Chapter 2
Thersandros couldn’t sleep. The Celts had been sieging the city for a few months, and Thersandros was losing sleep over iT. He was just walking the streets, alone, not knowing when they would attack. He knew the grain stores couldn’t last forever.
Thersandros walked up into one of the towers on the wall. He looked out and saw the Celtic camp, fires ablaze.
“Oh gods…” Thersandros said. He saw that they’d constructed a siege tower. “I didn’t know they knew how to do that! Maybe they’ve hired a Roman engineer…” he muttered to himself.
The next day, after Thersandros finally went to sleep, scouts on the walls reported that the siege engines were nearing the walls. Thersandros and his personal guard stationed up on the wall were accompanied by Alkaios of Agathe (Thersandros’ son in law) and his personal guard.
When the siege tower was pushed up to the wall, barbarian spear-wielding troops climbed up and began flooding onto the walls, only to be met by the elite infantry defenders of Massilia.
It was a long and casualty-heavy battle for the Celts and a great victory for Massilia and her people.
Thersandros congratulated all of the soldiers after the battle with a short but to the point speech.
“Today is a great day for Massilia- we have thwarted a Celtic assault, our forces in the west are mobilizing for an assault on the barbarian Gauls, and our economy is beginning to rise from the depressing downturn! You should all be proud of Massilia and her citizens!”
It was true. A Gallic army had moved to a point near their border with the Greeks of Massilia, and Thersandros’ son Adeimathos raised a small army to meet the barbarians. He set up a camp near the Gallic camp to keep an eye on them.
Later that year, they were attacked. Adeimathos was in the commander’s tent, sipping wine from a small, clay cup, looking over plans he had drawn when one of his soldiers from his guard unit rushed in. It was night, and he thought everyone was sleeping.
Looking up in surprise, Adeimathos asked what was going on.
“Sir,” the soldier said. “We are being attacked! The Gauls are only a short distance from our camp!”
Adeimathos stepped outside his tent and woke all of his troops. They quickly prepared for battle just outside camp. Adeimathos was nervous because the original Gallic army was aided by another one. Hopefully, he thought, my troops pull through. The Gauls do have the element of surprise, though, and numbers…
Little did Adeimathos know this would be his final battle fighting for Massilia. In the midst of the difficult battle, Adeimathos fell to a barbarian blade. He’d hoped that he would die in battle, but not this soon. With this blow to the moral of Adeimathos’ troops, they routed.
When news reached Thersandros that his only son Adeimathos died, he mourned in his villa for the rest of his life. A small ceremony was held in the villa’s courtyard for the brave general. Thersandros spoke briefly of his bravery and valor on the field of battle. Not even a year later, Thersandros died. Nobody quite knows, but the townspeople speculate he died of a broken heart.
Alkaios became the leader of Massilia after Thersandros’ death, and he began planning in his villa with his top military advisors of a war of vengeance against Gaul. The first step- Gergovia.
In these troubled times, one sign of hope shone- a daughter of the royal family was getting married, and her husband would become a general for Massilia.
The moral of Massilia after the siege was high, their brave leader and his fellow general Alkaios defended the city valiantly. But, after the battle with the Gauls and the death of Adeimathos, Massilian pride was fading.
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Sorry for how small the pictures are this update, I'll try to fix that. Also, please leave some feedback