XVIII
Sacramentum
‘The Swearing’
The legions of Emperor Septimius Severus were turned out in force on the plains to the southwest of Horea Classis.
It was a sunny, crisp, wind-swept day, the sky bright blue with whiffs of white cloud parading quickly overhead. The waters of the Tava, where the Roman fleet and an army of eager merchants bobbed up and down, glistened in the late morning sunlight.
The air echoed with the tramp of hobnails, the moan of cornui, and the voices of the legions’ centurions ordering their men into position on the plain. Tens of thousands of Roman troops stood still before a massive, pine tribunal which had been constructed between them and the combined armies of the Caledonii.
Every buckle had been polished, every leather strap oiled, and every lorica and helm
