[Radious Mod AAR] A History of Massalia

[Chirurgeon]

A History of Massalia


By: Chirurgeon







Introduction


I would like to thank the countless modders that have worked tirelessly to make a great game even better. Since the Emperor Edition of this game emerged it is truly a different game. The AI is smart, plans its attacks well, and does its best to undermine you every step of the way. To get treaties you have to establish yourself as a faction that isn’t going to be absorbed. All in all the game is radically different than this time last year.

The mods I am using include:


Radious Total War Mod: By far the most comprehensive, often maintained, and common sense mod out there. It really is something I could not do without.
Talents Traits and Toadies: This mod makes roleplaying incredibly rewarding and gives your generals a real personality. It makes leveling up of armies and generals truly worth it and it can be tweaked to make your characters good generals or good governors.

Mackles Mod: This removes barbarian artillery. Simply put it just seems out of context for various Barbarian factions to come to battle with engines of war.


ANS4’s Battle Camera: This essentially gives you the freedom to zoom all the way down and quite high as well. It is also one of the few camera mods I have found that is updated to reflect changes in the game through patches


Guaranteed Major Faction Empires: This is a mod I have been experimenting with for several weeks now. It essentially alters the autoresolution so that major factions are stronger than smaller ones. However it occurs in the fog of war. If a major faction is next to your kingdom, and you can see them fight minor factions, battles are resolved automatically in the vanilla fashion. Also this mod does not change the autoresolve when major powers collide. In my experience Rome has become stronger and more expansionist. I have not played far enough to know what happens later. Minor factions are seemingly gobbled up in a land grab by Major powers.

Army Strength Bar Mod: Makes it so you can see the bar to the side of the flag and still have a 40 stack and see the faction symbol. Yes I have edited the game so that everyone has 40 stack max armies. This makes battles less often but are larger. It also puts more at stake. If you lose you are looking at several years to replace a 40 unit army. I can tell you that since the game has improved and the AI is better it is a real possibility that you can lose an entire army. Enemy agents paralyzed one of my armies and their stacks pummeled me and I could not retreat. Suddenly I was losing territory and income and scrambling to survive.

Radious’s Playable Factions: How I was able to play as Massalia


Sell Your Slaves 2: A very novel Mod that allows you to sell your slaves through an edict for a few turns to rake in cash. It is balanced as it decreases other things during the Edict. Very useful if you start having issues with an unhappy populace.


So those are the mods I will be using in the campaign and I have play tested them fairly extensively. Here are house rules:


No movement during winter. Armies will go into winter quarters either next to a city or next to one of the many villages that are scattered throughout the campaign map. They can also be encamped next to a river. If in a desert, The summer will be a time of being in camp. Must be near a river or city or a village on the campaign map. If it is a mild year round climate(no snow in winter and no desert attrition), then it will be possible to move year round. If I do get stuck someplace and cannot make winter/summer quarters I will delete a few units to represent attrition

Instead of agents poisoning things I will roleplay it as plague, flux, dysentery or other nasty diseases that kill large groups of people in cramped conditions.


Each Province will need to have a governor with a garrison.


If besieging a settlement and the siege lasts past the winter/summer(depending on the climate) I will delete a few units to represent attrition

For politics I will simulate an elected leader from the 600 Aristocrats that governed the city. I will attempt to use external events to drive the mood of the Aristocrats and they type of leader they will elect. Then I will tweak that leader into being a dove or a hawk.
Well that is it for now. Will post the first chapter soon!

[Chirurgeon]

Table of Contents

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

[Lysimachos]

It's good to see you're still around and writing. So many of the guys from the old times don't come here anymore. Have some rep, I'm looking forward to this.

[Alwyn]

I look forward to reading more.

[Lugotorix]

This should be a good series. Glad you're having fun with EE. I'm chugging along in it too.

[Chirurgeon]

It's good to see you're still around and writing. So many of the guys from the old times don't come here anymore. Have some rep, I'm looking forward to this.

Me too

I look forward to reading more.

Thank you. I am working on it now

This should be a good series. Glad you're having fun with EE. I'm chugging along in it too.

Yes EE is a whole new game

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter I

There are many pieces and collections of books about the history of the Greek peoples. Their culture is ever present in our modern lives. Virtually every aspect of our daily lives are affected by something Greeks have achieved in the Ancient world. Philosophy, art, warfare, civility, law and many more aspects have been heavily influenced by the Greeks.

It is therefore easy to justify exploring their civilization in a robust manner. This book will focus on one of the most curious and successful cities of the ancient world. Many cities ebbed and flowed as the world around them changed. New powers would come and then go, having been replaced by another great power. One of the constants of the ancient world was the rather peculiar city of Massalia.

We have known that through the revealing of cave paintings near the site of the city that humans have inhabited the region for nearly 30 000 years. The founding of Massalia is drenched in legend as it is difficult to pin down exactly the story.

In 600 BC the Ionion Greeks along the Turkish coast were looking to establish colonies in the Western Mediterranean. One of these groups of intrepid explorers found an ideal location near fresh water and with a protected harbor. It was an ideal location however the local Celtic population was probably surprised to find these strange people wanting to settle in their lands.

The legend is that the Celtic Chieftain invited Protis, the leader of the group, to dinner. Here the chieftains daughter, Gyptis, chose the Greek over a Celt to be her husband. As a wedding gift the Chieftain gave the land around Massalia to the newlyweds and a vibrant community sprung up.

This would begin a long and healthy relationship with the local Celts, particulary, the Ligurians in which Massalia would call upon them on many occasions to help with various conflicts. Carthage and the Etruscans would come into conflict with the city on several occasions. As a result the Celts were incorporated into the armies of the Greek Colonists. The Massalian Greeks would get regular infusions of Ionians as a result of the ever expanding, and every threatening expansion of the Persian Empire.
Manpower was never a problem and the Greeks and Celts seem to live in a relative harmony. For over three hundred years the various internal struggles of the Celts of Gaul, Italy, and Iberia would prevent any real threat from forming to the newly fledged city. These background conflicts seemed to never make it to the Massalians and with their relative safety, excellent harbor, rich lands and waters, and the Greeks ability to engineer and farm, life was quite good for the people of Massalia.

The land supported grain, and an excellent stock of horses. The Celts were excellent equestrians and the Greeks learned much from them. The Greeks had a large middle class of traders and tradesmen and in times of conflict they would ride out on their well equipped horses.



The waters supported a huge bounty of fish, crustaceans, and other delicacies that were transported throughout the Mediterranean. While Greece was under siege from the east the Massalians were living a rather peaceful and profitable existence. The Volcae tribe had settled on the Western side of the Rhone River and the Massalians had taught them the skills necessary to grow olives.

However a rising storm was brewing in central Gaul. Around 270 BC the Arverni tribe defeated their long time rivals the Aeudii. Details are scarce but this shifted the balance of power in Central Gaul. Free to move on to other things, the Arverni wanted a port in the Mediterranean instead of having to pay Massalians to ship their goods. The Massalians charged fees to allow the Celtic goods to flow through their ports and the Arverni had felt slighted by all this. The Volcae too used Massalia as a trading hub for their nascent olive production. When the Arvernii and Volcae traders returned to their villages and hillforts, the chieftains learned of the ever expanding wealth of Massalia.
For the first time in over three hundred years a very real threat to Massalia was growing. And yet the city itself was growing. The docks were expanded and real lucrative trade of salted red mullet continued to swell.

However the elected member of the Aristocratic six hundred members of the Massilian political system decided that the city needed to bolster itself against an attack. Events were happening very quickly in Gaul and Massalia needed to be ready for anything. They elected a hawkish politician named Zenon that had experience at military matters. At 35 he was fairly young but wasted no time in putting together an army to defend the city. The Greek upper middle class took to their horses or to their hoplon and donned their linothorax armor. Zenon found a Celtic bard that seemed to woo many Celts into joining the army. His ranks swelled and now Zenon had to find a way to make the Celtic and Greek styles of warfare work together.





The power vacuum left by the Aeudii not only affected the Arverni but other tribes as well. The Vivisci tribe in Aquitania suddenly found themselves under attack from the suddenly expansionist Arverni. The Etruscans were defeated in Corsica and the Roman Republic suddenly found itself in control of an important Island in the Western Mediteranean. This resulted in a lucrative trade deal and non aggression pact with the young Roman Republic. The Ligurians marched north and took out the Insubres at their stronghold of Medhlan. And soon the Helvetii were pushed out of their city of Octodorun. Other tribes were reforming and changing alliances as the absence of the Aeudi changed the entire dynamic of the land.





Historians argue that the disappearance of the Aeudi removed a natural checks and balances system in Gaul. It was this external event that thrust Massalia into action. Had this not happened and Gaul remained greatly fractured, would Massalia have risen to prominence? It is a what if question that many historians play.
The first test of this new Massalian army would come soon. The Volcae were on the march.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter II

The Strategos Zenon had a real challenge. He needed to mold two different cultures, complete with different languages, into a coherent fighting force. He decided not to try and force the Celts to fight like the Greeks. But he did not want them in complete disarray and not fighting as a unit. He also knew that the levies he received from various Celtic villages were poorly equipped. Celts had a particular pride about fighting with as little armor as possible. Only Celtic nobility fought with armor because they were less expendable. Also armor was expensive. Zenon and his Greek advisors knew that wherever these Celts were located on the battle line they would be vulnerable.
The Volcae made a surprise late Autumn attack on the city. It is not clear why this happened but it also corresponded with a large army moving south along the Rhone of the Arverni. The Arverni were torching Celtic villages and destroying everything in their path in their march south. Perhaps the Volcae were hoping the Arverni would assist in attacking the city.

Whatever the reason the result of the assault was disastrous for the Volcae. The Arverni never came and while they were laying siege to Massalia their own army was under siege from disease. Ill equipped for a protracted siege eventually the Volcae withdrew from the city having lost many men and never fought a battle.

In the Spring Zenon decided to continue building the Army of Massalia. And by the summer he had drilled the men into fighting into a cohesive force. He used the Greek system of the syngtamata. This was a group of six similar units or blocks organized together. Zenon’s army consisted of a syngtamata of core hoplites, composed of the most well equipped and trained men, Light hoplites, levied Celtic spear infantry(poorly equipped and trained), Celtic skirmishers, and Citizen Cavalry.

The Ligurians provided a small group of sword wielding Celtic fighters armored in the Etruscan style. Flexible and strong Zenon decided to leave these men in reserve and would most likely support the Celts in battle.



The region that Massalia controlled stretched northward toward modern day Lyon. It was a rather skinny territory but quite long. The Rhone river was a natural barrier to anything from West of Massalia. An army could stop just about anything trying to cross if it was determined enough. However Zenon was not looking for a defensive strategy.

Hedging his bets that the Volcae had been demoralized and still licking their wounds after being defeated by a microbial army he pushed across the river unmolested.
This was the first time a Massalian force had pushed across the Rhone in large numbers. Here the Volcae realized they had to give battle. The battle of Narbonensis was about to begin.

Historians and military strategists have long analyzed this battle and this book will not spend chapters dissecting a battle.
However a synopsis of the battle is important to tie together other elements in the history of Massalia. On a large plain on the road to Tolosa the Volcae arranged their forces to challenge this incursion by the Massalians. It was a warm summer day by all accounts and in the late morning the forces had arrayed themselves against each other. Zenon had placed his best hoplites in the center. The lighter hoplites were placed on the right flank. The left flank consisted of the ill equipped spear levies of the Ligurians. To bolster their resolve he placed a syngtamata of Celtic skirmishers behind them and put 2/3 of his cavalry on the left flank to counter the lighter cavalry of the Volcae.



Zenon had hoped that the Volcae would charge into battle. His strategy was to engage the Volcae infantry with his own and use the superior cavalry of the Massalians to drive the Volcae cavalry from the field.

It took some prodding by the rather tenacious and deadly Massilian archers to provoke the Celts to move into action. The Volcae had more skirmishers but they were of a poorer quality and the Massalian archers inflicted terrible casualties while suffering almost none.



With some of their skirmishers fleeing the field of battle the general of the Volcae, Moritex, urged his men forward. The Volcae cavalry charged into the Celtic spears and the force of the charge sent some of the cavalry into the skirmishers that were behind the Massalian Celts. The Citizen cavalry charged into the lighter Volcae cavalry and routed them but not before some of the Celts on the Massalian left routed themselves.



The light hoplites on the Massalian right were being flanked and pressed hard. However the citizen cavalry on the right flank would soon be engaged and relieve some pressure on the lighter hoplites.



The cavalry battle on the left would soon be determined and the Volcae cavalry were driven from the field. It was now a question of if the Massalian left could hold long enough against the press of men the Volcae were throwing at them. At some point Zenon and his Itali-Celtic infantry moved to the left flank and counter charged the Volcae that were forcing the levied Celts to buckle.



Some of the Celts began to rout and the Volcae began to press their advantage. Moritex had purposefully arranged himself so that he would hit the weaker left flank. His bodyguard chopped up the levies like firewood. However with the loss of the cavalry the Volcae would soon be under a great deal of pressure.
The citizen cavalry began to charge into the right flank of the Volcae which further alleviated pressure on the wavering Celtic levies. Some of the cavalry went after the skirmishers that were still causing havoc.





Eventually Moritex became surrounded and eventually was killed. His death spread like a shockwave and soon the Volcae were in full retreat. The Massalian cavalry set upon the retreating army and slaughtered many. By night fall almost the entire Volcae force had been hunted down and either captured, to be later sold into slavery to Roman slave traders, or killed.



The battle of Narbonensis was significant in many ways because it was the first time the Massalians had gone on the offensive. It was also the first time they had crossed out of their lands east of the Rhone River. The residents of Tolosa were completely broken when they realized their army had been destroyed. When Zenon approached the city they surrendered without a fight.

By 266 BC the Massalians had expanded their reach into Tolosa. However the progress of the Arverni went unchecked and the raged like a fire through Gaul and Northern Italy.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter III


With the defeat of the Volcae, Zenon had grown in reputation. Men of Celtic and Hellenistic descent flocked to his army in search of plunder. Zenon himself did not fancy the idea of plunder too much but also knew it was a part of warfare that was necessary to keep the men in line. Plunder also meant slaves and the slave hungry Roman Republic seemingly gobbled them up without end. Of course the Greeks had slaves as well. This meant one of the most precious resources gained in conquering a people was not gold or iron, but rather the resource of free human labor.


Other things were going on in the region as well. The success of Zenon was a bit overshadowed by the fact that the Vivisci tribe in Aquitania had succumbed to the relentless attacks of the Arverni. An Arverni army managed to slip through the passes of the Alps and had captured Liguria.


This of course struck home quite hard. The Ligurians were Celts that inhabited the country around Massalia. Suddenly an exodus of Ligurians came across into Provincia. This was beneficial since the Volcae had fled many of the villages and olive groves around Tolosa. The Ligurians moved in and began to cultivate the olives themselves. With the Massalians helping, Tolosa would turn into a very profitable region. It was a perfect climate for growing olives and soon Massalia was shipping them back to Greece and other locations. These olives were much larger than regular Greek olives.






Zotikos was elected the Governor of Massalia and while Zenon was supervising the consolidation and building of infrastructure in Tolosa the Arverni struck the city of Massalia with a capable force. It was a real threat but again at the onset of winter the Arverni withdrew having suffered serious attrition from disease and low morale. Without a capable fleet it would be impossible to effectively capture Massalia.




Zotikos was credited with the defense of the city and his clout improved as well. He was good at spotting all sorts of problems and exposed people that were not paying taxes and put others at ease because of his humor. Only 20 years old he was advised by the various committees of the six hundred aristocrats.


Zenon had determined that a syngtamata of well trained men be the core of the garrison for Massalia. The hoplites inside the city were trained as defensive specialists.
The Ligurians were openly pleading with the Massalians to help them reclaim their homeland from the Arverni. A great debate ensued and after much nashing of teeth it was determined that Zenon should take his army into Liguria and evict the Arverni that had captured the city.

[crucify_ego]

Nice start and very cool pics. Cant wait for the next chapter. +rep!

[Chirurgeon]

Nice start and very cool pics. Cant wait for the next chapter. +rep!

Thank you very much I am working on a few updates

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter IV

Historians disagree with why the Massalians wanted to help the Ligurians recapture their traditional territory. What is known is that the Massalians would do it under the pretense that they would control the settlement and region. The Massalians were risking their own men to do this for the Ligurians. However the Ligurians did not as much care because they would rather live under Greek rule than be wiped out by other tribes or driven away from their homes.

It seems as if a bargain was struck and it was agreed that should they evict the Arverni the Ligurians under command of Zenon would do the heavy lifting and assault the city with the support of the Massalians. This was the only way the six hundred agreed to allow the Army of Massalia to traverse into the Po River valley area.

The Sequani had taken over Medhlan and were now poised to threaten Massalia itself. Perhaps the Massalians wanted to use Liguria as a buffer to prevent hostile enemies from having a direct impact on Massalia. The true reason seems to be lost to history.

On the Diplomatic front, Syracuse, struck an agreement with the Massalians. Trade and a non aggression pact was achieved. The idea of this agreement likely came from Rome and wanted their allies of Syracuse to support their Greek brothers in the north. Regardless it provided a great boost to the income of Massalia at a time when they would need it.

Gravesites that have been unearthed in and around the modern city of Genoa have revealed a great battle in ancient times. We don’t have all the details on what happened but the Arverni were pried out of the Ligurian territory. There is a large collection of broken projectiles and arrows indicating a missile superiority on the part of the Massalians. A mass grave with Celtic bodies shows many wounds from multiple missiles. This would seem to indicate the Arverni suffered horribly from missile attack. The Greeks of course burned their bodies so it is hard to tell if they suffered as well.





What is known is that the success of the battle would not last long. The Massalians returned to Massalia only to hear that the Sequani moved across the Po river en masse and annihilated the local Ligurian population and caused the rest to flee toward Massalia.

The warlike Sequani now were on the Massalians doorstep. The Six Hundred had no desire to return to Liguria and ordered Zenon to stand down and not try and recapture the area. Members of the Six Hundred had come up with a plan to possibly involve the Romans to engage the Sequani. It is unknown if Rome ever heard of the plan.
Around 263 BC yet another player emerged onto the scene in Gaul. Far to the north and east a new tribe stormed into Gaul from the dark forests of Germania. The Suebians had captured the old Aeudii capital of Bibracte. The pressure on Massalia may have abated a bit but they still were threatened. Chlodochar, the Suebian Chieftain, and Zenon both sat down and agreed that they had mutual interests. A pact between the two peoples was formed and for now the two would not do anything against the other. The Suebians were taking advantage of the fact that the Arverni had been put back on their heels by the loss of Liguria.

This sparked a great debate with the Six Hundred. The details are unknown but there was an increasing push to go after the Arverni while they were embroiled with the Suebi. Zenon proposed going after their holdings in Aquitania. Others proposed letting things play out and seek revenge on the Sequani for the destruction of their Garrison at Liguria. History of course tells us which way they went, but it is interesting to ponder the what ifs.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter V

One of the greatest debates of the ancient world took place during the winter months of 263 BC. Philosophy classes have long used the debate as a platform for trying to shed light on an important question. Because it is not just prescient to Massalia it is also applicable to modern times as well.

Massalia had a hard choice to make. Its age old friend and ally the Celts needed another bit of help getting their homeland back along the coast of Northern Italy. However a golden opportunity had revealed itself in the fact that the Suebi had severely hampered the Arverni. Would the Massalians selfishly go after new lands that would provide more income, jobs, and resources? Supporters argued that the Ligurians would also benefit since they were tied to every aspect of life involving the Greek city.

However they could head east into Cisilpina and also gain new territory and help their allies. The going might be harder though. But the appreciation of the Ligurians could not be measured in terms of dollars but rather in their steadfastness for supporting the Massalians. It was the age old question of will you help yourself or your friend first.

The debate raged the better part of a day with one Aristocrat feinting during his impassioned argument. By a narrow margin it was voted that Zenon was to lead the Army of Massalia against the city of Genoa that the Sequani had captured a few years previous.

Zenon was working with advisors from Syracuse who had been with Syracusean forces fighting Carthage in Africa. Xenophon was reshaping the Massalian army. He convinced Zenon that he needed to employ a syngtamata of pikemen. Wielding the Sarissa in the style of Alexander it was the ultimate defensive force. It would also take a long time to retrain men. His best men would be part of this new fighting force.

Zenon convinced the 600 to pay to rearm the syntagmata of light hoplites with better armor so that they could be on par with the hoplites he already had. In addition the Celti-Italic infantry that had proven successful against the Volcae in helping turn the tide would be more heavily recruited. The Etruscan’s may have been absorbed by the Roman Republic but it would seem their style of fighting was ever present along with their armament.

As part of the burgeoning relationship with Syracuse, Massalia recruited some of the best Celtic swordsman and sent them to Africa along with a large bag of gold to campaign for Syracuse against Carthage. In exchange the Massalians gained a valuable group of fighters that some would argue change the history of the world.

That could be a stretch but the introduction of Tarantine Cavalry would be a game changer for Massalia. Flying together like a flock of birds and hurling deadly javelins at their enemies without being touched would cause great fear and consternation among her enemies. These would replace the less mobile foot skirmishers of the Celts and give a much more flexible fighting force to employ.

So the Army of Massalia was taking on a much more international look at this time. As they trained and worked to make the force cohesive, things began to unravel in Gaul and elsewhere. The Suebians became allies of the Massalians assuming the Massalians would help. However the Massalians had no intention of becoming embroiled in the chaos of Central Gaul. The speed of the Suebian invasion was only matched by the speed of its disintegration. Suddenly the Suebians were being pressed on multiple fronts over a large territory. The Nervii, Pictones, Helvetii, Arverni, Boii, and a new player from Sarmatia the Royal Scythians were all battering the Germans on multiple fronts.

The Lusitani to the south in Iberia had essentially taken control of the peninsula and were now looking for new territory to plunder. They chose Tolosa. The Massalians however had recently deployed their new Pikemen system in the city as part of the garrison. The Lusitani twice attacked the city in as many years. Twice they attacked and twice they were repelled.







News of course spread of the success of the pike phalanx in Tolosa and of course Zenon was even more impressed. With a great deal of confidence and a new army to command he marched toward Genoa. The Sequani had moved their main army away, for reasons unknown, and in a slaughter the Massalians recaptured the city.
As the city and its harbor became a new base for the army a new governor would have to be brought in. Plans were already being drawn up to besiege the formidable city of Medhlan on the other side of the Po River.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter VI

An army on the march is expensive and supporting an army with all of its food, supplies, and coin was beginning to press Massalia hard. Genua was not producing much as it had to be rebuilt after capturing it. Much of the surrounding countryside had been torched by retreating Sequani.

The Six Hundred elected for a temporary tax increase. The state would be bankrupt without it. In fact some of the members were calling for the army to be disbanded and to simply bolster the garrison of the city. Within the Six Hundred there were always members that had a protectionist view.

The third battle involving Genua would be the greatest that anyone had seen up until this point. The Massalian garrison had been trained to use the pike and also had a small group of Celtic warriors assigned to protect the city. Before we get into the battle some context is needed.

The indirect cause of the battle was when the Army of Massalia crossed the Po in the Spring of 258 and laid siege to Medhlan. They did not have enough supplies as the harvest would not be in for months. Three to six months would be the longest they could hold out. There was a substantial force in place and the fight for the city would have been bloody. Zenon elected to wait out the city. While he did the Helvetii sent a huge force to relieve the city. Seeing himself outnumbered 2-1 Zenon elected to withdraw across the Po. In doing so it opened the door for the Sequani to come into the province.

Here they attacked the small garrison at Genua. Leonnatus, the governor, was in a horrible situation. Outnumbered 5 -2 he had to find a way to stay alive. His tactics would change the way warfare took place in Massalian armies.

Using an L shaped street as a bottle neck he placed his pikemen in these streets. This alone was not a particularly brilliant tactic. However Leonnatus placed light infantry in-between the poles of the Sarissa to prevent enemy infantry from engaging the Phalanx in hand to hand combat. By keeping the enemy at bay it meant a better chance that the sarissa could make a kill. However occasionally a defender would inadvertently get pushed into the point as well. Having speartips surrounding you in a fight gave the men a certain degree of confidence and the two units worked together to keep an enemy at bay.

As predicted the Sequanii charged in with great zeal and enthusiasm. They hurled themselves at the prickly spears and found it nearly impossible to make any headway. For hours the Sequani did their best with their best infantry to smash through. Of course there were casualties on the Massalian side but the damage to the Sequani were catastrophic. The best warriors the tribe could provide were again and again impaled and cut down.









It is noteworthy that if the Sequani had more missile units the result would have been different. The one thing a compact group of men is vulnerable to are missiles, however only a few slingers accompanied an army that was made of 2/3 infantry and the rest cavalry.

The battle lasted the better part of the day and the resilience of the garrison soon became legend. After a brave withdrawing fight the Sequani were finally overwhelmed and Medhlan fell into the hands of the Massalians.

Zenon focused on building up the province and erecting proper walls and buildings. Meanwhile members of the Six Hundred wanted the true gem of the province. Patavium was renowned for their high quality glass and glassmakers. With the coffers low and having to deal with more raids from the Lusitanians, that negatively impacted olive production, a new source of income needed to be secured. It was determined that income could come from Patavium.





The glaring problem with this was that the Venetii had no desire to go to war with the Massalians. In 257 the Venetii sealed their fate. The declared war on the Suebians, and Massalia had to honor the alliance with the Germans. This provided more than enough reason to go after Patavium and the great potential it provided.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter VII

The main problem with the Veneti was that they had expanded eastward and Zenon nor the Six Hundred had any desire to march past Patavium to eliminate the threat. Zenon saw an opportunity in the spring of the campaign year in which one of their armies was vulnerable. It was the only army in the way of Patavium and Zenon decided to take advantage.

The Veneti had acquired a captured ballista and this was the main concern for his army. He had a plan to rid the enemy of that war engine. Zenon was going to lure the enemy to his lines because he knew that the defensive prowess of his army was a real asset. It was decided that the men would be in a tight formation along the entire length of the fighting. The Veneti brought no cavalry and would be very vulnerable.

He placed his Italic-Celtic infantry on the left flank, his pikemen in the center, and the hoplites to the right.

He put the highly efficient Massalian cavalry, made up of Ligurian Nobles from around Massalia, on the left flank. The citizen cavalry made up of the upper class of Massalia was placed on the right.

He stretched the archers out behind the lines and they were instructed to fire at anyone firing at the men. His loyal spears and another unit of noble spears were in reserve along with his veteran sword infantry. They were a mix of Celts and Greeks.

The battle began with the Veneti beginning to move up the ballista to wreak some havoc on the Massalian lines. Zenon had other plans. He told the commander of his Tarantine cavalry to take out that ballista.

The cavalry stormed off across the field in a blur of dust and hooves and stampeded toward the siege engine. The Veneti immediately began to ready the engines for launch. Indeed they managed to launch four giant stones. Three of them overshot the herd of cavalry but one smashed into the group killing about five men and horses.
Taken by surprise the skirmishers that were lingering around the ballista scattered and the cavalry charged in taking out the crew and cutting the sinews that powered the machines.





Just as quickly as they attacked the cavalry retreated leaving a fuming enemy behind. The commander of the Veneti who is unknown to history went ahead and ordered his men forward. The veneti used rather effective archers and large numbers of them moved forward and began to engage the lines of the Massalians. The Massalians returned fire and for some time a deadly game of missile exchange occurred. Initially the Veneti were going after the infantry but soon realized if they did not switch tactics they would be obliterated by the Massalian archers. Deciding to engage the Massalians it came too late as their now reduced numbers did not have an effect.

The Veneti sent their lightly armed infantry into the ranks of the heavily armored and calm Massalians. Again the Tarantine cavalry were sent out and began to hunt down isolated units sending a hail of javelins into the ranks of their victims. It was a completely unfair fight and the Veneti were all but destroyed on the battle field.




The true skill of the Tarantine cavalry was demonstrated as they could charge in a diamond formation or sit back at a distance, their versatility was soon becoming very apparent to Zenon and the rest of the Massalians.



With their army broken the city of Patavium opened up its gates and the Army of Massalia marched into the city.

[Alwyn]

Great story-telling, both on the strategic level and the battle-field. It appears that Zenon's clear-headed analysis of enemy armies (and the weaknesses in their composition and tactics) is giving the Massalians a decisive advantage.

[Radious]

Very good as always Sir!

[Chirurgeon]

Great story-telling, both on the strategic level and the battle-field. It appears that Zenon's clear-headed analysis of enemy armies (and the weaknesses in their composition and tactics) is giving the Massalians a decisive advantage.

Yes the army is quite flexible and I love micromanaging the Skirmishing cavalry.

Very good as always Sir!

Thank you so much Radious. Glad you stopped by. Will be posting in your forum when I get a chance to set it all up

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter VIII

The capture of Patavium and its principal asset of glassblowing meant that the Massalians were able to start pulling in much more money. The quality of the glassware was in demand in Rome, Syracuse, and many other places.

The Veneti were vowing to revenge the loss of their homeland and prepared to march an army to recapture Patavium. The Six Hundred were debating about what to do with two threats to their interests. The Lusitani were ever persistent in their attempts to capture Tolosa. The garrison had been bolstered with more men to prevent the city from falling. However with coffers low and manpower stretched it was not possible to do much more than hope that the garrison could hold out. We know of course they did but it must have been a quite tenuous situation.



It is during all this that the second great battle that the Army of Massalia under its command of Zenon took part in.

The Veneti had set up a fort not too far from Patavium. Having little cavalry of their own they decided to negate the effect of the Massalian cavalry by forcing a battle in a cramped space. The fort had three entrances and it was hoped that the plethora of archers inside could inflict terrible casualties on the Massalians attempting to get inside. The walls would provide relative protection as the missile troops would not be seen directly.

The Veneti knew that the phalanx was vulnerable to missile fire and as a result wanted to focus on the pikes.
The day dawned hot and dry as the summers tended to be at times. This played into the hands of the Massalians in an important way. The Veneti were not the only one with a plan for this battle. In a bold move, Zenon, was going to light the walls on fire with pitch and burn them down along with the towers. He ordered his archers to burn down the towers first and then the walls themselves were lit. We know from accounts of the battle that the defenders tried to sally out and put out the flames but the commanders ordered the men not to use their water they had stored. It was a brilliant, no pun intended, tactic in which the walls soon became a giant bonfire.





When the fires settled down in the afternoon the pikes moved to the scorched remains of the fort, the hoplites moved to the second entrance, and the Celti-Italic sword infantry moved to the third. Now the archers had a clear view of their foes and began to systematically target the Veneti archers. Soon the Massalians were getting a diminished barrage of fire until it completely abated. The pikes pushed through the defenders and over the charred remains of the wall. Now the other defenders became vulnerable and the Tarantine cavalry moved in and began to hurl javelins into the rear of the Veneti. This must have had a terrifying effect on the defenders having been sandwiched between missile and melee.







The true horror of a battle was arguably not the battle itself. It was the aftermath. The loser was hunted down mercilessly. Once the losing party took a step backward or turned to run it was like a contagion. Only the most disciplined troops would fight. On this day the Veneti wanted nothing more than to escape. However the narrow gaps they created to keep an enemy at bay kept them from escaping. Only a few are rumored to have escaped.

By the fall the Army of Massalia moved north and sacked the city of Noria. This was a punitive effort and was designed to give the Nori tribe a chance to retake their lands. The six hundred had no intention of putting their great army far away into the mountains while the Lusitani were relentlessly attacking Tolosa.

Zenon was pushing sixty at this point and one of his officers was running things day to day. It was difficult to get on his horse, reportedly because of arthritis. The army would need a new commander.

In the spring an emissary from the Veneti came to the newly built governors building in the city of Patavium and asked for peace. Members of the six hundred had traveled to Patavium to see it for themselves and likely see how much of the glass market they could corner. A peace agreement was drawn up and a sigh of relief was probably heard when it was all over.

The relief would have been temporary however. The plan to have the Nori tribe take back their lands failed when a large army of the Boii poured across the Danubis and took the town for themselves. It seemed as if Zenon and his army would be stuck in Cisilpina for some time.

Yet something had to be done about the relentless attacks by the Lusitani. For several years the Six Hundred could not come to a consensus. However the enemy of their enemy, the Suebi, were being pushed hard and had lost large swaths of territory. The check and balance system in Gaul was once again falling apart.

The arrival of a new tribe from what people at the time called the Midnight Isles (British Isles) crossed the British channel and landed near modern day Normandy. Here they quickly made gains against other Celtic tribes.

Like the Greeks, the Celts always seemed to be fighting each other. Some members of the Six Hundred were determined to take advantage of the situation. In a narrow vote it was decided to begin trading with the Iceni Tribe.

Over the course of several years the province of Cisilpina began to make enough money to support a second army. This was the Army of Provincia. It would be led by 28 year old Demarmenos. A relatively obscure son of a prominent Six Hundred member, he would be raised to be a capable commander. Although the vaulted Tarantine cavalry were not part of it the tactics had been taught to others. Light skirmishing cavalry would be a mainstay in every Massalian army.

[Chirurgeon]

Chapter IX

There was a period over the next several years that would see several key battles that would raise the bar for respect for the Massalians. The first was a huge force of Arverni from Aquitania. They would assault Tolosa and were repelled by the steadfastness of the defenders. It would not take long for another battle to occur.
The Lusitanians sent a large army toward Tolosa. Had they been able to reach the city it is likely it would have been captured. The Massalian garrison had lost half of its men and would take time to rebuild the ranks.



Under command of Demarmenos the Army of Cisilpina traveled south and for the first time could look to their right to see the mighty Pyrenees. They had crossed into the Iberian Peninsula. This was the first time a force of Massalians had done this and here they were attempting to stop a large Lusitanian force.

On a rather nondescript plain about 100 km north of Tarraco the two armies arrayed themselves against each other. The Lusitani brought a variety of lightly armored but fast swordsmen. They also had more heavily armored spearmen. Renowned for their cavalry they brought enough light cavalry that would make up almost a quarter of their army. The Lusitani also brought slingers. Slings not bows were the preferred manner of fighting from a great distance. They had slightly better range and although not as deadly as a bow per say they did their fair share of killing.

The garrison at Tolosa learned to dread the arrival of slingers.

Demarmenos knew that the strength of his men were in their ability to stop an enemy and pin them down. He knew that his pikes and hoplites could go toe to toe with anything the Iberians could throw at them. His real, and justified, concern were the Iberian and Balearic Slingers. He also had to deal with the plentiful cavalry that the Lusitani fielded.



First he had to bait the Lusitani and pull them in. For this he deployed his Skirmisher cavalry. Although not as good in a melee fight they still packed quite a punch with their javelins. Storming across the plain to begin to irritate the Lusitani, Demarmenos aligned his men so that the hoplites sloped away from the main line at a 45 degree angle. This was to help deny the flank. It had been done in battles before. The most famous was Alexanders flank at Gaugamela. The left flank consisted of all sword armed infantry. To protect them from cavalry the Massalian Cavalry was deployed on the left. They were a notch above the Citizen Cavalry on the right.





Demarmenos put himself close to his pikemen and made it obvious he was close to the front line. It was hoped that the slingers would not be able to risk a ripe target. For his part Demarmenos hoped his armor was as good as what his men paid for it. Made up of the best possibly armed men, each man had spent a fortune on their armor. He knew that he would have to endure a hail of slingstones until his own archers could hit the slingers who had a greater range.

The Massalian Spear guard, who were a mix of Celtic and Greek would be in reserve on the right flank



The Massalian sword veterans would be in support on the left flank should things go badly.

With final instructions done the Skirmisher cavalry had done their job and some of the Lusitani cavalry were in hot pursuit. Through a sea of swirling dust and javelins the Lusitanian cavalry was trying to close the gap before the Massalians could reach the safety of their lines.

Zooming around the right flank of their line the Massalians won the race and the citizen cavalry pounced on the lighter Iberian cavalry. The Massalian skirmishers wheeled around behind the new cavalry fight and sniped at exposed Iberians from behind.



On the left, as expected, the Iberians were charging into the left flank with cavalry. Swordsmen were not as adept at dealing with cavalry and as a result they simply endured the charge and waited for relief. Relief poured in as the Massalian cavalry unleashed a frenzied charge into the Iberian Cavalry on the right. A great collision of horses occurred as the cavalry battle was well under way on both ends of the line.

Demarmenos began his endurance of the slingers and slowly had his men back up. Every curse word was used repeatedly as stones found their marks. Only three members of his bodyguard were injured enough not to keep fighting. The sound of the stones zipping through the air was like a swarm of giant insects. The ear rattling sound of stone on metal would ring on in the men’s ears long after the battle.

The slingers continued to advance and pound Demarmenos and his men. Finally the Massalian archers were able to start punishing the slingers for their attack on their Strategos. It didn’t take long to realize that the slingers had strayed too close to the lines of the Massalians. There was a sort of paralysis on their part as they knew if they ran backwards many would be killed. At least they could use their shields. Orders were given to shift fire to the Massalian archers but the word of this command took a long time to be relayed through the various groups. Not to mention several commanders falling before able to relay orders causing even more chaos.

In the end the slingers were bested by the archers and turned and ran. Men began to peek from behind their shields in relief as the slingers ran away from the carnage.
The press on the left flank had been too much for some of the thorax swordsmen that had taken the worst of the cavalry charge. Seeing this veteran swords stationed behind moved in to plug the gap. A hard fought battle was going on as the cacophony of sound indicated compared to other parts of the line.







The cavalry battle had been won and now the cavalry could focus on the infantry. The skirmishers were able to get behind the Lusitani and exact a horrible toll on the men as javelins filled the ranks of Lusitanians turning them into porcupines.

At some point the chieftain leading the fight fell and the men around him retreated. The cavalry set upon the retreating men and chased them till they were exhausted. Many of the captured men would be sold as slaves, which of course meant a lot of money for the army.



On the other side of their lands the Massalians would have to fight one of their greatest battles up to this point. The Army of Massalia would get a new name after the fight.