[Mkguild] Roman story part 41

[cokane8116 at aol.com]

Bitt and his squad get to visit Petra. A long time ago I too got to visit the 'Rose Red City half as old as time'. It was an amazing visit!

ChrisThe Lurking Fox



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    They continued to march along for severaldays dropping off and picking up legionnaires at the various castrum along theroute. The road lead into the mountains climbing higherwith each dusty step. Bitt was glad to see the last of the desert behind. Evenif it didn’t get much cooler. Following the caravans the legionnaires soonfound themselves on a road that weaved it’s way amidst the hard, rose redstones and into a deep valley. The walls loomed up high and close, toweringover them and casting the road into perpetual shadow.    Thepath flattened out but the walls closed in till the pack animals had to move insingle file. No one liked being on this stretch of road as it made for theperfect spot for an ambush. He held his hand on the hilt of his gladius as helooked nervously around. The walls were sheer and seemed to go straight up.Leaving no place for an attacker to hide.    Bittheard the sound of water burbling. On the left at shoulder height was a ledgewith water moving in it. It was running deeper into the mountains in thedirection they were headed. He realized that it was an aqueduct taking water tosomewhere.    Suddenly the walls fell away plunging them into a narrow valley floodedwith bright sunlight. In front of them carved into the opposite wall was amagnificent façade that towered some one hundred, fifty feet high. It wasdecorated with columns and carvings that would do credit to a fine buildingback in the capital.   Bitt stopped in the center of the road and stared at the façade. “Wow.What is that?”   It’s the tomb of some dead king,” the lion commented. He pushed Bitt onthe back. “Now keep moving you’re blocking traffic.”    Thespace on the floor of the canyon wasn’t very big; only a half mile at itswidest point and barely a mile long. Running the full length of the valley wasa stone flagged, wide road that was flanked by colonnades on both sides.Spreading out from that road were the buildings of all shapes and sizes thatwent back to the valley walls. More buildings filled the small gulley’s andside canyon. None were more than two or three stories high but was animpressive number of buildings to have packed into such a small place. Allseemed to be of the same reddish tan color of the rocks themselves. The onlycolor was a large colonnaded building in the middle of the city that waspainted bright white. It was clearly some sort of temple or church.    Atthe start of the road was a tall, ornamental gate over a hundred feet high thatstraddled the road. It was highly ornamented with statues of imported marble andintricate carvings. All meant to impress the visitor. Being only a few coursesof stone wide it certainly had no defensive value. Especially since it wasn’tconnected to any walls. But the sheer ruggedness of the mountains made thoseunnecessary. It reminded him of similar gateways he’d seen in other empirecities. Usually honoring some long dead general or emperor. This one was nodifferent. There were statues in many spots but located dead center over thetop of the arch was the statue of a rabbit. He was wearing the armor of aleader and the crown of laurel leaves of a conqueror. Bronze letters below itannounced the name of the illustrious emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus. Bittvaguely remembered him as a person dead for several centuries.   Bitt gave the arch scant notice. There was so much else to see. So muchgoing on around him. What amazed him with the population. Everywhere he sawpeople. Young, old, male and female of every species he had ever seen and manyhe had never seen before. They jostled for space with carts and wagons ladenwith all manner of things. Long caravans of camels or horses made their waythrough the crowds. Using their large size to create room for them to pass. Thelegionnaires made their way down the street in formation. No need for them tojostle as the crowd parted ahead of them. Conversations stopped momentarily andpeople looked nervously at the passing legionnaires for a moment. Then returningto their own issues.    Bothsides of the street were lined with shops, taverns and inns. Lots of tavernsand inns.   Bitt noticed that high up the valley walls (which were of the same hard,red stone) there the facades of buildings. Each façade seemed to have beencarved into the stone itself. “What are those?” He asked and pointed to aparticularly grand one.   “Someone’s tomb,” Keagan responded. “The rich and powerful like to beburied in those stone mansions.”   “You cant get more grand than that,” Vinius added.   Suddenly a shiver ran down his spin as a wave of weakness washed overhim for a moment.   “Now everyone please watch your step,” a female voice said in afrighteningly cheerful tone.    Heturned to the voice. Standing some twenty feet away was a small group of peopleof a half dozen different species. They were all dressed in very strangeclothing. Everyone else was gone, even his fellow legionnaires.    Thetall, tan stone walls of the canyon were there, still standing guard againsttime. The same as always. But the city beneath them was gone. All he saw wassun baked stones interspersed with a few scraggly bushes. Where the longcolonnade had been was now just a few stones on the ground and a few weatheredand battered columns. He could easily trace where it had been. The grand plazawas gone completely. Just a bare, stone platform remained. Surrounded by theremains of about a score of columns. None more than waist high.   Only a single, massive stone block told of where the great gateway hadbeen. It was chipped and smashed in places and was devoid of any markings.   Only one thing he recognized. Standing off to one side in the cool shadewas a tall, thin antelope wearing the robes of a Bedine.   Bitt was confused. He shouldn’t be seeing all this but he was. But whatwas he seeing? Some delusion? His heart told him this was real. Somehow.   “Where did all the people go?” A little feline of a species he had neverseen before asked. She was wearing shorts and what seemed to be some type oftunic. On it was painted what looked like a pink pony? A wide brimmed hatprotected the tan colored cub from the sun.   “They left.” The tall, female antelope was dressed in a loose flowingrobe that reminded her of the type the locals he knew had worn.   “Why?” The little one asked.   “This city ran on trade,” the antelope replied. “Great merchant caravanscame through carrying spices and silk to the empire. When the empire collapsedthe caravans stopped coming. And with no caravans people had to go elsewhere tomake a living.”   “BITT!” Someone shouted in the fox’s ear making him jump.   Suddenly Bitt was back in the city he knew with all it’s hustle andbustle and life. No ruins or strange visitors.   “Bitt?” The dog was standing next to him. “Are you all right?”    Hestood there for a long moment. The only thing moving were his eyes as theydarted back and forth frantically. Unsure what had just happened.    I .. . I don’t know,” he stuttered.  ***********     The castrum was hardly luxuriouslyaccommodations. Vexillatio Petraea North was quartered in a quartet of plain,huts made of the same stone as the rest of the city. A small well sat at thecenter of the tiny courtyard with the huts spaced on all four sides. The wholething was surrounded by a stone wall barely ten feet high. The one gate in wasof solid but highly sun baked wood and guarded by a single legionnaire. It wasreally hardly worthy of the term castrum but technically it was fortified.    The only saving grace was it was sitedhigher up and above ground level on the north side of the valley. It made for agreat view of the whole valley. And more importantly it made for a cool breezeblowing most days.    Their vexillation (Detachment) was a centuryof 74 legionnaires. It should have been 80 but no century was at full strength.There was another century stationed in a similar castrum on the south side.     Their task was simple; patrol the traderoutes to protect the caravans. Absolutelynothing could be allowed to slow or stop the steady flow of goods headed westto the empire. And almost as important the legionnaires were there to remindthe locals that the empire was in control. The city itself had its own soldiersto guard the walls and it’s own Vigile to patrol the streets.    For Bitt and his fellow legionnaires itmeant long hours patrolling along the same stretches of road. Two days east andtwo days back. Only interspersed with bouts of duty at the barracks itself.Usually either guarding the gate or walking sentry duty along its small walls. Ofcourse, there was always a meal to make or something to fix or clean. And therewas the ever-present war to keep out the worst of the dust. But that seemed tobe a losing battle.    They were luckyin that they were stationed in the city itself. The benefit was there wereliterally in a large city with a wonderland of different entertainments andways to pass the time.    “The first stop is the bathhouse!” Tossiussaid cheerfully.    “After this we’ll go get some sweet meat!”Sabinus barked cheerfully.    The rest of the group nodded and barked inagreement.    “Been far too long,” the hyena growled.    Bitt looked from one to the other. “What areyou talking about?” He was sure he wasn’t grasping some point.  ************  
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