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

Chapter XXIII: Re-Organization of Gaul​


While Pompeius was away fighting the Parthians, at his behest, Marcus Agrippa was sent out to consolidate Roman control of Transalpine Gaul. In the fall of 52 BC, Caesar’s climactic siege of Alesia ended with Vercingetorix’s surrender. Caesar’s most indomitable enemy rode to him on his best horse and lay his sword at the feet of his conquerer. Ignoring this symbolic gesture, Caesar had Vercingetorix sent back to Rome unwashed, and malnourished after stripping him naked and humiliating him. It would be 6 excruciating years before he would be executed.

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Vercingetorix Surrenders To Caesar



Caesar’s policy in Gaul was one of both clemency and vicious cruelty, depending on which suited his purposes and goals best given the situation. For the Gauls that supported the youthful chief that had taught them to fight as a unified people, Caesar was in no mood to show them mercy. Even under Caesar the Romans feared a united Gaul, and he was certain to make an example so something of the sorts did not happen again. He ravaged the countrysides of the Carnutes, Bellovaci, and Bituriges with unparalleled brutality, burning crops, massacring villages, and selling whole populations into slaver. The roaming war bands of Commius and Gutuater were given no mercy, and were all ruthlessly hunted down. Commius was driven across the Rhine and Gutuater was captured and subsequently flogged to death.

Caesar’s final battle in Gaul was against the Arverni hill fort, Uxellodunum. The Arverni were the people from which Vercingetorix had hailed from, and Caesar made sure to show the people of the city no mercy. A year later, Caesar was marching in Italy to his destiny with those very same troops. The Gallic tribes were completely broken and hammered into complete suubmission. Most feared the merciless Roman war machine, who seemed to slaughter and enslave them without thought. Still, Caesar had left his newly subjugated Gauls as an embittered people with a large, collective grudge against the man who had so ruthlessly destroyed their independence. Only a small spark was needed to light the fuse that would lead to revolt once more.

That spark had come in 46 BC, when the Gauls heard of Vercingetorix’s execution. The death of their unifying hero was the last straw for many of the Gallic tribes, and for the Bellovaci, it resulted in a full scale open rebellion. They were arguably the most embittered of the Celts, as Caesar had viciously and mercilessly ravaged their lands and villages in the aftermath of Vercingetorix’s rebellion. The Roman garrison however was not about to be overrun. Roman soldiers and pro-Roman Celts crushed the rebellion quickly. If the Romans thought that was the end of the Gallic quest to throw off the Roman yoke, they were soon proven wrong.

Another rebellion arose in Gaul only two years later, when they heard of Julius Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March. The Allobroges of Southern Gaul spearheading the rebellion this time, which is odd for they had been loyal allies of Caesar throughout his Gallic Wars. The rebellion had never really been sufficiently put down, though it never seemed to have gained steam.

In 31 BC, Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius crushed the army of Marcus Antonius at Actium, on the Greek shore. The aftermath of the victory would lead to Pompeius being hailed as “Princeps” and “Augustus” and eventually achieving complete and sole rule over the entire Roman Empire. All the while, the Gallic Mirini tribe-which had been nearly wiped off the map by Caesar 20 years prior- were in full scale revolt, simultaneously with the Aquitanian tribes of western Gaul.

Both of these revolts were crushed pretty quickly, but it underlined a bigger problem in Roman administration in the area. Caesar had never really consolidated his control over the region, instead focusing on becoming master of the Roman world in a bloody civil war. The Gauls found themselves in legal, political, and military limbo. Roman reorganization of Gaul was finally about to be set in place now by Agrippa, after over 20 years in being in limbo. The Romanization of Gaul was beginning in earnest.

As mentioned, Agrippa arrived in Gaul in 26 BC, with expressed orders to begin the reorganization and Romanization of the province. He immediately took up the project with great enthusiasm and interest, always having an interest in administration as well as military command. Agrippa began by settling Roman colonists and military veterans throughout the province. Roads and fortifications, including the Via Agrippa, were constructed all across Gaul to better connect the province together and to the rest of the Roman world, as well as adequately defend it in the case of future insurrections. Temples and marketplaces were also popping up, and at least on the outside, Roman and Celtic religion coexisted without a hitch, with many gods being referred to in both their Latin and Gallic names. Up and coming upper class Gauls were raised bilingually in both their Native tongue as well as Latin, and chiefs along with their followers were granted full Roman citizenship. Thousands of Gauls took up Roman nomens, including Pompeius, in honor of the emperor. Over time, large Roman settlements would be given the name Augusta (in honor of his title, which he Pompeius was referred to after his death), and granted Roman colony status.

These fusions of Roman and Celtic culture were superficial. The lower class inhabitants of Gaul still spoke Celtic. Druidry was still practiced, despite the xenophobic fears and slanderous claims of the Romans. Armed warbands continued to haunt the more remote stretches of the countryside. In 26 BC, Agrippas conducted a census in Gaul, and began taxing the province. Over the course of the next twenty years, a succession of riots and revolts occurred, most of them spawned by indignation at the cruelty and dishonesty of Roman tax-collectors.

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Still, it is hard to underestimate Agrippa’s importance in the Romanization and reorganization in Gaul. Administratively, he reorganized Transalpine Gaul into 2 geographical spheres, and four Roman provinces. The two geographical spheres were Gallia Narbonensis, and Gallia Comata. Gallia Narbonensis, which constituted the original transalpine Gaul prior to Caesar’s conquests, was made into a province all by itself. In contrast, Gallia Comata was split into three separate provinces, Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Belgica, and Gallia Lugdunensis. The Roman term for these divisions was pagi. They were further organized into civitates which comprised of the pre-conquest communities and tribes such as the Aedui, Allobroges, Bellovaci, and Sequani. These administrative groupings would be taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, and governed by Roman administrators. [1]



[1] All of this information comes from these two sources mostly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Gaul
http://historum.com/ancient-history/25609-gaul-after-caesar-legacy-rebellion.html
 
One of the things that normally we think is that Gaul organized resistance ended with the victories of Caesar in Gaul.

In fact the gauls protagonized a serie of revolts/rebellions in OTL after the death of Vercingetorix.

So is good that this update remembers us this fact.

Reading this update I remember also the other focus of problems in the Roman Conquests in the Western Mediterranean.

Are the Cantabri Wars happening like OTL in Hispania?
 
One of the things that normally we think is that Gaul organized resistance ended with the victories of Caesar in Gaul.

In fact the gauls protagonized a serie of revolts/rebellions in OTL after the death of Vercingetorix.

So is good that this update remembers us this fact.

Reading this update I remember also the other focus of problems in the Roman Conquests in the Western Mediterranean.

Are the Cantabri Wars happening like OTL in Hispania?
They are gonna happen a little bit late. It should happen right around when Pompeius gets back.
 

Sorry if this isn't that well written. There was a lot I had forgotten to add over the previous years, and wanted to clear all that up while still continuing the narrative. __________________________



Chapter XXIV
Despite outwardly showing no concern over Cleopatra's escape, on the inside, Pompeius was frustrated by Cleopatra's escaping his grasp for a second time. Still, it was not something he was about to say, make war over again, and so Pompeius was stuck having to deal with the fact that he would never be able to give Cleopatra some Roman justice. In other words, she would never be paraded in his triumph and then strangled. Sigh. A sad realization indeed.

There were other things to attend to though as he repaired to return west. Important stuff like, who was going to be granted the imperium to control all of the eastern legions after he left them behind. That man of course, was to be his half brother, Marcus Scaurus, as mentioned earlier, had been busy pacifying Armenia while the decisive part of the war was fought in Mesopotamia and Syria. Pompeius appointed Scaurus[1] as the governor of the prestigious and strategically important province of Syria, to go along with his new expanded imperium. If Pompeius was looking to find someone capable he could trust to be placed in that powerful position, Scaurus was a safe bet. The two brothers were close, and that was only strengthened through their time on the run while Pompeius was still an enemy of the state. He wasn't a great military commander, far from it, but he was competent enough for the task, and that was really all that Pompeius needed.

He also took the time to appoint Marcus Tullius Cicero Minor as governor of Cilicia. Cicero Minor had always expressed his interest in a military career, and had distinguished himself by winning the Civic Crown at Actium. Pompeius thought Cilicia would be a good place to judge the man's talents and skills, and perhaps promote him to a more important post in the future. Cicero's father, the great orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, had passed away peacefully while Pompeius was away fighting the Parthians, and the younger Cicero had delivered a great eulogy in his honor to the Senate. With the OK of the Senate, a great funeral was put on display for the former elder statesman who everyone knew and loved. Pompeius seemed not to have the slightest bit of problem with this, and even wrote to Marcus Cicero Minor, that he wished he had been there to pay his respects.

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Marcus Cicero Minor

It was around this time that Pompeius paid a visit to the island of Rhodes. Antyllus was still exiled on the island, having remained surprisingly quiet for the last five years. He had always been in the back of Pompeius's mind, and it seems that Pompeius wanted to end his worries once and for all. Simply put, depending on the impression he got of Antyllus during his short interlude on Rhodes, he would either order his death after departing the island, or allow him to return to Rome and take up a public career. The impression he got must have been superb, because not only was Antyllus allowed back into Rome, he also left Rhodes with Pompeius and the two seemed to be fully reconciled. It was one more potential threat that Pompeius had put to rest and turned into an ally.

Pompeius also began what he would soon apply to the entire empire, and that was the scaling down and streamlining of the legions. For the moment, he only did this in Cyrennaica, where four legions was simply unnecessary to hold down such a small and relatively secure province. He disbanded three of the four legions stationed there, leaving only one, Legio III Cyrenaica, more to watch over Egypt than anything else, intact.
Many soldiers from the disbanded legions simply re-enlisted and merged with the Legio III Cyrenaica, while Pompeius settled others in and around Cyrenaica, as well as around the other eastern provinces. This was not the first time Pompeius had begun disbanding excessive legions, and it would culminate upon his return when he streamlined the amount of Roman legions to a healthy 28 legions defending the empire.

Along his march, Pompeius continued his process of disbanding and merging many of the excessive legions. They had been just building up and building up throughout the civil wars, and there were simply too many. Better to start with trimming the eastern legions now, then waiting to simply make one big cut to all the legions at one time. As he crossed over the Balkans, Pompeius assessed the situation left behind by Marcus Licinius Crassus Scythicus from his conquest of Moesia. Grandson of the triumvir by the same name, Crassus was a loyal supporter of Pompeius back from his days as a pirate on Sicily. In 29 BC, unrest in Moesia and Thrace prompted Pompeius to send Crassus to govern Macedonia to deal with the problem.

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Crassus Scythicus

A tribe of Scythian origin, the Bastarnae had recently came across the Danube. They had began threatening Rome's allies in Thrace, and it warranted attention from Pompeius and the Senate, who dispatched Crassus to Macedonia to push them back. In a protracted campaign that lasted 2 years, from 29-27 BC and ended shortly after Pompeius had left for the east, Crassus drove back the Bastarnae to the Danube and killed their King Deldo in single combat. For this, he was awarded the Spolia Opima (rich spoils). These were the armor, arms, and other effects than a Roman general stripped from the corpse of an opposing commander slain by the general in single comment. It was regarded as the most honorable war trophy a commander could obtain, and for Crassus, it restored some pride in his family name. After receiving the OK from Pompeius, the Senate dutifully awarded him triumphal honors and he was soon parading in a chariot in his moment of glory in Rome.

Pompeius decided now (25 BC) would be a good time to organize Moesia into a Roman province. Obviously the Moesians didn't feel this way, but only put up small and halfhearted resistance, which was crushed before it even got going. Moesia was officially made an imperial Roman province in late 25 BC. As its first governor, Pompeius chose the cousin of the man he had just placed in Cilicia, Quintus Tullius Cicero Minor. Son of Quinus Tullius Cicero and Pomponia (sister of Cicero's friend Atticus), Quintus Cicero Minor had risen up the cursus honorum, culminating in a consulship in 25 BC. This is largely due to his association with Pompeius's right hand man, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, but also due to Pompeius's good friendship with Marcus Cicero. Agrippa had at one time been married to Caecilia Attica, daughter of Titus Pomponius Atticus, making him the cousin in law of Quintus Cicero Minor.

Agrippa was very much interested in advancing the career of his former cousin in law, and had convinced Pompeius to slate him for the consulship for 25, at 41 years of age. Now, with his consulship ending, Quintus Cicero was looking forward to getting a province, if not through Pompeius, then attaining a senatorial province through the drawing of lots. Pompeius had just conveniently formed the new province of Moesia, and so when he looked around for a governor, he naturally stopped at Quintus Cicero. So, as his consulship came to a close and Pompeius prepared to march into Italy, he left for his new province, stopping to congratulate Pompeius for the successful return of the legions along the way.


[1] OTL, stayed with Sextus on Sicily, and fled with him to Anatolia after Agrippa beat Sextus at sea. He then turned him over to Antony...
 
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Looking good as ever, Sly. :)

The only gripe I have is a seemingly absent footnote (about Scaurus).

How do the Legions and legionaries take these streamlining measures? Any unrest? Are the newly released all settled where their respective legions were (as with Cyrenaica), or elsewhere within the republic?
 
...How do the Legions and legionaries take these streamlining measures? Any unrest? Are the newly released all settled where their respective legions were (as with Cyrenaica), or elsewhere within the republic?

Yes another great update. Thank you for it on behalf of the rest of your subscribers.

Re: The Legions: I'm thinking that as long as they get what they were promised all will be well. But if they are feeling like they are being screwed over we could see Legionary mutinies and "Caesar Elevations" rivaling the bad days of the Crisis of the 3rd Century. They will get what was promised them...one way or another.

Hero of Canton
 
Well, there didn't seem to be any problems when Augustus did more or less the same thing, so I assume this time wouldn't be different.
 
Chapter XXV: The Second Settlement

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Pompeius arrived in Rome in splendid triumphal fashion. First into Rome was the carts of Parthian gold and other spoils of war, followed closely behind by captured prisoners of war. Then came the victorious general himself. His face painted red, Pompeius rode into the city on a chariot, with a slave constantly reminding him that he was still only human. Directly behind the chariot were a few soldiers proudly hoisting the eagle standards recovered from the disastrous loss at Carrhae back in 53 BC. They themselves were followed by Pompeius's legionaries, who cracked jokes about their commander. Shortly after the triumph ended and the crowds cleared, Pompeius retired to his home, where he held a lavish banquet to celebrate his return. Invited were his friends like Crassus Scythicus and Faustus Cornelius Sulla (who was also related to him), as well as some of the most promising senators. When the guests began to arrive, it is said that Pompeius had to wipe tears from his eyes, remarking at how empty it all was without the great Cicero with them. The man had clearly made a lasting impact on Pompeius's life, and he would always regret not being there when he died to attend his funeral.

He had a reason to entertain the most prominent senators in Rome, many of which he found too stuck up and didn't have very high opinions of. It was of course, because he was setting the stage for a new settlement to permanently replace the First Settlement of 27 BC. In the First Settlement, Pompeius became a private citizen with unique imperium over the provinces deemed troublesome. This had boiled down to just about every province in the empire with a legion. This settlement, although an ideal temporary solution, was not meant to be everlasting, and certainly not meant to last past his death. With his popularity shooting through the roof, Pompeius thought now was as good a time as ever to renegotiate a new settlement from such a strong position, in order to get the most favorable deal.

The Senate wasn't in an ideal negotiating position themselves. Through some political back dealing and various negotiations behind closed doors, by the middle of 24BC, Pompeius and the Senate had come to an agreement that would become known as the "Second Settlement". Pompeius was granted tribunicia potestas. This gave him all the powers of a tribune of the plebs, without the burdens of the office to go along with it. In effect, he could veto and actions of any of the senatorial magistrates, and could bring legislation before the Senate. This granting of tribunician powers also carried with it the sacrosanctity that tribunes had. This would have been a great political move in and of itself, but that was hardly the start of the powers granted to him.

Pompeius was furthermore granted the to a seat on the consul's platform in the senate house. Along with this came of ius primae relationis, the privilege of being allowed to speak first at all senate meetings, as well as having the authority to summon a meeting of the senate at any time. The senate also bestowed upon him the position of cura annonae, which placed him in the care of Rome's vital grain supply. Pompeius knew first hand how vital that grain supply was to the city, having successfully used cutting it off as a tool to furthering his political ambitions. Of course, this brought with it substantial patronage over the plebean masses who relied heavily on the free grain dole.

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Sextus Pompeius

In the provinces, Pompeius's powers only increased. He was given imperium maius proconsulare over all the provinces. His right to govern all of the Imperial provinces was recognized as well as his right to maintain his own armies. Crucially, Pompeius was given the right to interfere in any other governor's provinces, which was aimed specifically at what would become known as the Senatorial Provinces when he deemed it necessary. Behind the scenes of course, Pompeius and his successors would meddle in the drawing of lots for the Senatorial Provinces and make sure they were governed by men the princeps preferred. Adding to his ever growing list of positions and titles, the Senate also declared Pompeius Defensor Reipublicae (defender of the republic), to go along with his newly acquired powers.
 
Well written! It seems you consider Augustus' principate as a solution without any alternative. I agree, that a restoration of the old-style republic was impossible and not beneficial, but I would like to read your ideas about an improved structure of the principate. A constitution and administrative and military structure, which could perhaps better prevent the big political plague of the principate: usurpations.

So far Pompeius seems to become a 2nd Augustus. Which is very realistic. But he and the senate of this time had the chance to do it better!
Some historians say, that the Fall of the Roman Empire started with Augustus, and they are not that wrong :(
 
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Well written! It seems you consider Augustus' principate as a solution without any alternative. I agree, that a restoration of the old-style republic was impossible and not beneficial, but I would like to read your ideas about an improved structure of the principate. A constitution and administrative and military structure, which could perhaps better prevent the big political plague of the principate: usurpations.

So far Pompeius seems to become a 2nd Augustus. Which is very realistic. But he and the senate of this time had the chance to do it better!
Some historians say, that the Fall of the Roman Empire started with Augustus, and they are not that wrong :(

Well I'm planning for some form of third settlement to come up later, so this isn't the final deal (though the third settlement is just going to add on to this settlement for the most part).
 
Another GREAT update. Thank you for it on behalf of the rest of your subscribers.

I hail your idea of bringing the Gauls into the management and administration of the Empire earlier than OTL it can only yield positive results for the Empire IMCO.

Hero of Canton
 
Chapter XXVI: When In Rome...

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Via Sacra​

Pompeius continued his grueling work ethic, hardly taking a break before moving on to new projects. When July rolled around, Pompeius planned on making an announcement on the 23rd of the month, the day of the festival of Neptunalia took place. The Neptunalia (festival of Neptune) was always held every year two days after the Lucaria, and two days prior to the Furrinalia. These festivals all had relation to the importance of water during a time of extreme heat and drought. The Lucaria was devoted to the dressing of woods, clearing the undergrown bushes by cutting on the 19, then by uprooting and burning on the 2. Then on the Neptunalia, there would be works of conservation of draining of superficial waters, thus corresponding to the Lucaria of the 19th and 21st, which required only work above ground.

Then the Furrinalia of July 25, sacred to Furrina goddess of springs and wells, were devoted to those waters which had to be captured by drilling, i.e. required the work of man, thereby corresponding to the Lucaria of 21, which equally entailed human action upon the soil. The drilling of wells to detect and capture underground water: the visible and the hidden waters are thus dealt with on separate, albeit next, occasions: the Neptunalia and Furrinalia. This complementary between Neptunalia and Furrinalia corresponds to that between the first and second Lucaria, forming in fact two complementary couplets.[1]

Pompeius intended to announce his new building projects on the Neptunalia, namely his restoration and complete reconstruction of the temple of Neptune, and the building of a Basilica of Neptune on the Campus Martius. He also made it clear that from this day on, the month of Quintilis(or Iulius aka. July) would be known as Neptuna. Eventually, the months of Sextilis(August) and September(7th month in the pre-julian calendar, hence the name), would be renamed Augustus and Pompeius in his honor. This would coincide with his tweaking of the Roman calendar, which finally aligned the Roman calendar with the modern Julian calendar and set the period and phase of the intercalary cycle to that of the Julian calendar. For now though, it was just the month of Quintilis that was receiving a name change.

Around this time, Pompeius had finally cut the legions down to a manageable 28 legions, mostly in imperial provinces with Cyrene and Africa being the two exception. Cyrene would only prove to be an exception for a short while however, as when Egypt passed into imperial hands, the Legio III Cyrenaica was re-deployed there. All in all, the streamlining of the mess of legions that the civil war had caused, was very effective and went off without a hitch. The number of men in a legion was increased from 5,200 to 6,000, and the length of service was increased to 20 years, with the last 4 years being on light duty. Accordingly, service time for auxiliaries was increased to 25 years, with the last 4 years for them also being delegated to light duties. Parts of legions were merged, which is why multiple legions with the title “Gemina” (twin) pop up around this time. The remaining legionaries were settled in and around Italy. He also took the time to merge the formerly separate province of Ciscalpine Gaul with Italy. In this way, there would be no legions on the Italian side of the Alps with the ability to threaten his, or his successors position.

With that out of the way, Pompeius turned his attention to his small personal guard, known as the cohors praetoria. It was a habit of many Roman generals to choose from the ranks a private force of soldiers to act as guards of the tent or the person, which consisted of both infantry and cavalry.They had eventually became known as the cohors praetoria, and had been used by prominent generals such as Caesar, Antonius, Octavian, and even Pompeius himself. Pompeius figured something similar would be useful to him in Italy as well, and hand picked some men from the legions stationed around the provinces to fill up his new creation. While Pompeius understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime. So instead of making it blatantly obvious his intentions, Pompeius made sure to only recruit nine cohorts of 500 (and later 1,000 men each). Only three of these nine cohorts were on duty in Rome at any given time, along with a small detachment of 30 cavalrymen to each cohort. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in various Italian towns surrounding Rome; no threats were possible from these individual cohorts, and no alarm bells went off with the Senate or the people.


[1] Thank you Wikipedia.
 
Another GREAT update. Thank you for it on behalf of the rest of your subscribers.

I hail your idea of bringing the Gauls into the management and administration of the Empire earlier than OTL it can only yield positive results for the Empire IMCO.

Hero of Canton

Thanks. Though mostly everything I did with Gaul was actually done OTL between 25-22 BC.
 
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