Tamur
09-29-2004, 22:22
The famed general and commander Amulius Brutus lived great in the sight of the Brutii and of the Roman people: a leader of Roman armies and conqueror of great renown. His name will live on in memory for many years, and will live on in flesh through his sons. The distinguished Tertius Brutus is having this written, in the year, 237, to add to his private library. I, Antio Varus, wrote this record.
Amulius Brutus was born in Tarentum in 280 BC. His father, Aulus, spent much of Amulius' childhood years on campaign in Sicily and across the Tyrrhenian Sea in Dalmatia and Epirus.
Amulius' coming-of-age in the winter of 264 was a great joy to his father. After a long seige on the island of Sicily, the Senate had awarded the governorship of Lilybaeum to the Scipii, even though the Scipii fled from the seige and Aulus had to take the place alone. Aulus tried to fan the flames of scandal, for bribes must have won the Scipii the appointment, but to no avail.
Hatred of the Scipii was engrained in Amulius' heart from the day of his public acceptance into the family. Though it was they who landed the first blow against the Brutii, and the last against Amulius himself, it will be they who go under the yoke the first when the time is right.
With his coming of age, Amulius quickly gained the command of a small army in the Epirian city of Apollonia. Amulius was there barely six months when the Greeks laid seige to the town and attempted an assault, outnumbering Amulius' small army three-to-one. Commanding that overpowering force was none other than Epios, heir to the Greek throne. But their efforts came to nothing. Amulius had his men hold the gate against the enemy while moving his cavalry out of the back gate of the city and around the enemy's flank. The result: Epios dead, and all but fourteen of the two thousand Greeks dead.
In the capital of Tarentum this news was received with relief, joy, and some shock. Such a defeat of the Greeks meant that there would be more to come. The Senate's policies on Sicily had left the entire family embittered, and Sicily was put behind. Tarentum began recruiting as many men as possible, and Aulus left Cassius with a small force in Sicily while he himself moved toward the Greek mainland with most of his armies.
Amulius fretted through the following two years. He rode out on his horse often to survey the area, and established forts in the passes between Apollonia and Thessalonica. He sent messengers out and received them, regarding the news of the world, of his father and of the base treacheries that swirled around the Scipii. The small town could not contain such a spirit for long.
During this time Amulius received a sign from the god Mars regarding his destiny. A servant woman, native to Apollonia, said that she was just near the shrine to Mars in the town, and saw a wolf loping into the shrine. A hawk swooped down from the sky at the wolf, and gouged its eyes out. But wolf smashed the hawk down to the ground with its claws. This woman warned Amulius at that time to beware that his anger not make him uncautious.
Finally in 262, Aulus arrived with his adopted son Kaeso. Cassius had also come, after successfully beseiging Syracuse. To spite the Senate, he looted it and left it empty, a smoking ruin for the Senate to assign out to whomever they deemed worthy.
After a brief rest, Aulus, Kaeso and Amulius made for Thermon with a hand-picked force of veterans. The seige of Thermon ended in an assault in the summer of 261, where Amulius proved again a brave and intelligent commander. Aulus, however, was wounded in the battle and retired to Apollonia to rest. Kaeso and Amulius moved northward along the coast, with the vague intention of taking Salona at some point.
No one is quite sure what happened that summer, but in 260 Kaeso and Amulius split up. Some said they argued over the deposition of loot from the coming seige. Others added darker reports, saying that Kaeso had attempted to kill Amulius in his sleep. Whatever the truth, Kaeso went back to Thermon and governed there to the end of his days.
Amulius took the majority of the army and with his usual swiftness struck Salona before they had any warning of the strike. The unwalled town stood no chance against the conqueror. It yeilded little loot, but it did yeild a treasure: one of his soldiers had come from southern Illyria, and offered his daughter, the charming Pamponia, to Amulius. They were married that year. Amulius spent a year resting and delighting in his new family and, in the summer of 258, his new son whom he named Tertius after his beloved uncle.
In the winter of 258, Amulius and his large army of mixed veterans and new recruits loaded onto a large fleet and sailed north, landing in the bay near Segestica. Although Amulius had started with the intention of invading Patavium rather than simply blockading, his morning rides through the country alerted him to the fact that there was much gold to be found in the Illyrian province, and a weak defencive force in Segestica itself.
Despite the ease with which he could have moved on Segstica, he spent over a hear and a half camped on the beach in the bay. Some speculated that he was torn between his duty and his wife and son in Salona. But with all records before us, it appears that he had begun the road to his death.
In the summer of 257, Amulius' father Aulus died. The family publically claimed that he had died naturally in his sleep. Amulius heard of his father's death three weeks after it happened, and what he heard seems to be that the Scipii had poisoned him at a dinner in Tarentum. He was sixty-three.
During that summer and winter, Amulius began recruiting spies from the ranks of his men – not to check on the surrounding countryside, or even in Patavium and the Gauls. Rather, he began sending these men into Scipii lands, seeking out their strongholds and their weaknesses. He began to keep records of the location of Scipii family members.
Finally, in the summer of 256, Amulius laid seige to Segestica. The place was poorly defended by Illyrian rebels, and fell quickly to an assault in the winter of that year. Pamponia and their son Tertius came to live with Amulius in Segestica.
Although this was only to be a launching point for an assault on Patavium, Amulius threw all his energy into the secret life of negotiations and intrigue that he had begun. His army drilled and made small forays into Gallic lands, and Amulius had Fort Otium built on the border between the Gauls and Segestica. But his heart had been turned elsewhere.
Four years later, Amulius struck – not with his army. He had hired two assassins from the Illyrian countryside and sent them to strike down both the heir and the leader of the Scipii family. Ullan, the one sent to strike the heir, was successful. A Scipii died. But the other assassin was caught.
Amulius heard back from Ullan almost immediately, but spent another year hoping for word of the other.
In the winter of 248, he did hear news: he was wanted back in Tarentum. A fleet had been sent with summons that he appear at the capital. His wife urged him to go, to uphold the family honour, and to teach his son the qualities of a Roman.
But he refused, and his army, incredibly, backed him. The fleet was completely unable to put up a fight, and they sailed back to Tarentum empty-handed. Tempers flared. Amulius was banished from the family at the insistence of the Scipii.
In 239 Amulius died at the hands of a Scipii assassin. Because the family had banished him, there was not even a sympathetic note, let alone outrage.
After 256, he never did again take up the command of his army. He had a loving family and his son grew up by his father's side. The lesson of his life is that, though we achieve great things in youth, it is Roman to continue to move, to die standing up, doing his duty, until the last breath of life has escaped from his teeth.
Amulius Brutus was born in Tarentum in 280 BC. His father, Aulus, spent much of Amulius' childhood years on campaign in Sicily and across the Tyrrhenian Sea in Dalmatia and Epirus.
Amulius' coming-of-age in the winter of 264 was a great joy to his father. After a long seige on the island of Sicily, the Senate had awarded the governorship of Lilybaeum to the Scipii, even though the Scipii fled from the seige and Aulus had to take the place alone. Aulus tried to fan the flames of scandal, for bribes must have won the Scipii the appointment, but to no avail.
Hatred of the Scipii was engrained in Amulius' heart from the day of his public acceptance into the family. Though it was they who landed the first blow against the Brutii, and the last against Amulius himself, it will be they who go under the yoke the first when the time is right.
With his coming of age, Amulius quickly gained the command of a small army in the Epirian city of Apollonia. Amulius was there barely six months when the Greeks laid seige to the town and attempted an assault, outnumbering Amulius' small army three-to-one. Commanding that overpowering force was none other than Epios, heir to the Greek throne. But their efforts came to nothing. Amulius had his men hold the gate against the enemy while moving his cavalry out of the back gate of the city and around the enemy's flank. The result: Epios dead, and all but fourteen of the two thousand Greeks dead.
In the capital of Tarentum this news was received with relief, joy, and some shock. Such a defeat of the Greeks meant that there would be more to come. The Senate's policies on Sicily had left the entire family embittered, and Sicily was put behind. Tarentum began recruiting as many men as possible, and Aulus left Cassius with a small force in Sicily while he himself moved toward the Greek mainland with most of his armies.
Amulius fretted through the following two years. He rode out on his horse often to survey the area, and established forts in the passes between Apollonia and Thessalonica. He sent messengers out and received them, regarding the news of the world, of his father and of the base treacheries that swirled around the Scipii. The small town could not contain such a spirit for long.
During this time Amulius received a sign from the god Mars regarding his destiny. A servant woman, native to Apollonia, said that she was just near the shrine to Mars in the town, and saw a wolf loping into the shrine. A hawk swooped down from the sky at the wolf, and gouged its eyes out. But wolf smashed the hawk down to the ground with its claws. This woman warned Amulius at that time to beware that his anger not make him uncautious.
Finally in 262, Aulus arrived with his adopted son Kaeso. Cassius had also come, after successfully beseiging Syracuse. To spite the Senate, he looted it and left it empty, a smoking ruin for the Senate to assign out to whomever they deemed worthy.
After a brief rest, Aulus, Kaeso and Amulius made for Thermon with a hand-picked force of veterans. The seige of Thermon ended in an assault in the summer of 261, where Amulius proved again a brave and intelligent commander. Aulus, however, was wounded in the battle and retired to Apollonia to rest. Kaeso and Amulius moved northward along the coast, with the vague intention of taking Salona at some point.
No one is quite sure what happened that summer, but in 260 Kaeso and Amulius split up. Some said they argued over the deposition of loot from the coming seige. Others added darker reports, saying that Kaeso had attempted to kill Amulius in his sleep. Whatever the truth, Kaeso went back to Thermon and governed there to the end of his days.
Amulius took the majority of the army and with his usual swiftness struck Salona before they had any warning of the strike. The unwalled town stood no chance against the conqueror. It yeilded little loot, but it did yeild a treasure: one of his soldiers had come from southern Illyria, and offered his daughter, the charming Pamponia, to Amulius. They were married that year. Amulius spent a year resting and delighting in his new family and, in the summer of 258, his new son whom he named Tertius after his beloved uncle.
In the winter of 258, Amulius and his large army of mixed veterans and new recruits loaded onto a large fleet and sailed north, landing in the bay near Segestica. Although Amulius had started with the intention of invading Patavium rather than simply blockading, his morning rides through the country alerted him to the fact that there was much gold to be found in the Illyrian province, and a weak defencive force in Segestica itself.
Despite the ease with which he could have moved on Segstica, he spent over a hear and a half camped on the beach in the bay. Some speculated that he was torn between his duty and his wife and son in Salona. But with all records before us, it appears that he had begun the road to his death.
In the summer of 257, Amulius' father Aulus died. The family publically claimed that he had died naturally in his sleep. Amulius heard of his father's death three weeks after it happened, and what he heard seems to be that the Scipii had poisoned him at a dinner in Tarentum. He was sixty-three.
During that summer and winter, Amulius began recruiting spies from the ranks of his men – not to check on the surrounding countryside, or even in Patavium and the Gauls. Rather, he began sending these men into Scipii lands, seeking out their strongholds and their weaknesses. He began to keep records of the location of Scipii family members.
Finally, in the summer of 256, Amulius laid seige to Segestica. The place was poorly defended by Illyrian rebels, and fell quickly to an assault in the winter of that year. Pamponia and their son Tertius came to live with Amulius in Segestica.
Although this was only to be a launching point for an assault on Patavium, Amulius threw all his energy into the secret life of negotiations and intrigue that he had begun. His army drilled and made small forays into Gallic lands, and Amulius had Fort Otium built on the border between the Gauls and Segestica. But his heart had been turned elsewhere.
Four years later, Amulius struck – not with his army. He had hired two assassins from the Illyrian countryside and sent them to strike down both the heir and the leader of the Scipii family. Ullan, the one sent to strike the heir, was successful. A Scipii died. But the other assassin was caught.
Amulius heard back from Ullan almost immediately, but spent another year hoping for word of the other.
In the winter of 248, he did hear news: he was wanted back in Tarentum. A fleet had been sent with summons that he appear at the capital. His wife urged him to go, to uphold the family honour, and to teach his son the qualities of a Roman.
But he refused, and his army, incredibly, backed him. The fleet was completely unable to put up a fight, and they sailed back to Tarentum empty-handed. Tempers flared. Amulius was banished from the family at the insistence of the Scipii.
In 239 Amulius died at the hands of a Scipii assassin. Because the family had banished him, there was not even a sympathetic note, let alone outrage.
After 256, he never did again take up the command of his army. He had a loving family and his son grew up by his father's side. The lesson of his life is that, though we achieve great things in youth, it is Roman to continue to move, to die standing up, doing his duty, until the last breath of life has escaped from his teeth.