Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War (40 page)

The Centurion yelled, “Run” and the 100 dropped their swords, spun around, and literally ran for their lives.  The
Suevi
immediately began a sprint to catch them.  As soon as they passed the woods where the archers and 1000
Hastati
lay hidden, the 1000 ran into the field to close off any possible escape for the
Suevi
.  They then quickly formed up into a
triplex acies
consisting of 500 in the first line, followed by 300 in the second and 200 in the third.  Once formed, they began to trot to catch up to the pursuing
Suevi
.

To their great relief, the “retreating” Maniple reached the ditch and ran around it.  The 1000 men in the ditch then rose up from their hidden position.  The
Suevi
stopped instantly and were immediately pelted by a storm of arrows coming from the woods.  They instinctively crouched and moved closer together for protection as the arrows began to find their target.  About 50 yards separated them from the 1000.  The
Suevi
were totally surprised, perplexed, and fascinated all at the same time.  The
Suevi
took it all in: the armor, the shields, and the
pila
.  They turned when they heard noise behind them and saw another Roman force running at them from the rear.

Most never saw the
pila
arching through the air and only felt or heard their impact.  Within seconds, 3200 iron tipped spears covered their ranks from one end to the other.  No one escaped the rain of death.  The archers ceased firing when the Legionaries got within 20 yards of the now dead and dying
Suevi
.  It was over that quickly.  It was a perfectly executed ambush.  The men had high praise for Manius.

The Centurions told the men to execute any survivors and retrieve all usable
pila
.  The archers did the same.  Beside Roman policy to reuse thrown
pila
whenever possible, Manius did not want the
Suevi
to find any arrows or
pila
among the
Suevi
dead.  He wanted to keep his weaponry a surprise for as long as possible.

The
Suevi
at the bridge, who were watching, were frustrated because they could not see clearly what was happening.  The warm, hazy air combined with the distance made it impossible to see.  Once their 500 men got close to the waiting Maniple, the backs of their own men completely blocked the view.  All they could see was the 500 as a small dark mound on the horizon.  Even climbing atop the still standing northern tower of the bridge did not help.  They could see their men advancing; they could then see people coming out of the wood and then going in the direction of their 500 who were now masked by this new group.  They could then make out people moving away and disappearing into the surrounding woods.  That was it.

They assumed their warriors were in pursuit and would eventually reappear, but the day wore on and they did not return.  It was now getting dark so Ariovistus made the decision to wait until morning to go out and see what happened.  He was beginning to get a bad feeling about these Romans and decided on caution.  He secretly hoped his men would return during the night bragging about their exploits, but, in his heart, doubted that it would happen.

Early the next morning, two men swam their horses across the river and rode out to see what had happened to the 500.  They were concerned and nervous as they cautiously eyed the surrounding woods.  Then they spotted the discarded Gallic swords lying in the field where they had been dropped by the Romans as they “fled” the battle field.  They continued on and spotted in the distance what appeared at first to be piles of rocks strewn across the field.

As they got closer, they realized it was their men and no one was moving.  They dismounted and walked among the bodies.  Most of the men seemed to have died of puncture wounds and not the usual cuts to the face, neck, or shoulder.  They remounted and rode quickly back to the bridge.  Elitovius and the
Rhaetians
scouts watched the two men from the woods.  When the
Suevi
rode away, Elitovius walked the mile back to the Legion’s camp at Igls to tell Manius.

When Manius heard that the
Suevi
had discovered the bodies, he directed the 2000-man
Hastati
to return to the open field by Vill, ground their equipment, and eat their noon day meal, but to remain standing so they would be visible from the bridge.  He wanted Ariovistus to know the Romans were still there and may come back to the bridge, but this time to totally destroy it!

The two
Suevi
scouts returned and reported all they had seen to Ariovistus except the fact about the Gallic swords lying in the field.  It did not seem important.  Ariovistus had just called the Council together, when a bridge guard rushed in with the news that a large Roman force was again visible in the distant field and they seemed to be yelling.  Ariovistus turned to the assembled Council and told them that the Romans were mocking them.  He told them that the 500 sent to destroy the Romans
were now lying dead in the field.  That same field is again occupied by Romans and they are taunting us; daring us to come out and fight them.  Which we will do in time, but first I want to hear some ideas about how our 500 got defeated.  Ariovistus told the Council that there was an absence of sword cuts on the bodies, which were found in piles and not spread out over the battle field as usual.  The scouts said they were all crowded together and killed by puncture wounds.

The Council concluded that the Commander of the 500 was unprepared and had met a force larger than his own; he obviously did not pay enough attention to his surroundings; the men were ambushed and killed by missiles and not man-to-man fighting.  They concluded that the Romans were cowards who preferred to fight at a distance and will run when real men get too close to them.  The Council decided that their army should cross the river and close the distance with the Romans quickly to avoid the missiles.  The quicker they could close the distance, the quicker the Romans would run.  Ariovistus sat silently listening as the Council argued and debated the issue and began formulating his own plan.

Finally, he had heard enough.  He stood up and said, “If our army crosses the river and the Romans run away, they could easily go back to the Brenner to escape us; they could then get a bigger army, come back, and continue to bother us.  My point is we have to totally defeat them now.  We have to send Rome and the
Rhaetians
a strong message that this is our valley, our Pass, and we can do whatever we want on either side of the mountains.”

“My plan is to cross the river at two separate points, one 20 miles upstream and the other 20 miles downstream to escape observation.

We will crush them between our two armies and leave them with no way to escape.  Since we don’t know anything about these Romans except that they appear inept, which could be an act for our benefit, I propose we send 6,000 men upstream to cross at Telfs while I take 11,000 men and 50 cavalry and cross the river downstream at Schwaz.  Once our two armies are within a few miles of the Brenner Road, we’ll stop and send out scouts to locate each other and the Romans.  We’ll then catch them between us.  If we depart here in two days, we should be at our crossing sites and on the other side in another two days.  We’ll march back in the direction of Innsbruck, find each other, and fight on the seventh day.”

Ariovistus selected a veteran warrior by the name of Vocion to lead the 6000 to Telfs.  He was an imposing man who stood about 5’6”, muscular with strong arms and a full beard.  He kept his long hair in a ponytail and his beard tied at the chin.  He was renowned for his ferocity in battle.  He was also a headstrong, impetuous man, who did not take orders or advice well from either superiors or subordinates; he was a bully with a strong penchant for cruelty; Ariovistus despised him, but he was a leader who could be counted on to complete any task given him.  The two men decided who to take, when to depart, and how to proceed.  Ariovistus told Vocion not to take on the Romans by himself, but to remain hidden until he brought up his army.  The next day, the Council agreed to the plans and the warriors were assembled.

Two days later, the two columns totally 17,000 men headed out of the settlement in opposite directions.  It was close to midnight as they cleared the last huts and began walking to their respective crossing sites.  Fifteen thousand additional warriors remained in Innsbruck for home defense should the need arise.

*******

The
Raeti
spies, in groups of three men each, were located at either end of the Innsbruck settlement and stayed hidden by setting up their observation posts on the side of the mountain where they could watch the road and not be seen.  They had recently been rotated with the original six men.  Their job was to watch for any large group of warriors leaving the village and, if they saw something, to report it back to the Legion immediately.  Manius’ other spies were about 10 miles up and down stream on his side of the river.  They too were camped where they could see roads and surrounding countryside.  Elitovius and his
Rhaetians
counterpart rotated the men every third day to keep them fresh.

The
Raeti
lookout suddenly sat upright.  The low sound he had been hearing for the past 10 minutes was growing in intensity, but there was nothing to see.  Even though there was only a half moon, the road stood out clearly against the darker vegetation.  Then he saw them; they were just coming into view.  He woke his companions.  This is the reason they had been eating cold food and sleeping on the hard ground.  They all focused on counting the number of warriors and looking for distinctive armaments.  When the column passed, they came straight down the hillside to the river and swam to the far shore.  They dried off as best they could and began the 3 mile walk to Legion Headquarters.  They ran across any open spaces, rested in the woods periodically, and continued on.  They had to keep the north-south Brenner-Innsbruck Trail in view for fear of getting lost.  Finally, they made it to Igls and the Legion.

When they entered the
Praetor’s
tent, they found the other lookouts from the other side of the settlement were already there.  They had beaten them back and had a similar story to tell.  Manius had been awakened and was now fully focused.  Before he allowed the spies to give their reports, he had runners assemble his Commanders.  Once everyone was present, the spies gave almost identical reports with one major exception.  The group that went east had about 30 horses and numbered about 10,000 men.  The party that went west had no cavalry and was smaller, maybe 6,000.  Both groups carried standard
Suevi
small round shield and long swords.  The spies could not see any body armor.  Neither group had archers, but a few supply wagons followed each column.

When they completed their report, Manius thanked them for their diligence and directed his aide to feed them and find them a place to sleep.  It was now 0230.  Manius told his Commanders to reassemble at 0800.  He told Elitovius and the
Rhaetians
to put the lookouts on this side of the river on heightened alert.  “I need to know where they cross the river and where they go after the crossing.  This information must be brought back here as soon as possible.”  Manius was worried.  He would shortly have two powerful armies bearing down on him with the strength and resolve to utterly destroy the
XVII
.  Information and timely movements were going to be the key to survival.  He lay back down, but a thousand things raced through his mind.  At one point, he called an aide and said to make sure Andreas and the Auxiliaries at Axams are brought up to date first thing in the morning.

Preparations for Battle

Vocion marched his 6000 men through the night without taking any breaks.  When the sun rose, he halted the force a mere three miles from Telfs and the intended crossing site.  He ordered his men into the woods and told them to cook their breakfast while he went forward to inspect the crossing site.  The water was low and running slow, which was what he expected.  He figured he would set up a single rope across the river for the men to hold onto as they waded across.  He planned to leave the wagons at the crossing site.  From here on, the men would have to carry their supplies.  On the far side he could see forests and envisioned entering the woods to conceal his movements as he went east to find Ariovistus and the Romans.  By 0800 he was at the crossing and by 1300 he had his force across the river and moving into the deep woods at Holl.  So far, it was a smooth operation and he felt good.

*******

Once Ariovistus cleared the settlement and got about five miles away, he slowed the pace considerably.  He gave the men periodic breaks and called a halt at 0400 to allow his men to eat and rest.  Actually, he was hungry, tired, and extremely uncomfortable with his hemorrhoids; riding his horse was painful and forced him to dismount and walk on several occasions.  Three hours later, after the troops had eaten and rested, the column continued their eastward march.  He arrived at Schwaz at noon and began crossing the river at 1300.  (At the same time, Vocion was already across the river and entering the woods.)  Once across, he had the men dry out a bit and began moving his column west in the direction of Innsbruck.  After an hour, he stopped the march for the night at Weer, only two miles west of Schwaz.  Ariovistus did not know it, but, at this moment, Vocion was only four miles from
Legio
XVII
while he was still 20 miles away.  His slow progress and Vocion’s rash and aggressive nature would cost them both dearly.

*******

Bethica and her men had been walking for nine days.  Today was July 9
^th
.  They would be home tomorrow.  The Kufstein route was definitely the better of the two ways home.  As expected, her army was well fed by the people in the valley and the walking was much easier.

One of her mounted scouts approached the head of the column riding hard.  “Bethica,” he said breathlessly, “Your father is a few miles down the road at Schwaz.  He is leading a large force and they are crossing the river.”  She spurred her horse to a gallop and only pulled up when she spotted Ariovistus sitting by the side of the road.  He looked surprised, but was happy to see her.  His two sons had died in battle several years ago against the
Cimbri
.  She alone survived and was now his designated heir and his joy.  He was immensely proud of her.

Even as a child she was more daring and bold than boys her own age.  Then, after her mother’s death, she managed the household.  Now, she looked every part the future chief.  At 5’4”, she stood straight and proud.  Her hair was loosely braided in the back and held in place by her Commander’s headband.  She eschewed finery for the practical.  She wore cloth trousers covered with leather legging.  Her belt was engraved with
Suevi
religious symbols and held her short knife, riding crop, and, until recently, her folded map.

“Father, what is this?  What has happened?” she asked as she smoothly slid off her horse, her brow furrowed with concern.  She stood quietly as Ariovistus explained to his daughter all that had occurred and his plans to deal with the Romans.  Bethica was immediately concerned.  She had a very good relationship with him.  He loved her and she loved him and they talked frequently and honestly.  This allowed her to freely advise him as well as to correct him when she felt he was wrong. “Father,” she said, “I think we are rushing into this.  We need to slow down.  Six days ago you met this Roman for the first time and now we are at war?  We know too little about these people and the way you describe their ineptitude sounds to me like a deception.  And why did you put Vocion in charge of the other half of the army.  You know he does not think.  He just acts.  Father, I beg you, call off this war until we have more time to think.  You are too old for this.  Perhaps, we can find a middle ground, some compromise.  Let me talk to this Manius.”

Ariovistus stared at her.  He felt she was attacking him and opened his mouth to defend himself, but hesitated.  He knew in his heart she was right and he would be unable to convince her otherwise.  This war had indeed spun out of control.  He had been rash.  But at this point, he felt committed.  His honor and pride were now in charge.  Suddenly, he sat upright.  He had an idea.  He would use Bethica and her 6000 to ensure a victory.  He felt he could, at least, win her over to support the effort.  Ariovistus drew his dagger from his belt and began to draw in the dirt to show Bethica where to take her men.

*******

To his embarrassment, after he successfully crossed the river, Vocion got all twisted up in the woods near the village of Holl.  His men initially moved too far south and only stopped when the terrain became too steep to climb.  The woods were so thick and dark, it was almost impossible to control the army’s movement.  He called a halt to allow the men to eat while he tried to figure a way out of the woods.  He wanted to get back heading east on the small road that paralleled the river.

By 1500 hours, Vocion’s column exited the woods at Flaurling, found the road, and continued east for four miles.  At Inzing, Vocion moved his men back into the woods and stopped for the night.  Everyone was tired and irritated after walking through the forest by Holl and then having to retrace their steps.  Vocion, on the other hand, felt energized, but fretted that he was falling behind the established time schedule and would miss linking up with Ariovistus or, worse, arrive after the battle was fought.  He decided to push harder tomorrow.  If he had taken the time to think about it, he would have placed the Romans near the exit of the Brenner Pass, in the area where they were first observed, about seven miles from his present position.  He did not know it, but he was now only four miles from 5500 Legionaries, 4500 Auxiliaries, 800 archers, and 600 cavalry.

*******

Manius received a steady stream of information on the progress of the two
Suevi
columns.  His scouts were well positioned to observe every move they made.  Once the
Suevi
left Innsbruck and were definitely committed to crossing the river, Manius replaced his foot scouts with cavalry scouts to ensure he received more timely information.  There was no longer a great need for stealth or secrecy.  The need now was for information and timely movement.