Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War (52 page)

The winter passed without incident or any more news of Hasdrubal.  The weekly reports from
Patavium
and
Clastidium
were also routine in nature.  That changed in mid April 207.  Vitulus sent a courier to Manius to tell him about rumors circulating among the
Insubres
that Hasdrubal had crossed the Alps with 48,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 15 war elephants and was now in northern Italy.  Vitulus and his men were packing up to leave
Clastidium
and would arrive at
Brixia
as soon as possible.  Vitulus said he was bringing as much of the fort’s supplies as possible and sending the rest to
Genua
for shipment back to Rome. When Manius heard the news, he immediately ordered Servilius at
Patavium
to dispose of his fort’s supplies and to march through Verona and meet the Legion at Rivoli Veronese.  He was further told to inform all the surrounding villages that Hasdrubal was in the area and to prepare to evacuate their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.

Segovesus took the news very badly, but saw the wisdom of planning an evacuation should the Carthaginians enter
Cenomani
tribal lands.  The word quickly spread and the villages made preparation to remove or hide anything of value including their food supplies and livestock.  An army the size of Hasdrubal’s would need tons of food daily and would be expected to send their foragers out to a distance of 20 or more miles.

The
XVII
was way too small a force to engage Hasdrubal’s army so Manius planned to avoid him by deploying to
Tridentum
.  He asked Segovesus to return the 2500
Cenomani
Auxiliary force that had accompanied him to Innsbruck until the matter with Hasdrubal was resolved.  On April 29, the
XVII
, and the newly arrived men from
Clastidium
, departed
Brixia
and marched to
Tridentum
.  Servilius and his
Triarii
joined the Legion at Rivoli Veronese.

For many of the young Legionaries, it felt good to be doing something after the long winter and relative inactivity.  Other than frequent rain storms, the march was uneventful.  Before leaving
Brixia
, Manius instructed Rasce to have his cavalry locate Hasdrubal’s force and then maintain constant surveillance.  As a result, Manius received a constant stream of information on the movement and activities of the Carthaginian army and sent these reports back to Rome.

As expected, Hasdrubal moved immediately to
Mediolanum
to recruit
Insubres
.  He then sent raiding parties to burn the abandoned Roman fort at
Clastidium
and to punish the
Ligurians
at
Genua
who had supported the
XVII
.  This, however disturbing, was a minor concern to the Roman Senate.  The major challenge was to prevent a Hannibal-Hasdrubal link up.  There were 23 Roman Legions in the field at this time and Hannibal was fairly contained in southern Italy.  A link up would tip the scales to the Carthaginians and an already interminable war may end in a total Roman defeat.  The Senate immediately selected four Legions to send to northern Italy to contain Hasdrubal.  The question remained, however, as to which way Hasdrubal would proceed: down the Peninsula’s west coast or travel across Italy and then travel down the east coast.  Since Hannibal was on the west coast south of
Neapolis
[modern Naples], most guessed he would march down the west coast.

For unknown reasons, Hasdrubal chose the eastern route and marched 246 miles from
Mediolanum
to Fossombrone and camped by the
Metaurus
[modern
Metauro
] River, 16 miles from the Adriatic Sea.

Figure 23 Fossombrone at red "A" (Google Maps)

He passed through the villages of
Placentia
[modern Piacenza], Parma, the
Boii
settlement of
Bononia
[modern Bologna],
Ariminum
[modern Rimini], and stopped at Fossombrone.  He briefly besieged
Placentia
on the way, but was unable to take it quickly and abandoned the effort.  While enroute to
Metaurus
, he sent a message to Hannibal advising him of his movements and suggesting they meet on the east coast.  That message was intercepted by the Romans with dire consequences for Hasdrubal.

When Manius determined that Hasdrubal was enroute to
Bononia
and going south east, he moved the Legion from
Tridentum
to Verona and continued to follow the Carthaginians down the coast.  The
XVII
passed through
Bononia
,
Ariminum
, and eventually took up a defensive position on the north bank of the
Metaurus
River facing south. He intended to stop or, at least, hinder the Carthaginians from crossing the river should they attempt to move back north.

Consul Livius and Four Legions raced north to confront Hasdrubal, but their numbers did not match their intentions.  Hasdrubal outnumbered the Romans and another Roman disaster was in the makings.  The other Consul, Gaius Claudius Nero had just scored a minor victory against Hannibal at
Grumentum
[modern Grumento Nova], some 370 miles south of
Metaurus
.  When Nero was informed that Hasdrubal outnumbered the four Legions sent to fight him, he conceived a risky and arduous plan to enhance the chance of a Roman victory.  Under cover of darkness, he detached 7,000 Legionaries, including 1000 cavalry, from the battle lines facing Hannibal and marched them north to join Consul Livius.  In a remarkable feat of endurance, Consul Nero marched his men 50 miles a day for seven days until he reached the
Metaurus
.

The four Legions that faced Hasdrubal’s army were clearly outnumbered, but Hasdrubal hesitated to attack.  This delay enabled Consul Nero to arrive at Fossombrone undetected in the middle of the night and to add his 7000 troops to the Legions already there.  The next morning, the two hostile armies again faced each other.  Hasdrubal immediately noticed that Livius’ army had grown considerably during the night.  Even though he still had a numerical advantage, he decided not to fight and began looking for an escape route.  That night, he began an orderly retreat north to the
Metaurus
River in search of a crossing site.  At some point during the night, his local guides deserted him and left him stranded.

The river was wide, flowing fast, and the banks on the north side were too steep to support a crossing.  In addition, his scouts had spotted a Legion arrayed along the north bank. 
Legio XVII
had joined the battle.

When morning arrived, Hasdrubal heard the approaching Roman cavalry and knew the Legions would be close behind.  Hasdrubal was trapped between the river and Roman soldiers.  He would have to fight.  On June 22, 207, the two Consuls aligned their Legions to match Hasdrubal’s formation and attacked.  The result was a Roman victory in every sense of the word.  Just about every Carthaginian soldier was a casualty; few escaped.  Hannibal’s best chance to break the stalemate in Italy now lay in bloody heaps.

Consul Nero immediately marched his 7000 men back to
Grumentum
and unceremoniously catapulted the head of Hasdrubal into Hannibal’s camp.  This was the first news that Hannibal had received about the Battle of
Metaurus
and the fate of his brother.

The Consuls thanked Manius and the
XVII
for their support and instructed Manius to bring the long deployed
XVII
back to Rome.  Her 30 month mission was complete.  Manius passed the word and the troops cheered.  Manius thanked the Auxiliaries and released them to return to their homes.  The Legion was finally going home.  The distance to Rome was 230 miles, but it seemed to pass like a summer cloud.  Couriers were sent ahead to alert the families and to plan a celebration.  Two weeks later the walls of the city came into view.  The Legion was given permission to enter the city and parade before the grateful population.  As Manius crossed the
Pons Sublicus
, he remembered that 10 year old boy who watched just such a spectacle so many years ago; he felt fulfilled and grateful for the opportunity to lead a Legion like the
XVII
.

Family, friends, and onlookers crowded the streets as the Legion proudly marched by.  Just before the Forum, they halted.  Manius praised them for their bravery and thanked them for their service.  Then in his loudest voice, he yelled, “Dismissed!”  The Centurions took command of their Maniples and led them out of the city and into their camp.

Manius received a hero’s welcome and was invited into the Forum to receive his Ovation; the proudest moment of his life.  Surrounded by family and friends, he could only utter his profound gratitude and desire to continue serving the Senate and People of Rome.  For now though, he would retire to a more peaceful and bucolic life not far from his beloved Tiber.

In 206, Scipio scored another major victory against a Carthaginian army in
Ilipa
, Spain [
ten miles north of modern Seville
].  In this engagement, which revealed his tactical genius, he killed, wounded, or captured 48,500 Carthaginian soldiers and their allies while losing 7000.  In early summer of 205, Mago, Hannibal’s youngest brother, made another and final attempt to reinforce Hannibal by sailing to northern Italy with 15,000 soldiers and capturing the port of
Genua
.  Some of the tribes resisted his invasion while others rallied to his cause.

Rome sent seven Legions north, not to fight him, but to restrict his movements to northern Italy.  The
XVII
was assigned to a Consul and participated in containing Mago in northern Italy for the next three years.  At this stage in the long conflict, Rome felt it was more important to prevent a Hannibal-Mago link up than risk losing a battle and Mago was not strong enough to take on the Legions of Rome.

In 204, Scipio invaded Africa from Spain.  Carthage responded by sending Mago an additional 6000 infantry and some cavalry in the hope of forcing Scipio to return to Italy.

In 203, Rome finally opted to fight Mago near
Mediolanum
and won a decisive victory.  Mago was wounded and decided to return to Carthage by sea.  He died enroute from his wounds.  Shortly thereafter, Hannibal left Italy to defend his homeland against Scipio who was proving to be every bit the invincible general as Hannibal.  The
XVII
, once again under the command of
Praetor
Manius Tullus, joined Scipio in Africa and participated in the Battle of Zama and the crushing defeat of Hannibal in 202 BC.

After 16 years, the Second Punic War was finally over.  During that time, Hannibal had destroyed 400 Italian towns and killed over 300,000 Romans and her allies.  In all, Rome and Carthage fought 12 major land battles with more than half of them in Italy.  Hannibal easily won all but one of his battles, and, in the end, lost the war because of Rome’s indomitable spirit, vast manpower reserve, and her fighting Legions.

With Carthage defeated and the city in ruins, Davood Farrid was once again stateless, but not penniless.  He moved to Syria and, within a remarkably short period of time, had ingratiated himself with the Greek ruling elite and was appointed Ambassador to Rome.  His wealth grew and he died a natural death at an advanced age.

Joseph continued to write the history of the
XVII
expedition in the Cisalpine and Austria.  He spent hours interviewing Manius and his subordinate commanders to obtain additional information and fill in the blanks from when he was wounded.  Joseph travel to
Tridentum
to interview Timo and Rosa and to Innsbruck to speak with Bethica.  Manius even edited the final version and inserted his personal touch.  When the project was completed, he presented Manius with a copy of the scrolls.

Many of Joseph’s friends read the scrolls, including his wife Decima, and were impressed with the accomplishments of the
XVII
.  The Legion had successfully fought four battles, visited 17 towns and villages in the Cisalpine, and conducted extensive nation building operations.  The Legion and Auxiliaries suffered 1,115 killed in 30 months of campaigning.

With each reading of the wartime scrolls, Manius’ stature grew in Rome.  In time, he became a bit of a celebrity.  At one point, Joseph considered converting his copy of the scrolls to ring-bound books made of lead and copper pages, which were becoming quite popular.  They would take up less space and last longer, but, in the end, the cost of the conversion put him off.  His missing limb and wartime service helped his political ambitions and prompted his early selection as
Plebian
Tribune.  As he grew older, he decided to pass the scrolls on to his only son David for safe keeping.

Calvus was dishonorably discharged from the Army and exiled to Sicily.  Only Manius’ favorable testimony prevented the Senate from condemning Calvus to death.  His wife divorced him, but his family continued to support him in exile.  At the end of the Punic War, in 202, Calvus returned to Rome and, in time, inherited his family’s wealth and business.  He remarried and led a normal life.

Manius Titurius Tullus’ retirement was short lived.  In 205, he was recalled to active duty and given another independent command.  His mission was to support Bethica in her struggle with the
Teutons
and
Cimbri
.  He also served as a Legion Legate in the final defeat of Hannibal at Zama in 202.

Manius’s selfless service to the Roman Republic spanned a remarkable 40 years.  His amazing career was viewed as an anomaly in Rome’s highly stratified society, but applauded nonetheless.  He had accomplished the impossible.  Through hard work, he had risen from the son of a poor Tiber fisherman and simple Legionaire, to Legion Legate with the rank of
Praetor
.  When asked how he had done this, he would always answer, “I tried to do my best whatever the assignment and to care more for my soldiers than my own welfare.”