Tales of the Julii...

[The_Emperor]

This is the Julii campaign story thread...

270BC
"I hate Gauls..."

Flavius Julius walked through the streets towards the Forum. It was a hot summers day in the eternal city of the seven hills, and many people were getting on with their business... Flavius climbed up to the top of the hill and overlooked the valley that contained the Forum.

It was always a magnificent sight, with the grand Temples of Saturn and Concorde were standing proud in front of him, all showing the true magnificence of Rome... Together with the House of the Vestals and other buildings, All in the shade of the great Palatine hill where Romulus and Remus were raised by the She-Wolf.

Flavius smiled at the thought of the city's founder and taking a deep breath he continued towards the Senate house...

It wasn't long before he arrived at the Senate, and was summoned to the main floor to speak with the Senators. He was glad to be inside, the cool air of the senate room invigorated him as he walked down into the assembly hall.

"Flavius Julius, of the noble House of Julii, the Senate and people of Rome have a task for you." Flavius raised an eyebrow intrigued at this proposition, even though part of him disliked being the Senate's errand boy.

"The Senate and the people of Rome, have concluded that we need a strong frontier to the north against the Marauding Barbarians. You are to be tasked with securing Rome from the continued threat posed by the Gauls"

Flavius clenched his fists upon hearing the name, he hated the Gauls with a passion. Even hearing their name was enough to enrage him. Their transgressions against Rome were numerous and Gallic raids had made everyone feel hatred towards them, and his family especially... He never forgot what they did to his grandfather when a barbarian raiding party took him hostage.

"The Senate wishes that you secure our northern borders, and bring Roman order to these barbarians, this campaign will start with the capture of the settlement called Segesta to the north. We have recently heard that some rebellious Gallic slaves have taken over the settlement, and this will be a good chance to increase our influence without provoking full scale war with the Gauls just yet"

Flavius wanted full scale war, he didn't care for the Senate's attitude of being overly cautious. There was no glory in hunting down wretched slaves.
But the war was going to come sooner or later... The sooner this was done the sooner his armies will be on the march.

"If you do this for us, the Senate and People of Rome shall reward you well"
Flavius nodded, "I shall do this for the Glory of the Republic", Bowing to the senators he left the building to ride to his army stationed in the mountain pass, he could attack the settlement within the month...

Winter 270BC
The armies of the Julii had taken, the settlement of Segesta, yet Flavius was not satisfied, killing Barbarian Slaves and peasants was not enough to satisfy his revenge. That would only happen when the Gauls had been killed themselves... Still the 5,000 Denarii the Senate sent was enough payment for taking this town.

His Diplomat had been away for some time, negotiating with the senate and Flavius was growing impatient when the man finally came through and rushed to his command tent on the border.

"Well?"
The Diplomat greeted him and read the scroll. "The Senate and the people of Rome will support you in your efforts against the Gauls, and we accept your offer to attack them, in exchange we have granted you 1,000 Denarii for the Cause"

Flavius smiled, "all right", he beckoned over the centurion Marcus "tell the men we march soon for the Alps, we shall block the mountain pass from transalpine Gaul to isolate the warriors and settlements in Cisalpine Gaul and Venetia"

He turned to the Diplomat, "Signal Vibius Julius to increase the size of his army to secure Cisalpine Gaul and Venetia, tell him to be mindful, barbarian Warbands have been sighted in the woods nearby, and to SHOW NO MERCY!".

[The_Emperor]

It was dark in the Roman camp.

Flavius Julius sat in his tent and by the light of the flame examined the maps. His aged Retainer by his side. The messenger had gotten through the treacherous Alpine pass and had arrived at the Roman camp intact.

The Sentate demanded that the nearby city of Narbo Martius be taken. Flavius and his old friend discussed the campaign.

"Fortunately this destination is relatively nearby, but I do not think we should head straight there..." Flavius agreed with his old friend's advice

"Agreed, it will not be long before the Gauls know we are here, and the lights of our camp are a big giveaway up here"

Flavius looked at the map, "We should move against the nearest Gaul outpost as soon as possible, we need to have a base this side of the Alps to launch our attacks from..."

His eyes settled on the nearby town of Massilia at the bottom of the valley beyond the Camp.

"We should take this place, it is a perfect defensive position. With the sea to one side and two river crossings we can easily defend the town before the enemy reaches its walls... in addition we will also control this side of the Alpine pass and be able to cut off the Gauls from help".

The two men left the Tent, and were saluted by the Triarii soldier who stood there guarding the entrance. Beyond the uniform tents laid out in perfect synchrony, they could see the trackless forests beyond the River and the Town of Massilia.

"let the men sleep, tomorrow we hit it"

The Assault of Messilia.

The men marched up in battle order ready to take the settlement. The Battering ram was placed in position, with archers on the right flank, Velites on the left. Hastati behind with the Triarii waiting at the rear.

The men psyched themselves up, battering their shields, Flavius began to address his troops.

"This Morning, and eagle circled the camp three times and flew towards the rising sun, such a portent can mean only a good day for us!... Today we go into battle against monsters, the Gauls, they are dangerous, mad and hairy beyond reason... In victory they are always heartless... We go now to our bloody business!" the men roared in approval and clatter their weapons in unison.

The battle had begun, the hastati advanced to the gate with the battering ram, the Gauls on the other side screamed and yelled and clattered their spears on their shields. It was a deafening racket. The archers assumed their positions, just like they had done when they rained arrows upon the rebel slaves of Segesta...

"Fire at will", the archers launched a volley of arrows into the noisey Gauls, who were thrown into confusion, the warband ran away from the gate and suffered another volley in the back.

The gate was weakening the hastati gave one last valiant push and broke the gate open... They wheeled the ram and left it beside the gate and marched through, Flavius gave an order to all of the hastati "Units fire at will!" The men shouted their reply as the hastati marched in. The warband of Gauls turned around and ran back to confront the hastati, while a second warband approached from the Roman left.

The velites responded in kind, and hurled two volleys of javelins over the wall into the Gauls... The archers kep up their pressure and the hastati hurled a volley of Pila. The Gauls broke and ran scremaing for the town center and there they remained.

The Romans were inside and made their way around the settlement, in almost perfect unison they surrounded the enemy on all sides. The Gauls let out a deafening roar of defiance and clattered their weapons... All the Romans readied their Pila, and hurled them into the remaining bare chested warriors.

The Gauls were cut down by the dark hail of Pila and Javelins, those who had survived were shaken, yet they screamed again. Flavius ordered a general charge and all the romans rushed the Gauls from all sides, surrounded on all sides the fough bravely but were cut down. The town was taken.

Immediately the men went to work, much of the Barbarian population was enslaved, and shipped back to Etruria and Umbria for work. Flavius gained the services of a reknowned slave trader to assist him in this task.

The spoils of victory.

[The_Emperor]

The armies lined up for battle.

Flavius stood behind the lines and roused his men with a speech. "The Gauls fool themselves and think they are our equals or better, I think they are waiting to DIE!"

His men gave a resounding cheer.

"We stand on the defensive today, let them wear themselves out against our battle lines... it is true they have a slight advantage in numbers, but we are the stronger within ourselves, try not to look scared and you'll find bravery in your hearts!"

In his heart Flavius did not like understating the vast numerical superiority of the combined enemy armies, but he knew it did not matter. He had faith in his men to hold their ground and do their duty.

"This is not just a battle if we win here we also take a city from the enemy, win victory here and you can stroll to your prize! Now string your bow, ready your sword, look to your arms and armour, this is the hour when we test Roman Courage!!!"

His men roared with approval and clattered their weapons on their shields.

It was an almost entirely open field, with no terrain advantage except for a slight slope down towards the Gallic host. Flavius knew the risks and the unreliable nature of his Gallic Mercenaries.

The Mercenaries stood in the front ranks, with two lines of Veteran Roman Hastaati behind them as an ever present reminder of who they were fighting for, backed up by the Triarii in the final fourth line, Soon enough the Gallic host advanced upon them as their numbers were strengthened as the garisson arrived on the field to join them.

The gauls ran into range and the Roman archers unleashed a few volleys into the vast gathering of men. As some gauls fell others screamed out in rage and taunted the Romans... They clattered their shields and let out an ear-splitting warcry.

The archers pulled back as the gauls advanced at a pace the entire host charged towards the middle of the Roman lines. Their formation became compact as they were inexorably drawn into the center, looking for the glory of being in the middle and causing the most casualties.

Flavius smiled. The barbarian turncoat was right. The Gauls were proud warriors looking for personal glory, and what glory was there other than being in the thick of the fighting?

Th Gallic charge gained momentum towards the Mercenary front rank... Flavius gave out a loud shout to those troops "Units Guard Position!". The mercenary warbands lowered their spears ready and shouted a confirmation yell.

The Hastati readied their pila and unleashed a volley into the charging gauls. Gauls fell down, as yet more kept on comming forwards... A second volley of Pila was hurled as the Gallic onslaught crashed into the barbarian mercs. The barbarian horde proved deadly as the mercenaries were pushed backwards and cut down.

The ifrst line of hastati engaged the Gauls, providing much needed support for the mercenaries who still recieved the bulk of the casualties. Flavius watched as the Gallic general charged his bodyguard into the mass of infantry...
Then Flavius played his hand, the second row of Hasati split in half and ran in opposite directions around the mass of gauls, falling on them from the flanks.

The final band of Gallic cavalry attempted to prevent the flanking but was intercepted by the Flavius own Cavalry mercenaries. Flavius at that moment, ran his bodyguard around the other flank unopposed and hit the mass of infantry from the rear... Careful to leave a gap for them to escape from.

A mass panic engulfed the Gauls as the charge hit, Romans pressed in on three sides the Gauls ran for the gap. The Gaul warlord was struck down by the pursuing Roman infantry as he tried in vain to flee the carnage that ingulfed him.

The gauls that broke out fled the field in terror as Flavius' cavalry chased them down. The rout was absolute, as the remnants of the army scattered into the surrounding countryside...

The city was conquered. Roman order had come to Southern Gaul, just as it had come to the Alpine Gallic settlements.

[Chimpyang]

Placeholder....

[King Yngvar]

Placeholder. Thank you if you had anything to do with it ~;)

[econ21]

Placeholder. King Yngvar - you should have an edit button for your posts now and congratulations on being promoted to "member"! ~:cheers: