Barritus and other warcries of the period

[Ecthelion]

The Romans of late antiquity, after fighting mostly Germanic tribes of the Franks, Alemanni and Goths, had adopted the warcry of their opponents, the barritus, a deep reverberating warcry that would crescendo and undulate with the shields acting as an amplifier.

I'd love to see this as a special ability for a melee and charge buff.

What other warcries would be appropriate?

[DarthShizNit]

Really? I never figured the Romans one for adapting a war cry though I guess that makes sense, and would look frankly (pun kinda intended) bad ass.

[Ecthelion]

I doubt it will happen though. CA only seems to care about implementing the pop-history things.

In vanilla Rome 2 we didn't get the Greek and Macedonian warcries either.

From: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...0.wbra990/full

In the 4th century, Roman infantry favored the barritus, a war cry of Germanic origin, apparently imitated from a martial custom prevalent among auxilia palatina from East of the Rhine. It began as low murmuring and gradually crescendoed to a loud roar (Amm. Marc. 16.12.43; 21.13.15; 26.7.17; 31.7.11; Veg. Mil. 3.18.9; Lactant. Plac. 4.394). The etymology of barritus is ambiguous. Tacitus (c.98 CE) used the term barditus to describe the manner in which Germani chanted “songs” (carmina) in the battle line, which amplified and reverberated within the hollows of their shields (Germ. 3.1). The late Latin form most plausibly evolved from a deformation of barditus under the influence of an existing Latin word barritus, a “bellowing” or “trumpeting” (Apul. Flor. 17; Veg. Mil. 3.24.5; Hoffmann, SBND 1.135–7; Beck, 1976; Speidel, 2004: 111–113). Later, battle cries increasingly took the form of Christian invocations, notably Deus nobiscum, “God (is/be) with us” (Maur. Strat. 2.18), and perhaps also Alleluia (Vita S. Germani 3.18). Towards the end of the period, Adiuta Deus, “God, help us,” was officially sanctioned (Maur. Strat. 12.B.16.42–12.B.16.43, 24.15–24.16; Lot 1946; Rance, Strat.). If victory was apparent, other slogans proclaimed the triumph of the emperor (Veg. Mil. 3.5.4; Procop. Wars 2.8.29, 30.3). On a related theme, Vegetius does not specify the wording of battle cries but mentions Deus nobiscum as a likely “watchword” (signum) used both during sentry duty and in battle to differentiate friend from foe (Mil. 3.5.4–3.5.5). The use of such watchwords as a means of identification in combat is attested in the 6th century whenever identical troops were fighting on both sides (Procop. Wars 4.17.22; Th. Sim. 5.10.4–5.10.5).
-----------------------------------------------------

Personally I think legions of men under the labarum, with shields painted with Chi_Rho chanting "God is with us!" would be face-meltingly epic.

[Coleus]

I wouldn't rule it - I think CA will do us proud with TWA; after all, Rome II was much closer to historical authenticity than any other TW title.

[iWarsaw]

That kind of voice acting would be a lot cooler then the actual voice acting. If they could have whole armies do that it would be a great addition.

[Ecthelion]

Honestly, if I heard a army of Goths doing the barritus in TW:A, I would have a pretty powerful nerdgasm.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

Can't really argue with Phillip Rance, he did a great job researching Late Roman Military tactics.

[Aenima]

I now want to hear what the hell the/a Barritus warcry sounds like, if only just to put what I just read into context.

[Butan]

Units already kind of "chant" (cheering/taunting) when they face each other standing still, a few hundred feet apart.

But since most of the time you're at that range, it means your units and those of the enemies are rushing to meet at the center, you dont often get that animation.
Would be cool to have a real chanting animation, possibly culture based (refering to the OP), that could be used as a "not given any attack command yet" music, or as in Rome 2, "standing still close to the enemy" animation but with a farther activation range.


Or just ask Europa Barbarorum II team to make the Attila in-game music

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

I now want to hear what the hell the/a Barritus warcry sounds like, if only just to put what I just read into context.

It was a soft growl and banging on shields that got progressively louder over time until it reached a roar.

[Ecthelion]

I now want to hear what the hell the/a Barritus warcry sounds like, if only just to put what I just read into context.

Well... no one really knows.
They didn't exactly have smartphones with voice recorders back then.

And since there were no explicit words in it, all we have are account of growls getting louder and being amplified with shields.

[Humble Warrior]

War cries I'm sure happened, but who can know what they actually sounded like? It's not as if there's a detailed record of how it sounded. Is there?

And to be honest, CA have never really been about authenticity. Be serious. They more `pretend` at history like children at a playground game. Look at their ships strategies and tactics, war tactics, testudos, what about the fire javelins? We've had to scream and shout just to get stationery pilum throwing. They are authentic only in looks and that's iffy at best.

[Causeless]

War cries I'm sure happened, but who can know what they actually sounded like? It's not as if there's a detailed record of how it sounded. Is there?

And to be honest, CA have never really been about authenticity. Be serious. They more `pretend` at history like children at a playground game. Look at their ships strategies and tactics, war tactics, testudos, what about the fire javelins? We've had to scream and shout just to get stationery pilum throwing. They are authentic only in looks and that's iffy at best.

Total War has never really been about history ever. Hell, the original Rome TW was less realistic than Rome 2

[DarthShizNit]

War chants make everything cooler.

[Ecthelion]

It's not just for historical authenticity.

We all know how much CA loves their magical unit abilities. So this could be one, one that actually makes sense, sounds cool, and is still historical.

For game design it makes perfect sense, even when catering to 12 year olds as CA always loves to do.

[Sharpe]

For game design it makes perfect sense, even when catering to 12 year olds as CA always loves to do.

I was 11 when I got my first Total War game. I'm sure most on this forum were pretty young.

But w/e warcries woot

[The Noble Duke Of York]

I'd really like to see something akin to it in game but it's only practical if you are allowed to do it once and only before your lines collide with the enemy. It is mentioned by Ammianius Marcellinus I believe although reproducing it exactly will be hard. The chant they may not want to attempt but they could certainly code in an animation for soldiers to bash their shields with their swords and axes and have that rise to a crescendo. Should only be a feature for Roman and Germanic units however. I do not wish to see Persian units have the ability.

[EmperorBatman999]

I want to see the big Gothic war horns used by the Romans and barbarians, as well as the war chants like the Barritus.

[Hresvelgr]

I want to see the big Gothic war horns used by the Romans and barbarians, as well as the war chants like the Barritus.

Stuff like this is why the Late Romans are definitely way cooler than the early empire/republic.

[Butan]

Its downright impossible to conserve war cries as we would instrumental war music of the past we can only guess when it concerns dead cultures.