Re-unification - WRE PBM write-ups thread

[Dutch_guy]

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[Dutch_guy]

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[econ21]

Syracuse, Summer 406 AD

Spurius Cipius, Emporer of Rome, knelt down on the hard stone floor of his bed chamber and bowed his head.

“Why me, oh Lord? I am no one. A small landowner from Sicily, how can I lead your Empire? I am not a proud Flavian or a great general. I command no army and have no powerful allies. Why did the Senate pick me? Have we fallen so low, that I am the best they can come up with?”

Spurius closed his eyes with a pained expression. What had happened to Rome? Pulled apart from within, the Western half was now humbled. Barbarians had seized provinces in Gaul and claimed them as their own. Samartian hordes were rampaging through northern Italy. A rebel faction had claimed Africa. Britain had been abandoned to the mercy of fierce Saxon raiders and wild Celts. Communications between Rome and her new conquest, Constantinople were threatened by the loss of Salona. Rome’s finest generals were effectively prisoners of the cities they governed, unable to withdraw their meagre garrisons in order to take to the field for fear of sparking uprisings. Indeed, there were no field armies worthy of the name and no navy of any kind. Provinces were neglected, many having outgrown the infrastructure available and trade was underdeveloped due to the lack of ports and marketplaces.

Spurius’s prayer turned to ritual and then slowly he rose to his feet. It was time for decision. First, he must escape the blockade of Sicily before the Eastern Roman fleet learnt of his coronation. Then he must make his way to Rome. In the meantime, he had to give orders to muster every available soldier to drive out the Samartians. After that he would divide the army. Some he would send to Gaul, to help drive out the barbarians who had usurped Roman rule there. The rest, he would lead east, to Constantinople, to continue the campaign for reunification by crossing the Bosphorus into Asia Minor.

And what of the Flavians? The Senate had insisted on Andragathius Flavius being named Caesar. Well, so be it. Spurius’s own son was too young to be considered and anyway there was something about the boy that was not quite as it should be. With the succession safely theirs, the Flavians might simply bide their time and remain loyal. Spurius knew little of Andragathius. The man had no record of command or any apparent vices and correspondingly few virtues, except his reported piety. Well, what else does one need, but piety? thought Spurius. So, he would give Andragathius command of an expedition to reclaim Africa. The command should keep him out of trouble and anyway, Andragathius should be able to use the great influence of the Flavian clan to persuade the elders of the great city of Carthage to rejoin the Empire. In truth, Rome’s campaigns were increasingly political - about convincing people to stay true to the Empire, rather than primarily military. If the army was restricted to policing the cities, there could be no proper military campaigns.

Spurius reached the door and paused. In the last few minutes, he had just mapped out the course of his entire reign. He now knew what needed to be done. Surely, God moves in mysterious ways.

[econ21]

A battlefield outside Mediolanium, Summer 407 AD

Young Attalus Commodus watched his general making battle plans. Attalus remembered first meeting his general a year ago, in a ramshackle fort outside Massila. He had been horrified at the meagre garrison - a few dozen mercenaries and a gang of peasants. The general himself had been unshaven and battle scarred, still mourning the loss of most of his escort. It was amazing to think that now the general, Romulus Sertorius, was leading a fine full Roman army to battle against the Sarmatians. Where the soldiers had come from, Attalus did not know. It was a tribute to the efficiency of the Imperial Secretariat, headed by Attalus’s father-in-law.



Romulus Sertorius leads a large army to confront the Sarmatians in North Italy

Romulus looked up at his young military Tribune. “This will be a battle to remember, Attalus.”

Attalus nodded. In truth, he had no idea what to expect - unlike Romulus, he had never fought the Sarmatians before or indeed seen any combat. How would these hordes fight? Romulus had deployed his army in a wide, dispersed formation. Cohorts of legionnaires were placed intermittently across a wide front, backed by loose formations of archers. Evidently, Romulus did not expect a simple, close order battle. Rather his army was deployed like a net designed to catch the elusive Sarmatians.

Attalus followed the glance of his general. Romulus was staring into the wood on their left. Attalus understood. A true Roman did not like to fight in a wood. They fought out in the open, shoulder to shoulder. Woods were for skulking barbarians, for ambushes and war without honour. Romulus shook his head resignedly. No matter, woods or not, they must advance. They had to drive the Sarmatians out of Italy.

“Go to your men, Attalus. It is time.”

Attalus saluted and headed out the tent towards his escort. Already, he could hear the pickets shout out and instinctively, Attalus turned to the wood. He could see them - horsemen, moving out of the shadows. They were moving around the Roman army’s left. Attalus scanned the horizon to this right. Sarmatian horse were moving there too: a double envelopment. This could get nasty, Attalus thought. Romulus had ordered his many archers, protected by scattered cohorts, to skirmish with the Sarmatian horse archers. A unit of foederati spearmen moved to drive off the Sarmatians moving round the Roman left.


The battle opens with Sarmatian horse archers working their way around the Roman left, while their main force approaches through the woods.

Attalus mounted quickly and motioned to his escort to follow. As a military Tribune, he had responsibility for the Roman horse. Romulus had given him strict instructions. Roman horse was scarce - aside from the generals’ escorts, they were only two units on the field - and could easily be dissipated chasing after the fast skirmishing Sarmatians. It had to be reserved for the decisive point of the battle, after the enemy were committed.

Attalus approached the captain of his troop of Sarmatian auxiliary cavalry, saluting in the proper Roman fashion. These were the most valuable fighters in the army. The days of the heavy infantry were dying and now it was the heavy cavalry that was in the ascendant. Since Rome had few native cavalry, did that mean Rome’s days were numbered? The irony of having to rely on Sarmatians to defeat their countrymen was not lost on Attalus. He spoke to the captain of the auxiliaries: “I need you to do a delicate thing.”

The rugged Sarmatian captain looked impassively at the young Roman Tribune.

“King Aram, you know him?” Attalus continued.

The captain nodded non-commitally - what Sarmatian had not heard of their king, a bear of a man, in his prime at 43?

Attalus said: “I want you to watch for his banner on the field. When he is committed to the battle, I want you to ride your men behind him. And kill him”

The captain thumped his arm across his chest and then raised it in salute. “Aram has made one mistake denying the one true God and another attacking Rome. We will stop him.”

Attalus returned the salute with vigour - the loyalty of Rome’s auxiliaries never ceased to impress him.

The rest of the battle was a confused affair. The Sarmatian foot charged out of the woods and for a time, the dispersed cohorts struggled to contain them. The sole unit of limitanei lost 49 of their number, underlining the fact that such troops belonged in garrisons and not field armies. By contrast, the plumbatari and Samartian auxiliaries proved their worth - one unit of each killing 216 and 281 respectively. The key moment came when most of both armies were engaged and the Sarmatian auxilary cavalry were committed to a charge on the rear of King Aram's escort, running him down.



The decisive moment of the battle - Sarmatian auxiliaries cut down King Aram.

The final tally from the battle was 1597 Sarmatians killed for the loss of 322 Romans. But more importantly, the loss of Aram and all the royal family left the Sarmatians leaderless and the horde dissolved.



The battle marks the end of the Sarmatian horde.

Romulus received no reward for his victory. His loyalty was regarded as suspect by the Imperial Secretariat and he was removed from command of a field army, being given instead the governorship of a province in Gaul. Attalus, son-in-law, to the head of the Imperial Secretariat, was seen as more trustworthy and less dangerous, so he was given part of Romulus's army to march to northern Gaul to reinforce the garrisons facing the Huns and Saxons. The remainder of the army began the march east, to Constantinople by way of rebel held Salona.

[econ21]

410 Summer, Salona

Spurius Cipius stifled a yawn. Eugenius Flavius, the Quaester Sacri Palati, was droning on endlessly about the priorities for reconstruction of the city. Salona had been sacked by the Samartians en route to Italy and then occupied by rebellious Illyrians, reluctant to return to Roman rule. Eugenius was stressing the importance of building ports, mines and markets. The city dignatories sat, feigning interest as Eugenius nervously stumbled over his words. They are probably grateful they were treated so leniently after the assault on the city by Eugenius’s men. Well, having to sit through this lecture punishment enough, Spurius thought with a grimace.

When, after what seemed like a lifetime, the meeting ended, Spurius took Eugenius to one side.

“You could not wait for me?” Spurius said, half in jest. “You had to retake the city yourself!”

Eugenius looked earnestly at his Emperor: “The city has suffered too much, your majesty. It would have been a crime to leave it a day longer under such lawlessness and anarchy.”

Spurius nodded, without conviction, so Eugenius took him by the arm.

“But really, does it matter, who does what, so long as God’s will is done? And you know, I did nothing. It was our men who stormed the city. The cohort that reached the walls first slayed over 600 and lost fewer than 20.”

Spurius looked at the hand on his arm and smiled at the man who dared to admonish an Emperor for his vanity: “But Eugenius, you are not without your own bravery, are you not?”

Eugenius pulled his arm away with a gentle self-conscious laugh. “Your majesty, would you join me a prayer of thanksgiving? Not only for Salona, but also for the liberation of Colonia Agrippina from the Huns and for Illus Flavius’s capture of Ancrya from the imposters in the east.”

Spurius smiled wryly. “Yes, but why do I have the feeling that all that was the easy part?”



Illus Flavius takes the lightly defended city of Ancrya by storm

[econ21]

410 AD Winter, Colonia Agrippina

Attalus sank exhausted onto the couch, his limbs aching. After the city had fallen, he had fought in four consecutive battles, pursuing the horde of Huns that had taken flight. Each battle had been the same. Marching in the dark, through fields wet with dew, towards the torches of the enemy. The Huns, remorseless fighters themselves, had not seemed able to cope with determination of the Roman general, Rufinus Potitus. By attacking at night, Rufinus had managed to surprise the Huns and defeat them piecemeal. The battles with the Huns were not unlike Attalus’s encounter with the Sarmatians outside Mediolanium. However, Rufinus was a more outstanding general than Sertorius. At the final encounter, 900 Romans had met 1660 Huns and killed 1588 barbarians for the loss of only 69 Romans. Still, the fighting had been brutal with the Hun horse archers in particular being lethal and elusive enemies. Now, thankfully, it was over.



In the battles against the first Hun horde in 410AD, Rufinus Potitus could invariably be found at the decisive point, leading his escort to smash that of the enemy general.

The door flung open and Attalus heard loud footsteps marching into the room. He looked up, to see Rufinus striding in. The vigour of the older man seemed to spark off the walls and so, painfully, Attalus raised himself up.

“Should we go after them, Attalus?” Rufinus asked, intensely, pacing around the room.

“General, the Huns are finished.” and so am I, Attalus thought self-pityingly, rubbing his forehead, trying to focus.

Rufinus siezed on the younger man's words: “Yes, that’s it. We have them now! Four times we have smashed them. One more blow and they will be gone forever.”

Attalus spoke wearily: “What can they do? Their forces are less than half the size of a proper field army.”

Rufinus was now pouring over the map on the table, muttering. “One more blow…”

Slowly, Attalus levered himself off the couch and moved towards the map. The smell of candlewax seemed to have a sobering effect on him.

“If we pursue them, we must leave the city undefended. We will need every man. Every battle has cost us dearly. And this place has not known Roman rule for many years. A small garrison would likely be butchered by the Hun sympathesisers or the Saxons. Even if the whole army stays, I am not sure we can avert a rebellion.”

Rufinus nodded, seemingly unconcerned, as if the loss of the city were a price he was willing to pay to finally eradicate the Huns.

Attalus was wide awake now and animated: “Is that what we have liberated the city for? Just to lose it again? Do we want to leave these women and children at the mercy of every thug or barbarian on the border?”

Rufinus looked at his military Tribune with renewed respect: “Very well, we shall rest. After all, what can the Huns do now that we have killed more than 5500 of their men in one season?”

And so, with relief, Attalus returned to his couch and the Huns were able to slip away.

A year later, Attalus was still relaxed to learn that the Huns were besieging Samarobriva, once a Roman city but since passed into Saxon hands. Taking time to make sure Colonia Aggripina remained loyal, the Romans slowly mustered an army to challenge the Huns. But, en route to Samarobriva, Attalus learnt that the city had fallen. The Huns, who he thought were finished, now had a new powerbase to build from. Replenished, they would be free to horde again once the Romans stormed their new capital. On learning this, it would be some days before Attalus could bring himself to stand before Rufinus Potitus.



The second Hun horde that materialised in 418 AD after Rufinus seized Samarobriva. Rufinus will again pursue the steppe horsemen, defeating them in five battles until only a skeleton force remains.

[econ21]

420 Summer, west of Ancrya

So, Lord, I am dying. And I die here, in the east, as my army prepares to give battle with that of the false Emperor. Not much of a general, was I, Lord? Never even saw a battle.

Have I served you well, Lord? My hands are clean. I have put no towns to the sword. I have forgiven those who rebelled against Rome. No free man born within our rightful borders has been enslaved. Even the barbarians on our borders, I have left undisturbed.

And you, Lord, have rewarded us well. You delivered Salona to Eugenius Flavius; Ancrya and Ephesus to Illus Flavius; Constantinople and Lepcis Magna to Andragthius Flavius; Colonia Agrippina and Samarobriva to Rufinus Potitus. And, most miraculous of all, you even returned Londinium to the fold, by inspiring Aurelianus Donatus to lead a loyalist rebellion, much as you inspired me to do in Syracuse so long ago.

And so now, Lord, I am ready. There is much still to be done. But I have just been your humble servant. I have no doubt Eugenius was right. It matters not who does what, so long as your will is done. Andragthius will take up the throne as he was promised. By popular acclaim, Rufinus Potitus will be his Caesar. And me, Lord, I just give thanks for what you have given us and pray forgiveness for all my sins.

Spurius Cipius
Augustus, 406-420 AD