Century of Chaos
Alternative Historical Account
King Hadrian I Theodosian ‘the great’ first King of Britannia (401-453)
401 A.d, Londinium, Roman Britain
Prince Hadrian Theodosian was an illegitimate son of the late Emperor Theodosius (the great), as such seen as a threat to the empire’s continued stability the 16 year old illegitimate prince was crowned governor of Britain and left to his devices, when he heard of this he was shocked, he knew his brother wanted to get rid of him but to send him to Britain? The position was prestigious only in name- the isle was under constant barbarian attacks. [historically Britain was in an economic and population upswing that would only be surpassed in the 16th Century]
When he finally settled in Londinium the prince gathered the 10,000 odd men stationed in Britain and immediately reorganised them into 2 legions rather than the chaos of the former groups, furthering his own agenda he also appointed centurions and legates he felt were loyal to him rather than to his brother.
Hadrian went on to resettle much of allied barbarians by splitting up groups into small groups to ensure no mass revolt could happen to depose him.
The British treasury was only slightly appealing, only if not compared to the richer provinces such as Africa Proconsularis- it was decently filled. The first signs of times to come occurred once Hadrian stopped paying any taxes to his brother and at the same time imprisoned many rich nobles as ‘spies’ and ‘traitors’ with the aid of their estates he managed to set up a semi decent economy, next he had to finally blood his legions.
As March arrived Hadrian sent one of his legions under the command of his loyal Legate Probius north to man Hadrian’s Wall and the towns surrounding it. Hadrian took the second legion with him personally in command and marched of too the west to remove (kill/disperse) the Scoti and Demetae- both had bested the Romans in the field and seized much of Brittanica once but this time would be different.
The Prince took his men and settled on a hill with a river to the side- there was only one approach the barbarians could take, not being able to resist the taunt by the boy-prince literally sitting in the middle of their land and arrogant in their previous victories, they marched to fight him it was his 5000 Heavy Infantry and 2000 Heavy Cavalry vs their 14000 Light Infantry. Honorius had placed his men on top of the hill while his cavalry was under Centurion Lucian- one of his appointees, the Prince himself chose to be with his men on the hill, albeit in the centre if the formation.
Before he started campaigning the Prince had outfitted his men with standardised equipment and for the last 4 months he had been drilling them in tactics he had read in books written by Caesar, Pompeii and other great generals. Back in Londinium another legion was being trained from the men not assigned to either legion after the training of the third legion would be done Honorius would command 15000 men and 6000 heavy horse.
Already 80 ships had been constructed and a further 120 were slated for construction, this had caused Honorius to take a few loans but it was worth it as the construction and other works created jobs. At the same time Hadrian had implemented a 5% tax on all jobs while reducing the agricultural tax to 25% of one’s income while some grumbled about the new tax the reduction in the general tax made most of the people happy with their leader who made more money with the new taxes.
Back to the west, Hadrian could now see the enemy army coming. His legions were far better than what the Western Empire fielded but at the same time they were not quite at the Caesar’s level yet. His brother had commanded him to pay taxes and send some of his troops south but the young Prince had scoffed and ignored the incompetent emperor in the west. His brother simply could not enforce his demand as he could not muster the naval or land prowess required to defeat Hadrian’s forces.
Battle of Viroconium
The barbarian force marched onto the hill, they had no doctrine whatsoever. They happily marched up the hill but halfway through Hadrian gave the signal to start the bombardment by pila each legionary carried within seconds nearly 4000 pila bombarded the barbarian who suddenly lost their momentum as they faltered a flaming arrow volley was launched- it served two purposes, a) It genuinely was effective in killing and b) It passed the order for the cavalry to charge within 20 minutes.
The barbarians charged the shield wall but an unruly mob of lightly armoured barbarians was just that no matter how spirited, they slammed into the shield wall and the massacre begun.
Many stumbled some were just pushed as occasionally the Prince commanded the shield wall to take a step forward or backwards. Roman Gladius’ whipped out and swiftly took the lives of barbarians and were safely back within the shield wall as quick as lightning. Within 5 minutes the barbarians were routing, the leader of the barbarians managed to stop the rout as he charged into the shield wall but in the next 15 minutes everything changed as the heavy cavalry charged into the barbarian back after a moment the barbarians surrendered.
Every barbarian was sentenced to death by Hadrian for intruding on the land of the empire and rebelling against the rule of Roma.
In the North the scene was repeated by Probius who also commissioned the repairs for the Hadrian’s wall as ordered by the Prince as May came around all of Ordovices, Silures and Demetae was ‘pacified’ the Prince lost around 700 legionaries while nearly 100,000 barbarians were scattered, resettled or massacred.
The news of such victory propelled the Prince’s popularity to new heights as the success allowed for the reforms he made to be accepted.
With the arrival of August the Prince settled his legions in Viroconium, Eboracum and the new legion that was furnished recently was set up in Durovigutum. Meanwhile the population of Roman Britain was approximately 3.5 Million but most of it was rural with the biggest city of Londinium containing 85,000 souls (ironically it would be larger than Rome itself soon). Prince Hadrian raised two MORE legions as he planned to cut ties with the western empire which was quickly crumbling in the face of Germanic barbarians.
Saxons attempted to land on the isle but they were completely slaughtered with all the children taken. Orphanages was yet another thing Hadrian started to commit to on a massive scale since the advantage of indoctrinating young children was too good to be left alone (not that he phrased it that way). Expansions of Londinium were continued and walls named Theodosian walls were to be made at the same time, Hadrian also ordered construction of more Aqueducts and other infrastructural improvements Londinium. The rest of the winter would be relatively peaceful except a few pushes onto Hadrian’s Wall by the Picts which were easily repulsed.
The Emperor commanded Hadrian to return as soon as March came but Hadrian once again scoffed and ignored his older brother. Once again his Honorius was left pulling his hair out. Earlier he had legitimised Honorius as an appeasement, nothing came of that as Hadrian had already called himself a Theodosian before that.
Hadrian had gradually expanded his army and navy which now stood at 6 Legions (30,000 men) and 300 Ships, enough to conquer all of Gaul if he needed (he did not need to) along this he had a supplement of 1000 cavalry with each legion and he himself had 2000 men and 2000 heavy horse that guarded him.
For the next 6 years Honorius would see to prospering of Britain and his father would continue to pull at his hair, Stilicho attempted to talk to Hadrian once but the Magister Militum was rebuffed as the Prince had clearly stated he wanted to nothing with his brother- eastern or western one. However Stilicho managed to get the word out that if he ever came his help would be recompensed for.
408 a.d, Londinium, Roman Britain
Prince Hadrian was honestly stumped at the just how incompetent his brother was, his execution of the Magister Militum was defiant. Defiantly Stupid. While he himself had some distaste for Stilicho he grudgingly respected the man for his adept commanding ability and defence of Italia with his limited resources and that blundering idiot as an emperor. After the execution of the last good general and the massive persecution of Stilicho’s former allies and troops Hadrian declared himself King Hadrian Theodosian I of Britannia formally rebelling from the western empire. His proclamation was welcomed comely by Romano-British people who happily rejoiced at the formal declaration of their beloved king.
In the 8 years of his rule Hadrian had massively developed Britain, the medical facilities had increased tremendously, population growth rate increased to an amazing rate (7%) as new farming methods were introduced at the same time the new taxation helped the farmers and filled the coffers of the province.
The Empire, whilst, continued its descent Gaul was lost, Hispania was ravaged and the Visigoth King Alaric was looking to march on Roma itself.
The east was more stable but even it was reeling trying to recoup from the loss at Adrianople.
Hadrian meanwhile had raised four more legions as his army increased to 10 Legions (50,000 Legionaries) the massive increase in the army size cost him a good part of his treasury but it paid off as the following year he easily pushed the picts back all the way to the Antonine Wall which was restored and prepared for duty.
Roman Kingdom of Britain’s Army and Navy:
10 Legions ( approx. 50,000 Legionaries)
10 Cavalry Companies (10,000 Cavalry)
Imperial Guard (2000 Heavy Infantry and 2000 Heavy Cavalry)
10 Auxiliary Units attached to the Legions (15,000 archers and 10,000 engineers)
Total Count: 50,000 Legionaries 10,000 Cavalry (Light/Heavy) 25,000 Support units Imperial Guard
300 Dromons 200 Trade Ships 120 Transport Ships (total of 620)
The total size of the army was 85,000 men but in reality each Legion had 5000 Legionaries, 1000 Cavalry (Light/Heavy), 1500 Archers and 1000 Engineers. Thus each Legion totalled out to a firm 8500 men.
At this point of time having such was indeed paranoid. Regular drills were carried out to ensure that the military units don’t become complacent and the army’s restructuring to the early imperial legions continued.
For the next two years the Kingdom would prosper further and Hadrian (24 years old in 410) had finally married the daughter of a noble in Londinium in 408 itself, Irene became the first Queen of Britannia. In 409 Prince Constantius Theodosian was born to the King and Queen.
In 410 when news of the sack of Rome came Hadrian was hardly shocked, he knew his brother to be incompetent the news of the eternal city being sacked grew anti barbarian sentiments in the empire to new heights, this would eventually culminate in the invasion of Albion.
In the May of 411 King Hadrian gathered 4 of his Legions (34000 Men) along the Imperial Guard (4000 Men) and headed towards Segontium where half of the Imperial Navy was gathered to transport him and his army, due to the growing anti barbarian sentiment Hadrian was forced to act, and act in a way that did not put him under the Roman Throne once more
Before May ended Hadrian had made landfall in Hibernia, he quickly established a fort in the Monaig region, soon the fort would become a new Roman City of 10,000 Colonists. (Modern Day Location of Cork) here the city of Historian would be founded once the Roman Invasion of Hibernia went through.
Meanwhile Hadrian ordered one of his legions to build a stand by port and fort while he took his three legions and marched off to see the native celts. The celts themselves had gathered around 40,000 Men to fight the Romans, who they wanted to see removed from their island. However these men were badly armed compared to the Roman Army which was effectively 20000 men shorter however the Romans were equipped with superior equipment and they had 4 Cavalry Companies.
The young King found the Celtic army near Dun Alinne, supposedly a royal site, instead of fighting right there and finishing of the men Hadrian acted as if they were retreating due to apparent fear and sent hidden messages alongside a map compiled by his scouts to his fourth legion informing them to circle round the location where he would lead the Celts into a battle then the fourth legion would cut of their exit and claim victory through the southern approach.
Around a week later the King finally turned around and arranged his men into fighting lines and sent his heavy cavalry to hide behind the flanking hill, the Battle of Hibernia was about to began soon, this battle would decide the fate of Hibernia for the coming centuries, good or bad.
Battle of Hibernia
King Hadrian once more lead from the front inspiring his men who were already convinced of victory due to the fact that they were fighting barbarians who mostly wore no armour.
The Romans entered the Testudo Formation standing shoulder to shoulder and braced themselves as the barbarians charged at them, the Roman Testudo held strong as short spatha or gladius swords whipped out once in a while decimating the numbers of the barbarians, an hour into the battle Hadrian blew his blowing horn, in response a new, fresh legion charged the back of the barbarians and the cavalry started harassing the flanks of the barbarian army ensuring no one was able to turn in time to repulse the new Roman Legion.
The battle quickly became a one sided massacre and after an hour the Celtic Army was slaughtered to the last man after this decisive victory Hadrian was proclaimed ‘Maximus’ by his troops for his two victories in both battles where he was terribly outnumbered. The Roman losses numbered around 550 men, the shield wall was not even broken properly.
Hadrian would continue to campaign till March of 413 at which point all of Hibernia would reluctantly accept Hadrian as the King of Hibernia. Leaving two legions behind to guard the isle the King departed from Hibernia to Londinium, already the conversion of the population from Celtic Uncivilised Barbarians to Proper Catholic Romans was being done, many abandoned their old ways quite easily for the more luxurious Roman Life.
When Hadrian arrived back in Londinium he quickly proclaimed himself the King of Britannia and Hibernia. Being able to do what no other Roman had done- marched in and across Hibernia- brought great prestige to the King who made sure to use his propaganda machine to let everyone know of his three major victories in Hibernia against nearly 100,000 foes with only 4 legions. (100,000 fought in three different battles)
King Hadrian lead his 2 remaining free Legions and marched north towards Hadrian’s Wall where he collected the Legion in Coria (21,000 citizens), with a total of three legions Hadrian launched an attack into Caledonia in the Summer of 416. In around a month the objective to reclaim the wilderness was accomplished and a Legion was left to pacify these provinces while the King marched and rested in the Antonine Wall during the Winter.
For the next 2 years King Hadrian spent educating Constantius who was 10 years old at this point, Constantius was introduced to all the legates who swore loyalty to their Prince at a request from their King. Constantius was sent back to the capital by the summer of 420 after being educated in military and intrigue by Hadrian and some of his trusted Legates.
Probius was sent back with his son to continue his learning of the way of warfare.
Meanwhile the King had to face the remains of the Pictish people, an attack on upper Caledonia where he faced the Picts and to his surprise Saxons, however using the terrain like a master of war, Hadrian managed to win a decisive victory 16 Roman Miles north of Venicones where his army of 10,000 men managed to defeat an army of 52,000 Pict-Saxon allied force with negligible losses.
The two Roman Legions were set up in Venicones and North Caledonia respectively while the entire Pictish and Saxon population was either scattered, slaughtered, enslaved or integrated into the Kingdom.
King Hadrian toured Britain for the next year going town to town building further infrastructure gaining even more fame.
By 422 a.d Hadrian was back in Londinium, for the next decade Hadrian would educate his son in administrative and martial matters.
Roman City Census of 425 Anno Domini
Londinium: 105,000
Camulondunum: 45,000
Eboracum: 42,000
Lindum: 39,000
Gleven: 34,000
In the two and a half decade of rule of Hadrian the Kingdom’s 5 biggest cities quickly grew and continued growing at a rapid rate along the population of the kingdom which had grown to 4.2 Million People over time (adjusted for approx. growth of 1% an year).
Hadrian raised 4 more legions by the time 432 a.d arrived. The Army and Navy kept having drills at least 4 times a year to ensure they were battle ready, even at 46 the King was a formidable sight, the young Prince Constantius had grown to be a replica of his fathers image in both mind and looks, the Prince had grown up to be a wise and cunning man. Surprisingly even at this age the King had a daughter that was name Theodora.
While this happened the prosperity of Roman Britain continued growing leading to the population rising at an unprecedented rate (2%) for the next two decades.
Till 453 a.d not much changed with the world in the two decades that passed, the population of the Three Kingdoms (Caledonia, Hibernia and Britannia) had grown at an astonishing rate due to improved knowledge of medicine Hadrian had brought from Roma. Constantius had married another Local Noble named Livia, young Prince Theodosius was born in 441 a.d.
Census of The Three Kingdoms
Hibernia: 757,833
Caledonia: 151,566
Britannia: 6,365,798
Total: 7,275,197
Londinium: 740,024
Londinium showed a massive growth with a lot of people moving the city which was by now nearly as big as Roma and Constantinople. The growing tax base meant that more land was cultivated, thus a new cultivation technique for a 4-crop rotation had developed with some input from Hadrian and Constantius. Constantius had, with the growing treasury, raised 2 more legions which brought the mobile legions (not garrisoned) up 6 Legions (55,000 men alongside the Imperial Guard). On 21st May 453 King Hadrian ‘the great’ Hadrian finally passed away at the ripe age of 67, his wife had already passed away 3 years before. Passing peacefully in his sleep the great King was remembered in the annals of history for his stunning conquests but also for his great reforms and how he brought a new Renaissance to Britannia and inviting various tribes and then splitting them up into smaller communes that quickly got absorbed into the Roman Culture.
King Constantius I Theodosian (453a.d -456 a.d)
Constantius was already a grown man when he had inherited the throne, the legions already knew their new king as he had carried out the quarterly inspections that his father had stopped doing at the insistence of his own troops when they saw the strain the quarterly inspection put on the 55 year old King thus the Prince had the responsibly for the previous 12 years.
Constantius poured a lot of the extra money in the treasury to research further medicine either way the population of the isle had stabilised again and the population boom had given way for a growth rate of 0.3% which while great was 3/10th of the growth rate during the baby boom.
The population of Britannia in 453 a.d was due to 5 Decades of lower infant mortality, increased fertility of soil and people, better cultivation methods and new plants that were more sustainable to the isles. [The population of 7.2 million was huge, in comparison Europe’s population was only at 65 Million People.]
Constantius’ reign was known for its patronisation of art and culture which lead to a bloom of new architecture that was iconically similar to Italian Architecture as the Romans firmly believed they were as Roman as the Italic Romans.
Even with peace all around the Roman Army continued holding exercises including landing exercises in Hibernia and Caledonia, at this point the Roman Armed consisted on 16 Legions and 800 Warships. Out of these 8 Legions had to always garrison the three Kingdoms, 4 in Britannia, 2 each in Caledonia and Hibernia. At the same time having 8 Legions (68,000 men) as a mobile force ready to move into action was a valuable asset. The Imperial Guard was now made out of the 6000 fittest loyalists to the Theodosian family.
Constantius continued his father’s policy of shoring up his defences, carrying out military exercises and not intervening in the fragile empire anymore. Constantius would be known best for the formation of new battle tactics and how he conquered the islands in Mare Hibernicum.
Constantius was suitably shocked when he came to hear how the fools in the West once more deposed the rightful emperor. He still maintained his father’s non-interventionist policy and politely yet firmly refused to participate in the ensuing chaos known as the Roman Succession there were some in Rome that were saying that Constantius should be crowned the Western Roman Empire since he was a direct descendent of Theodosius the great himself, he once again firmly said no since The Three Kingdoms at this time were far more prosperous and safe than the entirety of the Western Empire, so he refused due to having no will to interfere with the chaos of the empire that would be his death.
Constantius started educating his son in the same way he was educated by his own father, Theodora meanwhile was married to a noble in Dubris, she had a son and a daughter in 454 a.d and 455 a.d respectively. The King’s health soon faded as he left the Kingdom to his son as 456 a.d came to an end. His reign would be immortalised as one where medicine and other sciences grew immensely without the fear of prosecution as the King had a firm hand on the Church’s one due to them calling him a living saint (much like Hadrian) due to the large scale orphanages (propaganda centre) they established.
His son was the youngest King of Britannia as he was just 15 years old when he rose to the throne (but he was just as able as his father or grandfather as we would see further down the line).
King Theodosius I Theodosian (456-
Theodosius as a prince had always been doted on by his sister who he loved fiercely thus he allowed his sister to chose her own husband without his own political considerations, true to his word he said nothing when she married Majorian, an up and coming general, in the same year as his ascension to the throne. He did attach a cohort (580 Legionaries) of his Imperial Guard to protect her at all costs. He attended the wedding at Avaricum giving a dos worthy of his Kingdoms. At the wedding he was honestly surprised by the honourable man Majorian was and he genuinely offered him a home if he came to Britain.
Back in Londinium after much thoughts how United Kingdoms sounded a bit dour the young King gathered all his vassals and announced how he had now merged all three Kingdoms together into a singular Kingdom of Albion, and thus was born the Title of the Kingdom of Albion, whose citizens still called themselves Romans.
In 457 a.d Theodosius was very surprised when Majorian became the Western Roman Emperor. He was even more surprised when he managed to remove the Burgundians from Rhone Valley and then forced the Visigoths to go back the Federate Status. In only 3 years Majorian was planning to go to war with Vandals, Fortune however was not with Majorian as the good emperor lost his fleet to his own trusted friend Ricimer’s treachery (not that he knew it was Ricimer, to him the Vandals used underhanded tactics to destroy his fleet).
This time however instead of going back to Rome in frustration the emperor sent word to Albion asking for some of their ships to carry his troops across and carry them back once he had liberated Mauritania and Carthage.
When Theodosius received the letter instead of doing what Majorian asked of him he helped him do something better, Theodosius called his 8 supplementary legions and gathered 600 of his 1000 ships and left for Carthago Novo where the western emperor awaited his brother in law who had sent a message asking him to wait for help to arrive.
By July 461 Emperor Majorian and his army were greeted by the sight of 600 ships approaching the harbour of Carthago Novo, since Majorian’s Army numbered at only 25,000 men compared to the 68,000 the King had brought, further more the 8 Legions of the King were far more Roman than the armies of Majorian.
The allied armies of Majorian and Theodosius made landfall in Caesaria where they managed to take the castle after light fighting as the Castle was already rebelling at the sight of a Roman Army marching onto them the defenders never knew what hit them as the allied army entered the fort and slaughtered all Vandals.
Emperor Majorian marched east towards Carthage while King Theodosius took 4 of his legions and marched to liberate the eastern cities while he send his Right Hand Man Titus Angelus with the other 4 legions westward to liberate the cities in the name of Roma. Despite being King of Albion the entire population of Albion was very patriotic as they believed they were as Roman as the Italic Romans, if not more since their armies were not filled with barbarians rather they retained the traditional heavy infantry of the empire, with cavalry supporting the infantry. The Romano-Albion Legions could withstand cavalry charges from the finest of the cavalry through the known world.
Titus marched along the road liberating city after city easily as the first sign of opposition was only encountered near Tingis but the Vandalic army was destroyed by the Legions of Albion, in front of the discipline Caesar’s Legions were famous for the Vandals failed. Good Sailors they might be, but heavy infantry they were not. As per the orders of his King Titus summarily executed all the surrendering soldiers as Theodosius told him to take no Vandalic Prisoners.
Soon after Tingis surrendered to the General who, after setting up a city militia and confiscating all weapons and sharp objects from the Vandals in the city, marched onwards to Lixus, Banasa, Volubilis and Sala Colonia connected to Tingis by Road. In the east Theodosius saw even more success. Theodosius marched across the desert abandoning the road to capture Sitifis and Lambaesis- two major cities- after which he fought a Vandalic Army of 44,000 men at the gates of Cirta. The King marched on the city of Hadrumentum from the south, meanwhile Majorian managed to defeat Genseric outside Utica once and then again as he approached Carthage, the Romano-Albion Navy had blockaded the port of Carthage after defeating the Vandalic Navy at the Bay of Carthage.
Majorian had Carthage besieged soon, soon the news of his brother in law taking Hadrumentum and marching north to join up with him. In the west Titus had finally subdued all cities and ‘removed’ all Vandalic presence by the usual methods. Titus properly armed 500 men as city watch in the 5 cities he liberated and then he marched east with his 4 Legions to join up with his king again.
Majorian meanwhile happily besieged Carthage as his army surrounded the city and his Brother in Law’s Navy blockaded it. He was joined by Theodosius and his 4 Legions within a week, after a little bit of contemplation both royals decided a long siege might be unwieldy- Theodosius had a professional army whose job was to sit if he said so, Majorian had a large amount of barbarians who had close to no discipline- thus Theodosian, once again showing how his legions were superior to other Roman armies, ordered his 4 Legions to start building a ramp and two siege towers. Much to the shock of Majorian’s army who thought the young King was jesting the four Legions had the base ready by dawn and were already working on making the ramp climbable.
Within a week the siege works were ready, the Vandals had tried at three times to disrupt the building of siege works but Majorian’s army and 2 Cohorts managed to send them back with their tails between their legs.
Battle of Carthage
The battle was initiated by Majorian’s Army lead by the emperor himself as they climbed the ramp and attacked the walls. At the same time Theodosius and Legate Quintis both took two legions and a tower each to assault the walls. Unknown to everyone but Theodosius and Quintis the Imperial Guard had been tunnelling under the land and were about to burst out in the middle of the Market in Carthage. It was a ridiculous plan, one Theodosius adopted from the Gauls who fought at Gergovia, perhaps that is why it succeeded it was so stupefying, so utterly astounding that both sides stopped fighting for a minute. Before the Legions resumed their attack on the walls achieving a breach easily now that the Vandals had to rapidly redeploy on their backs to stay alive. Quintis pushed in first leading his legions to capture the South Eastern Walls after which Theodosius broke through and Majorian followed soon.
The battle finally ended as Genseric threw his arms down.
After Decades of Vandalic rule the West had finally taken back Africa from the barbarians. The Western Roman victory with the aid of the Roman Kingdom of Albion would be grudgingly appreciated by Rome. The Romano-Albion Fleet would collect Titus at Hippio Regius and then move to Campania where Majorian and Theodosius stationed their armies, well Majorian disbanded his armies but the King insisted at least 2 Legions accompany them to Roma.
Theodosius ordered Titus to make a castra near Campania with 6 Legions.
The sight of Theodosius and Majorian riding towards Rome at the helm of two fully armed Roman Legions carrying their standards and armed with traditional Roman Armour and equipment was awe inspiring as the Emperor looked more like an emperor than he ever did.
When they arrived near Roma they expected to see a lot of things but they did not expect to see Ricimer along troops ready to depose Majorian- unfortunately it seems the news of Majorian’s victory was not yet spread, it might have been Albion’s doing- Of course as soon as Ricimer saw Theodosius alongside Majorian Ricimer adopted a welcoming look, understanding what had happened. It seemed the ‘visit’ the King of Albion had planned was a tour through Carthage.
As soon as Theodosius had landed in Italia he had ordered his men to spread the word about Majorian’s Victory.
In Rome many a triumph were held in the name of Majorian in the honour of his reconquest of Carthage.
In the end the visit went off without a hitch Theodosius left 2 more cohorts of the Imperial Guard to make the total men guarding the Empress 4 Cohorts (approx. 2000 men).
After staying for a week and warning his sister of Ricimer the King of Albion finally departed for Londinium, he was both smug and disappointed to discover due to the rapid growth of Londinium and the two sacks of Roma and loss of Africa, Roma now was barely half the size of Londinium. At the start of the Century Roma had nearly a 1,000,000 habitants.
The decline of Rome was a humbling view, Theodosius returned to Albion convinced that an independent Kingdom was the best way to go, there was no advantage in even nominal loyalty to Rome anymore, even with Africa the Western Empire was seeping corruption and ruined in all but name. Majorian just did not have the cruelty to save it.
In Londinium Theodosius gave a triumph to Titus and himself for both of their victories in the African Campaign. The swiftness of the Romano-Albion forces in the field and their ability to unload and load onto transports was a direct result of the regular exercises no one could complain about.
Theodosius would enjoy his reign for the next three years and even Majorian would manage to gather a purely Roman force of 20,000 standing men. While the Barbarians still made a good deal of his reserves the thought of having a more reliable army had finally caught on with him.
However Majorian was still widely unpopular in Rome due to his generally anti corruption (and thus nobility) legislature. It was only the combined (and was it not ironic) work of Helena and Ricimer that kept the Western Court in check, combined with favour from Leo who viewed his marriage with Helena as a useful thing. In a way the West was still ruled by progeny of Theodosius I. Meanwhile the Eastern Empire was ruled by the Leonid Dynasty, who were not related to Theodosius.
The famous ancestor of Majorian’s wife was one more reason that his rule was tolerated by the Western Court. In the three years following Theodosius had married a local noble keeping the tradition of his predecessors alive, He had been to Rome two times, For the birth of his nephew Hadrian in 463 and for his first name-day in 464.
In August of 464 unmitigated disaster struck the Western Empire as Majorian and his family were struck by an assassination plot by much of the Senate and Ricimer who hoped to imprison the Empress and install a ‘better’ emperor.
Once again just when the West had barely come out form the jaws of death it tittered along the edge of despair.
Alternative Historical Account
King Hadrian I Theodosian ‘the great’ first King of Britannia (401-453)
401 A.d, Londinium, Roman Britain
Prince Hadrian Theodosian was an illegitimate son of the late Emperor Theodosius (the great), as such seen as a threat to the empire’s continued stability the 16 year old illegitimate prince was crowned governor of Britain and left to his devices, when he heard of this he was shocked, he knew his brother wanted to get rid of him but to send him to Britain? The position was prestigious only in name- the isle was under constant barbarian attacks. [historically Britain was in an economic and population upswing that would only be surpassed in the 16th Century]
When he finally settled in Londinium the prince gathered the 10,000 odd men stationed in Britain and immediately reorganised them into 2 legions rather than the chaos of the former groups, furthering his own agenda he also appointed centurions and legates he felt were loyal to him rather than to his brother.
Hadrian went on to resettle much of allied barbarians by splitting up groups into small groups to ensure no mass revolt could happen to depose him.
The British treasury was only slightly appealing, only if not compared to the richer provinces such as Africa Proconsularis- it was decently filled. The first signs of times to come occurred once Hadrian stopped paying any taxes to his brother and at the same time imprisoned many rich nobles as ‘spies’ and ‘traitors’ with the aid of their estates he managed to set up a semi decent economy, next he had to finally blood his legions.
As March arrived Hadrian sent one of his legions under the command of his loyal Legate Probius north to man Hadrian’s Wall and the towns surrounding it. Hadrian took the second legion with him personally in command and marched of too the west to remove (kill/disperse) the Scoti and Demetae- both had bested the Romans in the field and seized much of Brittanica once but this time would be different.
The Prince took his men and settled on a hill with a river to the side- there was only one approach the barbarians could take, not being able to resist the taunt by the boy-prince literally sitting in the middle of their land and arrogant in their previous victories, they marched to fight him it was his 5000 Heavy Infantry and 2000 Heavy Cavalry vs their 14000 Light Infantry. Honorius had placed his men on top of the hill while his cavalry was under Centurion Lucian- one of his appointees, the Prince himself chose to be with his men on the hill, albeit in the centre if the formation.
Before he started campaigning the Prince had outfitted his men with standardised equipment and for the last 4 months he had been drilling them in tactics he had read in books written by Caesar, Pompeii and other great generals. Back in Londinium another legion was being trained from the men not assigned to either legion after the training of the third legion would be done Honorius would command 15000 men and 6000 heavy horse.
Already 80 ships had been constructed and a further 120 were slated for construction, this had caused Honorius to take a few loans but it was worth it as the construction and other works created jobs. At the same time Hadrian had implemented a 5% tax on all jobs while reducing the agricultural tax to 25% of one’s income while some grumbled about the new tax the reduction in the general tax made most of the people happy with their leader who made more money with the new taxes.
Back to the west, Hadrian could now see the enemy army coming. His legions were far better than what the Western Empire fielded but at the same time they were not quite at the Caesar’s level yet. His brother had commanded him to pay taxes and send some of his troops south but the young Prince had scoffed and ignored the incompetent emperor in the west. His brother simply could not enforce his demand as he could not muster the naval or land prowess required to defeat Hadrian’s forces.
Battle of Viroconium
The barbarian force marched onto the hill, they had no doctrine whatsoever. They happily marched up the hill but halfway through Hadrian gave the signal to start the bombardment by pila each legionary carried within seconds nearly 4000 pila bombarded the barbarian who suddenly lost their momentum as they faltered a flaming arrow volley was launched- it served two purposes, a) It genuinely was effective in killing and b) It passed the order for the cavalry to charge within 20 minutes.
The barbarians charged the shield wall but an unruly mob of lightly armoured barbarians was just that no matter how spirited, they slammed into the shield wall and the massacre begun.
Many stumbled some were just pushed as occasionally the Prince commanded the shield wall to take a step forward or backwards. Roman Gladius’ whipped out and swiftly took the lives of barbarians and were safely back within the shield wall as quick as lightning. Within 5 minutes the barbarians were routing, the leader of the barbarians managed to stop the rout as he charged into the shield wall but in the next 15 minutes everything changed as the heavy cavalry charged into the barbarian back after a moment the barbarians surrendered.
Every barbarian was sentenced to death by Hadrian for intruding on the land of the empire and rebelling against the rule of Roma.
In the North the scene was repeated by Probius who also commissioned the repairs for the Hadrian’s wall as ordered by the Prince as May came around all of Ordovices, Silures and Demetae was ‘pacified’ the Prince lost around 700 legionaries while nearly 100,000 barbarians were scattered, resettled or massacred.
The news of such victory propelled the Prince’s popularity to new heights as the success allowed for the reforms he made to be accepted.
With the arrival of August the Prince settled his legions in Viroconium, Eboracum and the new legion that was furnished recently was set up in Durovigutum. Meanwhile the population of Roman Britain was approximately 3.5 Million but most of it was rural with the biggest city of Londinium containing 85,000 souls (ironically it would be larger than Rome itself soon). Prince Hadrian raised two MORE legions as he planned to cut ties with the western empire which was quickly crumbling in the face of Germanic barbarians.
Saxons attempted to land on the isle but they were completely slaughtered with all the children taken. Orphanages was yet another thing Hadrian started to commit to on a massive scale since the advantage of indoctrinating young children was too good to be left alone (not that he phrased it that way). Expansions of Londinium were continued and walls named Theodosian walls were to be made at the same time, Hadrian also ordered construction of more Aqueducts and other infrastructural improvements Londinium. The rest of the winter would be relatively peaceful except a few pushes onto Hadrian’s Wall by the Picts which were easily repulsed.
The Emperor commanded Hadrian to return as soon as March came but Hadrian once again scoffed and ignored his older brother. Once again his Honorius was left pulling his hair out. Earlier he had legitimised Honorius as an appeasement, nothing came of that as Hadrian had already called himself a Theodosian before that.
Hadrian had gradually expanded his army and navy which now stood at 6 Legions (30,000 men) and 300 Ships, enough to conquer all of Gaul if he needed (he did not need to) along this he had a supplement of 1000 cavalry with each legion and he himself had 2000 men and 2000 heavy horse that guarded him.
For the next 6 years Honorius would see to prospering of Britain and his father would continue to pull at his hair, Stilicho attempted to talk to Hadrian once but the Magister Militum was rebuffed as the Prince had clearly stated he wanted to nothing with his brother- eastern or western one. However Stilicho managed to get the word out that if he ever came his help would be recompensed for.
408 a.d, Londinium, Roman Britain
Prince Hadrian was honestly stumped at the just how incompetent his brother was, his execution of the Magister Militum was defiant. Defiantly Stupid. While he himself had some distaste for Stilicho he grudgingly respected the man for his adept commanding ability and defence of Italia with his limited resources and that blundering idiot as an emperor. After the execution of the last good general and the massive persecution of Stilicho’s former allies and troops Hadrian declared himself King Hadrian Theodosian I of Britannia formally rebelling from the western empire. His proclamation was welcomed comely by Romano-British people who happily rejoiced at the formal declaration of their beloved king.
In the 8 years of his rule Hadrian had massively developed Britain, the medical facilities had increased tremendously, population growth rate increased to an amazing rate (7%) as new farming methods were introduced at the same time the new taxation helped the farmers and filled the coffers of the province.
The Empire, whilst, continued its descent Gaul was lost, Hispania was ravaged and the Visigoth King Alaric was looking to march on Roma itself.
The east was more stable but even it was reeling trying to recoup from the loss at Adrianople.
Hadrian meanwhile had raised four more legions as his army increased to 10 Legions (50,000 Legionaries) the massive increase in the army size cost him a good part of his treasury but it paid off as the following year he easily pushed the picts back all the way to the Antonine Wall which was restored and prepared for duty.
Roman Kingdom of Britain’s Army and Navy:
10 Legions ( approx. 50,000 Legionaries)
10 Cavalry Companies (10,000 Cavalry)
Imperial Guard (2000 Heavy Infantry and 2000 Heavy Cavalry)
10 Auxiliary Units attached to the Legions (15,000 archers and 10,000 engineers)
Total Count: 50,000 Legionaries 10,000 Cavalry (Light/Heavy) 25,000 Support units Imperial Guard
300 Dromons 200 Trade Ships 120 Transport Ships (total of 620)
The total size of the army was 85,000 men but in reality each Legion had 5000 Legionaries, 1000 Cavalry (Light/Heavy), 1500 Archers and 1000 Engineers. Thus each Legion totalled out to a firm 8500 men.
At this point of time having such was indeed paranoid. Regular drills were carried out to ensure that the military units don’t become complacent and the army’s restructuring to the early imperial legions continued.
For the next two years the Kingdom would prosper further and Hadrian (24 years old in 410) had finally married the daughter of a noble in Londinium in 408 itself, Irene became the first Queen of Britannia. In 409 Prince Constantius Theodosian was born to the King and Queen.
In 410 when news of the sack of Rome came Hadrian was hardly shocked, he knew his brother to be incompetent the news of the eternal city being sacked grew anti barbarian sentiments in the empire to new heights, this would eventually culminate in the invasion of Albion.
In the May of 411 King Hadrian gathered 4 of his Legions (34000 Men) along the Imperial Guard (4000 Men) and headed towards Segontium where half of the Imperial Navy was gathered to transport him and his army, due to the growing anti barbarian sentiment Hadrian was forced to act, and act in a way that did not put him under the Roman Throne once more
Before May ended Hadrian had made landfall in Hibernia, he quickly established a fort in the Monaig region, soon the fort would become a new Roman City of 10,000 Colonists. (Modern Day Location of Cork) here the city of Historian would be founded once the Roman Invasion of Hibernia went through.
Meanwhile Hadrian ordered one of his legions to build a stand by port and fort while he took his three legions and marched off to see the native celts. The celts themselves had gathered around 40,000 Men to fight the Romans, who they wanted to see removed from their island. However these men were badly armed compared to the Roman Army which was effectively 20000 men shorter however the Romans were equipped with superior equipment and they had 4 Cavalry Companies.
The young King found the Celtic army near Dun Alinne, supposedly a royal site, instead of fighting right there and finishing of the men Hadrian acted as if they were retreating due to apparent fear and sent hidden messages alongside a map compiled by his scouts to his fourth legion informing them to circle round the location where he would lead the Celts into a battle then the fourth legion would cut of their exit and claim victory through the southern approach.
Around a week later the King finally turned around and arranged his men into fighting lines and sent his heavy cavalry to hide behind the flanking hill, the Battle of Hibernia was about to began soon, this battle would decide the fate of Hibernia for the coming centuries, good or bad.
Battle of Hibernia
King Hadrian once more lead from the front inspiring his men who were already convinced of victory due to the fact that they were fighting barbarians who mostly wore no armour.
The Romans entered the Testudo Formation standing shoulder to shoulder and braced themselves as the barbarians charged at them, the Roman Testudo held strong as short spatha or gladius swords whipped out once in a while decimating the numbers of the barbarians, an hour into the battle Hadrian blew his blowing horn, in response a new, fresh legion charged the back of the barbarians and the cavalry started harassing the flanks of the barbarian army ensuring no one was able to turn in time to repulse the new Roman Legion.
The battle quickly became a one sided massacre and after an hour the Celtic Army was slaughtered to the last man after this decisive victory Hadrian was proclaimed ‘Maximus’ by his troops for his two victories in both battles where he was terribly outnumbered. The Roman losses numbered around 550 men, the shield wall was not even broken properly.
Hadrian would continue to campaign till March of 413 at which point all of Hibernia would reluctantly accept Hadrian as the King of Hibernia. Leaving two legions behind to guard the isle the King departed from Hibernia to Londinium, already the conversion of the population from Celtic Uncivilised Barbarians to Proper Catholic Romans was being done, many abandoned their old ways quite easily for the more luxurious Roman Life.
When Hadrian arrived back in Londinium he quickly proclaimed himself the King of Britannia and Hibernia. Being able to do what no other Roman had done- marched in and across Hibernia- brought great prestige to the King who made sure to use his propaganda machine to let everyone know of his three major victories in Hibernia against nearly 100,000 foes with only 4 legions. (100,000 fought in three different battles)
King Hadrian lead his 2 remaining free Legions and marched north towards Hadrian’s Wall where he collected the Legion in Coria (21,000 citizens), with a total of three legions Hadrian launched an attack into Caledonia in the Summer of 416. In around a month the objective to reclaim the wilderness was accomplished and a Legion was left to pacify these provinces while the King marched and rested in the Antonine Wall during the Winter.
For the next 2 years King Hadrian spent educating Constantius who was 10 years old at this point, Constantius was introduced to all the legates who swore loyalty to their Prince at a request from their King. Constantius was sent back to the capital by the summer of 420 after being educated in military and intrigue by Hadrian and some of his trusted Legates.
Probius was sent back with his son to continue his learning of the way of warfare.
Meanwhile the King had to face the remains of the Pictish people, an attack on upper Caledonia where he faced the Picts and to his surprise Saxons, however using the terrain like a master of war, Hadrian managed to win a decisive victory 16 Roman Miles north of Venicones where his army of 10,000 men managed to defeat an army of 52,000 Pict-Saxon allied force with negligible losses.
The two Roman Legions were set up in Venicones and North Caledonia respectively while the entire Pictish and Saxon population was either scattered, slaughtered, enslaved or integrated into the Kingdom.
King Hadrian toured Britain for the next year going town to town building further infrastructure gaining even more fame.
By 422 a.d Hadrian was back in Londinium, for the next decade Hadrian would educate his son in administrative and martial matters.
Roman City Census of 425 Anno Domini
Londinium: 105,000
Camulondunum: 45,000
Eboracum: 42,000
Lindum: 39,000
Gleven: 34,000
In the two and a half decade of rule of Hadrian the Kingdom’s 5 biggest cities quickly grew and continued growing at a rapid rate along the population of the kingdom which had grown to 4.2 Million People over time (adjusted for approx. growth of 1% an year).
Hadrian raised 4 more legions by the time 432 a.d arrived. The Army and Navy kept having drills at least 4 times a year to ensure they were battle ready, even at 46 the King was a formidable sight, the young Prince Constantius had grown to be a replica of his fathers image in both mind and looks, the Prince had grown up to be a wise and cunning man. Surprisingly even at this age the King had a daughter that was name Theodora.
While this happened the prosperity of Roman Britain continued growing leading to the population rising at an unprecedented rate (2%) for the next two decades.
Till 453 a.d not much changed with the world in the two decades that passed, the population of the Three Kingdoms (Caledonia, Hibernia and Britannia) had grown at an astonishing rate due to improved knowledge of medicine Hadrian had brought from Roma. Constantius had married another Local Noble named Livia, young Prince Theodosius was born in 441 a.d.
Census of The Three Kingdoms
Hibernia: 757,833
Caledonia: 151,566
Britannia: 6,365,798
Total: 7,275,197
Londinium: 740,024
Londinium showed a massive growth with a lot of people moving the city which was by now nearly as big as Roma and Constantinople. The growing tax base meant that more land was cultivated, thus a new cultivation technique for a 4-crop rotation had developed with some input from Hadrian and Constantius. Constantius had, with the growing treasury, raised 2 more legions which brought the mobile legions (not garrisoned) up 6 Legions (55,000 men alongside the Imperial Guard). On 21st May 453 King Hadrian ‘the great’ Hadrian finally passed away at the ripe age of 67, his wife had already passed away 3 years before. Passing peacefully in his sleep the great King was remembered in the annals of history for his stunning conquests but also for his great reforms and how he brought a new Renaissance to Britannia and inviting various tribes and then splitting them up into smaller communes that quickly got absorbed into the Roman Culture.
King Constantius I Theodosian (453a.d -456 a.d)
Constantius was already a grown man when he had inherited the throne, the legions already knew their new king as he had carried out the quarterly inspections that his father had stopped doing at the insistence of his own troops when they saw the strain the quarterly inspection put on the 55 year old King thus the Prince had the responsibly for the previous 12 years.
Constantius poured a lot of the extra money in the treasury to research further medicine either way the population of the isle had stabilised again and the population boom had given way for a growth rate of 0.3% which while great was 3/10th of the growth rate during the baby boom.
The population of Britannia in 453 a.d was due to 5 Decades of lower infant mortality, increased fertility of soil and people, better cultivation methods and new plants that were more sustainable to the isles. [The population of 7.2 million was huge, in comparison Europe’s population was only at 65 Million People.]
Constantius’ reign was known for its patronisation of art and culture which lead to a bloom of new architecture that was iconically similar to Italian Architecture as the Romans firmly believed they were as Roman as the Italic Romans.
Even with peace all around the Roman Army continued holding exercises including landing exercises in Hibernia and Caledonia, at this point the Roman Armed consisted on 16 Legions and 800 Warships. Out of these 8 Legions had to always garrison the three Kingdoms, 4 in Britannia, 2 each in Caledonia and Hibernia. At the same time having 8 Legions (68,000 men) as a mobile force ready to move into action was a valuable asset. The Imperial Guard was now made out of the 6000 fittest loyalists to the Theodosian family.
Constantius continued his father’s policy of shoring up his defences, carrying out military exercises and not intervening in the fragile empire anymore. Constantius would be known best for the formation of new battle tactics and how he conquered the islands in Mare Hibernicum.
Constantius was suitably shocked when he came to hear how the fools in the West once more deposed the rightful emperor. He still maintained his father’s non-interventionist policy and politely yet firmly refused to participate in the ensuing chaos known as the Roman Succession there were some in Rome that were saying that Constantius should be crowned the Western Roman Empire since he was a direct descendent of Theodosius the great himself, he once again firmly said no since The Three Kingdoms at this time were far more prosperous and safe than the entirety of the Western Empire, so he refused due to having no will to interfere with the chaos of the empire that would be his death.
Constantius started educating his son in the same way he was educated by his own father, Theodora meanwhile was married to a noble in Dubris, she had a son and a daughter in 454 a.d and 455 a.d respectively. The King’s health soon faded as he left the Kingdom to his son as 456 a.d came to an end. His reign would be immortalised as one where medicine and other sciences grew immensely without the fear of prosecution as the King had a firm hand on the Church’s one due to them calling him a living saint (much like Hadrian) due to the large scale orphanages (propaganda centre) they established.
His son was the youngest King of Britannia as he was just 15 years old when he rose to the throne (but he was just as able as his father or grandfather as we would see further down the line).
King Theodosius I Theodosian (456-
Theodosius as a prince had always been doted on by his sister who he loved fiercely thus he allowed his sister to chose her own husband without his own political considerations, true to his word he said nothing when she married Majorian, an up and coming general, in the same year as his ascension to the throne. He did attach a cohort (580 Legionaries) of his Imperial Guard to protect her at all costs. He attended the wedding at Avaricum giving a dos worthy of his Kingdoms. At the wedding he was honestly surprised by the honourable man Majorian was and he genuinely offered him a home if he came to Britain.
Back in Londinium after much thoughts how United Kingdoms sounded a bit dour the young King gathered all his vassals and announced how he had now merged all three Kingdoms together into a singular Kingdom of Albion, and thus was born the Title of the Kingdom of Albion, whose citizens still called themselves Romans.
In 457 a.d Theodosius was very surprised when Majorian became the Western Roman Emperor. He was even more surprised when he managed to remove the Burgundians from Rhone Valley and then forced the Visigoths to go back the Federate Status. In only 3 years Majorian was planning to go to war with Vandals, Fortune however was not with Majorian as the good emperor lost his fleet to his own trusted friend Ricimer’s treachery (not that he knew it was Ricimer, to him the Vandals used underhanded tactics to destroy his fleet).
This time however instead of going back to Rome in frustration the emperor sent word to Albion asking for some of their ships to carry his troops across and carry them back once he had liberated Mauritania and Carthage.
When Theodosius received the letter instead of doing what Majorian asked of him he helped him do something better, Theodosius called his 8 supplementary legions and gathered 600 of his 1000 ships and left for Carthago Novo where the western emperor awaited his brother in law who had sent a message asking him to wait for help to arrive.
By July 461 Emperor Majorian and his army were greeted by the sight of 600 ships approaching the harbour of Carthago Novo, since Majorian’s Army numbered at only 25,000 men compared to the 68,000 the King had brought, further more the 8 Legions of the King were far more Roman than the armies of Majorian.
The allied armies of Majorian and Theodosius made landfall in Caesaria where they managed to take the castle after light fighting as the Castle was already rebelling at the sight of a Roman Army marching onto them the defenders never knew what hit them as the allied army entered the fort and slaughtered all Vandals.
Emperor Majorian marched east towards Carthage while King Theodosius took 4 of his legions and marched to liberate the eastern cities while he send his Right Hand Man Titus Angelus with the other 4 legions westward to liberate the cities in the name of Roma. Despite being King of Albion the entire population of Albion was very patriotic as they believed they were as Roman as the Italic Romans, if not more since their armies were not filled with barbarians rather they retained the traditional heavy infantry of the empire, with cavalry supporting the infantry. The Romano-Albion Legions could withstand cavalry charges from the finest of the cavalry through the known world.
Titus marched along the road liberating city after city easily as the first sign of opposition was only encountered near Tingis but the Vandalic army was destroyed by the Legions of Albion, in front of the discipline Caesar’s Legions were famous for the Vandals failed. Good Sailors they might be, but heavy infantry they were not. As per the orders of his King Titus summarily executed all the surrendering soldiers as Theodosius told him to take no Vandalic Prisoners.
Soon after Tingis surrendered to the General who, after setting up a city militia and confiscating all weapons and sharp objects from the Vandals in the city, marched onwards to Lixus, Banasa, Volubilis and Sala Colonia connected to Tingis by Road. In the east Theodosius saw even more success. Theodosius marched across the desert abandoning the road to capture Sitifis and Lambaesis- two major cities- after which he fought a Vandalic Army of 44,000 men at the gates of Cirta. The King marched on the city of Hadrumentum from the south, meanwhile Majorian managed to defeat Genseric outside Utica once and then again as he approached Carthage, the Romano-Albion Navy had blockaded the port of Carthage after defeating the Vandalic Navy at the Bay of Carthage.
Majorian had Carthage besieged soon, soon the news of his brother in law taking Hadrumentum and marching north to join up with him. In the west Titus had finally subdued all cities and ‘removed’ all Vandalic presence by the usual methods. Titus properly armed 500 men as city watch in the 5 cities he liberated and then he marched east with his 4 Legions to join up with his king again.
Majorian meanwhile happily besieged Carthage as his army surrounded the city and his Brother in Law’s Navy blockaded it. He was joined by Theodosius and his 4 Legions within a week, after a little bit of contemplation both royals decided a long siege might be unwieldy- Theodosius had a professional army whose job was to sit if he said so, Majorian had a large amount of barbarians who had close to no discipline- thus Theodosian, once again showing how his legions were superior to other Roman armies, ordered his 4 Legions to start building a ramp and two siege towers. Much to the shock of Majorian’s army who thought the young King was jesting the four Legions had the base ready by dawn and were already working on making the ramp climbable.
Within a week the siege works were ready, the Vandals had tried at three times to disrupt the building of siege works but Majorian’s army and 2 Cohorts managed to send them back with their tails between their legs.
Battle of Carthage
The battle was initiated by Majorian’s Army lead by the emperor himself as they climbed the ramp and attacked the walls. At the same time Theodosius and Legate Quintis both took two legions and a tower each to assault the walls. Unknown to everyone but Theodosius and Quintis the Imperial Guard had been tunnelling under the land and were about to burst out in the middle of the Market in Carthage. It was a ridiculous plan, one Theodosius adopted from the Gauls who fought at Gergovia, perhaps that is why it succeeded it was so stupefying, so utterly astounding that both sides stopped fighting for a minute. Before the Legions resumed their attack on the walls achieving a breach easily now that the Vandals had to rapidly redeploy on their backs to stay alive. Quintis pushed in first leading his legions to capture the South Eastern Walls after which Theodosius broke through and Majorian followed soon.
The battle finally ended as Genseric threw his arms down.
After Decades of Vandalic rule the West had finally taken back Africa from the barbarians. The Western Roman victory with the aid of the Roman Kingdom of Albion would be grudgingly appreciated by Rome. The Romano-Albion Fleet would collect Titus at Hippio Regius and then move to Campania where Majorian and Theodosius stationed their armies, well Majorian disbanded his armies but the King insisted at least 2 Legions accompany them to Roma.
Theodosius ordered Titus to make a castra near Campania with 6 Legions.
The sight of Theodosius and Majorian riding towards Rome at the helm of two fully armed Roman Legions carrying their standards and armed with traditional Roman Armour and equipment was awe inspiring as the Emperor looked more like an emperor than he ever did.
When they arrived near Roma they expected to see a lot of things but they did not expect to see Ricimer along troops ready to depose Majorian- unfortunately it seems the news of Majorian’s victory was not yet spread, it might have been Albion’s doing- Of course as soon as Ricimer saw Theodosius alongside Majorian Ricimer adopted a welcoming look, understanding what had happened. It seemed the ‘visit’ the King of Albion had planned was a tour through Carthage.
As soon as Theodosius had landed in Italia he had ordered his men to spread the word about Majorian’s Victory.
In Rome many a triumph were held in the name of Majorian in the honour of his reconquest of Carthage.
In the end the visit went off without a hitch Theodosius left 2 more cohorts of the Imperial Guard to make the total men guarding the Empress 4 Cohorts (approx. 2000 men).
After staying for a week and warning his sister of Ricimer the King of Albion finally departed for Londinium, he was both smug and disappointed to discover due to the rapid growth of Londinium and the two sacks of Roma and loss of Africa, Roma now was barely half the size of Londinium. At the start of the Century Roma had nearly a 1,000,000 habitants.
The decline of Rome was a humbling view, Theodosius returned to Albion convinced that an independent Kingdom was the best way to go, there was no advantage in even nominal loyalty to Rome anymore, even with Africa the Western Empire was seeping corruption and ruined in all but name. Majorian just did not have the cruelty to save it.
In Londinium Theodosius gave a triumph to Titus and himself for both of their victories in the African Campaign. The swiftness of the Romano-Albion forces in the field and their ability to unload and load onto transports was a direct result of the regular exercises no one could complain about.
Theodosius would enjoy his reign for the next three years and even Majorian would manage to gather a purely Roman force of 20,000 standing men. While the Barbarians still made a good deal of his reserves the thought of having a more reliable army had finally caught on with him.
However Majorian was still widely unpopular in Rome due to his generally anti corruption (and thus nobility) legislature. It was only the combined (and was it not ironic) work of Helena and Ricimer that kept the Western Court in check, combined with favour from Leo who viewed his marriage with Helena as a useful thing. In a way the West was still ruled by progeny of Theodosius I. Meanwhile the Eastern Empire was ruled by the Leonid Dynasty, who were not related to Theodosius.
The famous ancestor of Majorian’s wife was one more reason that his rule was tolerated by the Western Court. In the three years following Theodosius had married a local noble keeping the tradition of his predecessors alive, He had been to Rome two times, For the birth of his nephew Hadrian in 463 and for his first name-day in 464.
In August of 464 unmitigated disaster struck the Western Empire as Majorian and his family were struck by an assassination plot by much of the Senate and Ricimer who hoped to imprison the Empress and install a ‘better’ emperor.
Once again just when the West had barely come out form the jaws of death it tittered along the edge of despair.
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