Caius jumped to his feet in an instant, the trumpet still ringing in his ears. Donning his chain-mail and girdle, he laced his sandals and seized his pilum and shield. He fastened his helmet as he ran to join the men.
2000 feet marched past him through the dust. Caius inhaled the pungent essence of their wool tunics, damp with their own sweat. Dust clouds blew into his eyes and left grit in his teeth. Behind him, thousands of men formed into centuries, their helmets glistening in the sun.
One of the fiercest warriors in human history, the Roman Legionary, armed in the finest armor, and trained in expert fighting, instilled fear in every enemy he faced on the battlefront. Legionaries wore chain-mail shirts or plated armor and did not commonly wear the molded breastplates depicted in most films. They carried two spears, a short sword and a massive shield. A six-foot long lance with iron shank called a pilum, they also used as a throwing spear. Their second javelin was lighter and easier to throw. Every legionary carried a short sword called a gladius, most effective in close combat, not by swinging, but by jabbing them at their foes.
His centurion stood at the front of the legionaries. Raising his short staff, he ordered his men into columns. They moved forward, their hobnail sandals thumping as they stepped as one man. Precision could mean life and death for the thousands of advancing infantry.
Caius had been on the move for weeks since the Legion had left their forts in Syria. After they defeated the Parthians across the Euphrates, none of his fellow legionaries knew what had happened to the enemy. Now he did. Rumors had trickled down from the commanders that the Parthians had returned to conquer Armenia. Rome was coming to stop them.
Under a treaty between Emperor Augustus and the Parthian king, Rome claimed the right to determine Armenia’s governors. But in 52 A.D. the Parthian king Vologeses invaded Armenia and placed his own brother Tridates on the throne. When peaceful negotiations crumbled, war broke out in 58 A.D.
General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, who held command of the third, sixth, and tenth legions, had been leading the war in Armenia, but in a lull in the war, he had been called away to defend Syria from Parthian invasion. He had remained in Syria for two years, constructing a bridge across the Euphrates, while Paetus, an incompetent general took over the conflict in Armenia.
In 62 A.D. The Parthians had almost crushed Paetus, who now pleaded for help from Corbulo. The capable general left half his force in Syria and rushed to Paetus’ aid. But they were too late.
Caius began passing centurions and frightened legionaries on the road, some limping. They had almost reached the enemy. His general rallied his men, reminding them of past victories and the glories awaiting them on the other side of the coming battle.
But when Corbulo arrived, Paetus had already surrendered and completely folded to the enemy’s terms. Corbulo had no orders to attack the Parthians, he had only feared the destruction of the legions commanded by Paetus. Thus there was little he could do. Corbulo returned with a great force in the spring of 63 A.D. to finish the conflict once and for all. Without engaging in battle, they established peace, essentially gaining nothing but the return to the terms of the earlier treaty.
Seemingly a wasted war of little consequence, Rome paraded it as a grand victory. Despite it being Emperor Nero’s only war, it probably helped to boost his favor with the people—at least temporarily. In another year, that would all change when on a July night in 64 A.D. a fire ravaged Rome.
If you missed the first part of this story click here
Till the future is history…
~Shane
Image Credit: 1 Roman Soldiers (Wikipedia) 2 Roman Pilum (Wikipedia) 3 Roman Shield (Wikipedia) 4 Roman Soldier (Pixabay) 5 Map of Parthian War (Wikipedia)
Primary Source: The Annals of Tacticus