Title : Divide and rule III

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Eastern Germania Superior
Fortress of Lupodurum
Marius Vitellius´ command tent
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Earlier in the morning Marius Vitellius ate some bread, drank a little water, and sat in his oak chair looking carefully at the maps of Germania. Then he read again the letters he received from the Emperor and the Senate of Rome. He was pleased with his recent promotion to Proconsular Legate and also the noticed that the Senate of Rome approved the Angrivarii´s demands. He knew that with this new command over four imperial legions and political support from the Senate he had good chances to finally win this war for Rome. Many thoughts crossed his mind, and Marius Vitellius remembered his recent secret meeting, at one week ago, with the Angrivarii´s King Dedrick III. The meeting, in their capital Ascalingium, was a success. King Dedrick III was very happy with the 5,000,000 in Roman gold coins, the promise of military help against their enemies and status as an ally and friend of Rome by the Senate and the Emperor himself. Marius Vitellius remembered every detail of his conversation with King Dedrick III, and the big banquet in his honour held to commemorate the Angrivarii alliance with Rome. During that banquet Marius Vitellius was very eloquent in his speech about the new status of the Angrivarii concerning their rights but also their obligations toward Rome. King Dedrick III was so impressed with Marius Vitellius´ speech that he made a public oath of fidelity of his people toward Rome and the Roman Emperor. Also as a sign of good will and to show his submission to the Roman rule he offered three of his children, two sons and one daughter, as hostages (a common practice among the Germanii) and allowed them live with the Romans in the fortress of Lupodurum. Finally Marius Vitellius had the political support, the necessary troops, the right strategy and native allies in order to strike the Semnones, considered by many as the most noble and powerful among the Suebi people. He rose from his chair, left his command tent and walked toward a sentry and ordered “Call all my Legates and Tribunes for a meeting with me in my command tent”.

After 25 minutes, the Legates and principal Tribunes of legions X Aludae, XXIX Rapax, XXXVIII and XL Auditrix gathered in Marius Vitellius´command tent in order to receive new orders from their Proconsular Legate. "Comrades, brothers in arms. As you know the Emperor himself and the Senate of Rome approved recently the Angrivarii´s conditions that they fight with us as allies and friends of Rome. This fact gives us a special strategic advantage for two principal reasons: 1st – The Angrivarii will be a key of success in my battle plan, as I will explain later to you, and will allow us to use them as bait and force the Semnones to fight in open ground. 2nd – After the Semnones´ defeat the Angrivarii will occupy their lands, and will act as a shield to us along the eastern border against the invasion of other Germanic tribes. Thus this Angrivarii tribe will be Emperor´s subject but also will do their part in protecting our new borders.” Marius Vitellius paused, cleaned his throat and then continued “Now I will tell you my plan. My battle plan is simple but audacious. Secret, disguise, fast movement on the field and sudden attack are the keys for our success in our battle against the evil Semnones. As you certainly understand we can not simple approach with all of our legions to the Semnones´ capital, Calancorum, and force them to open battle! Is quite obvious they will avoid facing us directly and conduct a destructive and long guerrilla war against us. Thus we can not allow this to happen and we must bring them to open ground using a trick. So we will use the Angrivarii as bait, because the Semnones don´t know anything about our secret pact with them. As you know the Semnones tribe outnumber the Angrivarii tribe about two to one and consequently if the Angrivarii approach the Semnones´ capital, defy and provoke enough the Semnones to open battle, it is very likely the Semnones´ King Ariovisto will leave his capital and will face the Angrivarii in open battle. So we will move in silence with two legions, X Aludae and XL Auditrix, and all our auxiliary light cavalry, 3,840 cavalrymen. Because we are in winter all men, infantry and cavalry, will use a long white cloak to help them to disguise in the snow. The two legions will march only with their weapons and a wheat ration for one month, no wagons or servants. The men will wait, hide in the nearest forests of the Semnones´ capital, around 3 miles from the city, until they receive my signal to advance. When our scouts report that the Angrivarii engaged their foes, our men will advance in forced march toward the battle place. It is important however that the infantry and auxiliary cavalry reach the location at same time. After our men reach the battle place, the legionaries (heavy infantry) will attack the Semnones´rear, while our auxiliary light cavalry will neutralize the Semnones´ cavalry. After they defeat the Semnones´ cavalry they will help our legionaries and will attack the Semnones´ flanks. Meanwhile the auxiliary infantry (light infantry) will wait and will not involve themselves in the battle. Finally when the Semnones flee from the battlefield the auxiliary infantry (fresh troops and light armoured) will run after them and will kill so many Semnones warriors as they can.”

A young Tribune called Ovidius Bonetius Terpus interrupted his commander “But Sir, how we will recognize the Angrivarii from the Semnones? To me they are all the same!”

Marius Vitellius looked to his tribune, smiled and continued his explanation “Well the Angrivarii will dress in red trousers and yellow woollen tunic as the mark of their alliance with Rome. Be sure that all the men know this before the battle. Also you already understood the important cavalry role in this battle. If the cavalry fail we can not achieve a complete victory over the Semnones. So I decided to divide the auxiliary cavalry in four principal units, one unit with three Alas per legion. Each cavalry unit, 960 cavalrymen, will be commanded by a tribune. The follow Tribunes are the appointed commanders of their own legion light cavalry: Ovidius Bonetius Terpus, Maximus Marcus Disius, Antoninus Cassius and Marcus Borelus. Also while the legions X Aludae and XL Auditrix will be in action against the Semnones under my direct command, legions XXIX Rapax and XXXVIII will remain in the fortress of Lupodurum under the command of the new Legate Lucius Marius Sabaco until my return. These two legions will cover our rear, keep the fortress, control the neighbourhood and act as reserve in case of emergency.” Marius Vitellius paused again and then concluded his explanation to his officers “So these are your orders! Follow it and one day the people of Rome will tell tales about your deeds in Germania. Remember we are the sons of Mars, and only with discipline and bravery we will win! If you don´t have any further question you are dismissed. Honour and glory to Rome!” And all the presents repeated the same words “Honour and glory to Rome!”.

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Eastern Germania Superior
Near the Fortress of Lupodurum
Speech and religious ceremony
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One week latter the weather was favourable to the Romans: fog and heavy snow. Marius Vitellius remembered his agreement with King Dedrick III and knew that the Angrivarii would use this weather to execute his plan. He gathered the men of legions X Aludae and XL Auditrix outside the fortress of Lupodurum and addressed to them “Brave soldiers of Rome, my comrades! Today we will make history and will bring honour and glory to Rome! We are here to defend our lands against such an evil Germanic tribe as the Semnones. In fact this tribe is the last one to oppose us in Germania Superior… defeat them and all this land will be under Roman control. As you know we are not alone in this battle, our friends and allies, the Angrivarii, are with us. They are Germanii, yes, but they pledged an oath of fidelity to Rome and our Emperor and thus they are now Rome’s subjects. Remember the way they dress in order to avoid killing our allies. Also don´t forget that speed, discipline and silence are our best weapons in this battle. Do exactly as your commanders tell you and the day will be ours! Also I promise you half of the booty we can get from the Semnones. Are you ready to crush those who oppose Rome? Are you ready?”

The men cheered their commander and started to beat repeatedly on their shields with their gladii, making great noise. Many of them yelled “Rome! Rome! Rome!”. Marius Vitellius made a gesture and the men stopped the noise. Then he performed a small religious ceremony “Oh, Mighty God Mars! Listen to your sons, and help us to achieve a great victory against those who defy Rome. Give us strength and courage, great god! Guide us to victory…”.

Meanwhile four legionaries brought two fine bulls to his commander. Marius Vitellius and his two Legates examined the bulls carefully in order to see if they were not clipped (probatio). After that Marius Vitellius dropped some pure wine, incense and wheat flour with salt on the bulls’ heads (mola salsa). Then Marius Vitellius killed the two bulls and examined their viscera (immolatio and exta). Marius Vitellius shouted to his men “Look! The viscera are pure! The God is with us, this is his signal…” and then he burned the viscera in the altar. The men remained in silence but with their hearts full of confidence. After this religious ceremony Marius Vitellius turned to his Legates and ordered “tell the three Angrivarii scouts to ride fast to their King. They must tell him we will advance now and we will reach the Semnones´ forests within one day”.

To be continued…
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By: Agrippa Marius Vitellius
Edited by: QMA

AD 56