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NickTheGreek
08-18-2008, 22:08
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Here follows an account of the history of the roman republic and its early imperial form finishing in the year 14 as laid down first by the monk Romanus of Neapolis and later his brother Theodosius Osparas who was warden of Thessalonica and finally his two sons Demetrius and Nicephorus. Begun in the year 486 it was finally finished in 499.

The First Volume as penned by Romanus of Neapolis

The Unification of Italy


It has been said that the empire of Rome is done. That Odoacer and his creatures have ended it in the west. If such a statement is true then I feel compelled not to let the glorious history of the roman republic and the empire it spawned slide into obscurity.
Oh I do not aspire to the heights of such men as Polybius and Herodotus and Xenophon but, like I said, I feel absolutely compelled. Here then is my History.

I begin then in the winter of 271 BC, an age ago to be sure. With the death of Dentatvs, who was Primus Inter Pares of the senate, a new man has risen to a position of senatorial dominance in the SPQR. A man named Blaiso, a coward by all accounts who sat in the provincial capital of Arretium and let other more worthy men fight for him. Such a man was Consul Scipio. A warrior of fearsome skill and a shrewd politician who had, the previous summer, captured the Epirote city of Taras. Ending the dominion of Phyrros in Italia. At the turn of the year Scipio moved to assault the city of Rhegium.

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Europe and Central Asia in the year 270 BC. You can see Calabria clearly marked in red, to denote its new status as a roman province. Other markings of note include the Greek recapture of Corinth, Parthia’s conquest of Samarkand and the Galatians swearing fealty to the King of Pontus.

The Battle for Rhegium

The Assault on Rhegium began on the morning of the 12th of September 270 BC. It was a decisive victory for the forces of the republic over men who had once sworn fealty to Rome. Taking their lead from the Mamertines the forces of Avlvs Decivs Ivbelivs had declared the city and its province of Brettia independent from the republic. Few accounts of the battle survive; the best that can be found is attributed to one Marcus Crassus, a soldier in Scipio’s army at the time. Here is his account of the roman capture of the city.

I was summoned to the general’s tent sometime before dawn. He was sitting at his desk, looking with dreary eyes at the map of the city of Rhegium that had been laid out before him. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the general was ill at ease or that he was distracted.
Finally he looked to me with a weak smile and said, “The senate will not wait, I’ve told them a hundred times that the men in this city are not barbarians or Greeks, they are Romans. And, traitors or not they will fight like men.”
I did not know what to say so I stood in what I hope was dignified silence. The general sighed again.
“It’s Blasio’s fault you know, he hates me because, although modesty almost forbids me to say it, I command the respect and loyalty of this army. He does not. I have been ordered to attack Marcus, and to take the city before nightfall. If I do not I am to return to Rome to resign my consulship.”
“The men are ready; we march at your command general. For Rome sir!”
The general looked distant, “Yes…for Rome. Very well form up the men Marcus, we go to battle once again.”

The forces of the republic far outnumbered the forces of Leukanoi traitors. Ivbelivs had no more than four hundred trained soldiers under his command but he had armed the city’s remaining populace, and forced them to fight us.

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That the dog had forced innocents to fight us shocked the men, but I knew they would give no quarter to traitors once the time came. If a man did not run from the forces of the republic he was a traitor, it was as simple as that.

The plan was to attack the enemy from two places at once, a plan that had worked wonderfully well at the capture of Taras, the previous year. So in addition to breaking the north gate we destroyed a section of wall to the left of it and came through that breach as well. The enemy Hastati didn’t know what hit them.


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With the stratagem prosecuted successfully enemy casualties began to mount. In the end they couldn’t take the strain and began to rout. Chasing the dogs down a side street towards the town centre we cut down a great many. Including local Greek archers and slingers. The townsfolk pressed into service.
In our zealous pursuit of the enemy the viper Ivbelivs launched a counter attack and held us in the side street. One regiment however cannot stem a whole army and after a good while the enemy was broken and Ivbelivs was killed in the confusion.


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With their leader, and instigator of the rebellion, dead many man lost heart and fled to the town centre, but the republican juggernaut was unstoppable and victory came swiftly after that.

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The general himself led the final charge into the square. Afterwards he came to me, still in his blood stained armour and said “I guess I will not have to resign after all.” And he smiled.

So the battle of Rhegium was a success for the roman republic. Scipio was ordered to return with his army to Rome in order to refit and reinforce before the army was dispatched to the north to prosecute a campaign in the Po Valley. Whether Lvcivs Cornelivs Scipio was to command was another matter entirely.
Scipio arrived in Rome at the head of his remaining soldiers in the winter of 269 BC, where he was greeted by Sextvs Cornelivs Cicero, the praetorian of the city of Rome and therefore one of the foremost citizens of the republic. The two men who had never met eyed each other wearily by all accounts as Cicero had risen to his position through adoption into the family of Blaiso, indeed their first meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Cnaevs Cornelivs Blaiso at the gates of Rome. A member of Scipio’s guards recorded the encounter in his journal.

We had been riding for weeks and the sight of the walls of Rome caused my heart to soar. I had been born in the city like many others and relished this period of down time to see loved ones again.
We were met at the gate by a tall man dressed in the manner of a senator but with the bearing of a soldier. The scars on this man’s face gave weight to my beliefs that this was no mere envoy of the senate.
“Hail and well met Consul Scipio.” Said the man, “I am Sextvs Cicero and on behalf of the senate and people of Rome I bid you welcome to the city.”
“Cicero? I’ve herd your name mentioned. Tell me are you the Cicero who is the named praetorian of Rome?”
“I am he, sir, will you follow me please I am tasked by the senate to show you to your quarters.”
Despite the man’s curt manner he seemed polite and respectful enough to me, although it was only later that I was told he was a member of Blaiso’s supporters. And that was how he rose to his lofty position. He did however seem to have a reasonable head on his shoulders and seemed like a man who could be reasoned with.
The general and Cicero talked as we made our way to the new proconsular palace that was being built. To my, somewhat inexperienced, eye the two men seemed to be getting on well. This changed when a great commotion was raised at our rear and who should come riding up the street but Cnaevs Blaiso. Now I’m not a man to take other people’s opinions and make them my own but I really disliked the man. He looked down on everyone with a contemptuous sneer. He made to insult the general, and to veil that insult behind a greeting but Scipio spoke first.
“My dear Blaiso. What a pleasure it is to see you here. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, what with you spending all your time in Arretium and myself spending all my time warring for the republic.”
“Quite Scipio, but I confess I didn’t want to miss the debate tomorrow.”
“Debate you say, what debate?”
“Why, the debate as to who will take overall command of the northern campaign of course. Come now don’t tell me you didn’t know.”
Colour drained from the general’s face as he replied, “No, I didn’t.”
“Well now you do.” The words left Blaiso’s mouth with a sneer “I’ll see you tomorrow Scipio, and you Cicero.”
I know the general expected command was his for the taking, so naturally this came as a surprise for him. He did not say a word for the rest of the journey. Making instead non committal grunts and gestures.


The entry continues for several pages but this is the most relevant section I feel. It underlines the extreme dislike; one could even say hatred, between members of Blaiso’s family and friends and the supporters of Scipio. And through the introduction of Cicero it shows us a character whose allegiances are ultimately undecided.

The full retraining and reinforcement of the army took some months. More than enough time to debate the issue of leadership. The matter was finally settled in the summer of 268 BC and at the insistence of Senator Cotta Consul Scipio kept his command.
With the army of the republic behind him Scipio left Rome in late summer and arrived to besiege the city of Segesta in Liguria two months later, a city which his spies had infiltrated and thusly the city could be attacked from any angle at any time.
The fact that Scipio had been granted command of the army again incensed Blaiso who, above all else desired power over the republic. In the same manner as his father.

NickTheGreek
08-18-2008, 22:16
The Battle of Liguria

The siege of Segesta dragged on for ten long months until the spring of 266 BC. Scipio, usually known for his daredevil assaults had deemed such a plan unworkable due to the size and resolve of the enemy garrison. Instead Scipio waited for the enemy to sally and, in May the enemy king obliged.

The account of the battle was written by Marcus Crassus. The same Marcus Crassus who provided us with an account of the battle of Rhegium.

I was roused from my tent with a great shout, and I exited fast enough to see the enemy forming up on the other side of the city wall ready to sally. The shout went out very quickly and I was pleased with the way my men, particularly the new boys acquitted themselves. Within minutes we were ready to repulse the enemy and take his town, lined up in full battle order.

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What I didn’t know was that this would be the longest and bloodiest battle of my life, up to this point.
The enemy king was no fool. He knew that if he attacked head on he would lose all his men and take very few Romans with him. The dog opened the gates and then did nothing. He arrayed his army behind the walls and sat there, daring the general to come to him. After ten months of the tedium of siege warfare we were in no mood to be toyed with so Lord Scipio gave the order to advance.
The Hastati went up the centre first, with the Rorarii in support. My Principes and I stood and watched, our feelings rendered numb by the slaughter before us.


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The enemy counter attacked of course and the skill and speed with which the legion usually fought was bogged down by the enemy’s superior numbers. I thought that we would never breach the wall of men but, as if Jupiter himself sought to intervene, the enemy king was killed by a lone Hastatus, causing a gap in the enemy lines – allowing out men to finally pile in.

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Upon the death of their leader many Ligurians fled to the centre of the city to rally and return in force. One group did not run one regiment of men held up the army for precious minutes, allowing the enemy to reform. These naked wild men fought like fanatics to the last. They took a great toll on the Hastati but not one of them was left alive at the end.
The general took a dim view of such wanton slaughter. He hated seeing so many young men cut down. In an attempt to break the dead lock we Principes, along with the Triarii, took a different route to the town plaza.


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The flanking ploy worked and the battered enemy garrison melted away in the face of our, now overwhelming, strength.

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Victory was ours. But seeing so many men lying dead around me I was forced to ask was it really worth it.

The Battle of Segesta was indeed a bloody victory for the republic. It was here that many senators’ fears were realised. The Gauls were not a foe to be trifled with, they were determined and resolute and if the plan to conquer Gaul was to go ahead then the people of the republic must be prepared to take such losses.

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Europe and Asia after the roman conquest of Liguria, Spring 266 BC.

NickTheGreek
08-18-2008, 22:24
Due to the violence of the siege of Segesta the leading edge of Scipio’s army was severely blunted. In desperate need of more men he sent his Hastati and Rorarii to Arretium to pick up replacement troops, which were given despite the fact that Arretium was Blaiso’s stronghold and he would have liked nothing more than to see Scipio fail in his appointed task.
In the spring of 265 BC Scipio left Segesta and rendezvoused with his reinforcements on the border between Aemilia and Etruria in preparation for his march to Bononia. In the summer he reached the city and began the long process of starving the defenders out.
The decisive clash would come in the winter of 264 BC when the starving defenders launched a desperate attack in an attempt to break the siege.
An account of the battle survives in the words of a roman infantryman known only as Gaivs, who was a soldier in Scipio’s army.

The Battle of Bononia

Sentry duty is never enjoyable. The long tedium of night is seldom broken by anything, usually it’s an excellent time to think and reflect upon ones actions in life but last night was different.
About two hours after nightfall there was a great commotion outside our camp and the sound of marching boots. As I gazed into the night I saw a great column of Celts marching to the gate. These men, who were impressively armed, numbered about 200 so my initial suspicions that this was a raiding force were dispelled. When the stopped in front of the gate and did not try to attack my curiosity was piqued and I asked them their business.
One man answered me in perfect Latin. He said that he and his company were mercenaries from Rhaetia and Venetia and they would aid us in our war with the Boii Galla who were their enemy.
As a regular soldier I had no authority to open the gate to a possibly hostile group of armed men so I did as any good soldier would do. I sent for the general.
The general and the Gaul had a long exchange from the walls before the column was let in and allowed to set up camp within our perimeter for the night. Apparently these men would be aiding us tomorrow in the coming battle with the Boii Galla defenders.
It is always a boon to a soldier to find new allies for a coming fight so that night; when my shift was over I slept particularly soundly.
The dawn came, cold and bright, with indecent haste and I found myself hefting my equipment, with groggy eyes and cold fingers, to the cold morning. With memories of Segesta still fresh in my mind I thought that this might just be another ruse on the part of the Gauls to suck us in to a bloody quagmire, I was wrong.


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We formed up as the enemy stormed out the southern gate. As soon as they saw us, in our ranks and columns, they began to lose momentum and it took several moments for them to come at us.

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The lord Scipio had sent our Gallic allies around the flank along with our Rorarii so that when the defenders hit our main lines they would be swiftly outflanked.
When the Gauls hit our lines it was like a hammer blow and every man took a step back in order to throw his Pila just in time. The ferocity of the battle should have been spread over many hours but, as it was, it lasted just fifteen minutes before the enemy began to rout.


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The battle saw many heroics, including the rout of the enemy’s cavalry by general Scipio himself. But as the enemy infantry fled the naked devils the Gauls so oft employed appeared again to haunt us and held the entire army up for many precious moments. Our mercenary allies took particularly heavy casualties from this particular fight.
In the end we routed them but, lacking siege equipment we were trapped outside the enemy walls.
In his haste to flee for safety the enemy king had allowed our heavy horse access to the city and by unlocking the south gate we were granted access.
In the manner of conqueror’s we entered Bononia and marched triumphantly up the main street and to the town centre.


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In the aftermath of the battle of Bononia casualties were found to be comparatively light and Scipio stayed in the city only as long as was needed to set up an effective government and garrison before continuing to the final target of his campaign, Patavium.

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Europe and Asia after the conquest of Bononia in 263 BC

Chaotix
08-18-2008, 22:33
Nice AAR. It reads like a narrative history, one of the styles I like for AARs. Keep it up!

Hax
08-18-2008, 23:55
Very interesting, very good.

Good luck, I will be following this.

Aemilius Paulus
08-23-2008, 00:39
I always follow every Romani AAR and this one isn't going to be any exception, especially such a good one! :yes:

NickTheGreek
08-24-2008, 14:12
Cheers for the encouragement guys, it really helps. Just so you know the next update will be sometime tomorrow, I gaurentee it :egypt:

Here's a teaser:

The First Gallic War

In the autumn of 263 BC the Aedui Confederacy began a plan to conquer the city of Patavium for themselves. As part of an earlier peace agreement between the Aedui and the senate the Vergobret of the Aedui had been informed of roman intentions towards Patavium and the Patavoae. For the Vergobret to act in such a way was seen as insulting by the senate and Consul Scipio was ordered to keep his course and take Patavium, whoever the owners at the time may be. Further more the senate decreed that if the Aedui were not prepared to respect roman territorial integrity then they would not respect the borders of the Aedui. Upon the conquest of Patavium Scipio was to move his army into Insurbramrog and take the city of Mediolanum from the Gauls as punishment for the duplicity they had displayed.

NickTheGreek
08-25-2008, 17:25
The Battle of Patavium

Against accepted military protocol Scipio moved his army from Bononia in midwinter so he could reach Patavium in the spring. As it happened the Aedui siege had been broken that same month, when Scipio sent the message to the senate they simply stated that he must take Mediolanum regardless, this was no longer about mere territory – Roman honour was at stake.
An account of the siege of Patavium survives in the words of General Scipio himself.

I despise the tedium of the siege. Give me open fields and sweeping plains so that I can move my men where I need them, but I go where the senate tells me and the senate tells me to capture Patavium for the glory of the republic. During the Bononia campaign I came to realise the value of mercenaries so I have enlisted the help of a company of swordsmen and a company of axmen in the hope that they will leave more of my boys alive for the coming battles in Insurbramrog. I have been told to take the city as quickly as I can, it will be bloody but I shall yield to the senate’s demands.

I finally ordered the assault in November of 492 AUC. The rams, of which there were two, breached the wall and the western gate of the city and the Hastati, Rorarii and our barbarian auxiliaries led the attack.


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I was proud of my men that day. Particularly the younger and less experienced troops who acquitted themselves admirably in the face of far more experienced enemies.
The mêlée at the gate continued for some time, with minor routs plaguing the enemy.
I have a new found respect for our barbarian cousins. In the face of overwhelming numbers they did not run as quickly as I expected, but rather they fought like cornered wolves sensing the end. And as any old warrior will tell, a cornered enemy is the most deadly.
A breakthrough in the maelstrom came when the Patavoae King, Caratawc was dragged from his horse and the enemy cavalry squadrons fled.


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With that the enemy began to flee and I pulled the Hastati back to allow the Princepes and Trarii, who had been kept fresh for this purpose, to finish the job and carry the day.

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However it pays to never underestimate an enemy, especially one whose doom is assured. They surprised us by rallying quickly and coming back at the mustering Princepes, giving my men barely enough time to loose off their javelins.
A series of running battles were fought in the city streets as the beleaguered defenders attempted to stop us reaching the centre. In truth their cause was lost and, soon enough we stormed the centre.


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What followed cannot really be described as a mêlée. The enemy were exhausted and my men were fresh, they fought to the last rather than surrender, like true men.

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It was a victory in the name of Rome but my men will scarcely have time to enjoy it. I am ordered to Mediolanum in order to restore the senate’s honour. I daresay it will not be as easy as this was today.

With the completion of the first part of his objective Scipio prepared to march on Mediolanum with his army. The city was the capital of the Gallic possessions on the Roman side of the Alps and as a result the city and the land around it was thick with Aedui soldiers, and with only a single army under his command the Isurbramrog campaign would be one of the most intense of Scipio’s life.

Scipio’s requests that a new army be raised to aid in the conquest were denied by the senate on financial grounds. However it was fairly common knowledge at this time that in Scipio’s absence that Blaiso had gained effective control over the senate.
Unbeknownst to Scipio however was as his battered, blooded but unbowed army marched into the heavily defended Gallic province of Insurbramrog a new army was being raised by the senate. This army was to be sent south to capture the Greek cities in Sicily and the Carthaginian holdings in Elimya and on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
The senate’s plan was thus; the distaste for Carthage in Rome was well known and many of the more violent senators wanted to send an armed expedition to North Africa to capture the Carthaginian homelands of Atiqa, Adrumento, and Carthage herself. The more moderate, and thankfully more numerous, senators rejected this idea out of hand, declaring it detrimental to the state of the republic. Instead a plan for a long war was drawn up. Spreading across fifteen or twenty years the plan was to take first the Carthaginian island holdings; from there the roman army was to deprive Carthage of her bases in Iberia, severely stunting her mineral wealth. Finally, once Iberia was subdued the army would land upon the coasts of North Africa and face a Carthage significantly poorer and greatly demoralised by a string of defeats.
The plan was agreed upon and would be put into action following the completion of the Insurbramrog campaign.

NickTheGreek
08-25-2008, 17:35
Battle of Insurbramrog

The decisive battle to decide the Insurbramrog campaign took place in the summer of 260 BC on a plain some two miles east of Mediolanum. The Gallic force outnumbered Scipio’s veterans by some 684 men, with the Gallic force numbering 2268 men in all. The battle, being of great importance was recorded by a senatorial scribe named Maxentus.

It was the Gauls who made the first move to initiate this battle. They had gathered a large relief force in the alpine foothills and now came to give battle in the hope of defeating the republican force besieging Mediolanum.

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The relief force was led by a man of little standing amongst his people; he was simply at the right place at the right time when the leadership of the relief force had been decided. This was a boon to our men and gave General Scipio’s men an advantage from the off.
The field of battle was heavily wooded, a large forest dominated the middle of the plain and General Scipio opted to set up on the open ground to the right, causing the Gauls to march a long way to reach our forces, subsequently tiring them out.


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The initial Gallic host came on in a single mass, as the Gallic people are wont to do. Our Gallic mercenaries seemed much more organised and appeared to relish the thought of shedding the blood of their kinsmen.
In addition to circumnavigating the forest some of the more impetuous Gauls had gone through the trees and when the arrived the enemy charged head on.


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The battle degenerated into a series of smaller combats, the Gauls using their superior numbers to separate our force. For his part though Scipio did not lose his head and he had every confidence that his men could fight their way out. And they did.

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The relief force scattered in seemingly random directions, their lack of leadership proving their downfall. As a consequence when the besieged garrison from Mediolanum, led by Catamantaleodis, arrived they found themselves hideously outnumbered and out matched.
The Gallic army had only one true advantage, numbers, and once they were deprived of that they fell apart like a decayed corpse.

The enemy took up residence in the woodland and bade our men come and get them, which our men did with admirable proficiency.


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It was here that the enemy general perished, and with his death came the demise of his remaining regiments.

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A great day for the men of the republic.

Indeed it was a spectacular victory for Scipio. The remaining enemy troops retreated back to Mediolanum. Now Scipio had defeated and killed the majority of the Gallic warriors in the province his misgivings about a lack of manpower vanished. He set about preparing to assault Mediolanum in the autumn and capture it once and for all.
In the meantime the second roman army had been completed and was marching south towards Rhegium where they would take on supplies before continuing to Messana in Sicily.

NickTheGreek
08-25-2008, 17:47
The Assault on Mediolanum

The final assault of the city took place in the winter of 260 BC. With the majority of the garrison dead due to the recent battle there was only a token resistance to Scipio’s men, despite the lack of numbers on the Gallic side a cornered animal fights most viciously when faced with the end and Scipio was careful not to underestimate his enemy. An account of the battle survived in the words of Maxentus, the senatorial scribe who chronicled the Battle of Insurbramrog.

After the decimation of Gallic forces at the previous battle the enemy could muster just 280 men, the remains of the relief force having quit the countryside, and as such were doomed from the start.

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The day was bright and brisk and a light cover of snow coated the ground, it was mid morning when Scipio ordered the rams forward. The breach in the wall and the gate were heavily contested by the remaining Gauls, who fought like men possessed.

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The enemy’s forces were hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched. Soon they began to realise the folly of their position and, as the second wave moved into the city, they began to flee.

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The enemy fell back to make their final stand in the central square of the city. They had kept a nearly full strength regiment in reserve at the centre and as such the capture was not easy, however our brave men were to pull through in the end.

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The enemy were now leaderless and desperate. The death of their captain at the walls rendered them confused and ill disciplined, a fact that our men too advantage of immediately. Soon the battle was done and the men of Rome carried the day.

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This was, in truth a small skirmish and if it weren’t for the circumstances that surrounded it the battle may have always been a mere historical footnote. However with victory at Mediolanum came the restoration of Rome’s honour and a great feeling of justice done.

The capture of Mediolanum came easily for Scipio’s battle hardened, if weary troops. As soon as a government was established a garrison force, drawn from local Romanized Gauls, was set up. Scipio and his men were to return to Rome for reinforcement and new orders.
The First Gallic War was, from the roman point of view, over. In truth low level skirmishes continued on-off for over fifteen years after Mediolanum fell, although none were ever enough to do any real damage.
With victory at Mediolanum came the realisation of the senate’s plan to unify the entire Italian mainland under Roman control, 12 years previous Rome was a name spoken with contempt by the more powerful rulers of the world, in 260 BC however Rome’s star was firmly ascendant.

https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/Frodge_2007/Chronicle%20of%20the%20roman%20empire/260BC.jpg

The world in the winter of 260 BC after the capture of Mediolanum.

Chirurgeon
08-26-2008, 02:24
Wow your on a roll. Mediolanum by 260 BC! Keep it up

Steve2392
08-26-2008, 13:58
great thread guys but i wonder if any one can help me out

whenever i go on custom battle and play as Rome i cant find any well roman units. please tell me if you can help or im just being stupid and their right in front of me thanks very much

NickTheGreek
08-26-2008, 21:19
Cheers for following Chirurgeon, tbh i didn't think i was going all that fast.
Steve what you need to do is open the EB multiplayer, that lets you play with full factional units.

NickTheGreek
08-29-2008, 00:54
In case you guys didn't already notice, I've changed my name. I thought Luther was a bit crap tbh, and besides Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is such an awesome film :laugh4:
anywho...

The Conquest of Sicily, the First Punic War and the Conquest of Dalmatia and Illyria

It was in 259 BC that the man tasked with bringing the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia under roman dominion crossed the sea at the toe of Italy and laid siege to the Mamertine stronghold of Messana. The man’s name was Servivs Clavdivs Marcellvs.
Marcellvs had risen to command after displaying great heroics at the Battle of Patavium and on the senate’s orders had been given command of the expedition to Sicily, after, of course he made a bit of a name for himself defeating brigands and rebels in the Italian heartlands.
The Sicilian conquest had a curious start. Marcellvs realised that the Mamertine defenders of Messana were ex-mercenaries and as such were professional soldiers. To assault and take the city could result in unneeded casualties for the roman forces so Marcellvs resolved to starve the defenders out, he laid siege to the city for one and a half years. After this time had elapsed he expected the Mamertines to come out and fight which they did not do. They surrendered the city of Messana and as a result were granted a pardon by the republic and, provided they gave up their arms, were allowed to stay in Messana, many even agreed to form part of the garrison that was being raised their to defend the city.
Thus was the city of Messana captured in 258 BC without so much as a drop of blood being spilt.
The war in Sicily was going well for the republic but it was not the only military endeavour that the forces of Rome had embarked upon. In 257 BC the armies of Lvcivs Cornelivs Scipio had retrained in Latium and had crossed the Illyrian border. The Legio I made good time to Segestica, with the intention of capturing the city and its valuable mines.

The Battle of Segestica

Reaching the city in the summer of 257 BC Consul Scipio wasted no time in deploying siege fortifications, however he did not mean to employ a lengthy siege instead he opted to assault the city in the autumn of the very same year.
An account of the battle comes from the journal of Lucius Labienus, one of Scipio’s cavalry bodyguards.

We arrived outside the Illyrian capital in midsummer and proceeded to deploy in a time tested siege fashion. The enemy were completely surrounded and in the first week alone we captured some one hundred and thirty carts of food and goods destined for the pirate markets of the Illyrian King, Faros.

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The army advanced and created two breaches through which to proceed. This tactic confused the Illyrian defenders who seemed unsure which breech to defend. In the end their confusion left both breaches undefended and our men entered the city relatively unmolested. We enveloped the enemy closest to the breaches and, in less than ten minutes, two regiments of the enemy’s best fighters were annihilated.
After it became apparent to the enemy king that the defences had fallen he withdrew his forces to the centre and prepared for us, leaving only a handful of Greek archers as an ad-hoc defence.


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With the enemy hemmed in the general sent in the second wave to attack the centre plaza with a frontal assault.

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The Illyrians held valiantly for some time and fought well knowing their king was with them, however their lightly armed spearmen could not stand up to our disciplined Princepes or our fierce Gallic auxiliaries and soon Faros was surrounded and had his back well and truly against the wall.

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With their king surrounded and beleaguered the enemy began to falter and it was now the Hastati launched their surprise attack on the enemy’s rear. Chaos ensued.

https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/Frodge_2007/Chronicle%20of%20the%20roman%20empire/Overview.jpg

Seeing his men cut down Faros sought to reorganize his defence, however by taking his mind off the immediate enemy he left himself open and vulnerable. Our men exploited this and cut the Illyrian King down.

https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/Frodge_2007/Chronicle%20of%20the%20roman%20empire/FarosFalls.jpg

The straw that broke the camels back, as the Mauritanian traders say. The Illyrians were cut down soon after. The town and its vast mineral wealth fell to the Republic’s men.

https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/Frodge_2007/Chronicle%20of%20the%20roman%20empire/victory.jpg

Glory to Iupiter Optimvs Maximvs.

Victory was swift and relatively painless for Scipio’s hardened men and with the capture of the mines new wealth flowed into the senate’s coffers.
In Sicily things were not going as planned. After the capture of Messana the Carthaginians remained neutral and Marcellvs thought it safe to proceed to Syrakousai. However during the fifth month of siege the Carthaginians accelerated matters by sending a punitive force to besiege Messana. They were driven off by the city’s garrison but the attack raised questions, the foremost being should Marcellvs abandon the Siege of Syrakousai for now and attack the Carthaginians directly at Lilbeo. One thing was sure though the decision had to be made quickly.