Is Rome Worth One Good Man's Life?-A Roman TL

Originally posted by Hero of Canton
Those are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

You are right, there is the posibility of a division of the Roman Empire between Sextus Pompeius and Antonius

It seems that for the moment this scenario of division of the Empire in this ATL could be very possible.
 
Please tell me your thoughts on this type of update. If you guys like it, I will do it from time to time, but if not, I will stop after this one.
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Chapter XIII: The Final War of The Republic Part III: The Battle of Actium

“Come on! Form up in your century! Antonius’s men have crossed!” orders bellowed out in the chaotic environment as Quintus rushed over to his century in the Legio VI Victrix.



“Bassus is buying us time with the cavalry, but he won’t be able to hold him off for long!” Centurion Gallus explained to his confused men. “Form up with the rest of the legion!” Quintus quickly got into position along with the rest of the century and waited for orders. They had been waiting for this battle for some time now, but now that it was finally here, Quintus was having second thoughts, and he guessed the others were as well.
There was a lot of shuffling around and finally, the marching slowly began to cease, and Quintus presumed the army was now fully arrayed in battle formation. He turned to the tall man next to him from Arpinum-Lucius, that was his name. He hadn’t ever spoken to him much, but he didn’t need to to know where he was from-he constantly boasted about being from the same town Cicero was from. Quintus wondered how much that would help him in battle. “Not one bit,” he thought to himself.



The order to advance was given, and Quintus moved out with the rest of his century. It was not long before the faint outlines of Antonius’s men were visible in the distance. “We must hold the line at all costs,” Gallus reminded them, the nervousness in his voice clear despite his attempts to hide it.



“We’re fucked,” a soldier somewhere behind him muttered. “Antonius is going to wipe the floor with us.” Soon-too soon in Quintus’s opinion-the two armies clashed. Most didn’t even bother to throw their pila, Quintus among them, and the ones that attempted to found that the melee had begun before they could discharge them.



The slaughter was brutal, and before long Quintus found himself in the front line, the first th ree men in front of him having been cut down. He found himself in a desperate struggle for survival. The minimal battle experience him and his legion had had not prepared them for this. Now, everything he learned as a recruit was coming in handy, as he bashed the soldier in front of him with his shield boss, and dispatched him with a quick stab into his stomach. Another soldier moved into his place, thrusting his sword at his momentarily exposed skull. His timely duck made the soldier hit nothing but the air occupying where his head had just been. For a split second, the soldier’s torso was exposed, and Quintus wasted no time thrusting his sword straight into the man’s gut, collapsing him to the ground before Quintus easily finished him off. This continued on for what seemed like hours, and he hadn’t noticed that his line had been pushed very far back from where they had begun.



They were near the breaking point, he realized. A quick glance behind him nearly got him killed had it not been for the timely intervention of Lucius who took his assailant down from the flank. “Welcome,” the Italian from Arpinum mumbled without taking his gaze off the enemies in front of him. Their line continued to falter but reinforcements (if the small detachment of troops that arrived could be called that), kept them fighting. Quintus wondered if the other end of the line was fairing the same, or if they had already broken…
 
Personally I have always preferred the udpates in the style of a book of history.

Updates in the style of a short historic novel not attract me.

This not means that your update has not an accurate style in the narration, simplily I prefer read updates as if I am reading a book of history.:)
 
I quite like the first person stuff for things such as this. It is interesting to see the conflict at a *micro-TL level. If you continue doing such, I would recommend a historical non-fiction text style summary at the end of the battle, as it helps in the understanding of the exact result on a *macro-TL level...
 
@Inaki I plan on sticking to my regular format for the most part but thought this would be a nice change every once in awhile.

@geordie I plan on adding an update in my usual style to explain what happened. I see your point though and next time ill add it in the same update :)
 
Oh lol. *walks off in shame*

:D Or I have no life.

This latest was a nice change of pace, but I too prefer a broader view of the struggle. Sort of the view from General Antony's level instead of that of a common grunt...unless that grunt is Titus Pullo of course.

Hero of Canton
 
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:D Or I have no life.

This latest was a nice change of pace, but I too prefer a broader view of the struggle. Sort of the view from General Antony's level instead of that of a common grunt...unless that grunt is Titus Pullo of course.

Hero of Canton

Titus pullo is indeed quite the character.
 
Originally posted by slydessertfox
@Inaki I plan on sticking to my regular format for the most part but thought this would be a nice change every once in awhile.

No problem:). Also I am empathetic and I recognise that for the other partners of the thread it could be interesting to have also this kind of updates.:)

By the way: have you plans for continue your another TL "let slip the dogs of war"?
 
No problem:). Also I am empathetic and I recognise that for the other partners of the thread it could be interesting to have also this kind of updates.:)

By the way: have you plans for continue your another TL "let slip the dogs of war"?

After looking back at it, it kinda slipped into the realms of ASB imo. I might in the future restart it up, but not anytime soon I don't think.
 
@Inaki I plan on sticking to my regular format for the most part but thought this would be a nice change every once in awhile.

@geordie I plan on adding an update in my usual style to explain what happened. I see your point though and next time ill add it in the same update :)
It doesn't have to be in the same update at all. If the battle takes three posts through the eyes of Quintus*, or thirty-three, makes no difference to me. If the next one is a textbook telling what happened that Quintus missed, or was too busy fighting to notice, it helps tie up any loose ends. :)

*Or whoever else may appear.
 
Chapter XIV: The Final War of The Republic Part IV: The Battle of Actium Part II

Antonius had attempted to surprise the Pompeian’s with an early morning attack. Agrippa and Bassus were caught off guard, but Bassus was quick to react. Rousing the cavalry, he rode out and performed a brilliant delaying action on Antonius’s men. This bought Agrippa valuable time, and he put it to good use. By the time Bassus was forced to retreat back, and the Caesarian’s arrived, his army was already arrayed in battle formation. It helped that his men had been just finishing up their morning meals and were already well awake when the attack came. Antonius had timed it just a smidge too late for what he would have liked, for now the Pompeian’s at least weren’t fighting on an empty stomach.

Regardless, Agrippa and Bassus were still in a sticky situation. Agrippa had arrayed his forces in a wide enough position to prevent getting outflanked, while still possessing extra men to use as reinforcements when needed. As the two sides joined in mutual slaughter, the casualties were horrendous. Agrippa’s right flank buckled, but it was the timely intervention of the reserves that prevented a full on rout. The battle dragged on for hours and well into the day, with the Pompeian’s buckling against the full weight of the experienced Caesarian legions. Whenever they seemed on the breaking point however, they continued to rally back.

roman-empire.jpg

-The Pompeiians holding the line

Eventually, the two sides fought each other into a mutual stalemate. The devastation on both sides was massive. Cicero Minor distinguished himself in the battle, receiving the Civic Crown, the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire to gain (Grass Crown being the highest). Although both sides claimed victory, the situation hadn’t seemed to have changed much from the day before. As both sides counted their losses and licked their wounds however, it became clear the Pompeian’s had emerged from the battle in a better position. The most obvious benefit was their legions gained some invaluable combat experience, and their morale was higher than ever, having successfully fended off an attack from the crack Caesarian troops.

There is another, less recognized, advantage the Pompeian’s gained from all this. Antonius had led the Caesarian assault with his most experienced veterans, in the hopes they would be able to mop up the inexperienced and unprepared Pompeian legionaries. Although they did indeed push the Pompeian legions to their breaking point on multiple occasions, they had never managed to actually break them. As a result, the longer the battle dragged on, the more casualties the veterans took. By battle’s end, the majority of the Caesarian casualties was taken by Antonius’s most talented and experienced men. They were the backbone of his army, and now with still relatively equal forces on either side, or a more confident and battle tested Pompeian army arrayed against him, Antonius became worried he had made a mistake he would come to regret.
 
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