Caius Tiberius stood at the head of the procession. Beside him, holding his hand was Valerius’ son Marcellus, only six years old. Behind them both, several slaves-under strict orders to appear aggrieved-carried Valerius Brutus on an ornate throne, his milky, dead eyes staring into nothingness.
The procession passed through the streets, past the column of Decius Mus, hero of the Pyrrhic war and into the central plaza, where the crowd awaited them. The funeral pyre lay at the centre on a raised platform for all to see.
As the procession trailed past the rows of people, many of them cast flowers on their path as a mark of respect for the hero of the Punic War.
The procession reached the pyre and came to a halt. Caius stepped to the side with little Marcellus and the slaves carried the throne up to the top of pyre. The priests of Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo and Mars all said their little speeches, praising the dead man for all he had done, and mourning the fact that he would not live to see his dream fulfilled. With all that said, the four priests took a torch each and set the pyre alight, allowing the flames to consume the man who had done so much in the short time in which he had taken power.
*
After the crowds had dispersed, Caius immediately went to the palace. Waiting there were his most trusted advisers, Quintis Petronius and Spurius Luculius. They went up to Caius’ private quarters, where a map of the western Mediterranean lay on a table. Various markers were scattered around it, representing the locations of Rome’s various armies, cities and territories.
“Right,” said Caius. “We need to act fast. I cannot afford to stay here another day, I have to get back to my army in North Africa. And of course, we will need someone to take over Valerius’ army.
“I always told Tiberius that we should just take Carthage itself and be done with it, but he was always adamant that it would be more proper to take their capital last, despite the many strategic inconveniences this was causing us. But I am not Tiberius. I say we take Carthage at the earliest opportunity. This war has gone on far, far longer than anticipated.
“However, the Carthaginians will not simply let us take their precious capital with a fight, and for that reason I shall take my army and Tiberius’ old army back to Lilybaeum to gather more men. Only then will we be fully capable of taking the city.”
**
9 Months later:
Caius was sat in his chair in Lilybaeum when the messenger arrived. There was a knock on his door and one of his bodyguard entered the room.
“Someone to see you sir.”
“Thank you, Lucius,” he turned to the messenger: “Yes? What is it?”
“A message to you, sir. From Hadrumetum.”
Caius took the papyrus scroll and began to read:
“Greetings, Caius Tiberius, Commander of the 1st Legion of the Republic of Rome.
For far too long, Rome has occupied the city of Hadrumetum. We have suffered greatly under your rule, but until recently, we at least kept our culture and our ways intact.
But now, you ask too much of us. You have sent your Roman administrators, your Roman priests, your Roman architects with the express intention of obliterating our heritage, ways and culture. We have seen it happen to Corsica and Sardinia, but we of Hadrumetum will stand for none of it. As you read this, your soldiers in our beloved city have been forced out. Never again will you taint our city with your foul, inferior Roman ways. We have organised a levy, and soon we will begin our reclamation of our rightful, ancestral lands.
Tell me, Roman. Have you ever fought an elephant?
Yours faithfully,
Himal Amilkas.”
“Do you wish to send a reply, sir?” asked the messenger.
Caius thought for a moment.
“No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “Rather, I wish you to send a message to Captain Marcus, the commander of the Hadrumetum garrison. Tell him to stand his ground where he is. Tell him he may only retreat to our other African holdings if the elephants in the levy army are killed.”
**
Sure enough, the Carthaginians came out of Hadrumetum and attacked the ex-garrison army. There was no real way to win the battle, as the garrison had never been particularly well-trained, and consisted entirely of Vigiles and skirmishers, as they were considered the cheapest. No one had ever expected such a backlash from the colonisation programme.
Captain Marcus stood in the front line of the formation, in amongst the skirmishers. They would be essential in the battle about to take place.
To the far right of the army, in a small wood, an additional unit of skirmishers lay in wait, on the same flank as the Carthaginian elephants.
The idea was to use the Vigiles and general as bait, luring the Carthaginian army forwards whilst the skirmishers took down the elephants.
The opening moves in the battle consisted of a flank attack, by the Numidian cavalry. This was repelled, and the cavalry were routed.
As the battle wore on, the Vigiles routed, but there was still an elephant left alive. This was killed by what was left of the skirmishers. The objective had been fulfilled, but the Roman army was defeated.
[Author’s note: there should have been more pictures than that, and I certainly took more, but for whatever reason, they appear to be missing from my PC. However, the other battles so far recorded (to be posted in the next update, which I am writing) do have plenty of pictures displaying key moments in the battles]
"Liberation"-a Roman AAR
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Eagerly awaiting the next installment.
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