Hadrian's Consolidation - reboot

[Hecatee]

Alauna Civitas, Caledonia, early summer 126 CE


Esther whipped her brow with her scarf, smearing some dirt on her face in the process. She’d been working the fields for some hours already, and the sun was going down. The day was shorter here than in her home on the sea of Galilee. She and David had arrived in Caledonia a few months ago, carried by boat from Caesarea in sunny Judea to Byzantium, and from there to a military base at the mouth of the Danuvius river.

Of course they had not been alone, and a hundred other families had travelled with them. On the Danuvius smaller boats had taken them for a long travel up river up to a place where they’d been told it was time to march to another river called the Rhenus, in lands where the sun seemed never to shine. They usually spent the night on land, in barraquements built for the purpose next to legionary citadels that guarded the rivers. They had also been joined by other families, obviously barbarians with little greek or latin, not that Esther or her husband understood either of those languages. Still they remembered her of the foreigners come to her land a few years before, and it seemed that they spoke a similar language.

Solomon had been born one evening in one of those temporary lodgings, a barbarian with long blond hairs, piercing blue eyes and strong hands helping her to bring him to the world. Aged 19, this was Esther’s second baby, but her daughter had died from fever some month before the relocation and he was thus her only child. She’d fed him onboard the boat under the leering gaze of the sailors, but David had always been their to prevent any of them to abuse of her. She knew she was lucky as the sounds heard in the night at some stops had told her that not everyone had made it unmolested.

At the end of the Rhenus, after crossing a land of misty marshes, they had reached a larger port where ships bigger than any she’d seen before waited for them. They were military transports built for the rough seas of the north, and they had taken them as soon as they’d been full, setting sail for the mouth of a large river or a deep but narrow bay, she wasn’t sure. There they’d landed and been settled in more temporary lodgements, wooden barracks empty of almost anything even more spartan than military barracks. Clerks had come and registered everyone. It appeared then that around a hundred of the three thousands deported Jews had died during the travel, some in accidents and some from sickness. The clerks seemed happy with the news, but she could not and had a prayer to the lord for mercy on their souls.

After about a week during which they’d been fed stale bread and a watery soup in which floated some vegetables they’d been asked to the fortress’ parade ground where each family had to pick a stone in a large vase. Some stones were grey, others were white. They were separated according to the colour of their stone, and then each Jewish family was paired with a barbarian one. Each of those groups then received a pottery sherd on which a number was indicated. No explanation was given to them, but they received orders to keep the shard and go back to the barracks.

One more week was spent there, and then they were called to the parade ground again and sorted according to their stone color and number. Then some soldiers were put in charge of each group and he lead them toward the exit of the camp, where wagons loaded with food and tools awaited them. Each of the grey stone group received two chariots and started the road toward their new home.

The homes themselves proved to be stone buildings built close to each other to form a large square with four entrances barricaded by wooden gates, like miniature military camps. Inside each home was a single large room with a fireplace and a chimney on the northern wall that let the smoke escape through the thatch roof. 24 families were allocated to each of those villages : six Jewish, six Barbarians from the Danuvius, six other families native to the area and, finally, six roman families, often veterans from the army. Each village was in sight of the main military road and had wood and water available, but the land would need to be tilled before it produced anything. Each village also had a number of sheeps, goats, pigs, cows and a bull in pens next to the village, obviously common property.

At first Esther and David had been horrified by the pigs, as had the 5 other couples of Jews. But soon an agreement had been reached between the new neighbors, and the Jews had nothing to do with the filthy animals. Instead they were the one who spent the most time trying to prepare the land to grow some vegetables and cereals. While no formal hierarchy existed in the village, a former officer of the auxiliary forces acted as their leader. Under his instruction they had built some common barns and granaries as well as a small public shrine. Here too the Jews had been horrified, but they had soon seen that only the Roman families went there for their devotions to the Emperors and the Gods. Neither the locals, whom they had learned were of the Otadini, nor the Dacians wanted to venerate those who had broken their tribes and sent them at the end of the world.

Once a month a patrol of Romans would come to the village and they could often see units on the road, either to replace a garrison or a work party for the wall the soldiers were building across the land. The soldiers had first cut a large ditch and raised a mound behind it, on top of which they had built a wooden palisade with towers at regular intervals. Then, once protected from the northern tribe, they had started to dig a second ditch, foundations for a true wall. Once more stone was to be used, as for their homes.

The roman veteran, Thiophorus, had received his citizenship after 20 years in one of the dacian cavalry cohort, which meant he was able to speak with the Dacians. He also taught his rough latin to the other families, in order to ease day to day communication. He was also the one who discussed with the troops and brought them news from afar. He was the one who told them that the white stones had been for the families who would settle the vicus next to the main army camps. They would live in small towns and provide services to the soldiers, while the small villages like Esther’s were there to grow food and serve as control points when the soldiers were not there. In fact its dimensions allowed for a cohors to stay in it if necessary, with the plans being drawn to allow them to serve as small fortresses.

He’d added that they were around a hundred such settlement planned, with 32 of them between the 16 main forts of the garrison, the other being built along the main roads toward the south at a distance of around half a day’s march to from other. It total some 4000 families would thus be resettled on the land, with the hope that they would help stabilize the place.

But all this did not trouble Esther as much as the difficulty to grow food and raise a child in such a difficult land. Still, she was alive and free. That was more than her three sisters and two brothers, slain during the rebellion… Thank Yahve for small mercies…

 

[Hecatee]

Villa Hadriana, Tibur, Near Rome, december 126 CE

“Move out of my way. Now” said a voice in a glacial tone. “But, domina, you can’t see the Emper…” “I don’t care whether he’s in his private island office, in the middle of a lupanar or even in the latrinae, I shall see my brother now ! So move !” said the voice, more loudly and forcefully. Steps then resonated on the small wooden drawbridge separating the main palace from the so called maritime theater, as the owner of the voice urgently crossed it. Aelia Domitia Paulina, elder sister to the Emperor barged into the private library of the island, where his brother was reading a scroll, reclining in his seat, a cup of fruit juices next to his hand.

Hadrian raised an eyebrow at his sister while lowering his scroll, not surprised of the interruption: “I suppose you came to talk about the succession issue ?” “Of course !” she screamed, her usually tranquil face red from the feelings she was expressing. “Asking my husband to suicide, and dismissing my grandchild from the throne ? All this to appoint a sickly nobody ? What are you thinking ?”

Telling her with a gesture of the hand to seat herself, Hadrian took a deep breath and answered : “I don’t think a general such as Caius Cassius Voltinius is such a sickly nobody… I presume you were referring to Lucius Ceionius Commodus, whom I initially considered for the post. Your grandson, for all the blood of our parents that do run into his veins, is an incompetent drunkard. I attempted to give him the best possible training, but he’s kept disappointing me. Thus I’ve had to look elsewhere and I can’t have such a threat to my rule or my successor’s alive, be it now or when I die.”

Aelia looked at her brother. She could read the sadness, the weight this decision had upon him. His nose was once more running with blood, which he distractedly cleansed with an already bloody tissue. She saw him as the old, sick man he was, but couldn't find it in herself to pardon him. She tried another approach : “And so you who wanted peace would give the Empire to a man such as Voltinius, an unconnected nobody who never shone outside of the fields of Mars, instead of leaving it into the hands of a family member who might not be as good as you but would have the network to rule ?”

Sighing, Hadrian rose his eyes to look at her : “We’ve had peace for too long, and our enemies gather their forces around all our borders. A military man will be needed I’m afraid, because too many have revenge in their heart due to the wars I’ve waged early in my rule. As for Voltinius, I’ll adopt him of course, and he’ll have to marry some women of our line, maybe Julia Serviana Paulina, as well as adopt a youth connected to our family who’s to be his heir... I’m thinking of the young Marcus Annius Verus, the grandson of my dear friend, as I hear the best about him…”

“What ? You’d have Julia’s father and son commit suicide and have her marry the man for whom their death is supposed to make way ? Hadrianus, you’ve become a monster, an heartless tyrant, a disgusting…”

Rising from his seat, the Emperor shouted at her : “and I am the emperor of Rome, and you shall do as I say, as will every citizen of this empire !” As he moved his hand hit the cup which went flying in the room, causing four pretorian guards to come rushing, blade naked, the nails of their sandals hitting the marble of the floor in a thunderous noise. A hand risen by their lord stopped them at the entrance as he turned one last time toward his sister : “I haven’t taken all the decisions yet, but know that in any case you are not welcome here anymore, nor in Rome. I shan’t banish you from the empire, but do not ever come into my living presence again unless I’ve so ordered it. This is the will of you emperor and you shall obey it !”

 

[Hecatee]

Somewhere in the german forest, north of Carnuntum, at the border between the Quadi and Marcomanni tribes, december 126 CE


In the dark of the forest, a space had been cleared and surrounded by the signs guaranteeing peace for those who would gather in it. Had a roman been present, he’d have been surprised and deeply troubled by the silent assembly that looked at the priest sacrificing an ox in the middle of the ring.

The clothes of the men gave them away as representants of many tribes and peoples from Dacia to the Atlantic coast. All had in their heart the hatred of the Romans, and on their sword the blood of many an executed legionary. By far the more numerous, the Marcomanni presided over the meeting, but the Iazyges and the Dacians were the more vocal and determined.

It would take some days, some drinking and some deaths, but in the end an agreement would be reached by the southern german tribes : the Marcomanni would cross the Danube while the Quades and the Iazyges would attack the Romans to liberate the later’s lands.

The reasons for this coalition are many : there is, of course, the will for revenge of the easternmost tribes, but also other conflicts between Rome and the germanic tribes. The Quades, whose king feared a roman expedition to remove and replace him at the head of the tribe, also hope for plunder.

The Marcomanni, too, are unhappy with the recent roman conquests because the fleeing Iazyges and Dacians have displaced the easternmost Quades, which has made this tribe encroach the Marcomanni territory : rather than fight one’s germanic brother it feels more right to their leaders to attack the true cause of the troubles, namely the Empire’s legions, as they could also become the next victims of the Empire.

Feeling that they might not get many opportunities to fight against the Romans with such good prospects of seeing them unable to send reinforcements, western tribes such as the Chatti and, more surprisingly, the Hermunduri, have also decided to fight alongside their eastern brethren, attacking the Agri Decumates area from which they feel they have been wrongly expelled.

In a final ceremony culminating with the sacrifice of a captured roman deserter an oath is taken by all present and the Marcomanni have the oath written in stone using their own version of the rune, the sacred language of stone and eternity, an inscription which later roman historians will mention as the first time the barbarians used writing to commemorate an alliance. At the time though its signification is more prosaic, as all want to record their agreement for posterity so that none might shy away from his commitment.

During the rest of winter men will spend time sharpening their swords, forging spear heads and making sure their wives will carry new babies in the case their warriors do not come back...

But the Romans are not unaware of what is happening in the tribes. Hermunduri traders afraid of losing their trading rights with the Empire and petty chiefs hoping to receive a crown from Rome send word of the upcoming conflict.

The war will be savage.

 

[Hecatee]

And here is your day's gift, one amongst what I hope is many for you.


Pannonia Inferior, February 127 CE

It was an arduous late winter campaign, one which no one had expected. All knew that a defeat would probably see their units crushed between the Danuvius or the dacian mountains and the barbarian hordes. As a member of an auxiliary cavalry ala, Culsus Atedumius, son of Eraviscus, decurion in charge of a turma, knew he risked less than infantrymen.

Yet this did not lessen his fear of the enemy : the tribes they were fighting was an unusual alliance between a germanic tribe from the deep forests and the Iazyges, who still had a lot of cavalry despite the huge losses they had suffered a few years before.

The orders of his turma were simple : keep in contact with the barbarians but far enough to flee if required, and inform the legate of any change of course toward either the the Tisia or Danuvius rivers. This was an easy task, and one that left enough time for some hunting that provided the unit with fresh meat every night.

Culsus had even built himself a bow on the model of a scythian weapon he’d seen carried by some barbarians during the previous war, when he’d been posted on the other side of Dacia and had fought under the legendary Voltinius himself during the fight against the Roxolani. To be able to claim a link with the heir to the Empire filled him with pride.

Making it had not been easy and he would not have succeeded if not for a barbarian slave he’d asked for help. He’d had to go in the slave pen with a translator before they’d been sent to the rear, to ask the men in there if they knew how to make bows, promising freedom to the man who’d help him. An old man had promised to help in exchange for the freedom of his grand child. Touched, Culsus had bought both man and child to the slaver at a bargain price, for the slaver knew he would not make that much of a profit from them. The old man had proved quite adept with his hands and made trinkets for sale to pay for his food and the child. Freed, the kid now served as personal attendant to Culsus when he was not on campaign, staying at the camp the rest of the time under the care of his grandfather.

Culsus had actually become quite proficient with the bow, now shooting hares from horseback. He’d had difficulties at first and had used ropes attached to the saddle to help stabilize himself while shooting, nooses in the rope providing a spot in which to put his feets while he moved around to shoot. Others in his ala had done the same, asking his old slaves to make the bows for them, but only his turma was fully equipped and carried enough arrows appropriate to fight a small battle, even if none of them had used their weapon against other men. Yet. But it was about to change…

A group of Iazyges cavalry had succeeded in getting in front of the turma, about one hundred men intent on making his thirty men pay for having shadowed them for over two weeks during which the Barbarians had pillaged some small observation posts luckily evacuated in advance, as well as some settlements which the auxiliaries had been able to forewarn in time.

Having launched their offensive too early in the season to live from the land, the barbarians had found an empty land and a lot of frustration which they now hoped to dispel by disemboweling some cavalrymen which they thought were the cause of their disappointments.

Culsus smiled grimly under the shawl protecting his face from the cold. Someone was about to get surprised… The barbarians were coming at them, a disorderly mass of men swathed in furs pushing their smaller horses into a run while holding lances and swords with which to cut the hated Romans…

Giving his orders to his men, Culsus prepared his command for the incoming shock, his men taking a diamond shaped formation at the head of which he led. The barbarians had been too impatient, disclosing their position too early and starting their attack from too far, missing their ambush.

They had hoped to fall on the Romans as they crossed between two small hills, but attacked at a place where they still had rooms to manoeuvre. The Romans had all the required time to take out their bows and notch an arrow, each man shooting three arrows at the enemy before turning left while still shooting.

While the furs provided the Iazyges with a degree of armor, it was far from sufficient to stop arrows from the short but powerful weapons of the turma. Blood ran on the snow. Another order of Culsus and another left turn, going back toward their initial position. Behind them, twenty barbarians lay on the ground, either killed or thrown down their fallen mounts. The fallen men and horses had sent the enemy formation into utter chaos, allowing the Romans to get some space before turning around for a second pass at the enemy.

Culsus and his men had not yet mastered the trick of firing backward, but when they turned left once more they could resume firing on their enemy’s flank before a last turn which brought them toward a frontal collision with the Iazyges. Setting their bows back in their quivers, they took their lances and readied for the shock, Culsus leading once more at the front of his men. He’d been on the side of the enemy during the complete manoeuvre of his men, first to ride against them, his back the last they’d seen after the second turn left, and now back against them. Painful hours in units training had paid off handsomely.

The clash was violent, the compact Roman formation hitting their disorganized enemies and killing a dozen more of them before thundering past the barbarians’ line, broken bodies of men and animals left behind. More than one third of riders had been cut down for nothing more than a few scratches on the armoured Roman soldiers. Yet Culsus knew that his horses were tired, so he did not attempt to make one more pass, electing to keep going past the ambush site and regroup with the others turmae of the ala.

 

[Hecatee]

Villa Hadriana, Tibur, Near Rome, early march 127 CE

Through the snowy alpine pass or through the coastal roads, despite the dangers of the road, the courriers of the imperial postal services had done their duty. Now it was time for their Emperor to do his. Yet Hadrian was worn out, a sick old man used by decades of politics and, more recently, family strife. While he still clothed himself in purple, he was but a shadow of his former self, his handkerchief bloodier every time he lowered it, and some wondered privately if his brain did not leave him piece by piece with every cough…

Yet while he did indeed sometimes show signs of weakness, this was not one of those days. The imperial council was gathered in a small, warm room deep in the Villa Hadriana. The heads of the main administrations, the best generals present in Rome and the imperial heir were all present, sitting on both sides of a large table dominated by their leader. Behind those men, alongside the walls of the room, some aids and slaves stood ready to do their masters’ bidding.

“So, you do confirm the reports of barbarian attacks on the Agri Decumani and in the formerly Iazyges lands ?” asked Hadrian, his voice trailing into a feeble cough while he looked at his secretary Ab Epistulis Latinis.

Suetonius quietly acquiesced : “Yes princeps, at least two armies of some 30 000 barbarians are reported to attack on both of those borders, a simultaneity that seems to point toward an alliance between the tribes. Even our former allies the Hermunduri seems to have raised swords against us, alongside with the Chatti, while the Quadi seem to raid our land with the survivors of the Iazyges on whom they preyed not so long long ago.”

Voltinius intervened : “I do not like the fact that two tribes standing on the opposite sides of the Marcomanni territory dare to declare war upon Rome while we hear nothing of this tribe… I do suspect that any move to reinforce our borders with forces opposing the Marcomanni would lead to their crossing of the Danuvius. I’m also rather uncomfortable with the idea of moving troops from the Rhine as the barbarians living on the other side of the river may also take advantage, whether or not any previous agreement was found between their chieftains. Yet we have to move forces to fight against the threats of the two armies already in the field.”

Most of the officials gave signs of acquiescence to the heir’s words, but it was the Ab Epistulis that actually voiced the general opinion : “The honorable Caius Aelius Caesar Voltinius is correct with his appraisal of the situation, we are probably facing a threat such as Rome had not faced since the time of Marius and Sulla, when the germanic tribes destroyed the armies of the Republic at the shameful battle of Arausio.”

Another of Hadrian’s general spoke then : “We must move rhenan legions and auxiliary units toward the south-east, and have some british forces take their place and lead offensive actions in the German territory to keep the barbarians on the wrong foot. The recent victories of our Caesar have left the britonculi weak, so that we don’t have to fear any kind of rebellion for at least three or four years. We can also move troops from Spain, the VII Gemina, along with the Ala Secunda Flavia Hispanorum, the two mounted cohortes Prima Celtiberorum and Secunda Gallica Civium Romanorum and the two Nova Tironium infantry cohorts to reinforce Germania Superior. Once the situation there has been contained they can move eastward and crush an eventual Marcomanni attack. As for the Quadi and Iazyges, the garrisons of Dacia can support the forces already in Pannonia Inferior, which are already some of our strongest garrisons.”

Many agreed to the plan. Pannonia Inferior was the name given to all of the lands captured between the Danube and Dacia, the former province of the same name having been incorporated into Pannonia Superior following the victory of some eight years before. As it was rather exposed to raids from the north, it had been decided to provide the region with a strong defensive force despite the fact they had much less border to defend. Hadrian thought of the area as a second Agri Decumanes, a vulnerable but strategical place where defense in depth was to be attempted so that the lands behind the Danuvius may stay safe from the barbarians.

The Emperor rose a hand and all stopped speaking : “Very well, send the spanish legion, the ala and the mounted cohors to Germania, but leave the infantry cohors behind. The gold mine must not be left unattended. Raise one new ala in the region, and temporarily move two cohors from Mauritania to Hispania, for the duration of the conflict. My son will lead the hispanic relief force, as a guarantee that the men will be returned to their original bases once the crisis is over. They have not moved in a long time, many are natives of the place and I do not thrust them not to rebel without such a guarantee.”

Hadrian coughed once more before continuing : “You are our best general, Caius, so I’m confident the task I’m giving to you will be accomplished. But remember that those hispanic units haven’t seen any fighting in a long time, possibly since the year of the four emperors, some sixty years ago… They spend most of their time in small garrisons spread all over the province, dealing with civilian matters or keeping watch over the gold mines. Long past is the time when the divine Augustus himself needed to campaign there to restore peace and the rule of the laws of Rome. It means you will need to retrain them to make them a proper military force if you want to achieve victory, as I personally saw, when I visited the land a few years ago, that they were far from combat ready. But I’m afraid you will not have much time to do so.”

 

[Hecatee]

Emerita Augusta, Hispania, early April 127 CE

Quintus Baebius Novalis, prefect of the fabri of the VII Gemina legion, was not happy to leave his base in Emerita Augusta, especially since the pump for a gold mine from Asturica Augusta was still not repaired, something he’d hoped to do before his departure. But preparing the legion for movement had taken all his time and he’d have to leave this unfinished business behind him, to await the end of the upcoming campaign.

As prefect of the fabri, he was responsible for the logistics of his legion. With his subordinates he’d had to find wagons and mules to complement the legion’s own stock, he’d had to make sure the stores of supplies were well stocked from nails for the shoes to ballista shots and, of course, food. There he’d been helped by the imperial envoys sent ahead of the legion by their commander, the emperor to be, the Caesar Voltinius.

While he was preparing for the move the centurions had called their men back from their various stations in the countryside, recalling those serving in police or administrative duties, retraining the units to give them back the cohesion and efficiency that made the legion’s edge over the barbarians.

Some had had to be dismissed, having taken to the soft life of their detachment to the point they had become unfit for duty : they would stay behind, and help the civilian administration take many duties that had been assumed by the military. New recruits had been brought in to fill the ranks. It had also been an opportunity to discover various frauds that would have stayed undiscovered had circumstances not changed in such a way… Thus a centurion had been discovered taking the pay for six long dead men of his unit, a capital offense that led to the promotion of a new officer.

Of course there had been grumblings, especially from the men who’d made a life outside of the camp, because of both the surplus of work the move entailed and fact they’d need to leave their usual routines, but the promise to come back to Hispania at the end of the campaign had helped dispel the malcontentment.

He was walking the decumanus of the camp when a call made him turn to the praetorium. The legate, commanding officer of the legion, was calling for him. Sighing, he made his way to his commander, another of the pompous fools Rome saw fit to send to this quiet and rich province.

Still, the man was no worse than the previous commander, and even much improved on the one before, an arrogant arsehole who used a perfumed tissue when walking around the camp and had a shrill voice that no one would have heard in battle. His only talent had been to make a profit from his tenure, going as far as diverting one full coffer of gold from the Medula mines to his own pocket. While Baebius knew it, he kept the information secret as it could win him no gain to leak it. He’d also received a full bag of newly minted aurei to help him stay discreet, something which was never unpleasant...

Baebius was a veteran who’d gone through the ranks before becoming centurion primipilus of the 1st cohort of the VIIth legion. He’d then been awarded the coveted and prestigious post of praefectus fabrum, one of the first steps of the equestrian career. Baebius knew how not to make waves in order to progress in the ranks.

Hopefully a good behavior during the coming war would see him become praefectus castrorum, commander of the camp, or even get him one of the even more prestigious prefectures, although he had no dream of ever reaching the rank of Egyptian or Pretorian prefect, the highest honors people with his background could ever hope to achieve.

Arriving in front of his commander, he saluted smartly. Responding in kind, the senator in charge of the legion asked Baebius whether or not he expected his men to be ready. Smiling, Baebius gave his answer : the legion was now completely ready, with new recruits to make the numbers of the units full again and all the detached men having rejoined their unit, some for the first time in more than a year.

Satisfied, the legate invited Baebius in the praetorium, where they went to his office. Once there Lucius Cornelius Avidius took a letter from inside his tunica, giving it to his subordinate. The wax seal had already been broken, and bore the mark of the Caesar. In it, orders for Cornelius Avidius to send part of his staff ahead of the legion, so that they could better coordinate the action of the VIIth legion. A job for the Praefectus Fabri...

 

[Hecatee]

Somewhere in the plains of Pannonia Inferior, April 127 CE

Culsus woke up early, for he knew that battle would come this day and he wanted some quiet time with the Gods before he started looking after his men. His turma had lost about a fifth of its strength since the winter campaign started, but he’d done many time as much damage to the enemy. The barbarians had found nothing to eat in the lands they’d captured, nor anything to loot. Everywhere they’d been shadowed and harassed by cavalry units while further south the legions were readying for a spring campaign. Some 30 000 to 40 000 barbarians had invaded the province, but the delaying actions of only 5000 men had been enough to slow them down to a crawl. Fabius Cunctator would have been proud, especially as the barbarians had been mostly contained to the strip of land between the Danuvius and the Tisia river, mostly a large plain with many smaller rivers. Of course raids had crossed the Tisia, but they had been repelled every time. Now it was time for a new Cannae, but with the Romans in the role of the army of the brilliant Hannibal, their most feared foe.

The legions had come out of their camps and had regrouped with the cavalry, offering them shelter so that the horsemen, tired by almost three months of constant warfare, may rest a bit. News had also come of operations further west, against the Marcomanni, which prevented the enemy from getting any reinforcements. The situation was much worse in the Agri Decumanes, according to the news, and it was said that the Emperor himself was going to take command of the forces there, or at least his adopted son and heir, the great general Voltinius.

Of course the news were at least a month old, but this did not mean they were wrong. The furor germanica had taken everyone by surprise, and the legions were stretched thin, although no large scale defeat had been reported yet. Some smaller units had suffered great losses, outposts overwhelmed by the numbers or detachments outsmarted by the barbarians, but generally speaking the war was going as well as could be expected.

Now the fight against the Iazyges and the Quadi was about to take a decisive turn as both armies had finally camped close enough for a final battle. The field of battle had been chosen by the Romans, encircling the barbarians alongside the banks of the Tisia, with units on the far side to prevent them from crossing, and a legion north of them to push them toward the trap laid by two other legions which had come from both Dacia and the south of the new province : their camp was Culsus’ current temporary base.

The legion’s legatus had personally complimented Culsus and his turma for their outstanding work, promising them an early citizenship for those of them with more than five years of service, provided they kept in the army until the end of their enrollment period. Still, the simple change of status would offer them many opportunities, but Culsus was too tired to think about it. Beside, they still had to survive the coming battle before they could hope to enjoy their newfound citizenship...

 

[Hecatee]

North of the Danube, territory of the Marcomanni, April 127 CE

Rome had reacted with her customary aggressiveness to the news of the tribe’s alliance. The warriors had not yet assembled for their planned raid over the river that two full roman legion and various auxiliary units had landed on their side of the Danube, jumping from their bases at Vindobona and Carnuntum as well as from staging points further west, in the neighboring province of Noricum and Raetia.

The move was completely unexpected as the Marcomanni leaders had planned on the attacks East and West of the area diverting all the forces that may oppose them… All had expected the main forces of the garrison to move in one of those directions so as to help defend the roman territories under threat, but it was not to be : while the Marcomanni had little informations about the way the war was going for their allies, they had now to defend themselves from the Romans.

Villages burned, warriors and their wives and children were taken as slaves or slain, and disorder reigned everywhere. Many fled inland, staying away of the rivers which the roman fleet patrolled aggressively. The king had ordered a muster of the warriors in a fortress at the foot of the mountains in the West, looking to strike toward the roman Raetia. At least that was his initial plan, until he’d heard of a roman blunder… A full auxiliary cohort isolated in his territory, in striking range of his warriors but too far away of other supporting units to hope for help in battle…

His spies had told the king the romans were of the IX Batavorum, an elite auxiliary unit of double strength and a remarkable target for any barbarians… Of course it was not a legion, but the prestige from destroying a roman unit would still be immense, and the effort to kill a thousand men much less important than fighting a six thousand men legion supported by its auxiliaries... He’d mustered some six thousand of his best warriors, and now planned to ambush the cohort as it came back toward Raetia.

The place was perfect : the riverside was too broken for the soldiers to walk alongside it, thus removing the support of the fleet’s artillery, and two deeply forested hills made a perfect cover for his warriors. Tales from the long ago ambush against Varus had guided the king’s choice for the site of battle and he’d made sure to have men build wicker walls between the threes so that most escaping legionaries would be caught and killed by his men. What he’d not said to anyone but his most trusted advisors was that those walls would also prevent any attempt at fleeing by his own men, who would be forced to fight to the last should disaster strike.

Hundreds of women had also helped make the walls, and now stood ready to throw abuses and stones on the head of any warrior attempting to flee, be it a Marcomanni or a Roman. They also helped cook food for the men, although the king had forbidden it the previous night, as the Romans were close and he could not allow smoke or fire to be spotted by the pathfinders. The same reason had dictated his choice to leave the hounds back at the fortress, even if a charge by the ferocious packs of dogs would have helped dissolve the orderly ranks of the Romans before his men hit them.

But now was not the time to worry about all that any longer. The invaders were about to enter the chosen ambush site, and he was about to unleash hell. The men coming through the path were auxiliaries, the mostly non citizen forces that served Rome alongside with its legions. They did not wear the plate armor of the legions, nor did they carry the rectangular shield of the feared units, but they were at least as good as any legionary in single fighting.

The king, who’d personally served in an auxiliary unit before deserting back to his tribe and becoming its leader, knew that in fact the auxiliaries fought more often than their brothers in arms, but did not learn the many skills of the legions : they had no specialists in artillery, engineering or siege craft as was the case in the larger units, their mission being to patrol in the first line, repel the small ambushed and call in the garrison forces when needed.

They were thus less prestigious but often better opponents and under the command of more experienced officers, so it was lucky that their units were much smaller than the legions. Even the six thousand men the king had assembled for this attack seemed a bit too few to confront them, although he expected them to be heavily loaded with loot and overconfident thanks to their earlier successes.

While his mind went through all these thoughts, the king kept observing the advancing snake of men that progressed along the path. First some scouts, which he’d let pass unscathed, and then the main body of men. As expected they were not very careful, which was good. His men would now have about half an hour to get in position for their attack. Strong forces in the front and back of the column, fifteen hundred men each, would pin the Romans in the narrow defile and then a group of two thousand warriors would attack in the middle of the flank of the formation to break it in two. The last thousand men, the best he had and half of them mounted, formed a handpicked reserve to strengthen any group that became too weak or to pursue the eventual survivors.

 

[Hecatee]

Modi'in, Iudea, may 127 CE


Shimon bar Koseva was furious. The impudence of that centurion ! Of course he’d protest to the governor ! One was not expulsed from one’s land like that ! What if he had not paid the new tax ? It had not been published yet and he could thus not know about its unjust requirement ! And to add to the insult they had dared give it to a family of barbarian unbelievers such as the region had seen more and more in the last years, at least as many as there had been good Jewish families disappearing oversea. How outrageous !

Really the roman presence was growing more intolerable by the day. They did not respect the holy laws, blasphemed all day long, built temples to their so called gods in the Jewish cities and sacrificed publicly animals such as pigs in long ceremonies that all had to watch. And that was before one spoke of their imperial cult, honors given to deceased men that rivalled those given to God himself.

This could not last much longer. He’d already contacted many in the neighboring villages, and had found many to be in agreement with him. Some had even shown him old weapons which they said dated from the great war against the cursed Titus. A revolt was possible, but it needed a leader. He was certainly not qualified for such a role, so he just kept an ear close to the rebels and kept himself ready for action if the need arose.

Still, the more time went by the angrier he became both at the inaction of his brethren and at the injustices the Romans subjected them to on a daily basis. He’d just spoken once more with his uncle Eleazar, bringing him the latest news from the rabbi Akiva as well as news of his own situation, and was now going home, but he’d been intercepted while on his way by a roman patrol whose officer had notified him of his expulsion, expressing his delight at not needing to go all the way to what he’d called in his heavily accented hebrew as “your stinking jewish hovel unfit for a pig”.

If no one would act further against the Romans he’d take things in his own hands, and lead the revolt himself ! After all he’d already met so many, he was known for his ideas, maybe he could transform all the anger he felt seething in the population into a formidable force ? One that would give back a death to the Romans for every blow they’d inflicted on a Jew, one that would free the land and give back the freedom to teach the Torah and the traditions of his people, one that would lead to the cleansing of the taints of the barbaric cults of the unbelievers…

 

[Hecatee]

The issues with the message board last monday meant I could not post this update, I hope you'll like it !

Castra Regina, province of Raetia, temporary camp of the VII Gemina, May 127 CE


The soldiers were sitting around the campfire, eating their supper while exchanging the last gossips. The big news of the day was the major battle an auxiliary unit had fought against the Marcomanni a few weeks before and of which the news had just arrived in the camp. The IX Batavorum were said to be victorious but at an horrendous cost to themselves, with more than half of the men dead and all the survivors being hurt in some way. The unit would be out of combat for a while, if the men were not simply cannibalized to replenish other formations.

But they had given worse than they had received. At least three thousands dead barbarians, including their king, who’d been killed in the middle of the Marcomanni’s rout, and the best of his warriors. The tribe’s power was broken and their allies had lost the ability to communicate between themselves. One could even say there would be two wars now, one in the Dacian area and one in the Agri Decumates…

This also meant that their general, the Caesar Voltinius, would want to move earlier to benefit from the opportunities opened by the barbarians’ defeat. And that, many thought, was bad news : more walking, and possible death at the end of the day. Others argued that at least it’d take them off from the bloody training they’d had to do since they’d left Hiberia, which would be a bloody relief even if they still had to use the nails on the sole of their calligaes. And then there were those who simply shrugged, not caring one way or another as long as food was to be had and loot was possible…

In the officer's’ tent the atmosphere was rather different. There the staff officers were delighted with the news they’d received and were looking at how to best capitalize on the victory. The soldiers had arrived a few days ago after a long march of some 60 days from the south, 1700 miles on the imperial roads. During those two months the barbarians had ravaged the Agri Decumates, pillaging towns such as Aquilea or Arae Flaviae, but had been contained by the local units and proved unable to cross either the Rhenus or the Danuvius. Now, heavy with plunder, they would slowly retreat north… where the legions would await them.

Benefiting from a secure eastern flank, Voltunius has decided to strike north at the limit between the Hermunduri and Marcomanni territories, while the legion based at Mongotiacum would strike south toward the Necer river. Hopefully the two legions would be able to bag the barbarians inside the Agri Decumanes and destroy them in one swoop before moving inside the barbarians’ territory and ravaging it. With some luck they expected to be able to build a new limes starting from the Rhenus along the Moenus up to a point north of Castra Regina, and then a chain of control points south to the city, adding a huge buffer in front of the Agri Decumanes made of the Hermunduri territory. Such an addition to the empire would probably not shorten the borders for much, but would provide a lot of security to Raetia and Germania Superior…

Quintus Baebius Novalis was not thinking about those lofty considerations. With his men he was trying to keep the legion in shape for the fight. Missing or broken caligae, lost pilum, new nails, even a godsdamned piece of ballista, it seemed every damn soldier of the unit had lost something that needed replacement. And that meant finding supplies, asking the right man to make the requested item, checking that the soldiers paid for their item and that the money did not go lost in some grubby hands…

It was not fun to manage the logistics of an army in campaign, and the damn legatus was not making his job any easier by forcing the men do to quick marches that used men and equipment, and disrupted his production and distribution planning. He was really more of a garrison kind of guy...

 

[Hecatee]

Agri Decumates, early June 127 CE



One of his arms was in a sling and the other hurt like Cerberus himself was tugging at it, but he was alive. Quintus Baebius Novalis could not say the same of hundreds of other legionaries and auxiliaries now lying on the field of battle. They were officially victorious, but at what cost ! All units had not reported yet but the butcher’s bill would certainly be above a thousand men. The first cohors was but the shadow of itself, the primipilus dead as well as seven of his centurions and half its Optiones and Tesserarii, and the rest of the legion seemed to be in the same kind of shape.

Still they had held their ground, as proved by the piles of dead barbarians in front of him. He’d been given command of some of the most valid men to clean the battlefield, see to the wounded, either having them brought to the camp or being given the mercy hit that would end their suffering, something of course more often done to the barbarians than to his men.

A field surgeon had seen to his wound, cleansed them with vinegar before putting honey on them and bandaging them. As an officer he’d been treated early. The simple fact that a man part of the legion’s higher command had been hurt as badly as he’d been was proof enough that it had been a close fight. There had been at least three barbarians for each of the Romans present on the field, maybe even four. Marcomani reinforcements, fleeing from the punishment being meted against their tribe further east, had swelled the local barbarians. Thirty to forty thousand men had fought were twenty at most had been expected, against a single legion and three cohors.

Luckily one had been a mounted cohors, giving more hitting power to the Romans and allowing the heir to the empire himself to lead a charge on the barbarians’ flanlk, in a move that looked like something from Alexander’s epics. He’d heard Voltinius had survived the charge but not his horse… nor the one he’d taken from one of the troopers : he’d been on his third animal when the battle ended in the foes’ rout.

Now all that remained was this ground made spongy by all the blood that’d flowed in it, and all the other fluids. His slave would have a godsdamned time working before he’d be able to get the grime out of the leather of his master’s calligae. But before he still had work to do. Alongside with the wounded parties he already had men collecting arrows, armors and weapons, as well as all the valuables they could find.

Of course the loot would be collected at a central place and then distributed. Of course not all of it would make it to the collectors’ books. So he also had to look for those soldiers and prevent the most blatant cases of theft. After all his own bonus was also dependent on the total collected amount…

In many ways his legion had been lucky. Undertrained when in Spain, they had been able to retrain while on the way, relearn many skills the unit had not used in many, many years. Muscles which had given place to fat had been trimmed during the long walk, and that had given the men enough strength to keep their ranks in front of the onslaught, and to repusle the waves of warrior that had crushed against them, steadily retreating a few paces every time the pile of corpses in front of them got too high.

The grass under his foot was red, sticky. Flies bused all over the battlefield, and the stench of blood and feces common to all soldiers had already started to taint with the smell of bodies too long in the sun. Here and there he could see birds starting to pick on bits of chair strews around the field or pocking the corpses.

This had been his first major fight, and he sure hoped not to ever see such bloodspill again...

 

[Hecatee]

Domus Caesari, 25th of September 127 CE


Hadrian looked at the map in front of him, lips pinched. On it were the new borders of the Empire. He’d wanted to consolidate them, but in the end he’d expended on many of them, at a much higher cost than he’d wanted. The treasure was rather empty, and he now had to recruit new men to fill the gaps in the legions. Of course the Empire now had much more land to exploit, especially the good horse land of the Iazyges. But he was concerned, for conquering those new lands had shown some deficiencies in the roman way of war, as well as some disturbing traits in his successor’s behavior. Voltinius had shown a cruelty against the western barbarians that was appalling.

Of course Hadrian himself would never shy of ordering violent reprisals. But here Voltinius had simply ordered a genocide, using the tactics the divine Caesar had used against the Eburon almost two centuries ago. The lands of the Hermunduri and those of the Marcomanni were now pillaged by roving bands of Germans from other tribes eager for plunder and slaves, invited by Voltinius himself. Part of the Hermunduri’s land had even been annexed after the legions had depopulated them, another bit of land beyond the Ister river that would have to be defended… The VIII Augusta legion had been moved from its base at Argentoratum to a new position while new roads were built from Mongotiacum, Augusta Vindelicorum and Vindobona toward the legion’s new home, called Hadriana Hermunduriana.

Further east other changes had taken place in the new trans-isterian provinces : the IV Flavia Felix had moved north to the great bend of the Tisia, where a new base had been built for them at a point where a new road for Aquincum crossed the river before going east alongside the river’s southern shore. It would be a number of years yet before the road was complete, but it would in the end go all around the Carpathian mountains, with two other legionary bases built alongside it for the VII Claudia, north of Apulum, and for the XI Claudia, mid-way between the new base of the VII and the base of the V Macedonica at Troesmis. Between those forts a limes would be built, with a large berm on the southern side of the river dominated by a number of towers and auxiliary camps to warn against any raid coming from the other side of the river.

The XIII Gemina would stay in the heart of Dacia while the I Italica would take responsibility for defending the Ister river and act as a reserve should there be troubles in the north. Still, they had a lot of lands to cover, and only cavalry would do. He’d have to raise new auxiliary units to patrol between the bases and act as a fast reaction force against raids… But the war had shown that roman cavalry did not have the skills of those tribes and would probably never have them… Reports from the front had mentioned some units doing much better than others thanks to new equipment and tactics. He’d have to look about that…

But they would need support, they would need taxes, they would need food, they would need space to train. Drain on resources… How could he succeed in developing new sources of funding ? He needed new ideas, fresh ones that would not come from the usual court sycophants. He’d had his personal slaves look for some candidates, and remembered that interesting officer, Arrianus, who’d shown some interesting ideas on fighting cavalry. Indeed he might be a good man to investigate those new tactics he’d heard about…

He’d also read report about the man that said he’d set about making his trans-danubian lands prosper, so maybe he could be of use there too. Of course that would mean promoting him to a rank of governor, something he was not really ready for. After all he had not yet held a consulship. Well of course that could alway be solved in a rather easy way, but the man was one or two years too young, that would rustle feathers in the Senate…

The fact he’d needed to move the VII Gemina from Hispania to the front was also worrying him. The Barbarians had coordinated their revolt one a very wide front, wider than anyone ever expected in Rome : close to a thousand miles had erupted in anger against the Empire. Had this revolt come at the same time as a Persian attack, the results would have been disastrous… Logistics had been stretched thin, with no less than 9 legions engaged simultaneously, more than a hundred thousand men if one counted the auxiliaries, about one third of the men under arms in the Empire.

The devastation in the Agri Decumanes had also shown the vulnerability of many settlements to the Barbarians. Had they broken through they’d have found Gaul defenseless, with few walled cities and those that were protected having indefensible perimeters as most of those walls were built for prestige more than for true defense. He’d not thought it an issue when he’d toured the region on his way to Britannia, but it was now clear it was something else he’d need to take care of. Luckily he could call on the notables’ evergetism to finance this kind of work. They’d probably compete to pay for a tower or a curtain wall, with the richest amongst them paying for a city gate with their statue alongside his own…

The issue was Raetia and the other danubian provinces, they had much less cities and less elites, so it would probably be the army that would have to secure the villages and towns with walls, additional costs and also labor that would prevent them from patrolling. This led back to the issue of cavalry. He really needed to talk to Arrianus as soon as possible...

 

[Hecatee]

Hadriana Hermunduriana, July 127 CE


The two lines of men faced each other, their faces showing determination. Culsus Atedumius stood between them, a small leather ball in his hands. Suddenly he launched the ball in the air and moved aside while the men of his turma began to fight for the ball.

The two teams of some fifteen men launched against each other, some attempting to get the ball while other protected them. The field, made muddy by the morning’s rain, had been demarcated with stone dust from the nearby stone cutting station of the legionaries of the VIII which Culsus’ unit currently supported.

The officer had decided to organise this game of harpastum as a way to keep unit cohesion and have the men move on their feets instead of the usual horses. This was the market day, and they could do with some amusement after weeks of patrols in the newly conquered territories.

Not that they’d met much troubles : most barbarians had fled by now, to be taken as slaves by their neighbors or to plead for mercy and sanctuary, which was not granted very often... No, the main trouble came from other Germans that had been invited to pillage the Hermunduri lands but had not yet understood that there was a border on the river and that going further south was to be prosecuted by the full might of the imperial army.

The building of observation towers on the river’s bank would of course clarify the situation soon enough, and in fact already did on a large part of the territory, so the patrols were becoming more and more routine. Games such as harpastum were thus needed to help keep the men in good shape.

In front of Culsus the men were now running around the field, trying to catch the ball and bring it behind the line that marked the goal of each team. The cavalrymen were hitting each other hard, trying to tackle their adversaries to the ground or to repulse them with a well placed elbow.

Their officer looked at them with a smile on his face while all around him men from other units cheered the players. He’d heard one of his fellow officer speak of organizing similar games with his own turma, while another had complained of a new way for some of the worst of his men to gamble their pay away or to scam their brothers in arms…

 

[Hecatee]

Domus Caesari, palatine hill, Rome, 10 april 128 CE


The emperor’s concilium was in session. The heads of the main departments of the imperial government were seated next to some of the more powerful and loyal senators, under the gaze of Hadrianus himself. Even the caesar Voltinius was present at this meeting, a rather unusual occurrence since he’d come back from the new borders, rumours saying he enjoyed partying and drinking more than being subjected to the gaze of the man he was supposed to succeed…

The a rationibus, charged with the imperial finances, was speaking and his news were grim. While the empire was not broke yet, it sure seemed headed in that direction. Recent military operations by the Danubian and Rhenane units had generated a massive bill of some 250 millions sestertii, a 50 millions unplanned expense, or two years revenues from the rich province of Asia.

Of course the defense of the Danube had always cost much more than the provinces could actually bring in as revenues, with a deficit of around a hundred million sestertii a year for the Danubian provinces while the revenues of Gaul and the Germanies still left the empire’s budget short of some 25 millions. But here it was as if two years had been paid at once, and that represented more than 10 percent of the imperial budget…

The Empire’s income was based on three pillars that were the mines, the foreign trade and the internal taxes raised on trade, succession fees for citizens and some minor sources of income. The mines provided gold and silver for around 175 millions sestertii. The inter-provincial trade tax of 2,5% of the good’s value and the various other taxes brought some 10 millions sestertii per million inhabitant, the latest census indicating that between 50 and 60 million people lived under the sage rule of the Emperor, good for some 500 millions. The rest of the Empire’s income came from the import duty of 25% collected mainly on the eastern trade roads of silks, spices and perfumes, for some 3 to 400 millions sestertii a year.

As the army cost around 650 millions sestertii a year and the various building and restoration programs and the running of the administration cost around 350 to 400 millions, it was difficult to actually save money. The expenses of the last years were thus difficult to absorb and new sources of income had to be found.

Of course Hadrian could cancel a number of tax breaks that had been accorded in recent years, but that would cause a lot of resentment. The a rationibus argued that the emperor could also reinstate old taxes abolished by his predecessors, such as the 1% on sales, or double the existing internal trade taxes but this could also lead to marchants being less active and the border provinces being less furnished in goods, which would be bad both for the army and for the economy in general.

Two other solutions were offered by the fiscus : a tax on large estates was the first, with one sestertii a year for every jugera of land owned beyond à 100 jugera. It would probably anger a number of large landowners, especially in the Senate and the local nobles of some provinces such as Africa, but would bring in massive revenues and possibly lead to some domain being divided between more owners, who would own less slaves and would thus somewhat reduce the risks linked to large concentration of them in a single place, or it would lead some owners to reduce costs by reducing manpower and increasing mechanization in ways comparable to what could be seen in Gaul, leading to an higher productivity that would increase trade and thus revenues.

The other solution would be, added the a rationibus, to simply invest massively in the provinces that showed a deficit by settling merchants or farmers in yet undeveloped lands. But such a plan could take years and could only be seen as a long term plan, not something able to help with the current crisis.

The debate lasted for a long time, with various opinions being voiced, between those that advocated that the Empire should invade Arabia and take control of the precious incense producing trees, thus not sending large amount of silver to the south anymore, and those saying that the import tax was more interesting than the cost of securing the desert roads, between those advocating the deportation of part of the dole plebs to underdeveloped parts of the empire and those saying that the plans of the a rationibus to lower the number of slaves on the latifundiae would only cause the numbers of the urban population in need of food to swell, and many other opinions.

Finally the Emperor himself put a stop to the discussion, saying that the topic would come back to the concilium…

 

[Hecatee]

Alauna Civitas, Caledonia, 15 August 128 CE


Thiophorus raised his cup in salutation to David who’d just entered the inn. The old veteran was sitting at a corner table in the settlement’s newest addition, a building he’d had built with his own money and to his own design. He did not want any savage to be able to torch his investment so there was little wood in sight beside the tables and benches. No, the building was all stone and mortar, with a large barrel-vaulted main room on the ground floor and a number of rooms under a tile roof above. A stone stair led to them while a large chimney provided heat and light when the fire was lighted. A number of windows had also been pierced in the wall giving on the courtyard, but none on the wall that faced the military road.

The courtyard itself was made by the inn with it’s back toward the wall, the bathhouse and the stable on each side and a low wall pierced by a large arch that gave on the path leading from the military road to the settlement of Alauna Civitas. A well had been dug in the corner between the bath and the inn, and overall the complex provided the travellers with a rather comfortable place to stay when travelling between the wall’s fortresses. The inhabitants of the village could also benefit from the facilities for some coins or some goods that Thiophorus could sell to his other clients.

David saw the gesture of the veteran and saluted him before heading in his direction. Now the father of three after Esther had given birth to twins in the spring, the man was tired. The villagers had just finished bringing the wheat in the silos, and the harvest was not good. They would probably not starve, but it would be a near thing. Should too much of the stored grain be eaten by rodents or spoil…

“Greetings, David. You seem preoccupied. Allow me to serve you some wine to help you lighten up !” said Thiophorus while making a sign for his slave to bring a cup, before adding : “yes indeed, you certainly seem to need it ! What’s troubling you and why are you coming to me ?”.

David snorted : “As if you were not the head of our community and its most opulent member ! You know my problem, it’s the same as last year. We can’t seem to grow enough grain in this land. Our plow barely makes a dent in the earth and we are now at least a dozen more hungry mouths than we were when the Empire settled us here. We need to find either new ways to grow stuff or new ways to get food.” This said, he took the cup the slave had filed while he spoke and he drank some, before he continued : “thanks for the wine. It is indeed welcome. I worry about the future of Esther and our three children. I don’t want Shimon, Matthias and Solomon to die of hunger in a few years…”

The roman shood his head in agreement. “Indeed, we need to improve things. The locals seems to have the same issues as you, they never tried to improve on their poor methods… You know, I’m a soldier, not a godsdamned farmer, that’s why I’ve had this inn built… Still, when I look at the ground around here I don’t see that many trees, the land does not seem to grow much by itself… Are there not methods to make the land richer ?”

“Oh there are, such as spreading manure on the fields at the right time, but the wind and the rain seem to take it away every time... “

“Ah the wind, don’t tell me about it. That’s why I built the inn this way, with the door to the south and the other buildings on the sides, so that the cold does not blow inside them… Maybe that’s what you should do, built wall that would help retain the fertile ground and the manure…”

“I’m not sure it’d be enough… and beside, wall for all our fields ? That would take ages to build, even using the stones found in the fields themselves…” David sipped some more wine. “Although we could plant edges, they would provide a bit of small wood and cut the wind, at least if they manage to grow…”

Thiophorus nodded. “Yes, it seems like it could work, but it would take some time… Although I know that in Italy many farms and domain do have both vallum and ditch around their fields, with threes and hedges growing on the vallum… Might be for the same reason. I also wonder… I’ve seen the gardens of some rich peoples during my travels, and sometime they made… how can I name them… flower beds ? They had those elevated stone beds upon which they grew their flowers. I’d asked a villicus once, he’d told me it was because the bed was hollow, and the earth was softer and more fertile than basic ground. You could not do it for wheat or cereals, of course, but you could try some for vegetables. It could help you grow more of them, thus making you less reliant on cereals.”

“We could build some, yes. And maybe if we make them high enough we won’t have to lower ourself to the ground to take the vegetables out of the ground, that would save some efforts on our back ! I’ll discuss it with the others. But maybe you could ask some of your other friends if they’ve seen other things being done in other villages to improve the situation or if they know of something that could help ?”

“Sure David, sure. I’ll do it. In fact I may even ask some officers when they stop here, because they often have some ideas we grunt don’t…”

 

[Hecatee]

Domus Caesari, palatine hill, Rome, 13 october 128 CE


Suetonius was in his office, seated behind a massive desk covered with stacks of papyri. In front of him were two senators, the 41 years old former praetor Arrianus and the 55 years old proconsul Lucius Catilius Severus. Both wore their best toga as they knew there was a chance this meeting with the ab epistulis might lead to a meeting with the emperor himself, who was in town for the upcoming october’s horse celebration on the ides.

“So we are agreed then, on the need to create a corp of imperial military engineers separate from the men of the legions, and dedicated to the planning and the supervision of new fortifications, repairs and research on how to improve existing defenses all around the empire ?” asked the imperial secretary.

Catilius Severus answered him : “Indeed we are, a corp based in its own barracks in Rome but with detachments all around the Empire coming back to Rome on a regular basis to learn of new developments and to tell the others of the different conditions to be found in various terrains, so that the engineers can go to all corners of the Empire.”

Arrianus added : “In fact this would be a bit like what the tyrant Dionysius of Sicily did in the time of Agesilaos and Xenophon, but on a larger scale made for empire and with competences others than simply making war machines. Our engineers will build walls, towers, citadels, but also aqueducts, baths and sewers, among others. Doing it close to the borders will reassure colonists that will want to exploit the new lands or settle in territories that had been insecure until now. And while the engineers would be paid by the imperial treasures, most of the cities’ improvements will be paid by the local wellborn or by senatorial patrons looking to secure their investments in the region.”

Suetonius nodded. This was indeed in agreement with the emperor’s wishes. Already orders had been sent to the legions, which were to send centurions experienced in the art of building to Rome, forming a first cadre of around sixty men to be housed in one of the imperial residence on the outskirts of Rome. Despite Hadrian’s dislike the elderly architect Apollodorus of Damas had been set in charge of the school alongside Quintus Baebius Novalis, a prefect of the fabri which had been promoted on the insistence of the caesar Voltinius for his actions during the recent conflict. He would be the military leader of the school while Apollodorus and his aides would spend their time collecting plans, evaluating them and improving their designs before sending them to the provinces to serve as template for the detached engineers.

The secretary looked toward Arrianus : “Now, to the second point of order. Arrianus, you know that you are going to be suffect consul in a few months, before being given a proconsular mandate to the province of Pannonia Inferior, or Pannonia Orientalis, or Iazygia as some call it.” At this the secretary shook his head before speaking again : “You won’t be governor of the province but will have imperium and your own forces outside of the control of the governor. He’ll have enough work to do controlling the Tisia and building the new Limes with the IV Flavia Felix and the VII Claudia. You will thus be in charge of organizing and securing the interior of the province, using a force of four quingenaria auxiliary cohors , including two mounted ones, and a cavalry ala milliaria. You’ll have to build roads and civilian settlements through the province, while guaranteeing their safety. I know it's traditionally a legion's task and there will be grumbling from your men, still it must be done. Your main challenge will be the size of the province, which means we cannot use the usual tactics to secure it. The land is great for cavalry though, a specialty of yours. You are to experiment with your units to find a good way to balance between infantry and cavalry, fixed positions and roving patrols. The commander of your ala is a recently promoted man, Culsus Atedumius, son of Eraviscus. He’s risen through the ranks and has just been given his early citizenship alongside his equestrian rank. While new to his post, promoted due to battle losses, he has proved himself to be a great innovator during the recent war, which was a factor in his promotion. While a bit young for the post and lacking the right connexions, he still managed to impress others enough to be granted the rank.”

Arrianus’ left eyebrow rose slightly. Indeed such a promotion in such circumstances was no mean feat. Either losses had been more important than what he’d heard or the man was really exceptional. Suetonius began again : “You’ll have a large treasury, 10 million sestertii, beside the regular pay of your men. The Emperor’s betting a lot on you, especially with the treasury in the state it currently is. There is good hope that this investment will allow you to develop the economy of your province and will also help sustain the provinces of the former border, which have seen a decline in revenues since the war due to the fact so many soldiers are now further north. Let me be frank, senator : you’d better not fail as their would be no way to regain the imperial trust… After all you are an homo novus and that has made you a number of enemies in the Senate, so your are… expendable.”

 

[Hecatee]

Modi’in, Iudea, March 129 CE



The bright red blood flowed slowly from the gaping throat wound of the barbarian, one of many who’d lost their life on this fateful day. Around him lay six corpses, that of his wife, two of his children and three of his assailants. Their short blades had been insufficient to protect them from the sword the man had hidden in his house. They’d hoped to surprise them all in their sleep, but had not planned for one of the kid to be sleeping on the ground in front of the door. His cry as the door opened had wakened his father and given him time to grab his weapon.

They’d been surprised by the weapon, he was not supposed to own one, and especially not a large piece of iron like the one now lying on the ground next to his corpse. They hoped not every barbarian was so well armed or so well trained in their use…

On a sign by their leader they left the house, one of them taking the deceased’s weapon. . Some would have liked to torch it, but it had been forbidden : not only would it give them an opportunity to strike elsewhere without anyone being on his or guard due to the smoke, but it would also allow a good jewish family to occupy the lodgings and till the attached land once Rome had been vanquished.

They knew other groups like theirs were active all over Iudea. The plan was for each to do as many damages as possible during three days before going to various assembly points where they would coalesce in larger units. To prevent any dispute about leadership they would be under the orders of pre-agreed leaders who had all gathered earlier and knew what the wider plans were.

But the overall plan did not matter for Benjamin bar Gourion, because this orgy of violence was his liberation and even the loss of his life would not change the fact that from now on he’d always be free from the Romans and their impious laws.

He was from a rather well of family of farmers and had not been impacted by the forced resettlement project initiated by the hateful emperor Hadrianus, but the simple fact Jews were forced from the Holy Land of Israël was enough to bring him into the rebellion. Using his own farm as a supply and meeting point, he’d been active in the movement for years now, inspired to act by the words of Shimon bar Koseva. And while he could have asked to become one of the leader, and indeed had been pressed by some friends to lead them, he did not want anything but a simple place as a footsoldier in the war that would see the hateful Romans thrown out of the region.

It was fitting that he fight in the area of Modi’in as the city at been where the Maccabees had started their own war against the king Antiochos some three hundred years before. Yes, the land of Modi’in was a land of the faithful and righteous and it was good and well that he steps, however modestly, in the traces left by those glorious ancients.

Benjamin took a stripe of cloth and cleansed his blade from the blood. It was an act he’d repeat numerous times in the days to come…

 

[Hecatee]

Virunum, Norica, April 129 CE



Vulcanus had been so named by his owner Gaius Appius Soter, a greek smith living in the town of Virunum in Norica, a province to which the town was the capital.

Vulcanus had been captured during the Dacian war and been sold by the army to a slaver who’d brought his shipment of strong men down south, selling them to the highest bidders in the towns alongside the Danube and its affluents. The man had specialized in youth showing promising strength and Vulcanus had been one of his less interesting ware, explaining how he’d only been sold in Virunum at a point where the merchant almost despaired of selling him.

One of the reason of the late sale was also that Vulcanus was dumb to a point where some compared him openly with a cow. You could give him an order and he’d keep doing what he’d been told until told to stop, finishing the task or collapsing from fatigue, something that did not happen very often because he’d also grown far stronger than what his teenage body had suggested would be the case. He was thus a kind of stupid giant and Appius Soter was most happy to have bought such a good slave at such a low price.

His current task was to activate the fan that fed air into the melting oven of the smithy, a large brick affair covered in clay to help it reach higher temperature. Noric steel was reputed the best available in the empire and Appius Soter was one of the best smiths of Virunum, one of the best of the empire even if he dared say so.

Right now he’d gone out to have a cup of wine with a client and he’d left Vulcanus unattended, still elevating the level of air in the oven… The man did not stop when hot metal started to flow through a crack in the oven on the other side of the room, did not see the liquid steel fill a small empty ceramic amphora that someone had left against the wall of the oven, did not stop when the amphora was filled and metal started to spill alongside its flanks, did not notice how hot the oven had become…

It is only when his master came back and shouted at him, alarmed by the red tint of the oven, that the dimwit stopped. Appius Soter had started using a coal a few months ago on recommendation from a military veteran coming back home after serving with a legion in Britain and it seemed this combined with the continuous venting by the barbarian had overheated the oven…

Looking through the mouth of the oven he saw all the metal seemed to have disappeared, but he ten noticed the silvery amphora on the side and the metallic thread coming from a fault line alongside the oven. It had indeed overheated and broken the wall ! But the shine of the metal on the side was different from everything he’d ever seen…

Taking a pair of plyers and ordering Vulcanus to do the same, he took the amphora and brought it to the water basin in which he dropped it. The ceramic broke under the impact with the bottom of the basin and showed the iron core that had formed inside.

Pensive, the smith looked at how the metal had been molded. Maybe he could cast iron objects in the future ? Tests would be needed of course, from the look of things he would need to find a way for his oven to survive the higher temperature…

Making a sign to his slave, he took the plyers again and together they took the object from the basin before bringing it outside where he dropped it unceremoniously on the stones of the courtyard. To his surprise the object broke. This despite the fact it was metal ! It shattered like a kind of stone ! He’d need to look into this in more details…

 

[Hecatee]

Caesarea Maritima, Iudea, June 129



While he felt rather safe in his palace of Caesarea, the legate of Iudea was still smarting from his defeat by a band of rebels the month before. Warned of disturbance near the old Jewish capital, he’d moved with two cohorts of infantry before being ambushed by the rebels and sent reeling toward the coast. Losses had not been very important, a few dozen men and three centurions, but were still enough to force him to go opposite to the direction he wanted. Since then he’d ordered his forces to fall back on either the legionary base at Jerusalem or to Caesarea itself, to reinforce his auxiliaries there, before he could plan on reconquering the land.

The countryside was in arms, with many non-jews being slain in their sleep or struck in their back by fanatical sicarii who wanted nothing but killing anyone not following their religion. Still there was hope. The rebellion seemed not to have spread to the entire province, and Jerusalem was safe, as seemed Caesarea. Already in April ships had been sent to Antiochea, Alexandria and Misenae to warn of the troubles with the Jews and ask for any available reinforcements. He’d probably receive a few vexilationes in the coming days, to make a boost his force and allow him to regroup with the rest of the legion and pacify the countryside.

A knock on his office’s door took him out of his thoughts. His secretary appeared : “A fleet has been spotted legatus. Military, both warships and transports, at least two dozen of the later type. They seem to be grain ships from the alexandrian grain fleet”.

The legatus frowned. The grain ships must be carrying troops. Two dozen ships of the grain fleet could carry a lot of men, as could a number of warships… There was probably a legion out there, if not two. Unless they brought a cohors of cavalry alongside the infantry. And the presence of so many of the huge grain carriers meant that the forces came directly from Rome, alongside a new commander that would probably replace him…

Two hours later the secretary came back to announce the arrival of a large command ship in the port, in advance of the rest of the fleet. It was a powerful quinquereme with its mast up carrying a purple flag but no sail, the perfectly rythmed stroke of the rowers propelling it at great speed toward the mole. She’d touch land in an half hour at most.

The Caesar Voltinius himself was in command ! Promptly slaves were rushed to clean and straighten everything on the path the heir to the empire would walk to the legatus’ office, which would be his as soon as he’d step inside it. After all the former jewish kings’ study was suitably grand for such an elated guest…

While the slaves rushed about, the legatus and his staff were no less busy, putting on their best clothes or gear, depending on one’s station, before all meeting in the palace courtyard where they waited for the arrival of Voltinius. The butcher of the Pictones, the crusher of the Iazyges, the destroyer of the barbarians had come to bring his peace to the Jewish land.

 

[Hecatee]

Emerita Augusta, Hispania, June 129


Quintus Aetius Primus looked around him with both pleasure and dread. Pleasure at being back home, and dread at all the work he’d need to do. It had been close to two years since he had last set sight upon the walls of the legionary base of Emerita Augusta, to which the legion had just arrived after some time spent acting as a stabilizing reserve for the forces of the VIII Augusta and working on establishing new roads and bridges while the VIII legion concentrated on building its new base and the new Limes between the Ister and the Rhenus rivers.

They had also started the work on a new canal that would join the Rhenus and the Danuvius through some smaller rivers and allow all but the larger river crafts to cross from one river to the other, facilitating the transfer of troops and materials : the work would take at least one or two more years for the men of the VIII Augusta, depending on how stable the region would be, but it would probably bring some much needed trade in the area and could also serve as an obstacle for roaming barbarians.

Small guard towers, now maned by auxiliaries, had been built on the southern or western banks of the rivers making the connexion, with somewhat stronger forts set up at a distance of one day’s sailing, each equipped with a small dock to facilitate the future trade. They had also cut the trees closest to the rivers to make a path alongside the shores for haulers to walk upon.

The region had been largely depopulated from barbarians, so it had not been too difficult an operation and there had been little fighting in the year that followed the war and preceded the long walk home. They’d gone through Augusta Vindelicorum, Lugdunum, Narbo, Tarraco before arriving in Emerita Augusta where an unit of auxiliaries recruited during their absence welcomed them.

A number of veterans, mainly men that had been hurt and had not fully recovered since, would now receive honourable early discharge, along with some money provided by the Caesar himself, while the rest would go back to their more usual duties : mines surveillance, police missions, taxes and tolls collection, … For Aetius Primus it would be first an examination of the gold mines and instructions to improve them alongside what he’d seen in Narbonensis, and then making sure his assistants did the necessary to replenish the legions’ stores.

Work, work, work… Still he was happy. The war had given him a new rank as his superior Quintus Baebius Novalis had been promoted and sent to Rome, and he’d acquired some loot, including a few slaves he’d rented during the campaign and the year spent in the new territories. They had come with him when the legion went back to Hispania, and now he had decided to invest this capital in the building and operation of a water mill that would act as both a sawmill and a grain mill. He knew the perfect spot, close to the mines where he’d use the existing water network to get the necessary energy for his project…