Re: [Multi-AAR] - History of men - EB part
“When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.”
-Napoleon
Battles of history with Patrick GoodwinBattle of Mazana 254 BC
Who is Patrick Goodwin?
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Goodwin: In the middle of the 3rd century BC the Roman republic was at war with the Carthage. The reason for this war was a conflict for the Mediterranean Sea around Sicily. But when the war started in 262 BC nothing happened at first. The Romans did not use their superior land forces to secure the Island, and the Carthaginians at the same time did not use their fleet to cut the Roman supply from the mainland with their fleet. But a few years later both sides bolstered up their troops on Sicily. The Roman Senate decided to send a consul under the name Lucius Valerius Maximus in the year 254 BC with two consular armies and allies to secure the Island with a deceive blow against the Carthaginian army. We asked Alfred Kennard, a university professor from the University of New York about the reasons that lead to the Battle of Mazana.
Alfred Kennard
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Kennard [sitting in his office]: The first Punic war is actually quite a mystery for modern historians. We do not know the exact reasons why this war started. We have no clear aggressor; Rome had acquired all the land it needed to feed its population in the last wars. Land grabbing for reasons of trade cannot have been a reason either, Rome was no trading state and there were no merchants that influenced politics yet. Also Sicily was not the Mediterranean granary it would later become, so the strategic importance of Sicily was not a priority either. I personally believe this war was an accident and the lack of communication techniques, unlike today, made it impossible to find a compromise. As the war went on, for Rome this was simply a war to keep Carthage away from the mainland.
Goodwin: In the year 254 BC the Roman consul Lucius Valerius Maximus was campaigning in Sicily. The enemy army was commanded by two people, Hamalcar the Younger and Hamalcar the Elder, father and son. Both were Carthaginian generals that brought mercenary troops from Africa, Spain and Sicilian Greek. When Maximus reached Lilibeo, an important stronghold for Carthage, father and son decided to lay a trap for the Roman consul. Hamalcar the Elder was a seasoned and experienced military leader who had fought with much success on other Carthaginian borders and his soon showed much potential to reach his glory.
[Both father and sun sitting on a horse near a cliff that overlooks the area to Lilbeo and the sea.]
From left to right: Hamalcar the Elder, Hamalcar the Younger
Father: We have evaded the Romans for long enough, Maximus troops are now close enough. The key to our victory is that we have a superior number of troops, elephants and a sacred band from our mother, the city of Carthage. Son, I know that you are eager to show your will to fight in battle, but I need you to stay in reserve and wait for my signal.
Son: But father, I need to show my troops that I am able to lead them to battle. I can’t go on like that for ever.
Father: Silence! I will not have you question my command. I will charge you with treason if you do not obey my orders to the point. Did I make myself clear?
Son: Yes my leader.
Goodwin: The following day Carthaginian troops marched against the Roman camp, Maximus orders them to order up in a tight formation.
Maximus: Listen up my fellow Legates. My plan is to fight in a tight formation - let our army be a "Phalanx" so that Hamalcar will burst asunder with his troops . This way we can balance the large army the enemy has brought before us. Nothing can stop us now.
Goodwin: Both sides were ready and prepared for battle. The Romans had about 30.000 troops, while the Carthaginians had about 40.000 men.
The roman troops were waiting eagerly for the Carthaginians to arrive. Maximus was hardly an experienced general, but the Romans feared the Carthaginian power and were willing to stick with Maximus. Ancient historian Fabius tells us:
The soldiers of every rank were looking at the troops marching towards them; they had brought many man and fierce elephants. Unlike Hamalcar the Elder - Maximus was not a really good leader. He had only achieved the office because his family connections with the Senate and he wanted prove his worth as a leader. But besides that the Romans were loyal to him, because nevertheless he was a kind and forgiving man.
Goodwin: In the late morning the battle is a bout to begin, the mood is tense on both sides. This battle could determine the winner of Sicily.
Goodwin: The Romans have formed up in a good position, but the Carthaginians have a terrible weapon that can strike fear into any soldier; the war-trained Elephant.
Kennard: The Romans did not face Elephants for the first time. Pyrrhus, when he attacked Italy some 30 years earlier, he also brought Elephants with him. Nevertheless the sight of Elephants was a terrifying one, and the Romans had not yet developed any tactic to counter this ancient battle tank.
Goodwin: When the scouts confirmed sighting of Elephants the Roman soldiers became worried. It takes a lot to bring down an African Elephant. The only hope was that the beasts would panic when wounded and run away.
Goodwin: About 150 feet from the enemy, the Cartheginians start to charge with war cries, while the Romans throw their pila, a roman javelin onto the soldiers.
Seconds later the Carthaginian cavalry also charges into the Roman line. The impact is overwhelming, the Romans get to feel all the military power of Carthage. But the most important attack happens on the left flank of the Roman side.
The Elephants attack the left flank and are about to annihilate it. This is a dangerous moment for Maximus. He orders his most experienced soldiers to secure the left flank, the Triarii.
But even with the Triarii trying to secure the situation the Carthaginians are about to crush the left flank and the Romans are endangered to be encircled.
Meanwhile heavy fighting occurs in the centre and at the right flank. Cost of man is high on both sides and the battle proves to be a terribly acrimonious one.
Moments later Hamalcar the Younger sends his troops to battle, after his father sent the signal. He hid his army, about 10,000 people in the nearby woods.
In the centre the death toll rises, brutal hand to hand fighting that cost lives on both sides. Here Roman Hastati, the light infantry, faces the Sacred Band, a Carthaginian elite force.
The Romans cannot break through such a well organized attacker, so they sent their cavalry to encircle the sacred band. But this move leads to a crack in the left roman flank. Allthough the Romans were able to panic the Elephants under severe costs of their own men, the left flank is finally about to break away.
[Maximus sitting on his horse, a military legate is aproaching him.]
Sir, the enemy is outflanking us and we will most likely become encircled. What are your orders?
I… I don’t know?
Sir! The men need your orders least we all get slaughtered.
We… Prepare my man to charge the flanking enemy immediately.
Kennard: What Maximus intended next was called the devotion, a self-sacrifice or suicide for the greater cause of Rome. With this act he wanted to restore faith in his man to fight to the last man.
Maximus charges into the flanking enemy to the surprise of the Carthaginians. There he is lethally wounded by an enemy spear. Word of his suicide for the cause of Rome, restoring his name as a general inspired his troops who were about to loose heart.
The Principes, the standard soldier of the Roman army, rally and form a line of defence to hold up the advancing enemy.
The Carthaginians were not able to completely encircle the Romans and now faced a foe that was willing to make a final stand in this position. The hours went on, and the fighting was still grim and fierce. Dead bodies lying everywhere, wounded screaming for help and some thousand man on both sides still fighting and trying to win.
Hamalcar the Elder is now in a difficult position. He fears that the Romans are to determined to win, so he orders that he will personally attack with his unit of heavy horses and break the spirit.
Hamalcar the Elder: Our cavalry is the needs to break the Roman spirit. We need to push hard, constantly charging the enemy. We can break the spirit, I know it. Ba’al give me strength.
Hamalcars charge did not have the effect he sought. The Romans still stand and fight. Fabius tells us about this particular moment:
But the Roman soldiers were enraged, willing to fight to the death. The spirit of Mars was firing up their will to give all and everything. When Hamalcar charged Roman soldiers were screaming everywhere: Kill that pig! Get him! It was that moment when Hamalcar realized what a terrible mistake he did.
Hamalcar the Elder was quickly surrounded and dragged of his horse. He was dead minutes later. But now the Carthaginians were also furious by the death of the leader and fighting continued for hours. The whole field was filled with dead. In the afternoon about ¾ of each army was either dead or wounded.
During the late afternoon the Carthaginian flanking force was stopped and routed, the centre-force was still fighting by all means necessary. The Sacred Band was fighting fiercely and the Romans were not able to break through their Phalanx formation.
It was already becoming night and the troops ceased fighting because of the dark. Zones of battles disintegrated and both sides returned to their camps. The following morning both sides were utterly weakened and retreated. The battle of Mazana ended indecisively as a draw. The Romans brought about 30,000 troops and at the end of the day only 6,500 were left, thus loosing about 23,500 men. Carthage brought about 40,000 men to the battle, at the end of the day they only had 6,000 left, thus loosing 34,000 men.
One might think that the Romans won statistically, but that is not correct: The Romans had to retreat from western Sicily, while Carthage was able to hold their ground.
Kennard: This remarkable yet terribly brutal battle marked the beginning of a new phase in the battle of Sicily. One might think that the Romans won statistically, but that is not correct: The Romans had to retreat from western Sicily, while Carthage was able to hold their ground.
Now both sides had shown what they are worth in battle. From a military point of view this battle changed little. No tactics were changed afterwards, nor did the battle determine a shift of power. This bloody battle only cost a lot of lives and radicalized the Punic war.
Now it was clear, the battle for Sicily would need to be fought with any needs necessary.
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Originally Posted by Fixiwee
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