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continue the march. Nechtan sent him back to where they had crossed the Wall with instructions to guard the tower to make sure that they all had a way back. Gartnait was not happy, but Nechtan promised him an equal share of whatever plunder they took so he hobbled off, supported and half carried by four of his men.
    The rest of the Boresti went on, cresting the small rise only to see that the road dipped slightly before rising again a few hundred paces away. They had barely started on the gentle downward slope when the leading men came to an abrupt stop, causing the straggling column to bunch up, cursing, as men stopped suddenly. The warriors quickly dispersed to either side of the paved road, peering ahead to see a group of horsemen on the road, just where it reached the top of the next rise. The horsemen reined in, stopping to watch the assembled Boresti. More appeared until Brude counted twenty of them, all on large horses, much bigger than the small horse Nechtan had ridden on the long march.
    Nechtan waved his sword in the air, bellowing an incoherent war cry which was soon taken up by the whole tribe. They stepped purposefully forwards, shields held in front of them, spears at the ready. The horsemen did not wait to meet them but turned and rode off quickly, vanishing almost immediately over the crest of the low hill. The Boresti laughed and cheered, boasting of what they would have done to the horsemen if they had caught them. Even Brude was caught up in the excitement. The Romans had not bothered trying to fight although he could scarcely blame them; twenty against over a hundred and fifty was hardly a fair contest, even if the twenty were on horseback.
    Nechtan led them on again but this time they marched in a line rather than a column, the men of Broch Tava on the right flank near the Wall, tramping over the tough, tussocky grass, while Nechtan was near the left, on the road. All of them were watching ahead keenly for more signs of the Romans. Nechtan, much to Brude’s satisfaction, at last sent a handful of men running ahead as scouts. These warriors jogged along the road, down into the small depression then climbed the far slope. They came to a sudden halt when they reached the crest, thenly turned and ran back, moving much more quickly and urgently. Nechtan called a halt, waiting for the men to return. Standing on the grass some thirty paces from the road, Brude could not hear what they said but he did not need to for Colm nudged his arm and pointed to the road ahead. “Look! More of them,” he said excitedly.
    The Boresti watched silently as a column of marching Romans came into view at the top of the rise. Marching two abreast, each man carried a large rectangular shield that covered practically his whole body and each had a long javelin over his right shoulder. Brude saw that they were indeed all wearing the incredibly tough yet flexible segmented armour. Their legs were bare but the sound of their marching feet tramping on the cobbles of the roadway could be heard even from a distance of two hundred paces. At a shouted command, the column halted with every man stamping his foot at the same time. Another shout and they all turned in unison to face the Wall. Then they began marching, but this time the men on the road nearest to the Boresti stayed practically still, marking time while the whole column swung around them, wheeling on to the grass between the road and the Wall to form two ranks of men facing the tribesmen.
    Brude tried to count how many men were in each row but lost count and had to start again. Like many of the tribesmen he was almost mesmerised by the smooth efficiency of their manoeuvring. The Romans acted as though the Boresti were of no account. Now they moved their arms, revealing that they were each carrying two javelins, not one as Brude had thought. Each man now held one javelin in his left hand, which also supported the huge red and yellow shield, while the one in his right hand was