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The Eternal City - A Rome AAR

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25th October 470 - Rome


Lucius Volumnius Violens, the new Consul, had invited all Legion Commanders to his home in order to discuss some important matters at hand. Lucius was the first Consul of the so-called Populist faction and the Generals immediately learned, that he was different than others, when he showed them a map.

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"This is our next goal.", he said. "For a decade Rome has been occupied with internal matters. No more. It is time to put the Legions to good use again. Hence we will strike hard our old enemies."

"Umbria is our enemy now?", one General asked.

"It surely will be. Our primary target is to take Tuscany from the Etrurians, but Umbria will most probably help its neighbor, so we can deem our own Alliance with the Umbrians null and void. The problem here are the Etruscian fortresses. There are three of them plus another one in Umbria. Hence I want the First, Second and Third Legion to advance into southern Tuscany, take the first fortress and then proceed toward the enemy capital. The Fourth and Fifth Legion will secure our flank in the east just in case the Umbrians will start a diversion."

"Any further enemies?"

"It is possible, that a northern tribe will come to help the Etrurians too, but don`t expect too much resistance from them."

"Did the Senate approve this plan?"

"No, and it won`t. But we will do it nevertheless."

Quintus Marcius Philippus raised an eyebrow. He was General of the new Fifth Legion and the youngest man in the room. So this was the new Consul in real life. He was in office for less than a month, but things had changed significantly already. The Nucerians around Pompeji had been incorporated into Roman territory by peaceful means. Governor Marcus Fulvius had been fired and replaced by a young and more loyal man. He introduced the Fustuarium in the Legions to improve discipline. Even the private army of Publius Cornelius Barbatus had been disbanded. And now a war without approval. He surely pushed Rome to the limit. On the other hand it was good to see the Republic advancing again.

"So.", Lucius said. "This is the plan. We will execute it as of next February."
 
No Senate approval? Bold, and down the road probably fateful, decision. :)
 
Nikolai said:
No Senate approval? Bold, and down the road probably fateful, decision. :)
Click to expand...

Well, let`s say that just half the Senate approved. Gave me 5 Tyranny. But with a loss of Tyranny of 0.15 per month, it should be mostly gone by the end of the war. In the long run, AE will probably be the larger problem. :)
 
12th July 471 - near Narnia

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Quintus Marcius and Volumnius Valerius watched from a narrow hill, as the batte began. The Fourth and Fifth Legion had been in the region as the Consul had ordered them to do. And indeed there had been enemy forces coming down from Umbria in order to maybe appear in the Roman back and cut them off their supplies.

A month ago, Quintus and his Fourth had been alone, when almost ten thousand soldiers had tried to break through the lines. But after hours of severe combat, the Legion had gained the upper hand, although the enemy had only slightly higher casualties. In the meantime, more forces had gathered in Umbria and they returned with maybe twelve thousand soldiers to overcome the Fourth Legion.

But the Romans had used these weeks well either. The Fifth Legion and even a small detachment of Frentanian forces had arrived. With more than thirty thousand men, they were well prepared for another battle. The Umbrians obviously did not expect such a large force in their way and realized too late, that they were badly outnumbered.

Now the Roman Legions pushed back their opponents, walking over their dead, constantly decimating their numbers. Eventually the Umbrian army broke and began to rout from the battlefield. Half their men laid slain or wounded on the field while the Frentani began to pursue the remaining force.


*****​


9th October 471 - near Curtun

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Marcus Valerius stood beside Volumnius Valerius. The latter smiled. It was interesting, how things repeated themselves. After the successful battle of Narnia, the Fourth Legion had stayed where it was to further protect the flank. He had led the Fifth Legion further northward into Etruscan territory. And not a minute too early, for Marcus` Third Legion was under pressure.

Marcus, although the siege of Vatluna in the west had not been finished yet, decided to move north toward the enemy capital of Curtun. There he met an enemy force of northern tribesmen called Genuatians. They had almost as many men as Marcus and despite the fact, that the Romans had slightly higher casualties then their opponents, the Genuatians retreated from the field.

But only for a short while, for they returned with sixteen thousand soldiers. But now the Fifth Legion had arrived, and again the Romans had gathered thirty thousand Legionaries. The Genuatians valiantly attacked the Romans in order to relieve the now besieged city. Wave after wave of Northerners surged against the Roman fortification and battle line. But they made no progress. After four thousand of them were dead, they retreated from the area, leaving the city to its own devices.
 
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Progress! :D

Btw, I awAARded you the Weekly Showcase, get over to the thread to bask in the glory. :)
 
Another glorious victory for Rome!
 
9th June 472 - Nepete


Aulus Titinius, just like many other people, stood along the road leading through the city from north to south. Almost two years ago, many Legionaries had passed through the city marching northward. It had been obvious, that a new war was coming up far in the north. Then it became quiet until, early last year, the first news about battles and sieges arrived from the north.

Recently there had been rumors, that the war was coming to an end. Yesterday evening it became known, that a Legion had set up camp a bit north of the city and that it would arrive today. And here they were. Young and not so young Legionaries. Some healthy, some injured. All spectators were able to see their eagle. It was the Legio IV Italica. The one, that had fought versus the Umbrians, when they tried to invade Roman territory. The people cheered. Even more, as the General rode by.

After the first Cohorts had passed, there came carts with looted goods or gold. Behind that hundreds, no, thousands of men, women and children. Probably all of them Etruscians from Vatluna or other conquered places. Now on the way to the slave markets in Rome or Ostia. Maybe some of them would even stay here, being sold to the landowners in the region to work on the fields.

It was not the first time that Aulus had seen such a procession. Probably not the last time either, for the glory of Rome seemed to demand for ever further expanded borders and the people and riches of the world conquered by the one city destined to bring order to a chaotic universe.


*****​


Rome


Quintus Marcius Philippus. General of the Fourth Legion. At home in Rome again after a successful war and delivering slaves and goods to the capital. He had travelled to his home a bit outside the capital. As he entered the villa, he was welcomed by his family and servants. After washing his hands and face, he greeted his wife and children, eventually his brothers.

The Marcii were not among the most influential families in the Republic, but they had made a name for themselves. He was the commander of one of Rome`s Legions. His brother Hostus was Praefectus Militaris of the Republic. His oldest son Publius, despite his young age, had been elected as Tribunus Militum. In short, his family had an important role in the military structure of the Republic.

After the initial greetings, he, Hostus and Publius retired to another room.

"Tell us something about the battle.", Hostus asked.

"It was incredible. I tell you, it is no coincidence, that Rome has risen to power. The Umbrians and their allies have tried twice to overcome my Legion, but both times our soldiers` superior discipline assured victory over the northern barbarians."

"We heard about it. The people have been talking about the barbarian invasion in Narnia."

"Unfortunately I was not there to seize the Etruscian capital. It would have made for better stories."

"Don`t worry about that. Publius and I are doing our best to remind the people and the Senate about your deeds. Say, what will Rome gain from this war?"

"A lot. Marcus Valerius and the Third Legion will arrive soon with the prisoners. Then it will become known, that we won the whole Tuscany and the Umbrian parts of Picenum. Let me show it to you."

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"So this is it.", Publius said. "There is no serious rival for power in Italy anymore."

"By the grace of the Gods and our arms.", Quintus replied.
 
Not that it wasn't already clear, but this war has made incontrivertible who is master of the Italian peninsula.
 
5th March 474 - Rome


On a bright and sunny spring day, the Senate came together for a session. Due to the weather, many Senators were not present, but roughly two thirds listened to Lucius Volumnius as Presiding Consul, as he introduced the first topic.

"Senators. It has come to our attention, that the Frentanii are longing to advance from being our friends to Romans as well. Hence I would like to hear your opinions.", he said.

"Fellow Senators.", one of the men said. "The Frentanii have been loyal Allies. But, and this is as always the important point, they can not become Romans insofar, as they are equal to anyone in this room concerning their rights."

"Although I agree with the general sentiment...", another Senator mentioned. "...there is a general problem to be solved. The further we expand, the more people will be ruled by Rome. As we speak, the Romans are already a small minority compared to non-Romans. Hence I propose a legislation to improve the legal status of all non-Romans within the Republic to ease their integration into our society and culture."

"All non-Romans? I am going to assume that my fellow Senator includes Slaves in this?"

Following this assumption there was a bit ruccus in the Curia, but the proposing Senator clarified, that he of course does not include Slaves, which he deems a preposterous idea. This immediately lowers the tensions.

"I get where the proposal is coming from.", a different Senator added. "Yet we have to see what will follow from this. Improved legal status today, calls for full Citizenship tomorrow."

"I don`t think so. What we have to keep in mind is, that we can`t control every inch of the Republic at the same time. Even less so, the larger the Republic grows. I don`t want to imagine what will happen, if tens of thousands of disgruntled people deem it proper to take more violent actions to improve their lot."

"Any such action would be met with lethal force of our Legions."

"Right. But at what cost? We will lose Legionaries. With a bit bad luck many of them. Plus we lose many taxpaying and producing people, weakening our economy. And any internal struggle will make us vulnerable toward external threats. Or maybe even cause them. If we pay this little price now, we harvest security for the future."

The debate went back and forth for some time, but it was obvious that the supporters of the proposal were more numerous. When the Consul decided to let the Senate vote on the issue, it was agreed with 51 versus 13 votes. After that, the incorporation of the Frentanii was agreed unanimously.
 
The opposition senator is right though - improved rights today, citizenship tomorrow.

But then the only way to avoid that is to not grow bigger, or to resign oneself to inevitable collapse. To survive and thrive means to change.
 
Then again, more citizens are not a bad thing per se.
 
1st October 476 - Rome


One year had passed since Marcus Valerius and Lucius Postumius had been elected as Consuls. And time was basically the only thing that got passed since then. For the general popularity of the new Consuls had been low from the start and the situation had not improved since then. They were willing to act, but lacked the ability to convince. Hence they had to rely on other Senators to do the convincing or propose initiatives that were undisputed in the first place.

Today`s session was a good example for that. Nobody did object to grant a Corona Navalis to Publius Sulpicius. Recently his fleet had engaged a group of pirate vessels near Ostia, captured five Liburnian ships and sank the rest.

Another easy task had been the proposal to standardize measures throughout the Republic. As Rome expanded, there had been a multitude of measures for weights, lengths and squares. It was about time to change that and the Senate immediately recognized the benefit of such an act.

But then things went downhill, as Marcus Valerius introduced the next topic and unfortunately talked about Slave`s Rights, which immediately led to anger and division.

"Just a bit more than two years ago...", a Senator said. "...we all sat here and debated about an improved legal status for non-Romans and I recall that it was said, that this would not include slaves, since that would be preposterous. I wonder what happened in the meantime."

"Nothing. It is still preposterous. Our fellow Consul just used bad wording. It is not about granting Slaves rights. It is about introducing a code of conduct for slaveholders."

"You say Gaul. I say Celt. The same thing in a different package. I`d like to remind you, that Slaves are property in the first place. I surely don`t feel the need to tell you how to treat your chair or horse."

"The difference being, that if you break one of your chairs, the other chairs in your house will not retaliate."

"And here we go again. The same fearmongering we heard two years ago."

"Because it is still as true as two years ago. Look out of the window. In Rome, at least one out of four people is a Slave. But the real problem hides outside the cities. On the countryside, with ever growing farms, Slaves often constitute a vast majority of the population. To oblige slaveholders to treat their Slaves better than chairs or horses will make them more compliant with their lot and less willing to risk their lives in a revolt."

The lively debate continued for some time. There were lots of arguments on both sides and there was no clear majority. Eventually the Consul called for a vote, which saw the proposal getting passed with 50 versus 47 votes.

The Senate made a break, for many people needed some fresh air to calm down their minds. Consul Marcus Valerius was especially thankful to have a few more minutes before he had to address the most important and difficult matter of the day. After twenty minutes the session continued and he stood up.

"Fellow Senators. Yesterday I received a message from Sicily. The sender is Milon Karsid, Consul of the Mamertine Republic. He explains the hostilities that Messana has to suffer from the Carthaginians and that he calls Rome up to support them in their struggle to be free."

Marcus sat down again. The Curia was dead silent. Of course everybody knew about the situation on Sicily. Agathokles of Syracuse had died roughly ten years ago. Some disgruntled mercenaries called Mamertines had occupied Messana, killed all men and shared the women among them. There were not a lot of people who felt sympathy for them.

But then there was Carthage. As Rome expanded and the Roman and Carthaginian borders came closer, the issue became more important, although not many liked to think about it. Everybody knew about the Treaty that was signed a lifetime ago. The west of Sicily belonged to Carthage. Sardinia and Libya was not to be entered by any Roman. And southern Iberia, where Carthage was increasing its influence, was off limits for Roman ships.

Some said, that there was another Treaty signed roughly thirty yers ago. Although one did not find it in the Aerarium, allegedly Carthage had agreed to stay off the Italian mainland, while Rome would not enter any part of Sicily. Be it as it may. Carthage expanded, just like Rome. It was the only major power in the western Mediterranean and everyone had a queasy feeling in the stomach, that sooner or later there would be trouble.

Gaius Junius Bubulcus, head of the Merchant faction, raised from his seat. "Fellow Senators. Rome and Carthage are contractual partners for more than a hundred years. I don`t know, which quarrels exactly exist between the Mamertines and the Punics, but I am not willing to jump to conclusions. And even if Carthage is in the wrong here, it is not necessarily our business. But assuming it would be, I have to ask myself, whether we are ready for a long and great war that would follow from this. My anwer to this is no. We are not."

"Yet!", a voice said. Everyone turned around and saw, that it came from Marcus Valerius the Younger, head of the Military faction.

Nobody said anything. Although the request was denied, the Senators had the feeling that in truth it had only been postponed.
 
It is only a matter of time.

Though one day I may try a game to maintain Roman and Carthaginian friendship. Whether that will ever actually be possible with the forthcoming mission trees effectively straighjacketing and forcing conflict ... not so sure.
 
16th February 477 - Rome


On a still considerably cool late winter day, seven men appeared in the house of Consul Marcus Valerius. First of all the Second Consul Lucius Postumius. And the Generals of the Republic`s six Legions. They gathered in the tablinum, where a small table stood in the center of the room. A few oil lamps spent some additional light.

"Welcome, my friends. I have sent for you, for I have to explain the plans for this year. In short: Rome has to go to war."

Manius Curii Dentatus raised an eyebrow. The Republic has to. If it would not be so serious, he would have to laugh out loud. The Consuls had to go to war. True. Although it had been the Senate, who declined the request of the Mamerties, the Consuls were held responsible for it by the population. Their already low popularity had taken another blow, for it seemed as if they were a bit cowardish.

So they searched for a different war reason. Obviously they had found one. But it was no secret, that the Senate was reluctant to follow them. Recently there had been rumors about the Consuls buying votes in the Curia. As it seems they now had enough, since they eventually got what they wanted.

In the meantime Marcus Valerius had unrolled a map on the table.

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"The objective is to bring some small northern Tribes under our control. Hence we will attack Ancona. I am going to assume, that the Picentii and Senonii will help them. Maybe some others either, but it is far from certain, what the Etruscians and Umbrians will do."

"It seems we are going to advance from the mountains.", the General of the Second Legion asked.

"Indeed. It is important, that we hold the mountain passes. The Sixth Legion will advance from the south and meet with the Fourth further to the north. From there all Legions will begin advancing northward, until we have ocupied the whole enemy territories. The Second Legion will hold the ground to the west, just in case an enemy force tries to flank us."

Sertor Decius nodded. A solid plan, although he was far away from the action in the east. This was it. Rome would eliminate the last remaining factions in northern Italy. He had no problem with it. He just wished, he had a more important role to play. Nobody gets granted a triumph for standing around in the fields and smelling the roses.
 
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Rome always has to go to war :)
 
8th November 477 - near Saena


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This was not a battle, it was a slaughter. An unlikely one. And he surely had not expected it to happen. Yet, all of this was very futile.

Sertor Decius Mus sat on his horse and watched, how the enemy got butchered by the Legionaries. Next to him was Quintus Marcius, almost looking bored by the spectacle in front of them. They were far away from the actual theater of war. But for some odd reason, the enemy had decided to try his luck here in Tuscany.

But, maybe, it was not even that odd. The campaign began as planned, as the Sixth Legion began to move and soon fought a battle versus the combined forces of the Picentians and Anconia. Although both sides had basically the same strength, the enemy suffered three times the losses and had to retreat.

As of then, the Legions continued to advance, but without experiencing resistance. Soon there were rumors about the enemy forces using a northern mountain pass to move westward. Since the Legions in the east were only occupied with sieges, the Fourth Legion also moved west in order to support the Second in securing the flank.

They arrived in time to witness, how ten thousand Umbrians, who had joined the war, moved south along the coast. They attacked the two Legions ferociously, but had to flee from the battlefield, when more than a third of their soldiers were dead or injured.

They had no opportunity to exploit this success, since a second enemy force was heading for Saena. Close to the city they established a battle line shortly before the arrival of the Anconian force. Now the heavy infantry showed, how years of merciless drill and discipline made a difference in combat. The Legions steadily advanced, while the Roman flanks began to encircle the enemy army.

Anconian soldiers began to panic and the first men fled from the battlefield. Shortly before they were completely surrounded, the remaining enemies began to rout, pursued by the Romans. Another almost five thousand enemies died on that field. Sertor Decius and Quintus Marcius saw it from their position.

But although they won two clear victories, they knew that they would gain little from it personally. The war would be won in the east, where the other Legions besieged cities and occupied territory. And the ones accomplishing that would be the heroes of Rome.
 
Of course, new chances might soon rise in the west. ;)
 
A slaughter that doesn't even have the decency to be worthwhile.
 
31st August 478 - Ancona


Manius Curii rode through the gate of Ancona into the city. The Sixth Legion had, after a bit more than one year, ended the siege after the people and garrison of the settlement had eventually surrendered, since there was no relief force coming to rescue them.

As he rode through the streets, he saw that his Legionaries had done a good job plundering the city. Valuables had been carried away, while simple wooden chairs and tables or other rather worthless belongings had been thrown out of windows. But although individual gains were important for the common soldiers, there was a more organized way to make profit.

An army does not only consist of soldiers. There are people, who get a scent of profit when following an army on the advance. Among them are the slave traders, providing a steady stream of workforce from occupied territories or abroad for the Roman Republic. This time it would be no different. It was decided, that three thousand citizens would lose their freedom, so the remaining population may remain free.

For Ancona the war was over, but the Legions still had things to do. After the southern territories of the enemy had been seized, the north remained to be taken. But for his men, the campaign was about to come to an end either. The Third and Fifth Legion were supposed to march northward and bring this conflict to the inevitable victorious end.

Once again, Roman weapons would prevail.
 
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