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Volsinii, Tuscia
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Summer was drawing to a close. Romulus Fortunus Julianus thought back to the months before, when the light stayed bright until late into the evening. Now, it was only eight o’clock, and the sun was already bidding farewell to Italia. Fortunus studied the extent of the camp, which lay before him. Over a square-mile in size, he stood upon a high elevation, and studied the outline of the alleyways, tents, ditches, pikes, horse-stables, command centers, officers’ quarters, and makeshift watch-towers. Smoke slowly rose out various spots, where small cooking fires had been ignited.

Prince Seleukos Keraunus Misoromaeus came to stand next to the Roman commander. Fortunus offered no response to Seleucid, and took a heavy sigh. The Greek looked to the Roman, and let out a light chuckle. “No sarcastic remarks today?” he muttered.
Fortunus shook his head. He reared his head back to the sky, and studied it, for some signs from the gods. No eagles appeared. That supposed divine apparition of Alexander had not stood over Fortunus since his speech on the fields of Aegyptus, so many months ago.
“Numbers are against us,” said Fortunus, in a monotone voice, as he turned to move toward the camp.
“Numbers can’t replace talent,” said Seleukos, in an arrogant tone.
“We missed Honorius. He’s already moving south to rendezvous with Marius,” said Fortunus, as he climbed atop his horse. The Roman turned a dark gaze to Seleukos. “We now face 11 legions.”
“And?” asked Seleukos, in a matter of fact tone.
“And now we march south. The pursuit is on,” said Fortunus, his _expression barren. Seleukos offered a small smile, as the pair rode down the hill, toward their camp.
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The Southeast Corner of
Lake Bolsena
Hill Country of Tuscia
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An orange flame stood still before Fortunus’ eyes. All that could be heard, in the room, was the sound of the handful of officers breathing, as all eyes looked to their commander. It was as though a cosmic weight had been placed over the room, choking the humor and spirits out of many of the men. Men such as Horadicus Gasenius Nervae, Brutus Horantus, Gaius Tiro, and Tranquillius Varus looked to the stone-cold _expression of Fortunus Julianus. “The wait of the century is over,” whispered Fortunus.
Slowly, the form of Seleukos entered the room. All those present turned with mixed expressions at the arrival of the Seleucid commander. Fortunus had prepared his officers for the arrival of the foreigner, to their meeting. He had emphasized the importance of the collaboration between all officers of Fortunus’ army, including the infamous Prince. By this point, however, most of the men had interacted with the wily Seleukos on more than one occasion, and had come to a general understanding of his abilities and personality.

Offering little greeting or expression, the Seleucid lowered himself in to his chair, and placed his arms on the table, offering a nod to Fortunus, as if he were gesturing for the commander to begin. “We are one army,” said Fortunus, “with one task. We shall liberate Rome!”
The men at the table nodded. For some weeks, it appeared as though Marius had outmaneuvered Fortunus, politically. The Emperor had proven himself to be level-headed, during the early weeks of his appointment. Things were beginning to change. “P. Agrippa Maxus has stumbled, again and again. He relies on the muscle of Marius, his overlord, to get his business completed. Meanwhile, he speaks with haughty words, over our Senate. He demands commanders to come to him, at his bidding, whilst buying loyalty from men all over the Empire,” said Fortunus.
The Proconsular Legate paused, and cocked his head to the side, as if formulating his thoughts as he went along. “Now,” said Fortunus, “correct me if I’m wrong, but does it not make sense to assume that if Agrippa Maxus were as legitimate and as loved as he so claims, he would not need to buy loyalty from the most important men of the Empire?”
A variety of sighs and nods in approval greeted the commander’s ears, as he continued. “Now, rumors suggest that he makes motions to disband the Senate!” Fortunus began to let out a jovial chuckle. “A Senator wishes to disband the Senate! Needless to say, Rome’s puppet Emperor is proving to be a buffoon, who cannot begin to understand how to run this Empire.
“We have traveled many a weary mile, men, to our homeland. Now, we must begin to do the difficult task of liberating Rome,” stated the Proconsular Legate. “Are we all in agreement?”
All men at the table slammed their fists in unison, as though they had rehearsed it a thousand times. Seleukos merely nodded in agreement, with a wry smile. He had waited a long time for this.



“We are stuck in the work we are in. We are at the point of no return.” Fortunus paused, and stood from his chair, moving to a map of Tuscia. “Our scouts report that Honorius Julianus is moving south, rapidly. Meanwhile, Agrippa Marius Vitellius moves the Imperial force north. He is attempting to conceal the size of his force, with the woodlands of northern Latium and southern Tuscia. At best, they are just a couple of miles apart, at this point.
“Apparently, Honorius is beginning to dig in, with semi-fortifications. We will fall upon them in a day, so he will not be able to create full defenses. It appears as though Marius has stopped,” said Fortunus.
Suddenly, Brutus Horantus spoke up. “So there is a gap?”
“Yes,” said Fortunus. “Of just a couple of miles, there is a gap.”
Brutus nodded. “That’s something to utilize,” said the Legate.
Fortunus offered no response, as he paced, in deep thought. Gasenius Nervae spoke up, in his raspy voice. “Is that all our scouts were able to ascertain?” asked the commander.
“Yes. Marius attempted to screen the scouts, but was unable to effectively. We weren’t able to ascertain as much as we had hoped, but it is better than nothing. It is not easy to hide 7 legions in an Italian forest,” muttered the commander.
Gaius Tiro laughed a bit. “This isn’t Germania.” An exchange of chuckles went around the table, in a desperate attempt to lower the weight of the situation.
“Why the hell would Marius place his inexperienced bedmate at the frontlines?” asked Varus. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s pretty clear,” said Gasenius, “that he’s trying to pull us into a trap. We get bogged down with Honorius, and his fortifications. Marius uses that German cavalry to encircle us.”



Fortunus stood, with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked at the officers as they spoke with one another, over that dimly lit table. Suddenly he realized Seleukos was studying his expression, as though the Seleucid were attempting to transmit thoughts across space to the Roman. Fortunus felt as though the Prince were suggesting, “You and I know that they’re wrong. These officers are wrong.”
“It’s very clear,” said Brutus Horantus, over the dancing candlelight, “We’re dealing with a trap. We get drawn into those Honorian lines. There’s no doubt we can break his fortifications,” said the younger Legate, who looked to an even younger Seleukos, as if looking for reinforcing opinion. Seleukos merely stared back, as Brutus shook his head and continued speaking, slightly intimidated. “So Marius will make some bold move, rush his entire force out of the woods… Or maybe, maybe he’ll use just enough of a contingent to draw us into the woods,” said the Legate.
“We must utilize that gap,” said Gasenius. “It is imperative. He’s made a mistake, and we are going to have to-”
“Now just hold on a damned minute,” said Fortunus, holding up an arm. Silence gripped the place, as the commander looked out from below a sweating brow, to his audience. “Marius is stupid, but he is no imbecile. He’s an experienced commander,” said Fortunus.
“But what does he know? He knows the wilds of Germania. He spent the entirety of his career there. He knows nothing but black forests, and roving barbarians.” The commander paused, and smiled. “He faces a very different sort of warfare, here.
“And, Marius is not a complete idiot. He might be politically inept, rhetorically impotent, but he is not a blithering idiot. In fact, I’d argue against any notion,” said Fortunus, gesturing to Brutus Horantus, “that Marius would attempt some wild maneuvers on that field.”
Slowly, Fortunus approached the table. “This is his first, real, climactic battle. He has never encountered another civilized force, in his entire life. He now faces the best of both worlds, Roman and Greek. Do you honestly believe he’ll allow a gap to be present at the battlefield?”

Silence answered the commander’s ears. Seleukos slowly smiled, as Fortunus continued speaking. “Of course not. His force will be united,” said Fortunus. “In fact, I doubt he’ll approach us in this high country.”
Slowly, Fortunus pointed to the map. “He’s going to opt for the lowlands, just south of Bolsena. There, he will utilize what he covets most: his German horsemen.”
The men were silent, as they took in these thoughts. “I suggest we take our time. Give him a day or so, let him position himself,” said Fortunus. “He’s going to put his best force forward. He’s careful over his mate, Honorius. He will not allow him to take the brunt of our assault.
“He has numerical superiority, and he is defending. He is going to desire a clean, well-organized battle,” said Fortunus. “He is an engineer at heart. He is wildly capable of organizing information.” Slowly, the commander turned to Varus, and laughed. “Remember when we were kids, tribunes, in Germania? Remember how he would offer these long, drawn-out letters to all officers on his genius plans? Always broken into neat, clean-cut phases. Phase I, yada yada. Phase II, yada yada.”
Most of the men around the table laughed. Even Seleukos offered a smile. Fortunus continued. “It’s a good way to do things.” Silence fell over the place, as they realized the sincerity in Fortunus’ voice. “But it doesn’t allow for imagination. It doesn’t expect the unexpected. He’s a careful man, he’s a prudent, slow-moving, cautious commander.”
Seleukos was nodding, knowing what was coming next. Slowly, Fortunus offered a wry grin. “And, I am not.”
The men began to laugh, as Fortunus pointed to the map. “Marius will use a standard formation,” said Fortunus, offering a pause, for effect, “a standard, book-style formation. He’ll have the entirety of his archers, from all legions, near the front. He’ll then have several legions lined in a respectable formation, probably without much imagination. Then, on either side, he’ll have huge cavalry contingents. It is estimated that he has nearly 9 or 10,000 light cavalry, complimented by his beloved 2,000 German horsemen.”
Seleukos offered a slight chuckle, as his excitement was building. Several eyes looked to the Seleucid, whose thoughts were swirling around the images of the coming battle. Fortunus offered a slight smile, as he had been briefed, a thousand times, on the abilities of the Hellenistic cavalry which Seleukos respected so much.

Fortunus moved to a large piece of papyrus, which had been strung up, vertically, behind him. He used a brush to make brought bars, representing the Marian formation as he imagined it. The officers in the place studied Fortunus’ prediction with careful minds. No sounds were uttered, as the Proconsular Legate spoke. Tranquillius Varus recalled the intensity with which Fortunus had spoken, when he discussed his fording plans before the fateful Battle of the Nile Delta. Such enthusiasm, imagination, and excitement were rarely displayed to the officers, as was expressed by Fortunus.
“He’s going to split the cavalry, into two nearly equal contingents, one on each flank of his force. Both will be mixed, nearly equally, with heavy and light cavalry.” Fortunus broke in his speech, and stood over the men. “Is all of this clear?”
The men nodded at the table. Fortunus studied their expressions, looking for evidence of confusion. “Now, I don’t dispute the idea that Marius will use his cavalry to the best of his ability. That is his crutch. That is his pride. He has always proclaimed the great ability and potential of those German horsemen. He will attempt to encircle us with the cavalry, attack our flanks whilst driving into our front ranks, and will try to get us to enter into a route. He’s aware of Seleukos’ cavalry,” said Fortunus.
“But, he’s not aware of how many I have,” said Seleukos. “I’ve had my men repelling Marius’ scouts for days now, the moment we came into reach of him. He has no firm figures on our numbers.”
“Let’s just hope he’s underestimating those numbers,” laughed Fortunus.
Seleukos nodded, and smiled. “He is.”
“So, those Germans are going to encounter-”
“The best cavalry forces of the world,” said Seleukos with confidence. Slowly, he looked into the eyes of all officers, and spoke to them with great sincerity and intensity, describing the virtues of his men. “You all know of my phalangites. They are a force to be reckoned with. The Silver Shields compliment them, as a mobile reactionary force,” slowly the Seleucid smiled, as he got to his passion, “But the real force to be reckoned with are my cavalry. The Companions are shock and heavy cavalry. They can strike with such speed and ferocity, as to exploit any tiny hold in the enemy lines or flanks to cause such chaos as to completely destroy an entire wing of Marius’ force.”
Fortunus smiled, as his friend continued speaking. “The Cataphracts are our very-heavy cavalry. Think, mobile phalanx,” said Seleukos, with a grin.



As the evening hours wore on, Fortunus was able to strengthen the morale of his officers, tenfold. Battle plans were drawn up, as the proposed formation was studied with intensity. The troops would have to repel Marius’ German horse, in order to have any hope of winning the battle.

As the men cleared the tent, Fortunus stood over them, with a serious _expression. “If there is one thing Marius is sure of, it is his victory, because of numerical superiority, and because of his undying faith in his German horsemen. We must utilize his pride, and over-confidence, to our advantage.”

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Just South of Lake Bolsena
Lowlands
The Battle of Bolsena

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The day of battle had dawned clear and bright. The place of battle open and offering neither side advantage.
A rider approached Fortunus, who was busily seeing to it that all formations were established. The air was cool, despite the fact that the sun was at a high-point during that day. “Sire,” said the young man. “It appears that Marius’ right flank holds more than 3,000 German horsemen, and much of the remaining light cavalry.” Fortunus nodded, taking this information in. He turned to Seleukos, who was preparing his cavalry.
“Take the entirety of your Kataphractoi, and Hetairoi, and move them to our Left flank. Conceal nearly 2,000 of the Kataphractoi, and 3,000 of the Hetairoi, behind the lines,” said Fortunus. Seleukos nodded, with enthusiasm. He was surprised by Fortunus’ abilities to think on his feet, despite the fact that they had held mutual respect for one another before. The Seleucid cavalry had been marched behind the Roman legions, to conceal them from Marius. Contingents of Hetairoi had been batting away scouts sent by Marius. The flat plains allowed for little high-ground to ascertain numbers, unless one had units that were fast enough to outrun screens set up by the opponent. Thus, Fortunus hoped Marius held an inaccurate perception of the numbers of Seleucid cavalry.

Fortunus had placed 12,000 Seleucid Phalangites, in that characteristic phalanx, in the center of his line. He had split the highly mobile Silver Shield force into two wings, of 3,000 each, which were placed on either side of the phalanx. To the left of the Seleucid center, was veteran legion IX, then private legion Fortuna Victrix I on the flank. On the right, was regular legion XXIX, followed by Fortuna Victrix II, with veteran legion XIII on the far right.

Fortunus positioned the Seleucid cavalry, mostly hidden, behind IX on the Left flank, with a dummy contingent present to give false-impressions of numbers. Fortunus had anticipated Marius’ interest in using cavalry, and so recalled the writings of Xenophon. So, he obtained selected cohorts from the third line of his veteran legions, and established an additional line of four thousand infantry behind his lot of 2,880 Roman light cavalry and 160 heavy, on his far Right flank. This force formed a slight oblique, hidden behind the Roman cavalry, but armed with their pila. Fortunus imagined that Marius would concentrate most of his energy on destroying the Seleucid forces, considering them the imminent threat. Therefore, he believed his left flank would be alright. The oblique would be a last-ditch attempt at salvation, should Marius use more troops on his left flank.

A. Marius Vitellius’ scouts had reported that the enemy had 2,000 Catapharcts and 20 war elephants, these could pose a serious threat he knew to the Imperial cavalry, if he allowed that particular fight to be pivotal in deciding the battle’s outcome. However the scouts also reported that the enemy had less heavy infantry than had been expected. Marius talked with PcL Honorius Julianus and both decided to change immediately the deployment of their troops and battle plan while they have time for that.

In the front line the loyalist troops were 10 legions, drawn up in a solid uninterrupted battleline. Each legion deployed its legionaries in the first echelon, deployed in the usual manner of a legion. That was to say in the loser formation favored by Roan armies in battle.

The Auxiliary light infantry formed a second line and the massed archers formed a third line. Also each legion had 5 ballistas mounted in their own wagons which they would fire over the men’s heads.

On the army’s left flank the loyalist troops had posted Legio VII Equestris and Equites Singulars behind them in support to protect that flank. On the right flank the loyalist troops had a mixed cavalry (heavy and light cavalry from all the available legions). Both of the forces of cavalry were drawn up somewhat further back than the Legionaries. Their initial task, maybe critical one, was to prevent the Imperial battle line from being assaulted by the enemy cavalry, once the infantry fight was initiated.

Able to deploy more rapidly than even a highly drilled Phalanx, the Imperial troops had marched into position, as the smaller Fortunan army did likewise. Their line could out stretch that of the Fortunans without effort. This allowed the Legions immediately facing the Phalanx to increase their depth considerably, without losing the priceless advantage of lapping over both ends of the opposing army’s battle line.

The fight when it began was of terrible intensity. The two hosts of infantry moved stoically toward one another. Immediately before the two lines crashed together, the legionaries of both sides unleashed their pila. Thousands of Pila flew across the few yards that divided the two battle lines. Only the Seleucid Phalanx did not join in the exchange, as they were not issued with pila, relying instead on their long pikes. The thousands of missiles could not all miss. Hundreds, if not thousands of heavy infantry were either killed, wounded, or lost the use of their shields to the pila that were stuck fast in them.
The two lines of infantry crashed together as the legionaries launched the final charge to contact. At both ends the Imperial legions were not engaged and remained “refused” as a guard against the possibility of the Fortunans trying to employ their cataphract cavalry to smash in to one or perhaps both the wings of the Imperial Army. Initially the two sides seemed locked in a static struggle, that gave no advantage to either side.

The fluid legionary formations were locked in an unholy battle of gladius and scutum, where relays of legionaries stepped forth to continue a bloody battle of will and flesh. Neither army had yet to gain any advantage in the battle between matched legionaries that raged unabated.

The Imperial battle line though had at least a legion uncommitted on both ends of the battle line, they still remained refused to fend off possible direct or circuitious cavalry assault on their flanks.

However in the center of the infantry battle, the Phalanx that used its momentum, indeed must have it, to crush its foes, had been badly disarrayed by the thousands of pila that three legions could hurl at them. The disorganization that so many casualties so close to contact caused, forced the vast majority still ready to fight, to stop and try to regain their impeccable formation. The time, though, was not available to the phalangites, the Roman legionaries opposite them seemed to leap forward and began to fall upon them.

The loss, however temporary, of so many of the vital hedge of pike points to keep the foe at a distance, allowed legionaries to dash foward through the gaps and close to gladius range.

At such close distances, the Roman way of fighting put them at a considerable advantage. The Seleucids though, were no raw band of troops. These Seleucid veterans fought with courage and resolution in the face of this not totally unexpected event.

However the Phalanx was now compromised, in it primary tactical method, even if it had yet to be forced back let alone defeated.

Over the heads of the two armies, the missile troops of both sides rained arrows and javelins upon their foes. The far greater numbers of such light troops in the Imperial Army, meant that they were able to send about twice the volume of fire into the massed ranks of their enemies, than were received. While this fire was not supposed, or even imagined to win battles, it did serve to sow disorder in uncommitted rear ranks that had to fend off this galling fire.

The Cavalry of both armies had yet to be committed, both commanders still had a major force that had yet to be thrown in to the Balance.

The Battle rages on .........

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By: Romulus Fortunus Julianus, Agrippa Marius Vitellius
Input from GMs