ANNALIUM ROMAE -(The Chronicles of Rome)

**Merula** · June 17, 2011, 06:44 AM

ANNALIUM ROMA
(The Chronicles of Rome)

Most honoured reader, I, Titvs Lucretivs Blaesvs, have been tasked by the revered Consuls Valerius and Silius to continue the work of the late historicus Lvcivs Gellivs, in recounting the events of our glorious Res Publica as they occur.
I will begin where my predecessor left off, during the Phyrric war, just after King Phyrrus of Epirus fled with the remnants of his army back to his homeland...

THE CONSULATE OF SILIUS AND POPLICOLA - CDLXXXI AVC

The year began with the complete re-election of all magistrates and offices of state, the election results for this year are as follows:

Senior Consul - Gnaeus Silius Piso
Junior Consul - Lucius Valerius Poplicola
Praetor - Flavius Julius Corvenus
Quaestor - Tiberius Basiliscus Attelus
Tribunis Plebis - Aulus Licinius Caldius

Of the Consuls elected, one was a then little-known Patrician, a veteran of the unification wars, L. Valerius Poplicola. Of the other man, Piso, little was known about him except for him being a Patrician from some say, dubious lineage. The Praetor Julius was from wealthy Patrician stock that found themselves in severe trouble financially. Corvenus has only recently made his way back into the elite circles of Roma, buying an oppulent mansion near the Tiber. The Quaestor Basiliscus is a new man in the Senate, a Patrician with close ties to the Valerii family. There are some that speculate as to the origin of the Basiliscus family, his dark skin and hair betray a possible Greek ancestry. Finally, the Tribune of the People is the well known rabblerouser Licinius Cladius who seems to know the people's needs more than they do themselves.

As such the start of this years term was begun by the Consul Silius, who gave a speech welcoming the Senators to a new year, and outlining his proposals for ending the war against Phyrrus and the subsequent expansion of the territory under the SPQR. It was recorded thus:

Spoiler for Opening Speech by Consul Silius Piso:

The speech itself, while rousing, did not make much sense in the great scheme of things, as the Junior Consul pointed out, Silius had more vision than practical sense. The man must have not paid attention to the happenings of the Res Publica in the last years, the Samnites have been crushed already, and the majority of Phyrrus's army destroyed at Beneventum. As the Consul retook his seat the rest of the Senate politely applauded him, but many wondered how a man this ignorant had found himself in the position of one of the two most powerful men in Roma.

For some five minutes or so the Senate house was awash with men talking, welcoming back old colleagues, and trying to gage the political persuasions of the newest members. This was interupted by the Quaestor Basiliscus decending to the floor to give his report on the Res Publica's finances, it was overall a grave report, detailing just how much our glorious nation had lost in the wars of the previous decades, I recount a transcript of his speech here:

Spoiler for The Questor's report:

The Quaestor's report was met with much muttering and debate, followed by a series of speeches by the senators, one of the most apt regarding the situation was given by the old Senator Horatius Lurco. He recommended that an envoy be sent to the lands of Hellas and Makedonia to establish trade with those peoples, and also to share with them the glory of Roma. He then proposed that he himself should be the one to carry out the task, and, as he was a well respected Senator and had served the Res Publica well for many years, the majority of the Senate agreed to his proposal and Lurco immediatly went back to his villa to organise the essentials for his journey.

After this was concluded the Praetor Julius Corvenus moved on to the topic of the infrastructure of the Roma and the subsequent creation of roads through the provinces. He also recomended that in the northern Etruscan city of Ariminuma a good Roman government must be put in place to keep public order and to stop these Etruscans from rising ever again.
This was heartely agreed to by the body and two bills were put forward and were immediatly passed without troubles. This was the conculsion of the first Senate meeting for the term.

The next time the Senate met the focus was only surrounding the ongoing war with Phyrrus. Although the man had been thouroughly beaten by our brave Legions at Beneventum, Phyrrus had still left behind a small garrison in Taras, a city in the south, to remind the people of Epirote dominance in the region. Senator Aurelius Lepidus wanted to make sure that as of next year, all that would remain of this dominance would be burning buildings and dead Epirote soldiers lining numerous Via all the way to Roma. He stressed that immediate action was needed to kick Phyrrus out of Italy once and for all. He moved also that the Brettian city of Rhegium be annexed as well. In the previous year the Consul's ordered a Roman garrison sent to that city, which was at the time an ally of Roma against Phyrrus. But after Phyrrus left, the garrison decided to forsake their honour and duty and rebel against the Senate, forcing the people of Rhegium to support them, closing the gates and ruling autocratically like the ancient kings, without a thought for the outside world. This however was about to change. Good Senator Lepidus proposed the bill now known as "Senatus Consultum De Bello Pyrrhico", which ordered the Consuls to lead the legions south with all haste to assualt the city of Taras, and also that any soldier of Rome left in Rhegium that still supports their rebellious commander be declared enemies of the state, and that the Consuls should then march furthur south to bring about their utter annihiliation.

The motion proposed by Lepidus was shortly heard by the Consul Valerius Poplicola, who had only recently joined the Senators in the Curia because of pressing matters he had to attend to that day, he was said to have held most oppulent parties with the elite of Roma. The manner with which he appeared for the first time in the Senate has now become a thing of songs and legend. The Consul who appeared in the Curia looking like a greek and danced on the Senate floor; this may have caused much consternation amoung the Patricians but it only heightened the reputation of the man in the eyes of the common pleb. In any case his actions that day caused much argument between himself and the Tribune Caldius, who did not in any way appreciate the Consul's eccentric manner, the two men traded verbal blows for the good part of an hour, much to the amusement of the other Senators. The argument was only settled when the newly elected Senator M. Atrius Merula interupted the two men and directed them to the more pressing matters at hand.

After which the Consul gave his own ideas on the current state of the Res Publica, he asked for a more sound financial proposition from the Quaestor, and also the chance to lead the armies south himself.Upon hearing this, Senator Aurelius Lepidus proposed that 'Perhaps, considering the enormity of the task, both of you should go...' which was fully agreed to by the rest of the Senate, much to the distaste of Poplicola who wished it himself with sole command. The discussion over the campaign continued, it was decided that the Consuls should be in command of the assault on one city each, Valerius to Taras, Silius to Rhegium. Also, the Legion's I and II were ordered merged because of their lack of numbers.

The Quaestor then took the floor to reply to the Consul Valerius's lack of faith in his taxation policy, he provided a reformed bill implementing very high taxes on most of the main cities in Ital, except for Capua and Ariminum which were to be set at high taxes because fears of the Italians rising up again was still wide spread. He also moved that the oneara fleet rotting in the dock at Arretium be dismantled and used for building material, to save money on the upkeep of those unused ships.

The motion was afterwards vetoed by the Tribune Caldius, who did not agree with the 'unfairly high' taxes put on the people of Rome. This caused much commotion and disgruntled Senators left the curia in disgust, the result of the Tribune's veto was that Roma did not have a taxation policy put in place correctly for months, it was only until a letter arived from the Consul Valerius suggesting a new revised bill that anything got done. His letter was not recieved well however, as the Consul, most likely through no fault of his own (his underlings had written it for him), had named the revised bill after himself. The Quaestor was furious, thinking the man undermining his position. It was all resolved soon though, again Senator Merula the negotiator, and the new bill was passed in the Senate.
The new revisement was much the same as the first bill, however it stated that taxes in Roma itself should only be in the normal range, to appease the Tribune's wishes.

At the same time the taxes were being finalised a vehement debate was going on over the fate of the population of the cities of Rhegium and Taras, many senators advicating for extermination and enslavement, whilst others were against this, saying it would only cause greater suffering in the years to come. Senator Merula originally brought the discussion to the fore, concerned that whether the money gained from the capture of the two cities was to go to the Senate or the victorious Consul. From there the conversation delved into more ethical matters with Lepidus objecting strenuously to any harm to the innocents of the cities, whilst the Tribune advocated wholesale slaughter of the populations, convinced all were guilty of their leaders crimes.
This discussion went on for a number of days with many Senators voicing their opinions on the matter, all were unanimous that their enemies should be destroyed but two camps developed, some, the Persequentium, advocating the wholesale extermination and enslavement of the populations, whilst the others, the Misericors, who wished the innocent peoples unharmed if they complied with the wishes of Roma. After these days of discussion the Misericors eventually proposed two motions, one for each city. The motions had three options regarding the fate of the cities; unharmed, enslaved, executed. In the vote that followed in both cases the Persequentium camp lost, their numbers far smaller than their rivals.

It did not matter which way the Senators voted however, as in the end the (some say) warmongering Tribune Caldius, who was aligned with the Persequentium, vetoed both motions. This caused an uproar in the Senate, with some Senators even going as far as requesting a review into the Tribune's motives for vetoing so many proposals. One of these Senators was Lepidus, who gave a speech that to date is still regarded as one of the most powerful ever spoken in the Curia, 'The defence of the Innocents' is recorded thus in response to the Tribunes veto (Lepidus was of the Misericors camp):

Defence of the Innocents

(Statue of Lepidus reciting his famous speech)

"Such impeity!"

"Patres Conscripti, I am yet a young man. I have not sat in this hall as long as many of you, I have not your experience, nor your worldly nature. Yet I should like to think that I can spot an act of gross impropriety and impiety as the hateful and dangerous rhetoric I have heard today. I have heard talk of spoiling a city, of killing an entire population of men and leaving a city in ruins! Of slaughtering a town because it happened to be seized by a rogue Roman army! What talk! What bare hubris, to so beat and degrade a surrendered people!"

"Consider our rise to prominence, Senators, consider our confederacy of Italian states. What one of them have we so ill-treated, when they have submitted to our authority? Our strength, the reason the dread king Pyrrhus could not turn our allies, is how we treat those selfsame nations! We do not subjugate, we assimilate! Our alliances, our bonds of friendship with onetime foes are the hallmark of our commonwealth! It is our own virtue - the Roman art - to spare those who lay humbled at our feet.

Surely, the proud deserve and rightly will fall before our armies. Those leaders who will incite a people to an unjust war, those who would call in aid from across a sea to ravage a land rather than retreat, than relinquish their rights of rule. The cowardly soldiers, and their craven leaders, who would seize a town and fight against their kin. They will fall to us and we shall exact our revenge upon them, under the auspices of the Republic and the sanction of the gods. Yet, to talk of slaughtering the citizenry of entire cities, a surrendered and defenseless people - is this not hubris as Aristotle taught? And do the gods not have a way of punishing those who act with hubris?"

"Senators, beyond moral concerns, the impiety of this action would be too much to bear for our people. To think that Senators of Rome can sit in a consecrated temple and casually order a people, if not innocent, then at least not malevolent, to wholesale slaughter ought to be ludicrous. I ought not have to say such things to well meaning men. And yet here we are. I hope, nay, I beg you to stay your rage, stay your anger, and smother your pride.

The lives of thousands of men who have not raised a sword against us may be ended by a word from this body, or they may be spared. Rome may yet show a dutiful and pious clemency to those at our very mercy, or she may enact a revenge most cathartic yet hopelessly depraved. I urge you Patres, in your wisdom, to see past the passion of this moment and choose the right course, the proper course, the responsible and wise course, and above all, the pious course, and not condemn the men of Tarentum and Rhegion to death at the blade of Rome herself. For all of our sake."

Cheers of approval and loud applause followed the Senator back to his seat, the Tribune they say literally shrank in his seat from the noise. The debate afterwards inconsequential, just arguments between certain Senators and discussion of minor things. The Tribune however maintained his Veto on the subject, and all the opposing Senators could do was hope that the Consul's, in their infinate wisdom, would see that the extermination of the two cities added to no ones benefit.

Many days later the Senate house was once again full, all had been called in by the Praetor to discuss a minor matter, the matter was soon forgotten however as grave news was brought to the floor by Senator Merula. He recounted that upon the stripping of the entire garrison of Arpi by the Consul Poplicola to add to his legions, the inhabitants of the city (mainly of Samnitii origin) took the chance to rebel against the Res Publica, an outrage to Roman decency and honour! As a result the Consul had turned his army around and faced the Samnite army just outside Arpi, I have recounted the battle here from a copy I recieved from the Consul's office:

The Arpian Rebellion

Consul Lucius arrived with his army near the outskirts of the city of Arpi. The rebellious scum had already drawn up into battle formation, awaiting the advance of the Legions. The Samnites were dressed up in their colourful battle dress, ready to attempt to outmaneuver the Consul's army, a fools hope of course as no army can hope to beat a Legion of Roma! Consul Lucius was mounted on his favorite steed, Amyntas, wearing his white and purple armor and battle dress, setting a very imposing figure amongst the dim tan that the Romans presented towards the enemy. They say he dressed in this fashion to purposely draw the enemy towards him, Poplicola loved the thrill of battle and the glory victory offered.

He rode alone out to meet the enemy line, armour gleaming, paying no attention to the fact he was within missile range of the enemy. He positioned himself between the two armies and gave a quick speech, directed at the Samnites but also heard by and heartened his own troops. The Consul drew his sword and slowly raised it towards the rebels, finally stopping when it was pointing horizontally at the enemy commander, he said in a menacing tone which carried the full length of the field:

"For your offense towards the authority of the senate and people of Rome I hereby sentence you to death! Surrender your weapons and some of you may be spared the honor of being defeated by a legion of Rome! "

The response of the scum was a short Samnitii battle cry as they lowered their spears. The rebels obviously wanted to die... Across the field, on the edge of the settlement the civilians of Arpi had come out to watch the fight, the barbarous Samnites watching a full scale battle as if it were a sport in the Arena, ludicrous! The Consul then rode back to his army and signaled for the advance, trumpets blared and the glorious Legions of the Res Publica advanced as one towards the rebels.

The Centurions gave their orders, the perfect marching order of the Hastati advanced in open order and closed ranks within 15 meters to throw their pila into the Samnites, but they responded in turn, inflicting greater casualties on our brave soldiers. Many of the rebels were most likely veterans of past wars, they had been trained in battle before. Whistles blew and the command to advance to close-quarters was obeyed. Our Roman blades cut deep swathes through the enemy ranks who were now unable to use the range their spears afforded them. Deep wounds were inflicted upon our enemy, more and more of them fell down clutching at limbs that were now absent from their bodies, the wounded were immediatly dispatched by our troops who stepped over their bodies, moving ever forward into the Samnite ranks.

After 10 minutes of this fighting the Centurians ordered the withdrawal of our Hastati maniples and as soon as they were clear Principes threw their pila into the Samnites, who were now unable to use their shields to any effect, our older veterans then followed up with their own swords, again closing the ranks and pressing ever forward. The Consul had expected the enemy to break and flee at this time, but they only fought on with renued intensity, they must have known the fate that capture meant and as they were clearly losing this battle they had no other choice available to them.

Roman leves began skirmishing to the left and right of the line with a small number of Lucanian mercenaries that had traveled through the region to join the rebellion looking for easy plunder. Soon, what was left of the Samnite Hastati advanced on the left flank, leaving the Consul no choice but to commit his equites in response to check their advance. Our young nobles gouging a deep hole in their ranks, although they took many losses to the Samnite spears. Because of this Poplicola ordered the Rorarii take their place in the line, they were brought up and threw their javelins into the Samnite Hastati as the Equites made a timely withdrawal.

The battle was nearly over by this time, the Samnites very tired now after some two hourse of fighting, so they threw in the last of their reserve force to take as many of our troops with them as possible. The Consul ordered the Hastati be recommitted to the battle and sent Triarii up in a supporting role. The Accensi then made their move around the right flank to deliver the coup de grace, but as the enemy Lucanians charged into them they were ordered to withdraw.

The final order to advance was given by the Consul, determined to crush the enemy army utterly. Both units of Leves were ordered to the right flank with the Accensi and they routed the Lucanians through weight of numbers. Once that occurred, all cavalry were ordered towards the center of the line and in a combined thrust, an ingenious two-pronged attack was developed around the enemy commander. The man was hewn down where he stood, our Hastati getting their revenge on the man that had cause the death of their friends.

The Samnites were forced into a full retreat, the Romans, viewing an opening, hacked their way into their ranks and a wholesale slaughter began of those unlucky enough to be in the first few ranks of any Samnite units. The Consul and his cavalry burst through the center, taking many of the richer soldiers prisoner to be made an example of later. It was a complete victory for our glorious Legions and the Consul was honoured by his men.

The aftermath of the Arpian rebellion was most welcomed by the Senate, after so many defeats in the last decade or so Roma needed a victory. But there were still some men in the Senate house who questioned why in Jupiters name did the settlement rebel in the first place! After a short debate it was concluded unofficially that in every settlement a garrison be put in place to curb further unrest, and also that a Roman official visit the allied cities each year to ensure their loyalty.

In the days that followed another message was relayed to the Senate from the travelling Senator Lurco, it told how his journey had been interupted by the Arpian rebellion and that he had moved there after the Consul had put down the insurection to administrate the city for a time before he could move on. He asked that he be given permission for aquisition of a boat once the Consul had taken Taras, so that he may hasten his journey east. This was granted unanimously.

The very next day a third letter from Lurco was addressed to the Senate, it was terrible news indeed; the Consul Silius Piso had died on campaign.
According to Lurco's sources the Consul had died from some kind of coughing sickness, he had been taken by a hacking cough that brought up blood regularly. The man, although determined to do so, in the end could no longer march alongside his men as a general should, but was confined to a horse drawn wagon which he lay in as they marched. He had frequently fallen off his horse, causing much discontent amoungst the men, they did not want a dying man to lead them! Eventually Silius lost his appetite and regurgitated any food that was forced upon him, he also contracted a fever that burned "like being in Vulcan's furnace".

Lurco then outlined that there were now two options for the Senate to consider after a Consul Suffectus was elected. To either allow the Junior Consul Poplicola to take both cities of Taras and Rhegium, combining Legions I and II. Or to send another man in Silius's stead to lead Legio II and finish off the campaign. Lurco mentioned that 'out of practicality' he would be happy to take command of the second Legion, and also promised that the poplulation of Rhegium would remain unharmed according to the Senate's wishes once the town was conquered.

The Praetor Corvenus later held a vote on who it was to be elected as Consul Suffectus, the candidates being Lurco and Lepidus. In a landslide victory the benevalent Lepidus won and was proclaimed Consul Suffectus for the remainder of the term. Lepidus was soon sent south to link up with the Consul Poplicola and command the second legion, replacing the deceased Silius.

In the Senate there were many debates over laws regarding conquest of regions, and of the composition of the Legions, no consensus was achieved on these matters however. Only a few days after Lepidus left for the south, the men of the Curia was pleasantly suprised by the return of the Senior Consul, a man supposedly still in the south besieging Taras. It turned out that Poplicola, in a quick and decisive campaign, had swept through Taras and Rhegium, conquering both cities in as many days for the glory of the Res Publica! I have recopied a transcript of the reports filed by Poplicola here:

The Assault and Capture of Rhegium

Lucius arrived before Rhegion, the gates were still open and he could see from a dry brush 80 yards away that the watchtowers were empty and the bolts on the gates were damaged, they would not be able to keep his army out. Perfect Vibius, I hope I've given you enough time to get out. Lucius spent the next 15 minutes crawling back to his original position, mounted his horse and rode down the road for 2 miles to a lightly forested area, an area where he had Legio II deployed overnight without so much as a notification to the senate, though at least I warned Lurco, he would no doubt have been made the commander due to his proximity, if not ability. 2 hours later, he attacked.

Lucius studied their defenses, Vibius had given him a good picture of what they had but seeing it himself was always his first priority if only to confirm the intelligence. Their defense is as pedestrian as Silius' speeches, though it will be hard to break, they outnumber me in missile components so all they need is an over-strength line of Hastati and some Principes to support them. I guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way.

You, soldier.

Yes sir?

You are now my runner, tell the centurions to form attack column, we'll have to wear down their frontal defenses before proceeding inwards.

Yes sir! The soldier acquired a horse and spread the orders.

Send the Leves forward while the formation is forming, then send in the lines for a full attack.

The leves ran forward to the walls and began to skirmish with a unit of Rorarii meant to slow the advance of Lucius' inferior force and his force was inferior, for while it had cavalry, this was siege warfare and while he had Accensi, the streets were narrow and while he had triarii, his front units could be worn down by missile fire. This happened to the Leves as they took 50 casualties in as many seconds during their advance until the commander of the unit ordered them to spread and engage.

The Rorarii were outclassed and unable to respond with their own javelins and were forced to withdraw, while they did they were peppered by the Accensi placed in a position to make the predicted withdrawal a bloody one. The Rorarii took at least 70 casualties in their retreat.

That went a little better than expected. Lucius then gave the signal for his main lines to advance into the city streets. in columns of four each line advanced.

Leves, Hastati, Principes, Triarii, Rorarii, Accensi, Lucius and his guard followed by his Equites marched into the streets, unprepared for the counterattack brought forth by the traitorous Roman commander. This trap forced Lucius' Leves to engage them hand-to-hand while the lines were sorted out for the next stage of the advance. Then Lucius ordered them to withdraw and his front lines hurled their Pila into the enemy ranks.

Had the trap been sprung earlier, you might have been able to prevent my entrance Decius Iubellius, blind fool. Lucius reformed his leves behind his Hastati as they broke formation and began to cut down the Rorarii ahead of them. In desperation or stupidity, the Toxotai and Leves of the traitors hurled themselves into the battle line to support their wavering comrades to no avail as Lucius' Leves hurled their javelins over and over again until the enemy was forced to break. After which Lucius' redeployment reaped its benefits as his cavalry was sent to the third line and were now cutting down the rebels without mercy.

With the front line broken, you have no choice but to let me dictate the terms of this battle now Iubellius. Lucius ordered a general advance with the Hastati, Leves and Equites rushing to secure one of the inner plazas, only to be met by a new line of Principes and a reserve unit of Rorarii. Lucius allows his commanders more flexibility, while in line with Roman doctrine he allows them to even plan more operational-level feints. The commander of the Equites, Marcus Annaeus, ordered his cavalry to charge right into the Principes' and Rorarii's spears. This may have seemed foolhardy at first but soon after it was realized by the centurions in the Hastati and the commander of the Leves that it was their time to rush the plaza, once they did, the Equites swiftly withdrew with surprisingly minor casualties.

After yet another Pila volley, the Hastati advanced again, this time in a delaying action for the heavier forces to arrive. The Accensi had begun skirmishing with the forces in the central plaza and the Consular guards with Lucius had arrived. The Hastati were slowly being pushed back until Lucius ordered them to withdraw while the Principes opened up with their Pila followed by the last of the Leves' javelins. He committed them into the battle as well as his own guard and the Equites into the flank of the new battle line and fell back, then did the same with the Leves, now fighting in hand-to-hand and fell back, knowing that the successive charges would slowly wear down the defense of these spearmen preventing him from taking the town center and Iubellius' head. It wasn't long before a salient formed in the center from all the charges and the Rorarii who had routed a small while ago from one of the charges came back for another round of fighting.

He sure knows how to inspire his men I suppose and his ruse caught me off-guard. I wonder what he has in store for me next. Unknown to Lucius at the time, the reason that the Rorarii had come back with the previously routed units was because Iubellius of the Decii was killed by a flying lead bullet that severed his carotid artery. This infuriated his less-professional soldiers and galvanized them into further fighting.

Well, isn't this quite the stalemate. It was here that Lucius took his first gamble in order to bring a decisive end to the engagement. He ordered one more massed charge into the flank of the rebel Principes after a dangerously close set of javelin volleys by his Rorarii and ran every unit engaged so far to the other end of the street and formed up his Triarii and Rorarii to complete the encirclement of the central plaza.

This move rendered the Hastati and Leves combat-ineffective but led to the end of the siege and the capturing of Rhegion by Republican forces.

After the fall of the city the Consul moved quickly north again with Legio II and the remnants of Legio I to take the Epirote city of Taras. It was a daring move indeed by our beloved Consul, but to the glory of Roma Poplicola did achieve his goal and annexed Taras for the SPQR, a copy of his report follows here:

The Assault and Capture of Taras

Lucius arrived at Taras only a few hours later, having only taken his personal retinue he was able to cross the hilly area of Samnium efficiently in time to see that the deployment chosen by his legate was wrong for the occasion, but on the correct ground, there may yet be hope for you. It was deployed in the classic formation but it was ill-suited to the units before them. Unlike Rhegion, he was fighting an army very similar to his albeit with a cavalry advantage, the famed Tarantine cavalry, which would outclass his own in melee and out-throw his missile units. Overall, the Epeirote army before him, while more numerous, was better in all classes except that Lucius has his Pila, an advantage I won't squander.

Lucius moved his Leves to the left of the Hastati in order to allow his Accensi shots at the enemy as they advanced on the Hastati and now the Leves and moved his Equites to his right on the flank of the Triarii to act as a deterrent to any flanking moves on that side as the Tarantines had deployed in that direction. It wasn't long before a full-scale skirmish was underway with the light troops of the Epeirote garrison.

A unit of Hoplites charged forward, so quickly that Lucius had no time to react and only one of his Pila throws were brought to bear with minor javelin support. These were veterans, trained ones at that. If no support was granted to his Hastati even those Hoplites diminished in number through hunger and disease would breach a whole in his front and force him to commit reserves to unimportant sectors of the battlefield. Soon after, the enemy Phalangitai advanced on his Leves to compound the problem.

Just as the Phalangitai advanced, a new unit of Hoplites hit his Leves and Lucius thought of a clever ruse that could open up the battlefield and force the Epeirote line to collapse completely. He moved his Principes behind his Leves and his Rorarii behind his Cavalry as he moved his cavalry to flank where his Principes were originally positioned. This made his Leves on his left appear vulnerable to a quick cavalry strike and the Tarantines pulled themselves into position. How sporting, they're going to walk right into it.

Just as the Principes got into position Lucius ordered the withdrawal of his Leves and the Principes let loose a deadly barrage of Pila which, along with the bullets from the Accensi's slings and the javelins continued fire from the Leves at their new position, began to tell on the tired Epeirote professionals.

As the Phalangitai recommitted themselves to battle, the Hoplites attempted to move around the flank with the Tarantines, which would have forced Lucius' hand to stop them with his Triarii but that was not his intent. All too easy...the ruse had worked and Lucius sprung it. He surged with his Equites around the right flank and just the sight of this clearly decisive blow incoming forced the Hoplites engaged with the Hastati to reconsider their loyalties and flee from the field. Later, he would join the attack himself to finish the missile component of the Epeirotes more quickly.

In response, the Hoplites, Phalangitai and Tarantine Cavalry on Lucius' left began a desperate but altogether fruitless assault on his Principes which he broke up with the second maneuver in the completion of his ruse. He pushed his Rorarii behind the Phalangitai within 5 meters and dished out volley after volley of javelin fire and charged them together with his Triarii. This formed a two-pronged attack on the Epeirote remnants as his Leves committed themselves into the flank of the Hoplites Magna Graecia had lent to the battle, Hoplites that had nothing left to do but flee the field with the missile component that had finally begun to surrender to Lucius' cavalry.

Within an hour, Lucius had a copy of the official casualty report and the Epeirote commander's final surrender.

With the fall of Taras, Roma now held hegemony over all of Italia, a feat never achieved by any nation in the histories of the world, even the mighty Phyrrus could not conquer the peoples of the penninsula, but fate had decreed that Roma should conquer all and so it did!

Whence the Consul Poplicola had returned, he immediatly set about setting in motion his plans for revised legions, something that was needed drastically at that time. What was peculiar about the Consul's plans however, was the interesting and revolutionary organization of the Legio. There would be two legions as per normal, one being commanded by the Senior Consul, the other by the Junior. The revolutionary part were the soldiers that would make up the legions. Legio I would be solely Roman citizens commanded by the Senior, but Legio II would be a legion of Socii troops, who would be commanded by the Junior! Socii soldiers in the armies of the Res Publica! Nothing like this had ever been heard of before. Here is the list of the Legion composition that the Consul provided to the Senate on that day:

Poplicola's Revised Consular Army

He also added that if Roma were to expand her lands further then these armies would be increased in size thus:

Poplicola's Revised and Extended Consular Army

The revision of the Legio was welcomed by most of the Senate, but time restraints prevented the Consul from implementing his reforms. The time for elections of magistrates for the new term had arrived!

**Merula** · June 17, 2011, 06:45 AM

ANNALIUM ROMA

THE CONSULATE OF POPLICOLA AND CORVENUS - CDLXXXII AVC

The elections of the Magistrates of our Res Publica for this year are as follows:

Senior Consul - Lucius Valerius Poplicola
Junior Consul - Flavius Julius Corvenus
Praetor - Flavius Julius Constantinus
Quaestor - Marcus Sempronius Sophus
Tribunis Plebis - Lucius Aurelius Lepidus

This year Poplicola capitalised on his good performance as Junior Consul last term to seal his place as the Senior Consul of Roma this term. He was accompanied by the Praetor from last year, Julius Corvenus, who was voted in as Poplicola's second. The new Praetor, Constantinus, was a Patrician an ex-military officer, but some speak of his linage in dubious undertones, his features are southern Italian at best, Hellen at worst! The Quaestor was a well known Plebeian man called Sophus, who before joining the Senate had run a flourishing merchant buisiness, a good man to make money for the Res Publica indeed. Aurelius Lepidus, the Consul Suffectus in the wake of Piso's death last year had obviously been viewed in a good light by the people, as they elected him as their Tribune.

This year, unlike previous one's the Curia was not opened by the Senior Consul, instead the Junior Consul Corvenus took the floor and opened the new term.

Spoiler for Opening Speech by Consul Julius Corvenus:

It was quite a fiery speech to say the least! Not since the kings had the Consul opened the Curia with an advertisement for war! The Curia was silent for some time afterwards, with Senators either confused what to say, or stunned into inaction by the forward style of wording.
Eventually the Quaestor stood to give the yearly economic report, and for the first time in many years, things appeared to be looking up for Roma financially. I recount a transcript of Sophus' speech here:

Spoiler for The Quaestor's Report:

The resulting discussion that followed the Quaestor's speech was two sided. On one hand, the Consul Corvenus, Sophus and Senator Crispus all voiced their agreement with the bill. However Caldius the troublemaker and Senator Scaeva were vehemently against the proposals, the two men miraculously agreeing to something!

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