The Gift of an Apple

Part 2

by Terry Hollern

Gift of an Apple: Part 1 [Her. # 22]

The horse stood on the hill and watched the rain fall. Horses do this when it rains; they just watch it fall. They don't imagine themselves romping through a sun-dappled meadow. Horses don't calculate geometric problems in their heads. They just stand there and watch the rain fall. The black-haired man, holding the horse's reins, stood next to the horse. The man turned his face to look up at the sky. He felt the cool, wet bee-stings on his face and beard. The man stood there for a long time with his face turned up to the sky. He sighed; the man felt refreshed by the rain. It had rained for three days.

Finally, his gazed shifted down to the stream of men flowing past him. The black-haired man was called Mago. He mounted his horse and slowly descended the hill. The man felt the pangs of hunger and, reaching into his saddle bag, pulled out an apple. It looked red, ripe and delicious. The black-haired man bit into the fruit and started to chew. He continued to descend to hill. Mago prepared to take a second bite but stopped to see that there was movement in the middle of the apple. The man pulled out his knife and split the apple into two pieces. A small, brown worm revealed itself. Mago threw the apple to the ground in disgust, spit out the pieces in his mouth and cantered down to the stream of men. They were heading east to a large Gaulish village that sat next to a tributary of the mighty Rhone. There the Africans had hoped to get in out of the rain.

Mago lived in the third century before the birth of Christ. He was a general for the great Carthaginian war leader Hannibal in what would later be called the Second Punic War. Currently, Hannibal, Mago and 36,000 Carthaginians were campaigning in Gaul. This had not been their original plan. The Carthaginians were at war with their bitter enemies, Rome. Hannibal had planned to start in Spain with 100,000 men. He would then drive along the Mediterranean coast to Italy. Then they would go straight down the Italian boot and strike a crushing blow at the city of Rome itself.

The men from Carthage had followed this plan until they reached the Rhone River in Gaul. There, a local Gaulish chieftain, Grindoll, had entered their riverside camp. He had proposed an alternative plan to Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother and second in command. Hasdrubal found Grindoll's plan appealing and had presented it to Hannibal. Hannibal had agreed to this change in his war strategy. Grindoll's plan, in short, was for the Carthaginians to drive north into Gaul. There they would seek allies and supplies among the myriad number of Gaulish tribes. Those tribes that refused to join would have their armies scattered and their villages burned.

Hannibal had driven 30,000 of his men and 5,000 of Grindoll's in a lightening campaign of six weeks all over southwestern Gaul. Events during this period had gone well for Hannibal. He had lost over 100 men but the rewards were far greater in number. Ten tribes had joined them and swelled their ranks by over 1,200 soldiers. Three huge wagon trains of captured booty had been sent south to the main Carthaginian camp. Soon the biggest apple from the tree of Gaul might fall into Hannibal's lap. It was possible that a great many Gauls might join Hannibal's army in the next week. This was because Hannibal had been under constant surveillance when he had moved his army north into Gaul

Midegatus was the overchieftain of the northern Gauls, a tribal leader of other tribal leaders. He stood over six feet tall; his face radiated with a glow of undiminished power though he had passed his eightieth year. Midegatus had sent spies to track Hannibal's progress through southern Gaul. He had been very impressed with this efficient African war machine. Midegatus received reports from his spies on a daily basis. They reported one Carthaginian success after another. An idea started to form in his old, gray head. Midegatus began to calculate the pros and cons of an alliance with Hannibal. Midegatus could field and army of 35,000. But he was too old to lead them and he couldn't trust any of his generals to take command of the army. The great and wise Gaulish leader knew that to hand over his army to one of his own sub-chiefs would be to give away his empire. An empire that he had fought hard to acquire and even harder to maintain.

In spite of his advanced age, Midegatus maintained a firm hand on his empire. He had no intention of giving up his crown in the near future. Midegatus felt that he could reign another ten years. He still had the fire in his soul to lead a nation. However, the endless wars of the past sixty years were beginning to take a toll on his body, a toll that increased each year. Midegatus knew that he did not have the body to go to war anymore. Besides, he did not have the desire to fight. He wanted to stay in his royal house and be the sage-king. His desire was to stay at home, to make laws and to dispense the king's justice. Campaigning was hard on his body, too hard. Midegatus thought long and hard about the events of the past six weeks. Perhaps an alliance with this foreigner might be an answer to Midegatus' prayers.

The great king sat on his throne and calculated. The most likely scenario began to take shape in his royal brain. Midegatus meets with the Africans. They pay him money to use his troops. Hannibal takes the Gauls on a campaign. One of Midegatus' generals goes with the Gaulish troops but that general plays a minor role. Hannibal is successful in Italy. The Gauls return home as battle hardened veterans laden with booty. The troops are happy, his generals get no prestige and Midegatus' rule is not threatened. Midegatus liked this plan. He called for his most trusted son. The king would send this prince to see Hannibal.

Midegatus' son rode south to meet with the Africans. He found the village where the men of Carthage had set up camp and met with Hasdrubal. The Gaul explained his father's plan to Hasdrubal. Hasdrubal met with Hannibal. Hannibal then sent Hasdrubal on a clandestine mission to meet with Midegatus. They conferred for three days. Hasdrubal returned to Hannibal and said that Midegatus was ready to join with Hannibal's army.

However, there remained only one important item left to be done. Midegatus had insisted that he and Hannibal participate in the ancient blood ritual. He and Hannibal would cut their arms and hold their bleeding arms together. Their blood would commingle. Midegatus had sealed over 100 alliances this way. He knew that it was his adherence to this ancient ritual that was the reason that he had become a great leader. His arms had innumerable scars from their wrists to their elbows. This man of Carthage may have been a great war leader but Midegatus had insisted that they follow the ancient rituals. Midegatus also told Hannibal that he needed Hannibal to come to him. Midegatus saw this as a sign of respect for Midegatus' advanced age.

Hannibal was not pleased with this request. A week of steady rain had slowed the movement of his army. Now, as the weather cleared, he had hoped to restart immediately his campaign. He did not want to lose six days as he rode up to met Midegatus and returned with his army. Nor was he fond of the idea of traveling through what was unknown territory with only a personal body guard of ten men. God knows what they would run into on the road. The African decided to increase his escort to 100 men then increased it again to 1,000 men. Finally he decided that to use his entire army as his escort. Hannibal gave the orders to break camp in the morning. The Carthaginian army was on the road by noon the next day. They headed east to the Rhone and then north. They were to follow the river until they reached Midegatus' village.

Mago rode with his troops on his big bay. Ahead of him he saw Hanno, another of Hannibal's generals, standing on the top of a hill. Mago saw that Hanno was standing next to Grindoll. It had been Grindoll who had persuaded Hasdrubal of this move into Gaul. Hanno and Grindoll were both standing absolutely still as if they had sprouted tree roots and could not move from that spot.

"What do you see Hanno?" Mago cried. "A troop of naked virgins riding up to greet you?" Hanno did not react. He stood and stared forward over the crest of the hill. Mago urged his horse forward up to the two men. He dismounted. He emitted a tiny gasp as he looked north and saw the largest concentration of men that he had ever seen. From the river to the far horizon there was a solid continuation of tents, men, horses and chariots. Surely, all of Gaul loomed before him. Mago shook his head and tried to recover. "So the old gray-haired Gaul has decided to get off his butt and met us."

Grindoll shook his head slowly. "These troops do not owe allegiance to Midegatus," he said.

Mago turned to Grindoll and said, "I don't understand. Who are they?"

"I see tribal shields from all over Gaul. They must have been melded together by many great chiefs. This latest campaign of ours has forced them to set aside their petty grievances and to forgive past debts. These men have been forged into one great tool. A tool that has only one purpose."

"What purpose is that?" asked Mago.

"They mean to destroy us in battle, Mago," Hanno said softly. "They mean to destroy us completely."

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