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Thread: [RS AAR] With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

  1. #1

    Default [RS AAR] With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Note from the Translator;

    The memoirs of Augustus Stertinius are fascinating reads. I, father Valens of the monastery of Skellig Island, traveled to Rome myself to read and transcribe these literary works of art that give great insight to the early days of the Roman Kingdom and later Empire.

    The great leader was born only a year before his father's memoirs were completed, and did not come of age to lead men as a junior tribune until four years prior to Valerius's Death, something that seemed normal but would prove near detrimental to the State of Rome. Being outlived by the playboy of Rome's Consulate, the old Maxentius was mentally unstable and declared himself King of Italy in 523, the year after Valerius's death. The young tribune Stertinius played the man's games, even defending the man's right to kingship in the senate until utterly trusted by Maxentius. His father's old and good friend, Tiberius Laco, traveled from Alexandria to Patavium where the Stertinius family Villa was, to mentor the young man, and his mother, Sappho, remained a constant companion to the man as well. I will not ruin the story of so great a man as history hails as Augustus, but may interject a vaster picture of the history behind the story after the various chapters.
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  2. #2

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    I am Herius Stertinius, Augustus of Rome and her lands in Italy and beyond. In the fashion of my father, I will attempt to leave a record worthy of the histories so that my father's work, and later mine, will not be left to the ravenous wolves of the Scriptorium.

    My father's writings left off at 505 AUC, when he had to take leave of them to deal with matters in Rome. Tiberius Laco, our family's dearest friend, attempted to help him in these matters, such as raising money and re-fitting the troops. Laco was a great soldier, and took over these duties with the help of his old friend, the Gaul Marcus Hortensius Castus. Thus my father was able to deal with the overseeing of building new structures to house more grains and other trade-able items, dispatching diplomats to sue for peace with other nations who still harbored a hate of Rome, but who were unable to wage war on her as other enemies crunched their troop supply.

    I was born in 504 AUC, and was raised in Patavium, a newly won provincial capital and the Roman Army headquarters in the North. Thus I spoke Gaelic fluently, as the commoners were still very much Celts, as well as Latin and Greek. The year after my birth a common truce was declared between Gaul and Rome, and my infanthood and childhood were spent in a loving family home in Patavium, or our estate in Rome when my father's business took us there. He never went anywhere without my mother, Sappho, and my two sisters, as well as a Cyrenian Bodyguard.

    When Tiberius Laco resigned in 507 from the Consulate, a Maxentius, a younger brother of Aulus, my father's patron, was elected to serve as the second Consul of Rome. It was by the graces of the gods this was so. My father was not an ambitious man, but after Laco resigned he was sure that his next partner would not be so agreeable, although over half the senate were close friends of my father's, and altogether over 90% of them loved him as well as Laco. Hortensius was a capable man for the job of retraining the legions, and so in 507 Laco married his long time mistress, an Egyptian woman, and took up his residence in Alexandria as a Legate of Legio II and an adviser to the pro-consul of Oriens Africa.

    Maxentius was more than agreeable; in fact, as long as my father did not bother him with the trifles of state he cared little for the goings on of Rome. In that truce with Gaul, the treasury was restocked, and the lands of Rome flourished. There is not much to write about in the 11 years of truce between Rome and Gaul; the massive buildings of Rome stretched across the world attest to these years themselves.

    However, when I was twelve the truce ended. Hortensius was in Tarentum where the legions were wintering and training, and so my father, with only one of four Northern Legions, had to take the initiative and attempt to hold the Gauls at bay. This would prove to be no easy feat.

    The Gauls had been secretly massing at Mediolanum, whereupon they launched their assault on Italy in January of 516. The legion was dispatched from Patavium to hold all river crossings, while my father attempted to get the other legions out of winter quarters.

    With the capture of one of the river forts, however, the Gauls were upon us and my father had to act quickly. Thus a meeting was held with his tribunes, and agents were sent to hire Illyrian and Macedonian Mercenaries from Dalmatia.

    The battle for the Maxenian Bridge was a valiant affair that February. My father, with only two maniples of Guard Hastati from Bononia, marched the "Gaelic Cohorts" into battle there. The Gauls had been cut off in Italy by this maneuver to their rear, and found themselves facing the army of the city state of the Kingdom of Segestica.





    The Gauls attacked the Romans across the bridge with intense furiousity, but the Greek fashioned peltasts from Dalmatia racked them with javelins as they bottlenecked on the river, then the Gaelic Cohorts loosed their javelins as they still came on. The Macedonian Phalangite Mercenaries skewed the enemy on their pikes as they charged, and for a moment all was seemed to be over; the Gauls would not be able to get a foothold across the bridge.

    However, the Gauls had brought a great catapult with them and this began to break apart the Phalanx with large stones, allowing the Gauls to seep into the broken ranks and begin a devastating butcher of the Macedonians.

    My father then ordered the Gaelic mercenaries to attack, and these began to drive through their cousins with intense vigor; the Auxiliary Archers began to pour arrows into the Gauls from the flanks, and a great many Gauls met their deaths on the bridge before ever meeting their enemy.

    To counter this, the enemy commander sent some of his men to swim across the river, where they would come up and be able to fight the Archers in close combat; these were mostly cut down by a maniple of Velites, and the men who were not killed outright by their javelins were drowned as their wounds took them to the bottom.

    A Vexillation of the Auxiliary Cavalry now succeeded to cross the river upstream, and wreak havok among the artillery crew. However, they were trapped when a group of Gauls saw their intent and surrounded them, killing all but six, and butchering the wounded.

    At long length the Gauls were driven back across the bridge, whereupon the cavalry chased them down and cut them to pieces, leaving Mediolanum relatively undefended. Thus their plan had backfired, and two Gaul armies were stuck in Italy, while their entire supply depot had been captured from behind them.






    The Macedonians treat the Gauls to civilized warfare, as Pila are sent to decimate the hordes.


    A small group succeeds in swimming the river as their friends' bodies are washed downstream. None of these men would look on Gaul again.


    The last of the Macedonians are cut off and fight to the death.


    The Auxiliary Cavalry before being slaughtered makes their initial attack on the enemy.


    A group of Peltasts fight for dear life against a group of warriors who have slipped the lines.


    The last of the Auxilia make a few strokes of the sword before retreating.


    Melee at the Bridge


    The Guard Hastati enter the Fray


    The Velite Maniple succeeded in swimming the river and wiped out the artillery crew.


    The last group of Gauls try once more to take the Bridge


    My father chases down the enemy as they retreat.


    The final count.










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  3. #3
    SeniorBatavianHorse's Avatar Tribunus Vacans
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    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Great writing, Horton. Another excellent AAR to book into my diary! Keep up the good work.

  4. #4

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Many thanks... I am hoping to take this family through the rise of Christianity, and into IBFD after Diocletian's reforms... the issue is that I'm only 80 years into the game and already my list of enemies grows short, with only Gaul, Iberia, Germania, Macedonia, Carthage, Scythia, and Seleucid remaining as well as the very weak cimmerian boporans, Greeks, and dacians holding on to their last breaths of free life. So it will soon become a battle of the powerhouses, I fear. And one that I'm not on top of, at that!
    Yes, I hate the fact RTW is out and I still have a Japanese title. Come on now admins- let's get with the program.

  5. #5

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Excellent AAR Horton. I hope you can manage to bring this into the IBFD timeframe--quite an accomplishment!

  6. #6

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond


    It is important to relate to you the events that happened when I was in Rome in 459. I was reading the memoirs of Herius Stertinius, the Great Augustus, in the Vatican Library, when I was approached by one of the Vatican Guards.

    "Father, there is a woman here to see you."

    "Very well, see her in," I responded. The man turned about and walked away. I noticed he was a parade soldier, a man not used to real combat. He wore a helmet of steel, and a suit of scale armor under a red cloak. His shield was of the comitatus style of the Roman Empire, and he was obviously not Italian in origin; probably a German or a Gaul, I presumed. It was a sad day when there were no Romans in the Roman, or even the Papal, service.

    The man stood in the doorway and waved to an unseen figure in the hallway beyond. He stood outside the door as the woman entered, and then pointed to me and took his leave.

    The woman was scarcely a 'woman,' being no more than sixteen years of age I presumed. She was dark skinned, and I realized that she was Italian through and through.

    "Father, I have come from Patavium to meet you." She glanced down at a large leather bag she was carrying that was obviously heavier than she found comfortable. With a sigh of relief, she slipped it off her shoulder. "I know that the memoirs of the Stertinius family are here as property of Rome and the Church. However, there are some things to show you that I have brought at great risk through Lombard camps and barbarian raiders." The look of contempt confirmed to me that she was Roman.

    Opening the bag, I saw that it was filled with scrolls and manuscripts that were very old, some older than others.

    "These are the diaries of Herius Stertinius and his successors. Although they all wrote memoirs, they can be very publicized and self-glorifying. While I am a daughter of a Stertinius, my father wished for you to have them when he heard you were here."

    As she set her arms to picking the bag up, I jumped from my seat and aided her efforts. It was heavy, and I instantly respected her strength as I had to bring forth all my energy to get the bag onto the table. Carefully I pulled out the scroll on the top of the pile; it was dated since the founding of Rome, and calculating quickly I realized it was from the time of Christ. My hands trembled to be holding such priceless items. I unrolled the scroll, and read the first few entries;

    March 13, 772 Ab Urba Condita;

    Today Legio X Fretensis and the Auxiliary Cohorts marched across Judea to quell the Seleucid/Jewish rebellion there. Apparently, the leader of this rebellion himself is attempting to put it down, claiming in fact he is not the leader of a physical kingdom. Pilate, the Roman pro-consul, has requested aid for the Egyptian Auxiliaries there in Jerusalem, and Bethlehem and Gaza have been stripped of their garrisons to augment Jerusalem. Ah! How I miss Rome... my father however is sure that a future Emperor in the direct line of Augustus Stertinius must do as all Stertinius have done; fight in the field at the head of the legions. I daresay if a leader of a rebellion puts down his own rebellion, there won't be much fighting, nor much glory! All while at our borders Germania and Iberia are fighting the legions in real wars.

    March 30-

    Not much time to write! It seems I was wrong-the Jews are tough fighters. However, even though they are tougher than Germans (not withstanding the fact they are far frailer in stature than a German) their numbers are too small. However, those not in the militant rebellion are calling for the crucifixion of their own king! Odd fellows, these Jews.

    I looked up when I realized I was reading the account of the crucifixion of Christ and shaking intolerably; but the woman was gone, her feet lightly heard stepping towards the Library door.

    "Guard!"

    "Yes?"

    "What was her name?"

    "I do not know father. She did not say. Want me to stop her?"

    "No. But please, more wine and bread. I will be here a while."

    As he left I staggered to the chair and sat with the scroll. This had been the most gratifying day of my life.

    Last edited by Samuel Adams; February 22, 2008 at 01:25 PM.
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  7. #7

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    After the battle, my father took Mediolanum and instantly began the political process of assimilation. The Gauls who had fought the Gaelic Legion the day before were now flocking to join the legions, and parties of the various legions were dispatched to build forts blocking the Alps. These "Legions" were in fact Gaul warriors with no military training in the method of Rome, but Hortensius sent the first cohort of Legio IX to act as drill instructors. This was a prideful event for the 1st Cohort, as almost all rank and file soldiers were instantly promoted to Optio and centurions became senior centurions of their new cohorts. The training went well, and soon two new legions were ready to join the fight; Gaul against Gaul.

    As Spring came and Hortensius marched the legions north, word came that Gallicum Maximum was under siege. With all due haste the legions marched over the alps, brushing aside resistance. Legio IX, understrength, laid siege to Massilla, and Legio III was split into two units and established a string of forts north of Messila and Gallicum Maximus. Legio V Maxentius, rebuilt and under new leadership, established forts to the west of Gallicum Maximus.

    I was only thirteen at this time, and was sent to Mediolanum to 'oversee' the training of a new legion. This also put me closer to the front, where I could see the reports coming in on their way to Rome. As the months passed, all of Gaul was quiet; a year passed, then two, and my father was recalled to Rome to give a full report to the senate of the actions of the legions in Gaul. There was no offensive action taken in the next few years, and Gaul sent her warriors into a trap whenever they would press on through to relieve Messilla.

    During this period the City of Segestica decided to cede herself to Rome, no doubt at the urging of my father, a Greek who had come to be a Roman Consul. From here a second new legion was raised, and sent to the frontier of Gaul to strengthen the forts there.

    By 520, I was thoroughly proficient in the workings of the legion, and at 16 was given the title of Junior Tribune of the new Legio X Valerius. This legion was now commanded by the Legate Hortensius himself, and it was with great joy that I rode out to my first campaign. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.









    It seems that the great Gallic war was not a simple affair, and Augustus does a relatively poor job of describing the political situation faced by his father; this is probably due to him not knowing exactly what was going on outside Mediolanum. However, among the scrolls given me by the female heir of the Stertinius family, was a letter from Valerius to his wife Sappho in Patavium:

    ...The senate has again asked for a report of the spending of monetary funds on the legions. However, it also seems they want to take Gaul at all costs, since the Gauls have shown great lack of prudence in attacking us in Italy, and so I must choose the lesser of two evils; attack Gaul and spend the treasury dry on soldiery, or ignore Gaul and spend the denarii on public works again. Oh how I at times wish for the quieter days of our lives together in Alexandria or Rome; Cornelius Maxentius, however, is no help to the cause, and though he insists on leading a legion the real power stands of course with the legate and the camp prefect. However, his mental instablities become more and more evident as the time passes. He spoke to me of taking Rome into a vast kingdom stretching from the Atlantis Ocean to Greece, and beyond; Rome! A Kingdom?! I must hope that I live to see my son become a good man that will lead men as I have, and put Rome first, not ambition. There will be a happy medium we must all seek between the amount of power we must have to accomplish good, and the time it is to stand down and let the republic take her course without us....


    These appear to be the first references to Cornelius Maxentius's ambitions to make Rome into a Kingdom, but not his last. However, Valerius made it clear to Cornelius that this was intolerable, and he remained quiet until Valerius's death four years later.
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  8. #8

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Quote Originally Posted by The Fuzz View Post
    Excellent AAR Horton. I hope you can manage to bring this into the IBFD timeframe--quite an accomplishment!

    We shall see! The only thing that will be a pain is getting a character into the game with the name Stertinius. Of course, I could just place a twist to the story and give them a new name (if they had only daughters and the name changed, but their heirs were still of the Stertinius tribe, and so on so forth.)

    also, I hope they get the ball rolling on the new IBFD campaigns of 270 AD onward, as that would also ease the transition. I may have to 'jump' forward a few years to span that frame.
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  9. #9
    Xavier Dragnesi's Avatar Esse quam videre
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    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Nice going. The same sort of style as the Cyrenian tale, and that's what makes it so good. Keep it up!

  10. #10

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    That's good, it's a continuation of that tale, but through the eyes of Valerius's Son Herius. He is a true Roman through and through, so it didn't really make sense to add on to the Cyrenian tale, and this AAR will be a rough sort of story about my own 'Caesar,' though he is a Stertinius...
    Yes, I hate the fact RTW is out and I still have a Japanese title. Come on now admins- let's get with the program.

  11. #11

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    Though the fire of Patavium in 70 BC destroyed a segment of Herius's writings that cover from 520 to 526 Ab Urba Condita, his letters cover the years of his father's demise and the situation in Rome. They are at times lengthy and not all are useful, but they relay that Valerius died of the Plague in 526, and Cornelius Maxentius immediately took over the role of a single consul, then the surviving works cover the taking of the Senate House by Cornelius.







    Immediately after my father’s death Cornelius Maxentius left from Gaul to Rome on a naval convoy. I too left for Rome from Patavium, where I had been to see my father to the next world, and with me came Tiberius Laco, who was on a holiday from Alexandria. I arrived two days after Maxentius to a new city altogether. In a letter received from Senator Caius Severus two years after the event, he relays the events of that day:

    …And then the senate was called to order, as usual, once the final member had arrived. We continued our debate, realizing that Maxentius was not a viable consul without a stronger party (such as your father was) to guide him. It was then that we heard the marching of feet and a great commotion outside, and myself and two others went to see what the noise was about, when we saw the Cohort of the Consulate Guard. Eleven centuries of the Cohort were going at a quick march to surround the Senate House, and one was marching up the steps, led by their senior centurion and Maxentius himself.

    “Back into the chambers,” the centurion said curtly, and a dozen men escorted us back into the chambers of the Senate House.

    “By what authority do you dare break the laws of Rome?” A Senator next to me exclaimed, and without answering Maxentius stormed into the chambers amid the verbal abuses of the Senate. He ordered silence, and this was unheeded, a Cyrenian Senator at the forefront of the slandering, and two of the soldiers led him out and stood him on the top of the steps leading up to the Senate House. The mob that was gathering to watch the spectacle stopped to watch and we looked on in horror as the man’s hands were lopped off and his tongue cut out, then a trio of soldiers lashed a beam to the pillars of the senate house and crucified him. The mob attempted to storm the place, but a volley of pila answered them and the head centurion, named Vittelius, ordered two more senators to be drug out of the house and ordered the mob to remain silent.

    We became infuriated, and demanded to know what the meaning of this was, when Maxentius’s face was overcome with a wry smile and began to speak. What he said is well known to you, Herius; that the senate was now only responsible for the dealings of Rome the city, and that he was the now the King of Italy and Lord of Gaul and Egypt. The Senate could both approve this and remain, or one by one the dissenting Senators would be taken out and executed until he had a unanimous vote.


    When I arrived in Rome two days later, the body of the Cyrenian Senator was still hanging as a warning, and the Cohort of the Consulate Guard was still hovering around the city, in large patrols, killing anyone who dissented to the ‘King of Italy.’ I myself was followed, and Laco and I held a meeting at a Café in the forum.

    “There is only one choice, Herius,” Laco began, “For Maxentius commands four legions in Gaul and we have perhaps a total of one here in Italy. The Urban Cohorts are mere firefighters, or invalids from the front. My legions, loyal to Rome, are in Africa; they would take too long to get here, and Maxentius would discover their absence before they could arrive. Then…” he nodded over towards the Senate House, “You would wind up like him.” He sighed. “We would end up like him.”

    “What must I do, then?”

    “Accept Maxentius title, and offer your services. Speak well of him to the senate. He needs all the help he can get; already he has ordered the execution of two of the four legates of the Gallic Legions, and the Magister Militum of Gaul, Hortensius-our old friend-is under close scrutiny. If the old Gaul wasn’t such a worker bee he’d be on his way to Hades by now. That is what I would do. I leave for Patavium at first light tomorrow to see to your mother, and to…” he took a glance around, “strengthen the garrison there. The Pro-Consul of Venetia is a good old friend, and the state of Rome will need all the help she can get very soon. Go to Maxentius. Offer your services, and your sword, and he will accept. If not, run as fast as you can to Patavium.”

    I did as Laco suggested, and Maxentius accepted. The coffers of Rome were separated into the Royal treasury and the City Treasury, and for a bonus the citizens of the Italian peninsula were enlisted into the Royal Army to watch over the country. There were five ‘legions’ among these royal troops, and Laco noted that they were little better than his raised in Egypt thirty years prior.

    After two months in Rome settling into the role of King, Maxentius and his retainers rode for Gaul. The overseeing of a vast new palace was started, and the Consulate Guard Cohorts (there were now four of them) were placed in control of the city, while the Urban Cohorts were taken and an ‘elite’ cohort (men who’s disposition was love of money, hence Royal Service) worth of them were selected to escort Maxentius to the Gallic Front.

    On our way to Gaul, however, Maxentius’s suspicious mind got the better of him, and I was dispatched to Patavium under the watchful eye of a century of the Royal Cohort under Centurion Vittelius. Once there, however, Severus, the Pro-Consul of the region, gave them quarters outside the city walls, where they were not as much a nuisance as they would have been had they been quartered inside the city. The quarters were lush, and Vittelius, a cruel soul, though not bright, took it as an honor, and life was able to continue without much problem. A junior tribune was sent to oversee their training to make sure they were ‘keeping the Royal Standard’ of soldiery, and Laco, Severus, and myself began to oversee the raising of troops there.

    Hortensius was sent to Patavium to oversee the training of these troops at our request, one that the over suspicious king was all to keen to accept. Once he arrived, we had already gathered the best group of men in the region and formed them into ten cohorts. This legion was dubbed Legio X Gemina, or ‘twin legion,’ to the Legio X Hortensius and I had been with in Gaul. And that was not all; this was a new style of legionnaire. We took a helmet design from the Gauls, and their mail, or Lorica Hamata, and armored them as well as we could. Laco and I paid for the legion out of pocket, and named Hortensius, now well over seventy, to be the Legate. My mother and Laco were my mentors in the absence of my father, and together we schemed after dark in the depths of the Pro-Consul’s palace.

    This was the way it remained for a year, training the legion and gathering cavalry from the native Gauls as well as archers. In 527’s closing months, I was ordered to march my legion to Gaul to aid Maxentius. He had bitten off more than he could chew, and needed the men of Legio X Gemina. The next step of my plan was around the corner.






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  12. #12

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    As short lived as the Italian Kingdom was-around 3 years-it had it's impact on the Roman people. This would serve the Great Augustus in his brief civil war (quite possibly the shortest and most bloodless ever in human history), but would also signal the end of the Roman Republic.

    The Hortensius Reforms of which Herius speaks also totally revolutionized the Roman Army, and as Augustus Stertinius paid out of pocket for the first of these, Legio X Gemina, as well as the first units of the Palace, or Praetorian, Guard, these units were totally loyal to him, not Rome-or rather, the Italian Kingdom-and utterly despised Cornelius Maxentius. Maxentius would soon raise the 8th legion to match Herius's legion, but these men were not of the stock of the tenth. However, this would be proved by the death of Maxentius three years after taking the throne.






    As the legion transversed the Alps, we were met by a Roman Equestrian of Maxentius's extended family with a small band of light infantry from Macedonia. These were payed for out of pocket by this man, and he apparently was proud of his little army; Cornelius, however, was less than impressed and had sent him to construct a few forts in the passes of the Alps to bottleneck the Gauls should they try and slip into northern Italy or Cisalpine Gaul. Of course, should the Gauls have attacked, he knew as well as we that it was a suicide mission; he was in utter dismay at the quest, and I obliged him by ordering three cohorts of Auxiliaries and some of my Gallic Archers to reinforce the northernmost garrison. I left them under my senior centurion of the Auxilia, and gave him strict orders that scouts were to be posted to small lookout towers north of the line, and any sign of Gauls larger than they could cope with would permit them to fall back to Mediolanum, where they would find the garrison more than able to cope with any number of Gauls.

    This was a dangerous move on my part, undermining the orders of King Maxentius, but men who are resigned to death often have little to no morale. I also made a political ally in the young Equite, an opportunity I was not going to pass up.

    After dispatching a rider to Massilla to order the commander there to raise an additional five cohorts of Auxiliaries, and an order to Gallica Maxim to the same effect, as well as recruiting a large body of archers, I marched through the remaining Alpanian passes. A few riders of the Gallic Cavalry Ala I had with the Tenth were sent to the forward bases of the Italian Army where Cornelius was 'leading' them into Gaul. These bore my dispatches and reports to him, and were written in a manner to reinforce my loyalty.

    My legion entered Gallica Maxim where the veterans of the old legions laughed at them; their shields were shorter, the top of the ovals being cut off, and they were outfitted with helms of the Gallic style. All their equipment for two days' march was carried on their backs, the wagons only carrying food and replacement equipment for extended campaigning, and the men in the legion were predominately Gauls from Cisalpine, not Italians; so the laughing only went that far, as the far smaller Italians did not want to laugh at the large Gauls when they were off duty. Some of the local posted Tribunes, however, took their scoffing to the next level, speaking in dark corners that the Legionnaires would turn sides in the middle of battle to fight for their distant kin in Gaul. However, I had a bodyguard of Gauls and these I trusted with my life; I knew that I had their loyalty even if Italy or Rome did not.

    From there I was ordered north where Maxentius had started the campaign with two legions; scarce enough to deal with Iberia and Gaul, I noted. I had the equivalent of two legions; Legio X Gemina and ten cohorts of the Auxilia, as well as the Cavalry and Archers of the Auxilia of Cisalpine Gaul. And I was ordered to take the forefront of the attack on Gaul.

    The campaign plan was terrible; Cornelius wanted us to strike north to the two Gallic strongholds to the southwest of Alesia, and from there we would fortify the bulge and gather resources to invade inner Gaul and take their capital. This left the Iberians behind us, the Gauls to our west, east, and north, and only one small city under the command of a 21 year old with only 8 cohorts of Auxiliaries and a vexillation of Cavalry to keep the Iberians at bay.

    I had no choice, however, but to proceed north. Some of my Gauls were used as spies, and they and my scouts scoured the forests and the approaches as
    we worked north. There I met the first Gaul Army of my Legion's Career. It was almost the last.

    Maxentius had ordered the Auxilia to remain six hours behind the tenth, in case I was ambushed, so that the Auxilia at least would live to fight another day. This forced me into a tough position, but I was in no state to defy the King's orders. Thus as winter set in, Legio X Gemina marched into Gaul, and began the lengthy process of a campaign. As we marched through the villages of inner Gaul, we found them deserted, only a few old men and women gazing sullenly out of their doorways at us. Smoke occasionally billowed on the horizon of the dreary winter, where we had almost caught up to the Gallic Army of the region, to see that they had burned whatever they had not consumed themselves.

    We then came across the most ghastly sight we had come across on our campaign; a dozen legionnaires from Legio IX had been stripped and tortured, their ears, nose, and genitals being cut off and their eyes plucked out. They were bound to a large set of wooden structures meant to hang meat on feet first, their innards being cut out in a way that meant a slow, agonizing death. They had been dead for no more than half an hour, as the steam was still coming from their open wounds. One was not dead even, and one of my junior tribunes mercifully rammed his sword into the man's chest. We then cut them down and I detailed my first cohort to erect funeral pyres and we moved on.

    The Gallic warriors in my legion hung their heads in shame as they watched the first century of the first cohort do their work. Some of the Romans in the legion lost their stomachs, including one of the centurions, who received a harsh beating from his senior Centurion, no doubt to get the older man's mind off the sight as well.

    This worked wonders for the legion. The Gauls were eager to prove they were now Roman through and through, and the Romans were more than eager to avenge their fallen comrades. Then we found the Gallic scout. The treads of four wagons were seen to have gone in opposing directions and rope induced bruises were found on what was left of his arms and legs. A large spear had been riven through his stomach in a manner that it did not kill him, but as the wagons had stretched his body the spear had been worked inside him, the wood handle pulling at his skin and innards until the final break of the man's body when the oxen had pulled far enough. Most of his body had gone with the left leg, and on his right side the spear shaft had ripped through his flesh and pulled out his ribcage. Even I felt the bile rise in my throat, and the Optio of the horse scouts had to dismount to finish his vomiting. A Gaul himself, he recognized the scout as his cousin, and even as the bile continued from his mouth the man went about picking up the pieces of his kinsman and he carefully placed them in their respective places of origin, the tears and sickness quickly replaced by burning rage.

    As the column moved from the village, the camp prefect came to me.

    "Sir, the officers want a word with you."

    "Officers, on me!" I shouted, and the close to two hundred Centurions, Optios, Decurions, and Tribunes of Legio X came trotting towards me. Most had looks of pure rage on their faces; some were still feeling sick. Most had the contents of the morning's breakfast caked to their cheeks and lips.

    "You wanted to talk to me?"

    The camp prefect stepped forward.

    "Sir, we are of one mind. We have to catch these bastards."

    "I agree, Decius."

    "No sir, tonight. If we have to march without stopping, we will do it. The men need a fight, for two reasons; some need to vent, and fights will break out if it's not with the enemy. Others need to take their mind off it all."

    "What do you propose, gentlemen?"

    The senior centurion from the second cohort stepped up.

    "Sir, this is the thing; they are keeping one step in front of us. Tribune Horatius, commander of the scouts, has been close enough to spit on them barely a mile to the lead of the column. Yet they are taunting us. I'm not a politician, sir, and I'm not student of Virgo..."

    "Virgil, sir..." an optio burst in, getting a glare of death from the Senior Centurion,

    "so I'll say it the best I can. We will march. We won't stop. They will make camp tonight, and expect us to do like we do; make a fortified camp. Let's send for the Auxiliaries, tell them to quicken up. We will wait it out, then attack them at first light. No stopping; no mercy. We kill them all."

    A murmur of assent went up among the officers.

    "Very well," I replied. "Tell the cohorts to quicken pace. Any man who falls out..." I trailed off to point to the funeral pyres, "can expect that."

    A Decurion from the scouts drew his sword. "This is yours, Legate Stertinius. The tenth is in your debt; we will repay you tenfold."

    The other officers drew theirs and repeated the oath; my emotions almost got the better of me, and would have even more had the knowledge of the next evening's roster been known. Then a wave of calm came over me, and I remembered I was a Roman of the Senatorial Class.

    "Then let's get back to formations, men, quicken pace, Decurion," I pointed to the man who had first offered his sword, "Find them."

    The long trail with drums and trumpets sounding, the gleam of the snow reflecting off the Gallic helms threefold, and the men with stout faces and even stouter hearts marching a forced march filled my heart with pride. I had been forced to leave Hortensius in Gallica Maxim, but I knew he too would be proud of the legion. He would not live to see the return of the tenth, but his son would soon serve with distinction in the Third Gallic Legion, and beyond.







    I broke this chapter up into two parts; it was lengthy and detailed, and obviously left a massive impression on Augustus Stertinius. Indeed, he almost did not live to see the end of the next day himself; of almost 200 officers of the tenth, only 15 would report for duty that next night, and the tenth would be stalled for some time until reinforcements could be marched into their forward camp, mostly left to the defense of the Auxiliaries. Of almost five thousand men in the tenth, only half would remain alive, and only 1200 were fit enough for duty to dig the fort that night and post watch.

    However, they broke the back of Gaul almost single handedly that day...

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  13. #13

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    The march lasted for what seamed hours. A section of the cavalry were sent to see how far behind the Auxilia lagged; they were still six hours behind. As darkness fell, we entered into the woods of Gaul and the drums ceased and the trumpets were placed in the wagons; all the musicians drew shields and swords from the wagons, and we left them with a single cohort of Auxilia that were marching with us to catch up later.

    The legion came to a halt about a half mile from the place the Decurion and Tribune had said the Gaul's outer pickets were placed. Rome never has-probably never will-been good at fighting at night. However, we spread the legion among the woods and the men set to placing watches and letting the men rest. We had caught the Gauls; now I had to trap them. The camp prefect came to me as I sat in my cold, fireless camp waiting for morning.

    "Sir, how are we going to do this?"

    "I don't know."

    "If I may?"

    "Of course."

    "Well sir," he gave an exasperated sigh, "We have passed about ten villages today."

    "What's your point?"

    "They were deserted. Save the old men and women too old to keep up."

    "Come now man, to the point!" I exclaimed angrily.

    "Sir, lets have the scouts go back and round them all up. Send the Auxiliaries word to do the same. We will make them carry their pots and whatever metal objects they can, and march along to the east of the Gaul encampment. They will sound like a legion on the march, or at least part of it. It's heavily wooded; at the very least they won't know what mistake they have made until too late. Either they will be hilt deep in their elders or we will already be behind them in the clearing where we can fight."

    A wry grin came over his face, "or both."

    I thought it over. The thought of condemning the elderly to death shocked me, but my mother's tutelage of political intrigue came to me, and I replied.

    "No."

    "Sir?"

    "Decius, I will not send helpless men and women to die. Quite the contrary." I grinned; "I will have them gather what they can carry and allow them to go back to their families. Under guard. As a friendly gesture of Rome."

    "The Italian Kingdom you mean?" Decius replied, and winked.

    "Yes," I smiled back. "See to it."

    It was just past the first hour I could figure by the stars. They were quickly clouding over, however. That meant light would come around six hours from then; with the clouds, it would be eight in the morning before anyone could see for battle.

    "Tribune," I shook the nearest red cloaked officer into a stupor filled state of consciousness, "Take over the watch. I need some sleep."

    "Yes, sir."


    I awoke the next morning before the sun came up as Decius started shaking me. "Sir, they are on their way. They just passed us."

    "Good. Rouse the legion. Where is the Auxilia?"

    "They stopped three miles back last night and erected a fort in case enemy scouts were about."

    "Good. Send word to move out. Leave one cohort to guard the fort, the rest march at once for here."

    In less than thirty minutes the legion was formed on the narrow paths leading through the woods. The Tribune in command of the scouts, who were leading the elders through the woods, and keeping them from shouting warnings, came galloping up to me. Just as I saw him, I heard cries from the direction of the northeast. Some warcries; some cries of panic and dismay. My heart shuddered; however, all I thought was Res est Prefectus... "the deed is done."

    "Forward the eagle," I told the senior centurion of the first cohort. "The legion moves forward at once."

    Through the woods we marched, until not fifteen minutes later we came into a massive clearing where the woods ended abruptly as far as the eye could see. A mile distant we could see where the Gallic camp had been. To the east where the forest shot out and we had sent the column of the elderly the stunned cries of the Gauls were resounding with anger. The legion formed up in the clearing to the sight of half the Gauls, themselves outnumbering us, pouring out towards us.

    "Men of the Tenth!" I yelled, riding down the line of cohorts formed for advance, "Today we have done as you asked, and caught up with the Gauls. This is their only army between us and Alesia. Break them, and they are lost. They break us, and we die. So see to your equipment; break the frost of your swords; tonight we will enjoy double rations and the booty of these arrogant bastards!"

    Among the cheers of the men I rode back to the right of the line. At a word from the Senior Centurion of the first cohort the line surged forward, and the archers and cavalry trotted along behind them.

    "Decurion!" I called the nearest scout officer, "Send word to the Auxilia to double time it. We will need all available support!"

    Now the rest of the Gauls were coming behind the first group, and the legion struggled to make it to the highest ground available. As the distance closed between the tenth and the Gauls, my senses tightened then were lost to the impetuosity of the charge.


    The Tenth forms and advances across the clearing.


    Distance closes between the enemy and the Legion.


    The legion braces to meet the enemy charge;


    The last distance is spanned...


    And the fight is on!


    Scouts check the flanks to report on the distance of the second body of Gauls.


    Gallic nobles drive into the legion

    The Gauls of the second body came into the fray at a rush even more impetuous than the first; before I could believe it the legion was dashed back. For fifteen minutes the fight continued, and it was clear that the legion was about done for. The centurionate was decimated, and the legion's first line was totally cracked and the second line began to fight. It was brutal; I was fuming at the lack of the Auxilia. Where were they? The archers were out of arrows, and the cavalry could only ride among the enemy rear and take out the men using their slings against us; these were made short work of, but the enemy sent heavy infantry against them and they had to fall back with heavy losses.

    "First through fifth cohorts, fall back! Form line!" I shouted to the nearest officer, who echoed it down the line.

    As the first five cohorts of the front line fell back behind the second line, I repeated the order all along the line of retreat. The cavalry was summoned back, and began to foray into the melee and cut up the enemy as they tried to follow us piecemeal. Then the Gauls stopped and formed for one final charge; then came the horns of the Auxilia at the forest's edge. The Gauls scanned for the new threat, and the legion looked frantically for help. I looked as the pitiful group of legionnaires, now in only two ranks per cohort, looked back at me.

    "Fall back to the woods! Regroup there! Move!" I shouted, and the archers scurried, followed by the legionnaires and covered by the cavalry.

    "Cavalry on me!" I cried, as the last of the legionnaires made the cover of the trees. "We ride to the Auxilia. Centurion," I called to the only one I could see, "Form there and hold them off. We will take them out, I swear it!"

    With that I rode for the Auxilia. The Gauls abandoned their chase entirely and made for the Auxilia as well. There we crushed them, one by one, as the fresh troops beat the thoroughly tired Gauls one by one.































    The Gauls were finished. As they were ridden down by the combined Legion and Auxiliary cavalry, I gave them my graditude;



    The Field of lines; the Legionnaires never broke lines, and were rewarded accordingly.












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  14. #14

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    Augustus Stertinius's victory in Southern Gaul broke the back of Gallic resistance in the region, and the army was able to stride north unopposed. However, they had left their western flanks wide open to Iberian warriors, leading to a fifteen year war with these people carried out solely by Auxiliary troops. Three Auxiliary armies, composed of as many troops as a regular legion, were tasked with defending these borders, and finally the war culminated with the Auxiliary armies taking all the land held by Iberia in Gaul, and forcing Iberia back into their ancestral lands. This would also lead to the first example of the Comitatus units in Roman held lands, and these cohorts would eventually become the limitanei of the later years. In fact the Iberian Limes is the first border this was practiced, followed by the Limes along the Danube. Legio X would become the first Comitatus Unit in the history of Rome along the Iberian Limes.

    However, to follow up on Augustus's account of the Battle of the Cornelian Plain, this battle would lead to Roman dominance up to the northern coast of Gaul with minimal military action. Five legions were massed in this area after a three year period of quiet and the death of Cornelius Maxentius. A brief war with Macedon was fought in Venetia, ending with Illyria all the way north to the Danube being ceded to Rome as Macedonian forces were thrust back into the Macedonian mainland. To add to the embarrassment of Macedonia, these victories were won with the second hand troops of the Italian Kingdom and the Roman Empire coming from their homes in Italy, and ultimately leading to the raising of three Greco-Macedonian-Balkan legions. Macedonia sued for peace and finally an alliance as their newest threats came ravaging through their land; the Germanic peoples and the Scythians from the Steppes of Asia.

    The Great Augustus's reign would not be only marked by gallant military actions, but also civil reform. A small Sicilian expedition led by the Pro-Consul of Sicily (Gaius Marius, later executed for his attempted coup against Augustus) landed thirty cohorts of Sicilian Auxiliary infantry, twelve vexillations of auxiliary cavalry, and various other light infantry, in North Africa and raided Carthage, taking the city and then raiding Carthaginian lands to the south and west, forcing Carthage to take pressure off of Cyrene. A legion was raised in Carthage, and with the help of the Sicilian Auxiliary these men reeked havok among the Carthaginian military forces in North Africa. Stertinius writings do not cover these campaigns as they were not present; Augustus and his successors wrote only about the campaigns they were involved in for the most part.

    The next writings of Augustus Stertinius take place after the death of Cornelius in Gaul and relay the mental instability of the man known as King of Italy in his old age. One of the surviving letters of the period from Herius to his 16 year old wife says,

    ...After the so called 'battle of the Cornelian Plain,' named more of spite by the troopers of the tenth than any real need to honor the man, the 'king' declared them national heroes of the Kingdomand ordered a mimic legion of the tenth to be raised from among the urban cohorts of Segesta in northern Italy. Being a Greek colony, these men were either old phalangites or young and brash men hoping to relive the glory days of Greece more than potential Roman soldiers. The eighth was leveed and marched to Gaul where Cornelius named himself their commander-avoiding the Republican term 'legate'-and with this legion marched ahead of the tenth and made no secret of his intent to use this legion to take all of Gaul. The only good thing coming of this was that we now had the equivalent of five legions in the field. My warnings of Iberian and Celtiberian excursions into Gaul and on our supply lines was ignored, and with a dismissive look of arrogance the king marched north, as the tenth moved in support and the Auxiliaries flanked my column, the legion and the cohorts of the Auxilia under my command building large fortresses on our way to defend the rear against Iberian raids and Gaul counterattacks that were sure to come. And thus we fell further and further behind the eighth, who's centurions and decurions made it clear they were silently awaiting their demise at the hands of the numerous Gauls of the region.


    The eighth would execute their duties well even though their king would die in the process. However, of more interest is the record of the Roman Public Library now at the Vatican that relates the coming to power of Stertinius once again through the eyes of now-famous historian Alexander of Corinth, accompanying the Gallic Invasion Army;



    "Chapter thirty seven, 528 Ab Urba Condita, Central Gaul;

    The King of Italy, Cornelius Maxentius, looked in agast horror at the decimated ranks of the tenth after the battle of the Cornelian Plains, and taking the name of the battle on the spot named for him as an honor due a king, he dismounted and on foot walked to Herius Stertinius, his horse laying beside him with a mortal wound in his chest. Taking a look at the panorama before him, he declared all non-citizens of the Kingdom among the legion to be citizens, and all Auxiliaries to be pseudo-citizens. A bonus of 25 denarii were given to each man and the right to marry while still in the army bestowed to the legion. Thus the Tenth became known as Legio X Nuptialis, 'The married,' and that night there was much feasting and Herius Stertinius was very noble in giving all glory to the King for his most glorious triumph...

    ...and the King declared that there was no nobler man of greater or lesser age than Herius Stertinius...

    Chapter forty three, 528 Ab Urba Condita, Central Gaul;

    As the King's dark days of old age approached, and still no concubine or wife could produce an heir-an obvious fallacy in their organs, for which they were executed or banished- he looked among his records for a man of great morals, who was utterly loyal to him, and who would carry the weight of the Kingdom on his shoulders. No other man than Herius Stertinius, his great self-perceived rival, could be thought to be able to do the job. So Stertinius was called for, and given a list of his fallacies and faults; after a private berating, he was told that he must amend these faults as he was now the heir to the throne. And the greatest feast seen in Gaul was thrown, and Stertinius swore to protect the kingdom at all costs, and was named as the king's Magister Militum of all the Kingdom until his dying day..."




    Stertinius also gives a short account of the passing of the crown to him, less filled with the stupor of bliss than the Greek's. What is clear is that Herius was as great a politician as a warrior, and made it seem as if all the other Maxentius family was inept and dumb and thus made for himself a path that led ultimately to the downfall of the kingdom. However, it was to be a bloodless coup and perhaps the least violent civil war in Roman History.

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  15. #15

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    The Death of Cornelius Maxentius came in 531 AUC. While leading the legio VIII Gemina against Gauls attempting a river crossing, he was slain attempting to flee by one of his own retainers.


























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  16. #16

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    After the death of Cornelius in 531 AUC, I was not able to find records of Augustus's coronation as King of Italy. What we do know from a letter to his elderly mother Sappho was that he was crowned, and probably this event took place at Avaricum where Augustus was stationed with Legio X. However, soon after this Augustus rode to Rome where the governmental coup took place. His writings cover this event in great detail, and I will include excerpts only for brevity's sake:



    Arriving in Rome in July of 531, I instantly made my way to the Royal Palace that had just been constructed. There the Royal House was awaiting me, although most knew my intent, to accept me as the new King of Italy. Wearing my crown bestowed by the late Maxentius, I walked up the steps and took my place at the throne wearing attire altogether barbaric in nature; that being of the Kings of old, as Cornelius forsook the entire entity of the Roman Republic and refused to wear the toga.

    I instantly called a meeting with the Roman Senate, a mere formality, and took a friend of mine, Titus Servius, calling on him to become Consul in return for my giving the senate the power over all Italian lands. They agreed, but the mob instantly took up cries of a return to Stertinius time; the time of my father. Thus I announced that the Kingdom of Italy could be purchased by the Senate for three million Denarii, and I would announce the disillusion of the Kingdom. The Senate agreed to these terms, and I gave two million denarii to the poor and five hundred thousand denarii to the senate. The rest was given as tribute to the City of Rome for public works. Thus Titus and I were elected Consuls, and I was given the title imperator and given command of the Gallic Legions. It was then that the mob instantly began chanting 'Augustus, Augustus,' and the Senate declared me Augustus Imperator of Rome. Servius signed the petition, and from that day forward I was the Imperator of all Rome.




    Augustus instantly sent couriers to all provinces of Rome, and raised the Italian Legions and Gallic Legions. The thoroughly Romanized Gauls of Augustine-or Gallica Maxim as it was known at the time-formed the new Legio III Gallica with the veterans of Hortensius's Legio III Gallica forming the backbone of Centurions and Camp Prefect. Two of Hortensius's sons fought with this legion at Alesia and executed themselves well. All in all, six legions plus auxiliaries were formed and marched to Avaricum where a great military depot was placed. For miles around the city flew the fortified camps of the legions massing to defend central Gaul and to one day take Alesia. This took the greater part of five years; in that time one of the legions was sent to take Condate Redonum and with the Auxilia tasked to that legion Augustus succeeded in wiping all resistance out in the western part of Gaul; even the Iberian settlements falling prey to his conquests.

    Now the Roman front was only stopped by Alesia and the Gallic warlords there. And Augustus knew that to maintain popular support for the war in Rome, Alesia had to fall; and quick.

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  17. #17

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond



    During the five year interlude from Maxentius's death to the sack of Alesia, I was forced to divert several Auxiliary cohorts and the remnants of the tenth legion to the Spanish front, where the Iberian tribes were pouring into Gaul at a rapid pace. I also signed the African Agreement, where we gave Thebes back to Ptolemy who was now King of Cyprus, and in return we took pressure off of him from our Seleucid allies. For ten million denarii the Roman Republic established a new front at Judea, Tyre, Antioch, and all the land inbetween these cities, and the funds were allocated to raise three legions to reinforce Legio III Cyrenica. This legion was a massive merge of Legio I and Legio V of my father's time, and as the veterans were settled in colonies along the Nile the youngest of that group took over as III Cyrenica's Centurions and such.

    This also agreed that Rome could occupy Babylon and Susa along the Mesopotamian River and open Roman trade routes to India as well as the inner Seleucid empire. Titus Servius was sent to become the imperator of the East while I carried out my war with Iberia and Gaul; a two front war that required perfect allocation of troops. Legio I Minerva, recently arrived from Italy as Raw recruits and trained at Avaricum by centurions of the tenth, campaigned briefly in the north of Gaul taking all the settlements there including the major Gallic City of Condate Redonum along the coast. This left me with three legions and various auxiliary units to campaign against Alesia Gaul. Finally in 536 all was ready, and I dispatched the younger Hortensius into inner Gaul with six Auxiliary cohorts and two centuries of archers with cavalry support to do a scout in force. They established a fortified camp unopposed fifteen miles from Alesia, and the cavalry scouts determined that Alesia was the major gathering point of Gaul's warriors. It was teeming with them, and as the Ala of Transalpanian Gauls mounted the last crest overlooking the city, they saw the long column of civilians inside slowly making their way east, out the city gates and away from our advance.

    I now took command of the Gallic Army, consisting of Legio III Gallica, Legio VIII Gemina, and Legio II Stertinius (later to be renamed Legio II Augusta) along with twenty so cohorts of Auxiliaries and the trappings of war. Leading them through the woods of Gaul, the Auxiliaries forcing enemy raiders back into the city, we came to the walls of Alesia in two days' march, and instantly set to the construction of siege equipment.

    Alesia is situated on a large hill, and the approaches are watched and covered by arrows and slings. However, it had a weakness in that the hill came close enough to the walls that it was relatively simple to mine under the walls. I also brought with the army a large component of ballistae, whose bolts would keep the heads of the enemy on the walls down. I tasked the older Hortensius brother with leading Legio III's (he was their senior tribune) senior five cohorts to the walls with ladders after the mines had breached the walls. The tenth cohort was tasked with mining the walls, and the men of the sixth through the ninth were formed to bust into the city when the walls fell. Legio II and Legio VIII were sent to circumvent the city and watch outward for relief columns, while ten Auxiliary cohorts were to aid in the storming of the city. These were under the younger Hortensius.

    Also of note was this was the first engagement of the Praetorian Guard. In my stay in Rome I had abolished the Royal Guard, and from among the best horsemen in the Roman and Cisalpine Gaul Alae I had formed a strong body of cavalry tasked with guarding the Consuls of Rome. I had left the Tribune of the Urban Cohorts with orders to begin raising a legion of Praetorian Guardsmen made up of only the best men of character and quality who had served under the eagles for at least two years. However, I had with me the cavalry who would execute themselves well in the coming battle.

    As the days passed, the cohorts dug the mines and constructed their ladders. The advance of the army had cut off the escape of over half the civilian populace, and so the food supplies were drying up fast; however, to the north a squadron of Roman cavalry attached to Legio II had spotted a large relief column heading towards Alesia. We had to act soon; on the fourth day of digging, the Senior centurion of the Tenth cohort reported the mine was ready to be fired.

    The next morning the Legion was drawn up in advance order. Hortensius the Elder dismounted and took his place at the head of the first cohort, and the third's Legate, Gaius Romilius, rode to me.

    "We are ready sir. Shall I sound the fire of the mine?"

    "Proceed Legate."

    "Yes Sir," he trailed off as he galloped away. Within ten minutes smoke began to billow from the entrance to the mine as the Tenth's senior Optio came running out of the entrance. As he came out and the smoke began to rise, the Gauls let out a shout of dismay as the walls began to crumble. An archer on the walls loosed an arrow that appeared to arch and disappear among the blue sky; then, without warning, it came down and hit the Optio in the back and in front of his century and cohort he gave a muddled, disturbed look and sprawled forward as he gasped for breath and died. The shot was lucky I thought to myself; and it would have a bad effect on morale. Optio Crassus was a widely liked man among the officers and ranks of the third.

    "Tribune Maximius, give my complements to the tenth and let them know they will lead the attack on the city, kit up and be ready to attack in fifteen minutes."

    "Yes sir," the tribune, my most junior officer of the higher class, saluted then rode hard to the tenth's centurion, who was already donning his mail hamata along with the rest of the cohort. He looked up and I saw the tribune pointing to the breach in the walls as they crumbled, as slingshot and arrows fell just short of where they were standing. The centurion saluted, and turned to his men, his loud bellowing coming to me in the faintest of a whisper at my distance. The men responded, and the cohort formed up to advance as the men helped each other fasten loose hamatas and centurions went along bellowing orders.

    "On me," I ordered to the Praetorians, and I galloped down to the men of Legio III. "Men of the Third legion, you are as yet untested in battle against the Gauls. Today you have witnessed only one of what can only be too many casualties by day's end. Avenge Crassus! Avenge those who will not dine with us tonight, and take the Gauls to their boatride where Crassus and our other fallen brothers will wait for them! TO MARS!" I bellowed as loud as I could, and raised my sword to the god's eyes.

    The men cheered loudly, their centurions allowing the momentary lapse in discipline before bellowing for silence as the senior centurion ordered the advance.

    Now the first cohort moved forward with their ladders, and the attack was on. The Auxilia under the younger Hortensius formed and dashed forward into formation behind the tenth. As the cohort came towards the walls, slingshot and arrows began to fall and the Senior Centurion bellowed, "Form testudo by Century, advance at the right oblique, Officers to your units!" The centurions, who had been consulting with eachother and the senior centurion, ran back to their centuries and advanced. The Senior centurions of the sixth and seventh cohorts ordered their cohorts to advance, and the lines of the two cohorts set to forming narrow columns to enter the breach behind the Auxilia.

    The first cohort surged forward now, and two centuries of archers screened out to their front and flanks to keep the heads of the men on the walls down. The Ballistae jolted their bolts towards the enemy ramparts and with grim satisfaction I knew it was on.

    The first cohort's ladders were in place and the metal latches Hortensius had ordered placed on their tops clicked into place as the Gauls tried vainly to thrown them back. A Legionnaire named Gracchus had designed a pin bolt that when the latches were snapped in place, the bolt would fall into the hole and be irretrievable. I made a note that if Gracchus survived the battle, he'd make a great Phaleria winner and a good Centurion.

    Jolting from my noble train of thought I watched as the first men of the first cohort streamed onto the walls. The tenth had not met any resistance on entering the city, and held a line waiting for the rest of the cohort to stream in under their testudos as the Auxilia began clearing the streets of the enemy. Now all the cohorts were formed beneath the walls in testudos, their turn to mount the walls or enter the breach not yet here. The first was carving a way into the men on the walls, and for a moment faltered as the Legionnaires were forced into one-on-one battles with the Gauls. However, as more men came to the rampart they formed crude shieldwalls and in the press their foes had no room to wield their long swords and spears, while the men of the third could thrust into the fray from behind their scuta, and the battle on the ramparts turned to a slaughter as the Gauls were either cut down or the legionnaires used their shields as pressed to lurch the Gauls off the rampart to the streets below, where they cried pitifully among their broken bodies till the Auxilia came along to slit their throats.

    The first cohort had a staunch wall position, and the second and third followed up the ladders and added their javelins to the fray. Meanwhile, the second section of the Legion, the sixth through tenth, made their way into the city, where a determined resistance was put up among the Gauls. However, short work was made of the lightly armed men of the town pouring from their homes with crude spears to resist.

    However, a cadre of the premier Gallic nobility had now formed around the city square where their chieftans were beseeching them to great deeds before their deaths, and in a Celtic frenzy they charged in among the legion and a fierce battle took place. The Auxilia had been pinned against one of the walls by a mob of warriors, and three of four of them could be seen running from the breach, their shields and swords having been cast aside.

    "On me, all squadrons!" I bellowed, and without waiting I scurried up the slope and into the breach. "Decurion," I looked over to one of my junior officers, "Take a section of eight and capture those men running. They will be crucified." With that I charged into the city, and blowing the trumpets the Ala of the Praetorian Guard let the legion know I was there with them. The Auxilia had fought their way out of their situation, and were guarding the approach to the second section's left flank. The right was being held by the fourth and fifth cohorts, leaving only one breach in the line; a longhouse stood in the middle of the road, and here the five cohorts in the city were anchored on their right; the Auxilia were up the outer road, and no one had exploited this yet.

    "Praetorians, with me!" I again yelled, and rode to the far side of the longhouse where some drunken Gauls were cut down. The cavalry formed, and then we charged.

    The ensuing fight was a blur; we dashed into the fray, and now the Gauls fought with renewed tenacity. I was alone for a moment, and the praetorian standard bearer began to cry out, "To the imperator!! Men of the Praetorian Guard, on me, on me!" He began to shriek the last of these notes as he slashed and thrust his spatha into the fray of men at his side. Jabbing his heels into his horse's ribs, he dipped the standard enough to use the buttspike to swipe a man's face and slice it to the skull, then used it to thrust into the man's chest as he fell. A large Gaul attempted to bring down the standard bearer, but another praetorian sliced his head off with his spatha. As he did this, another Gaul ripped the praetorian's shield from his hand and the force pulled the man from horse, where he was pierced with a half dozen spears. I looked around and realized I was now among the legionnaires who were slowly fanning out the ranks to extend the shieldwall as they advanced past the longhouse. The standard bearer was behind me now, and a spear came up and thrust into his horse's chest. As the standard bearer fell, he swiped the staff from side to side to clear the enemy away, and as the Gauls closed on him he turned and gave me a grim grin. "Good luck, sir..." He turned and called a close-by friend. "Castus!" and he tossed the standard into the closing mass of Praetorians. The man he addressed caught the standard by the cloth vexillium, and then the standard bearer was gone, the bloody splatter of the man's opened neck spraying me as I rode among the legionnaires and Gauls. The Legionnaires were protecting me now, and I jumped from horse and grasped a shield on hte ground. Joining the shieldwall, I entered into the deadly press with words of encouragement mixed with all the profane mutterings of a soldier's vocabulary. Before I realized it, the enemy was gone; we had cut through them, and the remnants were running for the square where the final stand would be made. A man of the Praetorian named Brennius came trotting up to me.

    "Imperator, your horse." the man was leading my steed, and remounting and applauding the cohorts of the second now advancing past me I trotted forward.

    "Form a line across the road a single cohort wide," I ordered the tribune, "Lure them to us. All javelins are to be given to the ninth cohort. Form in reverse order, tenth cohort to the front with the ninth in support. As the enemy nears," and I pointed to the city square, "loose the javelins over the head of the tenth. When they receive the charge, the ninth is to counter-charge and they must push the enemy back." The tribune saluted and turned away, bellowing orders to the senior centurions of the ninth and tenth.

    "Centurion!" I called to the passing senior centurion of the eighth cohort, "Lead the eighth to the left. The sixth will follow. Flank the square and clear the approaches to the square from the road to the right. The Auxilia are coming to aid you. When the road is clear, the two cohorts will advance and come upon the enemy rear. Understood?"

    "Yes Sir!" The centurion said, and calling his orders the men of the eighth strode past the Auxilia, who were cutting down a group of levees in the street.

    "Centurion Antonius, on me!" I called to the seventh cohort's commander, who's cohort was the most decimated of the legion, "your cohort will be a strategic reserve. Form here at the intersection, and wait for my order to advance. Rest the men, down shields and you will be the deciding factor."

    A runner came from behind me. "Sir, Centurion Vittelius and Tribune Hortensius wish to tell you that the walls are secured. The second legion sends word they are engaged to the north with Gauls, and Vittelius wants to know what his orders are."

    "Have the first cohort man the gates. Second Cohort is to take the Gallic cavalry and round up any prisoners or Roman deserters and post guard over them. The cavalry will find any men who have run, and they will be brought back to the legion's camp. Go."

    The tenth had now formed up in front of the square. The Gauls were massing there, and amid their war cries and the returned jeers of the legionnaires there was a tension of renewed conflict being imminent. Neither side wanted to charge the defensible position of the other, but finally the Gauls' patience gave out, and knowing that to delay longer would cause the lesser warriors to start breaking, they began to charge. Now the eighth and sixth cohorts came around the last corner to the right of the square, and upon the few stragglers of the charge. These were cut up, and the eighth, after clearing the square and dispatching the enemy wounded, did a left wheel and came onto the enemy rear. The sixth remained in the square to fend off a force of enemy spearmen who had just mustered from their homes on the far side of the city, and with great labor kept them out of the square. Finally all was silent save the moans of the wounded and the clinking of metal hitting the cobblestone road; the fifty remaining Gauls were surrendering. The battle was over. The Auxiliary centurions were forming their men into parties of twenty to start patrolling the city as the tenth herded the prisoners away to be sold into slavery.

    The third cohort, the least engaged of the legion, was posted to the walls and the reserve auxiliaries patrolled the inner city. I ordered that a third of all families in the city be taken as hostages and slaves, and the houses vacated be wrecked and an army Praetoria be set up to house the third legion. Instantly I dispatched riders to the second legion and they reported that neither the eighth legion or the second had been terribly disturbed, and the Gauls had turned away when resistance was too stiff. I fell them back to the city and had two large Legionary forts built, one on each side of the city, to house the other two legions. The last major Gallic bastion was broken, and the Gauls would never recover.

    The body of my standard bearer was recovered and given a posthumous award for bravery; the legion's dead were also given makeshift awards, and the funeral pyres burned long into the night.


    Legio III Gallica forms.


    Miners go to work.


    the mine almost complete...


    the First Cohort makes for the walls




    The first cohort's vanguard goes over the walls...


    The Eagle is planted on the ramparts, the Gauls unable to drive it off again.


    The testudo of one of the tenth's centuries makes their way to the breach.


    nearing the walls


    Desperate fight on the walls


    The fight by the longhouse


    Praetorians charge into the fray.


    Auxilia fight the enemy off of the Legion's flanks.


    The tenth receives the last of the Gallic Nobles


    The ninth cohort charges in support


    Praetorians support the tenth and ninth cohorts.


    Last fight at the Square.









    The Eagle is displayed above the ramparts, now harboring only the ghosts of the once proud Gallic Warriors so recently manning them.


    The Thousand Yard stare of two Legionnaires; one is Now-centurion Gracchus.


    *********************************************************

    The next morning the second legion was placed in the city to conduct patrols, and the third was brought up to parade. Their numbers were smaller than I had hoped, but it was all in a legion's day's work. As the men turned out, I noticed they had all polished their uniforms, repaired or replaced their broken equipment, and looked as fine as the Urban Cohorts of Rome on parade. But these were real soldiers, I though to myself. They had proved their worth yesterday. As they formed up, I stood atop a platform in the center of the Castra Praetoria.

    "Imperator present; Legio Three Gallica, ATTEN-TION!" The legate called, and the legion snapped to with a uniform clash of shields being brought up from the ground and their javelins being brought to attention.

    "At ease-ground shields," I ordered, and the centurions repeated the order as the men downed their scuta.

    "Men of the Third Gallic Legion, I salute you," I bellowed. "Yesterday's battle was the finest display of Roman arms since the siege of Alexandria. I grew up as a boy wishing I had been with my father there, civilized enemies facing off against each other, but you have shown me Roman Virtue has not been lost. In recognition of this event, the legion will be awarded with all members being enrolled among the Equestrian classes of Rome. All marriages outside the laws of the army will be made legitimate, all children and wives added to the rolls of the Equites of Rome."

    The legion cheered at this approval, and I allowed it to continue for a brief time before raising my hand for silence, upon which the centurions bellowed for silence, an order instantly obeyed.

    "Now for more defined rewards. Legionary Marcus Herennius Gracchus, step forward and be recognized."

    From the first cohort the ranks shuffled as the man trotted out to the center of the legion, then turned smartly and sharply to the right, trotted forward and stopped, saluted, and bowed his head slightly.

    "Imperator," he said as he bowed.

    I had never met the man before, and was taken back; he did not seem like the bright man who would come up with a mechanical design. However, Hortensius had not been conservative with his praises of the man, and I continued.

    "Legionnaire Gracchus, to you I award a new Phalera for astounding ingenuity in the field; the first Roman to achieve such an honor, though hopefully your peers-" as I stopped briefly I let a grin slip across my face, "that is, your previous peers-will take your example to heart. Also I award you these," and I grabbed a bundle from a Praetorian, unfolding it and revealing a centurion's crested helm and vine staff. "You are to be posted to the first cohort as the Centurion of the Engineers to replace the deceased Centurion Baccus."

    The stout but young man looked up at me with an astonished and expressionless face.

    "Here, Centurion Gracchus... these are yours, well earned. I also hear you fought well on the ramparts."

    "You honor me too much, Imperator," the centurion said, bowing again before stepping up to take the bundle.

    "Return to your cohort, Centurion," I said cheerfully.

    The man trotted away, and after the ranks had quit shifting I continued.

    "Centurion Gaius Tulius of the tenth cohort, step forward and be recognized."

    The senior centurion of the tenth trotted forward with the same grace and more stiffness and sharpness than even Gracchus had.

    "Centurion, I am awarding you this phalera for bravery, and promoting you and the Tenth's first century to the first cohort. Every centurion of the tenth will be awarded a phalera for bravery."

    The awards continued for over two hours, and finally all the men were duly recognized. They were then given two day's rest from duty, as well as the younger Hortensius's Auxilia. Now all we had to do was mop up the Gauls-and look to the building of the limes against the now-nearing Germans at the borders.


    Yes, I hate the fact RTW is out and I still have a Japanese title. Come on now admins- let's get with the program.

  18. #18
    Xavier Dragnesi's Avatar Esse quam videre
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    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Wow, I haven't had time to read this for a while, but now, after about 25 minutes reading, it's amazing! Seems like a novel with live pictures, which enhance it so much and give it a lot more detail. + rep definitely.

  19. #19

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Legio III. Best legion in the world. Great AAR by the way.
    Proudly under the patronage of Tone
    Roma Surrectum Local Moderator

  20. #20

    Default Re: With Avgvstvs Stertinivs in Gaul, and Beyond

    Wait until you see what they do after their transfer to Syria!
    Yes, I hate the fact RTW is out and I still have a Japanese title. Come on now admins- let's get with the program.

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