3rd February 452 - Outside Interamnia
It was a cold day. The winter had been harsh and was far from over. There was a freezing wind coming down the mountains from the west and everyone, although most would not admit it, wished to be inside near a nice warm fire.
But here they were. Seven Roman Cohorts plus three more from their Pelignian Allies. It was an impressive force. Right in front of them was Interamnia. As the name said, it was situated between the rivers Vezzola and Tordino. A small city with a few thousand inhabitants. Well known for its wine. And capital of the Sabinian people.
Publius Cornelius Arvina and his Tribune arrived on their horses and rode along the whole frontline of their forces until they reached a point directly opposite of the city gate. How often had he stared at that gate? At least once a day. At least three hundred times in total. Now he and the other thousands of men stood in the cold and waited for something to happen. It was perfectly calm besides a horse whickering every now and then. Then a sound. The gate slowly opened and a group of older men approached the Roman troops. It was over.
One year had passed since the Senate had decided, that the Sabinian territories could not remain independent and deny Rome access to the mountain passes they controlled. And so the Legion under Marcus Fulvius marched northward to meet the Sabinian army on the battlefield. In February last year it happened. Seven thousand Sabinians tried to hold the ground versus more than twice the amount of Romans. The battle was short and decisive. Roughly three thousand enemies laid slain on the ground, the rest was retreating.
At that point of time, Marcus had decided to split his forces. While the main force remained under his control, the now established second Legion was given to him, Publius Cornelius. He always knew that he was destined to be Commander. He rallied his men and marched as fast as possible toward Interamnia, while Fulvius headed northwest in order to pursue the enemy. In the meantime the Second had reached its destination and slaughtered two thousand Sabinians foolish enough to stand in their way.
The war was basically over, but Interamnia had to be taken. And so the siege began. Without any doubt it would be successful, since he was in charge. Finally. The Republic should not have waited to give a man of his outstanding talents a proper office. Well, at least now the enemy was about to surrender and he had already ideas about what to do with them.
*****
Rome
Shortly later the Consuls read Publius` letter in disbelief.
"Either he is a sadist or completely crazy. How does he think, that eliminating the adult population and selling the minors into slavery will help in any way?", Publius Sempronius asked.
"Maybe I don`t want to know.", Publius Sulpicius replied. "Yet I think that we should punish the city for its resistance."
"Agreed. In my opinion it will be sufficient to send a thousand people into slavery. Right south of it is Peltuinum. They still need labor force."
"Shall we keep the fortress?"
"I am rather against it. It is expensive and our best defense is a strong army."
"Then it is decided. That brings us to the question what we are going to do next."
The two men looked at a map.
"So we are here with our clients to the east. In the south we have Lucania as Ally, in the north Umbria and with it Picentia. That leaves us two options, to either strike north or south."
"True. But I have to admit that I don`t like the fact that we don`t have a port in the east."
"The Frentanii will let us use Buca."
"I think I have a better idea."