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Description
(The battle of Actium took place 31 BC and ended with the defeat of Marc Antony and Queen Cleopatra. Both were dead within a year.)

“Bite…” she whispered.

Elischa raised her hand and made a turning gesture. Gabinius shouted out orders. The sails unfolded with the sound of distant thunder and then the drum changed beat.

Ahead, Marc Antonys left wing spread out, his huge galleys a majestic sight.

Elischa felt inside, felt the distance, the ships moving. It was a skill earned by long experience.

Just a little longer… bait them… a little further. Experience… and maybe a little bit of talent. She prided herself of being a Phoenician, a humble people that yet outdid all when it came to sea skill. Not warriors except by need, but seafarers. She pondered Agrippas orders. Everything was set.

She had lost her nerve, Cleopatra. Always so conscious of her claims and titles yet she was just a Greek upstart house.

“I’m as much of a queen as you are, but my honour can afford me to serve…”

They had been close once, but then they had to chose sides. Elischa would serve Octavian, frail, shy, prudish yet brilliant in a way, with Agrippa, her good friend.

Cleopatra would not serve. She had taken a taste to enthral powerful men, first Caesar, now Antony, all for Egypt, for her house – for herself. She, as Antony, was consumed by ambition but lacking the skills.

All the while Elischa had counted down time, distance. “I will teach you how to change the world.”

She nodded to Gabinius. He shouted out.

Elischa avoided openly commanding the men. They didn’t like it, and there was no need.

The drum changed pace. The foreman raised his voice in song.

Her soles felt the beat of the oars, the ship rolling, picking up speed. Her fast Liburnae were much smaller than Marc Antony’s ponderous quinquiremes, but the men were veterans, back to the time when they had hunted down Sextus Pompeius. That one had been much more of an admiral than Marc Antony would ever be.

She heard the men shout her name. Dido - her Romanised name. It hadn’t always been like that – but now they did. Most of the rowers on her pack were free men – they couldn’t afford slave weight on small ships like these – and they sang as they charged towards the huge ships.

Elischa watched the enemy. Changing formation from pursuit to fight, surprised by the puny enemy turning to fight. She could see it in their movements – confused leadership, rowers lacking and sick.

The men sang, because they were veterans and they could see beyond the hollow vanity of their foes. They believed in themselves and they believed in her. They sang, and Dido loved them for being the smelly bastards they were, for every rude remark and leering eye and because they trusted her with their lives.

Her pack would run the shallow waters between the shore and past the enemy, cutting them from the land forces, shutting their command off and threaten Cleopatra in the rear, while the right wing following behind her would crash into the confusion. And Agrippa would take care of the other flank.

Cleopatra would run. Not for long, though.

Elischa/Dido is the daughter of Mago from Aurora Borealis. He was a close friend of Julius Caesar and after Caesars death and her fathers disappearance, Dido and her people join Octavian in the struggles for power that followed.

This was made in response to by mcbieghn . You oughta check out that story, too!

Description
(The battle of Actium took place 31 BC and ended with the defeat of Marc Antony and Queen Cleopatra. Both were dead within a year.)

“Bite…” she whispered.

Elischa raised her hand and made a turning gesture. Gabinius shouted out orders. The sails unfolded with the sound of distant thunder and then the drum changed beat.

Ahead, Marc Antonys left wing spread out, his huge galleys a majestic sight.

Elischa felt inside, felt the distance, the ships moving. It was a skill earned by long experience.

Just a little longer… bait them… a little further. Experience… and maybe a little bit of talent. She prided herself of being a Phoenician, a humble people that yet outdid all when it came to sea skill. Not warriors except by need, but seafarers. She pondered Agrippas orders. Everything was set.

She had lost her nerve, Cleopatra. Always so conscious of her claims and titles yet she was just a Greek upstart house.

“I’m as much of a queen as you are, but my honour can afford me to serve…”

They had been close once, but then they had to chose sides. Elischa would serve Octavian, frail, shy, prudish yet brilliant in a way, with Agrippa, her good friend.

Cleopatra would not serve. She had taken a taste to enthral powerful men, first Caesar, now Antony, all for Egypt, for her house – for herself. She, as Antony, was consumed by ambition but lacking the skills.

All the while Elischa had counted down time, distance. “I will teach you how to change the world.”

She nodded to Gabinius. He shouted out.

Elischa avoided openly commanding the men. They didn’t like it, and there was no need.

The drum changed pace. The foreman raised his voice in song.

Her soles felt the beat of the oars, the ship rolling, picking up speed. Her fast Liburnae were much smaller than Marc Antony’s ponderous quinquiremes, but the men were veterans, back to the time when they had hunted down Sextus Pompeius. That one had been much more of an admiral than Marc Antony would ever be.

She heard the men shout her name. Dido - her Romanised name. It hadn’t always been like that – but now they did. Most of the rowers on her pack were free men – they couldn’t afford slave weight on small ships like these – and they sang as they charged towards the huge ships.

Elischa watched the enemy. Changing formation from pursuit to fight, surprised by the puny enemy turning to fight. She could see it in their movements – confused leadership, rowers lacking and sick.

The men sang, because they were veterans and they could see beyond the hollow vanity of their foes. They believed in themselves and they believed in her. They sang, and Dido loved them for being the smelly bastards they were, for every rude remark and leering eye and because they trusted her with their lives.

Her pack would run the shallow waters between the shore and past the enemy, cutting them from the land forces, shutting their command off and threaten Cleopatra in the rear, while the right wing following behind her would crash into the confusion. And Agrippa would take care of the other flank.

Cleopatra would run. Not for long, though.

Elischa/Dido is the daughter of Mago from Aurora Borealis. He was a close friend of Julius Caesar and after Caesars death and her fathers disappearance, Dido and her people join Octavian in the struggles for power that followed.

This was made in response to by mcbieghn . You oughta check out that story, too!