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Thread: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

  1. #1

    Default Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter One, For the Republic

    In 272BC the Republic of Rome stood on the edge of what the senators feared would be the end of Rome as it came to war with the Etruscans that dominated lands to the north of Roma itself, as well as the westward island of Corsica. Rome’s two legions and single fleet was at half strength at best. They needed to recruit a full legion before the Etruscans could march on Roma itself. With those panicked days of spring in 272 BC the senate declared Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, a general of twenty-three of the Cornelii family, to the office of dictator. Gnaeus Scipio was granted absolute power of policy, military matters and all matters of state. It was an office for emergencies alone and lasted merely six months, however his elder brother Lucius Cornelius Scipio argued for an increased period of a full year. The vote passed quickly in the senate as they couldn’t see the harm of it. After all Gnaeus Scipio and his I Legion Italica was all the way down in Cosentia and had months of marching ahead of them.


    Gnaeus Scipio sent a message to the commander of the I Legion, Lucius Julius Libo and sail for Corsica with the fleet commandeered by a man named Decimus Junius Brutus. As they sailed things soon grew worse as the First Punic War Began. Carthage had declared war upon Rome. Gnaeus Scipio found himself in a war against two powers with several potential fronts. It was decided that Lucius Libo would deal with Corsican and they head south to the island of Sardinia, a Carthaginian colony. When he arrived with II Legion at the Corsican port town of Alalia they took it with ease. Around that same time the Etruscan city of Velathri fell before Gnaeus Scipio’s understrengthed legion with even less effort. He knew he had to act fast and crush the Etruscans and march upon Mighty Carthage. As he prepared to depart Velathri for Ariminum a messenger on horseback arrived in informed him that the senate had extended his dictatorship until 272. Gnaeus Scipio was surprised as he hadn’t even finished the year long term, but his elder brother and other allied senators claimed that only he could save Rome.

    The first battle of the First Punic War was a Carthaginian naval assault on the port town of Neapolis. The town may have fallen if not for the fact that the garrison commander, Tiberius Julianus, had fallen ill days before. Tacitus Musca assumed his superior’s command. Tacitus was the opposite of Tiberius Julianus; Tacitus was aggressive and threw the town garrison at the Carthaginians and sent the fleeing back to their ships. Hundreds of them drowned in the harbor, pulled down by their armor. A few escaped and those who were captured ended their lives in slavery.
    In the mountainous valleys northwest of Roma proper I Legion were engaged by the Etruscan army. Gnaeus Scipio withdrew at first for fifteen kilometers to more preferable ground. When battle were joined he took the field on foot with his personal unit of trusted Triarii, old veterans of the Roman Army. His decision would have disastrous consequences.


    In the spring of 271 Gnaeus Scipio was wounded and died, cut down by an Etruscan spears. As news of his demise spread through the ranks his men pushed harder in a fury and won the battle in his name. In Roma his elder brother Lucius Scipio was quickly seen as the only man that could replace his brother. Though he had no military career behind him his political might and popularity among the Patricii and plebes alike. He assumed command of the I Legion and hunted down the survivors of the Etruscan army. The remnants of the Etruscan military threat to Rome fled before him and he turned his men’s fury to seize Ariminum instead. As trouble follows trouble Admiral Decimus Brutus died in battle against a Carthaginian fleet, though he as well prevailed.

    Lucius Libo broke the defenders of Karalis when they sallied out. He personally led the final charge that broke the last Carthaginians. Both Corsica and Sardinia was in Roman hands and Sardinia was the first Carthaginian land conquered. The port of Karalis would make a perfect jumping off point for Lilybaeum in Sicily or the Carthaginian holdings in Africa.


    Lucius Scipio crushed the Etruscan army and brought an end to the conflict. In the same period of late 271 the Greek city-state of Syracuse went to war with the Carthaginians and annexed Lilybaeum. This was both good and ill news for Lucius Scipio as for safety and naval control he thought Rome needed Sicily in their hands. Despite this when the Greek city sent ambassadors with offers of a defensive alliance he listened to the senate’s opinions and signed the treaty. A peace treaty was even signed with Carthage.

    While the First Punic War had been short it had torn Carthaginian naval domination out of the hands of the old man that ruled Carthage. Rome then had the ability to become the dominate force in the Mediterranean. Lucius Scipio commanded a great fleet raised with Karalis as their home port and to the senate he warned of another threat. North of Rome the Greek city-state of Massilia had expanded eastward through the Alpes, conquering Genua from a tribe of Gauls. He told them that as long as northern Italy was outside of their control; Roma itself was at stake. He drew upon fears of the Gauls sacking Roma as they had done so very long ago, before Rome rose to a great republic. He easily convinced the senate to invade the Veneti Gauls before they would march on the Insubres of Medhlan and then deal with the Massilians.
    First he waited for Lucius Libo to return with the I Legion and recuperate his losses and recruit new cohorts. What irritated Lucius Scipio was that the Julii general had a strong refusal to utilize foreign troops or in truth any type of auxiliary units. Lucius Libo would have nothing less then Roman citizens in his legion. Lucius Scipio did not mind the delay too much though, as he began to raid Veneti territory. It would allow him the honor beginning the military campaign and prove himself the great commander Rome needed, to prove that he deserved to hold the powers invested in him as dictator. When the war declaration came he dug in and expected the Veneti to smash their numerically superior troops against his fort’s walls and the shields of his hardy men.


    To step back for a moment, before he marched the II Legion into Veneti territory he married a woman named Cicurina Varro and adopted Memmia Ahenobarba, his late brother’s wife. As he left for the Veneti war to come she married a young man named Faustus Egnatius Cordus. He was already in the process of raising the III Legion. The Senate feared a great war as Carthage appeared resurgent. The Gauls casualties were five times greater then his own and Lucius Libo then arrived with his fresh II Legion.


    Soon the Veneti capital fell before their combined legions and its queen signed a treaty with Lucius Scipio, that her people were to become a part of Rome. The I and II Legions marched for war with the Insubres of Medhlan. Lucius Scipio managed to sneak his legion around the barbarian army on the eastern border of the Insubres and vanquished it and took the survivors as slaves to be sold by him and his soldiers. Medhlan fell quickly to Roman siege engineering and preparations was made for an invasion of Massilian ruled Genua, then all of the Cisalpina province and unite all of Italy under Rome. Then he was certain Rome would be safe from northern barbarian threats, and mayhaps he would be able to resign his position as dictator, as he had always intended. However, his commanders told him the threat of Carthage should be dealt with first and his message exchanged with the senate in Roma it appeared to him that the senators agreed. He decided to deal with the Massilians before he returned to speak to the senators in person, to hear their opinions and if they thought it was time for him to resign as dictator then he would without issue.


    In the autumn of 268 BC Memmia Ahenobarba and her husband Faustus Cordus had a daughter that Faustus named Suetonia Rufa. As of the first winter of the next year his wife Cicurina Varro gave him a son, Gnaeus Canus.

    Back north in Cisalpina Lucius Scipio had sent orders to the I Fleet to sail to the city of Massalia and for Lucius Libo to march swiftly through the Alpes and besiege it from land. His legion would block the road to Medhlan and Faustus Cordus’s III Legion would block the road south to Velathri. The admiral of the newly raised II Fleet, a Julii aristocrat named Quintus Julius Pictus was convinced by Memmia Ahenobarba and Cicurina Varro to side with the Cornelii family. He agreed and Lucius Scipio adopted him and he changed the name Julius with Cornelius.
    Treaties of trade and mutual defense were signed with the eastward barbaric kingdom of Dalmatae. News arrive that Syracuse have lost Sicily to Carthage but fled to the conquered holding in Libya. Lucius Scipio saw that war with Carthage were necessary. As he pondered this Massilia declared Rome war, which meant to him that he could spare a diplomat.
    Within forty kilometers of Massalia Lucius Libo was assaulted. The Massilian army was commanded by General Eurybiades, a man in his fifties and a veteran of many battles with the tribes of Gaul. It was a name Lucius Libo had heard before, a name he respected to an extent. When he laid eyes on his scouts reports of his foe’s composition he laughed. Half of it was made up of Freedmen, former slaves who had earned their freedom under Massilian law. Auxiliaries in essence. He saw a victory against Eurybiades to bring proof that auxiliaries were lesser to proper citizens of Rome.


    The battle began with a short skirmishing phase as both sides lobbed javelins and slung stones at the other. A band of close to two hundred Massilian Freedmen armed with spear and shield of Celtic design suffered heavily by the first volleys of javelins and fled with a mere forty survivors. They too to flight through their brothers-in-arms. General Eurybiades certainly must have known of the effects routing men had on those that yet stayed and sent his men forward en-mass. Lucius Libo sends two cohorts out on each flank, one assaulting the Greek flank and the other protected the first cohort’s own flank. Eurybiades had his best troops on his flanks however so it was the center that broke first. When his men was put to flight the rest was a slaughter from the Roman side, and Lucius Libo thought he had his proof, at least to himself. He hunted them down and bested them once more as the garrisoned troops of Massalia was at their side. When he and Admiral Papirius Cursor of the Classis I fleet barely began their siege before the city’s leadership threw up the gates and surrendered.


    Outside the walls of Patavium in Cisalpina a Massilian raiding force fail to take the settlement and are then defeated in the countryside by Faustus Cordus’s III Legion hunted them down and enslaved those captured. Equally so Lucius Scipio smashed the main push.
    Faustus Cordus and Memmia Ahenobarba had a second son, Septimus Silus.

    The I and III Legions vanquished the Massilians outside Genua and claimed the city for Rome. Then the II quickly marched from Massalia to Genua and trapped the last of their armies. To the Massilians credit they fought to the last man. With that the war was over and Cisalpina was in safe hands. Lucius Scipio prepared immediately for war with Carthage. He sent Classis I to its homeport of Karalis and ordered the III to march on Sicily as he himself would return to Roma before he continued for war to join Faustus Cordus’s legion. Lucius Libo he ordered to seat himself in Medhlan and guard the Alpine passes, but first he would lead his legion to Roma for a triumph.
    In 266 a none-aggression pact was signed with the Raeti, a northern neighbor of theirs. Rome used its wealth to convince them to sign the treaty and within months the the Raeti emissary in Roma informed the senate that the pact was undone, though he assured them that the king thanked them for their donation to the treasury. The senators were livid and after the triumph of Lucius Libo he told the senate that there was no trusting the Gaul or Germanic peoples. That even their Dalmatae ally will likely soon turn on them. Lucius Scipio stepped up and spoke in the Dalmataes defense but condemned the Raeti and declared that one day they would taste Roman steel.

    News came to Roma that Syracuse had lost their Libyan holding and instead conquered the city of Carthago itself. The heartland of Carthage. The wealth that kept Carthage strong and dominant for centuries prior had fallen to an ally of Rome.
    Cornelii family tree by 265


  2. #2
    Turkafinwë's Avatar The Sick Baby Jester
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    A very interesting begin to your AAR Lord of the Wall! A First Punic War ending in a victory for Rome and mostly for its ally Syracuse who then later lost Sicily to the Carthaginians but then captured the illustrious Phoenician city itself. Very interesting indeed. The treachery of the Raeti has shaken the senate considerably it seems and as you told will shift their opinion of all Gallic and Germanic peoples to one of distrust. I wonder if this betrayal will have consequences in the further dealings of the Republic of the Romans with the tribes.

    A great beginning of your AAR Lord of the Wall!

  3. #3

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Two, Second Punic War (265-262)

    After the winter months in 265 BC came spring and the Second Punic War began. Lucius Scipio led the I and III Legions to assault Syracuse, but rather then return it to its rightful owners it was taken as a part of the Roman province of Magna Graecia. And, at sea Quintus Pictor of Classis II sent two minor Carthaginian fleets to the bottom of the Mediterranean. The I remained in Syracuse for a time while the III marched for Lilybaeum. It fell with the aid of Quintus Pictor’s ships.
    Rome signed a peace treaty with Libya, a client state of Carthage. In the war against the Syracusians Libya had suffered greatly and had by that year seen enough of war, especially when it came to fight Rome. Around the same time the Syracusian Greeks was wiped out.
    The III Legion and I fleet sailed for Ibossim, the last island under Carthaginian control.
    In 264 the Arverni Gauls declared war and the Germanic Nori tribe declared war upon Rome’s Dalmatae ally. Massalia quickly came under siege and the senate began to raise a fourth legion in Velathri. Gnaeus Novius Vespasianus of the Junii family was granted command of it. With Lucius Libo’s II Legion force-marching to relieve Massalia the senate in Roma gave in to the demagoguery of Senator Publicanus Marasius Sparatus, an influential man from the Marasii family. On the secret behest of Cicurina Varro he made the senate fear that the Arverni came for the second sacking of Roma. The old senator earned a few nice brides to maintain a cold attitude for Lucius Scipio but to still argue for him to maintain his position until Rome would be at peace.

    The Arverni army sought to assault the walls of Massalia before the Romans could reinforce. They were led by General Iliatos.





    The defending troops were led by Decimus Traianus, a young landowner from a village outside Ariminum.



    The battle on Massalia’s walls were brutal and despite their numerical inferiority as well as an inferiority in experience the Romans held on. The Arverni forces were routed and fled after the Massalian noble that led them died on the wall and his elite band of Oathsworn fled.


    Masaesyli launched a army by sea to assault Lilybaeum were the I Legion were stationed. The Carthaginian client state’s army met their deaths by the steel arms of the legion’s veterans. They followed up their victory by setting sail for Carthago and with hope Lucius Scipio would seize the great city and claim its economical might from Masaesyli who had broken from their Carthaginian masters and even annexed the Carthaginian client state of Nova Carthago. Upon his arrival he faced no resistance as he found out that the Masaesyli had emptied it of troops to sail for Sicily. That army arrived the same week outside Syracuse’s walls.
    The III Legion have set foot in North Africa, their sights of Iol, city ruled by the Masaesyli.
    General Gnaeus Vespasianus have finally a full and eager legion. Three of his cohorts were of Equites from Dalmatae. In opposite to Roman legions in generations before and current his was quite cavalry heavy. Immediately he followed orders given to him by the senate. He was instructed to race for Sicily and rescue or reclaim the land seized or besieged by Masaesyli, the orders depended on what occurred before he arrived. While Lucius Scipio was closer he refused to ever abandoned Carthago as it was a superior price. Instead he personally met with King Micipsa and negotiated peace. The king agreed to pay Rome a lump sum of four thousand gold, and thus the threat was averted. Some senators vocally disapproved that they had not been asked, however most was relieved to see a threat removed. The III Legion and tis accompanying fleet sailed for Ibossim to conquer the last Carthaginian island. Carthage was at that point far from a great power. Their territories in Iberia have been lost as the war with Rome did not allow the much needed reinforcements, as well as the loss of two of their client states. Soon Lucius Scipio estimates that he can turn his eyes to the barbarians in Gaul and Germania.

    Lucius Libo moved his legion to Genua as the Arverni army who called itself “Headhunters” crossed the thick forest west of the Alpes into Cisalpina. As a second army headed south he could only remain in Genua a few months. He put his hopes in General Gnaeus Vespasianus’s IV Legion that headed north and had reached the borders between Italia and Cisalpina.
    A deal were struck with Carthage in 262, shortly after Ibossim fell. The war had proven a minor conflict from the Romans perspective, as unknown to them Carthage had significant trouble with internal politics and to keep their vassals in line.
    To Rome’s great surprise, as they had yet to participate in the war against the Nori with their Dalmatae ally, Nori diplomats met with Roman officials in Patavium, later to ratify the treaty in Roma, and offered peace in exchange for Roman protection as a client of the rising Republic. Now the eastern border of Rome were guarded by their Nori vassals and Dalmatae ally. In Iberia Nova Carthago was reborn in a successful rebellion against the Masaesyli. As the year seemed to bring great success Lucius Scipio pushed headed back towards Roma and carried out a great and radical reformation of its military, turning it into a highly professional force and brought about the Roman Legionnaires.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Three, Gallic War



    In 262 BC Rome’s only foe was the Arverni, the largest tribe in Gaul. One army had been bested by the IV Legion and retreated through the Alpine passes and a second had come close to the II Legion in Massalia. General Lucius Julius Libo saw no reasons for concern though. He had bested far greater odds before. He was thirty-five years old. Lucius Scipio, patriarch of the Cornelii and dictator of Rome, was thirty-eight years old and had four sons, though one had recently died young. He had two members he had adopted, though they were both closer to his age.
    Lucius Libo’s confidence led him to the decision to charge out from Massalia and take on the barbarians in the field, to attack their fortified position. His Hastati and Principes had recently gone through the Marian Reforms to legionnaires and he approached the fort and found them rushing out to fight him outside their walls. He was greatly amused to see them abandon their fort for a less certain pitched battle.



    When the II Legion was able to develop their preferred formation and engage the open field they routed the Arverni and slew two-thirds of them. The rest he sold into slavery.
    Faustus Cordus brought the III Legion on a long journey from Ibossim to Carthago. The territories of Africa would fall under the protection of his legion. It was no secret that Faustus Cordus hated the idea of remaining in Africa and so he asked to be replaced in order to go home. Lucius Scipio agreed and replaced him with Military Tribune Marcus Junius Brutus of the Junii family. Faustus Cordus returned home to Roma to live with his wife Memmia Ahenobarba and their four children. His eldest child, his daughter Suetonia Rufa was six years old. Lucius Scipio had recently seen to pay for the education befitting a girl of the aristocracy, who was barely a year older then Lucius Scipio’s eldest son. He assumed the position of Quaestor.

    Lucius Libo and Gnaeus Vespasianus led the II and IV Legions north into Arverni lands after vanquishing their last offensive army. Lucius Libo wouldn’t wait though. He advanced ahead on his own to ensure that he would gain the glory ahead for himself. He felt like he had the right though, since Lucius Scipio had given him command of the Gallic campaign.



    Nori seized to pay Rome as a client state as they were annexed by the Dalmatae. The Dalmatian king had signed a secret deal with Lucius Scipio to annex his sworn rivals. For close to two decades King Boria had claimed that the Nori assassinated his father by way of poison and while it mattered little to Lucius Scipio and even less to the senate he made a deal as he preferred Dalmatae on friendly terms. Strategically they were a better choice.

    The Edetani, a kingdom in Iberia requested to sign a none-aggression pact with Rome. However, their emissaries demanded an outrageous sum of coin to be paid to them by Rome. In the words of the emissary Atinbelaur, “For the honor of dealing with the great kingdom of Edetani.” Needless to say, Rome signed no deal that day.

    The II Legion besieged Bibracte in the harsh winter. He sent word to Gnaeus Vespasianus that the III would have to engage any relief army from Nemossos to keep his back protected. Gnaeus Vespasianus was annoyed and was forced to break up his winter camp and obeyed and sent his outriders to scout westward towards Nemossos. He saw no reason why the campaign could not wait until spring and and complained to the senate by letters.
    However, as the II set up camp Mereos led his Arverni brethren out to take on the legion in the cold of winter.





    The battle turned into a bloody mess with men fighting on a unit-per-unit basis rather then a coordinated effort. When the archers and Javelinmen were attacked by spearmen Lucius Libo had no choice but to throw his personal bodyguard into the battle in order to somehow regain control. His men managed to snatch victory out of the chaos and four-and-a-half- thousand Gauls was left cut apart on the cold ground and close to two thousand Romans had joined them. Lucius Libo told his officers that it was not his victory, it was his men as he had nothing to do with it. it was an opinion all of his critics would agree with completely, and his cousin Gnaeus Vespasianus would later add that he was personally responsible for losing most of his legion and almost the battle itself.
    A centurion later wrote in a journal, “If we combined all of our legionnaire cohorts we might scramble together a single or two full cohorts. We depend on General Vespasianus and his III Legion, for if we take Bibracte come spring we lack the men to hold it if attacked.”
    As spring finally came Lucius Libo sent his men over the city’s walls despite their heavy casualties. The city fell with significant losses for the legion. With great casualties he had taken the Arverni capital.
    Gnaeus Vespasianus heard of the capture of Bibracte and received permission from Lucius Libo to attack Nemossos, the last Arverni stronghold in Gaul. He left a single cohort of cavalry on his right flank and four on his left. He commanded on foot with his Aquilis Praetorianis.








    He held position on a steep hillside rather then head straight for the Arverni forces positioned on the flatland beyond the hillside. He sent Centurion Flavius Marius with his four cohorts of cavalry to skirmish with the Gauls and convince them to fight on his terms. He led his cavalry behind the Arverni lines and cut into exposed and isolated formations until they encountered a unit of lightly armored mercenary Gallic cavalry. This poorly armored and inexperienced unit cut apart the four heavily armored cavalry cohorts and took a fourth of the losses it gave. Flavius Marius chose to withdraw for a moment, then returned to charge a band of Gallic tribesmen with shield and spear. They were practically wiped out and a band of archers attempting to aid their brethren didn’t realize they were next until they were cut down with Roman sword and spear. Then they hunted for the mercenary band once more, revenge for their slain comrades. Not a one survived this time and Flavius Marius directed his remaining men to break the center of the enemy line. This time One of his units were crushed and he had to withdraw to friendly lines.
    Then Gnaeus Vespasianus abandoned the hillside and advanced on the scattered Arverni formation. The cohorts on the left flank extent to defend their position and the right flank cohorts maneuvered around to encircle the Gallic infantry.



    Gnaeus Vespasianus led his cohort of Aquilis Praetorianis into the center and soon cracks could be seen in the Arverni center. When the center broke he charged forward towards the Gallic army’s own leader, young Prince Lanicos. The third unit of Equites Octavo Dalmatia aided their General by circling around Lanicos and hitting his unsuspected rear. Not long after the young prince and his bodyguards took to flight and abandoned the field. His body was later recovered from the field. In command of a noble cavalry force, King Ouiorix, made an attempt for Vespasianus and failed. A cohort of legionaries was nearby to assist and sent the king routing as his son had shortly prior. Victor was certain and the king was found dead on the field afterwards. Due to his injuries he appeared to have fallen from his horse and bled out in the grass.
    With the death of King Ouiorix in 261 BC the last Arverni army was left with Queen Ientu. She sought to reclaim her kingdom, unite Gaul, and seek revenge on Rome for the death of her son and husband both. She swore an oath before an alter to take Gnaeus Vespasianus’s skull for a cup.

    Gnaeus Vespasianus recruited three bands of Gallic mercenaries as he settled in Nemossos for a short while, two infantry bands and one heavy cavalry. Losses from the battle and attrition from the winter marching required him to bolster his ranks with Gauls. He then headed out to track down the Arverni.
    The I Legion reached Massalia. He continued west and set up an ambush to catch the Arverni army if it headed into Roman territory.



    Gnaeus Vespasianus caught up with the queen and put her and part of her army to death. In summer the remnants of a second army, rebuilt through mercenaries walked into Lucius Scipio’s ambush and were slaughtered. The Gallic War was over and it was time to oversee the old Arverni regions and establish a firm Roman rule, and protect their new holdings from the Gauls in the norther. Lucius Scipio intended to soon return to the senate in Roma and resign his post as dictator. The senate worked hard to make none-aggression pacts with Gallic tribes to ensure peace in the region, for them at least.
    In Roma Appius Maro was chosen for command of the newly commissioned V Legion. Rome saw that it needed to strengthen itself to defend its conquered territories. The III Legion was chosen to remain in Gaul and the II was ordered to march for Medhlan. There Lucius Libo’s legion would hold Cisalpina Gaul and ensure the safety of Italy proper.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Four, Third Punic War (258-256 BC)

    In 260 BC Lucius Scipio had resigned his title as dictator and served as a single and loyal consul. In 258 BC General Marcus Brutus of the III Legion reported from his station as military governor of Carthago and defender of the African holdings sent worrying reports to Roma that told the senate that Carthage was preparing for war with Rome. Rome had kept an eye on the Carthaginian efforts in Iberia but now they threatened Rome and that was another matter entirely. Two armies rested at sea outside Carthago. The I and III Legions was heading to Africa by way of the sea and Lucius Scipio was asked to once more serve Rome as dictator. At first he refused, but his wife convinced him it was the best option if he loved Rome. Days later he accepted and Rome mustered for a third bloody war. In Medhlan Lucius Libo fumed that he had been left in Cisalpina instead of partaking in the campaign to come.
    In 260 BC Lucius Scipio had resigned his title as dictator and served as a single and loyal consul. In 258 BC General Marcus Brutus of the III Legion reported from his station as military governor of Carthago and defender of the African holdings sent worrying reports to Roma that told the senate that Carthage was preparing for war with Rome. Rome had kept an eye on the Carthaginian efforts in Iberia but now they threatened Rome and that was another matter entirely. Two armies rested at sea outside Carthago. The I and III Legions was heading to Africa by way of the sea and Lucius Scipio was asked to once more serve Rome as dictator. At first he refused, but his wife convinced him it was the best option if he loved Rome. Days later he accepted and Rome mustered for a third bloody war. In Medhlan Lucius Libo fumed that he had been left in Cisalpina instead of partaking in the campaign to come.



    In the final months, autumn, in 258, Carthage beat Rome to the punch and declared war. The first battle between the fleet under Quintus Pictor and Carthaginian General Mago. Quintus Pictor won hands down. Though they managed to crush the Roman garrison at Lilybaeum and six hundred of the city’s most notable men and women and their children were executed for not supporting Carthage and thriving under Rome’s grip. An attempt was made for Iol but the governor there held his ground.
    In Syracuse a legion, the VI, was scrambled, and Faustus Cordus was forced to reassume his military career. He had traveled to the city on business when Lilybaeum fell. He took a cohort of Veteran Legionnaires as his bodyguard and gathered what forces he could.
    A Carthaginian fleet soon assailed Syracuse and he was forced to take the field.



    He won the day and as the army that took Lilybaeum was on approach and he thought his best chance to face them in the field and spare the city further wounds of battle.





    Faustus Cordus perished with him men on the field, and the small VI Legion was wiped out. He was thirty-six years old and left a wife and three under-aged children behind.
    The city of Thapsus fell to the I and III Legions combined might. Lucius Scipio marched on to Carthago in order to deal with the fleets outside its harbor and then sail to Sicily. The island now held the last remaining Carthaginian holdouts. The I Legion made for Carthago and aided in vanquishing the blockading forces and remained in the city when the III sailed to retake Lilybaeum. With the support of the I Fleet Marcus Brutus sailed right into port to find the garrison slaughtered. The people had risen up the previous night and put the Carthaginian mercenaries to the sword and burned down their barracks with many of them inside. Lucius Scipio would later note how lucky they had been in their conflicts against the supposed might of Carthage. The Carthaginian host returned to reclaim Lilybaeum.



    The desperate assault was unsuccessful and the army was massacred as the men tried to retreat. Then the I and V Legions marched to deal with the Libyans, a client to Carthage. Carthage itself was gone and no longer existed. Rome could brief a sign of relief that their foe was gone. Now they only had to subjugate the Libyans and potentially the Masaesyli.



    The V Legion earned another victory as they defeated the Libyans at the borders between the regions of Thapsus and Lepcis. Then, with Macomades as their last region of land they accept Rome’s offer to become a client state. That way Rome can leave the eastern border in Africa to Libya and keep its legions elsewhere.



    The destruction of Carthage and subjugation of Libya did not mean the end of the African campaign though. Rome remembered its war with Masaesyli and have watched its strength grew in Western Africa. When the I and V Legions had been reinforced they would conquer the Phazania province.

  6. #6
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Great start, your AAR shows a talent for both action and screenshots. I like your use of details which explain in-game events, such as the illness which gave Tacitus Musca a chance to show his quality. You pack a lot of action into each update and I like your use of strategic maps to show us how the overall campaign is progressing, as well as images from the campaign map and battlefields.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Five, Lost Legion

    In 255 BC Rome declared war upon Masaesyli in order to ensure that their African holdings would never be threatened again. They brought their powerful Iberian ally Lusitani into the war and Rome called Dalmatae to aid them. the mighty Lusitani queen dominated most of Iberia and parts of southern Gaul.
    The city of Garama in Phazania was besieged by the V Legion as the I marched to their aid.
    The IV and II Legions are commanded to march upon the Lusitani.
    The III Legion under Marcus Brutus left Carthago to head southwest and seize the desert settlement of Dimmidi and its surrounding lands and villages. On the command from Lucius Scipio-now forty-five years old-to commission two additional legions to defend Rome, as all other legions march for war. The legacy of the short-lived VI and the VII were raised.
    The port city of Iol fell to a great Masaesyli army.

    Garama’s garrison engaged the V Legion.



    His men hold as the two armies lines clashed.



    However, Appius Maro was suddenly hit by a lucky-or unlucky-arrow and died within minutes. The dozens of men that make up the V Legions cavalry successfully lure away the majority of the Masaesyli cavalry and skirmishers sent their general and his bodyguards running from the field in revenge for their own trusted commander. The Legionnaires pulled a victory and avenged their General’s unfortunate death. When Lucius Scipio arrived with the I Legion he had said that it was an unfortunate loss and appointed Servius Lanatus as the V Legion’s commander. Then he crushed Garama’s defenders. The V would remain in Garama until they were at full strength again, whilst the I headed west to Cydamus. Then the province of Phazania would be under their control. Lucius Scipio would later adopt Servius Lanatus into his family. Servius Lanatus recruited Numidian cavalry and war elephants to strengthen his legion as he desired to march as soon as possible, to prove himself in battle. He believed it in him to become Rome’s greatest field commander. Lucius Scipio’s successor as dictator.

    In Gaul the Romans saw great initial success against the Lusitani. Their armies had been far from the frontiers with Rome, unprepared for war. Within six months a fleet sailed the coast and an army was spotted in the mountains between Gaul and Iberia.

    Cydamus fell to the I Legion with little to no fight. An Masaesyli army sought free the city but failed and took serious losses before they retreated.
    A combined effort by the II Fleet and the III Legion retook Iol and allowed the III to march south and reach Dimmidi. Marcus Brutus laid siege to it and expected the army inside to sally out. Soon the soldiers of Dimmidi came out as an army. Marcus Brutus withdrew to ensure that half remained behind to ensure that the Romans didn’t have a second force to assault the city behind their back.





    He placed his two units of Numidian cavalry in the trees west of the battlefield. They would wait for the right opportunity to strike at their enemies rear.



    A Masaesyli cavalry unit managed to break through the rear of the army and butchered the Roman slingers. Thanks to a quick charge from Marcus Brutus himself not a single cavalrymen made it back to their own lines. His Numidia cavalry began to chase two units of horse archers by Masaesyli origin around the rear of the battlefield.



    The Masaesyli was put to flight and Marcus Brutus hunted them into the hills and arranged a mass execution of all those taken captive. He moved in on the city of Dimmidi and took it with extreme losses. He barely had a III Legion to think of after the battle. He would hurry back to Carthago and abandon the city and hope that any attack could be held back long enough by a garrison. When word reached Lucius Scipio he finished his business in Cydamus and headed forward Dimmidi. From there he could march to Iol and onto Tingis and secure Roman domination over western Africa.
    The VI and VII Legion were both on the march through Cisalpina towards Gaul to join the war effort against the Lusitani. The effort was under the command of Lucius Libo, though his command was shadows by doubt from his leadership of the Gallic campaign about a decade earlier. His actions in capturing Bibracte had risked to end the campaign in failure. He had managed to regain the faith of Lucius Scipio and in truth his opinion was the one that mattered most.

    In Gaul Gnaeus Vespasianus’s legion found itself in battle against an Lusitani army led by Queen Adginna. Halfway through the battle his cavalry overwhelmed the cavalry she led and slew her. Despite the experience and veterancy of Adginna’s army Gnaeus Vespasianus handed them their greatest and final defeat. It was that army Adginna had used to conquer much of Iberia.

    Gaetuli, likely seeing the Romans conquering western Africa offered to become a client state. Rome accepted. The VI Legion marched into Iberia.
    The VIII Legion began to be raised in Cisalpina. Half of it would be made up of auxiliaries. They would be deployed to aid Rome’s ally Dalmatia against the growing might of the Tylis barbarians. There was a secondary goal though, to add the region of Iader to Rome.



    The VI and VII Legions began a campaign to conquer the eastern regions of Iberia for Rome and Gnaeus Vespasianus’s VI Legion began a trek south into Iberia as well.
    In 253 Masaesyli offered to become a client state of the Republic. Half of Africa, all of the west, was in Roman hands. No longer would they need to worry about a threat in Africa, not the western half at least, or so the senate reasoned. Half of Iberia laid in Roman hands at this time.

    That year Suetonia Rufa came of age, fifteen years old.

    In early 252 BC Lucius Scipio, now a man of forty-eight, proudly saw his eldest son Gnaeus Canus come of age. He was eager to ask for his own command and sought to take advantage of his father’s appointment as dictator. Whether it was out of pride, to advance the Cornelii family or another reason Lucius Scipio promised him a legion, in two years. Some bureaucracy had to be followed.
    In a forest east of Iader the VIII Legion was attacked by three Tylis armies.
    He placed himself with his combined cavalry force on the left wing of his army.



    His first line was made up of four cohorts of Heavy Cohorts and two auxiliary cohorts of Naked Swords, Gallic heavy swordsmen that fought naked.




    Behind them stood the Gallic and Roman Javelinmen and archers, then a line of remaining auxiliary and proper Roman cohorts.
    General Furius Capito hoped to squash the first army before all three could unite. He led his cavalry ahead of the infantry and managed to lure away part of the first Tylis army. His effort to deal with the armies separately failed though, and however, two enemy Generals died quickly in the battle, one killed by a javelin and one trampled under horse by his cavalry. The horses would grow exhausted by charge after charge. The hardest fighting men on the field was the Heavy Cohorts in the center.



    In the end the VIII Legion lost and was wiped out as they fled. A full Roman legion had been wiped out and many Romans in Italy saw it was proof that the Republic had expanded too fast. The young Gnaeus Canus riled up the people in Italy with fears of the Tylis invading. He then had his agents spread the news that Lucius Scipio was returning to Roma and that only he could avenge the death of an entire legion. Marcus Brutus’s III Legion traveled with Lucius Scipio and the young Servius Lanatus stationed his legion in Carthago to oversee the African provinces.
    On the request of Dalmatae Rome declared war on the Odrysian Kingdom.

  8. #8
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    You present the battles well, highlighting dramatic moments and turning points. (I sometimes repeat words or phrases a bit too much in my AARs. I wonder if the final paragraph - which starts 'In the end the VIII Legion...' - would be improved by using different phrase in the second sentence instead of 'wiped out' again. However, sometimes in ordinary speech people do re-use the same phrase, doing this in an AAR isn't necessarily a bad thing.)

    I like the way that your screenshots show the scenes from very different distances, from the long-distance views showing a forest to the close-ups in the final battle. It sounds like Tylis is a formidable opponent, I wonder how Rome's armies will cope with the continuing conflict with Tylis and with the new war at the same time.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Very interesting AAR Lord of the wall and gave me the push to start my own ( had in mind this for years XD )

  10. #10

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Six, Fall of the Republic

    In autumn of 251 BC Masaesyli broke their allegiance to Rome and declared war. They began with a naval attack on Iol, which failed and sent the fleet fleeing. They also launched an attack in Hispania, on the city of Karbuta. The legionnaires left to hold it successfully defeated the Masaesyli army. At sea and on land they had lost both engagements. They would have known that the might of Rome was on approach.



    In 251 the last Lusitani city fell and all of Iberia was under Roman domination. Masaesyli asked Rome for peace and offered to become a client state. Needless to say, Rome refused and the senate wanted them destroyed for their betrayal. In Africa Tingis fell before Rome’s Gaetuli, a show of allegiance to Rome.



    In the war against the Tylis the Roman navy had destroyed the Tylis navy.





    Dalmatae fell to the Odrysian Kingdom and Lucius Scipio decided that he had to liberate and restore them and their land. Now the east was in enemy hands. Patavium fell to their army. Italy itself was at threat. However the I and III Legions was about to reach Cisalpina and back in Roma Gnaeus Canus spoke before large masses of people. He spoke of the failures of the Republic, how it had almost brought Rome to disaster time and time again. Throughout all of Gnaeus Canus’s life his father had been the dictator of Rome.
    The I Legion reached Patavium before the III and with a second Odrysian army entering the province he could not wait. It was a massacre and every single soldier that stood against him were slain. When the second army attacked he merely saw it as a continuation of the butchery.
    For the last two years Lucius Scipio’s sons Gnaeus Canus and Paculus Scaevola and his wife Cicurina Varro had often told him how Rome have only stood safe due to his actions. As he was about to reach fifty and assumed he had a decade or two left of his life he began to worry what would happen when he was no longer dictator. The thought worried him and he finally agreed with his closest supports and family that actions would be taken.
    In a forested area between Roman and Odrysian land the Odrysians attacked Lucius Scipio’s army with a numerically superior force, two combined forces in fact. He organized his men into formation and awaited his enemies.



    He chose to lead the cavalry to skirmish against isolated Odrysian Javelinmen.



    Sighting the Odrysian General’s mounted bodyguards he commanded a charge and hoped to rout the entire army.
    Then the second army arrived, as a horde of peasants with spears and bows came out of the forest as a great storm.



    They soon came to their General’s aid and began to overrun the Roman cavalry and pelted them in projectiles.
    The peasants cheered as Lucius Scipio, dictator and savior of Rome, died. His bodyguards, the handful that remained fought to the death around his body but alas, the Odrysians soon looted and desecrated his corpse.



    On news of this the officers of the I Legion formed a square to wait it out until the Odrysians would tire. They would use their sorrow and anger as a spear to thrust against the Odrysians heart.



    When the found the time right they moved the fresh and available cohorts onto their flanks for a push. When they had dealt with the heavy troops the rest was butchers work and the battle hardened men of the I legion did it without hesitation. Command of the legion went to the young Paculus Scaevola, second-born son to the late Lucius Scipio. Paculus Scaevola was fifteen but had spent the last three years of his life with the legion, taught the arts of war by his father and his Centurions. He was officially appointed by Lucius Scipio’s successor and unofficially appointed by the legion itself as he had taken partial command in the battle and led the right flank after Centurions Julianus Hadrian and Flavius Nero had been killed.
    As the dictator of Rome died, he had no idea what had occurred in Roma. Gnaeus Canus had used everything he knew to push through tyrannical reforms. Bribery, threats and more to make the senate vote in favor. He gained himself the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard. He had forged Rome into a empire under his father. When word arrived he declared himself emperor. It ruffled a lot of feathers and certain senators and proconsul had to be dealt with in secrecy. Assassins worked overtime in the first year of Gnaeus Canus’s reign as emperor.

    Lucius Cornelius Scipio had began his career as dictator when his brother died. For decades he fought to defend the Republic he loved. For most of his life he intended to resigned the dictator title and power when Rome was safe. As the wars seemed endless it took the rest of his lifetime and his sons had grown up with their father commanding unequal power and his power hungry wife twisted his opinion in the end, though he had never intended anything like the reign Gnaeus Canus would bring to Rome.

  11. #11
    Caillagh de Bodemloze's Avatar to rede I me delyte
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    I'm enjoying this, Lord of the Wall!

    You have some great images there, and I like the way you crop them differently to get varied effects. I like your writing, too. That last line, about Lucius Cornelius Scipio not intending anything like the reign Gnaeus Canus would bring to Rome, is particularly intriguing...






  12. #12
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    I'm enjoying your AAR too, especially the way that you show the different reactions to what happened to Lucius Scipio.

    It sounds like Paculus Scaevola is already a strong leader and that he's more popular with the soldiers of the legion than his father was.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Chapter Seven, First Emperor of Rome

    The year was 250 BC and Gnaeus Cornelius Canus was emperor and his loyal officials worked hard to readjust the Republic into an Empire. Though it could be argued that Rome had been an empire for years, having held domain in Gaul, Africa and Iberia. In order to prove his prowess the first emperor of Rome mustered a new legion, the VIII Legion in Roma. It would be made up mostly by Praetorians. He found it proper for an emperor to utilize the new bodyguards.

    Marcus Brutus and Paculus Scaevola met in the I Legion’s camp. Paculus Scaevola, merely fifteen, listened to the experienced General of fifty. Marcus Brutus would take his III Legion to attack Nordeia and Paculus Scaevola waited for replenishments to replace the four cohorts that had been wiped out fighting for their beloved late commander.



    Be ordered a third fleet constructed at Karalis, to ensure dominance over the seas. With Classis II fighting the Tylis over control over the Adriatic and Classis I stationed along the western ports of Iberia he was certain that a new fleet was necessary.

    When the III Legion took Segestica and offered the king of the Odrysian Kingdom peace in exchange for a good sum of wealth. The king refused and suggested that instead Rome should pay him twice of that. Negotiations ended there. The focus would shift to Tylis with the I Legion garrisoning Segestica and await a potential Odrysian attack. The III would wait for the VIII and then attack Iader. These were soon dealt a devastating blow by the II Fleet that operated in Mare Adriaticum. However an army was marching from Iader toward Cisalpina.
    On the emperor’s command, and in agreement with a group of senators a fourth fleet was constructed and command to go to a cousin of his, to the silent mumbles of disagreement of many officials in Roma.
    Peace was made with the Odrysian Kingdom and they agreed to trade with Rome. This made Tylis nervous and two armies began to sail across from Iader to Italy. As if Rome hadn’t been furious enough by the rebellion of their Masaesyli client state; Libya now chose to rise up in Africa. They brought Lepcis into the fold after a swift offensive and a popular uprising in the city itself. As commander of the V Legion stationed in Carthago, Servius Lanatus, cracked his knuckles and marched his legion south and east toward Lepcis.




    The Roman client of Cyrenaica sent a small army into Libyan lands as a show of loyalty and cooperation with their overlord.



    Paculus Barrius Naso, twenty-nine, was a fierce follower of Gnaeus Canus from the moment he became emperor. He finally, in late 250 BC, managed to secure himself command of a legion. He traveled all the way to Carthago to raise a legion of Roman legionnaires and local auxiliaries. While he lacked the personal revolve, battle prowess or authority he was a mastermind of strategy and tactics. His Legion, the X, would come in good time to Africa as the local governor warned of an imminent slave rebellion.

    Emperor Gnaeus Canus had his VIII Legion cut off the advancing Tylis army before it reached Patavium. He saw it as a grand opportunity to prove that he had earned his position as emperor. Rome was still in a minor uproar over the Republic’s fall into an empire as well as the death of Lucius Scipio. It would take years before Rome would recover.

    Gnaeus Canus was eager for bloodshed when the Tylis infantry formations came into few of of him.



    The bulk of his legion was made up of the Praetorian Guard, along with three cohorts of archers and three of cavalry.



    Behind his frontline he had four cohorts of Purpura Custodes.



    He led from his bodyguard of Legatus Praetorianum Comitari.



    He ordered his legion to advance hastily when he realized the failure of his scouts. The Tylis army had Ballistas from Dacia and tore into one of the Praetorian cohorts.



    He sent two cavalry cohorts out of the left wing to hit the Ballistas and eliminate them.




    The Tylis infantry clashed with his in a coordinated line. Gnaeus Canus was convinced by his cavalry companions and bodyguards that he should move closer to the men to encourage them with his presence.



    When the Ballistas were gone and their crews slaughtered, some taken captive for interrogation, the two cavalry cohorts of Singulares Augusti was joined by the third cavalry cohorts of mounted Legionnaires and hit the unprotected archers in the Tylis rear. When the emperor saw his cavalry he ordered his Purpura Custodes into the center to break through.



    His cavalry charging into the rear of the center infantry broke the Tylis battle formation and it was easy for the VIII Legion to pick apart the scattered and disorderly troops. The first battle for the young emperor ended in success and he proved himself in the eyes of his men, if not the military overall to an extent.
    Rome would not forget that Dacian ballista and Dacian crews aided Tylis against them. Gnaeus Canus quickly rode for the small town of Apicilia where he married the daughter of a prominent proconsul. Her name was Vedia Pulla. At the time his heir was his brother Paculus Scaevola and it would be no exaggeration to say that the young general of the I Legion loved his status as heir of the fledgling empire, and he fully expected to remain his brother permanently. Gnaeus Canus encamped in the east of Cisalpina for the remainder of that winter.

  14. #14
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Your screenshots and reporting bring the battle to life and make the events easy to follow. The detail about the grumbling of officials (because of who was appointed to command the fourth fleet) was nicely done.

    It looks like the new empire has a strong leader and that there's trouble ahead for the Dacians. Now that the emperor is married, I wonder if he'll want to pass on the throne to one of his children instead of his brother - and how Paculus Scaevola would react to that, considering how he feels about being heir.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Imperatoria Roma (Radious Total War)

    Fantastic, go for it!

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