Bissula. English Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  The experienced commanders had executed their tasks swiftly, skilfully,and successfully. Arbon, the strongly fortified station of the greatmilitary road, had, it is true, been repeatedly attacked, plundered,and set on fire by the Alemanni in swift forays from the lake, butnever permanently occupied; they did not like to dwell in cities.

  A few years previously Valentinian, Gratianus's warlike father andpredecessor, had repaired and strengthened the old walls, increased thegarrison, filled the store-houses with provisions, especially grain,and stationed in the harbor a number of ships. These, though neither sonumerous nor so stately as those of the Venetian Fleet in the prouderdays of Rome, were quite sufficient to prevent the Barbarians from anattack by water, nay, they constantly threatened them with a landing onthe northern shore.

  The commander of the division intended for this fleet, the Comes ofBritannia, Nannienus, a man skilled in nautical matters and anexcellent officer, had reached the harbor fortification with his troopsvery quickly by the excellent road from Windisch. The other columnneeded a much longer time for its wearisome march, turning finallyeastward before it again reached the shore of the lake.

  Caution was the first requisite during this advance through thepathless land of the Barbarians; and no measure of prudence was omittedby the well-trained, circumspect leaders. Natives of the country whowere perfectly familiar with the region acted as guides; though thesouthern shore was inhabited exclusively by Roman colonists, theyguarded carefully against treachery from that quarter. Horsemen,lightly armed Celtic archers, the Keltae and Petulantes, and Germansfamiliar with woodland warfare--the Batavians--formed the van andrearguards. In the centre were the heavily armed foot-soldiers of theImperial Guard, protecting the traders and sutlers, luggage, campequipage, and provisions. They moved along the ruinous old road, asnear the shore as the marshy ground permitted, in order to keep in viewof the lake, that they might discover any attempt at an attack by theBarbarians in their boats, and also not lose sight of the oppositeshore occupied by the Romans.

  The most difficult task was assigned to the left wing which, at thenorth of the central division and the old road, was to force a passagethrough forest and morass in a line parallel with that of the mainbody, and protect it from any flank assault of the foe; for should thelatter suddenly burst from an ambush in the impenetrable woods and fallupon the column extended in marching order, the whole body, thus takenby surprise, might be scattered and driven into the marshes and thelake.

  But the resistance offered by forest and fen to the progress of thetroop seemed destined to remain the sole opposition which the Romanswere to encounter; for the latter had not met a single human beingsince they quitted the southern shore of the lake and the stationsalong the road there. There were no villages of the Alemanni in thisregion: the ground was occupied by farms, and the houses (called"Schwaigen") were miles apart. The few lonely dwellings which theypassed during a march of several days had been abandoned. A mysterioussilence, boding destruction, seemed to brood over the empty woodenbuildings.

  Everywhere, just before the time of ripening, the grain--oats, barley,and spelt--had been cut and partly burnt; the latter mode was thequicker, and the grain of the Alemanni should not serve their foe evenas fodder for his horses. The cattle had been driven away; the kennelsof the faithful farm watch, almost always found at the gates, were alsoempty; the hay and straw were removed from the barns, which wereusually connected with the houses and very often formed part of them.

  Slowly, with frequent halts, advancing with difficulty, the Romansassigned to the care of the provisions in charge of the troops or thesutlers and their wives struggled forward for several days, each nightcarefully establishing a well-fortified camp. From the western end ofthe lake, where it ran into a stretch of marshy ground denselyovergrown by rushes, and meadows with sedges waving in the wind, theymarched toward the east. Thus, by a toilsome march, they had reachedthe foot of the steep hill now crowned by the stately castle ofMeersburg.

  The long August day, during which frequent showers of rain had fallen,though the sky had not been always clouded, was drawing to a close.Again the sun shone brilliantly through a rift, gilding the whole chainof mountain peaks of the Bernese Alps to the Allgau heights; the Sentisglowed in crimson splendor, solemnly, like a king of the mountaingiants who had drawn his radiant mantle around his proud shoulders.

  The Roman column halted cautiously at the foot of the steep hill, whoserocky sides fell abruptly to the lake and the valley on the west, whilethe summit, at that time densely covered with trees and bushes,presented a gloomy, threatening aspect. The oak-leaves and pine-needleswere dripping with rain, and wherever the sun did not shine on them,looked dark-green, almost black.

  Two officers, whose high rank was betokened by the gold and silverornaments on their equipments, now flashing brightly in the rays of thesetting sun, rode slowly toward the hill. Before them, bound by theright and left arms respectively to the stirrups of two mountedsoldiers, walked a guide. A few pioneers with axes and spadessurrounded the leaders, and a little band of Batavian spearmenfollowed. One of the officers, a stately man about thirty-five, nowchecked his heavy Spanish barb and bent forward, his clear-cut bronzedfeatures wearing a keenly watchful expression.

  "If I have ever known and fought with Germans," he said with a strongIllyrian accent, "they are hiding in the woods on yonder hill-top,which is a natural fortress. Halt, I beg, Prefect Praetor of Gaul. We'llgo no farther without reconnoitring. Forward, my brave Batavians.Rignomer, take six men and climb up among the underbrush. But be wary!And you, Brinno, trumpeter, give the signal of warning the instant youdiscover the foe."

  The other officer, a man much his senior, smiled as the order wasexecuted. "You are over-cautious, Saturninus. Always erring on the sideof prudence!"

  "We cannot be over-cautious against this foe, my noble friend. Had notthe Barbarians occupied this fortress erected by the gods of theirnative land, all courage to offer resistance must have deserted them."

  "And it evidently _has_ abandoned them. All taste for war wasthoroughly extirpated by the departed hero, Valentinian, and our boldyoung Emperor, his son. My pupil!" he added complacently. "I am quitesure that all danger to the Empire from the Germans is over."

  His companion silently shook his head. Just at that moment a captain ofthe mailed horsemen, a man numbering about five and twenty years,dashed forward from the centre of the Roman column. Tangled locks hungfrom beneath his helmet, and his features were ignoble in form anddisagreeable in expression.

  "Must we cross that accursed cliff. Tribune?" he exclaimed, abruptlychecking his horse.

  "We must," replied the Illyrian quietly. "I have just learned that ourleft wing has again found the morass in the forest bottomless, and isapproaching along this, our only road. And the waves of the lake aredashing at our right."

  The young man cast a doubtful glance at the cliff. "H'm," he muttered,"it will cost us many men. But that's no misfortune," he added, "wehave more than enough Barbarians in our pay; if they fall fightingagainst other Barbarians, there will simply be fewer of the beasts."

  "An abominable remark, nephew Herculanus," replied the Prefectreprovingly.

  "If the ascent be resisted," said the Tribune, "it will consume muchtime, and we have none to lose. We ought to have been on the bank ofthe Ister long ago to fight the Goths. I am anxious about the EmperorValens. I have a presentiment of evil."

  "You are always boding evil," replied the Prefect, smiling, "but theevil never comes, the good fortune of eternal Rome always conquers.Hark, it is the same now. The trumpeter is giving the signal: 'Allsafe! Forward!' and the Centurion of the Batavians, who climbed theheight first--what is his name?--Rignomer, is beckoning to us tofollow. Up, friends! Was I not right, my brave Tribune? The Barbarianswill make no defence."

  "You are right as usual, uncle!" said Herculanus with a smile intendedto be pleasant, but which made quite the opposite impressi
on.

  "If you only remain right, Ausonius!" said the Illyrian hesitatingly."Yet at the moment it really does appear so. Up, give the signal withthe tubas: Forward! We will pitch our camp for the night on thatheight, and the land of the Alemanni will be defenceless before us."