The (early) Civil War of Rome || AAR

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The (early) Civil War Of Rome



(I'm very sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm writing most of this from my memory.)

It's the year 213BC, Rome controls most of the Mediterranean sea and has annihilated many of her enemies. However the political situation inside the empire is getting very unstable. Those who once forged the empire are either dead or too old to rule the great nation. Africa and Iberia are almost completely under the control
of client rulers due to the unstable situation of the regions, while they've been proven to be great governors their loyalty is somewhat questionable. New legions are hired constantly to make the Republic safer (at least from foreign threats) and the young generals who are appointed to lead them are desperately trying to get fame and glory any way possible. Some fear that this might lead the young empire into a bloody civil war that could destroy it as fast as it was born.


A Brief history lesson

Before I can tell you about the civil war, you need to know few things about why things are how they are.

The Rise of the Republic + First Punic War (272-250BC)



In the year 272BC Caivs Avrelivs Cotta, a 16 year old plebeius, was given control of a freshly recruited legion. Many objected this decision because he was way too young to lead such powerful army alone but Manivs Cvrivs Dentatvs, the Primvs Inter Pares of the time, was confident about his skills (some say it was because Cotta was a plebeius just like him). Against all odds Caivs managed to conquer the whole southern Italy and soon he lead another attack to Sicily breaking the peace agreement made with Carthaginians years prior.The senators were furious because the Carthage was a very powerful enemy and ordered Cotta to leave Sicily immediately. Nevertheless Cotta disregarded the orders and started besieging Messana and forced it quickly under the Roman control.

Soon he moved on and attacked Syrakousai but even before they had started building siege equipment a word came from the west. Hamilcar, a Carthaginian general, was closing in with a huge army. Once again the senate ordered Cotta to retreat and leave Sicily behind him. But needless to say, Cotta didn't follow the order, but instead attacked the Carthaginian army. The battle was extremely tough and for a moment it seemed like the Romans were losing but the Fortune herself took part in the battle. The Carthaginian general was reported to be dead and soon panic spread among the enemy ranks. The routing enemy was an easy target for the small but effective Roman cavalry. It was one of the most epic battles in the history of Rome and the field where it took place is well known even today.



Finally the senate recognized Cotta's skills and legalized his campaign.

Soon, after the great victory, Cotta took what men he had left and attacked Lilibeo which fell without any significant resistance. Now the whole Sicily (plus Sardin and Korsim, which were conquered by other generals) was under the control of Rome and it was time to turn eyes to the north.

The Gallic war (250-245BC)



A truce was made between Carthaginians and Romans and Carthage was forced to pay large war reparations. With these funds another great legion was trained and sent to the Northern Italy (Segesta and Bononia were already Roman property). It was clear that their next target would be Gallia Cisalpina but the legion lacked a leader. Sextvs Cornelivs Scipio, the son of Cnaevs Cornelivs Scipio Asina, was finally chosen for the task. He led his army over the Po river and started besieging Patavium. He was victorious and as soon as he received fresh reinforcements from Rome he moved on to the Aedui territory. The barbarian nation had only few troops on this side of the Alps and conquering Medilanum was easier than it was thought to be.

Encouraged from the recent succes, the Senate ordered Sextvs to cross the Alps and attack the town of Massalia. After a year of besieging the the city was finally captured but with so great losses that further advancement to the enemy territory wasn't possible. Both Aedui and Rome were in a difficult situation. The Aedui was currently in war with the Arverni and vulnerable to attacks from the south. Rome however was unable to bring in reinforcements and the Senate decided to try and arrange a truce. Luckily the Aedui king accepted it and no more hostilities between the two nations were seen. Sextvs decided to move his army along the coast line to the west and attack Tolosa as soon as he received reinforcements. Once again he was successful and for the first time in the Roman history a triumphus was granted and Sextvs returned to Rome with his army.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Soon: More history :P

[^RaGe^]

I'll update this tomorrow.

[Tyrfingr]

It will be very interesting to see how you simulate a civil war...I'm looking forward to the next update

[tls5669]

<snif> Poor Carthage :(

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The Second Punic War and the threat from the east (245-232BC)

After the war in Gaul was over another threat rose from the east. Epirotes who the Romans once kicked out of Italy had been expanding northwards and now shared a land border with Rome. It was clear that they hadn't forgotten what the Romani did to them. Soon after Sextvs had held his triumphus the Epirotes attacked Patavium. The garrison was too small to stop the enemy army from rushing into the settlement and so the city was lost. Sextvs left Rome with his veteran legion and headed north. Soon they reached Patavium and managed to get it back. The senate wanted Sextvs to continue to the enemy territory and avenge their aggression. By the year 230BC Segestica was forced to surrender after a long siege. Sextvs continued to south and faced only little resistance and soon another Settlement was under the Roman control, Dalminion. The next target would've been Epidamnos, the heavily fortified capital of the Epirotes, but the senate decided to halt the attack and instead sent diplomats to the city. After long negotiations the Epirotes accepted to sell another coastal city Ambrakia to the Romans and a truce was made.





Around the same time the Carthaginians launched a naval invasion upon Sardin and the great nations were once again in war with each other. The client ruler of Sardin managed to rebel the attack
and soon the Romans made their move; Caivs Cornelivs Cinna set sail towards Katt-Hadast with a freshly recruited legion. The Carthaginians had focused most of their troops in Iberia and Western Africa which made the attack possible. As soon as Caivs arrived in Africa he divided his troops into three and started besieging Atiqa, Kart-Hadast and Adrumeto simultaneously. Each siege was successful and soon Caivs carried out the secret orders he had received from the senate. Two thirds of the total population of each city was exterminated and every building that reminded the citizens of the old rule was burned to the ground level. The Romans wanted to make sure that even if the Carthaginians would re-capture these cities they wouldn't be able to train troops out of them. Caivs received a triumphus and returned to Rome while one of his captains captured the city of Lepki.



The Iberian wars and the Third Punic War (232-213BC)

After the invasion of Africa the Iberians started threatening the city Emporion which was captured by the Roman forces few years earlier. Even though no straightforward attack was made it was sure that bringing huge forces near the border wasn't a sign of peace. Marcvs Avrelivs Cotta, the second son of Caivs Avrelivs Cotta, was sent to Iberia with an army mostly consisting of mercenaries. He stationed the army outside the city and waited for the Iberians. Soon a huge enemy army crossed the border and attacked the Roman fort. Marcvs sallied his troops out of the fort and attacked the enemy. He proved to be at least as good as his father in commanding by achieving a heroic victory (this was the second time in the Roman history). However it was not enough to stop the blood hungry enemy from wanting the city and soon another army was closing in. It was clear that the lonely mercenary army wouldn't be able to hold the enemy for long and Marcvs asked the senate to send more troops. Soon another army set sail towards Iberia and joined Marcvs's army.





It didn't take long before the Iberians attacked with all their might. Stack after stack of fresh soldiers from the mountains of Iberia rushed towards the fort and Marcvs was barely able to keep them away from the city. The situation seemed hopeless and the senate decided to send two new legions to Iberia. Sextvs Cornelivs Scipio was once again appointed to lead one of them and destroy the remaining Carthaginian forces on the peninsula. The second legion was given to Manivs the brother of Marcvs and its mission was to take the city of Numantia and if possible move deeper into the Iberian lands. Soon Sextvs arrived with his forces and landed near the city of Arsé, few major battles were fought and every time Sextvs was victorious. Soon after Sextvs's arrival Manivs brought his troops to Iberia and started advancing towards Numantia. After few years of hard fighting the Carthaginians had been pushed off Iberia and Numantia was finally in the Roman hands. During this period the senate had sent yet another legion to Africa and after few decisive battles the Carthaginians were finally nothing but a bad memory in the Roman minds. The leftovers of the legion joined Sextvs troops in Iberia and he started a campaign against the southern cities of the Iberians while at the same time Manivs attacked the northern cities. Rest of the peninsula fell in a matter of years and the Iberians were finally destroyed.

[We shall fwee...Wodewick]

Very nice. I like it. Also, what mini mods (if any) do you use? because I would be interested in stealing your save as your map looks very nice with some good Roman expansion on your part.

[^RaGe^]

Very nice. I like it. Also, what mini mods (if any) do you use? because I would be interested in stealing your save as your map looks very nice with some good Roman expansion on your part.

Forced diplomacy and client ruler optimization. I'm glad you like it.

[We shall fwee...Wodewick]

I'm a big Romani fan (bite me!) and I have only had one game that I kept going in and I reached the Marian and preceded to go insane and take Egypt, Britannia, Gaul and Dacia all by about 140BC and I ruined my game so I'm looking for a new one where I can get in early marian or late polybian era and not go crazy.

[^RaGe^]

I'm a big Romani fan (bite me!) and I have only had one game that I kept going in and I reached the Marian and preceded to go insane and take Egypt, Britannia, Gaul and Dacia all by about 140BC and I ruined my game so I'm looking for a new one where I can get in early marian or late polybian era and not go crazy.

I sent you a private message.

[Maion Maroneios]

I'm a big Romani fan (bite me!)

*CHOMP*

Seriously now, good AAR, hope to see more of it (even though I've never been a Romani fan).

Maion

[We shall fwee...Wodewick]

I'll have that piece of flesh back if you don't mind!

[Maion Maroneios]

Over my dead Romani-hating body! :-P

Maion