Legio XVII: Battle of Zama (30 page)

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On July 4th, the mercenary army stopped at Bauzanum. It was obvious from studying the ground that a large number of wagons had come to this point from several directions and then proceeded west.  Bauzanum itself was completely deserted.  A small cavalry detachment of five men rode west searching for the wagons and people.

After about five miles, they were stopped by a row of huge boulders stretched across the road.  They heard shouting above them. They looked up and saw a cloud of rocks coming down from the heights above.  Horses and men were hit and dropped on the road dead or seriously injured.  One rider quickly turned his horse and raced back down the road.  A rock had hit his shoulder and his arm hung limply at his side.  Each mile he rode, the pain grew more intense.  Unable to sit up any longer, he lay on the horse’s neck.  By the time he got back to Bauzanum, he fell to the ground barely conscious.

His comrades could see the external damage, but not the ripped muscles and torn tendons inside.  He did manage to tell them what happened, so Aze, Lugius, and Haggith were informed of what awaited them if they pursued the Raeti.  They opted to continue on to Trento.

Brenner Pass at Red marker
(Google Maps)

Two days later, on July 6th, they reached Trento.  They found Timo’s residence and were impressed even though it had been stripped of anything personal, valuable, or decorative.  It was grand with its many guest rooms, multiple kitchens, and elaborate staircase and fireplaces.  That night, the leaders had a banquet in the Hall and drank from barrels of beer intentionally left behind.  The idea was to get the mercenaries too drunk to do much damage.

During the feast, Haggith told Aze and Lugius that Carthaginian recruiters had also gone to Scodra, Illyria to amass another force of 20,000 men.  He guessed that they would be about a week ahead of them and, perhaps, now in the vicinity of Brixia.  Neither man seemed surprised and welcomed a larger army to fight the Romans.  Haggith dangled the possibility that Mago could sack Rome with such a large Army.  That bit of news piqued their interest and they talked about it for the remainder of the evening.  Eventually, they staggered off to bed and slept.

The next day, the army was gathered up and put on the road.  Torches were thrown into the King’s residence, but failed to ignite anything and harmlessly burned out.  Most of the other huts in Trento were not so fortunate.

The Roman blocking position with 31,000 Legionaries and Auxiliary troops lay four days down the road.

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The Illyrian Mercenaries

Mintho, Bostar, Sirom, and their cavalry escort departed Scodra, Illyria along with 20,000 Ardiaei, Albani, and a scattering of other Illyrian tribes.  Their Commander was Dindar, an experienced warrior who had just defeated the Macedonians.  He was intelligent, capable, and like his King, diplomatic and sophisticated.  It was clear to the Carthaginians that Dindar knew his business, and they just needed to stay out of his way.  Dindar had two men who each commanded 10,000 troops: Andis and Sali.  They too were professional soldiers.

The Army departed Scodra on May 17th accompanied by a large wagon train of food, supplies, and weapons.  Horses rather than oxen pulled the wagons and the army made about 15 miles a day.  They traveled in groups of 5,000 men and made four separate camps at night.  Each group of 5,000 traveled with 50 cavalrymen and 50 archers.  Their tents consisted of four poles used to support a leather tarp that was coated with wax and animal fat making it waterproof.  They were only tied down in windy conditions.

Since they were passing through friendly tribal lands, the army refrained from looting and foraging.  People in the settlements even handed the passing army fruit and other edibles to ensure their good behavior.  One evening in camp, Mintho told Dindar, “We sent men to Ptuj and Posonium to recruit Taurisci, Boii, and Eravisci warriors.  We should be behind them by a few weeks.”

“How many men?”

“I don’t know the exact number, but it could be 30,000.”

“With that many additional men, Mago should be successful.  Perhaps, we will actually sack the city of Rome.  Then we will all be rich,” he said sarcastically.  He knew it wouldn’t happen.

The army was professional, disciplined, and knew its business.  Dindar posted his cavalry to the front and mixed archers in with his advance party.  Cavalry brought up the rear.

They covered the 530 miles to Trieste in 35 days.  Dindar granted the men a one day rest on June 17th, after which they began the 165 mile, 12 day march to Verona.  Trieste marked the boundary of tribes allied with the Illyrians.  From Trieste westward, the foragers and looters were free to roam the countryside, and that slowed the pace.  The settlements all along the northern crescent of the Adriatic suffered extensive damage.  The Veneti took years to recover.

The Roman-built fort at Mestre escaped the looting and was the exception.  In 210 BC, Servilius provided the settlement with Roman construction expertise and weapons training in exchange for troops to defend Patavium.  He helped Chief Axius build a strong fort around his settlement.  The Illyrians decided it was not worth the effort and bypassed it.  Easier targets were readily available.

As the cavalry approached Verona, they kept in the woods to observe.  The settlement appeared deserted.  The advance guard spread out.  Dindar was told Verona was just ahead, and he halted his men about three miles from the settlement.  He sent Bujar and his 5,000 men in a wide loop to approach Verona from the south and Landi’s 5,000 to come at it from the north.  After 90 minutes had passed to allow the men to get into position, he instructed Andis to move his remaining 10,000 men on the road towards Verona.  As they approached the outskirts of the village, Andis put 5,000 of his men on one side of the road and 5,000 on the other.  The three forces converged on the settlement, drew their swords, and charged into the village.  They opened every door and searched every hut.  All the people, animals, and food were gone.

When Dindar learned that the village was deserted, he turned to Mintho, “They knew we were coming; I’m not surprised.  Word of our approach has spread throughout the area.  I suspect the people are hiding nearby, but we have enough food to last awhile.  I don’t plan to search for them.  I am concerned that the settlements from here on will be empty like Verona.  My foragers will have to go out farther out to gather grain.  We’ll stay here for a few days to rest the men and animals.”

Lake Benacus lay 18 miles due west.  Two days later, on June 30th, Dindar pushed out his cavalry and advance guard and began marching west.  Little additional grain had been gathered, but his army was well rested.

Chapter VI: Prelude to Battle 205 BC

On June 8th, while the Legions rested and repaired their equipment, Manius gathered his four Legates, Calvus, Caile, Lugano, and Taluric as well as his other key leaders and planners; it was now time to plan the defense of the blocking position.  Earlier, he told his two clerks, Acamus and Pittacus, to take notes, and whenever he tasked someone to do something, to write it down and prepare a short note for his signature.  “Canutus, when can we expect the grain wagons, supplies, and onagri to arrive?”

“Sir, they were scheduled to depart one week after we left Rome.  That should put them here in two weeks, barring any unforeseen problems.  Sir, when they arrive, four Maniples from Legio XVII and V Etrusci will be escorting them.  I suggest we make other arrangements for any future escorts.”

“How much grain are they carrying?”

“Sir, they should have a 30 day supply.”

“And we arrived with a 30 day supply. We may not need any more grain, but I’ll talk to Segovesus to see if he’s in any position to resupply us if we need it.”  Manius then looked at Tomaeus.  “On the 10th, we start building the ramparts, parapets, gates, and towers, right?”

“Yes sir and following that, we’ll begin constructing the Legion camps, the west facing wall, and dig the ditch on that side.  It’ll look the same as the river wall.  Simultaneously, we’ll begin working on the islands’ defenses.  We’ll extend the river wall out into the lake and connect it to the far island.  We’ll build 12 foot high dirt ramparts topped with a five foot parapet around each island and connect the islands with bridges.  I think we can complete the Legion camps, west wall, and the island defenses in two weeks, June 24th.  When everything is done, we will have rectangular Legion camps inside a rectangular fort.”

“That’s cutting it close,” said Manius.  “When you build the connecting wall across the water to the island, I want you to build a gate about 50 feet from the end of the river wall.  I want it to be inconspicuous.  Don’t put towers around it.  Make it look like it’s part of the wall.  I don’t plan to defend this gate, but we will use it when we need to cross the Mincio.  Put in a similar gate on the wall that connects the west wall to the islands in case we need to get out of the fort on that side.”

“Tomaeus, when the Legions begin to work on their individual camps, I want you to pay particular attention to the granaries.  The food may have to last two months and I don’t want it to spoil because of faulty construction.  I know that you already laid out eight camps, but we will only need five.  You’ll have to reconfigure the spacing.  I want Legio XVII closest to the lake, followed by the two Raeti Legions, then V Etrusci, and one Cenomani Legion at the south end down by the swamp.  I plan to place the second Cenomani Legion on the islands.”

“Place one onager between each of the five Legion camps and one on each side of the first and last camp.  I’ll hold four in reserve to fire over the east or west wall.  What will be the distance between the two walls?”

“Sir, 330 yards.  Each of the five Legion camps will be 1600 feet long and 900 feet wide.  Each camp will have an eight foot ditch completely surrounding it.  The two ramparts for the river wall and west facing wall will each be 20 feet wide.  That leaves 20 feet between the rampart and the ditch around each camp to allow the troops to move about. That all adds up to 330 yards.”

“Good.  The Legion camps will be our fallback position should the mercenaries get over the walls.  Lugano, I’ll put my headquarters with your second Legion camp, camp number 3.”

“Let’s discuss manning the walls, but first, Vitulus, tell me again how the mercenaries could attack our position.”

“Sir, they have several options available to them.  Initially, they will not know our strength or disposition.  All they will see is the river, the ditch, and the wall.  If they think the walls are sparsely manned, I believe they will attack all across the front in one massive effort.  When they are repulsed, I think they will regroup and attack the islands and the wall down by the swamp at the same time as a diversion.  Once those attacks are underway, the main attack will focus on a narrow part of the wall, maybe 500 yards wide.  They will use scaling ladders to climb the wall, which should be 33 feet high from ditch to parapet, and also use three pronged hooks to try to pull down the parapets on top of the ramparts.  I think their archers will try to keep our archers in the towers ducking for cover so they will not be able to fire down the length of the wall.”

“I think that’s a reasonable analysis.  Tomaeus, when you begin to build the towers on the river wall, I want them big enough to hold at least four archers and two scorpio each; one scorpio to fire north along the wall and the other south.  The towers will probably have to have two levels; the first for the scorpio and the second for the archers.  Put shutters on the front openings to protect the men inside from fire coming at them from across the river.  I want the archers and scorpio to deliver their fire primarily down the length of the walls.  If we need to fire across the river, they can open the shutters to do so.  How many towers do you plan to construct?”

“Sir, I plan to space them 200 yards apart and put one on each of the four corners.  That means the wall facing the river will have about 15 towers, and the wall facing west will have another 15.  With that kind of spacing, the scorpio and archers will only have to fire 100 yards in either direction before their fire would overlap with that of the adjacent tower.”

“That should be adequate,” said Manius. “What are your plans for the islands?”

“Praetor, I plan to do basically the same construction there as we’re doing here by the river.  The lake will serve as the ditch.  All three islands will be completely enclosed within walls and connected with pontoon bridges.  A wall will extend from our primary river wall to the first island, and a wall will link the last island to the shore on the west side.  We will build two more pontoon bridges from the shore to the first and last islands.  There will be a gate in the north wall that faces the lake to allow access to these bridges and the islands.”

“Excellent Tomaeus! Based on what you’ve said, I calculate there will be a total of about 42 towers with two scorpio each.  Distribute the remaining 16 scorpio to the five Legion camps.”

“Snake, you’re going to have to spread your archers out among the towers here and on the islands.  With the bridges connecting the mainland to the islands, and the bridges connecting the three islands, we can shift forces as the situation dictates.”

“Sir, the mercenaries have one more option,” said Vitulus.  Manius nodded for him to continue.  “They could send men around the lake to attack us from the rear.  By attacking the west wall, they would draw our men off the river wall and increase their chances for a breach.  Servilius can speak to their ability to go around the lake.”  Manius turned to face Servilius.

“Sir, if the mercenaries send a small force to the northern end of the lake, the 5,000 Suevi should be able to hold them.  They would need at least a three to one advantage in manpower to breach their defenses.  If they send a 15,000 man force or larger, the defenders of that blocking position will have to abandon it and come back south via the lake road.  Tomorrow, I’ll depart here to intercept the 5,000 Suevi coming from Innsbruck and redirect them to the blocking position on top of the cliffs.  Once they are situated, I’ll return here.  Sir, I think it would be a good idea if we send them 10,000 extra pila and some more archers.”

Manius looked again at his Illyrian Commander of archers.  “Snake, can you spare 300 archers to go with Tribune Servilius to meet the Suevi?  I know they have some archers, but I think an additional 300 would provide them with more punch.  Servilius go ahead and get the pila.”

Snake did some quick mental calculations and said, “I can spare them.  We’ll still have enough here.”

Manius then addressed Rasce, his cavalry Commander.  “I can think of five primary missions for your 600 horsemen.  Put some riders in Verona and Trento to provide us early warning of approaching enemy troops.  Put riders in the vicinity of Brixia to warn us if Mago’s men come at us from the west.  Surround the swamp and put riders south of the swamp along the river to detect any attempt to get across the river.  Send a detachment as far south as Mantua and be prepared to destroy the bridge there. Lastly, send some men to the Suevi blocking position on the northern end of the lake.  If the Suevi have to abandon their blocking position, I want your men to find the nearest signal unit to pass along the message, so we can take steps to set up the ambush.  It’s absolutely critical that we know as soon as possible that the Suevi are withdrawing.  Do you think that will keep you busy?”  Everyone laughed.

“Let’s discuss manning the walls,” said Manius.  “I think we need to have a Legionary spaced out every two feet on the river rampart.  That’s 3,960 men.  I want to have four more men stacked behind the lead man.  That adds up to 19,800 men on the one rampart facing the river.  To plug a breakthrough and replace fallen men on the wall, I want to position a Maniple at the base of the ramparts every 100 yards.  That’s another 2,600 men.  I want other Maniples to be placed between the Legion camps and one on each end to be prepared to reinforce either wall; that’s another 700 men.  One thousand men each will be posted on the south and north wall by the gates.  I will keep a 900 man reserve with me in the center of the camp.”

“That leaves 5,000 men left to defend the islands, which will be the responsibility of the second Cenomani Legion.  My idea is to actively defend the one island closest to the enemy and leave the other two with a much smaller force.  The first island will have 3,200 feet of wall.  I think we should put 4,800 men on the wall; that’s three men deep all the way around, and hold the remaining 200 in reserve inside the fort.  If the first island is attacked and they have to abandon it, the men can fall back to the second island and then the third, if necessary.

Commander Bricius, I want you and your Cenomani warriors to take charge of the defense of the islands.  Work with Tomaeus to get the walls and bridges the way you think will best support their defense.  Once your forts are constructed, drill your men on how to defend the wall.  Have them take up their positions during the day and at night.  Run some unannounced drills.  One more thing, if we are hard pressed here, I will recall your men from the islands to help hold this position.  I want you to work with the trumpeters to develop a unique signal for you to return.  Practice evacuating your men from the islands.  I will only recall you if our situation is desperate.  Cut loose the pontoon bridges as you withdraw.”

“I’ve already told the trumpeters to develop unique emergency calls for manning the walls.  One call will designate the river wall and another call the west wall.  Everything I said today about the river wall also applies to the west wall.  We still face the threat that Mago will discover us and send part of his army against us.  Legates, you need to practice putting your men on both walls.  I don’t want any confusion among the troops.  They must know their place on either wall.”

“As I said, I’ve instructed the trumpeters to develop an emergency call, which will signal that we are under attack and the walls may have been breached.  When you hear that call combined with the call designating which wall is under attack, it means we have a very serious situation.  The men must take up their helmet, shield, pila, and sword only.  There will be no time to put on their armor.  I plan to practice the emergency call once.  The next time they hear it, it’s a matter of life and death.  I will keep a trumpeter with me at all times and place one on the east wall and one on the west wall.”

“The enemy can hit us repeatedly at difference places along the walls and on both walls simultaneously.  If they fail, they can regroup and try it again on another day.  Their only objective is to get past us.  That can fail multiple times, we can only fail once.”

“Servilius, you and Canutus are in charge of planning the ambush on the western side of the lake.  I want you to identify the exact location and the forces you will need.  After you’ve walked the ground, explain to me the tactics that you will employ.  Consider several scenarios such as a day or a night ambush.  I would like to hear your ideas three days after you return from getting the Raeti into position.  Calvus, if an ambush is necessary, I want you to be there and command all the forces involved.”

Manius looked directly at each of his Commanders.  “Each Legion is responsible to repel attackers assaulting their portion of the wall.  I don’t expect to see any enemy soldiers coming over the top.  The honor of your Legionaries and your Legion’s reputation is at stake.  You must hold the wall at all cost.”

“I expect that the mercenaries will use numerous ladders to scale the walls, which means we must have forked poles to push them off.  It takes a minimum of two forked sticks to push off one ladder and maybe even three or four depending on how many men are on the ground holding the ladder.  I want the men to get the feel of how much effort is required to push a ladder with men on it and men holding it.  Start practicing as soon as possible.  This is a critical task that must be mastered.”