Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War

by Thomas A. Timmes

  The cool December wind felt refreshing on his face as Servilius rode with the sun just beginning to glow low along the horizon. He was full of nervous energy and had not slept all night. Various scenarios kept running through his head. At least now he was doing something and felt much better. As the sun rose higher, he envisioned that his Command behind him was a beehive of activity: mounted archers were going forward, five teams of scouts were picking their way around the enemy camp, and the Legionaries were on the road and probably still grumbling about the cold night. But at least they had a hot breakfast and would be fit for a fight.

  Agron and the Ardiaei

  The Ardiaei’s camp that Servilius’ scouts spotted the day before contained about 5000 people with the women and children accounting for about 2000. The other 3000 were Ardiaei warriors originally from Montenegro on the coast of the Adriatic. Their leader was Agron, who took his name from his tribe’s now deceased king and whose mission to support Hannibal was approved and funded by King Agron’s ruling wife Queen Teuta.

  Having fought and lost two maritime wars with the Romans in 229 and 219 BC, Queen Teuta was eager to help Hannibal with troops, money, horses, and other supplies. Hannibal’s initial string of military victories further convinced her that he might be the one to humble the “mighty” Romans and allow her to take back the Adriatic.

  Agron’s original force of 5000 landed on the coast of Italy in 216, when Rome was powerless to intervene, and just in time to participate in the Battle of Cannae. Since then, his men followed Hannibal south and, over the next six years, engaged in numerous lesser battles, which nonetheless reduced his force through attrition, illness, and desertions to 3000. In October, Hannibal ordered Agron and his men to attack a small group of Legionaries bound for the Roman port at Aternum. When they left Hannibal’s camp, they took with them the spoils of war ~ women who were now slaves.

  After winter and the completion of his current mission to ambush a small group of Romans, Agron hoped to secure enough ships to take his men back to their homeland. However, as he discovered, Rome may have been thoroughly beaten at Cannae, but had an uncanny ability to rebound. Once again, Rome’s navy controlled the Adriatic. His only choice now was to lead his men north, up through Italy, around the top of the Adriatic, and back south through Illyria to Montenegro. It was that, or return south and rejoin Hannibal, which no one wanted to do. They all wanted to go home.

  That evening, Agron sat with his advisors to discuss the sighting of the Roman cavalry scouts earlier in the day. Agron spoke first, “We have two possibilities: one, for some unknown reason the Romans know where we are and are now trying to discover our intentions, or, two, it was a chance encounter. But whichever it is, we now know that a Roman force of considerable size must be nearby to have the capability to send out mounted scouts. Now, since the entire Roman army is busy in southern Italy. I need to know more about where these scouts came from. Take a few of the remaining horses and go find them first thing in the morning. Head west. They haven’t passed us yet. Let’s talk again when we know more about what we’re facing.”

  Agron was perplexed. He was told by Ambassador Farrid’s men that a small Roman force was to pass by on this road sometime around January 25th. It was now only mid December! Unless there was a change in plans, this had to be another group of Romans unrelated to the force Farrid wants ambushed. He thought to himself, “If this isn’t the target, I think I’ll just let them pass unless, of course, they have supply wagons with them.”

  Only a single rider left the Ardiaei camp just as the sun was rising. He rode west through the woods and parallel to the road. Several times he dismounted to listen; once he picketed the horse and climbed a tree to look ahead. Nothing! Then he heard two horses making their way silently through the wood. They were moving in the general direction of the camp he had just left. This did not surprise him. He sat quietly. They were simply doing the same thing he was doing – scouting. He pushed on, but now more cautiously.

  After a few more hours, he observed about 20 horses with Roman riders in a field near the settlement of Properi. They appeared to be just looking around. He knew he must be close to the main body of troops. Another few hours passed and he finally spotted them: a long gray column in the distance. He walked his horse deeper in the woods, picketed it, and found a tree that afforded him a long view of the approaching mass. About 40’ up, he climbed out on a limb to get beyond the foliage while maintaining his cover. He counted eight Maniples of Legionaries, about 20 horses, 150 archers, and four ballistae. He counted the men in one of the Maniples: 100. They were marching five abreast and appeared to be in a hurry.

  For the trip back to camp, he swung wide to the north and pushed his horse to a gallop where he could. After a few hours, he caught a quick glimpse of a large group of Roman horsemen just entering a thick stand of trees, but did not feel he could stop to investigate. He had to report what he found. As he rode, he kept reviewing the number of Romans he had counted and soon completely forgot about the Romans he just seen entering the woods. He got back about 0830 hours.

  Agron was relieved that the Romans numbered a mere 1000 men and only had 20 horses. “So,” he thought, “the Romans did change their plan. This must be the group that Hannibal wants us to destroy. Well, they are here and so are we. It is time now to focus on the reason we marched 300 miles to get here.” His force, while having no cavalry or archers, was comprised of 3000 battle hardened swordsmen. He did not particularly care about the Roman soldiers, but he did need what they were carrying in their supply wagon. His band faced starvation if they did not replenish their stocks soon. His scout failed to mention the ballistae and the group of horsemen entering the woods. He did, however, tell Agron that the Maniples were marching fast. That last item troubled Agron. The only reason he could think of for the Romans to be hurrying was to get to a pre-selected fighting position. He had to prevent them from reaching it.

  The Battle of Properi

  Agron immediately ordered a call to arms and within 20 minutes, about 2800 able body men were on the road heading west. Many left their beds, grabbed their arms, and were too rushed to eat anything. Those too sick to go, stayed at the camp as a rear guard. It was about 0900 and still cool as the trees blocked the sun’s warming rays. They marched in no particular formation. Most carried a small round shield, a long sword, and wore ample body armor. A few carried Roman shields and wore Roman armor that they had scavenged off earlier battlefields. Morale was good. They knew they only faced about 1000 Legionaries and a few horses and felt that the Romans might just hand over the supply wagons rather than fight. Agron decided he would offer the Romans the chance to buy their lives with the wagons as payment.

  The sun rose higher in the sky and still no Romans. He pushed his men faster. Agron was beginning to wonder if the Romans had somehow slipped past him. It was now about noon and his men were getting hungry, only a few remembered to bring any food. Agron misjudged where he thought he would meet them. He turned his head to call for a 10 minute break when he saw the woods to his right suddenly come alive and saw the first arrows slamming into his men.

  *******

  Servilius’ Deputy awoke the Legionaries at 0330, ordered them to light fires, and quickly cook their breakfast. By 0430, the head of the column cleared the trees and was back on the road heading east. The cavalry fell in on the sides of the column and threw out a protective screen to the left and right. It was still dark.

  The five teams of scouts spent a cold night about half a mile off the road in deep woods about two hours from the Ardiaei camp. They had ridden well into the darkness the previous night. At first light, they separated and made a wide arc to encircle the camp. By 0730, they could see wooden huts, wagons, game drying on racks, fire pits, and smoke coming out of a few chimneys. All five teams saw the lone rider enter the camp at the gallop, dismount, and enter one of the huts. Thirty minutes later, the camp came alive with much shouting and men running as the Ardiaei entered the road and
headed west. At that, two of the five teams remounted and raced south to get on the road ahead of the advancing Ardiaei to report the news to Servilius.

  The two teams linked up by accident and raced west together. The other three teams continued observing and by 0900, they too departed. It was clear that the entire camp minus the sick was heading west.

  The Legionaries were walking fast, maybe 4 mph. The cool air helped, but many were now sweating with the exertion. They were carrying their armor on wooden cross beams placed over their shoulder and feeling the pain. Most men put a homemade pad under the staff to help cushion its weight. Every hour the column stopped for a 5 minute rest. It was not enough, but it helped.

  Centurion Accius usually walked at the head of his Maniple, but as the hours wore on and the effort increased, he began to walk alongside his men to encourage them. Everyone was making an all out effort to keep up the pace. After three hours, individuals began to fall out. Some fainted; others staggered off the road and fell. The wagons bringing up the rear collected these men and kept moving forward. Accius wanted to tell the Deputy to cut the pace, but held back. In this instance, the mission was more important. The men would recover. This was not a training exercise.

  Around 1000 hours, the first two scouting teams found Centurion Servilius and his cavalry escort in a broad flat open field with the Pescara River on the south and thick trees on the north. The road coming from the east came out of the woods and opened onto the field, which was about half a mile long. After much searching, Servilius found the ground on which he would fight. After the scouts reported what they had seen, Servilius sent one of his escorts back down the road to hurry the Maniples, which were now about an hour away. He figured he had about two hours before the Ardiaei arrived. He was now convinced they meant him harm and that he must fight.

  He envisioned the enemy warriors exiting the woods on the road a half a mile away from where he intended to position his Maniples. His right flank would be protected by the river, which was about 10 yards away. He planned to hide 50 of his 100 cavalry, 100 of the 200 archers, and all four Scorpios in the woods on his left flank, about 100 yards north of the road and 200 yards from his position. If the Ardiaei decide to attack him, he planned for his cavalry with mounted archers to advance out of the woods, approach the Ardiaei exposed right flank, dismount the archers, and take them under fire.

  Servilius was now thinking out loud, “I want some of them to break off the attack on the Maniples to pursue the archers and, thereby, take pressure off my center. The cavalry is then to engage and destroy any Ardiaei who go after the archers. I want the four ballistae with their carriers and horses collocated with the cavalry and archers. This will give the ballistae crews protection should the Ardiaei go after them. The ballistae are to remain hidden and only fire on my command. They’ll need to set up as soon as possible and test fire a few arrows to get the range.”

  *******

  The cry “ambush” went up among the Ardiaei as the arrows thudded into shield, armor and flesh. It was a complete surprise. By the time the Ardiaei raced into the woods behind their shield to attack their tormentors, the archers had disappeared. The wounded were left to fend for themselves. Some started the long walk back to camp; others lie in their blood awaiting death. A while later, a shout went up at the head of the Ardiaei column, “Cavalry!”

  Twenty horsemen suddenly appeared with mounted archers galloping down the road heading straight for the Ardiaei, who instinctively knelt down and raised their shields. About 60’ in front of the column, the horses suddenly whirled about and arrows whizzed into the packed warriors; some stuck in shields while others ricocheted off and struck armor and flesh. More wounded men. Then the horsemen disappeared as suddenly as they had come.

  Agron saw this for what it was ~ a delaying tactic. To counter the archers, he threw out an advance guard about 100 yards in front of the main body, flankers 50 yards off to the sides, and, through much shouting, encouraged his men to speed up. Then a pattern emerged: two hundred yards farther down the road, arrows again flew into his ranks from about 100 yards off the road, but the archers were quickly run off. His men were ready now, but each ambush did cause the column to stop and caused a few more wounded. Agron figured he had been delayed about one hour and suffered up to 100 casualties so far, some minor, but some severe.

  *******

  When Servilius finally saw the approaching gray colored Roman column all his pent up energy exploded. He raced to meet them and then remembered he was the Commander and told himself to calm down. He slowed his horse to a steady walk; saluted the Deputy and told him to give the Legionaries a break in place. He added, “Make them drink plenty of water.”

  He called for his Centurions and had them sit down while he explained his concept of the coming engagement. He told everyone to drink freely while he explained who they were facing and where the Maniples, cavalry, archers, and ballistae would be positioned. When he felt they all understood what was expected of them and the prearranged signal for the mounted archers to advance and the ballistae to fire, he told them to get into position. The Legionaries had eaten about two hours earlier and were now adequately hydrated. Nothing remained, but to await the enemy. It was noon. The Legionaries breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a hard march.

  *******

  The attacks had stopped about half an hour earlier, so Agron knew they must be close to the Romans. He told himself that he needed to be very careful as these Romans appear to know what they are doing. He mentally reviewed his goals; he needed food supplies in order to begin his northward march back to Illyria; he didn’t want to lose too many men fighting these Romans, but he could tolerate a few casualties; he had to preserve the bulk of his force to fight the hostile tribes he knew he would meet on his march north through Italy.

  Within 20 minutes a runner came back from the advance guard and said he could see Romans drawn up in three battle lines about half a mile west in a clearing by the river. Agron told his soldiers to take a break while he and his staff went forward to the edge of the clearing. There they were all right; all lined up and waiting for him. He made a quick estimate of the Roman force and it basically agreed with what his scout had told him three hours earlier. He estimated that he almost tripled the Roman troop strength; he could not clearly see their cavalry, but he knew they had about 20 horses. It was time to talk with these Romans, but first he wanted to put on a show of strength. He told his Deputy to march the warriors out into the field about 100 yards so the Romans could see them and then to stop and await his return.

  Agron took a small detachment and rode out to meet the Roman Commander. As he rode, he looked intently at the field in front of him, the woods off to his right, and the disposition of the Romans. Nothing he saw looked out of the ordinary. Just a small group of Roman soldiers who are probably scared to death. Servilius saw the five Ardiaei coming across the field; gathered his staff, and rode out to meet them. The Maniples noticed the coming riders and stirred, but remained sitting. They needed to rest from their six hour forced march.

  Agron stopped his horse and raised his hand in greeting when Servilius was about 50’ away. “Roman, I, Agron, salute you! Your mounted archers did a lot of damage and slowed us down considerably. I shall remember that technique. Despite the fact that the sun feels good on these old bones of mine, let us get down to business. Behind me, coming out of the woods is an army that has beaten many Roman Legions and I’d rather not have to add you and your fine soldiers to that list.” Agron was feeling very confident. “What I’m interested in is your supply wagons. Here is my offer: give me your wagons and we will allow you to pass unmolested. What say you Centurion? It is a fair offer. The lives of your men for some corn and wheat? By the way, you are early. I wasn’t expecting you for another 30 days.”

  “Agron,” said Servilius sternly, “On behalf of the People and Senate of Rome, I reject your offer. You are an enemy of Rome and today we will decide the matter on this field.” Servilius
then wheeled his horse around and trotted back to his lines. He noticed that his hands were shaking and took several deep breaths to calm himself. When he was about 50’ away from the waiting Maniples, he draw his sword, rode his horse across the line of troops, and declared in a loud voice, “They come from Hannibal and claim to have killed many Romans.” The Maniples stood up. “They want our wagons in exchange for safe passage. I told him he is an enemy of our land, our Republic, our families, our freedom, and today, we will drive him back across the Adriatic. Each of you is worth three of them. Listen to your Centurions. Do your duty. Do not be afraid. We are Romans!” The Legionaries cheered. They were fed, rested, and ready to fight and to die if necessary!

  The Maniples were dressed into position and stood easy: there were 300 men in the Hastati, 300 in the Principes, and one hundred in the Triarii. The remaining 100 Triarii, armed with light javelins, went forward of the Hastati about 200 yards to act as skirmishers to distract the enemy warriors. The plan was that after they threw their javelins, they would return and rejoin the Triarii. Servilius positioned 50 horses on his left flank and 100 archers on his right. Servilius took up his position behind the Principes with his three trumpeters standing by his side.

  Figure 14 Roman Legionary

  The Ardiaei cleared the woods, walked onto the field and into the sun, and stood there. It had warmed up and they soon began to perspire. Most were not only hungry, but now also thirsty. Morale at this point was not good. Most missed breakfast and lunch and were beginning to feel the effects. They lacked energy and failed to display their usual fighting spirit. When Agron returned from his meeting with the Romans, he sensed the problem and tried to rally them with promises of all they could eat once they cleared away the Romans and captured the wagons. He told them how weak the Romans were. He told them that the Legionaries wanted to trade the wagons and not have to die, but that their Centurion was making them fight. He said Roman morale was bad and they would break and run as soon as we charge. The vision of full bellies drove them on.