[Multi-AAR] - History of men - EB part

[podoh]

I liked this chapter.
Should do some catching up though 'cause the last chapter I read was around the second punic war.

[Fixiwee]

I liked this chapter.
Should do some catching up though 'cause the last chapter I read was around the second punic war.

Thank you. I know it's quite a lot of reading. But I think it's easier to skip a fiew chapters in my AAR then in most others.

[Fixiwee]

“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”
-Dwight David Eisenhower

War in Southern Gaul
(67 BC - 63 BC)

Helenos – The life of Claudius Nero
(written about 100 AD)




Aulus Claudius Nero returned to Rome from Greece at the age of 34 in the year 686 ab urbe Condita [68 BC]. By then he owned a large sum of money that his father made during the years as proconsul in Macedonia. He also owned his own private army and used it against Getae tribes nearly ten years ago when Claudius Nero was only a bit over twenty years old. He had at first supported Calatinus but switched to Silanus after he realized that Calatinus was willing to act openly against his former protégé [Silanus]. After having accomplished so much by his young age Nero was popular with the masses and respected by the Senate. When he entered Rome that year he was greeted by many Senators personally by the Porta Capena. Claudius Nero enjoyed the dignitas of a proconsul.
But soon he realized that all his authority and respect meant little in the cursus honorum. Like everyone else he had to begin his political career as a Quaestor. But due to his fame and prestige he wanted to skip all of the magistrates and in the winter of the same year he ran for Consul, without having even started the cursus honorum and being too young for this office.
The Optimates, who at that time were running the Senate, were in a difficult position. After all Nero supported them, yet they were unable to control the young man. They sought a different solution to appease a man of his authority.

Senator Aemilius Lepidus proposed to let Nero deal with the Arverni problem in Southern Gaul. They gave him an imperium maius, a special command over Gallia Narbonensis. He was allowed to wage war and administrate diplomacy at his own decision. In early 687 AUC [67 BC] Nero left Rome and for the moment the Senate was glad to have this ambitious and powerful young Roman out of the city.
From Gallia Narbonensis he inspected the legions and trained his men for the upcoming war against the Arverni. Their young king, Viridovix moc Erbin continued his aggressions against the Massalians and the Roman allies since he became king four years ago. By autumn of the same year Nero started his campaign against the Arverni. The goal was the Arverni capital Georgivina. On the 15th of September he faced Viridovix in the first battle of Brivas where the Arverni used the surrounding woods as cover. The Romans were not used of fighting at the woods so Nero took extra precautions not to run into a trap. According to Nero the Arverni king had about 30.000 men, though some sources claim that the number was about 25.000. Nero describes the fighting in his written account to the Senate.


Neros account to the Senate:
I ordered the soldiers to wait in front of the woods, letting scouts advance and gather information about the barbarians.*
*Nero had quite the disliking for Gauls. He hardly used the proper names of the tribes, but simply calling them barbarians.





I cautiosly led them through the thick wood by relying on the competence of my centurions. Hardly any of the soldiers has ever fought in the woods so everything dependend on the Roman centurios.


The key to victory was not to advance hasitly to the enemy line but to draw them to us. So I made sure the Barbarians could not use any tricks and traps on the men. By giving the soldier more Pila to carry the Barbarians were harrased to attack.


As soon as possible I let the heavily equiped Arverni be drawn outside the woods again. There they would be no match for a brave Roman soldier.


[...] As soon as the Kings encampent was discovered I led more troops to the glade.


The king decided to attack the battle hardy Antesignani. Being equipped with spears they stood a good chance against the heavy horses.


More and more the fighting took place in the glade as the king called his soldiers to defend their master. This was the biggest mistake of the leader.


The huge number of Roman troops split up the warbands and encircled them. By sheer Roman discipline we broke their spirits and killed a many thousand of the barbarians.



The overwhelming number of 37.000 Roman troops eventually forced Viridovix to retreat and reorganise his troops. Less then 8.000 Gauls survived the battle.

Facing a sudden onset of winter in October Nero set up a camp at Brivas since he didn’t want to give up what he won in the battle one month ago. Viridovix saw his chance to fight against the Romans in the woods and in snow at the same time. Even for the Arverni that is a tough task, but since their lands have more snow than Italy the barbarians are much more accustomed to it. So it came to the second battle of Brivas. Viridovix now had rallied some 30.000 troops, which was about as much as Nero had by now.


Again we looked at the same woods where the Barbarians tried to defeat us. But our spirit was stronger then ever. We defeated the Barbarians once so we knew we could again.




Again the enemy was unable to draw us deeply into the woods. Being in reach of the clearing we engaged the Barbarians. This time the men were told not to take any prisoners and kill everyone who surrendered at spot.



The enemy fought bravly but undisciplined. Virdovix seemed to be too young, too inexperienced to learn from the way Romans fought. Having the woods as the biggest advantage he never used it to the full possibility. Being drawn out of the woods once again the barbarians stood no chance.


Trying to retreat to the woods again the soldiers killed many barbarians.


Even though many, including the king, escaped we had won a great victory. After killing thousand over thousand of Barbarians I wondered what could stop us defeating the Arverni.

Nero was a cunning and experienced military commander. He quickly adapted to the surroundings and made sure that his men learnt how to fight in wood and snow. By adapting to the Arvernis tactics he turned around the odds and defeated the proud young king. The blow he dealt to Virdovix was severe. Over 20.000 Gauls lay dead on the field and the Arverni king now faced a Roman General with superior number of troops. He called for help at the Bituriges tribe located north to him. Meanwhile Nero started laying siege against Gergovia in the following spring. Because the Bituriges did send help Nero was unable to wait outside the walls and let Virdovix starve to death. He realised that with additional troops waiting on the other side of the hill-town he had to take the city by force and drive the Arverni allies away from the prey.




In early Maius 688 AUC [May 66 BC] Nero used all his military wit to take the well fortified town.


The barbarian capital was situated on a well defended hill. Taking the town by force was a risky task which could lead to the utter destruction of the Roman legions.


The barbarians were trained in shooting bows. Vital to the siege was protection by using the shields for cover.


[...]But the Arverni did not have enough men to defend every spot of the same time. By attacking from multiple direction I effecivly weakend the barbarian town.


The siege came with some costs since taking a town is never an easy thing to do. Ruined debris lay all around the walls since the barbarians were witty in disturbing our attacks. [...]





After the walls were taken I took extra precautions to reorganise the men.


The bituriges advanced to the city trying to protect it since the Arverni king didn't have any men to defend it.


So the Roman troops had to fight additional men coming to the city from the nothern gate.


This proved to be difficult and the battle for the town went on for hours. Both sides suffered loss of men and blood...


...but in defending the town and his people Viridovix gave his life.


Yet the enemy bitterly tried to defend what he had left. So the fighting went on till the evening. Rain came and rain went away and both sides fought to exhaustion.





By the 20th hour the men cleared up the last pockets of resitance in the town. No barbarian carrying a weapon that day lived to see the next morning.

With Virdovix killed in battle and the Bituriges driven off Nero had utterly destroyed his foes and accomplished the war goals. But by subduing one of the strongest Gallic tribes the Romans also destabilized the Region and it would take some more years until Nero could return to Rome.

[Fixiwee]

Is it just me or is the new forum template killing the screenshots?

[vartan]

Is it just me or is the new forum template killing the screenshots?

This is true. Good choice of quote by Ike. Hope people can see past war and break down what has essentially become a normal, everyday, accepted institution in our lives.

[Fixiwee]

This is true. Good choice of quote by Ike. Hope people can see past war and break down what has essentially become a normal, everyday, accepted institution in our lives.

Indeed. The quote is the contrast to the brutal war that is going on in the text. After all this first campaign already cost over 10.000 fictional men their lives.

[Fixiwee]

How Lucius Marcundus accidentally brought down the Roman Republic

By Eric Damon

(part IV)

When Lucius woke early that morning he saw the naked breasts of his wife Tullia. She lay next to him and the blanket only covered little of her body. “What a beautiful thing she is” Lucius thought.
When he returned back to Rome from Athens some years ago his father Manius Marcundus had organised the marriage with Tullia. She was a tall woman with brown hair and a friendly face. She came from a rich family in the order of the knights with some relatives being even being senators; she was also unusually well educated and stunningly good with numbers (which was an immense help to the Marcundus family business). The whole marriage was a gain of prestige to the family and a sign of their growing wealth. They came along well, both enjoyed their lives and often both made fun about each others in quite the absurd way. Their crowning achievement so far was Servillia, their two year old daughter.
Feeling thirsty Lucius stood up fetching a mug of water. While pouring the drink into a cup he noticed that a necklace on his bed table. The centre piece was made out of stone and had the profile of a young woman on it. He knew all to well who she was for he had actually carved the face into stone. Lucius silently took the necklace and went out to the garden where he could feel the sun rise onto this young day. Standing in the fresh spring grass he mumbled “Vibia”.
He and Vibia met at a party in Athens some ten years ago. It was the same place where he first met Caesar. After that fateful night he started having a sexual affair with Vibia which went on for a few months. Those were the most passionate nights with a woman he had ever had. She had a unique look with black long hair and he used to say that making love to her was like dancing naked with a goddess. Looking at her face carved in stone Lucius memory brought back her wonderful smell, something he recalled being between dark grapes and resins dripped in honey.

He sighted.

Lucius realised that he loved both women in his life, his wife Tullia and his long gone affair Vibia. But the latter he loved with a passion that he could not describe, nor could he tell anyone, except for his old childhood friend Tiberius who was far too pragmatic to really understand his feelings.

Lucius was 22 when he last saw her. Next week he would turn 30. And even after all this years he could not get her out of his head. How was she doing? Was she married? Did she have children? Was she still alive?
He could hear Tiberius speaking in his head: ‘Better get her out of your mind. You have everything you want: A lovely smart wife, a healthy child and a business that earns you a lot of money’.
But Lucius heart was filled with agony. He wanted something else. It was the call of the wild, the lust for adventure. To leave everything behind, he thought, maybe only for a year or two. Feel freedom for a while - Maybe in Northern Gaul for example. Seeing the large dangerous woods and the wild animals he heard so much lately with Claudius Nero fighting Gallic tribes there.

“Maybe Tiberius is right” he thought, “I’m better of this way.”
Lucius went back to bed and kissed his wife on the neck, trying his luck for some pleasant good morning sex.

[Fixiwee]

Galia est pacata

War in Southern Gaul
(67 BC - 63 BC)

The Roman Empire, by Wolfgang Schreier, Bonn 2003

The decisive victory over the Arverni king changed the political situations among the Gallic tribes. In 66 BC Nero was visited by Aedui [Haedui] emissaries who wanted to discuss an alliance between Rome and their tribes. Being ignorant about the political stability of Gaul Nero sent them away. The reason of the Aedui push for external security was another Gallic tribe that threatened to attack them: the warlike Allobroges. The Aedui emissaries travelled to Rome asking the Senate for help. The Roman consul Dollabella saw his opportunity to limit Nero’s ever rising prestige. He brought the Senate to agree to an alliance with the Aedui despite Nero’s special task authority in Gaul. The young general could do nothing but to accept the meddling of the Senate in his affairs.



The Roman Republic are in red, the Allobroges in green, the Aedui in dark green and the Bituriges in yellow.


The Allobroges actually saw the alliance as a threat to their security and being a warlike tribe they attacked the Aedui in the winter of 65 BC. Now Nero saw his opportunity to go to war again, so he was lucky that the Senate dragged his legions to a legal position for war and in early spring he marched against his new foe. The Allobroges didn’t prove a match for the experienced Roman troops. Their king, Maglocunos Moc Casticos soon saw him self besieged in his town Viennos. Nevertheless he received back up from another Roman enemy, the Bituriges who already fought with the Arverni against Nero only a few years ago.


The town Viennos


Roman soldiers storming the wall. Viennos put up less resistance then the camaign against the Arverni.


Viennos put up less resistance then the camaign against the Arverni.


After only three weeks the walls were broken and storming the city only took one day.


King Casticos soon saw himself overwhelmed by Roman forces.

Nero defeated the Allobroges in the battle of Viennos in the summer of 64 BC adding the conquered area to the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The following year he turned against the Bituriges and faced them in the battle of Cenocorii.


In the battle of Cenocorii the Romans adapted wood fighting against the Gauls.


That way Nero was able to hide his vast number of troops and lure the Bituriges into a trap.


Roman troops marching to battle once again. The many victories of Nero made him popular with soldiers and moral was very high. (Fighting against Gauls was still something the Romans had mixed feelings about. The history of Brenus sacking Rome was still popular.)


The Romans also relied on Gallic cavalry, since they had none of their own.


Gallic slingers fleeing from Roman auxillian cavallry.


The Bituriges were not in a proper formation to fight the large Roman army. Despite this, they were even more flexible and mobile then the Roman troops so they started to retreat and regroup to the woods.




Neros legions were rolling over the enemy.


Due to their mobility the Celts regrouped near the woods. But the manouver costed time and men and eventually the Romans surrounded the Bituriges and eventually destroyed them.

After their loss the southern Bituriges tribe surrendered to Nero. He installed a new province called Aquitania and for now Roman rule was stable in southern Gallia. Nero did not rush back to Rome; instead he secured the new provinces and stayed a few more months in Massallia. In 62 BC he returned to Rome, disbanded his troops like was expected from him. Nero was rewarded with a triumph that he celebrated in winter 62 BC. All seemed to be going well for the Optimates in Rome, until the moment Nero started to press for a new land-law that would supply his veterans in early 61 BC […]

[Fixiwee]

Before beginning, plan carefully.
-Marcus Tullius Cicero

The first triumvirate

A history of Rome, by Prof Alfred Kennard, 2002 New York

In 61 BC Nero presented his law regarding his veterans before the Senate. He didn’t expect any troubles considering the rather modest version of the law. But Nero was looked with scepticism from his own people – the Optimates. And now the disintegration process of the Roman Republic started in full effect. The most prominent members of the Senate, Iunius Brutus and Sergius Orata, blocked the law. Ancient historians already wondered why the elder Iunius Brutus acted totally irreproducible in handling Nero. The successful general then tried to push his law through the people’s assembly but fights on the Forum prevented the any further actions. Nero realised that he was rejected by his own people. Frustrated he had to look for new allies. In that sense the Optimates played Nero right into the hands of Marcus Julius Caesar.


The elderly Brutus. His irresponsible actions played Nero into the arms of Caesar.

Caesar had served as Propraetor in Illyria from 65 to 63 BC. In those years he campaigned against Illyrians and Pannonians in modern-day Slovenia. According to Helenos biography of Caesar he defeated armies over 15.000 men in both battles.



When he returned to Rome in 62 BC the Senate refused to award the leader of the Populares a Triumph. Angered by the Senates decision he set for a more aggressive rhetoric against the Optimates. In 61 BC he staged a spectacle to the surprise of both the Roman people and the senate. Caesar brought the exiled son of Aulus Atilius Calatinus – Servius Atilius Calatinus (or Calatinus the younger) to Rome. While Servius Calatinus did not have any political significance at the time being, this action was seen as a provocation against the Senate.


Calatinus the younger.

While Nero had been a supporter of Silanus back in the day he recognised Caesars daring move against the Senate and that was exactly what he was looking for. The following details and the exact timeline are unclear but eventually (probably in the winter of 61 BC) Caesar and Nero started a political alliance to support each other in the Senate. A third man soon joined the Alliance: the wealthy Lucius Papirius Crassus, a ruthless politician who failed becoming Consul over the past years. It was already rumoured back then that Crassus had connections with criminal groups in Rome (which will turn out to be significant later). Finally the triumvirate was born, not more then a private agreement, though it was kept secret from the Senate for the time being.


A young Nero. At the time of the triumvirate he was already 41.


A young Caesar. He was 39 at the beginning of the triumvirate.



In 60 BC it was agreed that Nero and Crassus would run for the consulship in 59 BC so that Nero could finally pass his veteran law. Caesar would run for consul the following year to protect Neros the laws. In return Nero would support Caesar to become Proconsul in one of the rich eastern provinces.
The Roman elections in spring 60 BC were accompanied with new turmoil and violence in the Senate and on the Forum but at last the motives became of the triumvirate became clear. Inius Brutus and Sergius Orata faced a new danger, yet they were ultimately helpless and could do nothing but watch Nero and Crassus become elected for consul.