Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War (37 page)

Timo’s senior advisor, an older man, who had watched over Timo when he was a boy and then helped him become a King, now stepped forward and asked Rosa if she was marrying Timo of her own free will?  She answered, “yes.”  He asked her if she would rear Timo’s children according to
Raeti
customs?  “Yes.”  He asked if she was prepared to defend with her life
Rhaetia
, her people, and Timo?  “Yes.”  He then asked Timo if he accepted Rosa as his wife?  “Yes.”  The old man then took two iron wedding rings that were used in Roman weddings and handed one to Timo and the other to Rosa.  Rosa slid the ring over Timo’s finger and he put the other one on hers.  The couple then lit multiple candles arranged on a table as required by the
Raeti
.

After the solemn wedding ceremony and lengthy reception in the Great Hall, Timo quietly led his bride to his bedroom at the rear of the Hall.  Their absence was immediately notice and a great shout filled the Hall.  According to
Raeti
custom, periodically the guests were expected to shout encouragement and best wishes to the couple until the pair reappeared after consummating their marriage.

Once in the bedroom, Rosa sat on the edge of the bed, cried softly, and maintained her modesty.  This was traditional Roman custom and expected.  But to Rosa, it was more than just observing a custom.  Relief, sadness, and joy assaulted her emotions.  She felt overwhelmed.  She cried to the depths of her being.  She cried for her parents, her childhood, and her new husband.  As was customary, her surrogate mother stood near the bed partially concealed by a curtain.  Timo’s role was to gently convince her to lie with him, but he melted when he saw her sobbing.  It broke his heart and he began to gently comfort her.  Once Timo began to talk to Rosa, her “mother” blew out the candles and left the room.  When the couple briefly reappeared in the Hall an hour later, the cheering was deafening!

The morning after the wedding, Rosa appeared wearing a silver tiara.  She was now the Raeti Queen and her Roman jewelry had been replaced with exquisite
Raeti
silver.  She even changed her hairstyle to the more modest and common Roman
nodus
style.  (She parted her hair into three segments.  The two segments from the sides were tied in a bun at the back while the middle segment in the front was looped over itself to form a raised pompadour.)  She replaced her tunic with the white
palla
of a married woman.  It had been tailored to fit comfortably over one shoulder and the back of her head.  Timo thought she looked gorgeous.

The celebrations continued for three days and nights and only ended because the participants were too exhausted to continue.

Rosa enjoyed her new life as Queen and impressed everyone with her command of the
Raeti
language and knowledge of their culture.  Two weeks after the wedding, Timo and Rosa toured the kingdom for a month in order for Timo to introduce his wife to the people.  In time, she bore Timo a son and a daughter and never wavered in her loyalty to Rome or regretted her decision to marry Timo.  During the first three months of her first pregnancy, she did regret getting pregnant.  Her morning sickness was severe.  Nothing helped.  She tried drinking
zingiber
[ginger] and
piperita
[peppermint] to no avail.  At times, she swore she would never get pregnant again.

Her parents were frequent visitors over the years and eventually moved to
Tridentum
to be closer to Rosa and their grandchildren.

*******

Andreas, the newly appointed Roman leader of the Combined Auxiliary force was excited and intimidated by his new mission.  He feared that the Commanders of the
Cenomani
and
Raeti
contingents, Taluric and Lugano, would reject him. To his surprise and relief, he was warmly accepted, but was immediately and firmly shown the boundaries of his command.  Both leaders insisted that he issue his orders to them and not directly to their men.  Theirs would be the only voice their men heard.  They also insisted that they have an opportunity to comment on all plans prior to implementation except those issued in an actual battle.  Then they pledged their obedience, loyalty, and full cooperation.

The Combined Auxiliary camp was laid out much like a typical Roman camp with minor exceptions.  Andreas noticed that the men did not blindly obey orders like Roman Legionaries, but had to have everything explained to them before they would do it.  For example, the men saw no reason to dig a ditch around the camp and refused to do it.  Their leaders had no choice but to acquiesce and no ditch was dug.  The orders issued to the men had to make sense and be relevant or they simply would not do it.  Andreas accepted this as the consequence of an undisciplined civilian army, but insisted that in time of battle, his orders must be executed without explanation and instantly.  The leaders agreed to this and obtain a similar agreement from the men.

Andreas and his Romans ate with the Auxiliaries, trained with them, shared their hardships, and in time, were accepted.  The Romans even underwent a drinking initiation of sort whereby they became honorary
Cenomani
and
Raeti
warriors.  Andreas actually passed out after five cups of a
Cenomani
drink artfully dubbed “
Cenomani
Thunder.”  It smelled a little fruity and had apparently had been carried all the way from
Brixia
.  It packed an enormous punch.  Training the next morning was cancelled.

The
XVII
was very busy during their month at
Tridentum
.  The immediate need was always to provide food, fuel, and fodder.  And in this case, the men would use their winter clothing for the trip over the Alps.  Manius was not worried about daytime condition, the men would probably be sweating as they climbed up to the crest of the Brenner Pass; it was the falling nighttime temperatures that concerned him.  Moist clothing and freezing conditions could lead to frost bite and hypothermia.  Since battle ready Legionaries were his most precious asset, he spent most of his time ensuring they were healthy, trained, and had the equipment they needed.

Manius met daily with his staff to continue brain storming how events might unfold once they arrived in the Innsbruck area.  Manius told them, “So far, we have the Legion and the Auxiliaries arriving simultaneously in the Valley on or about July 1.  The Auxiliaries will be within easy recall at Axams, which is only about five miles to the northwest of where the Brenner Pass opens up to the valley.  I’ve told them to remain hidden on the south side of the ridge and to minimize cooking fires.  I’m told that the terrain is so heavily wooded that they should have no problem remaining out of sight.”

“I’m thinking that we need to mask our true strength and capability to gain an initial advantage.  We’re already doing that by hiding the Auxiliaries.”

“I also want to hide the bulk of the
XVII.
  Before we break out of the Pass and into the Valley, I want to place the Maniples in the Pfons-Zieglstadl-Muhlbachal area where they won’t be spotted from Innsbruck or anyone using the Pass to go to Innsbruck.  In fact, we will set up a road block and stop all northward traffic exiting the Brenner.  If the
Suevi
feel threatened, they can probably muster close to 35,000 men by suspending their fight with the
Teutons
and shifting their forces from the north.  I want to minimize the threat we pose to them so they will only muster what they think they will need to beat us - maybe something in the 12-15,000 range.”

“Once the Legion is secure in the woods, I plan to go to the bridge over the Inn and present my demands to their Chief, Ariovistus, which are: One, dismantle the fortified towers on each side of the bridge, allow traffic to continue in both directions unmolested, which essentially means stop levying taxes and confiscating trade goods; Two, move any
Suevi
settlements from the south side of the river to the north side; and Three, stop all future military raiding into northern Italy.  To be honest, I fully expect they will laugh in my face and we will have to settle this matter on the battle field.”

“To further the deception and project a minimal threat to the
Suevi
, I want to change the appearance of the Maniple and cavalry troop that accompanies me to the bridge and my meeting with Ariovistus, who is now the leader of the
Semones
, the largest tribe of the
Suevi
people.”

“By ‘change’ I mean they will not wear their armor, helmets, or carry their
pila
or shields.  I want them to appear weak and inexperienced in warfare, and, therefore, easy to defeat in battle.  I want our men equipped with the long Gallic sword, small round shield, and leather helmet; the same for the cavalry.  Also, I want the cavalry to ride farmers’ work horses, which we can get here from the
Raeti
before we cross over the Alps.  The object is to appear relatively inept and totally unprepared for battle.”

“To be successful against the
Suevi
, I need to know where their forces are at all times.  To that end, Timo is attaching 20
Raeti
civilians to the Legion.  They will precede us across the Brenner by a day or two and then fan out to the east and west of Innsbruck and go about 10 miles up and down the river to watch for any signs that the
Suevi
army is being reinforced from the northern
Suevi
army or crossing the river to come after us.  These lookouts will be positioned on both sides of the river.  I’ve asked Elitovius to take charge of these men and their mission.”

“If I were the
Suevi
Commander, here’s how I would fight the battle: I would put on a demonstration close to the bridge to draw the attention of my enemy and pin him there while I quietly sent armies both up and down stream to secretly cross the river in two places and then try to trap him in a vice between my two forces.  I would make one arm of the vice stronger than the other and tell the weaker arm to avoid battle until both arms are in place.  They must both attack simultaneously.”

“Timo told us that the
Suevi
have never met Romans in battle so they don’t know how we fight.  I’m hoping that the
pila
and heavy shields will catch them by surprise.  They have neither
pila
nor shields of note, just little round wooden disks to punch and push their adversaries.  Most don’t wear helmets, but some have begun wearing chain mail shirts.  They don’t use tactical formations and usually attack in a mob.  They like to fight one-on-one and swing their swords overhead like the Gauls.  They have no archers, or ballistae and only minimal cavalry.  If we can hold up against their initial assault, our ability to maneuver should give us the edge.  Timo said that the average
Suevi
is stronger and taller than the average Roman, so the men need to know that before we face them in battle.  Make sure the men know that the
Suevi
are not giants and will bleed when cut, the same as anyone else.  They must not be afraid of them.”

“If Elitovius and our
Raeti
spies can tell me in a timely manner about any
Suevi
river crossings and the size of both arms of the vice, I plan to advance against the smaller of the two and force a fight.  Once we achieve victory there, I plan to turn and move against the other larger
Suevi
force.”

“I am undecided whether or not to position some troops at the Innsbruck end of the Brenner Pass to keep it secure should we need to retreat quickly.  I don’t want Ariovistus to block the Brenner and force us to use the Secret Passage or the Reschen Pass to get back to Italy.  Think about what I’ve said this evening and let me hear your ideas tomorrow night.”

Manius met with his advisors and staff every night for the next several weeks to discuss how the encounter might proceed with the
Suevi
.  Some felt that the entire
Suevi
army would simply pour over the bridge like angry ants and attack.  Others felt that the
XVII
should show itself early on and, thereby, hope to provoke a battle or discourage one if the
Suevi
comply with our demands.  Opinions varied greatly, but little by little, they agreed on several basic operating assumptions and likely scenarios.

It was agreed that the
Suevi
would probably fight and opt to use the minimal force necessary to achieve victory.  They were obviously trying to expand south into Italy and were an aggressive people, but, for the present were preoccupied with fighting the
Teuton
and
Cimbri
people in the north.  The
XVII
should show itself, but only with a small part of the total force in order to hide its true strength.  The
XVII
should also hide its cavalry, archers, and ballistae for as long as possible.

The leaders agreed that the
Suevi
would probably want to cross the bridge as their obvious first choice, deploy their army on the south side of the river, and quickly engage in battle.  The
XVII
would have a very difficult time and victory would be doubtful if forced to fight the entire
Suevi
army all at once.  If the
Suevi
could not use the bridge, they would probably still try to get their entire army across the river in one place to maximize their strength.  The consensus was to do everything possible to prevent that from happening.  The goal would be to force them to split their army.  Hopefully, the
Suevi
will cross the river in two places and try to catch the Legion between them.  Most felt the bridge should be burned to ensure the
Suevi
army did not cross it in force.  The key to victory would be to know when, where, and in what strength any crossings take place.

Elitovius spoke up, “Praetor, the information about their assumed river crossings is too critical to our success to put this task solely in the hands of
Raeti
civilians about whom we know little.  I recommend that I recruit several of my fellow
Cenomani
tribesmen to put additional eyes on the river.  I further suggest that we send a mixed team of
Cenomani
and
Rhaetians
over the river, but keep them close to Innsbruck to watch for any troops leaving the settlement.”  Manius agreed.