought
it indeed probable that as soon as Aemilia left, Norbanus would
have called his friends together, and, having opened his veins,
would die as Piso had done discussing philosophy with them.
As soon as the moon was fairly up he aroused his companions and
they started along the hillside. It was difficult work making their
way on, now descending into a deep ravine, now climbing a rugged
slope, now passing along a bare shoulder. There was no pause until
day broke, when they descended into a gorge and lay down among
some clumps of bushes, one man being sent half a mile down while
two others were posted on each side of the ravine. They had good
reason for hope, however, that they had got beyond the point to
which the searching parties would extend on the eastern side of the
hill. The day passed without alarms, although the sentries above
more than once heard the sounds of distant trumpets. As soon as
the sun set they continued their way, halting again until the moon
rose, and then keeping south until daybreak.
They were sure now that they were far beyond the parties of Romans,
but after a few hours' sleep they again pressed on, and at night
lighted their fires and prepared for a longer stay. But the orders
of Nero were so imperative that the troops, having thoroughly
searched the mountains at the point where they had ascended them,
united, and also moved south in a long line extending from the
summit of the hills to the lower edge of the forest; and after two
days' halt the fugitives again moved south, and continued their
journey until they found themselves among the wild and lofty hills
of Bruttium.
But their numbers had swollen as they went, for the other fugitive
bands among the hills were also driven south by the advance of
the Romans, and it was a miscellaneous body of gladiators, escaped
slaves, and malefactors, in all over five hundred strong, that crossed
the mountains into Bruttium. There was a general wish among them
that Beric should take the command of the whole. This, however, he
absolutely declined to do, upon the ground that it was impossible
for so large a body of men to keep together, as there would be no
means of feeding them. Scattered about they would find an ample
supply of meat from the wild goats, boars and semi-wild swine,
but together, they would soon scare away the game. From among the
gladiators, however, he picked out sufficient men to raise his
own force to a hundred strong, and separating from the rest he led
them, guided by a charcoal burner, to one of the wildest and most
inaccessible points in the promontory.
Here they were safe from pursuit. Bruttium, now called Calabria,
is a chain of rugged hills, at that time thickly covered with wood,
and although it was possible fairly to search the Apennines in the
centre of Italy with six or seven thousand men, a large army would
fail to find a band of fugitives in the recesses of the mountains
of the south. On the evening of their arrival at the spot they
determined to make their headquarters, Beric held a sort of council
of war, the whole of the band, as was the custom both in Gaul and
Britain, joining in the deliberations.
"So far," Beric began, "we have retreated without fighting; Rome
cannot complain that we have been in insurrection against her, we
have simply acted as fugitives; but as there is nowhere else whither
we can retire, we must turn upon them if they again pursue us. We
must then regard this as our abode for a long time, and make ourselves
as comfortable as we can. Huts we can erect of the branches of
trees, the skins of the goats we kill will provide us with bedding,
and if needs be with clothing. Meat will not fail us, for should
game become scarce we can buy goats and sheep from the shepherds
who come up with their flocks and herds from the villages by the
sea. But besides this we need many things for comfort. We must have
utensils for cooking, and drinking cups, and shall need flour and
wine; we must therefore open communications with one of the towns
by the sea. This is the great difficulty, because of all things I
fear treachery; for nigh a year we fought the Romans at home, and
could have fought them for twenty more had we not been betrayed
and surrounded.
"Of that there will always be a danger. I have gold, and shall always
pay for what we require; but the other bands among these hills will
not be so scrupulous, and as, indeed, they will be forced to take
food, they will set the inhabitants against us, and the Romans
will have no difficulty in finding guides among them. So long as we
keep ourselves far apart from the rest we are comparatively safe;
but none of the natives must know of our hiding place. Can anyone
propose a good plan for obtaining supplies?"
There was silence for some time. These men were all good for
fighting, but few of them had heads to plan. At last Porus said:
"We are, as our guide tells me, but two hours' journey from
the hills whence we may look down upon the gulf dividing Bruttium
from Sicily. The lower slopes of these hills are, he says, closely
cultivated. There are many small villages some distance up on their
sides, and solitary farms well nigh up to the crest. It seems to
me that we should use one of these farmers as our agent. He must
be a man with a wife and family, and these would be hostages. If
we told him that if he did our bidding he would be well rewarded,
while if unfaithful we would destroy his farmhouse and slay his
wife and children, I think we might trust him. Two or three of us
could go down with him to the town on the seashore, dressed as men
working under him, and help bring up the goods he purchases. The
quantity might excite suspicion did he always go to the same place
for them, but he need not always do this. If we found it impossible
to get enough by means of one man, we might carry out this plan with
three or four of them. None of these men need know the direction
of our camp; it would suffice that the wine and flour were brought
to their houses. We could always send a strong party to fetch them
thence as we require them."
"I do not think we can hit on any better plan, Porus;" and as there
was a murmur of assent he continued: "I propose, my friends, that
we appoint Porus the head of our victualling department, and leave
the arrangements to him entirely."
This point was settled. The next morning Porus, taking three of the
gladiators who most resembled the natives in appearance, started
on his mission. He was completely successful. The farmers on the
upper slopes of the hills lived in terror of the banditti among the
mountains, and one was readily induced, by the offer of a reward
for his service, and of freedom from all molestation, to undertake
the business of getting up corn and wine. Henceforth supplies of
these articles were obtained regularly. Huts were soon erected;
the men were divided into hunting parties, and the life of the
fugitives passed quietly, and for a time without incident.
The persons with whom Beric had deposited his money had all been
chosen for him by Norbanus. He himself had been too long away from
Italy to be acquainted with any outside the walls of Rome; but among
his friends there were several who were able to recommend men of
property and character to whom the money could be committed with
the certainty that it would be forthcoming whenever demanded. At
present Beric was amply supplied with funds, for the money that
Norbanus had sent to him would last for at least a year; but, four
months after reaching Bruttium, he thought it would be as well to
warn those in whose charge his own stores had been placed, to hold
it in readiness by them in case it should be suddenly asked for.
Philo seemed to him the only person he could send on such a mission,
and upon the more important one of going to Rome and communicating
with Aemilia. He was certain of the fidelity of the lad, and, properly
disguised, he was less likely to be recognized in Rome than Porus
would be. Clothes such as would be worn by the son of a well to do
cultivator were obtained for him, and he was directed to take the
road along the coast to Rome, putting up at inns in the towns, and
giving out that he was on his way to the capital to arrange for
the purchase of a farm adjoining that of his father.
Letters were given him to the persons holding Beric's money; and
one for the goldsmith in Rome, with whom a portion of the money he
had given for the jewellery that Beric had received at the games
was still deposited. This letter was not to be delivered until he
had been to the catacombs and seen Aemilia; as, although Scopus
had spoken very highly of the man, it was possible that he might,
to gain favour with Nero, hand over Beric's messenger to him. Beric
fully impressed upon Philo the risks he would run, and told him to
make all his calls after nightfall, and to be prepared for instant
flight if he mistrusted the manner of any of the men he visited.
"Do not be afraid, Beric," Philo said; "I will not be taken alive.
I know that they would torture me to force me to lead them to your
hiding place, and I would rather die a thousand times first. I was
but a slave when I was allotted to you in the palace of Nero. You
have been kind to me, and trusted me. You have allowed me to go with
you, and have behaved to me as if I had been free and one of your
own people. I have my dagger, and if I see that evil is intended
me I will not wait until they lay hands on me, for then my blow
might fail, but will make sure. But before I start give me full
instructions what I am to say to the Lady Aemilia; for however
fully you may write, she will be sure to want to know more, and,
above all, instruct me what to do if she demands to join you, and
commands me to bring her here. This, methinks, she is sure to do,
and I must have your instructions in the matter."
"I shall tell her in my letter, Philo, that this is no place for
her, and that I cannot possibly have her here, among rough men,
where, at any moment, we may be called upon to make distant and
toilsome journeys, and even to fight for our lives."
"That is all very well, my lord; but suppose she says to me it is
only because Beric thinks that I cannot support fatigue and hardship
that he does not send for me; but I am willing and ready to do so,
and I charge you, therefore, to take me to him."
This was a point that Beric had many times thought over deeply.
He, too, felt sure that Aemilia would choose to be with him;
and accustomed as the Britons were for their wives to share their
perils, and to journey with them when they went on warlike expeditions,
it seemed to him that she had almost a right to be with him. Then,
too, her life must be dreary in the extreme, shut up in caverns
where the light of day never penetrated, in ignorance of his fate,
and cut off from all kinsfolk and friends. The question so puzzled
him that he finally took Porus into his confidence, having a high
idea of his good sense.
"She cannot come here," Porus agreed; "but I do not see why you
should not bring her from that dismal place where you say she is,
and establish her near at hand, either at one of the upper farmhouses,
or in a town by the sea. Let me think it over. In an hour I will
tell you what seems to me the best plan. My counsel is this," he
said, after he had been absent for an hour from the hut, "I myself
will go with the lad to fetch her. A Roman lady, even though
a fugitive, should not be travelling about the country under the
protection of a lad. I dare not go into Rome. I am known to too
many of the gladiators, and, disguise myself as I might, I should
be recognized before I had been there an hour. I will obtain a
dress such as would suit a respectable merchant; I will go down to
one of the ports below and take passage in a trading craft bound
for Ostia. There I will take lodgings, and giving out that my
daughter, who has been staying with friends for her education in
Rome, is about to return to Messina with me, will purchase two or
three female slaves. When she arrives with Philo, who can pass as
her brother and my son, we will take ship and come down hither.
I can then bring her up and place her in the house of one of the
farmers; or can, if you like, take a house in the town, or lodge
her there with people to whom one of the farmers might recommend
her. But, at any rate, she could come up to one of the farm houses
first, to see you, and then you could arrange matters between you.
She would really run no danger. You say she went out but little in
Rome, and it would be ill luck indeed were there anyone on this
coast who met her there. If it were not for your preposterous height,
your yellow hair and blue eyes, there would be no difficulty about
the matter at all, for you would have but to cross the straits into
Sicily, to buy a small property there, and to settle down quietly;
but it is impossible with your appearance to pass as one of the
Latin race."
"Besides," Beric said, "I could not desert my comrades. Whatever
their lot may be, mine must be also. If we are ever to escape, we
must escape together; but for the rest, I think your plan is a good
one, Porus, and thank you heartily. When you get to Ostia you will
learn all that is going on in Rome, what has befallen Norbanus, and
other matters. If Norbanus is alive, Aemilia will certainly be in
communication with him by means of the Christians, and will, of
course, be guided by his advice."
The next day Porus and Philo set out together. Three weeks passed,
and then one morning Philo entered the camp.
"All has gone well, my lord, the Lady Aemilia is at the house of
the farmer Cornelius, with whom Porus arranged to receive her on
the morning we left you. She has sent no letter, for there were no
writing materials in the house, but she awaits your coming."
Beric hastened away at once, accompanied by the lad, who by the
way gave an account of his journey.
"It was as I thought," he said. "When I came to the house you told
me of, I knocked as you instructed me, gave the ring to the man
within and begged him to take it to the Lady Aemilia. He at first
pretended that he knew nothing of such a person; but at last, on my
showing him the letter addressed to her, he said that some friends
of his might know where she was, and that if I called again, two
hours before midnight, he might have news of her. When I came back
the Lady Aemilia was there. She asked many questions about your
health before she opened your letter, the one that you first wrote
to her. When she had read it she said, 'My lord bids me stay here,
Philo, and I am, above all things, bound to obey him; but he says
that he bids me remain, because the hardships would be too great
for me. But I know that I could support any hardships; and kind as
they are to me here, I would rather go through anything with my
husband than remain here; the darkness and the silence are more
trying than any hardships. So you see that my lord's orders were
given under a misapprehension, and as I am sure he would not have
given them had he known that I was not afraid of hardships, and
desired above all things to be with him, I shall disobey them, and
he, when I join him, must decide whether I have done wrong, and,
if he thinks so, send me away from him."
"Then, my lord, seeing that it was so, I gave her your second
letter, in which you said that if she wished to join you you had
made arrangements for her doing so. Then she kissed the letter and
cried over it, and said that she was ready to depart when I came
to fetch her. Then she told me that Norbanus had opened his veins
that night after she had left, and that the soldiers of Nero
arrived just too late to trouble him; that all his property had
been confiscated, and that she had no friends in the world but you.
"It took a week for Porus to obtain two suitable slaves--the one
an elderly woman and the other a young servant.
"The goldsmith handed over your money to me at once, saying, 'I
am glad to hear that Beric is alive. Tell him that he did badly
in not slaying the tyrant when he had him at his mercy. Tell him,
too, there are rumours of deep discontent among the legions in the
provinces, and a general hope among the better class of Romans that
they will ere long proclaim a new emperor and overthrow Nero. Tell
him also to be on his guard. There is a talk of an expedition on
a large scale, to root out those who are gathered in the mountains
of Bruttium. It is said that it is to be commanded by Caius Muro,
who but a week ago returned from Syria.'"
"Is it so?" Beric exclaimed. "I know him well, having lived in his
house for years. I should be sorry indeed that we should meet as
enemies. Heard you aught of his daughter?"
"Not from the goldsmith, but afterwards. She is married, I hear,
to Pollio, who is of the family of Norbanus."
"I am indeed glad to hear it, Philo. He also was a great friend of
mine, and as he knew Muro in Britain, would doubtless have sought
him out in Syria, where he, too, held an office. 'Tis strange
indeed that he should have married Berenice, whom I last saw as a
girl, now fully four years back. And all went well on the voyage?"
"Well indeed, my lord. I took the Lady Aemilia down to Ostia in
a carriage with closed curtains. She stayed two days in the place
Porus had hired, and none suspected on the voyage that she was
other than his daughter."
"And how is she looking, Philo?"
"At first, my lord, she was looking strangely white, and I feared
that her health had suffered; but she said that it was dwelling in
the darkness that had so whitened her, and indeed the sun during
the voyage has brought the colour back to her cheeks, and she is
now looking as she used to do when I carried letters to the house
from Nero's palace."
Once arrived at the brow of the hill, looking down upon the Straits
of Messina, Beric's impatience could be no longer restrained, and
he descended the slope with leaps and bounds that left Philo far
behind. Porus was at the door of the farm; Beric grasped his hand.
"She is in there," he said, pointing to a door, and a moment later
Aemilia fell into his arms.
In half an hour the door opened.
"Come in, Porus and Philo," Beric called. "I must first thank you,
both in my own name and that of my betrothed, for the great service
you have rendered us, and the care and kindness with which you have
watched over her. We have settled nothing yet about the future,
except that tomorrow I shall complete the betrothal, and she will
become my wife. It should be done today, but my faithful Boduoc
must be here as a witness. It would be a disappointment indeed to
him were he not to be present at my marriage. For the present, at
any rate, my wife will remain here.
"She would fain go up into the mountains, but that cannot be. Not
only is our life too rough for her, but her presence there would
greatly add to my anxieties. Here she will be safe, and you, Philo,
will remain with her. I am convinced that I can trust Cornelius.
You have told me, Porus, that you are assured of his honesty, and
as I can pay him well, and he can have no idea that the Romans
would be glad to pay a far higher sum for my capture, he has no
temptation to be unfaithful to us; besides, his face is a frank
and open one. I shall charge him that, while Aemilia remains here,
none of his men are to accompany him when he goes down to the port,
for, without meaning harm, they might talk to people there of what
is going on, and the matter might come to the ears of the authorities."
"I think," Porus said, "it would be well, Beric, that I and the
three men who go down with me to bring up goods should take up our
residence here. There is an out house which is unused, and which
we can occupy. In this way we can keep an eye upon the two men on
the farm, and one can be always on the watch to see that no party
of armed men is coming up from the port. I believe in the good
faith of the farmer, but it is always better to take precautions."
"Far better, Porus. The plan you suggest is an excellent one. We
must try and make this chamber a little more fitting for Aemilia's
abode."
"That will soon be done," Porus said. "Knowing what your wishes
would be in such a matter, I purchased at Ostia sufficient stuff
to cover these bare walls, with rugs and such furniture as was
requisite. These I brought up in a cart as far as the road extends,
and I will now go down with Philo and the two men and bring them
up here and help the slaves get the room in order."
Before sunset Beric returned alone to the camp, and the next morning
came back to the farm with Boduoc.
"There is one thing I must tell you, Beric," Aemilia said when he
went in alone to see her, "I have become a Christian."
"I thought it was likely you would do so, Aemilia," he said;
"living among these people, and knowing how Ennia had embraced their
religion, it could hardly be otherwise. You shall tell me about it
afterwards. I know but little of its tenets, but I know how those
who held them faced death, and there must be much indeed in a
religion which teaches men so to die."
"You told me that you would not object, Beric, or I would have
abstained from attending their assemblies. Still, it was right I
should tell you before I became your wife."
Porus and his companion had spent the morning in gathering flowers.
These the slaves had made into wreaths and had decorated the room,
which was completely changed in appearance since Beric left it on
the afternoon before. The roughly built walls were hidden by rich
hangings. The floor was covered with matting, on which were placed
thick rugs woven in the East. Two or three carved couches were
placed against the walls, and as many small tables on tripod legs
stood beside them. The farmer and his wife were called in, and
in their presence and that of his three followers Beric performed
the simple ceremony of a Roman marriage, consisting only of taking
Aemilia's hand in his and declaring that, in conformity with the
conditions of the pact before made and signed, and with the full
consent and authorization of her father, he took her to be his
wife.
Beric remained three days down at the cottage, and then rejoined
his band. A few days later a messenger came in from one of the
bands at the other side of the promontory of Bruttium, saying they
had obtained news that preparations were being made at Sybaris for
the landing of a very large body of troops, and that it was said to
be the intention of the Romans to make a great expedition through
the mountains and entirely exterminate the outlaws.
"They would have left us alone," Beric said bitterly, "if it had
not been that you made yourselves scourges to the country, pillaging
and ravaging the villages among the hills and slaying innocent
people."
"We were obliged to live," the man said. "Rome has driven us into
the mountains, and we must feed at the expense of Rome."
Beric was silent. He felt that had he himself not had means his
own bands would have also taken to pillage. The men who took to
the hills regarded themselves as at war with Rome. Rome sent her
soldiers against them, and slew every man captured. She hunted
them like wild beasts, and as wild beasts they had to live at her
expense. Beric was not in advance of the spirit of his time. It
was the custom in war to burn, destroy, and slay.
That as Rome warred with them they should war with Rome seemed
natural to every fugitive in the hills, and they regarded their
leader's action in purchasing what he could have taken by force
simply as an act of policy. Their own people had been slain by the
Romans, they themselves doomed to risk their lives for the amusement
of the Roman mob. If recaptured they would, like the followers
of Spartacus, be doubtless put to death by crucifixion. That,
under these circumstances, they should be in the slightest degree
influenced by any feeling of pity or humanity towards Romans would,
if suggested to them, have appeared supremely ridiculous.
Beric felt, then, that for him to say any further word of blame would
only have the effect of causing him to be regarded with suspicion
and dislike, and would lessen his own influence among the mountain
bands.
He therefore said, "That you should take what is necessary is not
blamable, against it I have nothing to say; but it was to the interest
of all of us that nothing more should be taken. Rome would not have
been stirred to send an army against us merely by the complaints
of peasants that some of their goats and sheep had been driven off
or their granaries emptied; but when it comes to burning villages
and slaughtering their inhabitants, and carrying fire and sword down
to the seashore, Rome was roused. She felt her majesty insulted,
and now we are going to have a veritable army invade the mountains.
It is no longer viewed as an affair of brigands, but as an
insurrection. However, there is no more to be said, the mischief
is done, and we have now only to do our best to repel the invasion.
Tell your leaders that tomorrow morning I will set out and join
them, and will with them examine the country, mark the lines by
which the enemy are likely to advance, decide where obstacles had
best be erected, and where the first stand should be made. It may
be weeks yet before they come. Roman armies are not moved as quickly
as a tribe of mountaineers."
The following day Beric, taking with him the greater portion of his
band, marched across the hills under the guidance of the charcoal
burner, who had now enrolled himself regularly in its ranks, and
had taken the oath of obedience. Their course lay to the northeast,
as it was in the Bay of Tarentum that rumour reported that the
Romans would land. As, after two days' marching, they neared the
spot fixed upon for the rendezvous, they came upon other bands
journeying in the same direction; and when these united on a shoulder
of the hill commanding a view of the great bay, some eight hundred
men were assembled. Fires had been already lighted, and a number
of sheep killed and roasted. The leaders withdrew from the rest
as soon as they had finished their meal, and seating themselves at
a point whence they could see the plains stretching away from the
foot of the hills to the gulf, began their consultation.
"I wonder why they are coming round here?" one of the chiefs said;
"they might have landed at Rhegium in the straits, and thence
marched straight up into the hills. From where your camp is, Beric,
you should know what is going on there, for the town stands almost
below you. Is nought said there about military preparations?"
"Nothing whatever," Beric replied; "nor do I think it likely that
they will attack from that point, for if they advanced thence, we
should simply retire through the mountains to the north just as we
retired south when they before attacked us. It is clear what their
object is: they will sail up that river and will disembark at
Cosenza; the hills narrow there, and it is but a short distance
across them to the Western Sea. Ascending them they will at once
cut us off from any retreat north. They will have their magazines
close at hand. A thousand men stationed in a chain across the
mountains will suffice to bar our way, while the rest will move
south, penning us up as they go, until they drive us down to the
very edge of the promontory, where, joined perhaps by a force coming
up from Rhegium, they will have us altogether in their grip."
An expression of dismay spread round the circle. They had thought
that the Romans would but march straight through the mountains,
in which case it would be easy to evade them, but they saw at once
that by the erection of a chain of permanent posts across the hill
from Cosenza they would be completely hemmed in, and must sooner
or later be hunted down.
"Then you think that our only chance is to move to the mountains
north of Cosenza before they land, Beric?"
"I do not say that," Beric replied. "To begin with, we are not going
to remain passive and allow ourselves to be driven like a flock of
sheep into the hurdles. Did they bring against us only heavy armed
troops we could laugh at them, for we can march two miles to their
one, and move easily among the rocks where they could find no
footing. It is only their light armed soldiers we have to fear,
but even these must move at the same rate as the hoplites, for if
they ventured far away from the protection of the spearmen we should
make short work of them. We have over a thousand fighting men in
these mountains, and each one of us in close conflict is a match for
at least three of their light armed men. In the plains, of course,
we should suffer greatly from their missiles before we came to a
close conflict; but among these woods and precipices we could fall
on them suddenly, and be in their midst before they have time to lay
arrow to bow. Therefore, you see, the Romans can move but slowly
among the hills, and we will soon teach them that they dare not
scatter, and even twelve thousand men do not go for much among these
mountains, extending some seventy miles from Cosenza to Rhegium,
and from ten to twenty miles across.
"How about food?" one of the others asked.
"In that respect we shall be far better off than they would. We
shall really have no difficulty about food. It would need twenty
legions to form a cordon along the slopes of these hills on both
sides, and we can, while opposing the Romans, always detach parties
to make forays down into the plain and drive off sheep, goats, and
cattle. Besides, among the lower forests there are herds of swine
pasturing, which will be available for our use. The question of
food will be of no trouble to us, but on the other hand, it will
be a vast trouble to the Romans. Every foot that they advance from
their magazines at Cosenza their difficulties will increase. They
must make roads as they go, and their convoys will always be exposed
to our attacks. Very large bodies of men must otherwise be employed
in escorting them. They may form depots at the foot of the hills
as they advance, but even then their difficulties will be prodigious.
"I should propose to fight them as we fought them in the swamps of
my native land--to harass them night and day, to wear them out
with false alarms, to oppose them in the defiles, to hurl down
the rocks on them from precipices, to cut off their convoys, and
fall upon their camps at night, until they lose all confidence in
themselves, and dare only move hither and thither in a solid body.
Not until they have destroyed the whole of the forests between
Cosenza and Rhegium, and made roads everywhere across the mountains,
ought they be able to overcome us. It will be time enough to think
of retiring then. By descending the western slopes a long night
march would take us north of Cosenza, and we could then take to
the hills again; or we could descend upon the coast near Rhegium
at night, seize a fishing village, embark in its boats and cross
the strait, and before morning be among the mountains of Sicily,
which are so vast and far stretching that operations which, though
possible, are difficult here, could not probably be carried on
against us."
Beric's words were received with enthusiastic approval. Before all
had felt dispirited, and though ready to fight to the last, had
deemed that the resistance could be but short and their fate certain.
Now they saw before them a veritable war, in which they could hope
to defend themselves successfully, and if beaten here escape to
renew it elsewhere, and which promised them an abundant opportunity
for encountering the Romans. This was what they most longed for.
Not one there but hated Rome with a bitter hatred, as the author
of unnumbered woes to their tribes, their families and themselves.
Death had no terrors whatever to these men, so that they could
die fighting with Romans. Rising to their feet they returned with
exulting shouts to their comrades.