RTR: Fate of Empires - Preview Four

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FOE Preview Four

The Italic Enemies and Allies of Rome

Contents

• Introduction
• The Oscans, Samnites and Campanians
• The Mamertines
• Oscan and Campanian Unit Preview
• The Great Samnite War
• The Third Samnite War and the Battle of Sentium, 295 BC
• The Etruscans
• The Etruscan-Gallic War of 285-280 BC
• Etruscan Unit Preview
• The Veneti ('Este Culture')
• Veneti Unit Preview
• The Ligurians
• Ligurian Unit Preview
• Battle Images
• Afterword

Introduction

Political map of FOE's Italy

The Italian Peninsula was inhabited by many different cultures and communities in the Hellenistic Period, and RTRVII bring these to life, with the Oscans, Campanians, Ligurians, Veneti and Etruscans all having unique units and AORs in Italy. The mighty Cisalpine Gauls that inhabited the Po Valley in northern Italy will be featured separately in an upcoming preview!

The different cultures and communities that inhabited Italy were found both as allies and enemies of Rome. By 280 BC Roman hegemony in Italy was established - but it was still young. The Etruscans and Samnites had only been defeated and subjugated by Rome in the 290s and 280s, and in 280 BC the Greek-Italiots of southern Italy (Magna Graecia) still hoped that King Pyrrhos of Epiros would recover their freedom. For this reason, the Etruscan, Oscan, and Campanian units can be found serving as allies in the Roman armies (Socii) and serving in the armies of Rome's enemies, such as those of King Pyrrhos and Hannibal.

The Oscans, Samnites and Campanians

Italian languages demographic 3rd Century BC

“Oscans” is a general term that encompasses the Oscan-speaking peoples of central and southern Italy. Some modern scholars prefer the term Sabellian, a word derived from the Latin Sabellus, which came into use in the 1st century BC to denote Oscan speakers other than Samnites.

The Samnites were the most formidable Oscan nation, themselves comprised of four tribes – the Pentri, Caudini, Hirpini and Caraceni. Apart from Samnites, Oscan speakers include the smaller central Italian hill-peoples such as the Sidicini and Frentani, and larger tribes in the south formed by Oscan migrations conquering and absorbing the natives and Greek cities there in the 5th century – the Campanians, Lucanians and Bruttians.

The Oscan Campini or Campanians took over the Greek and Etruscan cities of the Campanian plain in the 5th century BC. Their league was based on the cities of Capua and Cumae. The Campini absorbed much of the Greek culture, and some of their infantry adopted Greek hoplite equipment. The Campini joined in the Latin revolt against Rome, but thereafter became Roman citizens without the suffrage, and fought for Rome until Capua joined Hannibal after Cannae in 215 BC. Capua, often regarded as the second city of Italy, sided with Hannibal hoping to become the principal power of Italy in a ‘Carthaginian New Order’. The Campanian plain was good horse-breeding country, and the Campanians were famous for their excellent aristocratic cavalry – probably the best cavalry in Italy during the Republican Era.

Communities and cultures

The Lucani formed a league in the plain around Paestum, and being good horse country, they produced horsemen comparable to the Campanians. Their main strength, however, was infantry; Polybius reports the Lucani raising a host of 30,000 foot and 3,000 horse in 225 BC. The Lucani joined King Pyrrhos after the battle of Heraclea in 280 BC, and were not defeated by Rome until 272 BC. Later, many Lucanians joined Hannibal, while others remained loyal to Rome.

Lucanian coin, 210 - 203 BC

The Bruttians in the “toe” of Italy had fought with their Greek-Italiot neighbours at Rhegium and Croton for centuries prior to 280 BC, often allying with the Lucanians to fight the Tarentines. The Bruttians sided with King Pyrrhos in 280 BC, and they later sided with Hannibal. They raised a force of 15,000 men to aid Hannibal in 215 BC (Livy, 24.1), and the city of Croton served as Hannibal’s HQ at the end of the Second Punic War; much of the soldiery that departed with Hannibal to Africa in 203 BC were Bruttians. One Roman poet described the Bruttii as ‘the first to join Hannibal, and the last to leave him’.

The hinterland of Apulia was inhabited by the Iapygii tribes, these being, from north to south, the Dauni, the Peucetii and the Messapii in the “heel” of Italy. The Iapyges were originally an Illyrian people, having migrated across the Adriatic Sea and absorbed the Oscan-speaking population of the area. The Messapii allied with King Pyrrhos, while others opposed him. During the Second Punic War they were found on both sides.

The Mamertines

Oscan and Campanian mercenaries were ruthless, elite and highly sought-after throughout the period 400-241 BC, serving throughout the central Mediterranean. Campanian mercenaries were a mainstay of the army that sustained the power of the ruthless Agathocles ‘King of Sicily’. Following the death of King Agathocles in 289 BC, these unemployed mercenaries agreed to depart Sicily and return to Italy, but en route they treacherously seized the town of Messana and made it their new home.

In this manner these famous Campanian ex-mercenary freebooters became known as the “Mamertines” (Sons of Mars), and for some twenty-five years they roamed the surrounding seas and countryside as brigands and pirates, spreading mayhem and terror throughout Sicily.

It was the Mamertines that famously triggered the First Punic War between Roma\e and Carthage in 264 BC. William C Morey;

“The north eastern corner of the island was in the possession of a body of Campanian soldiers, who had been in the service of the king of Syracuse, and who, on returning home, had treacherously seized the city of Messana. These Campanian mercenaries, who called themselves Mamertines, or Sons of Mars, murdered the inhabitants and ravaged the surrounding country. The king of Syracuse attacked them, laid siege to their city, and reduced them to such an extremity that they felt obliged to look for help. The choice lay between Rome and Carthage. They finally decided to call upon Rome for help. The Roman senate hesitated to help these robbers against Syracuse, which was a friendly power. But when the question was left to the assembly, the people fearing that Carthage would be called upon if they refused, it was decided to help the Mamertines, and thus prevent the Carthaginians from getting possession of this part of Sicily. In this way began the first Punic war.”

In 280 BC the Romans raised an allied legion from among their Campanian allies, and under its commander Decius it was deployed to Rhegium, where it was intended to serve as the garrison to protect Rhegium (a loyal Roman ally) from King Pyrrhos of Epiros. This Campanian legion revolted in 280 BC, after Rome was defeated at the battle of Heraclea (280 BC), and ‘went renegade’, following the example of the Mamertines on the other side of the straits of Messana. Decius and his men seized Rhegium for themselves, and infested the surrounding area as brigands and pirates, compelling Rome to undertake a campaign to re-take the city in 271-270 BC.

Oscan and Campanian Unit Preview

Oscan Javelinmen (Skirmishers)

Oscan Javelinmen were fast moving warriors, striking with javelins, best in ambush or fighting in hilly or forested country, but unable to stand up to fighting cavalry or heavy infantry for any extended period. “Oscan” was a general term that encompassed the Oscan-speaking nations of central and south Italy. Some modern scholars prefer the term Sabellian, from the Latin Sabellus, which came into use in the 1st century BC to denote Oscan speakers other than Samnites.

The Oscan Javelinmen were an integral part of Oscan armies, as Oscan tactics relied principally upon ambush and fighting in wooded or hilly territory, where they could offset Greek and Roman superiority in cavalry and heavy infantry. When forced to engage in close fighting, Oscan Javelinmen fought with a Greek kopis-style sword and a small, round embossed bronze shield. Oscan Javelinmen were unarmoured except for the distinctive feather-adorned attic helmet, and bronze greaves. They wore short, colourful woollen tunics, with a leather belt at the waist and carried a bundle of javelins into battle, 4-6 feet long, with iron heads.

Oscan Armoured Infantry (Light Infantry)

Oscan warriors were fast moving and accomplished ambushers, striking with javelins, yet also able to form capable line infantry in an open fight.

The Oscan Armoured Infantry were the classic soldiers of the Oscans – javelin-wielding swordsmen and formed the core of Samnite, Lucanian, Bruttian and other Oscan armies. Oscan tactics relied upon ambush and fighting in wooded or hilly territory, where they could offset Roman superiority in cavalry and heavy infantry. When forced to fight in open battle, these troops launched a fierce charge that was difficult to withstand, preferably downhill (Livy, 10.28.3; Frontius, Strat. 2.1.8).

The distinctive Oscan armour is the 3-disc pectoral front-and-back armour, with the plumed and feather-adorned attic helmet, and bronze greaves. The Oscans also wore colourful woollen tunics, with a bronze belt. By the third century BC the oval scutum, concave and ribbed, was common in Italy. They carried a bundle of javelins into battle, 4-6 feet long, with iron heads and for close fighting used a slashing sword of the kopis type.

Equites Osci (Light Cavalry)

Oscan Cavalry were of good quality, but typically few in number and were used to protect the flanks of the Oscan infantry - typically against the usually superior Roman cavalry arm. While armed with javelins, these horsemen were not skirmishers, but rather relying on the shock attack, casting their javelins before charging with the sword.

They were lightly armoured, with pectoral armour and the distinctive helmet adorned with feathers; they also wore the bright woollen tunics typical of the Oscan tribes but did not carry a shield. Their principal weapon was the Greek-style kopis sword supplemented with a bundle of javelins.

The Oscan tribes possessed a strong warrior tradition. When desperate they swore a lex sacrata similar to the oath sworn by the Spanish defenders at Astapa, and formed a linen legion which appeared to be an elite force under an oath. (Lex Sacrata: Livy, 9.12.8; 9.43.1; 10.38.11; compare with Astapa: 28.22; Linen Legion: Livy, 9.40.9; Pliny HN 34.43; Festus, p. 102L). Servius also implies that they forced their prisoners into single combats, and some gladiators were known as ‘Samnites’, possibly because of their arms, but, more likely, because of a pre-disposition among Oscan warriors to engage in duels (Servius, ad. Aen. 10.519).

Hoplomachi Campaniae (Spearmen)

The Campanian hoplites were effective line infantry, quick moving and strong in both offensive and defence.

They reflected the need for the Campini to fight open battles in the open countryside of their homeland. Like all Oscan warriors, these troops launched a fierce charge that was difficult to withstand, preferably downhill (Livy, 10.28.3; Frontius, Strat. 2.1.8). They wore the distinctive Oscan armour, the 3-disc pectoral front-and-back armour, with the plumed and feather-adorned attic helmet, and bronze greaves. The Campini also wore short, white woollen tunics, with a bronze belt. These hoplites carried a typical large, round “Argive” shield and their principal weapon is a thrusting spear, some ten feet long. For close fighting, these hoplites use a slashing sword of the kopis type.

Equites Campaniae (Heavy Cavalry)

The Greek influence in Campania meant that the Campini used heavier cavalry than was typical for Oscan-speaking peoples. These cavalry troops were more heavily armoured than the typical Oscan cavalry, wearing a Hellenistic-style muscled iron cuirass. Their mounts – large, strong horses raised in good horse-breeding country – were also armoured in the typical Graeco-Campanian style.

The Campanian cavalry were probably the best cavalry found in Italy during the Hellenistic Period. They were recruited from among the aristocrats and wealthier citizens of the Campanian cities like Capua. These men were heavy cavalry, not missile cavalry, and are trained to throw their javelins and then deliver a shock charge in a closely-packed formation. The Campanian cavalry wear muscled iron cuirasses, red cloaks and short colourful tunics, and were armed with javelins and a Greek-style straight sword.

The Great Samnite War

For centuries prior to 280 BC the Oscan highlanders of the Apennines had struggled to force their way into the plains between the hills and the Mediterranean. But Etruscans and Latins had held them in check, and for the past hundred years the direction of their expansion had been not on Latium but east and south-east. They had begun to stream into Campania where they had become accustomed to a more civilized life, and in turn had become less warlike and ill-fitted to cope with their kinsmen of the hills. The most powerful group of the highlanders, the confederated Samnites, were now, in the middle of the fourth century, swarming down upon their civilized precursors in Campania, as, farther east and south, Lucanians and Bruttians were pressing upon the Greek-Italiot colonies of Magna Gracia. The Samnite warrior-herdsmen from nearby hills wished to use the grasslands of the plains for their animals — land that the plains people had fenced. In effect the semi-civilized were hammering the over-civilized. Just as Tarentum appealed for help to Epirus in 280 BC; those on the plains — the Companions — appealed to Rome in 343 BC and Rome came to their rescue. Roman envoys went to the Samnites for discussions and were rudely treated. War between Rome and the Samnite hill people followed — the First Samnite War.

The Samnites were defeated by Rome in the First Samnite War (343-341 BC), and Rome established itself as the ‘hegemon’ of Campania. In 327 BC war broke out again between the Samnites and the Campanians, and Rome went to war with the Samnites to protect its hegemony in Campania. The Second Samnites War (326-304 BC) proved to be a long and gruelling conflict. At first the Roman armies were so successful that in 321 BC the Samnites sued for peace. But Rome’s peace terms were so harsh that the Samnites rejected them, and the war went on. In the same year (321 BC) the two Roman consuls, leading an invading force into Samnium, were trapped in a mountain pass known as the Caudine Forks where they could neither advance nor retire, and after a desperate struggle would have been annihilated if they had not submitted to the humiliating terms imposed by the Samnite victors. The Roman soldiers were disarmed and compelled to pass 'under the yoke', man by man, as a foe vanquished and disgraced. This ancient ritual was a form of subjugation by which the defeated had to bow and pass under a yoke used for oxen. (In this case it was a yoke made from Roman spears, as it was understood to be the greatest indignity to the Roman soldier to lose his spear).

Six hundred Equites had to be handed over as hostages. Meanwhile the captive consuls pledged themselves to a five-year treaty on the most favourable terms for the Samnites. Following the humiliation of the Caudine Forks, many of Rome’s ‘allies’ became restive, and Rome was forced to combat several revolts. The pax Caudina finally ended in 316 BC, and war between Rome and the Samnites resumed. In 315 BC Rome suffered another crushing defeat at the Lautulae Pass, and until 314 BC Rome remained on the defensive, while the Samnites overran much of Campania and raided Latinum itself. The tide began to turn in 314 BC, and a series of Roman victories saw Rome reassert its authority throughout Campania and Apulia. In 311 BC, when the Samnites were on the brink of defeat, several of the Etruscan city-states revolted against Rome, and decided to join the Samnites for a showdown against Roman power. The intervention of the Etruscans in 311 BC came about as the forty years peace reached its end. The war became a contest for the dominance of much of Italy. Between 311-304 BC, the Romans won a series of victories against both the Etruscans and the Samnites; in 308 BC the Etruscans surrendered and accepted harsh terms from a victorious Rome, while in 304 BC the Samnites too sued for peace. Rome had established itself as the dominant power in Italy, controlling Etruria, Umbria, Campania, Samnium and Apulia through a variegated network of subordinate alliances with local communities, together with Latin/Roman colonies founded at strategic sites on annexed farmland. During the period 334–295 BC, Rome founded 13 such colonies.

It is generally believed that during the Second Samnite War (326-304 BC) the panoply and fighting style of Rome’s soldiers changed from the former Greek-Etruscan hoplite style to the more flexible, manipular system that exemplified Republican Rome – a system that borrowed heavily from the fighting style of the Samnites.

The Third Samnite War and the Battle of Sentium, 295 BC

After only six years of peace, war again broke out between Rome and the Samnites. Fearing becoming surrounded by Roman colonies and allies, the Samnites attempted to compel the Lucanians into joining them. Intimidated, the Lucani turned to Rome for protection, and once more Rome went to war to expand its own hegemony and defeat Samnite expansionism.

The Third Samnite War was the final, desperate attempt by the Samnites to remain independent of Rome. While many Samnites would later join King Pyrrhos in 279 BC or Hannibal in 215 BC, this was the last time that the Samnites would oppose Rome as an independent Italian power. In order to counter Roman strength, the Samnites persuaded the Etruscans, Umbrians and several of the Gallic tribes of the Po Valley to join with them. While the Samnites attacked the Roman hegemony in Campania, the Etruscans, Umbrians and Gauls attacked Rome from the north.

In Campania the war went well for Rome; the Samnites were shattered in an important Roman victory. In the north, the Samnites and Gauls combined their forces into a single host, and the crucial battle for Italy took place in 295 BC at Sentinum in Umbria (modern Sassoferato, Marche). This was the largest battle fought in Italy until that time. The Roman consuls Decius Mus and Fabius Maximus Rullianus commanded four legions, a force of 1,000 chosen Campanian cavalry men, and four allied and Latin legions – an army probably numbering around 40,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Against this, the combined army of the Samnites and Gauls was around similar size, and the Romans engaged them before they could combine with allied Etruscan or Umbrian contingents.

The rival armies faced each other for two days before joining battle. Fabius faced the Samnites; Decius was opposite the Gauls. The Roman line initially buckled when attacked by the Gauls, spearheaded by the Gauls' chariots, and the consul Decius was killed while leading a desperate counter-attack. Decius' sacrifice inspired his men and they restored the Roman line. Meanwhile, Fabius routed the Samnites opposite him, and then flanked the Gauls so as to win the battle. At the battle of Sentinum the Romans benefited from their self-discipline, the quality of their military legions, and their military leadership.

After Sentinum Rome’s several enemies were crushed. The Samnites fought on until accepting their final defeat in 291 BC. Roman military colonies were now established at key sites in and around Samnium, including Beneventum (previously the Samnite town of Maleventum) and at Venusia, on the eastern border of Samnium.

The Etruscans

Etruria and Etruscan expansion 750 - 500 BC

The Etruscan civilization was a very influential and powerful civilization in central Italy, absorbing and transforming cultural elements from the indigenous Villanovan peoples, as well as strong Greek and Punic-Phoenician influences after c. 700 BC. Rome was long dominated by the Etruscans, and many elements of what we today recognise as typical 'Roman' culture in fact have their origins in Etruscan civilization, including gladiatorial combat, the triumph ritual of victorious magistrates, the use of ornamental chariots to display rank, styles of architecture and dress, and even road building!

'Etruscan' is the modern English name; the ancient Romans called them 'Etrusci' and the Attic Greek word was Τυρρήνιοι or Tyrrhēnioi, from which Latin also drew the names Tyrrhēni (Etruscans), Tyrrhēnia (Etruria) and Tyrrhēnum mare (Tyrrhenian Sea). The Etruscans themselves used the term 'Rasenna', which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna.

The ‘Etruscan League’ of 12 city-states in Etruria together comprised a “super-power” in the Western Mediterranean throughout the period 600-300 BC, during which time they were typically enemies of the Greeks of Sicily and Magna Graecia (southern Italy), and allies of Carthage.

The Etruscans attained the peak of their power in around 550 BC, at which time the Etruscan city-states had expanded their dominion throughout Latium, Campania, and the Po Valley. Etruscan war fleets ranged as far west as Corsica (Hdt. 1.166) and as far south as Campania. The Etruscans were also well known as pirates (Cic. De Rep. 2.9). The Etruscan city-states had rich metals resources (copper, iron), and conducted a lively trade with the Celtic world north of the Alps, as well as with the Greeks and Punic-Phoenicians of the western Mediterranean. In the 600s the Etruscans settled the Po Valley, and the region became known as Etruria Padana. The historian Livy relates how the Etruscans organized themselves into a confederation of twelve cities in the Po Valley, each derived from one of the twelve cities in the Etrurian motherland (Livy, 5.33.9-10). Pliny the Elder informs us that the Etruscan settlement of Felsina (modern Bologna) was the most important of the Etruscan cities in Etruria Padana, the princeps Etruriae.

Etruscan coin cric. 208 - 207 BC

The power of the Etruscan city-states was shattered by a series of decisive reverses prior to the Hellenistic Period.

• The Romans and Latin tribes secured their independence from the Etruscan Kings of Rome in 509 BC, and thereafter successfully defended their freedom from counter-attacks by the Etruscan cities.
• The Etruscan galley fleet was destroyed at the sea battle of Cumae by the combined war fleets of Greek Syracuse and Cumae in 474 BC, and thereafter the Etruscan fleet lost its dominance in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
• The Etruscans joined Athens during in the Peloponnesian War in its expedition against Syracuse in 414-413 BC, thereby sharing in that defeat.
• The Boii, Insubres, Cenomani and other Gallic tribes crossed the Alps and overran the Etruscan hegemony in the Po Valley in around 400 BC.

By the Hellenistic Period the Etruscans were confined to the region of Etruria itself. The Etruscan city states fought a long series of wars against the Romans in the 350s, which ended with a forty-year truce. In 311 BC war resumed, with the Etruscan city-states of Tarquinii and Volsinii threatening Rome's borders (Livy, 9.32-33; Diod. 20.35.5). Roman forces led by Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus defeated the Etruscans, and ended the crisis in 308 BC, imposing thirty-year truces on the defeated Etruscans (Livy, 9.36.14; 9.37). Rome had gradually overcame her Etruscan enemies and imposed 'treaties' on defeated Etruscan city-states that reduced them to the status of subordinate allies. In 302-293 Rome crushed the Etruscans in the great War of Sentium, although the Etruscan armies fought ferociously to avoid final defeat, defeating a Roman army in 302 (Livy, 10.3.6-7: "a shameful rout and slaughter") and in 298 fighting another Roman army to a bloody draw near Volaterrae (Livy, 10.12.3-6). The great Roman victory at Sentium in 295 was followed up with the Roman victories over Perusia, Clusium, Volsinii and Rusellae in 294 (Livy, 10.30.1-2; 10.45.4-8; 31.3-4). The final Etruscan bid for independence from Rome was crushed during the war of 285-280 BC, and the last embers of Etruscan independence appears to have been finally extinguished in 265 BC when the consul M Fulvius Flaccus successfully concluded a war with the Etruscan city of Volsinii; Flaccus celebrated a triumph on 1 November 264 BC.

Thereafter the Etruscans remained loyal and obedient allies of Rome, supplying troops to Rome against the Cisalpine Gauls in 225 BC, while Etruscan cavalry are mentioned serving against Hannibal. Hannibal certainly hoped that the Etruscans would join him, as part of his strategy of detaching the Italians from Rome, but they never did.

Etruscan helmet

The Etruscans metalworkers were talented artisans and were particularly respected for their craftsmanship. They used raw copper, lead, iron, tin, silver, gold, and alloys such as bronze, which they fashioned into a variety of objects using the sophisticated techniques of granulation, incision, and stamped decoration.

Their crafted metal utilitarian household goods, such as bronze agricultural tools, drinking and storage vessels made of lead, and iron cauldrons were highly prized and their religious objects included bronze ceremonial urns and devotional statues. Luxury items such as bronze mirrors and candlesticks, gold clothing-fasteners, or fibulae (pronounced FIB-yoo-lee), and elaborate gold jewellery set with gemstones have been found in the tombs of wealthy Etruscans. Gold was also used by Etruscan dentists to construct dental bridges, crowns, and false teeth - which were considered very fashionable by wealthy Etruscan women.

But perhaps their most sought-after metalwork was the Etruscan-designed armour and weaponry. Tough leather sandals reinforced with strips of lead or silver gave Etruscan foot soldiers and gladiators an advantage when stepping on rough terrain. Protective bronze helmets adapted from Greek design had added neck and throat guards. Etruscans also wore heavy leather vests for combat with special plates of bronze over their hearts. They carried sturdy bronze daggers, clubs, shields, and spears. Military horses wore bronze plates across their chests and had silver and bronze bits and bridles. Musicians accompanied solders and gladiators into combat playing rousing marches on trumpets made of bronze and copper.

The Etruscan-Gallic War of 285-280 BC

In the years that immediately preceded the invasion of Italy by King Pyrrhos of Epiros Rome was engaged in a desperate struggle on its northern frontier against a coalition of its Etruscan and Gallic enemies.

Rome only succeeded in ending this war in 280 BC, and so at the time that King Pyrrhos landed at Tarentum, Rome was still obliged to keep a consul and army stationed in Etruria in order to overawe the restive Etruscan city-states there.

The Third Samnite War had ended in 290 BC without either the Cisalpine Gauls or the Etruscans being completely subjugated by Rome. In around 289 BC Rome established its first colony east of the Apennine Mountains, Sena Gallica, on land annexed from the Senones (the Romans later founded Ariminum, modern Rimini, in 268 BC, to further consolidate its hold on the region). The Senones were the Gallic tribe that inhabited Picenum, and they had famously sacked Rome itself in 390 BC. Large numbers of the Senones were expelled from their farmlands to make way for the colony that the Romans planted there “… and they named it Sena after the Gallic tribe which had previously inhabited it.” (Polybius, 2.19).

The foundation of Sena Gallica struck fear in the other Gallic tribes of Cisalpine Gaul, particularly the Boii, who inhabited the area just north of Picenum, around the settlement of Bononia. The Boii now feared that Rome sought not simply hegemony over them, but in fact hoped to expel them from their homeland, annexe their agricultural land, and settle such land with Roman and Latin colonists.

For this reason, when the Etruscan city-states of Volsinii and Vulci fomented unrest against Roman authority throughout Etruria, they were able to exploit the Gaul’s disquiet over the foundation of Sena Gallica, and in around 285 BC readily secured an alliance with the Boii and Senone chieftains of Cisalpine Gaul. It is likely that although the Senones had a treaty with Rome, they nonetheless furnished large numbers of their men to the Gallic army as mercenaries.

This large Gallic army marched southward from the Po Valley into northern Italy in 284 BC, intending to join their Etruscan allies. The Gaul’s first move was to besiege the Etruscan city of Arretium, which remained loyal to its alliance with Rome. The Gallic army was comprised of warriors from both the Boii and Senones, and its leaders was named Britomaris. The city of Arretium controlled the shortest route south to Volsinii (the line of the later Via Cassia). If Arretium fell, the way would be clear for the Gallic host to march into southern Etruria, join with their Etruscan allies, and threaten Rome itself. Further, by besieging Arretium, the Gallic army may have hoped to draw a Roman army into the vicinity of northern Etruria, and thereby away from towns like Volsii and Volsinii.

To meet this crisis the Roman consul L Metellus Denter was dispatched with a large army to relieve Arretium. Upon arriving at Arretium, Metellus Denter attempted to negotiate with Britomaris, but in the winter of 284/283 BC the Gauls terminated these negotiations by murdering the Roman envoys. At the start of the campaigning season of 283 BC the command of L Metellus Denter was prorogued, and he sought a decisive battle against the Gallic invaders.

Reconstruction of an Etruscan temple

The battle of Arretium was the greatest military disaster to befall the Romans since the battle of Allia in 390 BC; the Roman army was completely routed by the Gallic host, and the proconsul, seven military tribunes and some 13,000 soldiers of the Roman army were killed (Orosius, 3.22.13-14; Aug. Civ. Dei, 3.17). The Gauls were now able to advance unhampered into southern Etruria, join their Etruscan allies, and trigger a general uprising of the cities in that area.

The consul P Cornelius Dolabella now took command of the defence of Rome, and mustered another army. The Gauls and Etruscans combined their strength and advanced upon the Roman army. A second decisive battle was fought at Lake Vadimone, only 40 miles from Rome, in the late summer of 283 BC. On this occasion the Romans led by P Cornelius Dolabella won a crushing victory over the Gauls and Etruscans – and the Senonian contingent in particular was completely destroyed.

The Etruscans and Boii resolved to fight on, but they were defeated for a second time by the Romans at the battle of Vetulonia in 282 BC by the new consul Q Aemilius Papus.

This ended the Gallic threat, but the Etruscan cities remained in revolt. During the two years between 282-280 BC the Romans dealt with these cities; thus Q Marcius Philippus defeated the main Etruscan army and celebrated a triumph de Etrusceis as consul in 281, and the consul Ti. Coruncanius (consul 280 BC) spent his year of office reducing the last, most determined centres of Etruscan resistance, Vulci and Volsinii.

These victories of Rome between 283-280 BC in Etruria proved to be critical to the very survival of Rome; if Rome had been confronted with continuing Gallic and Etruscan opposition when King Pyrrhos arrived at Tarentum in 280 BC then history may have been different.

Instead, the last embers of Etruscan resistance were being stamped out just as Rome turned from its Gallic-Etruscan War of 284-280 BC to face the challenge of King Pyrrhos. The shattered Senones tribe were expelled from the Ager Gallicus, and the Cisalpine Gauls sued for peace (which they kept for the next 45 years).

Rome’s northern borders remained quiet during the critical years 280-272 BC, years when Rome fought King Pyrrhos for control of southern Italy. In addition, Polybius notes that the Roman legions that faced King Pyrrhos during the years 280-272 BC were veterans (Polybius, 2.20).

Etruscan Unit Preview

Hoplitai Etrusci(Spearmen)

The Etruscan Hoplites were the retainers and clients of the Etruscan aristocracy, and were valued as disciplined and fierce soldiers, able to hold a strong line in both attack and defence.

The Etruscans - known as the the Tyrrhenoi by the Greeks - adopted the Greek hoplite panoply, and kept much of it until the Hellenistic period. Greek equipment was supplemented by native Etruscan, Italic and even Celtic items. Note the italic feathers in the attic helmet with hinged cheek pieces. These men fought in the style of the Greek-phalanx, with a thrusting spear wielded. They carry a short sword for close-fighting or when their spear breaks. The sword was of the straight, Greek type.

They wore a lamellar cuirass cut in the Greek style with pteruges. The cuirass was made of flexible linen and covered in metal lamellar, narrow rectangular overlapping metal plates, laced to the foundation. The Etruscan Hoplite also wore greaves, and had a large “argive” shield emblazoned with the “A”, which is not a letter, but rather the symbol for a surveyor’s level, which is found on Tarquinian coins.

Equites Etrusci (Heavy Cavalry)

The Etruscan cavalry were the elite and their household retainers, the Etruscan landed aristocracy, and were valued as good quality horsemen. The Etruscans were a highly stratified, feudal society, and the Etruscan cavalry were recruited from the landowning elite.

The Etruscan cavalry demonstrate the strong Hellenistic-Greek influence on the Etruscans. They were equipped with a Thracian helmet: a lamellar cuirass cut in the Greek style with pteruges; and wore a Hellenistic waist sash. The cuirass was made of flexible linen and covered in metal lamellar, narrow rectangular overlapping metal plates, laced to the foundation. The Etruscan cavalryman also carried a round shield emblazoned with a boar motif, as has been found on Tarquinian coins, and his principal weapon wass the thrusting spear.

Rome had a policy of supporting the Etruscan aristocratic oligarchies against the Etruscan lower classes, and so these cavalry were among the more loyal of Rome’s allied contingents, often being organised and led by Etruscan aristocrats who were themselves clients of the Roman nobility.

The Veneti ('Este Culture')

The Veneti are an ancient people who inhabit the area of north-eastern Italy, including the region known today as the 'Veneto'. The Veneti were indigenous to the region, and, unlike so many of their neighbours, they were not assimilated or swept away by the Gallic migrations that transformed the Po Valley during the period 500-350 BC.

With the advent of the early Iron Age in Italy, in the ninth century BC, regional differences begin to manifest themselves in the archaeological record, reflecting the linguistic and ethnic diversity which later characterized pre-Roman Italy in historical times. For example, to take funerary customs, for which archaeological data are the most plentiful, inhumation predominated in the region east and south of an imaginary line drawn between Rimini and Rome, whereas cremation was the most prevalent burial custom west and north of this line. The inhabitants of the latter area placed the ashes in a bi-conical urn, covered it with an inverted bowl or helmet, and deposited the vessel in a pit grave. This culture, which was common throughout Etruria and much of the Po Valley, takes its name from Villanova, a hamlet near Bologna (Bononia) in south-eastern Cisalpine Gaul, which was the first site of this type excavated by Count Gozzadini during the1850s. By the middle of the eighth century BC the “Villanovan Culture” of Etruria was evolving into what soon became the Etruscan civilization, while the Villanovan Culture of the eastern Po Valley developed into what archaeologists call the “Este Culture”.

It is this “Este Culture” that is known to historians as the Veneti.

Linguistically, the Este Culture was characterized by a non-Indo-European language whose origin and connection with other known languages are still enigmatic. The tongue of the Este Culture was named Veneti by the Romans, and Enetoi by the Greeks, and is generally believed to belong to the Italic family of Indo-European languages, although this is a matter of sharp debate [1]. The Italic family of Indo-European languages included Latin, Oscan, Umbrian as well as Venetic. The Veneti language is attested by over 300 short inscriptions dating from between the 6th century BC and 1st century.

Hence, it is likely that the Etruscan and Venetic languages were already established in their respective areas at the beginning of the Iron Age, and these two populations, though linguistically distinct, for a time shared a common material culture.

The people of the “Este Culture”, henceforth known as the Veneti, occupied the eastern Po Valley, specifically the shore of the Adriatic from Trieste to the mouth of the Po River. As they occupied the southern flank of the Alps, the Veneti were in a prime position to control the routes connecting the Etruscan city-states with the Transalpine Celtic zone. The Early and Late “Halstatt Culture” of the Celts in central Europe was fed commercially by the Etruscans and Greeks via the Veneti and Golasecca cultures of the Po Valley. For this reason, the Veneti – together with the “Golasecca Culture” who spoke the now extinct Lepontic language, and inhabited the western Po Valley – prospered, owing their riches to their central position. In the period c. 600-400 BC this trade intensified, as Etruscan colonies on the Adriatic at Spina and Adria, together with Greek colonies in the Adriatic, were established. The Golasecca and Este Cultures became a bridge between the Mediterranean states and the changing Halstatt world, trading metals and prestige items to the north, and amber and horses southward to the Etruscans and Greeks (Herodotus, 5.9)[2].

“[In northern Italy we see an] expansion of metalwork and trade at important transition zones, leading to the formation of new elites and regional cultural traditions in the southern Alps at nodal points of transfer between Italy and the Alpine region. These come to form the Este and Golasecca cultures.”[3]

The indigenous Italic-Villanovan material culture of the Veneti absorbed significant Etruscan and Greek influences during the period 600-400 BC. The Este begin using the Etruscan alphabet (itself derived from the Phoenician) to develop their own script. As a result of this exchange, the Veneti adopted Etruscan material culture, ideology and institutions, and urban settlements, of which Este and Padua were the most significant [4]. Kristiansen goes so far as to call the Golasecca and Este cultures “northern provinces of Etruscan culture”;

“The Hellenisation, or, more precisely, the acculturation to an Etruscan lifestyle must have been considerable in Slovenia, but of course it had already been underway since the 7th century. The exchange was not only of goods but also of craft specialists, as well as dynastic marriages, was the basis of this development, turning Slovenia into a barbarian Etruscan province.“[5]

During the period 500-350 BC the Po Valley was transformed by the Celtic migrations. Celts of the “Early La Tene Culture” from Transalpine Gaul migrated over the Alps and overran the Po valley. The Golasecca Culture, centred around Lakes Como, Lugano and Maggiore, was destroyed, as were the Etruscan cities in the Po Valley, and Celtic tribes like the Insubres, Boii, Cenomani and Senones carved out new homelands for themselves in northern Italy. The Etruscan, Golasecca and other indigenous populations in these areas were conquered, expelled or assimilated by their new Celtic masters. In the instance of the Golasecca Culture, this process may have been accelerated by a strong pre-existing Celtic influence on their material culture and pre-existing Celtic populations in Cisalpine Gaul.[6] Some scholars even consider the Golasecca Culture “Celtic” rather than Italic (i.e. Ligurian).[7] As the result of the migration of Celtic tribes into northern Italy during the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the inhabitants of the western and central districts of the Po Valley became Celtic in speech and material culture, and languages like Ligurian, Lepontic and Raetic were henceforth only spoken by peoples dwelling in and along the Alps.[8]

Only the Veneti appear to have survived this “Gallic cataclysm” and the Celtic ethnogenesis of northern Italy. The Veneti appear to have successfully defended their homeland from the Celts, and so their culture and language remained a distinctly Italic (proto-Etruscan) enclave in what was otherwise part of the Celtic world. The earliest documented occurrence of the name "Veneti" occurs in 390 BC, in the accounts of the sack of Rome by the Senone Gauls. After sacking Rome, the Gauls withdrew back to their homeland in order to counter a Veneti invasion there (Polybius, 2.18.3).

Thereafter, the Veneti remained loyal and valuable allies to Rome in her struggles for mastery of northern Italy. The Veneti supported Rome throughout her wars. When the Insubres, Boii and Gaesetae invaded central Italy in 225 BC, they were obliged to detach a part of their host to protect their lands from the Veneti (Polybius, 2.23.). The Veneti supported Rome in expanding its control over the Adriatic; in 221 BC Livy reports that both Roman consuls waged a successful military campaign against the Veneti's neighbours, the Histri, an Illyrian tribe that inhabited the region of modern Istria, and who were regarded as notorious pirates in the northern Adriatic Sea (Livy, 20); in 219 BC both the Roman consuls successfully waged the Second Illyrian War. Again, during the Second Punic War, the Veneti remained loyal to Rome, and supported Rome against Hannibal and his Gallic allies.

Reitia, The Mother-Goddess of Fertility of Venetia and Rhaetia, 4th Century BC

Thereafter, the Veneti were brought into the Roman alliance system, retaining complete autonomy in their internal affairs, while becoming part of the Roman hegemony. In 181 BC the Roman triumvirate of Publius Scipio Nasica, Caius Flaminius and Lucius Manlius Acidinus founded the Latin colony at Aquileia in Veneti, so as to protect the territory of the Veneti from incursions by the hostile Carni and Istri tribes. Thereafter, Roman influence over Veneti steadily increased. In 148 BC the Via Postumia was completed connecting Aquileia to Genua. In 131 B.C., the Via Annia joined Adria to Patavium to Altinum to Concordia to Aquileia. Gradually, the Roman Republic transformed its alliance with the Veneti into a relationship of dominance. Immediately after the 91 BC Italic rebellion, in 89 BC, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo conferred the rights of partial Roman citizenship (ius latinum) upon the Veneti, together with the rest of Transpadania, according to the Lex Pompeia Transpadanis.

An illustration of the Roman friendship and regard for the Veneti was the Roman propagation of a Veneti foundation myth. According to Livy, the Veneti were formed by a merging of the indigenous peoples known as the Euganei and a Trojan-Paphlagonian tribe known as the Eneti (or Enetoi in Greek) who had settled in the area between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. Homer, and perhaps more significantly, Pliny the Elder, assert that with the death of King Pylaemenes of the Paphlagonians, Antenor the Trojan led the Eneti across the Mediterranean towards the coast of north-east Italy near the Brenta river, where their descendants, the Veneti lived (Natural History, 6.2.5). Antenor was a comrade of Aeneas. Homer (Iliad, 2.852) speaks of the Paphlagonian Eneti as breeders of "wild mules", and this fondness for horses is regarded as proof of their descent from the "horse-taming" Trojans. This is also stated by Pliny the Elder, who indicates the Veneti ancestry as being Trojan (Natural History, 3.130). Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, who assisted the Veneti to repel the attacks of the Liburnian pirates, is said to have kept a stud in their country (Strabo, 5.1.4).

In giving the Veneti a Trojan ancestry, the Romans elevated the Veneti from being “barbarians”, and instead considered them distant relatives, as the Romans themselves believed themselves descended from the Trojan Aeneas. This fable also explained for Romans the presence of a culturally similar enclave among the predominantly Celtic population of Cisalpine Gaul.

Veneti Notes:

1. See Eric P Hamp, ‘The Relationship of Venetic within Italic’, The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 75, No. 2 (1954), pp. 183-186; the Slovenian linguist Matej Bor asserts that ancient Venetic is actually an early proto-Slovenian.
2. Kristian Kristiansen, Europe Before History, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 218-225; Barry Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, Penguin Books, 1997, pp. 51, 302-303.
3. Kristian Kristiansen, Europe Before History, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 218-225; Barry Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, Penguin Books, 1997, p. 166.
4. Loredana Capuis, ‘The Etruscans in Veneto’, in Giovannangelo Camporeale (ed.), The Etruscans Outside Etruria, Getty Publications, Paul J Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2004.
5. Kristian Kristiansen, Europe Before History, New Studies in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 218-225; Barry Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, Penguin Books, 1997, p. 274
6. J H C Williams, Beyond the Rubicon. Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy, Oxford Classical Monographs, 2001, pp. 185-222
7. R De Mainis, ‘Golasecca Culture and its links with Celts beyond the Alps’, pp. 92-102, in Moscati et. al. (eds.), The Celts, Milan, 1991; for the Ligurian thesis, see F Rittatore Vonwiller, ‘Liguri, Etruschi e Celti in Transpadana’, in Convegno su Archeologia e Storia nella Lombardia Pedemontana Occidentale, Cuomo, 1969, pp. 3-38.
8. Gary Forsythe, A Critical History of Early Rome, From Pre-history to the First Punic War, University of California Press, 2005, pp. 11-12, 26-27; J H C Williams, Beyond the Rubicon. Romans and Gauls in Republican Italy, Oxford Classical Monographs, 2001, pp. 185-222.

Veneti Unit Preview

Veneti Ekdromoi (Spearmen)

The Veneti Ekdromoi were recruited from among the common Veneti farmers and mountaineers, and they fought as unarmoured spearmen, quick moving and flexible and able to protect the flanks of the heavier Veneti Hoplomachi. They wore the distinctive, simple Veneti “disk and stud” helmets, carry large scutum shields, with a rim and boss of bronze, and fight with both javelins and a heavy spear.

Veneti Hoplomachi (Spearmen)

The Venetic fighting system was a primitive, local adaptation of the older Etruscan military system, and so in some respects had a similar heritage to the military system of Rome. Like both Etruscans and Romans, the Veneti were clean shaven. Veneti warriors also wore short, sleeveless, unbelted tunics (like the Illyrians).

The Veneti Hoplomachi were recruited from among the elites of the Veneti, the aristocracy and their clients, and the wealthier citizens. They fought in the manner of hoplites, and they formed the core of the Veneti battle line. In their panoply, the Hoplomachi demonstrated the important Greek and Etruscan influences that have shaped these people; the open helmet is adorned with a long plume, and is a typical northern Italic type, which provides the wearer with unrestricted vision and hearing; the large hoplon shield is embossed with bronze; the metal cuirass is a typical Hellenistic armour, but decorated in a distinctive Villanovian-Veneti style. These hoplites fought in the traditional manner of close-order spearmen, with a heavy spear (dory) as their principal weapon, and a sword as their secondary weapon.

Equites Veneti (Light Cavalry)

The Equites Veneti were a tough cavalry unit, recruited from among the farmers and mountaineers of the Veneti and were valued for their ability to operate across rugged terrain and from ambush, and act as scouts.

They wore short, sleeveless, unbelted tunics (like the Illyrians), which had a Gallic-style pattern and fought in the manner of mounted skirmishers, relying on a simple open-faced helmet that enabled vision and hearing, a sturdy round shield of typical Gallic style, and a bundle of javelins.

The Ligurians

Mar Ligure

The Ligurians were an ancient people that originally resided throughout northwestern Italy and southern Gaul (modern-day northern Tuscany, Liguria, Piedmont, parts of Lombardy, Corsica, and south eastern France). Some state that in pre-history the Ligurian ethnos inhabited an even larger area, stretching from the Ebro River in Spain to the Arno River in Italy at its greatest point. The migration of Gallic/Celtic peoples into the Po Valley and southern Gaul during the period 500-350 BC greatly reduced this area, however, and by the Hellenistic Period the Ligurians were largely confined to the Mediterranean coastline and the area between the Alps and Apennine Mountains.

The Romans described them as rough, strong, and bold. They were fierce warriors who used the Alps and the Apennines to their advantage.

Debate still rages among scholars as to the identity of the Ligurians; were they a pre-Indo-European people (such as the Iberians), or were they of Indo-European/Celtic ethnicity, or were they in fact an Italic people (such as the 'Golasecca Culture')? Certainly the Ligurians were heavily influenced by the 'La Tene' culture of the Cisalpine Gauls.

Modern-day Lucca, Genoa, and Tortona are believed to be founded by the Ligurians

Along with many Gauls (Insubres, Boii, etc.), the Ligurians allied themselves with Hannibal and the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War (218-202 BCE). After the Second Punic War, between 193-191 BCE, Q. Minucius Thermus fought a tough campaign to subjugate the Ligurians; there were further wars between Rome and the Ligurians in 182 BCE and lasted until 154 BCE. Ligurians were used in later Roman armies as skirmishers (i.e. at the battle of Pydna).

The Ligurians were grouped into loose tribes, which were typically small, although they sometimes grouped into tribal federations. Ligurian tribes mentioned by the ancient sources include; Apuani, Bagienni, Briniates, Cerdiciates, Commoni, Deciates, Euburiates, Friniates, Garuli, Hercates, Ilvates, Ingauni, Intemellii, Lapicini, Laevi, Marici, Oxybii, Statielli, Sueltri (or Suelteri), Taurini (or Taurisci) and Tiguli. Most of these tribes were poor, and so supplemented their herding, hunting and forestry with raiding, piracy and serving as mercenaries in the armies of Carthage and the Greek tyrants of Sicily. Extensive contact with the Etruscans meant that port-towns like Genoa were more advanced.

The Ligures were a short, wiry people toughened by a harsh mountain life, and were considered tough fighters, warlike and proud, with more endurance than their fickle Celtic neighbours. Ligurian foot fought both as skirmishers and close combat.

Ligurian Helmet

Most wore their dark hair short and had short beards. Their woollen clothing included round-necked tunics, long sleeved and slit at the sides. Legs were bare, with Gallic shoes. Broad leather belt with bronze clasp. Sidearm is a short, straight sword. Shield is the Gallic scutum. The main offensive weapon is a bundle of 4 feet javelins. While Chieftains and elite Ligurian warriors wore bristling conical helmets of the archaic/classical Villanovan/Etruscan style, with more colourful tunics in the Gallic style, and with longer swords, the more common Ligurian warriors were bare headed, carried a shorter sword, and fought principally with javelins.

Ligurian Unit Preview

Ligurian Warriors (Light Infantry/Skirmishers)

Ligurian Warriors were very tough and flexible units. Being such capable raiders and ambushers, the Ligurian Warriors are able to fight with their javelins as skirmishers (Diod. 5.39.7; Strabo, 4.6.2), yet they could also form into a maniple-type formation for close combat as line infantry with their shields and short swords.

The Ligurians wore their dark hair short and had short beards. Their thick woollen clothing included round-necked tunics, long sleeved and slit at the sides. Ligurians wore leather Gallic-style shoes with broad leather belts with bronze clasps. The sidearm for close fighting was a medium-length, straight sword (Diod. 5.39.7), while the shield is the large Gallic scutum. The main offensive weapon, however, is a bundle of 4 feet javelins with which to shower the enemy.

Ligurian Swordsmen (Heavy Infantry)

The Ligurian Swordsmen were tough, stubborn heavy infantry, who fought with long slashing swords and scutum-style shields.

Ligurian Swordsmen were recruited from among the elite of Ligurian chiefdoms, and the La Tene Celtic influence is obvious: Celtic-style shoes and woollen shirt, together with the Celtic-style long slashing sword and scutum-style shield. They also wore bristling conical helmets of the Villanovan/Etruscan style.

These troops fought by first discharging their light throwing spears, before charging into close combat with their swords and shields.

Battle Images

Click on the images to see them in all their original 1920x1200 glory.

Fording


Determined!


General advance


Ligurian Swordsmen


Hoplitai Etrusci


Hoplomachi Campaniae


Defending against cavalry


"Who are you looking at?"


Flanking manouvre


Attacked by phalangites


"Let them have it!"


River crossing

Afterword

For this Preview our historian HamilcarBarca has excelled himself. The detail and depth of the material that he has written for the Italian Enemies and Allies of Rome is truly amazing. It reminds me once again how lucky the RTR team is to have such a strong History Department. And looking at the material that he has assembled so far for the next preview, I can tell you that it is going to be yet another tour de force.

This past month our progress on FOE has been a bit slower than we would have liked, but it has been solid. Real life commitments have deprived us of key members of the team for some of the time, which has meant that some of the more complex tasks are taking longer, as some of us "learn on the job" filling in. Hopefully, we can play catch-up in the weeks ahead, but even if our original target date for completion slips a little there is one thing I can assure you of: we will bring you FOE in the best possible condition at the earliest date we can manage. We know how keen you are to get your mitts on our next campaign and we are determined to reward your patience as soon as we can.

This month has also seen the RTR After Action Reports (AAR's) move to a new central location within TWC, so now you can find all RTW based AAR's in one convenient place. However, some have mentioned that it can be a bit of a chore having to search through twenty three pages of reports to find a particular favourite. To help get around this, if you look at our "stickies", you will see that there is a new thread for RTR resources held externally from our forum here, which includes links to our recently "departed" RTR AAR's. While it may not currently include all currently active reports, if the authors would like theirs to be included, or if you have a particular favourite that you would like to see, then please get in touch with me, and I will be happy to see that they are added.

While you are looking at that thread, why not check out and subscribe to our new YouTube channel run by our very own movie guru, Quinctius Cincinnatus (you just watch Oliver Stone’s jaw drop when QC releases his “Alexander Redux” – lol).

Are you feeling artistic? Well now is the chance to flex your creative muscles because this weekend we have launched the FOE Signature Competition. My able and trusty Deputy Communications Dude, PatricianS is coordinating the event, details of which you can find here.

That brings to a close our fourth FOE Preview. We hope that you have enjoyed this fact filled edition as much as we have putting it together for you, so we, in Team-RTR, wish you happy gaming until we see you again in FOE Preview Five.

[bladerunner900]

Bloody good job M8

[Tony83]

Thank you! And for your help sorting out the web site.

[Dom9127]

As excellent as ever, it will be a great day when this mod is released.

[Artax]

Great preview! The historical data was very comprehensive and interesting. I had an enjoyable read accompanied with beautiful pictures.

Keep them coming!

[bingster088]

Wow! Very nice indeed

[Pat89]

Hehe... didn't see the comment "What are you looking at" by that screen yet

Are you feeling artistic? Well now is the chance to flex your creative muscles because this weekend we have launched the FOE Signature Competition. My able and trusty Deputy Communications Dude, PatricianS is coordinating the event, details of which you can find here.

Quoted it just so people would realize that it was said...

We need your siggies!!!!
CLICK HERE

~PS

[Jamey]

Excellent preview.

One important note is that the Veneti listed here are apparently completely separate from the Veneti in Transalpine Gaul. From the information available, they are from two completely different cultures which happen to share the same name. This is notable to avoid confusion with the Veneti unit from RTR6.

[Tony83]

Thanks Jamey. Interesting point about the Veneti. I always assumed that they were just the one group of people, and the ancestors of the people who set up shop in that lagoon!

[decimator22]

Finally it is here . Reading right now
Edit: IT's great can't wait to play, already having problems to win over TIC

[loet66]

Hi Tony,

Awesome fourth preview : very good work, as usual ...

[Tony83]

Hehe - thanks matey. Now this is out of the way Ican get on with the Troy renders.

[kepper]

I have came back, very good work Tony83

[Tony83]

I have came back, very good work Tony83

Hehe - thanks mate. I hope you think it was worth waiting for.

[Legio]

It is amazing, the RTR FoE team is exceptionally talented.

[Godless Pickle]

lot of information right there. good idea there though

[A.P]

SWeet!

[Atterdag]

One of the best previews I've ever read!

Bloody fine show

[AqD]

Nice preview!

One question: Why are the gloss effects removed? Will they be added back in GC?
________
Sunset Boulevard Residence 2 Pattaya

[HamilcarBarca]

One important note is that the Veneti listed here are apparently completely separate from the Veneti in Transalpine Gaul. From the information available, they are from two completely different cultures which happen to share the same name. This is notable to avoid confusion with the Veneti unit from RTR6.

Yes, it is important to note that there were two peoples known to the ancients as 'Veneti', and they were not related.

One was a Celtic/Indo-European group that inhabited the region of Brittany, and were noted by Casear as seafarers of the Atlantic.

The other were the Veneti that inhabited the area of modern Veneto, and who are described in this preview.

H.