International Barbaroi - A Romaioi AAR

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-21-2009, 00:48

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

To start the AAR, a bit of a retrospective and a summary of the current affairs of the Res Publica et Provinciae for each reported year.

International Barbaroi - A Romaioi AAR

Index

Prologue
Chapter I - Anno 219 B.C
Chapter II - Miscellaneous Notes
[...]
Appendixes - Great Men of the Res Publica/Patrician and Plebeian Families/Roman Administration

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-21-2009, 00:52

A Brief Prologue

Excerpts taken from Menelaos Philopoimen (Author of the Histories)

A Dry Introduction to the Roman World

Prologue

I. The Beginning
II. The Pyrrhic War
III. The Ligurians
IV – The First Punic War
V – The First Aeduic War
VI – The Second Aeduic War
VII – The Conquest of Greece
VIII – Other Events

I. The Beginning

In the beginning, there were Seven Hills. And within lived goats and men, in that order. After 400 years, the Seven Hills finally became the dominant power by triumphing over the Etrusci, the Samnites, the Campanii and the Tarentines with their ally Pyrrhos.

Word is there that the Seven Hills originated from Aeneas, the Hero from Troy, who escaped to a distant land so he could avert the enmity of the victorious sons of Hellas. Romulus, after disposing of his brother Remus for impiety, built the area they call the Pomerium, which houses their Poleis and their People. All other poleis under their rule follow them sycophantically, for it is fashionable to imitate them.

II. The Pyrrhic War

In the first year of the 125th Olympiad, Pyrrhos, King of Epirus, sealed an alliance with Basileos Ptolemaios Keraunos of Makedonia. This allowed him to depart to Southern Italy and defend the rightful Hellenic legacy against a group of Northern barbaroi known as Romaioi, for their poleis of Rome.

Pyrrhos eventually failed to arrange a suitable agreement with the Romaioi. His later decisions provoked the rage of the Sicilians and eventually forced him to retreat in face of new Romaioi resistance. Both sides continued at war until the first year of the 127th Olympiad, when Tarentum was captured and burnt to the ground by the Romans. The inhabitants, however, were allowed to rebuild it soon after. In the second year of the 127th Olympiad, Pyrrhos made peace with the Romaioi, choosing to focus on his new conflict with Antigonos Gonatas.

Later in that year, a successful Romaioi attack resulted in the surrender of Rhegion and the effective dominance of the Romaioi over Megale Hellas.

III. The Ligurians

A barbarian people, known as the Ligurians, according to Erastothenes of Kyrene living between the heights of Apennines and the land of the Gallioi, declared war on the Romaioi. They were soon followed by the Picentes, an Italic tribe.

A first attempt by L. Cornelius Scipio is met with defeat at the gates of their poleis. Word is there that a group of fanatics who fight naked, similar to the taxeis employed by the Basileos Pontikos and the barbaroi who invaded Hellas during the 126th Olympiad, were responsible for the defeat.

A second attempt this time meets little resistance. L. Cornelius Scipio butchers the Ligurians, who are later paraded in chains near the Forum Boarum. L. Cornelius Scipio is given an ovation for his victory.
Later, C. Aurelius Cotta Tribunus Militum captures the Po valley, ending a wave of successful Romaioi conquests.

IV – The First Punic War

Soon after the 130th Olympiad, the poleis of Carthago declared war on Messana. In direct violation of earlier treaties with the Romaioi, brief negotiations are not enough to seal the problem, and Rome declares war on Carthage and Messana as a result.

In Sardinia et Corsica, the young N. Cornelius Blasio, son of the prominent Consular C. Cornelius Blasio, quickly captures the islands in a successful and swift campaign with the support of Roman ships.

In Sicily, Messana is sacked and incorporated into Romaioi rule. L. Cornelius Scipio defeats the Carthaginians near Messana, killing their leader Hanno – He later captures Lilibeo and storms the poleis of Syrakousai, annexing the lands of the Sycilians into the Roman Republic. Some years after the 131st Olympiad, a truce is concluded with Carthage, ending the First Punic War.

V – The First Aeduic War

The Gallioi of the North, known as the Aedui and the Insubres, have always been a trouble for Rome, which had been in a state of war with them since before the 125th Olympiad. A campaign on the Po valley ends with a Romaioi victory, and the Insubres are subsequently incorporated as an allied state.

Much later, the Romaioi capture the poleis of Massilia and the area they call Nerbonnensis. A truce is concluded with the Aedui soon after. In the third year of the 132nd Olympiad, Rome concludes an alliance with the tribe of the Arverni.

VI – The Second Aeduic War

In the second year of the 136th Olympiad, the Aedui storm Gallia Transalpina, as it is called by the Romaioi. After a brief failed truce, the Gallioi attack again, defeating the Romaioi in Cisalpine Gaul and killing their commander N. Aurelius Cotta, son of C. Aurelius Cotta “Graecus”.

It takes until the third year of the 138th Olympiad for the Aedui to conclude another truce, which might have lead to peace (section is unreadable).

VII – The Conquest of Greece

In the years between the 132nd and 137th Olympiad, the Epirotes attempt to invade Italia through Illyria, but are defeated. Consular C. Cornelius Scipio Asina wins two crushing victories over the Epirotes in Illyria, resulting in the conquest of that region by the Romaioi. Later Epirote pressure means the Romaioi strike at Hellas itself, dominated by the Epirotes – In a series of long battles, near Ambrakia, Pella, the Siege of Demetrias and in Thraike Hellenike, Praetorial N. Cornelius Blasio triumphs over the Epirotes.

The Achean League, allied of Epeiros, declares war over the Romaioi. Athens is conquered, followed by the entire Peloponnesus – The author of the conquest is consequently named “Subjugator Graeci” by the Senate of Rome. At the close of the decade, Rome annexes Krete and Rhodes, and allies with the Pergamene Kingdom of the Antigonids. C. Aurelius Cotta defeats two armies of the League in Krete.

In the North, N. Cornelius Blasio takes Byzantion and fortifies it. Coloniae are subsequently established all over Hellas for veterans of the campaign.

VIII – Other Events

In Iberia, after the 136th Olympiad, the Carthaginians defeat the Lusitanians and conquer most of the peninsula. Fears of growing Carthaginian power make the Romaioi abandon their plans of proceeding with their war against the Aedui.

Rhodes, after paying a large sum in tribute, is granted the title of Amicus Populi Romani. The Pontic Kingdom defeats the Pergamene Kings near Nikaia, and later takes Pergamon against the odds. An Alliance is concluded between the dwindling power of Arche Seleukeia and the Pergamene Kingdom together with the Romaioi, who, however, cannot capitalize on the advantages.

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-21-2009, 01:49

Chapter I - Anno 219 B.C (And the Game Proper)

State of the Republic - An Assessment

Famous Victories of the Res Publica

Illyricus Flumen (First, Second)
Gergovia
Helvetiis (Not available on pics... yet)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Italy and Provinces of the Res Publica

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Roman Neighbors (And Potential Enemies... Because Everyone hates the Romaioi) at 219 B.C

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Vasiliyi** · 07-21-2009, 05:48

OOO, ill be following. I was thinking of making an aar like this one day, except it was to show all the battles Rome lost.

**a completely inoffensive name** · 07-21-2009, 08:31

As your polar opposite I approve of this AAR.

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-21-2009, 20:06

Thank you... AND DON'T TOUCH MY NAME

. You were warned.

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-22-2009, 06:21

Chapter II – Miscellaneous Notes

As Narrated by Lucius Aemilius Cinna, aide to Consular Manius Cornelius Scipio

I – The Third Aeduic War

Shortly after a truce was conducted with the chiefs of the Gallioi in their poleis of Viennos, a renewed Gallic Horde crossed the Alps and attacked the allied Kingdom of the Insubres. Two more warbands were spotted on their way to the provincia of Gallia Transalpina, where they besieged the fortified and densely inhabited cities of Massilia and Tolosa and ravaged the countryside.

Proconsul N. Cornelius Blasio acted quickly – He carried loads of experience on his back and fought against every enemy of the Res Publica. Gathering grain into the storage houses inside the walls, he took the local militias and prepared to resist the upcoming foe, which was coming in far greater numbers.

Courage did not lack to the defenders – The Roman Republic relied heavily on local auxiliaries for garrison and patrol duties, and the institution of a new provincia almost inevitably meant the institution of a new systematic levy of local militias into cohorts. The brave Massiliotes, many of them of Greek extraction, were conscripted and drilled to fight in a tight formation as the hoplitai of the Hellas of old, and were particularly strong defensive warriors notwithstanding their relatively poor equipment. Their morale was particularly high, for they knew their fate under the foreign Keltoi would not be much better than that of their Romani overlords, and so they prepared to man the walls and fight to death for their homes.

Along with them were also Keltoi, conscripted and fighting in a shield wall of their choice. The Proconsul hoped that the enemy would be unable to break through them, for they were resolute.

To the East, Tolosa was defended by local levies. The threat there was not as outstanding, despite its heavily exposed location – Once again, hopes were that together and well protected by their shields, the auxiliaries would weather the storm of the fierce Aedui charges.

II – The End of the Pergamene Kingdom

To the East, the Pergamene Kingdom of the Antigonids, suffering heavy losses from their unsuccessful war with the King of Pontus, capitulated after a siege of their last redoubt by a combined force of Ptolemaic Greeks and Pontic soldiers. It was the end of the Antigonid dynasty, which had been incapable of maintaining Makedonia, and subsequently incapable too of keeping a safe seat of power around Pergamon. It was also a heavy blow for Roman policy to the East, which hoped their allies would serve as an useful buffer between them and the predatory powers of the East.

The Senate and People of Rome reacted to this by improving the fortifications around the poleis of Byzantion and sending a new legion, the VI, to guard the passes that gave access to Anatolia and the Pontic Kingdom. Good relations and an apparently lack of tension have currently averted war, and as such Roman Greece lies in a time of peace and prosperity not known since the time of Alexandros.

III – Relations with Carthage Worsen

The Senate and the People of Rome have turned more and more fearful of the rising Carthaginian power in Iberia. Tension had not been as high since the incident near Messana, decades ago, and war was now openly contemplated not only in gossip but in open Senatorial meetings. The party of the Cornelii Blasii, headed by Proconsul Cornelius Blasio, actively sought for war and the deliberate weakening of Carthaginian power by the capture of their Iberian positions. The Populares and the faction of the Cornelii Scipiones was against that blatant Imperialistic stance, but their uneasiness and the fears that Rome might pay harshly for more peace eventually drove the Senate to approve an ultimatum against Carthage, which was later cherished by the Plebeians loudly in the Forum. The reply to the ultimatum has not yet been received, but war is certainly now imminent, and a levy was called across all Italia to raise more legionaries for war.

IV – The Outcome of the Siege of Massilia

The Keltoi, confident in their abilities to win a victory, stormed the city. Proconsul Blasio rallied his men and opted to abandon the walls, leaving a small number of marksmen to shoot at the invaders from the protection of towers before retreating.

Gathering his troops around the Forum, he wisely closed all narrow streets with tight shield walls, so tight that the dead would eventually be unable to fall as was later noticed. He placed marksmen behind to harass the coming enemy, forcing them to take a wave of projectiles before facing a dense spear wall, which they would bash their heads against but not break.

The fighting was fierce, and at all the moment Blasio actively used his elderly figure to boost the morale of his men further and further, keeping them in formation. The Hoplitai stood firm against waves and waves of attackers, but gradually giving in and in. The lines were further reinforced, and the bodies of the dead crowded the streets to such extent that it turned more and more difficult to the attackers to maintain cohesion, allowing them to be slaughtered individually by the mass of defenders. But they kept pressing on, patiently taking casualties until the nerve of their best men finally broke; ironically, before anyone else among them, causing panic and eventually destroying their morale. Blasio, who had been in such situations many times before, knew all too well to push further and destroy the routers, finishing off yet another horde of barbarians.

V – The Siege of Tolosa

The same outcome had been true for Tolosa – The Casualties of the Aedui were already appalling before they engaged the garrison, and this time they routed quickly.

**satalexton** · 07-22-2009, 07:41

MAKEDONIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

**Reality=Chaos** · 07-22-2009, 08:57

Liking this AAR so far... It seems our annoying Makedonia spammer is on site as well

@satalexton.... I sympathize with your anti roman feelings, but you are just spamming useless crap and not contributing anything to this forum, which made me turn away from the roman-hater faction... Please grow some brains or something

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-22-2009, 18:55

Sheesh people what's with all that conflict

? Though I must admit that the world had never been as dark as now. The advance of the Roman legions is the advance of neo-barbarism under the cloth of marble! Blush and tremble, fellow Hellenes! To arms, to arms!

Coming next: Romaioi Politics.

**Vasiliyi** · 07-24-2009, 17:01

Nice spamming on this guys aar. Good work so far.

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-25-2009, 01:16

To appease our Romaioktonoi fellows, I used auto-resolve and got crushed by a Carthaginian army just outside Khart-Hadast. My army was at least thrice their size, but they had Elite African Pikemen.

Carthago forward

!

EDIT - Hopefully, an update is coming even tonight. Progress has been good, but I CTD'ed more than ten times since then.