The Gladiator by Simon Scarrow

entered the office. A quick frown flitted across his face as he saw the wine, and then glanced to the surviving jars in the corner of the room. Macro realised that he had hoped to have them for himself now that the previous commander had no earthly use for such luxuries.
    ‘Ahem, you sent for me, sir. ‘ Yes. Shut the door. ‘ Once the door was closed and Portillus was standing at ease in front of the desk, Macro cleared his throat and began. ‘This is not a good cohort, Centurion, as I am sure you know. The organisation is slack, the men are generally second-rate and the officers are worse.
    However,’ he paused, ‘that is about to change. And since you are my second in command, you are going to help make that change. Is that clear?’
    Portillus nodded doubtfully ‘I can’t hear you, Centurion.’ ‘Yes, sir. It is clear.’ ‘Good.’ Macro tapped the wax tablets. ‘I want the best eighty men in the cohort to form a fighting century.They are to have the best of the kit, and they are to be commanded by the best officer. Who would you recommend?’
    Portillus pursed his lips a moment before he replied. ‘Centurion Milo, sir. He was promoted from the legions a year ago.’
    ‘Then he shouldn’t have gone soft yet. Fine, Milo it is. He is to choose his standard bearer, optio and clerk as he sees fit.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘As for the rest of the men, they are going to work in the town at first light. They are to leave their kit here in barracks, but keep their swords, and divide into two teams. Half can deal with rescuing people from the ruins and carrying the injured up here to be treated. The others are to forage through the ruins for any supplies offood and wine. You can detail some of them to start carrying water from the nearest streams to start filling the cisterns.’
    ‘But that’ll take ages, sir.’
    ‘Well, we’re not going anywhere for the moment, are we, Portillus?’
    ‘No, sir.’
    ‘Fine, then those are the orders for tomorrow. Make sure the men are told that there is to be no pilfering, mind. If they encounter any civilian looters they are to put a stop to it. Knock heads together if you must, but don’t go straight in with the blade. The people out there have suffered enough already. One final thing. According to Corvinus we have some tents in stores. They’re old and probably haven’t been used for years, but they might be serviceable for the local people. Have some of the men set them up on the slope facing the acropolis, outside of the town.’
    Portillus nodded, and then chewed his lip. ‘Sir?’ ‘What?’
    ‘Something just occurred to me. Most of the food in Matala was stored down in the warehouses. Near the main market.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘The wave destroyed the area, and carried away most of the debris when it receded. What’s left will have been ruined. The only other food will be what was in the houses when the earthquake struck. That won’t amount to much, sir.’
    ‘Hmm, you have a point.’ Macro sat back and stroked his jaw. ‘So we’ll find what we can and then look for other sources of food. Any estates near to the port?’
    Portillus thought for a moment. ‘The nearest one is further along the coast, owned by Senator Canlius. It produces olive oil and grain.’ ‘That’s good for a start then. I’ll send some men with wagons. They can take what we need and let the landowner bill us when word gets back to him in Rome.’ ‘Senator Canlius won’t like that, sir.’ ‘Probably not.’ Macro sniffed. ‘But it won’t be my problem by then, so I don’t care. We have to ensure a good supply of food so our men and the people don’t starve while we sort things out.’
    ‘Let’s hope we can, sir.’
    ‘Oh, we will.’ Macro smiled. ‘I won’t stand for anything else. N o w then, that’s all for now, Portillus. I’ll have the clerks draw up the assignments for each unit. They’ll be with you and the other officers once they are ready. As soon as the sun