ROME - Is mother to us all [Divide et Impera] AAR - {Seasons}

**AVGVSTVS07** · May 12, 2019, 04:40 PM

Short information about the AAR (story)

Information

Season 1:

Episode 1 - The Plan
It was the year 278, in the center of Rome at the heart of the Senate it was chaos !! One week ago a foolish Patricii diplomat shattered all Rome's hope of peace with its rivals the hated Etrusci to the north and Epeiros to the south-east.

The situation became worse when the two rivals both united against Rome in order to stop its ambition of securing full control of Italia. Tensions were at its peak because the republic did not have the funds to fight a war on two fronts. The Senate was split between arguing who to blame and what to do but as always when there is chaos there also lies opportunity...

A young man stepped forward and with a strong voice asked to speak to the gathered senators, despite some skeptic looks from some senior members attending he was given the approval to speak. He spoke loud and confident so that everyone there could hear him and so he laid out his plan for securing the borders, refilling the republic coffers and also managing the war effort. After some debate, the Senate approved and set into motion this young man's plan by the name Decimus Sextilius Rufus from the Equites branch family.

The plan itself:

The Plan

So III Legion was formed under the command of Sextilius Rufus near the capital city of Rome. Scrolls were sent all over the republic so that the army can receive men and supplies. The I Legion was disbanded and II Legion retained its general Gaius F. Luscinius of the Nobiles family but came under the direct command of Sextilius Rufus.

Both generals meet near Rome and made up the plan of action for the coming conflict. The main army will be commanded by Sextilius Rufus, and will move up north and knock out the weak Etrusci before they can mobilize a full army and pose any real threat to Rome. After the north threat is dealt with, both legions will move as a single unit and surround and push Epeiros out of Italia before they can land more troops from there capital.

Gaius Luscinius also got orders to move its II legion and secure the bridge connecting the Taras-Cosentia regions, but not enter in a direct fight with the enemy army until both legions are together.

Weeks passed and III Legion was almost at full capacity, when the general gave the orders for the legion to move to the northern border and on to Arretium. During the mobilization and movement to the Etrusci last capital city spies were sent to destroy enemy supplies, send fake roman army information and collect enemy army movements. To the surprise of everyone, the missions were a complete success.

III Legion was marching to Arretium when the Etrusci forces sallied forth in an attempt to catch the Romans off guard, but having a constant flow of information regarding the enemy movement the attempt was foiled and the battle of Arretium plains took part where 30.000 professional Roman soldiers engaged 33.500 Etrusci warriors composed of 12.500 professional soldiers and 22.000 city militia.

The battle of Arretium plains

The Roman legion managed to win a decisive victory and also suffered low casualties in the process.

Sextilius Rufus entered the city of Arretium with his army and imposed the will of the Senate over the newly conquered region. In exchange for a peaceful occupation, the city surrendered its entire gold to the Romans and accepted their terms regarding city governance.

The general left 500 men to help with the city defense and police the region while he ordered for the troops to prepare to move down south towards Epeiros at first light in the next morning.

**AVGVSTVS07** · May 16, 2019, 06:12 PM

New episode coming up soon.

Episode 2 - Disaster
General Sextilius Rufus finds out that his inexperience is one of his many enemies and that this war is far from over . He must act fast and decisive or Rome will fall ...

**Caillagh de Bodemloze** · May 17, 2019, 11:33 AM

Hi, Augustus! Welcome to the Writers' Study.

This is a great start to your AAR. I particularly liked the way the success of the spies was such a big surprise to everyone! Sextilius Rufus seems to be doing well so far... but the title of episode 2 is rather ominous. I'll look forward to finding out what happens.

**Alwyn** · May 19, 2019, 11:30 AM

Welcome to TWC and to the Writers' Study! This is a promising start, I like the courage of Decimus Sextilius Rufus and the way that you explain his plan as well as the battle itself.

(It looks like there may be a difficulty with your screenshots. As you're new, you might find Shankbot's Unofficial Guide for New Members helpful. If you'd like help with posting screenshots as full-sized images in your chapters, the beginner's guide to Screenshots might be useful - and you're welcome to ask questions on the Writers' Study Chat Thread.)

**AVGVSTVS07** · May 19, 2019, 04:04 PM

Episode 2 - Disaster

The year was 277 BC, and the sun was just showing its first rays of light over the Roman camp outside Arretium. Everything was quiet and peaceful despite the fact that two opposing forces classed just a day before outside the city.

Sextilius Rufus was on the hill where his main cavalry was positioned at the start of the battle a day before, looking down and recounting the battle that took place.Reflecting on every move his infantry made, every mistake, every move he could have made in order to save more soldiers, more lives.
He was so caught in his thoughts that his most trusted second in command, a man named Crassus had to call his name 3 times before it registered.
Turning to face his trusted second, said in a strong and confident manner "
-Speak!
-The men are ready general, we can move the moment you give the command.

Rufus took one more glance over the battlefield absorbing the peaceful nature of that day before turning back to face the man he was talking "
- Shame we have to waste such a beautiful morning, but Rome is counting on us.
- Give the command to move ."
Crassus hearing the command clenched his fist and hit his chest above the heart before muttering the words "Ad Victoria! "

III Legion started its march back from Arretium with a planned detour to Rome in order to deliver the gold captured from the defeated Etrusci and the final destination being Beneventum before winter came.
The legion reached the outskirts of Rome and the cavalry was ordered to escort the gold safely to the capital while the infantry would continue to move on and both armies will regroup at Beneventum.

The march was going good until the first problem came for III Legion, a problem the general and commanding staff hoped to avoid, the snow. Winter came a bit early this year, and the legion was caught in a snowstorm on its way to Beneventum that required them to form a camp and wait out the storm.

The situation was not critical but they had to move into the shelter of the target city or they could run out of food and supplies fast.Things looked to improve as a day before the cavalry managed to catch the main army from behind and reunite with the main force.While the snow storm started to die out general Sextilius Rufus was talking to his second in command about there need to move while the weather was showing some sign of improving, when a messenger came and gave the general a scroll with an urgent need of attention.
While reading the scroll, Rufus face expression started to change from calm to anger and in a fit of rage he smashed his fist on to his table, spiling all the whine from there cups and started screaming
- That idiot !!!
- I gave him simple instructions, how could he be such an idiot and make a stupid mistake like this ..
-I told him to not get into combat to keep a reasonable distance and fall back to Beneventum if the situation becomes worse to handle. And what does he do? he lets himself get cornered and gets my legion destroyed!"
Rufus gave Crassus the letter and the second in command found out what happened. While II Legion was defending the bridge that connected Cosentia and Taras regions they were attacked several times by the enemy forces of Epiros and while retreating Gaius Luscinius became sloppy and allowed the enemy time to catch up and corner them at the sea line near Cosentia.
They were attacked by an army two times larger and that was all the information because the messenger was dispatched while the battle started so he did not new the outcome of the battle but everyone suspected the loss of the II Legion.

After Rufus managed to calm his nerves he turned with a grim face towards his second and said "
-We have to move, all our options are spent. At this moment we have low food and supplies, no information on the full strength of our enemy and what their moves could be.
-Cosetia and south of Rome are undefended and at the mercy of our enemies, I just hope the winter caused them problems as much as it did us.
-Give the command to move at a forced marched pace, we need to get to Beneventum FAST!

Time passed and as the winter becomes milder so III Legion finally reached Beneventum and every single man from the army was in shock. The city was in ruins and to make things worse, the enemy stole the entire gold from the city, took food and supplies and destroyed a lot of the rest in order to deprive III Legion of the much-needed resources. The houses were mostly damaged and burned so the legions had very bad protection from the cold.

While the army settled in and around the city, the Legion command started to receive letters from all over Rome and things were far worse then they expected. Because of the winter and sacking of Beneventum, the republic was in a food shortage and people started to become worried about the war situation. The Senate was threatening Rufus with stripping of command unless the situation did not get resolved soon.

While days passed general Sextilius Rufus sent his spies to gather information and find the enemy army. In a stroke of luck, one of his scout groups found the enemy army but the situation was desperate.
The enemy Epeiros army around 20.000 strong were heading to Asculum in some urgency.The spies who found the enemy army also intercepted messages from the enemy asking for there fleet to come to Asculum, to recover and move the gold out of Italia. That was something if achieved would push Rome into bankruptcy.

With such an enormous risk, Rufus had no choice but to move his army again and force march them to Asculum, to intercept the Epeiros force. After a long period of campaign disasters, the cavalry managed to reach one day ahead of the III legion at Asculum and force the enemy into the city.
Because of bad weather, the Epiros fleet did not reach the city and so the 20000 professional Epiros men remained trapped in the city and had to get ready to face 32000 professional Roman Legions.The next day III Legion reached outside Asculum and both camps were preparing for the inevitable confrontation.</span>

As the winter season was about to end and the Roman legions were exhausted from all the forced marches, cold, lack of food and supplies general Sextilius Rufus in a bid to try to win the battle without bloodshed, sent a message to the enemy general and demanded a surrender. The request was denied and the battle of Asculum took place.

Battle of Asculum 276 BC

It was early in the morning and both the armies were preparing for the inevitable clash. The Roman army placed itself around the city in 3 different groups. The first group was at the center mostly double rows of triarii that would have the mission to block and fight the enemy within the biggest city street and push them slowly towards the city center.
The second group would be formed mostly of hastati and 2 units cavalry that would have the mission to destroy or push any enemy on the left flank inside the city towards the center while the third group would stay on the right flank and be formed mostly of cavalry and spare infantry to cut out any enemy escape or flanking movements . The enemy was mostly centered around the central street and fight the enemy there while some spare troops were placed on the city flanks to hold the Romans in place as much as it could.

After the fog raised over the battlefield and the ground was dry the battle started with the Roman army center making its slow push towards the center enemy lines while this happened the roman flanking groups started to harass and push the enemy back. At first everything was going fine for the Roman legions until the momentum halted and the Epeiros army was making a strong stand keeping the legions in place and pushing the back slowly at the same time the flanking groups were making slow progress because of the terrain and were close to breaking because the slinger enemy units taking advantage of the muddy roads were picking off hastati units that were stuck in the mud.

General Rufus getting information about the progress on the flanks decided to take matters into his own hands and go with the right flanking units and help the push. After he united with the right flank cavalry they formed in a big wedge formation and started a charge towards the enemy weakest spear units and despite the muddy terrain they made a break too and gave the hastati units precious help in order for them to reach the better terrain and roads.
As this happened the hastati took control of the town center and started there slow push towards the enemy rear while the general and the right flank cavalry continued there run towards the left flank and hit the enemy units there from the rear forcing them into a full rout.

As second in command, Crassus received information that Sextilius Rufus broken truth and was now moving to rout the enemy left flank he gave orders for center units to slow down there push an make a point to hold the enemy in place until there right and left units would unite and hit the Epeiros soldiers of the rear .

As the battle started to shift drastically into the roman favors, the Epeiros general tried to divert some of his troops in the rear and form a solid defensive line but was late and the Roman cavalry managed to hit the disorganized units before they could form and the Roman infantry was just behind to sandwich them on the main street . During the struggle, the enemy general fell on the battlefield and while he was close to his troops this caused a general panic and troops started to break ranks and attempt to flee.

Seeing the panic and the obvious collapse of the enemy both Rufus and Crassus tried to stop the legions from there attacks against the defeated army but everything was in vain as the orders did not get to the front line and the enemy soldiers got slaughter as the back lines started to flee from the rear legions and were pushing their front line allies against the Roman legions who had no idea they surrendered and kept killing any man they found .

At the end of the battle despite the initial setback the III Legion won a decisive victory against the Epiros force and took low casualties while the enemy was destroyed almost entirely.

Almost a week had passed since the battle of Asculum and the III Legion was back at full strength and ready to move towards Taras. With fresh food, supplies and the spring season in full force, the army was preparing to head out and meet the enemy at there last stronghold in Italia.

Coming up next in episode 3 - Romans at the gates
III Legion leaves Asculum and are heading to Taras but encounter other problems along the way. Any problems are wiped clean when II Legion appears out of nowhere and saves them from a potential disaster ....

Small info :
Decided to skip screenshots during this episode because of constant errors that forced me to post episode much later then i planned.

Also did a small update on the AAR information regarding post time - extended to 5-7 days .

@Alwyn & Caillagh de Bodemloze thank you for the kind words.

**Alwyn** · May 29, 2019, 10:51 AM

Nicely done, I like the way that you make us wait a bit for the details on the scroll about what happened to the III Legion. The shock of the arrival at Beneventum is done well, too.

I'm sorry to hear about the errors you had with screenshots. I wonder which image hosting site you're using. I used tinypic.com to show AAR pictures (before I switched to putting pictures in an album on my profile here on TWC) and it worked well.

**Turkafinwë** · May 30, 2019, 07:36 AM

Like Alwyn and Caillagh, I welcome you to TWC and the Writers' Study!

Distressing times for the Republic and desperate measures are taken to fix them. I like the way you denote who is speaking by colouring the text, it really is an easy way to see who's saying what. I also like the short bit, at the end of each episode, foreshadowing what will happen in the next episode.

I'm interested to see how you will deal with the Epirote King and what this danger is that Legio III falls into and how Legio II will save the day.

**AVGVSTVS07** · June 01, 2019, 09:52 PM

As a small update.

Some unexpected job projects prevented me from posting episode 3 but from the little free time, I had managed to write notes about the episode and plan to post it until Monday afternoon and also episode 4 within 3 more days.

@Alwyn I managed to play with the profile functions a bit so everything should be fine I hope

I like to post images but would rather hope to reach a level of creativity in order to write material that the reader could visualize himself for greater effect ^^. In a way, I am using the pictures more than maybe some readers lol

.

@TurkafinwÃ« Thank you for your feedback, I was really interested if my decision to post dialogues in colors related to the characters speaking until I learn better to explain who says what

**AVGVSTVS07** · June 07, 2019, 01:25 PM

Ok this is the original upload , again sorry for the delay.
*If moderators could delete the previus two posts would be greatly apreciated.

Episode 3 - Romans at the gate

It was the early spring of 276 BC, and everything was quiet in the Roman camp.
A week has passed since III Legion won a massive victory against there Epeiros enemies, and general Sextilius Rufus allowed the legions 1 week of rest and proper sleep in order for them to recover there strength.
This was also a move so that the cavalry could transport the recovered gold back to the capital city of Rome for safe keeping. Of course, it would take the cavalry more than a week to transport the gold and get back, but one week would be time enough for them to catch up on the way to Taras the last enemy fortified city in Italia.

In the Roman army camp at the command tent, the general and leadership were having a final meeting regarding the final logistics check before departure tomorrow until they were interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
A man dressed in the white toga of the Senate demanded to be taken to the general for an audience and as a result, Rufus gave the commanding staff a 1-hour break.
As the man entered, the general noticed the guards were wrong, and the man was not a simple senator but a consul of Rome.

The consul was Quintus Aemilius Papus of the Patricii former General of disbanded I Legion.
As the consul entered the tent said

-Supreme commander Rufus as this meeting regards Rome itself I had hoped we could converse in private!
-Of course Consul. And sent his second to wait outside until the meeting was finished.
When Crassus was outside Consul Papus continued

-As you have found out I was elected by the Senate as the new Pro-Consul of Rome for the next two years, to deal with any problems the Republic will face after the war is over.
-Also the Senate granted me power over the army after the war is over and I wanted to invite you to join me in electing a new general for III Legion when you relive command.
-Oh am I? I did not know that I would be discharged so soon.
-I was on the assumption after the war is over you would go and run for an office but if you desire to continue in the army, I am sure I can find some compromise.
-I am still empowered by the Senate as Crisis Manager.

-So, WE can find a compromise.
-Quite right, excuse my mistake.
-Well let us leave this issue for another time, I am also interested to know if you have any information regarding II Legion ?
-None, neither of my scouts and spies found anything or any information so I assume like everybody else that the II Legion was completely destroyed.
-Was hoping with your unexpected visit, you could bring some good news.
-Unfurcenently no, we are in the dark regarding II Legion also.
-Shame really, to lose a Legion like that but it is understandable considering your military inexperience.

As time passed and everything of importance was discussed the consul added
-Well I won't linger here more and keep you from your duties, I and Rome will await your news after you have confronted our enemies in Taras.
-Good day general Rufus.

After the Consul left, Crassus came back and said
-What was that about?
-Nothing important really well aside from the fact that this little pig came and informed me that he plans to remove me from command after the war is over.
-But why does it matter to you? I assumed you would resign, as the command was only to achieve your own goals!
-True, but in order to achieve my political goals, III Legion is one important piece on the table which I won't give out so easily.
-He can keep his sole consulship, by the time I return to the Senate il make sure to make his reign a nightmare as my political party at the moment leads with over 40% of the senators and with some alliances he won't have enough senatorial votes to bring his motions into play.
-You Crassus are also one important player in my strategy but we will discuss this when the time comes.
-Make sure everything is ready for tomorrow we leave for Taras at first light.

Next morning III Legion left the city of Asculum towards the fortified City of Taras.
Spring was in full force, but unlike the past winter it was hotter than usual and the army rejoiced at the improved weather.

For the first quarter of the way to Taras, everything was looking good until General Rufus was informed that some of the men were sick, but he decided to not bother about it, as such symptoms were most of the time natural during such sudden weather changes.
As the army was advancing at a steady pace the mild sickness turned into an all-out plague that was decimating the legion.
In every division now 5 men from 10 would have the plague symptoms and every 1 man from 3 was dying killing the army at an unprecedented pace.

In order to save as many men as possible, the army was split into 3 groups, the very bad condition, the mild symptoms ones and the healthy. This division helped a bit but in turn, slowed the movement a lot and reduced the morale of the men to an all-time low as they noticed the command had no idea how to stop this plague.
After the long march, the III Legion finally reached the outskirts of Taras and now the hardest part was about to begin.

As the army was ravaged by the plague the most healthy men were sent into working on the siege equipment, the mild sick ones were sent on guard duties while the sickest remained quarantined until their health improved. As the army dispersed in there working order the command started working on information and logistics, while the cavalry was sent on scouting missions in all directions.

Things started to slowly improve despite the fact that most of the scouting units came with little to no information, but that changed when the first substantial information was of the worst kind for the Romans.
The situation was desperate, the command found out that the enemy had inside the fortified city around 35-38.000 troops including around 18.000 professional soldiers and the rest mostly poor militia. Somewhere behind the bridge that connected Cosentia and Taras, there was a second army composed of somewhere between 12-15.000 professional soldiers that also included war Elephants and cavalry.
As for the Roman army when they departed Asculum they left with a total number of 30.000 soldiers but along the way thanks to the plague that hit the army, by the time they reached the fortified city of Taras the III Legion numbered at best somewhere around 26-28.000 soldiers.

General Rufus asked for some time to think the next move and after he decided what they will do next called for Crassus to join him into the command tent.
-Crassus I have decided what the next move is and despite not wanting this, we have to retreat back to Asculum.
-We are outnumbered two to one, half of the army is in no shape to fight a battle with an enemy of this size and I can't risk losing this Legion.
-So we will divide the army into 3 groups, the first group will be led by you.
-You will take all the cavalry we have and go towards the bridge connecting Taras and Cosentia and hold the enemy there.
-Don't fight them directly just harras them, destroy supplies and give us 3 days advance, 4 if you consider it is possible.
-The second group will be commanded by me, il take them slowly and march them back to Asculum.
-Third group will be commanded by Gaius from my personal guard who will stay and make a pretense of still sieging the city while I retreat the men who are ill after one day has passed those 5000 men will regroup with us on the way back.
-They are a small group and should be able to catch up to me pretty fast.
-This is the plan Crassus we are counting on you.
-The moment you are ready to leave go.
-Yes general il brief the men shortly and we will be on our way, we will meet up on the way to Asculum.

After Crassus and his men left, Sextilius Rufus started giving orders for his men to be ready to leave tomorrow before the sun will rise.
He was disappointed because the march back would take time and when they will reach Asculum the Winter will be weeks away and they will be forced to stay there until Spring. That kind of delay will give their enemies time to regroup.

The next morning just moments before the general was about to give the orders to move out a messenger came with personal news from Crassus himself and the message was shocking.
During one of his raids on the smaller enemy army, one of Crassus scouts found a second army in pursuit of there target and when they approached it, they found out the pursuers were none other than II Legion under the command of Medullinus Naevius Seneca, former second to Gaius Fabricius Luscinius.

After they made contact, Seneca informed Crassus that Luscinius ordered Seneca to flee from the battle and run to Cosentia and gather the small army he was raising there made up of militia and mercenaries.
After he gathered the army he went in pursuit of the small Epeiros force and in the last months both armies only managed to fight small skirmishes because the enemy tried to only make small attacks designed to keep II Legion trapped in Cosentia.

Later that day Crassus and a small number of men returned to camp and informed Rufus that their attempt to force the Epeiros force into combat with II Legion was successful and now they had to wait for the outcome of the battle.

Up next in Episode 4 - Heroes also need Leaders.

Rufus and III Legion find out first hand about the carnage that took place during the battle of Brutium forest.

Also, the Romans prepare to assault the fortified city of Taras despite facing diseases injuries and not enough supplies.

**Alwyn** · June 09, 2019, 08:39 AM

It sounds like there's tension between Consul Papus and General Rufus. Maybe the Consul was hoping that the general would give up his military command so the Consul could get one of his friends appointed in his place?

I'm worried about how the III Legion will get on, attacking a city when they're depleted by plague. The position of the II Legion looks dangerous, too, they have more men but it seems that the enemy have better quality troops (not surprising if the II Legion is made up of militia and mercenaries).

**Turkafinwë** · June 09, 2019, 09:05 AM

The tension between the Consul and the General is sure to continue after their conversation. Politics never cease not even on the way to battle it seems. Interested to see how the "battle" between these two parties progresses as well as how the beleagered Legio II and seriously diminished Legio III will deal with their troubles.

**Charlesvem** · September 02, 2019, 05:44 AM

What a great idea, gchristie Im looking forward to seeing how the situation evolves As far as I know, nobody has ever posted an AAR with foreign intervention. Great initiative Ill be glad to explain how to post images in a variety of different ways. Shall I do so here, or would you prefer a little tutorial via email?Aphrodite Mae

**AVGVSTVS07** · March 14, 2022, 08:19 AM

I had some Rl problems and had no time to focus on this project but as things changed i decided to restart this project and decided to add some changes in order to improve it alot. Also want to be the basis of a novel.

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