Thanks, TSK! Yes, the Iceni have the advantages of artillery and - at least in Dagomaros's army - experience. Even if the plan of Dagomaros succeeds, a Celtic tribe which becomes powerful quickly can discover that there are stronger nations beyond the horizon who see them as a threat...
Chapter Twenty-three
Servius Figulus frowned and shaded his eyes with his hand, as the ragged group of wanderers approached along the track from the main road to the nearest city, Cosentia. Years of service in Rome’s armies had taught him to be wary of strangers and to trust his instincts.Some scholars are sceptical about claims of similarities between images of Celtic goddesses carved into stones in Ireland and statues of the Roman war goddess Discordia. Two recent discoveries provide important new evidence. In 2018, a hidden chamber was found in a Roman temple near Naples. This room contained a statue of Discordia in surprisingly good condition. In the following year, the grave of a high-status Iron Age man was uncovered near Dún Ailinne, an ancient ceremonial site in county Kildare, Ireland. The grave contained a sword in the La Tène style and a bronze couch with an image of a Celtic war goddess. This image has an uncanny resemblance to the statue of Discordia found in Naples. Both the statue and the bronze couch were dated to the third century BC. This seems to suggest that Rome and Ireland were connected by networks of trade in this period.”
- Finn O’Neill, Religion in the Roman Republic (Three Sisters Press, 2021) p. 253
“Come! Quickly!” Servius called to his sons. “Bring my sword!”
After retiring from the legion, Servius had hung his sword proudly in his villa. The principes in some legions still carried short spears, but Servius had served in the Third Legion. They had learned the hard way that swords tend to beat spears in close combat. After a bitter defeat on the northern frontier, the legion’s principes were given swords. Even though his sword had become a decoration, the habits of soldiering remained. He still kept the blade sharp and clean of rust. As his sons handed Servius his sword, the strangers arrived.
A fair-haired stranger, perhaps the leader of the wanderers, bowed to Servius respectfully. Servius was still on guard, but he felt sympathy for people who must have been driven from their homes by some misfortune. That’s strange, he thought, I would have expected strangers from the south to be dressed like Greeks. Surely they must have come from the Greek colony of Syracuse, across the sea. But these folk look more like Celtic barbarians from the north.
Servius spoke first, “You are welcome, visitors. I am Servius Figulus, master of this farm. You can rest under the shade of my trees and draw water from my well before you move on. I should warn you that, if it’s work that you’re looking for, I can't offer you any.”
The fair-haired stranger replied, “Thank you for your welcome. I am Connor of the Ebdani. My people and I are not here seeking work, we bring a warning of danger. A few days behind us is a horde of escaped slaves. They are marching in this direction and they do not come with peaceful intentions.”
Servius spoke warily, “I’ve never heard of the Ebdani and I’m surprised by your report of escaped slaves. If slaves escaped from any Roman settlement within several days’ journey from here, the commander of the garrison in Cosentia would have sent a warning.”
Connor said, “My people live far to the west, beyond Gaul. The former slaves did not escape Roman captivity. They were slaves in the Greek colony of Syracuse.”
"Then they are no danger to us, unless they can cross the sea,” replied Servius.
Connor said, “They have already crossed and they are marching north. You mentioned Cosentia. Is there any other Roman city in this region which they could be heading for?”
“Thanks for the warning" said Servius. "I will inform the garrison commander at Cosentia, the garrison can deal with escaped slaves.”
Connor said, “This is not a small band which your town watch could handle. It is an army. Have you received no warnings from survivors of Syracuse?”
“Survivors? What do you mean?" asked Servius. "Has something happened at Syracuse?”
“The escaped slaves burned Syracuse to the ground; the survivors fled to the hills,” came the reply.
“Should my household and I leave the farm and head for Brusindium in the east or Neapolis in the north?” asked Servius.
“Yes, you should, if you value your life and the lives of your people. The people of Syracuse thought that their militia would protect them,” replied Connor. “Now they are dead or hiding in the hills.”
“If someone wanted to steal from my farm, they might approach me with a story like yours,” said Servius. “Perhaps, if I take my household away, we’ll return to find that no slave army arrived but that our harvest and valuable property have vanished – or even that you are occupying my land and claim to own it.”
“Suppose I and my people travelled with you to Brundisium or Neapolis,” suggested Connor. “That should reassure you of my good intentions. We would be safer if we travelled together.”
Servius sent his eldest son to warn the garrison of this report of a slave uprising from the south. Then, Servius and his household and Connor and his band of wanderers set out together. Servius decided that they should go north to Neapolis, since he had relatives there. When they passed through the city of Cosentia, Servius’s son rejoined them and said the garrison commander had sent a messenger to Brundisium, to warn to the Second Legion. Servius insisted that they stopped in the market-place at Cosentia so that he could warn his friends there about the approaching army. His friends seemed to take his warning seriously. But as he continued his journey, Servius worried that they had simply been humouring an old man.
During their journey north, in the evenings Servius and Connor exchanged stories over the camp-fire. Servius talked proudly of his service in the Third Legion and he took pleasure in Connor’s obvious respect for his military prowess. One evening, Servius asked Connor why he and his people had come so far from home.
“After we were driven from Ireland by invaders, we settled on the west coast of Gaul at first,” explained Connor. “My people had a history of trade with the Arverni and their allies, the Pictones and the Cessetani. But the tribe which had invaded my homeland – the Iceni – arrived on the north-west coast of Gaul. Their general, Dagomaros, defeated the Namnetes and the Pictones. When we fled again, we met people who had escaped the walled city of Bibracte, which was being attacked by Iceni ballistae. Another Iceni general, whose army had swift horsemen and fierce swordsmen, had taken the Arverni city of Nemossos.”
Servius said, “I’m sorry to hear that you had to flee your place of refuge, to seek sanctuary elsewhere. I didn’t think that the barbarian tribes had ballistae. If these Iceni can cross the sea, take a walled city in Gaul and sustain a successful campaign, then they are dangerous indeed.”
Connor agreed, “The Arverni were the paramount tribe in Gaul. They might still regain the lands which they have lost. When the Iceni attacked, the armies of the Arverni were away, fighting on their southern border in Iberia. If the Arverni can make peace with the Iberian tribes, then they can send their armies north to face the Iceni. But it will not be easy. The Iceni have occupied the lands of the Pictones, and made peace with the Arverni’s other allies, the Cessetani. If the Iceni can hold on to the lands which they took from the Arverni, then they will be powerful – perhaps as strong as the Gallic Confederation to the east of their territory, or even equal to your Republic.”
Servius doubted that any Celtic tribe could be as strong as Rome. But he was troubled by Connor’s words. He decided that, when he informed his cousin in Neapolis of the news about the escaped slaves from Syracuse, he would pass on Connor’s story about the Iceni as well. His cousin had been buying land from bankrupt farms and had acquired powerful friends. Perhaps he - or his friends - would know whether this dangerous tribe might threaten the plans of Rome.
Author's Note