Read Centurion for Free Online Page B

well-appointed marching tents. Macro smiled grimly. If one thing was for certain in the coming campaign, it was that the army’s general would travel in the kind of luxury that most of his men could only ever dream about as they tramped in full armour under the burden of their heavily loaded equipment yokes.
    ‘I do love a man who leads by example,’ he said softly to himself as he trudged off to his appointment with Longinus.
    The governor of Syria looked up from the report and leaned back in his chair. On the other side of the desk sat Macro and Legate Amatius, commander of the Tenth Legion. Longinus regarded them silently for a moment, and then raised his eyebrows.
    ‘I can’t say I’m terribly happy about the situation, gentlemen. One man dead, and another man facing punishment. I imagine this will cause a lot of bad feeling between your two commands. As if preparing the army for war wasn’t demanding enough, I now have to deal with this.’
    Macro felt his anger rise at the accusing tone of his superior. It was hardly his fault that Menathus was dead. If he and Cato hadn’t stepped in to prevent the situation from escalating out of control, then there would have been far more funeral pyres casting their pall across the sky outside the camp that morning. It was hardly likely that Crispus was the only legionary carrying a blade in the crowd outside the bar last night. Or that none of Macro’s men was similarly armed. In an atmosphere of drunken dissent the brawl could easily have become more widespread and far more ugly. Macro bit back on his irritation as he replied.
    ‘It is unfortunate, sir, but it could have been worse.We have to make sure that the lads settle down and forget the business as soon as possible. My lads, and those of the Tenth, sir.’
    ‘He’s right.’ Legate Amatius nodded. ‘The, er, matter has to be resolved as swiftly as possible, sir. My man has to be tried and punished.’
    ‘Punished . . .’ Longinus stroked his chin. ‘And what punishment would be suitable for this man Crispus, I wonder? Clearly an example has to be made, if we are to discourage any more incidents like last night’s.’
    Amatius nodded.’Of course, sir. Nothing short of beating will do. That and breaking the man back to the ranks. My men won’t forget that in a hurry.’
    ‘No.’ Macro shook his head firmly.’That won’t do.A man has died, needlessly, as a result of Crispus’ pulling a knife. He could have fought it out fairly, and he didn’t. Now he must face the full consequences of his actions.The regulations are clear enough. It was in your standing orders, sir. Any man off duty within the walls of the city was forbidden to carry weapons, I imagine with just such an incident as happened last night in mind. Isn’t that so, sir?’
    ‘Yes, I suppose.’ Longinus opened his hand towards Macro. ‘And how do you think he should be punished?’
    Macro steeled his heart. He derived no satisfaction from the thought of sending Crispus to his death, but he knew that the consequences of not doing so would cause a great deal of harm to the army’s discipline. He met the governor’s gaze directly.’Execution, to be carried out by the men of his century, before the rest of his cohort.’
    ‘Who’s his cohort commander, by the way?’
    ‘Centurion Castor, as it happens,’ Amatius said sharply. He looked at the governor.’In his absence, I can tell you that the men would not stand for the punishment Prefect Macro suggests. And why should they? After all, the man he killed was a bloody auxiliary. I regret the death every bit as much as Prefect Macro, but the loss of that man’s life hardly compares to the loss of a legionary, and a Roman citizen. Especially since this was simply the result of some drunken fight in the street.’ He turned to Macro. ‘I know what happened, Macro. I’ve made my own enquiries. It seems that your man cheated the legionary during a game of dice.’
    ‘That’s not what my