Romans on our Shores!-Macedon AAR

[Blopwerth III]

It was the year 267 and the still young Prince Pyrrhus of Macedon, named for the legendary son of Achilles and NOT Pyrrhus of Epirus, was disturbed in the palace in Sparta when he heard that his grandfather, Antigonos, was dead. His father, Gyras, was now king, and he the heir to the throne. He was only 17, but he was talented already, a veritable military genius. Though he was testy, his wroth rarely fell undeserved upon people, and he was still brilliant. He was very handsome, and his brain matched his looks. He didn't really care much for the country life, but rather preferred the urban jungle. However, the facet of his personality that would define his life was an unrelenting hatred of ignorant non-Greeks, a desire to bring Greek honor and civilization to the far reaches of the world, and a burning hatred of Romans in every shape and form.

He read the dispatch further, and two primary details caught his attention: The men that slew Antigonos were Romans, and a Roman army had landed on the Western shore of Greece in Epirus, taking Apollonia as a base of operations. Immediately, Pyrrhus petitioned his father to give him an army to wipe the Romans off of Greece's shores. His father complied, but said that no army was available, so Pyrrhus had to raise the army himself. He gave his son 2,500 denarii and told him to make him proud.

Pyrrhus first hit the streets of Sparta. The people were distressed by the thought of the Romans taking over. Then the speaker stopped, gesturing towards Pyrrhus.
"Gentlemen, Prince Pyrrhus!"

"Spare me the honors, good townsman. I need only to speak a short while," said Pyrrhus. He mounted the rostrum. "Gentlemen of Sparta! As you have heard, Rome has landed an army on the sacred shores of Greece, cradle of civilization! And as you all know, a Greece governed by Romans is simply unthinkable! Unthinkable! I have come to raise an army to crush the Romans, for I will not rest, I will not sit and stand idle, while a single armed Roman disgraces our soil! I stand before you and ask for volunteers! Who will stand with me?!"

Instantly, all the hands of the men in the crowd went up.

"Come with me, men! We need more followers, and we need to arm ourselves! Onwards!" he shouted. The mob dashed throughout the city, finding new recruits quickly. Finally, he turned up at the palace with his vast horde and took from the armory all the weapons and armor there were, and bought else was left, paying for replacements for the things he took. Soon, his raw, but enthusiastic and well-armed, band of valiants left Sparta for Apollonia.

[Blopwerth III]

The Macedonian army was barely a day out of Sparta when suddenly a messenger came darting up from behind them, from the city.

"Prince! Prince!" shouted the messenger. "A message from your father, the king! A Roman army has landed just barely south of Sparta!"

Pyrrhus was outraged.

"The fiendish Romans! They have landed not one, but two armies on our sacred lands! We should destroy them, and use their bodies to fertilize our crops!" he shouted.

A cry of anger and rally rose up from the army, and, with renewed impetus, the army marched due south. After three days' march, they arrived. The Romans were trapped. The sea was behind them, and a mighty Macedonian army was in front of them. Though they made a fine show, and held their own, they couldn't compete. They died. And, following through on his promise, every last scrap of the Roman army was put to use. The surviving pack animals and horses were distributed amongst the soldiers' property and farms, the bodies of the Romans and their dead animals were buried to fertilize the crops, and the survivors were...ahh...un-survivored, if you will. The armor was melted down and reused. The fabric and clothing was torn up for rags or kindling for the celebration bonfires that night.

Pyrrhus then went to the baggage train, and told his soldiers to have at it. Soon, the baggage train vanished. Men stole everything; huge scads of money, spare armor, new swords, food, wine, empty amphorae, even the wooden carts themselves. The Macedonians left only two traces of the great battle: they erected a large wooden monument at first, and then commissioned a stone memorial, and they left Consul Placus Mevanius Impetor, the army's leader, alive. He was sent to Apollonia with nothing on him but the tattered remains of a Roman standard wrapped around his waist and iron cuffs about his wrists. His head shaved, his body scratched and mutilated his mouth sewn up and eyes put out, he was dumped in the harbor of Apollonia by a "trading vessel" and left to swim for shore. He barely survived, but was taken by the Romans. THe Romans were not going to forgive this transgression.

[Doros_of_Sparta]

Necro post but i like it