Roma Renovata est: A Roman TL

The Fate of Geiseric's Other Sons

  • They are captured by Majorian

    Votes: 203 68.8%
  • They escape to the Vandal occupied islands

    Votes: 92 31.2%

  • Total voters
    295
28: Bubbling to the Surface
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm here with another chapter. Things are continuing to heat up in Western Rome as the issued between Ricimer and Ferox continue to brew? How will this affect Rome and the Imperial family. Only one way to find out.

Bubbling to the Surface

465 AD


The year of 465 started tense for the Feroxians and Ricimerians, as they would try to come to an agreement in January that went nowhere, only leaving more bitter feelings between the two sides. Still neither openly acted against the other.

This would change, starting February 14th, when Ferox would learn of a meeting that had been planned between Majorian and Ostrogothic King Theodemir. He also foynd out that it was to discuss a political alliance through marriage. To Ferox, this was the time to launch plan A. He could stand the thought of a Barbarian marrying into the imperial family, especially if it was to the heir to Rome.

Ferox and a small group of his most loyal followers would race down to Ravenna as fast as they possibly could. On the 17th February, Ferox would reach Ravenna, making his way to the imperial palace. He would demand an audience with the emperor, storming through the palace, pushing his way through, even having a minor skirmish with the palace guards.

Eventually Majorian would arrive with Ricimer in tow. Neither would say any thing about the other, but they stared down each other with intensity. Majorian could feel the tensity between the two. Majorian would ask him his issue. Ferox would begin trying to state his points, before being cut off by Ricimer. This would continue several more times, eventually devolving into a screaming match. Majorian would cut in himself, recognising that this conversation was going nowhere. Majorian proposed a meeting where both sides could explain their own points.

The planning was made, and on the 16th March 465, The Conference of Asculum was held. Ferox brought a small his supporters to the conference, whilst Ricimer brought a small contingent of his supporters. To make sure things didn't devolve into bickering, Majorian would bring the Legio I Augusta.

First, Ferox would argue his case, starting with the news about Majorian plans to meet the Ostrogothic King, before going on to explain why this should not be allowed, bringing up examples of sackings and betrayals at barbarian hands, calling for the expulsion and eradication of Barbarians from Roman lands.

Ricimer would then counter this by explaining why, decrying Ferox as a fool who can't see the basic fact that Rome needs these barbarians as much as the barbarians need Rome.

This back and forth would continue over the next few days. The conference wouldn't achieve much. Majorian already lived in a middle ground between the two sides, pushing barbarians.out of Rome's borders whilst incorperating their former citizens into the empire. All this achieved was solidifying that approach

It did not stop Majorian from going to the meeting with Theodemir. On the 23th March, just 5 days after the end of the conference. Theodemir would come asking for a political marriage between his daughter Amalafrida and Majorians second son, Honorius. Majorian thought over it for a few minutes. It would grant him more contol over the Ostrogothic Kingdom, perhaps as a launching pad to future conquest, but could would the people really accept a foreign princess being married into the imperial family. Ultimately, Majorian stated he would consider it, if Theodemir gave his daughter to the Western Empire to be raised in the ways of Rome. If he did, arrangements for the possibility of marriage would be reviewed in 10 years time.

A few days later, Theodemir would hand over Amalafrida to the Western Empire. Amalafrida was less important in terms of succession than Theoderic, so it was an easy decision to make. Still, he didn't exactly like the situation he was now in. His son was a hostage for the East, his daughter now a hostage for the West. He just hoped he was putting his eggs in the right basket.

For Ferox though, that was the last straw. To him, there was no more trying to reason with Majorian. If he wanted things to change he would have to do it by force.

A/N: And that's all for now, I hope all of you enjoyed. Next Chapter, we'll see how Ferox goes about dealing with Majorian. Thank you all for reading this TL, feedback is always appreciated. See you next Chapter!
 
29: The Drums of War
A/N: Hello all, here is another Chapter for you all. Things are gearing up, Ferox is going to do what he feels is right by force. I hope everyone enjoys this latest Chapter!

The Drums of War

Ferox had been spending months going around the Empire, gathering up as many allies as he could. If he couldn't convince Majorian through words, he would do it through his actions.

Through the months, he had managed to gather up 150,000 supporters, 30,000 of which were soldiers of some kind. His plan was to march on Ravenna, using this force in order to back up his threats. If Majorian still refused to comply, they would then storm the imperial palace to capture Majorian and make him give away his title of emperor to his son, Theodosius. This was the beginning of The Ferox Rebellion, the opening act of the Great Civil Wars.

On the 27th August, Ferox would march on Ravenna, all the way to the imperial palace. Majorian would come out to meet this procession personally, wanting to stop things from getting out of hand. It was here that Ferox would present his ultimatum, give them what they wanted our else. Majorian gave Ferox the floor, letting him speak. Ferox would then lay all his demands out, unopposed. These were the same demands that he had called for at The Conference of Asculum plus the rejection of the Ostrogothic marriage proposal. Once they were done, Majorian asked for time to think, to which he was given 5 minutes.

The first thing he did was tell a messenger to get ready to move the rest of the imperial family, just in case things went bad. Majorian then began to reflect on the situation. He understood Ferox's desire, but slaughtering all the barbarian that had made their home in the empire? Not only was that insane, that was part of what had gotten Rome into the situation it was in to begin with. For the first time, he was truly stumped. He was risking his life if he chose to deny them anything. He then thought about his life, how, throughout all of it, he had risked his life for his convictions, so why should now be any different? His mind was made.

When his 5 minutes were up he explained, his rational, and how he would be willing to grant some of their requests, but not all. At this, Ferox was enraged, ordering his men forward to seize the emperor, but the Legio I Augusta blocked them. Ricimer pulled away Majorian and told him to run. Majorian would go as fast as he could possibly go, protected by his guards, he told everyone in the city not to oppose Ferox now, for he didn't want unnessesary death and destruction. He would eventually reach the boats carrying the imperial family getting on and sailing away.

The Legio I Augusta, whilst brave in their effort, were ultimately unable to deal with Ferox's personal army, getting quickly overrun. 3,500 of the 5,000 men were killed, whilst the rest scattered. Many civilians were also killed in the carnage, roughly 500 of them. Ferox now controlled Ravenna.

Ferox gave his first speech to the audience, most in shock over what had just have. This speech, later named The Persecutor's Ad-lib would be recorded by the historian Servius Buteo. This is how it went:

"My fellow Romans, we are in a state of crisis! The traitor Emperor has let barbarians infest our lands, take OUR homes and now- now he want to marry a BARBARIAN into the Imperial family. This CANNOT be stood for!

A barbarian controlling our lands is unforgivable, a DISGRACE to the people of Rome. The Republic was founded on keeping barbarians away from Roman powers. That is why Julius Ceasar was killed, why Augustus failed in his final few years. Our ancestors fought to keep Rome pure and prosperous from the vile barbarians that infest it's borders.

Look at what has happened to the eternal city. For 800 years, Rome was untouched by barbarians. Then our emperors started adding those barbarian to their armies. Now Rome has been sacked, TWICE, by those same barbarian!

We can't stand for this anymore, we MUSTN'T stand for his anymore!

From this moment on, The Traitor Emperor's life is now forfeit. He must be brought to justice for his crimes against Rome. But, in truth, he isn't the prepetrator. He is but the accomplice to this crime, wrapped around the finger of his own Magister Militum, Flavius Ricimer. That same Ricimer is also a barbarian, of course he would be wanting this. It was likely his idea! Gather up as many barbarians as possible to launch an invasion of Rome.

You know what I say? We must drive these barbarians out of our lands entirely, and make them feel the the cold taste of Roman steel. They deserve nothing less. Rome will rise again, after these barbarians are gone! A new age will dawn! A glorius one!

ROME WILL BE ETERNAL ONCE AGAIN!"

His supporters cheered at this, some in the population also cheered alongside this, but most just stared, mouths agape.

What the hell was going to happen?

Meanwhile, Majorian rode in the same boat as Ricimer and his closest family, with Placidia, Gaudentius, Olybrius,Anicia Juliana and the aging Eudoxia in another boat not too far behind. For the first time in his life, Majorian felt defeated and dejected. They had escaped Ravenna, but had left the people to Ferox.

He didn't know what to do.

It was at this point that Eudocia cut in with her own opinion. She critisised Majorian, questioning if her was really the same man that had saved her and her family from the Vandals. She then explained that things weren't lost, the people still supported him, but he need to take up arms and fight for them. Ricimer was in full supported, backing up Eudocia.

Majorian took in his wife's words and begun to think. He then ordered to ships to turn and sail to Salona, he would meet up with Marcellinus in Illyria. From there, he would gather up his armies and march to retake Ravenna.

The stage was set, the curtains lifted on what woulf become the most chaotic and tense period in Western Rome's history.

The show had begun.

A/N: And that is all for today's chapter, I hope everyone has enjoyed this latest chapter. Ferox has taken Ravenna, the capital itself. How will Majorian respond? We shall see. Thank you all for reading this latest chapter, the feedback is always appreciated. See you next Chapter!
 
30k soldiers? really?
I should probably clarify.

30k are HIS soldiers. These are the men that Ferox has to fight. Not all of them are actual soldiers, the experienced soldiers number roughly 15,000-20,000.

I think that would be a fair number, since Majorian has been building but the Roman portion of the army for 4 years by that point.

There are already 8 legions. If you average a legion to roughly 5,000, thats 40,000 in the legions, and that just the main fighting forces. There are more that aren't in any official legions. I'd say at this point, the army is at least 70-80k strong, if not as high as 100,000 (foederati would probably be included in this, although), not as high as they were at their prime, but still respectable. There is also a small percentage of Foederati compared to Roman soldiers than in, say 461.

I can see where the problem was though, hope this helps.
 
I should probably clarify.

30k are HIS soldiers. These are the men that Ferox has to fight. Not all of them are actual soldiers, the experienced soldiers number roughly 15,000-20,000.

I think that would be a fair number, since Majorian has been building but the Roman portion of the army for 4 years by that point.

There are already 8 legions. If you average a legion to roughly 5,000, thats 40,000 in the legions, and that just the main fighting forces. There are more that aren't in any official legions. I'd say at this point, the army is at least 70-80k strong, if not as high as 100,000 (foederati would probably be included in this, although), not as high as they were at their prime, but still respectable. There is also a small percentage of Foederati compared to Roman soldiers than in, say 461.

I can see where the problem was though, hope this helps.
maybe, in addition to the long awaited maps, u could do a brief rundown of how many profesional, semi-profesional, militia and levi wre has, than a total pop and how many in each region (north italy, south italy, carthage, france atc...) or something like 60%in italy 30% tunis/carthage 10% everything else.
if u made the same with how much gold, even with just -very high, high, avg, low, very low- to get a measure of how important a part is to rome in that particular moment(and maybe the main rcport(grain/manpoer/iron/gold/etc.)
I hope i don't seem too demanding, just saying what else could help mitigate the confusion, wouldn't mind you not doing any of the stuff above.
 
maybe, in addition to the long awaited maps, u could do a brief rundown of how many profesional, semi-profesional, militia and levi wre has, than a total pop and how many in each region (north italy, south italy, carthage, france atc...) or something like 60%in italy 30% tunis/carthage 10% everything else.
if u made the same with how much gold, even with just -very high, high, avg, low, very low- to get a measure of how important a part is to rome in that particular moment(and maybe the main rcport(grain/manpoer/iron/gold/etc.)
I hope i don't seem too demanding, just saying what else could help mitigate the confusion, wouldn't mind you not doing any of the stuff above.
For the map, I know people are saying to do it, and I am trying to find sonething I can use, but the best thing I have at my disposal is map chart, and it wouldn't be completely accurate to what I imagine it to be.

As for the rest, I'll keep it in mind.
 
Question, I can understand majorian managing to make a large "roman" army but I have a hard time comprehending how ferox gathered that army, did he do it in secret? I mean if so majorian missed 30000 troops and and a 150000 supporters without majorian noticing. Also how do these people hate him so much, he has been kicking barbarian but for like his entire emperorship? Do a 150000 people really hate his "kindness to barbarians" that much?
 
Question, I can understand majorian managing to make a large "roman" army but I have a hard time comprehending how ferox gathered that army, did he do it in secret? I mean if so majorian missed 30000 troops and and a 150000 supporters without majorian noticing. Also how do these people hate him so much, he has been kicking barbarian but for like his entire emperorship? Do a 150000 people really hate his "kindness to barbarians" that much?
Yeah same question. I don't think late roman logistics were good enough to get even a peasant crowd of 150K anywhere from anywhere, especially without someone realising what's up
 
Question, I can understand majorian managing to make a large "roman" army but I have a hard time comprehending how ferox gathered that army, did he do it in secret? I mean if so majorian missed 30000 troops and and a 150000 supporters without majorian noticing. Also how do these people hate him so much, he has been kicking barbarian but for like his entire emperorship? Do a 150000 people really hate his "kindness to barbarians" that much?
I'll explain,

Yes, it was done in secret, but most of his allies were kept stationary until a few days to a week before the march, they were kept to this own cities.

Why has Majorian never found out until the March on Ravenna?

Remember, Ferox is a senator/nobleman, and an influential one at that by 465. Though he has less power over the system, he can still control the information being sent out to a extent. He used that power to keep it that info away from Majorian until it was time to move.

To give a short answer to your second question, they DON'T hate Majorian, they simply want him to be harsher on the barbarians that are coming into the Western empire. Remember, the Vandal sack of Rome is only a decade old by this point. The pain is still there. I plan to expand upon this more as things go on.
 
I think this Ferox rebellion is really unrealistic.Where did these Roman purists go in otl when Majorian got killed by Ricimer?
You're probably right that the Ferox rebellion is unrealistic, but I wouldn't say it's impossible.

For one their are reasons why people are acting out more now than they were in 465. One of them is due to the increased levels of patroitism compared to 461, I make sure to make note of that in Chapter 18. If I had to say where they moved, they probably ended up moving to places like the Kingdom of Soissons and what would become Venice IOTL.

It was probably overdone though, and for that I apologise.
 
You're probably right that the Ferox rebellion is unrealistic, but I wouldn't say it's impossible.

For one their are reasons why people are acting out more now than they were in 465. One of them is due to the increased levels of patroitism compared to 461, I make sure to make note of that in Chapter 18. If I had to say where they moved, they probably ended up moving to places like the Kingdom of Soissons and what would become Venice IOTL.

It was probably overdone though, and for that I apologise.
it's ok for me, your tl is not bad or anything, I am honestly happy your getting this far as most roman tl's never finish or just stop updating. Your writing itself is getting better anyway so even if it may be a bit unrealistic it will at least make the next one better.
 
it's ok for me, your tl is not bad or anything, I am honestly happy your getting this far as most roman tl's never finish or just stop updating. Your writing itself is getting better anyway so even if it may be a bit unrealistic it will at least make the next one better.
Thanks for the compliments!
 
To give a short answer to your second question, they DON'T hate Majorian, they simply want him to be harsher on the barbarians that are coming into the Western empire. Remember, the Vandal sack of Rome is only a decade old by this point. The pain is still there. I plan to expand upon this more as things go on.
Regardless, Ferox has committed high treason against the Western Roman Emperor and the Western Roman Empire. Only the most fanatic """pure-blooded""" Romans will believe otherwise.

Majorian: It's treason then. (*breaks out the breaking wheel*)
 
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Exactly, 30k soldiers hapyli doing treason, against Majorian , the dude who took back roman land, makes no sense imo. Maybe against the next emperor, but against him?
if all it takes is a little pep talk from Ferox to convince them to betray the basically hero emperor, than all the shit about roman pride and Majorian being a big hero to romans is bs.
 
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