CHAPTER XIX: OUTLAWS
It was late at night before Porus with the three Gauls joined therest of the band in their new encampment on the eastern slope ofthe 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 theyascended for some little distance, and then the spearmen haltedand the light armed troops scattered in parties of four searchingthe country like dogs after game. They were not very long beforethey discovered signs of us, whether footmarks or broken twigs Iknow not, but following them they soon came upon the entrance ofthe ravine. No doubt our marks were plain enough there, for thespearmen were brought down. What happened then I know not; no doubtthey entered and found that we had gone. At any rate, in a shorttime they set out briskly up the mountain, the spearmen as beforekeeping 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 afterit was dark I laid aside my arms and crawled into the camp. Theground was broken and rough, and there was no great difficulty ingetting close to their fires. I learned that the whole of the legionat Praeneste had been sent into the mountains, and that there weretwenty parties of equal force; they were but a mile and a half apart,and considered that they could search every foot of the ground forthirty miles along, and would assuredly discover us if we were stillin this part. More than that, troops from Corfinium and Marrubiumhad started to search the eastern slopes, and between them theymade sure that they should catch you, now that they had found, bythe heat of the earth where our fire had been, that we must havebeen 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 withoutfighting, for had we retired, closely pursued by their archers,their shouts would certainly have been heard by some of the otherparties. It is fortunate we did not light a fire; had we done so itmight have brought some of the troops from Marrubium, which cannotbe far distant from here, upon us. The moon will not be up forthree hours yet, and it is useless to try to make our way amongthese mountains until we have her light, therefore let all lie downto sleep; I will keep guard and will rouse you when it is time tomove."
Beric sat listening intently for any sound that would tell of theapproach of foemen. He had, however, but small fear that the Romanswere moving at present. It would be even more difficult for themthan for his men to make their way about in the darkness; besides,the day must have been an extremely fatiguing one for them. Theyhad, doubtless, started long before dawn, had had to climb themountains, and had been all day on their feet. They would scarcelyrecommence the search before morning. Easy on this score, histhoughts turned to Rome. That Aemilia had gained the shelter ofthe Catacombs he had no doubt, and he wondered how she fared thereamong the Christian fugitives. As to Norbanus he had but slighthopes of ever seeing him alive. Nero's vengeance always extendedto the families of those who offended him, and Norbanus wouldcertainly be held responsible for the flight of Aemilia. He thoughtit indeed probable that as soon as Aemilia left, Norbanus wouldhave 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 andthey started along the hillside. It was difficult work making theirway on, now descending into a deep ravine, now climbing a ruggedslope, now passing along a bare shoulder. There was no pause untilday broke, when they descended into a gorge and lay down amongsome clumps of bushes, one man being sent half a mile down whiletwo others were posted on each side of the ravine. They had goodreason for hope, however, that they had got beyond the point towhich the searching parties would extend on the eastern side of thehill. The day passed without alarms, although the sentries abovemore than once heard the sounds of distant trumpets. As soon asthe sun set they continued their way, halting again until the moonrose, 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 nightlighted their fires and prepared for a longer stay. But the ordersof Nero were so imperative that the troops, having thoroughlysearched the mountains at the point where they had ascended them,united, and also moved south in a long line extending from thesummit of the hills to the lower edge of the forest; and after twodays' halt the fugitives again moved south, and continued theirjourney until they found themselves among the wild and lofty hillsof Bruttium.
But their numbers had swollen as they went, for the other fugitivebands among the hills were also driven south by the advance ofthe Romans, and it was a miscellaneous body of gladiators, escapedslaves, and malefactors, in all over five hundred strong, that crossedthe mountains into Bruttium. There was a general wish among themthat Beric should take the command of the whole. This, however, heabsolutely declined to do, upon the ground that it was impossiblefor so large a body of men to keep together, as there would be nomeans of feeding them. Scattered about they would find an amplesupply of meat from the wild goats, boars and semi-wild swine,but together, they would soon scare away the game. From among thegladiators, however, he picked out sufficient men to raise hisown force to a hundred strong, and separating from the rest he ledthem, guided by a charcoal burner, to one of the wildest and mostinaccessible 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 thecentre of Italy with six or seven thousand men, a large army wouldfail to find a band of fugitives in the recesses of the mountainsof the south. On the evening of their arrival at the spot theydetermined to make their headquarters, Beric held a sort of councilof war, the whole of the band, as was the custom both in Gaul andBritain, joining in the deliberations.
"So far," Beric began, "we have retreated without fighting; Romecannot complain that we have been in insurrection against her, wehave simply acted as fugitives; but as there is nowhere else whitherwe can retire, we must turn upon them if they again pursue us. Wemust then regard this as our abode for a long time, and make ourselvesas comfortable as we can. Huts we can erect of the branches oftrees, the skins of the goats we kill will provide us with bedding,and if needs be with clothing. Meat will not fail us, for shouldgame become scarce we can buy goats and sheep from the shepherdswho come up with their flocks and herds from the villages by thesea. But besides this we need many things for comfort. We must haveutensils for cooking, and drinking cups, and shall need flour andwine; we must therefore open communications with one of the townsby the sea. This is the great difficulty, because of all things Ifear treachery; for nigh a year we fought the Romans at home, andcould have fought them for twenty more had we not been betrayedand surrounded.
"Of that there will always be a danger. I have gold, and shall alwayspay for what we require; but the other bands among these hills willnot be so scrupulous, and as, indeed, they will be forced to takefood, they will set the inhabitants against us, and the Romanswill have no difficulty in finding guides among them. So long as wekeep ourselves far apart from the rest we are comparatively safe;but none of the natives must know of our hiding place. Can anyonepropose a good plan for obtaining supplies?"
There was silence for some time. These men were all good forfighting, but few of them had heads to plan. At last Porus said:
"We are, as our guide tells me, but two hours' journey fromthe hills whence we may look down upon the gulf dividing Bruttiumfrom Sicily. The lower slopes of these hills are, he says, closelycultivated. There are many small villages some distance up on theirsides, and solitary farms well nigh up to the crest. It seems tome that we should use one of these farmers as our agent. He mustbe a man with a wife and family, and these would be hostages. Ifwe told him that if he did our bidding he wou
ld be well rewarded,while if unfaithful we would destroy his farmhouse and slay hiswife and children, I think we might trust him. Two or three of uscould go down with him to the town on the seashore, dressed as menworking under him, and help bring up the goods he purchases. Thequantity might excite suspicion did he always go to the same placefor them, but he need not always do this. If we found it impossibleto get enough by means of one man, we might carry out this plan withthree or four of them. None of these men need know the directionof our camp; it would suffice that the wine and flour were broughtto their houses. We could always send a strong party to fetch themthence as we require them."
"I do not think we can hit on any better plan, Porus;" and as therewas a murmur of assent he continued: "I propose, my friends, thatwe appoint Porus the head of our victualling department, and leavethe arrangements to him entirely."
This point was settled. The next morning Porus, taking three of thegladiators who most resembled the natives in appearance, startedon his mission. He was completely successful. The farmers on theupper slopes of the hills lived in terror of the banditti among themountains, and one was readily induced, by the offer of a rewardfor his service, and of freedom from all molestation, to undertakethe business of getting up corn and wine. Henceforth supplies ofthese articles were obtained regularly. Huts were soon erected;the men were divided into hunting parties, and the life of thefugitives passed quietly, and for a time without incident.
The persons with whom Beric had deposited his money had all beenchosen for him by Norbanus. He himself had been too long away fromItaly to be acquainted with any outside the walls of Rome; but amonghis friends there were several who were able to recommend men ofproperty and character to whom the money could be committed withthe certainty that it would be forthcoming whenever demanded. Atpresent Beric was amply supplied with funds, for the money thatNorbanus had sent to him would last for at least a year; but, fourmonths after reaching Bruttium, he thought it would be as well towarn those in whose charge his own stores had been placed, to holdit 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 communicatingwith Aemilia. He was certain of the fidelity of the lad, and, properlydisguised, he was less likely to be recognized in Rome than Poruswould be. Clothes such as would be worn by the son of a well to docultivator were obtained for him, and he was directed to take theroad along the coast to Rome, putting up at inns in the towns, andgiving out that he was on his way to the capital to arrange forthe purchase of a farm adjoining that of his father.
Letters were given him to the persons holding Beric's money; andone for the goldsmith in Rome, with whom a portion of the money hehad given for the jewellery that Beric had received at the gameswas still deposited. This letter was not to be delivered until hehad been to the catacombs and seen Aemilia; as, although Scopushad spoken very highly of the man, it was possible that he might,to gain favour with Nero, hand over Beric's messenger to him. Bericfully impressed upon Philo the risks he would run, and told him tomake all his calls after nightfall, and to be prepared for instantflight 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 yourhiding place, and I would rather die a thousand times first. I wasbut a slave when I was allotted to you in the palace of Nero. Youhave been kind to me, and trusted me. You have allowed me to go withyou, and have behaved to me as if I had been free and one of yourown people. I have my dagger, and if I see that evil is intendedme I will not wait until they lay hands on me, for then my blowmight fail, but will make sure. But before I start give me fullinstructions what I am to say to the Lady Aemilia; for howeverfully 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, andcommands 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 forher, and that I cannot possibly have her here, among rough men,where, at any moment, we may be called upon to make distant andtoilsome journeys, and even to fight for our lives."
"That is all very well, my lord; but suppose she says to me it isonly because Beric thinks that I cannot support fatigue and hardshipthat 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 theirperils, 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 cavernswhere the light of day never penetrated, in ignorance of his fate,and cut off from all kinsfolk and friends. The question so puzzledhim that he finally took Porus into his confidence, having a highidea of his good sense.
"She cannot come here," Porus agreed; "but I do not see why youshould 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 willtell you what seems to me the best plan. My counsel is this," hesaid, after he had been absent for an hour from the hut, "I myselfwill go with the lad to fetch her. A Roman lady, even thougha fugitive, should not be travelling about the country under theprotection of a lad. I dare not go into Rome. I am known to toomany of the gladiators, and, disguise myself as I might, I shouldbe recognized before I had been there an hour. I will obtain adress such as would suit a respectable merchant; I will go down toone of the ports below and take passage in a trading craft boundfor Ostia. There I will take lodgings, and giving out that mydaughter, who has been staying with friends for her education inRome, is about to return to Messina with me, will purchase two orthree female slaves. When she arrives with Philo, who can pass asher 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 thefarmers; or can, if you like, take a house in the town, or lodgeher there with people to whom one of the farmers might recommendher. But, at any rate, she could come up to one of the farm housesfirst, to see you, and then you could arrange matters between you.She would really run no danger. You say she went out but little inRome, and it would be ill luck indeed were there anyone on thiscoast who met her there. If it were not for your preposterous height,your yellow hair and blue eyes, there would be no difficulty aboutthe matter at all, for you would have but to cross the straits intoSicily, to buy a small property there, and to settle down quietly;but it is impossible with your appearance to pass as one of theLatin race."
"Besides," Beric said, "I could not desert my comrades. Whatevertheir lot may be, mine must be also. If we are ever to escape, wemust escape together; but for the rest, I think your plan is a goodone, Porus, and thank you heartily. When you get to Ostia you willlearn all that is going on in Rome, what has befallen Norbanus, andother matters. If Norbanus is alive, Aemilia will certainly be incommunication with him by means of the Christians, and will, ofcourse, 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 ofthe farmer Cornelius, with whom Porus arranged to receive her onthe morning we left you. She has sent no letter, for there were nowriting materials in the house, but she awaits your coming."
Beric hastened away at once, accompanied by the lad, who by theway gave an account of his journey.
"It was as I thought," he said. "When I came to the house you toldme of, I knocked as you instructed me, gave the ring to the manwithin and begged him to take it to the Lady Aemilia. He at firstpretended that he knew nothing of such a person; but at last, on myshowing him the letter addressed to her, he said th
at some friendsof his might know where she was, and that if I called again, twohours before midnight, he might have news of her. When I came backthe Lady Aemilia was there. She asked many questions about yourhealth before she opened your letter, the one that you first wroteto 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 saysthat he bids me remain, because the hardships would be too greatfor me. But I know that I could support any hardships; and kind asthey are to me here, I would rather go through anything with myhusband than remain here; the darkness and the silence are moretrying than any hardships. So you see that my lord's orders weregiven under a misapprehension, and as I am sure he would not havegiven them had he known that I was not afraid of hardships, anddesired above all things to be with him, I shall disobey them, andhe, 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 secondletter, in which you said that if she wished to join you you hadmade arrangements for her doing so. Then she kissed the letter andcried over it, and said that she was ready to depart when I cameto fetch her. Then she told me that Norbanus had opened his veinsthat night after she had left, and that the soldiers of Neroarrived just too late to trouble him; that all his property hadbeen confiscated, and that she had no friends in the world but you.
"It took a week for Porus to obtain two suitable slaves--the onean elderly woman and the other a young servant.
"The goldsmith handed over your money to me at once, saying, 'Iam glad to hear that Beric is alive. Tell him that he did badlyin not slaying the tyrant when he had him at his mercy. Tell him,too, there are rumours of deep discontent among the legions in theprovinces, and a general hope among the better class of Romans thatthey will ere long proclaim a new emperor and overthrow Nero. Tellhim also to be on his guard. There is a talk of an expedition ona large scale, to root out those who are gathered in the mountainsof 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 hishouse for years. I should be sorry indeed that we should meet asenemies. 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 ofmine, and as he knew Muro in Britain, would doubtless have soughthim out in Syria, where he, too, held an office. 'Tis strangeindeed that he should have married Berenice, whom I last saw as agirl, now fully four years back. And all went well on the voyage?"
"Well indeed, my lord. I took the Lady Aemilia down to Ostia ina carriage with closed curtains. She stayed two days in the placePorus had hired, and none suspected on the voyage that she wasother than his daughter."
"And how is she looking, Philo?"
"At first, my lord, she was looking strangely white, and I fearedthat her health had suffered; but she said that it was dwelling inthe darkness that had so whitened her, and indeed the sun duringthe voyage has brought the colour back to her cheeks, and she isnow looking as she used to do when I carried letters to the housefrom Nero's palace."
Once arrived at the brow of the hill, looking down upon the Straitsof Messina, Beric's impatience could be no longer restrained, andhe descended the slope with leaps and bounds that left Philo farbehind. 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 laterAemilia 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 serviceyou have rendered us, and the care and kindness with which you havewatched over her. We have settled nothing yet about the future,except that tomorrow I shall complete the betrothal, and she willbecome my wife. It should be done today, but my faithful Boduocmust be here as a witness. It would be a disappointment indeed tohim were he not to be present at my marriage. For the present, atany rate, my wife will remain here.
"She would fain go up into the mountains, but that cannot be. Notonly is our life too rough for her, but her presence there wouldgreatly 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, andas I can pay him well, and he can have no idea that the Romanswould be glad to pay a far higher sum for my capture, he has notemptation to be unfaithful to us; besides, his face is a frankand 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 whatis 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 thethree men who go down with me to bring up goods should take up ourresidence here. There is an out house which is unused, and whichwe can occupy. In this way we can keep an eye upon the two men onthe farm, and one can be always on the watch to see that no partyof armed men is coming up from the port. I believe in the goodfaith of the farmer, but it is always better to take precautions."
"Far better, Porus. The plan you suggest is an excellent one. Wemust try and make this chamber a little more fitting for Aemilia'sabode."
"That will soon be done," Porus said. "Knowing what your wisheswould be in such a matter, I purchased at Ostia sufficient stuffto cover these bare walls, with rugs and such furniture as wasrequisite. 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 themup here and help the slaves get the room in order."
Before sunset Beric returned alone to the camp, and the next morningcame back to the farm with Boduoc.
"There is one thing I must tell you, Beric," Aemilia said when hewent 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 theirreligion, it could hardly be otherwise. You shall tell me about itafterwards. I know but little of its tenets, but I know how thosewho held them faced death, and there must be much indeed in areligion which teaches men so to die."
"You told me that you would not object, Beric, or I would haveabstained from attending their assemblies. Still, it was right Ishould 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 onthe afternoon before. The roughly built walls were hidden by richhangings. The floor was covered with matting, on which were placedthick rugs woven in the East. Two or three carved couches wereplaced against the walls, and as many small tables on tripod legsstood beside them. The farmer and his wife were called in, andin their presence and that of his three followers Beric performedthe simple ceremony of a Roman marriage, consisting only of takingAemilia's hand in his and declaring that, in conformity with theconditions of the pact before made and signed, and with the fullconsent and authorization of her father, he took her to be hiswife.
Beric remained three days down at the cottage, and then rejoinedhis band. A few days later a messenger came in from one of thebands at the other side of the promontory of Bruttium, saying theyhad obtained news that preparations were being made at Sybaris forthe landing of a very large body of troops, and that it was said tobe the intention of the Romans to make a great expedition throughthe mountains and entirely exterminate the outlaws.
"They would have left us alone," Beric said bitterly, "if it hadnot been that you made yourselves scourges to the country, pillagingand ravaging the villages among the hills and slaying innocentpeople."
"We were obliged to live," the man said. "Rome has driven us intothe mountains, and we must feed at the expense of
Rome."
Beric was silent. He felt that had he himself not had means hisown bands would have also taken to pillage. The men who took tothe hills regarded themselves as at war with Rome. Rome sent hersoldiers against them, and slew every man captured. She huntedthem like wild beasts, and as wild beasts they had to live at herexpense. Beric was not in advance of the spirit of his time. Itwas the custom in war to burn, destroy, and slay.
That as Rome warred with them they should war with Rome seemednatural to every fugitive in the hills, and they regarded theirleader's action in purchasing what he could have taken by forcesimply as an act of policy. Their own people had been slain by theRomans, they themselves doomed to risk their lives for the amusementof the Roman mob. If recaptured they would, like the followersof Spartacus, be doubtless put to death by crucifixion. That,under these circumstances, they should be in the slightest degreeinfluenced 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 wouldonly have the effect of causing him to be regarded with suspicionand dislike, and would lessen his own influence among the mountainbands.
He therefore said, "That you should take what is necessary is notblamable, against it I have nothing to say; but it was to the interestof all of us that nothing more should be taken. Rome would not havebeen stirred to send an army against us merely by the complaintsof peasants that some of their goats and sheep had been driven offor their granaries emptied; but when it comes to burning villagesand slaughtering their inhabitants, and carrying fire and sword downto 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 aninsurrection. However, there is no more to be said, the mischiefis 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 jointhem, and will with them examine the country, mark the lines bywhich the enemy are likely to advance, decide where obstacles hadbest be erected, and where the first stand should be made. It maybe weeks yet before they come. Roman armies are not moved as quicklyas a tribe of mountaineers."
The following day Beric, taking with him the greater portion of hisband, marched across the hills under the guidance of the charcoalburner, who had now enrolled himself regularly in its ranks, andhad taken the oath of obedience. Their course lay to the northeast,as it was in the Bay of Tarentum that rumour reported that theRomans would land. As, after two days' marching, they neared thespot fixed upon for the rendezvous, they came upon other bandsjourneying in the same direction; and when these united on a shoulderof the hill commanding a view of the great bay, some eight hundredmen were assembled. Fires had been already lighted, and a numberof sheep killed and roasted. The leaders withdrew from the restas soon as they had finished their meal, and seating themselves ata point whence they could see the plains stretching away from thefoot 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 thencemarched straight up into the hills. From where your camp is, Beric,you should know what is going on there, for the town stands almostbelow you. Is nought said there about military preparations?"
"Nothing whatever," Beric replied; "nor do I think it likely thatthey will attack from that point, for if they advanced thence, weshould simply retire through the mountains to the north just as weretired south when they before attacked us. It is clear what theirobject is: they will sail up that river and will disembark atCosenza; the hills narrow there, and it is but a short distanceacross them to the Western Sea. Ascending them they will at oncecut us off from any retreat north. They will have their magazinesclose at hand. A thousand men stationed in a chain across themountains will suffice to bar our way, while the rest will movesouth, penning us up as they go, until they drive us down to thevery edge of the promontory, where, joined perhaps by a force comingup from Rhegium, they will have us altogether in their grip."
An expression of dismay spread round the circle. They had thoughtthat the Romans would but march straight through the mountains,in which case it would be easy to evade them, but they saw at oncethat by the erection of a chain of permanent posts across the hillfrom Cosenza they would be completely hemmed in, and must sooneror later be hunted down.
"Then you think that our only chance is to move to the mountainsnorth of Cosenza before they land, Beric?"
"I do not say that," Beric replied. "To begin with, we are not goingto remain passive and allow ourselves to be driven like a flock ofsheep into the hurdles. Did they bring against us only heavy armedtroops we could laugh at them, for we can march two miles to theirone, and move easily among the rocks where they could find nofooting. It is only their light armed soldiers we have to fear,but even these must move at the same rate as the hoplites, for ifthey ventured far away from the protection of the spearmen we shouldmake short work of them. We have over a thousand fighting men inthese mountains, and each one of us in close conflict is a match forat least three of their light armed men. In the plains, of course,we should suffer greatly from their missiles before we came to aclose conflict; but among these woods and precipices we could fallon them suddenly, and be in their midst before they have time to layarrow to bow. Therefore, you see, the Romans can move but slowlyamong the hills, and we will soon teach them that they dare notscatter, and even twelve thousand men do not go for much among thesemountains, 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. Weshall really have no difficulty about food. It would need twentylegions to form a cordon along the slopes of these hills on bothsides, and we can, while opposing the Romans, always detach partiesto make forays down into the plain and drive off sheep, goats, andcattle. Besides, among the lower forests there are herds of swinepasturing, which will be available for our use. The question offood will be of no trouble to us, but on the other hand, it willbe a vast trouble to the Romans. Every foot that they advance fromtheir magazines at Cosenza their difficulties will increase. Theymust make roads as they go, and their convoys will always be exposedto our attacks. Very large bodies of men must otherwise be employedin escorting them. They may form depots at the foot of the hillsas they advance, but even then their difficulties will be prodigious.
"I should propose to fight them as we fought them in the swamps ofmy native land--to harass them night and day, to wear them outwith false alarms, to oppose them in the defiles, to hurl downthe rocks on them from precipices, to cut off their convoys, andfall upon their camps at night, until they lose all confidence inthemselves, and dare only move hither and thither in a solid body.Not until they have destroyed the whole of the forests betweenCosenza and Rhegium, and made roads everywhere across the mountains,ought they be able to overcome us. It will be time enough to thinkof retiring then. By descending the western slopes a long nightmarch would take us north of Cosenza, and we could then take tothe hills again; or we could descend upon the coast near Rhegiumat night, seize a fishing village, embark in its boats and crossthe strait, and before morning be among the mountains of Sicily,which are so vast and far stretching that operations which, thoughpossible, are difficult here, could not probably be carried onagainst us."
Beric's words were received with enthusiastic approval. Before allhad felt dispirited, and though ready to fight to the last, haddeemed that the resistance could be but short and their fate certain.Now they saw before them a veritable war, in which they could hopeto defend themselves successfully, and if beaten here escape torenew it elsewhere, and which promised them an abundant opportunityfor encountering the Romans. This was what they most longed for.Not one there but hated Rome with a bitter hatred, as the authorof unnumbered woes to their tribes, their families and themselves.Dea
th had no terrors whatever to these men, so that they coulddie fighting with Romans. Rising to their feet they returned withexulting shouts to their comrades.