Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War (35 page)

As was his custom, Manius was awake and fully dressed before the horns roused the sleeping camp.  He liked to get up early and mentally review the plans for the day before getting overwhelmed by the minutia of command.  Today the Legion would parade through
Bergomum
and then immediately reverse course and head back to
Brixia
.  He had already been informed that Vitulus and his 1000 men had arrived at
Brixia
.

The next day,
Legio XVII
paraded through
Bergomum
, immediately turned around, and headed back to
Brixia
.  It rained for most of the march back and the men were miserable.  They had broken out the leather covers for their shields, which added considerable weight to each soldier’s load.  Manius’ team designed the shield covers when he worked for Levi.  The problem was the shields got soggy when wet, which made them too soft to offer any protection.  The heavy leather cover was the only solution.  The bigger issue, however, was the mud.  It clung to everything: feet, hooves, and wagon wheels.

Manius stayed at
Brixia
just long enough to dry out the Legion, prepare the 2500
Cenomani
warriors to march in the column, and welcome Vitulus’ men back to the Legion.  They had only been separated for four months, but it seemed much longer.  There were many joyful reunions around the evening fires.

Manius sat on his horse with his staff around him and watched the Legion pass under the gate and out of the fort for their 45 miles walk to Verona.  The Legionaries saw him, straightened their lines, and walked a little taller.  Manius was popular with his troops; none wanted to disappoint him.

Manius now had 5300 Roman Legionaries, 800 archers, 500 cavalry, and 2500
Cenomani
.  When Servilius and his 1000 men linked up with the Legion at Verona and Timo added his 2500, he realized that he would have the equivalent of a Consular Army of two Legions.  He was amazed that a Plebian of low birth, like himself, would have commanded one Legion much less two.  He felt exhilarated and humbled.

At Verona, Manius welcomed Tribune Servilius and his men back to the Legion.  As he had done with Vitulus’
Triarii
, he personally congratulated and thanked the sub-commanders of the Maniples, Engineers, Archers, and Cavalry.  He handed out awards to outstanding leaders and Legionaries.  He let the men rest for a day and treated them to beef purchased from the local villagers.

The next day, the Legion marched smartly through Verona and turned north to begin the 60 miles five day trek to
Tridentum
and Timo.  Almost immediately, the Legionaries noticed that they were going uphill.  It was a gradual slope, 200’ in elevation for every 20 miles on the ground, but it caused everyone to breathe a little harder and the pace slowed just a bit.  Manius realized that a long break at
Tridentum
would be necessary to allow the men to adjust to the increase in elevation.  Step by weary step, the Legion marched on.

When the
XVII
was about three hours away from
Tridentum
, scouts brought word back that 15 horsemen were approaching the column from the direction of
Tridentum
.  Manius assumed it was Timo coming to greet him and decided to put on a show for the young King as well as conduct Legion-sized training.  He found a fairly open field and put the Legion on full alert.

He then ordered them into
triplex acies
battle formation.  This was the first time that the full Legion had assumed its standard three-line battle formation with its
Triarii
since last January.  He formed up the
Cenomani
on his left flank with a 500-man front and five deep.  After about 20 minutes, when the riders from
Tridentum
were just over a small hill to their front, Manius had the horns sound “Shield and Sword,” which was the signal for the Legionaries to start beating their swords against their shields.

As Timo and his men were about to crest a hill about half a mile away from the waiting Legion, they suddenly heard a distant horn blow three times and then a low ominous metallic din filled their ears.  It rolled off the surrounding hills, bounced off the forests, and seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.  Then as they gained the top of the hill, they heard horns give a single shrill blast signaling “battle ready” and suddenly Timo was facing 6300 Roman shields spread out over half a mile.  He pulled up his horse and just stared as did the rest of his party.  He could see three lines of Maniples in a checkerboard pattern and Auxiliaries off on his right.  He was awe struck with the order, discipline, and might of his new Roman ally.  At this moment, he was not sure what to do and actually looked around to see if there was a threat that the Romans were preparing to meet.

Manius meanwhile was not finished with his training and ordered the
Hastati
to extend right and left, forward of the
Cenomani
, into a single battle line in order to present a solid shield wall to Timo.  When they accomplished that, he directed them to retire behind the
Principes
and reform into Maniples
. 
He then ordered the
Triarii
to reform on the Legion’s right flank in preparation for a sweep across the Legion’s front.  He then directed the
Hastati
to form Maniple sized wedge formations, pass through the
Principes
, and reform into their regular Maniple formations.  It all went off without a hitch.  Manius was proud of the men and the men were proud of themselves!  It was now time to dig the night’s encampment and then rest after their long uphill march.

Taluric, the leader of the 2500 Cenomani and future village Chief in
Brixia
, shook his head in wonder as he watched the Roman Legion drill with such precision and discipline.  He wished his men could do what he had just witnessed, but knew they were too wild, too undisciplined, and too rebellious to ever imitate the Romans.  They were fierce in battle and he admired that, but they could just as easily turn and walk away if something did not suit them.

Days earlier, Taluric had sat in Council with Segovesus and the Elders of
Brixia
when they debated just how much to cooperate with this Legion from Rome.  At the time, he favored limited support and argued that one day they may be forced under the heel of Rome and all their support would be for naught.  But as he watched the Legion move with such precision and determination, he concluded that he was only partially correct when he spoke at the Council.

Roman domination was absolutely inevitable; one day they would be subject to Rome.  The only issue remaining was whether it would be an adversarial relationship or one based on mutual advantage.  At that moment, he decided to cooperate fully with
Praetor
Tullus and hope for the best.  At the camp fire that night, he explained his views to his men and there was little disagreement.  The
Cenomani
would bind their future to Rome.

Timo greeted Manius like a long lost friend and then spent considerable time telling Manius how truly impressed he was with the maneuvering skill of his Legion.  Like Taluric, he wished his men were so highly trained, but said it was just not in their culture.  Manius reminded Timo of his own bravery as a 10 year old boy charging the Roman line and suggested that someone so courageous could surely institute a more disciplined
Raeti
fighting force.

The Roman encampment was about a mile and a half from
Tridentum
and left much to be desired.  It was on a slight slope and had higher ground all around it, much like being in a bowl.  The ground was extremely rocky and proved difficult to dig.  Nonetheless, the camp was set up as usual and soon cook fires were roaring to life to feed the hungry troops.   In time, Manius was told that his tent was up and ready to entertain visitors.

Once back at the tent, Manius introduced his staff to Timo who reciprocated by introducing his men.  It was here that Manius told Timo that his future Queen had accompanied the Legion from Rome and was in the camp.  Manius knew that
Raeti
custom forbade the groom from viewing the bride when the wedding was imminent.  Timo expressed his gratitude to Manius and announced that the wedding would take place in a week.

Over dinner, Manius learned that more
Suevi
, or more specifically the
Semones
tribe of the
Suevi
nation and their leader Ariovistus, had recently moved into the Inn River Valley by Innsbruck, which significantly increased the number of
Suevi
already there to maybe 100,000 counting women and children.  Timo explained the problem.  “About 15 years ago, the
Suevi
erected a fortified bridge over the Inn with fighting towers on both sides.  That was bad enough, but now all trade moving over the bridge is subject to arbitrary taxes and our young men are sometimes kidnapped and women dare not go near the
Suevi
.

The more aggressive
Suevi
have now taken to raiding the Brenner Pass and had even come down as far south as
Bauzanum
[modern Bolzano] and disrupted the annual trade market.”  Timo explained that, “There used to be lively commerce among the cities of Augsburg in
Germania
, Innsbruck,
Tridentum
, Verona, and the City of Water [modern Venice].  That’s all changed now and we fear the
Suevi
are planning to expand even further down the Brenner into our area.  We think they may have heard about our silver mines.”

Timo went on, “The reason the
Suevi
moved into the Innsbruck area is that the
Teuton
and
Cimbri
tribes have been moving south from the Jutland area for some time and pushed the
Semones
out of their historic lands.  For the past several years, they have been fighting the
Teuton
and
Cimbri
along the Danube River in a desperate attempt to keep them from moving farther south into
Suevi
territory around Innsbruck.  The significance of that for us is that a large part of the
Suevi
army is deployed farther north around Regensburg and will not be available to fight us on the south side of the Inn River.  Unless they shift forces, they should only be able to field about 15,000 men against us.”