Legio XVII: Battle of Zama (53 page)

Silanus rode to the Senator’s ornate residence.  He knocked on the door and a servant opened it. “I am Tribune Silanus.  Take me to the Senator.”

She said, “The Senator is eating dinner with his wife.”

“I don’t care if he’s making love to her, take me to him now!”

The shocked servant drew back in surprise and said, “Sir, follow me.”

When Silanus entered the dining room, the Senator turned to see who it was.  “Senator, I am Tribune Silanus, Proconsul Scipio’s Deputy and I have urgent business.  I need a few minutes of your time.”

“Come in,” said Fabius. “Have you had dinner yet?”

“No sir I’ve been too busy.”

Addressing the servant, Fabius said, “Fix the Tribune a plate and bring him a glass of wine.  Now, tell me Tribune what brings you to Rome.”

In between sips of rose colored wine, Silanus explained his mission.  The Senator and his wife continued eating while he spoke.  When Silanus finished speaking, the servants set a plate of exquisite food before him.

“Go ahead and eat,” said Fabius, “while I write out an order directing Praetor Tullus and Legio XVII and V Etrusci to deploy immediately to Africa.  Bring me a writing tablet.”

Silanus finished his meal and Fabius handed him the letter.  Fabius said, “In a few days, I’ll bring this matter to the attention of the Senate.  They’ll call me dictator and rogue and a few other names that I can’t mention in mixed company.  I expect that you will be long gone by then?”

“Yes sir.  We’ll sail immediately.”

Silanus left the Senator’s estate and rode to Manius’ villa.  It was midnight.  After repeated knocking, a servant reluctantly opened the door.  “I need to see the Praetor, urgent army business.”

“Praetor Tullus is sleeping.  Can you return tomorrow?”

“No I cannot.  Go wake him!”

While one servant went to wake the Praetor, a second took Silanus to the courtyard.  Moments later, Manius walked in.  Lucia stopped at the doorway and stood behind one of the many fluted columns where she could hear the conversation.  She knew this was army business and to allow them privacy.

Tribune Silanus stood up when the Praetor entered and introduced himself.  He apologized for the late night visit and inconvenience.  Manius turned to a servant and said, “Bring us some hot tea.”

Silanus recounted all that had happened starting with the capture of the Numidian messenger. He showed Manius the letter written by Proconsul Scipio.  Silanus ended his briefing by describing his meeting with Senator Fabius, and his written approval to deploy Legio XVII and V Etrusci.  Silanus added, “Proconsul Scipio requested you by name to lead them.  He has enormous faith in your leadership ability and determination to see this through.  Sir the transports should be making port shortly.  The sooner you can board the better.  If the Numidian cavalry joins Hannibal, we will lose our advantage and the outcome of the battle will be in jeopardy.  The Proconsul thinks the Numidians are poorly trained, but their sheer numbers could sway the outcome.”

Manius said, “Please convey my deep appreciation to the Proconsul.  When do you think the army will engage Hannibal?”

“Two to three weeks at the latest.  Probably in September.  Sir, the ships have sufficient grain on them for the crossing and for a 30 day follow-on operation.  From Ostia, the ships will sail to Sardinia to take on supplies and put you ashore at El Kala on the African coast.  The crossing should take two and a half to three days.  From Kala, proceed southwest to Bouhadjar and then turn southeast to Ouled Moumen.  The entire trip from El Kala to Ouled is 45 miles.  One mile east of Ouled is the Pass you are to block.  The Medjerda River flows through a portion of the Pass and should help you defend the position.  The Proconsul is located at Sakiet Sidi Youssef, which is 21 miles south of Ouled.”

“Ten miles to the southwest of Ouled, around a small mountain range is another Pass.  Your instructions are to also block that Pass.  There are abundant rivers and streams throughout the area.  You will not want for water.  I’ve prepared a map that has the route from El Kala to Ouled.”

Manius took the map and said, “Thank you Tribune.  I can see why the Proconsul selected you as his Deputy.  Why don’t you get a few hours sleep?  I’ll have the servants wake you in three hours and prepare a meal for you to take on the road.”

“Thank you Praetor, I think I will take you up on your offer.  I am very tired.  My ship is waiting at Ostia and I want to report back to the Proconsul as soon as possible.  Knowing you are coming will give him peace of mind.”

“Good.  I will have my Legions marching for the port before dawn.”

A servant led Silanus to his room and Manius sat for a moment thinking of what he needed to do.  Lucia joined him.  He said to her, “Did you hear what he said?”

“Yes, every word.  You’re going to Africa to fight the most dangerous man in history!”

Manius laughed.  “No, that honor will fall to Scipio.  I will fight poorly trained and poorly led Numidian cavalry.”

“They’re still dangerous!”

Manius said, “Oh yes.  I’m not underestimating them one bit.”

Manius got dressed, said farewell to Lucia, and rode to the cantonment area housing Legio XVII and V Etrusci.  It was 1:30 A.M.  He told the Duty Tribune, “Initiate an Emergency Recall of all personnel and prepare the Legions for imminent deployment.”  The Tribune stared at him in disbelief.  “Now!” said Manius.

Within minutes the camp came to life.  A head count was taken to determine who was present and who was absent.  Individuals were dispatched to recall those who were absent while the remainder was told to pack for an extended deployment.  No one knew why or where they were going and the rumors flew.  The most common rumor was actually close to the truth.  Scipio needed more troops and they were going to Africa to fight Hannibal.  Excitement ran high!

Within an hour, the Commanders began appearing at Headquarters.  Manius took a quick headcount to ensure his key leaders were present, and then briefed them on the mission.  He concluded by saying, “At 5:00 A.M. we will march to Ostia.  By 1:00 P.M. I want to start loading the ships and by 6:00 P.M. I want to set sail.  Snake, I want all your archers.  Rasce bring all 600 horses.  Canutus, ensure we have all 100 scorpio.  Silanus told me not to load our wagons on the ships, so plan to leave them at Ostia, but we can take our mules.  He said we can get all the wagons we need at El Kala and the surrounding area.  I hope he’s right.  Canutus arrange for a guard force to protect the wagons while we are gone.”

“Calvus ride ahead of the column with 100 horsemen and clear the roads and port of civilian traffic.  Tell the Naval Commander that we are enroute and to prepare his ships for loading.  We need this to go off smoothly and quickly.”

At 5:00 A.M. the lead elements stepped off enroute to Ostia.  They marched for seven hours without a break and arrived at 1:00 P.M.  The port was clear of civilian boats and the transports were waiting on the beach.  Calvus had coordinated with the ships’ captains and rode back to brief Manius on the loading plan.  Wagons were off loaded and their contents manhandled aboard the ships.  The wagons were then taken to a restricted area.  The horses walked onto the ships and led to their stalls.  Troops were packed into every available space.  The Naval Commander told Manius that the tide was against them, but they would row against it and depart on time.  Manius and everyone else was so preoccupied, they had no time to think about the sea voyage they were about to undertake.  The focus was getting on the ships and tying everything down.  At 6:30 P.M. the ship headed into the open sea.

Silanus was 12 hours ahead of Manius and the Legions.  He landed at El Kala and rode to brief the Proconsul.  Two days after making port, he stood in front of Scipio and gave him the good news.  Scipio was overjoyed and took the time to allow Silanus to explain how he had convinced the Senate to allow Manius to deploy.  When he heard the story, Scipio said, “This army owes that Duty Officer at Army Headquarters and Senator Fabius a huge debt of gratitude and I will personally thank them for sticking out their necks.”

El Kala in the north and Ouled Moumen in the southeast
(Google Maps)

About the time Silanus briefed Scipio, Manius and his two Legions arrived at El Kala.  They had stopped at Sardinia, but only to take on fresh food, water, and oarsmen.

The ships were loaded to allow the cavalry to disembark first.  Manius told Rasce, “Once your horses are unloaded, your first priority is to patrol the area to ensure we are not surprised while the troops recuperate.  Your second priority is to gather every wagon you can find.  The younger men who were not affected by sea sickness will be available to bring the wagons back here.  The rest of us will need two days to recover.  We have a lot of severely dehydrated Legionaries.”

Two days later the Legions formed up and began walking southeast to Ouled.  The men were feeling better and the cavalry had found 300 wagons for each Legion.  They passed thorough Ain El Assel, El Tarf, Zitouna, El Merquaa, and Ain Kerma.  They crossed streams by El Tarf, El Merquaa, and walked alongside a river from Ain Kerma for two miles south.  As Silanus said, there was plenty of water for the Legionaries and the animals.  When the column reached Bouhadjar, they turned southeast and walked through the Pass they were to block.  The Medjerda River flowed through the southern edge of the pass.  The Legions made camp at Ouled.

During the three day march, Manius conducted his usual evening briefings with his staff and used the occasions to discuss his plan to hold the Passes.  Each Legion was minus one Maniple.  They were visiting the battlefields of Cannae and Telamon.

Manius spread out the map that Silanus had prepared and his commanders gathered around.  “It appears that the Pass is two miles west of Ouled, let’s call it the Northern Pass.  The gap is only 500 feet across.  We should have no problem defending it.  I’m thinking we need to dig two ditches, one 60 feet out from the rampart and the other at the base of our palisade.  I want to build a standard rampart and palisades with towers very much like we did at Lake Benacus.  We could put 1,000 men on the wall, which would be four deep, and position a 500 man reserve at the base of the rampart.  I want to construct three towers with four scorpio each for long range shooting and put the remaining 38 scorpio on the ramparts.  They can withdraw if it becomes an infantry battle.  We’ll know more when we can actually look at the Passes.”

“The Southern Pass is one mile wide.  I plan to treat this Pass just like the Northern Pass.  Two ditches, rampart, palisades, towers, 50 scorpio, and 9,000 troops, four deep on the wall with a 500 man reserve.”

It was now early September 202 BC.  Manius had each Legion prepare a standard marching camp at Ouled and rode with his Commanders and staff to inspect the two Passes.  He sent couriers to Naraggara to inform Scipio that he was at Ouled Moumen preparing to defend the two Passes.  He instructed the couriers to remain with the Proconsul’s army and to advise him if the army relocates and to provide updates on the battle with Hannibal.

After the inspection, Manius decided to place 1,000 men from Legio XVII at the Northern Pass and the remainder of Legio XVII and V Etrusci at the Southern Pass.  He retained 500 men at the small settlement of Ouled as a general reserve.  The following morning, Legio XVII went to the Northern Pass to prepare the defenses and V Etrusci went south.  The engineers determined that the hills surrounding the two passes contained adequate trees to build the ramparts and palisades.  When the defenses of the smaller Northern Pass were complete, the bulk of Legio XVII marched south to assist V Etrusci.  In two days the ditches were dug and the rampart and palisades rose imposingly from the bare ground.  All that remained to be constructed were the towers.  At both Passes a small 10 foot wide gap was left open along the northern edge of the ditch and palisades to allow Rasce’s cavalry to come and go.