The Legion covered the 34 miles to Bergomum in two days and prepared a field encampment, as usual. The Legionaries spent the evening cleaning their gear in preparation for the parade the next morning while the officers attended a dinner hosted by the village Chief in their honor.
Figure 17 Pavia, Cremona, Brescia (Google Maps)
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It was 0200 and pitch black when Tribune Vitulus quietly led his men out of the fort at Clastidium and into the hostile countryside. Anything that could make noise was tied down and wagon wheels were freshly greased.
The Etruscan Auxiliary unit had arrived on schedule about three weeks ago and had quickly assumed responsibility for the fort’s defense. The Triarii used the time to get ready to depart. The previous evening, Vitulus placed a series of guides on the road to lead the column eastward along the intended route and, thereby avoid getting confused in the dark.
The tightly grouped column marched into the darkness for about three hours before the first hint of dawn could be seen in the cloudless sky. Vitulus felt fairly confident that they had gotten out of the camp without anyone seeing them. In time, the Insubres would figure it out, but they would be miles away by then.
Earlier, Vitulus did his backward planning and figured that he had to depart Clastidium on the 18th of April to arrive at Brixia by the 27th. It was 32 miles to Placentia, where he would stay for a day; 28 miles to Cremona and then another 32 miles to Brixia. By marching 15 miles per day, he figured they should arrive at Brixia on the 26th of April.
Once it was light enough to see, Vitulus pushed out his cavalry to screen ahead and on both flanks. He kept his wagons in the middle of the column and used them to set the pace. The men were allowed to remove their armor and adopt a more relaxed marching order. At least once a day, Vitulus would halt the column and simulate an enemy attack. In time, his men learned to rapidly armor up and move into their battle positions without confusion or unnecessary movement. He continually kept about 20 horsemen out in the countryside scouting the route and screening his flanks. The rest of the cavalry traveled as a group at the rear of the column. His 200 archers were sprinkled throughout the column.
The village leaders at Placentia and Cremona welcomed the Triarii to spend the night inside the walls, which meant the men did not have to dig an encampment. It was a welcome relief. The Roman colonists treated the Legionaries like long lost brothers and extended all possible hospitality. Many drank too much wine and paid for it on the road the following morning. But these were young men who recovered quickly; they laughed about their folly and longed to repeat it as soon as possible!
Vitulus identified with his men and was a popular commander. They knew he had risen through the ranks and shared their hardships. Vitulus frequently dismounted and walked along with the men while asking them about their families. He did this to make a point, but he also used it to get a sense of their morale.
On April 26th, the column passed under the gate at Brixia and moved into their assigned position within the fort. Within the hour, Bellonii heard that a new Roman unit had moved into the fort, but was in the dark concerning exactly who they were or where they had come from.
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Servilius fretted over the competence of the 500 Veneti who would guard his fort at Patavium. His men had trained them, but he still felt they fell far short of the standards of a Roman Legionaire. But it was now time to leave and there was nothing more he could do. The fort was fully stocked with provision and presented a ripe plum to any would be attacker. For the most part, however, the area was safe. The defensive wall around Mestre was only about half finished, but the village’s young men were now fully armed and reasonably trained. Axius was a good leader and would put up a stiff fight if challenged. Small bands of mercenaries were still passing through the area enroute to join Hannibal in the south, but now gave Mestre and Patavium a wide birth.
It was only 50 miles to Verona so Servilius departed the fort on April 26. His orders were to meet Praetor Tullus at Verona on April 30. Like all good Roman Commanders, Servilius continued training his men while enroute to Verona.
Insubres at Mediolanum
Bellonii’s young Brixian accomplice, Helitovius, had one task to complete before he would receive his Roman sesterces from Bellonii. He had to ride his broken down farm horse the 35 miles to Bergomum and give a man in that village a scroll from Bellonii. That was it! He figured he could later convince Bellonii to give him two sesterces if he made up a good story about how he was almost robbed and had to fight his way to Bergomum. It was worth a try even if it did not work.
He rode and walked the horse straight through the night and arrived at Bergomum 12 hours later. Despite his hunger and fatigue, he found the village’s water well, right where Bellonii said it would be, and walked to the third hut on the north side of the road leading out of town, as he had been instructed. The man there said that he knew Bellonii and told him to quickly come inside. He took the proffered scroll without ceremony and read it. When he finished, he asked the young man, “Can you read?”
“No,” Helitovius replied. The man then fished around in his hut until he found a much used piece of scroll on which he wrote something and handed it back.
“Take this back to Bellonii and you’ll be paid. Go now.”
As he was being ushered out the door, Helitovius quickly asked him for a piece of bread. If the other man heard him, he did not respond and closed the door. Once outside, Helitovius looked around and saw a food market about 100 feet away with tables and stacks of produce. He looked at it for a minute and got an idea. He quickly walked his horse to the outskirts of the village and tied him to a tree. Then he ran back to the market and at a dead run went through the market and grabbed a loaf of bread as he passed by the table. He was followed by shouts, but easily reached the outskirts of the village before anyone could react. It worked!
He ran to the tree where he tethered the horse just in time to see two men examining the horse. He ran up to the men and said, “That’s my horse; what are you doing?”
The larger of the two said, “It was your horse and now it’s ours” and punched him violently in the face. His nose spurted blood as he hit the ground. The pain was incredible. The two men turned and began leading the horse away. Despite the pain and a rapidly closing right eye, he managed to draw his dagger from his belt, ran up behind the large man, and stabbed him in the kidney, not once but twice. The man screamed, partially turned, and fell to the ground with his hand covering the pain. The other man, his eyes large with alarm, backed away and dropped the reins. Helitovius grabbed the reins, swung his knife at the man to move him farther away, and jumped up on the horse’s back. The tired horse used what strength he had left and bolted for the road. About 100 yards farther on, Helitovius slowed the horse to a walk, wiped the blood from his face, and began eating his bread. Now he knew he would get two sesterces or there would be more blood and it would not be his!
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The Insubres Chiefs at Mediolanum were intrigued by Bellonii’s message. It confirmed several things they already knew from communications with Farrid. An under strength Legion of about 4000 men had marched from Rome to Brixia and were now marching to Mediolanum and would be near the town around the 27th of April. Their purpose, according to Bellonii, was to put themselves in a position to thwart a Carthaginian invasion of northern Italy. If this were true, then they had to do what they could to defeat or, at least, weaken this Legion.
The Chiefs agreed that they should muster about 5000 men immediately and ambush the Romans until a larger force could be marshaled. The logical place to attack the Romans was on the road between Bergomum and Mediolanum at the village of Trezzo Sull Adda where the Adda River was squeezed between towering cliffs. The Legion would be forced to wade the river and be vulnerable to a surprise attack from the cliffs.
The alarm went out and soon 5000 men were walking the 20 miles to the Adda River. The Insubres Commander knew the Romans would first send ov
er their cavalry to scout the surrounding area before marching the Legion across the river. To avoid detection, he planned to hide the bulk of his army on both sides of the gorge, but well back from the cliffs. After the Roman scouts were killed, his men would dress in their uniforms and signal the Romans the all clear to begin the crossing. (What the Insubres Commander did not know was that the Romans had their own unique system of hand and arm signals and would have immediately spotted the deception.)
The Insubres Army sat at the crossing site for four full days before having to admit that something had gone wrong and that the Romans were not coming. They were bitterly disappointed, but not as alarmed as were the Chiefs back at Mediolanum. There was now a Romans Legion somewhere in their area, but they did not know where. Teams of horsemen were immediately dispatched to search for the missing Legion.
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Elitovius saw young Helitovius return to Brixia; it was getting dark, but he could still see his swollen face. He watched as he went to Bellonii hut and heard the ensuing argument, which very quickly turned violent. He heard a scream and saw Helitovius run from the hut and disappear into the darkness. Elitovius approached the hut and peered through the open door. Inside, Bellonii was lying on the floor covered in blood. The old woman stood next to him crying. Elitovius asked her, “Is he dead?”
“Yes,” she replied. Elitovius then went to see Segovesus with the news.
In the ensuing week, Segovesus and Elitovius informed the village chief at Bergomum that they had a spy in their midst. Cenomani justice was swift and final. Helitovius would have gotten off for his midnight courier service since he really did not know what he was doing, but when he killed Bellonii, he became culpable and received the same swift fate.
Figure 18 Bergamo, Brescia, Verona, Trento (Google Maps)
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 litt
le 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.
Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War Page 25