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

Chapter XX: The Siege of Antioch


Quintus stared out from the walls of Antioch, thinking back at how he and his legion got here in the first place. Everyone had known the Parthians were going to invade, yet somehow, the invasion had still caught them off guard. Quintus himself, having never faced the Parthians before, was surprised at the speed with which they had invaded. The VII legion, which had been stationed in Palestine since the civil war, was simply swept aside, carrying Quintus along with it. He remembered the hopelessness he and his comrades had felt as they stood huddled in their tightly packed testudo with arrows reigning down on them from afar, seemingly at will.

The testudo had proven to be effective thus far, and since he was alive, Quintus had few complaints. In Antioch though, Quintus felt a completely different type of helplessness. They were all huddled in a nice fortress sure, but Quintus and the rest of the men became dejected as the Parthians seemed content to siege them out. There was nothing they could really do about it. Sallying from the city had proved to be ineffective after it became clear the Parthians were too numerous to be pushed away by force. As they slowly starved, the Romans (to say nothing of the poor residents of the city) only hope lie in a relieving force. As time went by and there was no sign of any relieving force arriving anytime soon , Quintus began to feel like they were abandoned, and he was going to end up dead, not by the sword, but through his deprived stomach. It was a sense of complete helplessness, and many had already began to accept their fate.

Quintus had not gone that far yet, but by the time word was smuggled in that Bassus had won a great victory and was on his way to relieve them this very second, he was very close to giving up all hope. The news was greeted with joy, and a renewed sense of determination gripped the troops. It was the kind one might expect from a dying stray cat that had been taken in by a sympathetic family. Maybe they weren’t destined to die just yet after all.

Quintus snapped out of his day dream immediately when the sounds of trumpets and war horns from both his own and the enemies camp nearly blew out his eardrums. A shout from the watchman next to him on the wall including the words “Parthia...attack...and oh shit!” (that was all he understood from it) told him all he needed to know. The Parthians were going to try and storm the city by force before the relieving force arrived. Suddenly alert and ready, Quintus moved in with the rest of his century on to prepare to repel the assault on their portion of the wall.

He took up his position next to the tall and burly Lucius, and watched as the Parthians moved up with ladders under the cover of volley after volley of missiles. He heard Gallus frantically shout, “Get the ladders! Get the ladders!” and at that moment he saw the wooden ladders slam against the top of the wall. A pushing match ensued, as the Romans tried to tip the ladders over, while equally determined Parthian soldiers attempted to keep it up while their brave comrades climbed to the top and onto the wall. It was a battle the Romans were losing, and Quintus and Lucius soon had to abandon their part in the pushing match and dispatch the two men who appeared right in front of them screaming like hyenas with maces and swords raised.

Soon more and more wild men screaming like hyenas began to appear, and they were hardly able to kill one before another popped right in the dead man’s place. Quintus had the bright idea of pushing one of the dead man off the side and onto the unsuspecting soldiers climbing the ladder, knocking them all off and giving him some brief respite. Along with Lucius, he took the moment to finally topple the ladder. All around him, the Parthian assault seemed to be slowing down, until at last, the attack seemed to have been called off. The carnage was immense, and Quintus stood gaping as his own century was a shell of its former self. Among the dead was the strict but brave centurion Gallus. Although he hated him as a raw recruit (what recruit doesn’t hate their centurion?), Quintus had grown to like the man, who he soon discovered was the bravest man in the entire legion.

Tears welled up in his eyes at the site of Gallus’s lifeless body lying limp on the ground. By the looks of it, the centurion lived up to his reputation as the bravest man in the legion, and Quintus counted over 10 stab wounds all across his body. At the very least, he had not gone down easily, as the stab wounds, as well as the litter of enemy bodies strewn around him, clearly showed. The rest of the century, which had also grown to respect their centurion as well, made sure to give him a proper burial and funeral worthy of a brave Roman soldier. The next day, Quintus learned that he, among all people, was promoted to replace Gallus as centurion.
 
Chapter XXI: The Roman Parthian War Part II: The Roman Counter-Attack


With Tiridates III crushed in Anatolia, the Romans began a counter-attack. The attack was to be two pronged, with Pompeius moving with his half brother, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, into Armenia to chase after the fleeing Tiridates with a small force. Bassus meanwhile, would relieve the Roman legions holed up in Antioch, and, if Phraates was so inclined, crush the great king in battle. Pompeius’s invasion into Armenia got off without a hitch. Tiridates was attempting a guerilla war from the rough Armenian mountains, but let’s just say he was not accustomed to the rigors and patience of guerilla warfare, and frankly was terrible at the job. He wasn’t receiving much support from the locals, and it wasn’t long before Pompeius felt secure enough to leave Scaurus in command and set off to join Bassus.

Bassus was enjoying the fruits of much deserved easy victory in Syria. Phraates was not an idiot when it came to military matters, so when he heard his son had royally screwed up, and that Bassus was coming for him, a long siege became out of the question. After a ferocious assault on the city was barely fended off, Phraates received word that Bassus was only a few days away, and quickly packed up his bags and left with his battered army. Bassus entered the city a few days later as predicted, much to the joy to the legions there who had begun to think they had been abandoned. With Phraates completely withdrawing from his conquests, Bassus was able to sweep into Palestine, and re-install Herod The Great to the Hasmonean throne, for the second time in the man’s life.

Despite enjoying an unbroken string of spectacular successes, Bassus and Pompeius were unsure about immediately pursuing Phraates. Bassus no doubt remembered the last time the Romans were in this situation-he became bogged down in a siege and was accused of accepting bribes, and Antonius was forced to abandon the campaign shortly after. Both men also had fresh in their memories the two subsequent botched invasions by Antonius, which had only lead to embolden Parthia’s perception that they could best the Romans anytime on their own turf. It appears in this lull in the fighting that Pompeius made overtures to Phraates, calling for both sides to renounce their claims on the other. He offered to hand over Tiridates II, as long as Phraates turned over or killed Cleopatra. Not surprisingly, Cleopatra likely made sure these peace offers never reached Phraates’ eyes.

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Romans do battle with the Parthians​

So after a month of receiving no reply, Pompeius and Bassus continued their march into Parthian territory. There, they discovered Phraates had regrouped, and had resorted to harassing the Romans, instead of meeting them in open battle. It was an effective strategy, and combined with bogging the Romans down in a series of bloody sieges, the Parthian plan seemed to be working, and Pompeius thought about pulling back altogether. Bassus was not deterred however, and kept on pushing for a decisive battle. It took awhile, but eventually the Romans were able to intercept the Parthian army and force Phraates to engage in a set piece battle. The result confirmed his fear that had led him to try and avoid a set piece battle at all costs, and the Romans crushed the Parthian army. There was one saving grace however, and that was the fact that Bassus had been struck in the chest by a stray arrow and fell from his horse. Carried from the battlefield as his men finished off the Parthians, Bassus died later that day of his wounds.

The loss of Bassus’s presence was felt immediately by the Romans. Pompeius, although far from an incompetent commander, was not a great one either. Despite defeating the main Parthian, army, the Roman attack stalled as Pompeius once again allowed himself to be bogged down in never-ending sieges. Phraates was able to assemble yet another army, and what had seemed like an un salvageable situation for him only recently, now turned into a scenario he could very well come out on top in. At the very least, he was confident that he could not outright lose. The Romans soon found themselves back on the defensive again. To his credit, Pompeius was able to prevent Phraates from ever scoring any decisive blow. Still, Pompeius’s inexperience as a commander of land forces showed, and although he was preventing Phraates from any major victory, the Parthians were racking up a number of minor victories, and slowly winning the war of attrition.

The war was clearly swinging back in the favor of Phraates, and by all accounts, Pompeius was seriously considering cutting his losses and pulling back. At one point, he was drawn into a pitched battle, and although it ended in a mutual stalemate, the heavy casualties suffered by his own side seemed only re-enforce his second thoughts about continuing the war. It was at this time though, that Ariobarzanes II of Media-Atropatene chose this opportune moment to revolt and bid for the throne. Whether due to the urging of Pompeius behind the scenes, or on his own accord, the revolt could not have came at a better time for the Romans, and a worse time for Phraates and the Parthians. All of Phraates’s forces were engaged in pushing back the Romans, and he was all too aware that trying to fight both at the same time could never end well for him no matter how he looked at it.

So without the knowledge of Cleopatra; or at least he thought the exiled queen wasn’t aware; he entered into a correspondence with Pompeius on an end to the war. Pompeuis, whom as was already mentioned, was planning on pulling out anyway, jumped at the offer. Being the savvy diplomat he was however, Pompeius made sure to not let his eagerness for peace show. He fully intended squeeze whatever he could out of the deal, and demanded Phraates hand over Cleopatra immediately, along with Tiridates II being named King of Armenia. He also made it clear no peace would be made unless the legionary eagle standards lost at Carrhae were returned. Oh and while he was at it, Pompeius threw in a hefty payment to cover war expenses. Phraates flat out refused to pay Pompeius anything, and he refused to press it further. Following that, Phraates hastily accepted the peace, and sent his agents to arrest Cleopatra. The problem was, Cleoaptra was nowhere to be found.
 
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Following that, Phraates hastily accepted the peace, and sent his agents to arrest Cleopatra. The problem was, Cleopatra was nowhere to be found.
I must admit, I'm not particularly surprised.

Let's just say this won't be the last we hear of Quintus. Hint, hint. Nudge nudge. :cool:
Glad to hear our fledgling centurion will have a chance to stretch his wings a bit. :cool:

Bump to avoid the indignity of the second page. :p
I'll buy you a bit more time, then. :p
 
Cleopatra

So where will the "Evil Witch Queen" seek refuge now I wonder? I am glad she slipped out again to fight another day. Her options now seem rather few.

Hero of Canton
 
1. Informal A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures; an entertaining tale.

intr.v. yarned, yarn·ing, yarns Informal

To tell an entertaining tale or series of tales.

[Middle English, from Old English gearn; see gher- in Indo-European roots.]

Ah, okay.

In a totally (honest guv'!) unrelated topic, has our Ariobarzanes II of Media-Atropatene got a lovely new mistress...?
Maybe, maybe not. ;)
 
Chapter XXII: The Legend of Cleopatra


Cleopatra found herself on the run. Through sympathetic sources she had heard of the peace negotiations, and knew nothing good for her could possibly come out of it. So she up and left. The exiled queen had at this point, given up all hopes at regaining Egypt. Cleopatra knew jumping from king to king just outside of Rome’s grasp was not something she could sustain for long. But what choice did she have at the moment? Packing up her bags, she hauled herself to the court of the rebelling King of Media Atropatene, Ariobarzanes II. Except Ariobarzanes was not easily seduced, and otherwise had no use for Cleopatra. Going with the theory that he had launched his rebellion after being encouraged by Pompeius, taking in Cleopatra would be counter productive. The last thing he wanted to do was have Phraates and Pompeius strike up an uneasy alliance to take him down.

Being turned down at every turn, was not something Cleopatra was used to. What she had been used to was working around obstacles to get her way. Finally, it appears she met an obstacle she could not skirt or plow through. Growing increasingly dejected, she began to resign to the fact that her time basking in the sun was gone. But while Cleopatra the woman’s story was coming to a close, she was determined to make sure that her legend lived on. The wishes of Alexander The Great upon his deathbed soon dawned on her. He had wanted his body thrown into the Euphrates river so that his corpse would disappear. In that way, Alexander reasoned, his survivors might perpetuate the myth that he was whisked off to heaven in order to spend eternity at the side of the god Ammon, who had allegedly fathered him. His generals of course, had not followed through on his wish, and his corpse was used to their own political advantages.

Knowing full well that any day now, agents from either Ariobarzanes or Phraates would find her, she settled on being swept away by the Euphrates being her preferable way of death. This way, as per Alexander’s last wishes, the myth that she was taken by the gods to be one among them. After reaching the river, Cleopatra contented herself with sleeping through the night, knowing full well that this night would be her last. Waking up the next morning, she made sure no sign of her being there was left behind. Staring out into the river, she smiled, for this last act of defiance denied the Romans the glory that was to be had from her capture. Saying goodbye to the world, Cleopatra plunged into the river, and was swept away, her body never to be found.
 
So long Cleopatra. Well played, but it will give the Romans an effective bogeyman (bogeywoman?) for at least 50 years or so.

Also, I can't help thinking of a certain scene in Errnge's The Weighted Scales, you haven't perchance, read this rather wonderful TL, have you, Slydesertfox? ;)
 
So long Cleopatra. Well played, but it will give the Romans an effective bogeyman (bogeywoman?) for at least 50 years or so.

Also, I can't help thinking of a certain scene in Errnge's The Weighted Scales, you haven't perchance, read this rather wonderful TL, have you, Slydesertfox? ;)

I got up to age 28 or so on that. I keep on putting reading the rest off. I gotta get back to reading that now that you mention it.

edit: I had forgot to add in the peace the return of the lost eagle standards, so I edited that it.
 
An epic end for Cleopatra.

When TTL have something similar to Television (Imaginivisor?) and if series of TV has made, Cleopatra merits one entire of 3 or 4 seasons.
 
I got up to age 28 or so on that. I keep on putting reading the rest off. I gotta get back to reading that now that you mention it.
Probably means you didn't see the bit I'm reminded of then. Cleopatra in TTL felt like she had a bit of a Xerxes Indikos vibe.

edit: I had forgot to add in the peace the return of the lost eagle standards, so I edited that it.
So Pompeius got the Eagles back, did he? That'll go down well back in Rome.
 
Probably means you didn't see the bit I'm reminded of then. Cleopatra in TTL felt like she had a bit of a Xerxes Indikos vibe.
Yeah, probably not. Though that makes me all the more interested to get to that point.
So Pompeius got the Eagles back, did he? That'll go down well back in Rome.
Maybe enough popularity for him to work some more political magic. ;)
 
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