History of a Getic Soldier

A repost from TWC, this was my first completed AAR. It's broken into several updates, as can be seen easily. Posted under my TWC user of fergusmck. Hope you enjoy.

A Getic Soldier under Oroles - Dromichaetes

The Getae were always said to be a ruthless tribe, pouring down from their mountain homes to cause havoc and destruction among the civilised world. We ruled a small terriyory once, but we were not a nation, just, ocasionally, the people that the little warbands did not fight. We ruled no great empire, we had no conquering armies, most of use were farmers and we survived.

That was true once. But then came King Oroles the Great. He was a righteous and powerful man, and I was honoured to serve him. I was part of his body guard, the elite one hundred horse men who rode with him in battle, and stood by him in peace. We were ready and willing to give up our lives for him, many of us did.

I was a boy when he ascended to the throne, not yet old enough for military service. My father was a farmer, from the land around Buridava, the capitol of our people. When I was sixteen, new bands were being formed, for Oroles's crusade to make the Getae the most powerful people in Dacia. I went with my brother to Buridava, three days from our father's farm, and we were recruited into a band of skirmishers and javelin throwers. During the winter, and between sowing and harvest, we hunted nearly everyday. All the Getae are skilled with the javelin, it is our chief weapon, and so, we did not need alot of training before we were given thin leather armour and sent marching to Naissos. We were being sent to capture the rich town of Singidunum, to the east of Naissos, but that story is to come. Now I must speak of the rise of the Getae.

Zalmodegikos was Oroles's father. He was the man who united the Getae under one leader. He stopped the fighting between the villages and families. He was a young man when he became headman of his village, Buridava, but was old when the Getae were united, and ready to look out from their mountain home, and dream of conquering the fertile plains below. Zalmodegikos was not so old as to not be able to campaign. His last actions as king were to assemble the greatest host of Getae and pour from the lofty villages of their ancestors, down to the fields of the Greaco-Thracians. He marched on Naissos, a Celtic kingdom, and sent Oroles to Tylis, a Thracian city. The battle for Naissos was a close run thing. It was only due to Zalmodegikos's fatal charge that victory went to us. He died a hero, and was sent off that night on a pyre adorned with the spoils of war. Oroles had a tougher, if that was possible, battle at Tylis. He had not yet heard of his father's death, and if he had, he might not have been as reckless as he had been. Tylis's army marched out when it saw the Getae approaching. The men of Tylis were better armed, better equipped, and more numerous then that of the Getae. But by great generalship, and fierce bravery, Oroles and his men pulled off an Heroic Victory, that is still sung about today, in the mead halls of the Getae. Oroles recieved the bitter sweet news that his father had died and that he was now King of the Getae sitting on the dead tyrants throne of Tylis.

The beginning of Oroles's reign was a peaceful and prosperous one. He developed the cities's infastructure, and built roads around his kingdom. He wanted the Getae to be rich. But his family grew restless from peace, and the men wanted to return to the sadle and act like true Getae. There was a plot to overthrow the king. Oroles knew about this, he was a shrewd man, and he sent the men of his family, and the war mongering nobles, to siege the coastal city of Kallatis. He dreamed that it would become a great port, and bring riches to the Getae from trade. Brassos, Oroles's nephew, was put in charge of the army, and they promptly took Kallatis.

Now Oroles took it upon himself to unite the mountainous tribes to the north of Buridava. However, before launching his crusade, which he knew would be hard and long, he sought to strengthen his position. The near revolt of his nobles showed Oroles that he walked a narrow path. He needed resources if he were to be succesful, and not give his opponents any reason for revolt. Therefore, he raised an army, and sent it under his younger nephew, Diegis, to capture the rich city of the Skordirkoi, Singidunum. This was my first campaign, and I will describe it to you in detail, a boy never forgets his first battle. However, it must wait, as I near the end of my role of Vellum.

Dromichaetes


The Battle for Singidunum

The battle started, when Tauronos, the King of Singidunum, sallied forth. He led with is noblemen, the feared and respected Ischyroi Orditon. Dieges had us drawn up in several long ranks. I was behind the first line of spearmen, but in front of the archers. Dieges and the other nobles charged the Orditon as they engaged our spearmen.
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We, the Wolves of the Getae, as we were known, were throwing our javelins into the massed bulk of the enemy. When we ran out of javelins, our captain ordered us to charge the flank of the Orditon. By this time the bulk of the enemy, even Tauronos, were fighting our line. Dieges kept on charging and retreating, using the weight of his calvary to destroy the enemy.
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Eventually, we managed to envelope the Skordirkoi soldiers, and the broke and fled to the safety of their walls. We followed, captured the gates, and killed those fleeing and broken enemies. By the time Dieges had come up from chasing down those Skordirkoi who had chosen the mountains, instead of their towns, he was able to enter the town at the head of his conquering army.
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The battle was successful, but the cost was dear. Among one of those casualities was our captain, who led our charge into the Orditon in support of Dieges. I was appointed as lieutenant, since the last one was appointed to be captain. This was a proud day for me, as I was also recognised for my bravery and valour during the battle.
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While we destroyed the Skirdirkoi, we also lost 700 of our own men. We were held back from sacking the town, and tribute started being paid to Buridava. It was a succesful battle for us, and it paved the way for our Northern Campaign, which was to follow.


The campaign against the Northern Tribes began in earnest once the city of Singidunum was brought under control. It did not yet have the facilities to train and equip men that would be needed to replace the soldiers lost to the assault on the city. Those bands lacking in warriors were thus sent back to Buridava to be brought up to there original compliment. As a commissioned officer, since my promotion, I was allowed in to the council of war. My unit had not lost that many men, so we stayed in Signidunum, and we were preoccupied with keeping order in the recently conquered town. Half a year passed in this way, and the spring campaigning season came around again. We were sent up, with the majority of the army, to the lands around the stronghold of Sarmiszegthusa. This was the main fort of the Agathyrisi, the tribe who had assumed leadership in the war against the Getae. With an army slightly larger than the one that had besieged Signidunum, we were confident of victory. Dregos, the general, nevertheless hoped to starve the Agathyrisi out of their town, but after three months the men were growing restless, they didn't want to be involved in the year long siege, like the previous one.

We brought our ram, and hoped to take the Eastern gate of the town. Our army was slightly larger then two thousand men, and we out numbered the enemy handsomly, a privelege which was not often due to us.
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The army lined up, and the falxmen advanced with the ram, under cover of our archers. The Agathyrisi, with their allies, did not offer battle outide their walls, but choose to remain behind them, an might our soldiers in the street.
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The gate was battered, and Rhemaxos led a calvary charge through them, scattering the men who had taken up positions there. This was met with a counter charge by the enemy general, but by this time our spearmen had moved up, and he was killed. The enemy broke and routed from the gate, and fled to the central square to make their last stand.
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There, having run out of javelins, I led the men in a charge up the small hillock, on which the town was built.
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We met the enemy, and were soon joined by the rest of our army. The battle was tough here, and one of our generals, Koson, the elder son of Oroles, died in the fighting.
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However, apart from this notable, and heroic, death, we did not lose as many men as we were expecting. Around a fifth of our men, 400, fell, to the fighting, and we secured for ourselves a grand prize.

Some of the populace was sent to our other towns, there would have been risk of revolt if they had been kept all together. Sarmiszegethusa had one of the most renowned stud farms in the land, and Rhemaxos ordered that a mounted band of skirmishers be formed, from veterans from my band. I was chosen to lead this, as the captain of the wolves had chosen to stay on foot. We still had not subjugated the whole of Agathyrisi territory, and a small group of soldiers from that, and the allied tribes, were still roaming about the country side. Rhemaxos needed to stay in Sarmiszegethusa to keep order, so he sent me at the head of half of his garrison to hunt down this army, under the leadership of Thiamathos, a minor family of the Agathyrisi royal family. This was a proud day for me and my family, having risen from the ranks of peasent farmers to take command of a Getic army, numbering over 1,000 strong. This was when I was only 22, my brother being 24. The battle against the Agathyrisi, the first battle I had fought as general, and in the field, was one of my proudest moments, and brought me to the attention of Oroles.

I met the last army of the Agathyrsi up high in the mountains. We shadowed each other for a couple of days, before I was able to force them to battle, at the edge of a forest. There I found that I outnumbered the army by 2 to 1. I drew my army up in a line and sent the skirmishers and archers to harass the enemy.
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This had the desired effect as the enemy general, a mounted archer, came up to retaliate against my missiles units. We, my band of calvary, charged out of a small grove, and wheeled and threw our javelins into the enemy horsemen.
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While this was going on, our infantry moved up and engaged the enemy footmen in hand to hand combat. Their infantry were of better quality, and my spearmen could not initially gain an upper hand. But, we had the weight of numbers, and so were able to surround their lines.
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We forced some of their men to flee, but the elite units stood their ground, but it wasn't long before they too were forced to resign.
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Fighting then moved into the forest, my horsemen went mopping up the fleeing enemy. The main body of my infantry regrouped on the plain outside the forest. The enemy captain, Thiamarkos, still did not engage in hand to hand combat, fleeing at the sight of my infantry, and firing arrows into them as he retreated.
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They outnumbered my horsemen, but I had to sacrafice some of my men so that the infantry and spearmen could come up and engage them. Eventually, however, they were forced to flee the field, as they were losing men, and the rest of his army had fled already. The enemy had lost all of their six hundred men, while I only lost three hundred of mine, most of them were from my unit of horsemen, which lost two thirds of their compliment.
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It was after this victory that I was mentioned to Oroles, in one of the reports which his clerks and advisors are required to put together for him. He was planning a new campaign at this time, to the South. He had recently completed construction of a port for Tylis, so that we could trade on the Black and Aegean Sea. However, the people of Byzantium had blocked access to the Aegean for our ships, and Oroles wanted this resolved. He knew he could not employ diplomacy with them, we had already sent a diplomat, who had been killed. He was looking for an able lieutanent, from outside the Royal Family, to help him on this campaign, which he hoped to lead himself. It was because of this reason that I sent my footmen back to Sarmiszegethusa, while I continued on to Buridava, to gather new horsemen, and from there to Tylis.


The Siege of Byzantion

I met with the great king and his assembled host at our southern city of Tylis. The king was old and frail, with white hair and a rasping voice. Still, we had those sharp blue eyes, which I remember so vividly. They spoke of intelligence , and of a real genius, militarily and otherwise. The night before we set off for Byzantion, Oroles held a great feast. I was placed at his right side, a truly honoured position, since I was to be his second-in-command and effectively the real commander on the battlefield, as Oroles was too old to fight and command.

'Tell me, why do you think I choose you to be my lieutenant? Why not one of my sons or nephews?' Oroles leaned to his right as he spoke, but didn't look directly at me, instead he kept his gaze on the other revellers.

'I would like to say, sir, that it is because you think of me as a better soldier. But, you have not seen me fight or lead like you have your sons. I would say the real reason is that you want the honour for yourself, if I may be so bold to say, and that if you brought one of your sons along, they would only claim it was there victory.' I was nervous on how he would accept my answer. I was honest, and I hope that that was what he wanted.

'HaHaHa,' for an old man he had a loud laugh in him. He turned his head and looked at me. 'You're a smart one, yes, you're smart. You got in one, and because of that, I am not ashamed to be sharing the spoils with you. Though, it will be a king's victory, you will have honour from it.' He turned now to his other side, and told a raunchy joke, his favorite kind as I was to learn on your march to Byzantion, but clapped me on the back as he turned. I was both nervous and ashamed, for some reason, and I only looked into my drink, not wanting to have to talk to the other party goers about the great man, and what he had said to me.


The march was a slow one, for Oroles could not ride for very long or very fast, and as a Getae, he would never ride in a sedan or carriage. Eventually, though, we came into sight of the coastal city. The crops from the surrounding farms had been gathered in, and the rest burnt, obviously they did not want us to stay long. Neither did Oroles, he was in poor health and wanted to capture the city as fast as possible. I sent some lumberjacks out to cut down a suitible tree, and make a ram, we were going to storm the city. A dangerous tactic, considering the reputation of the Achaean's hoplites.

Never the less, we assembled the next day, ready to capture the city. I mounted my horse, and drew up the whole army in battle positions. It was a sight to behold, we were lined out on a hill overlooking the city, like a hawk circling high above it's prey, before swooping down and snatching it in iron talons.

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The Byanztions knew they could not match us the open field, preferring to stick to their narrow streets. So it was easy to bring our ram up to their gate and batter it down.

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Then came the hard part, getting past and killing those well armed and armoured Hoplites. They were to prove the death of many Getae that day.

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We had a lot of archers, skilled bowmen from up the coast in Thrace, so while our spearmen engaged the hoplites in hand to hand combat, our missile troops cut their ranks down with javelins and arrows.

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It cost us dear, but soon we were able to push them back to the centre of their town, where they made one last desperate stand.

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However, Getic numbers and skill cut them down, and they became another conquered enemy on our long list full of them.

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Byzantion was the fiercest fight I have ever fought. Many men, both Getic and Greek, fell that day, all of them brave soldiers. I do not begrudge the Byzantions their defense, it is only human nature to want to defend your homeland. They did bring the Getic host upon themselves, by blocking our trade, so no matter how brave they were, they were the authors of their own downfall.


Oroles and myself stayed in Byzantion for some months. It had a level of luxury the hard working Getae were not used to. It was probably because of this that Oroles lived as long as he did. He was proud of me, as much as he was of his own sons. He taught me history and writing, and military tactics. It seems I was his pet project, to improve a young man from the Getic hills, and give him an education. I became captain of his guards, a nominal demotion from general, but it was something I could not refuse. I got to lead the best troops the Getae had to offer, and was a well respected man, a noble by some accounts.

After six months though, Oroles finally succumbed to his old age and illness. We burned his body in the traditional manner, and he was sent off in a smoke of perfume and sacrafices. We feasted that night, and told tales of his daring.

I was now the commander in Byzantion, but that was not to last. Rhemaxos became king, after his father, and felt that I was too powerful, as commander of the large Getic war host and because I was favored by the much loved king. It was only because of the friendship of some of the men under Rhemaxos that I learnt that he had sent a band of soldiers to arrest me for treason and plotting agaisnt him, and of killing Oroles. I presented what was aledge to the bodyguard, though now they had been incorporated into the main army. They were loyal to me, and no one else. They said that they would fight for me, proclaim me king, and march against Rhemaxos. But that would be an act of a traitor, and only confirm what Rhemaxos had accused me off.

The next morning, before dawn, me and my guards, saddled our horses. It was a cool morning, with mist rolling in from the sea. We said our goodbyes, and road out of the Eastern gate of Byzantion. News came soon after that we left just in time, that evening Rhemaxos's goons arrived and searched for us in vain, we had escaped death again, but only barely.

We were headed to the Macedonian court, to offer ourselves as mercenaries. We were feared calvarymen, known throughout Greece, Dacia and Thrace for our skill with javelin and lance. The Macedonian king took us on, and then I realised that I was no longer a Getic soldier, but a soldier of fortune, exiled from my homeland, forced to wander the world. That is where my story ends, for it would no longer be about the life of a Getic soldier, and that is what I am writing about.

Nice.