wanted us to come and investigate.”
“Do you honestly think that this is a trap?” Titus Aurelius asked Gaius Valerius later that night as the two men made the final preparations for the Third Cohort to depart in the morning.
“I’m not sure, but it fits the facts. If the Caledonian’s were just moving west, they would have moved west and left the eastern forts unmolested. If they were getting ready to invade, they would have just invaded. Destroying the forts would get us to send a force up here to investigate and reduce the strength of our defenses to the south. I don’t know if they anticipated that we’d send an entire Legion, but I think it’s safe to assume that they expected us to send some forces. That means they’re watching us. I think that’s part of the reason we haven’t seen any Caledonians since we crossed the frontier. The invasion force is already assembled and waiting to see what we do next.”
“What do we do next?”
“We carry out our reconnaissance mission as ordered and as planned, but we take extra care. We move quickly and quietly, and we get back as quickly as possible. We must be thorough, but with speed. We’ll leave well before dawn so that by first light we’ll be at least a league from here. With luck, we may be able to slip out of camp without the Caledonians noticing. If they don’t know we’re out there, we may be able to get back without being harassed.”
“Very well. I’ll inform the officers.”
Titus Aurelius left Gaius Valerius’ tent and went to find the other Centurions under his command. After he was gone, Gaius stood and went over to the far side of his tent. In the corner was an ornately carved wooden box with images of a man killing a bull carved onto the sides. This was Gaius Valerius’ traveling altar to Mithras, the soldier’s god of the Roman Empire, and he never went on any campaign or expedition without it. As he ran his hands along the carved images, he bowed his head and prayed to Mithras to protect his Legionnaires from harm. Keep us safe so we may continue in our worship to you.
After a moment, he removed his hand from the altar. It was time to get ready for the morning.
The Third Cohort had been marching for almost two hours before the morning sun broke over the horizon to the east. As they neared the River Esk, the ground became flatter and less tree-covered, exposing the Legionnaires but making the march easier and quicker. It would take several days to make their inspection of the area and return to the base camp, and Gaius Valerius was uneasy.
To make the Cohort move faster, Gaius Valerius decided to dispense with anything that could slow them down. They wouldn’t take any tents with them – not even the officers. They took minimal supplies, preferring to forage as part of their reconnaissance of the land. Only a couple of wagons followed them with water and other items that couldn’t be easily obtained during the deployment. When they marched out of camp in the pre-dawn stillness, the Legionnaires moved quietly. Each Legionnaire carried his armor, weapons, and a single leather bag for his day’s rations. The Cohort also took a company of cavalry to act as flankers and messengers should the enemy be spotted.
On the first day, there was no sign of the enemy, but that was to be expected. Gaius Valerius knew that, if the enemy were watching, they’d do so from a distance to keep from being spotted themselves. And if the Cohort had managed to keep its departure from the base camp a secret, there’d be no one watching them at all. Still, Gaius Valerius felt uneasy. He had only six hundred men with him – six Centuria with a Centurion commanding each, and a handful of cavalry. They were all good men but no match for Caledonians attacking with a large force.
That night, they made camp in the woods just off the Roman road to Camelon. They lit no fires that would give away their position to the enemy. Veteran Legionnaires were accustomed to cold camps and cold rations, and no one complained. The officers and men all slept in the open together. Only the teamsters slept in their wagons to guard the supplies.
Toward the end of the second day, they arrived at the fort at Camelon and found it in the same condition as the Fifth Cohort had found Doune. A careful examination of the remains showed that it, too, had been burned. Bones were everywhere, but the rest of the garrison was nowhere to be seen. They made camp inside the walls that night, and it was a cold camp again.
The Third Cohort stayed in the Camelon area for a day, looking for any signs of the enemy. All they found was a few deserted villages and settlements looking like they had been abandoned for some time. The countryside seemed deserted, and this worried Gaius Valerius. There should be someone in the area.
When the Third Cohort set out the next morning to return to the base camp, Gaius Valerius felt a great need for speed. The longer he was away from the rest of the Legion, the more concerned he became. He wanted to leave the main Roman roads and take a more direct route to the base camp, but the rivers and streams in that part of the Caledonian territories would take more time and effort to cross than he wanted to spend.
The Third Cohort approached the base camp at mid-day on the fifth day of their reconnaissance mission. In the distance, Gaius Valerius thought that he saw a plume of smoke coming over the trees. As the Cohort got closer, he saw that what he thought was smoke was actually a large number of black vultures.
The Legionnaires had seen those birds before and knew what it meant. Gaius Valerius called a halt to the march and ordered the cavalry to ride forward and report back on the condition of the base camp. As they rode off, the Centurions immediately deployed the Legionnaires in a square defensive position to guard against an attack from any direction.
Gaius Valerius stood completely still with his men, trying to preserve an outward appearance of calm. Inwardly, he was deeply concerned. The presence of so many vultures circling one area meant that a battle had taken place and dead bodies were present. Carrion birds were always attracted to battles. The flesh of the dead would feed them for some time. Bones could be picked clean in a few days, leaving nothing behind but armor, weapons, tents, wagons, and the skeletons of the nameless dead.
After what seemed like an hour, Gaius Valerius heard his cavalry returning. The company commander looked grim and he rode up to give his report. “The base camp has been attacked and overrun,” he said as he dismounted his horse. “The Legion has been destroyed. They’re all dead!”
3
117 A.D. – Caledonian Territory
Ninth Legion Base Camp
The Third Cohort marched quickly and quietly toward the hilltop where the base camp had been. They smelled it even before they broke through the tree line at the edge of the clearing. The bodies of the Roman Guards along the tree line were lying in the grass, still holding their shields and spears. Even though the birds had been busy picking the bones clean, it was clear that the guards’ throats had been cut.
As Gaius Valerius led his men up the hill, it was obvious that the enemy had attacked at night and with stealthy surprise. The guards below the hilltop had been silenced without being able to give warning. The guards on top of the hill must have known that something was happening. The arrangement of their bodies on the ground showed that they were assembling into formations when the enemy attacked, but they were clearly overrun by superior numbers.
The Caledonian attack was ferocious and successful. No Roman survived. A quick inspection of the camp showed that the Caledonians didn’t sack the camp nor take anything except for the horses. The tents, supply wagons, armor… all were left behind.
As Gaius Valerius walked to the center of the camp, he saw where the last stand had been made. He recognized the armor of the Legate, Marcus Sestius. His body was lying face down and headless in the grass. Gaius Valerius searched for a minute before finding the Legate’s head several feet away from the body. From the way the bodies were arranged, it appeared that anyone who wasn’t killed during the main fighting of the attack was beheaded afterwards. The Caledonian’s didn’t want prisoners or spoils; they just wanted the Romans dead.
The rest of the Third Cohort finished inspecting the base camp and gathered in the center of the hill to report and decide what to do next.