Legionary: The Scourge of Thracia (Legionary 4)

by Gordon Doherty

  Gratian’s eyes ignited with a rapacious fire. ‘Bring him to the lower chambers. I will enjoy this . . . ’

  The End

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  One of the most rewarding outcomes of writing historical fiction is when a reader like you gets in touch to let me know I have sparked their interest in the period, setting them off on a research odyssey of their own to find out more. I hope this latest volume of the series has just that effect. As always though, I’ll try to summarise the key historical points – where I have stuck to recorded history or used artistic licence – here.

  In late 377 AD, Emperor Valens and his Eastern Praesental army were pinned down on the Persian frontier while Emperor Gratian and his Western forces were engaged in troubles on the Rhine and upper Danube. This left the Diocese of Thracia in turmoil, still reeling from the indecisive Battle of Ad Salices (covered in volume 2 of the series – Legionary: Viper of the North) against Fritigern’s Gothic Alliance, where much of the Thracian legions had been crushed or severely weakened. Thus, the remaining legions of that region had no real hope of engaging and defeating the ever-swelling Gothic horde, and so they had to look to the Thracian terrain as a means of maintaining control. The Haemus/Balkan Mountains present an almost unbroken ridge that runs east to west across modern-day Bulgaria. As Emperor Valens tried to extract his forces from the Persian border, he sent word back to Thracia, tasking Magister Equitum Saturninus with fortifying the five main passes across the Haemus range to contain the Goths in the lands north of the mountains (the fallen province of Moesia – once the home of the XI Claudia), in the hope of starving them into submission. Saturninus did this and did it well for some six to nine months, repelling numerous Gothic attacks on the mountain blockades as the Roman soldier and historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, attests:

  Since everything that could serve as food throughout the lands of . . . Moesia had been used up, the barbarians, driven alike by ferocity and hunger, strove with all their might to break out . . . after many attempts, they were overwhelmed by the vigour of our men, who strongly opposed them amid the rugged heights.

  Had this defensive system held out until the two emperors arrived with their armies, then the fate of the Eastern Empire (and, consequently, the Western Empire too) might have been significantly altered. But something happened in late 377 AD: the Huns – those strident riders from the Eurasian steppe who had driven the Goths into Roman lands just a year earlier – agreed some form of alliance with their erstwhile foes. It was almost certainly just a subdivision of the Huns who came over to swell the Gothic ranks, but they brought with them a different style of warfare, diversifying the threat posed to the Romans. They also brought with them Alani riders and, at some point, the Germanic Taifali also joined the ethnically diverse alliance. Fritigern, The Arian Christian Iudex of this horde, had a monumental task on his hands. Organising over one hundred thousand homeless people would have been a gargantuan undertaking in itself. Added to this, power struggles with the likes of Alatheus and Saphrax – leaders of the pagan Greuthingi Goths – and cultural clashes with the northern horsemen were surely rife and frequent. Regardless, the overwhelming manpower he now controlled spelled the end for the stubborn Roman blockades.

  Saturninus got wind of the alliance with the Huns and realized that it was no longer feasible to hold the mountain passes – lest the multitude of barbarians by some sudden movement (like a river which had burst its barriers by the violence of a flood) should easily overthrow his whole force. Pre-empting a decisive Gothic assault, he hastily withdrew his armies to the south, directing them towards the imperial cities where the precious few legions could take shelter behind strong walls. In this respect, I have used a dose of fictional licence in my illustration of the Shipka Pass falling to a direct assault. Likewise, the Great Northern Camp is my imagining, but there almost certainly would have been a command camp – housing reserves, supplies and marshalling communications – somewhere near the five passes, and the location just south of the central Shipka Pass seems feasible.

  With the blockades gone, the Romans had effectively ceded the countryside of all central and southern Thracia – all the way to the Hellespont and Constantinople’s walls – to the Goths. Fritigern’s armies and people flooded south and there was a spell of reckless plunder. As Marcellinus describes it:

  Some wealthy nobleman was dragged along like a wild beast, complaining of Fortune as merciless and blind, who in a brief moment had stripped him of his riches, of his beloved relations, and his home; had made him see his house reduced to ashes, and had reduced him to expect either to be torn limb from limb himself, or else to be exposed to scourging and torture, as the slave of a ferocious conqueror.

  But Fritigern was shrewd, realizing that the Roman legions would be headed for the safety of their cities and a true victory might be had if he could rout the fleeing Roman armies. Thus, the Iudex despatched his forces to the main population centres in an attempt to intercept and eliminate the fleeing legions. One such clash was that where Comes Barzimeres and his force of Cornutii infantry and Scutarii riders were waylaid on their approach to Deultum (modern-day Debelt). I have almost certainly done Barzimeres a disservice in my (wry but enjoyable to write) portrayal of him as a loathsome, craven and bombastic individual – indeed, it is attested that he was a hero at Deultum, charging the enemy line to allow the rest of his soldiers to retreat into the town.

  Despite Fritigern’s attempts to defeat the fleeing Thracian legions, the bulk of them managed to escape behind their city gates. This ushered in another stalemate: Fritigern had no intention of trying to besiege the cities – indeed, he had a policy of 'keeping peace with Roman walls' as he knew he did not possess the technology or expertise to build the required war machines. So the initial rapine abated and the Goths set up camp in the heart of Thracia – possibly Fritigern hoped there might still be a chance of negotiating with the Roman Emperors – while the cities remained as islands of imperial order. Yet time would tilt this stalemate in favour of the empire, with rumours of the Western and Eastern Emperors and their armies readying to converge on Thracia and the trespassing Goths. Tension in the Gothic camp at this stage must have been unbearable.

  At this point, Farnobius enters the tale. Marcellinus describes this minor Gothic Reiks as ‘a formidable troublemaker’. It seems that the Taifali riders had sworn fealty to him, and he most likely had the support of some of his native Greuthingi Goths. Marcellinus describes how he broke from Fritigern’s Gothic camp with a splinter horde and set out on a rampage across Thracia, plundering and destroying all in his path:

  Farnobius, one of the chieftains of the Goths . . .was roaming about at random with a large predatory band, and a body of the Taifali, with whom he had lately made an alliance, and who, when our soldiers were all dispersed . . . had taken advantage . . . in order to plunder the country thus left without defenders.

  My depiction of Farnobius leading the assault on the Abderan gold mines is based on attestations of Gothic raids on such mines all across Thracia, where it is said that freed Romans indeed joined ranks with the enemy. It is not known exactly why Farnobius decided to then lead his horde towards the western edges of Thracia and into the Succi Pass, but it is in that region that he and his forces met their demise.

  The Succi Pass was a vital corridor that had long been used for armies marching from east to west (hence the naming of the Via Militaris which runs through it), and the ancient choke-point in this pass known as Trajan’s Gate was identified by the beleaguered Thracian Roman command as a vital possession that simply had to be retained if Emperor Gratian was to march east to their aid. The Stipon Fortress that stands at Trajan’s Gate was built in the early 2nd century AD (by the eponymous Emperor Trajan), and was positioned to overlook the Via Militaris and control the movement of any significant forces along its path. Going by the ruins that remain, it seems that the original design remained largely unaltered until its abandonment many
centuries later. For example, the foundations show no sign of having been expanded to match the style common in the later empire – namely larger, rounded and more protruding towers, allowing greater defensibility.

  The task of holding Farnobius’ Goths back at the Succi Pass fell to a certain aged general called Frigeridus. Firstly, I have to clarify why I have instead used the name ‘Geridus’ for this character. I was acutely aware of the presence of ‘Fritigern’ and ‘Farnobius’ in this tale, and reckoned the alliterative similarity of these names and ‘Frigeridus’ might well be confusing for a proportion of readers. I swayed one way and the other on this matter, posing the question to my readership as to how to handle it: should I alter the names or should I stay historically accurate? In the end, opinion was almost perfectly split. So, by slightly altering ‘Frigeridus’ to ‘Geridus’ and taking the alliterative aspect from his name, I aimed to keep the prose cogent while not straying too far from fact.

  Frigeridus (as I will refer to him from here on), an officer of the Western Empire, is thought to have been a Comes or a Dux at the time of the story. As I have depicted, he was an elderly man, due to be replaced by Maurus in early 378 AD. His failure to attend the Battle of Ad Salices is well attested, and seems to have stained his previously strong reputation – many thought his complaints of gout were a convenient excuse to avoid that bloody and evenly-balanced clash. Yet roughly a year after Ad Salices his reputation was fully restored when he engaged and defeated Farnobius’ Goths somewhere near the Succi Pass – possibly in forested land rather than at Trajan’s Gate itself – killing Farnobius and capturing many of his Taifali riders. Marcellinus describes the decisiveness of Frigeridus’ victory as follows:

  He [Frigeridus] would have slain them all, not leaving a single one of them to convey news of their disaster, if, after Farnobius had been slain with a great number of his men, he had not voluntarily spared the rest on their own earnest supplication.

  Interestingly, the captured Taifali riders were then sent to work on Italian farmland and went on to become a Western Roman regiment known as the Equites Taifali. Perhaps if the rest of the Goths in Thracia had been settled and integrated so (i.e. on Roman terms), they might have strengthened the empire rather than bringing about the catastrophe that followed in 378 AD, though such thinking is simplistic and hugely reliant on hindsight.

  Regarding the extent of Quadi incursion in the Dioceses of Dacia and Pannonia: I have exaggerated the level of dominance these Germanic tribesmen enjoyed on Roman territory at this time, but they most certainly were roving and raiding these parts regularly. Indeed, Emperor Valentinian is rumoured to have died in 375 AD in a fit of apoplexy when the Quadi Kings claimed they had every right to ride through Roman territory while legions assumed the right to build forts north of the Danube (in Quadi lands). On a side note, the anecdote about Valentinian’s murder of Gabinus the Quadi King at a banquet walked straight from the annals of history and into my tale (another delightful aspect of writing historical fiction).

  Lastly, my take on Emperor Gratian’s regard – or apparent lack of it – for the fate of Thracia is speculative, but not without premise. There was at the very least a superficial uncle-nephew relationship between Valens and Gratian, but there is also evidence of an underlying, simmering jealously and desire from each to be considered the senior of the two Roman emperors. I believe Gratian did want to save Thracia, but more importantly, he wanted to be seen as its saviour.

  So, with the fractious air of two emperors vying for supremacy, a crisis to be resolved and a war to be won, a wicked storm is brewing . . .

  Pavo, Gallus and the rest of the XI Claudia are right in the eye of that storm, and I truly hope you will join me for the next volume of the series. Until then, please feel free to visit my website where you can find out more about me and my work.

  Yours faithfully,

  Gordon Doherty

  www.gordondoherty.co.uk

  Glossary

  Ambulatum; Legionary ‘maneouvres’ training in which soldiers would take part in mock missions, marching in full kit over difficult terrain at military or full step. Cohorts would often be pitted against one another, tasked with outflanking or ambushing their comrades in an effort to test and strengthen each unit’s hardiness and readiness for real battle.

  Auxilium Palatinum (pl. auxilia palatina); These elite infantry regiments of the late Roman Empire served as the emperor’s core guard in his Praesental Army. Auxilia palatina legions would have been distinct in their appearance, with many retaining some unique decorative symbol on their armour that nodded to their origins, e.g. the Cornutii wore horns (or more likely feathers) on the sides of their helmets, just as the barbarian tribe they were originally recruited from did.

  Ballista (pl. ballistae); Roman bolt-throwing artillery that was primarily employed as an anti-personnel weapon on the battlefield.

  Buccina; The ancestor of the trumpet and the trombone, this instrument was used for the announcement of night watches and various other purposes in the legionary camp.

  Castrum (pl. castra); Fort or fortified camp.

  Chi-Rho; The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, and was used by the early Christian Roman Empire. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ, chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the following monogram;

  Clibanus; A small clay oven used by legionaries to bake bread.

  Comes; Commander of a field army of comitatenses legions.

  Comitatensis (pl. comitatenses); The comitatenses were the Roman field armies – a ‘floating’ central reserve of legions, ready to move swiftly to tackle border breaches. These legions were considered the cream of the late Roman army, second only to the palatine legions in the Praesental Army.

  Contubernium (pl. contubernia); A grouping of eight legionaries (ten contubernia per century). These soldiers would share a tent and would receive disciplinary action or reward as a unit.

  Cubiculum; Bedchamber.

  Culina; Kitchen.

  Cursus Publicus; The imperial courier system facilitated by state-funded roads, waystations, stables and dedicated riders. The riders were tasked with carrying messages all over the empire.

  Diocese; An administrative and geographical division of the later Roman Empire. Each Diocese contained a collection of provinces.

  Dominus; A respectful honourific indicating sovereignty.

  Eques (pl. equites); Roman light cavalry, used for scouting ahead and screening the flanks of a marching legionary column.

  Fabrica (pl. fabricae); The workshop of a Roman legion located within the legionary fort or camp. Skilled artisans and craftsmen such as engineers, carpenters, masons, wagon-makers, blacksmiths, painters and other artificers worked in the fabrica, using devices such as smelting furnaces and water cisterns to produce arms and equipment for the legionaries.

  Falcata; A curved blade used for slashing down over defending shields so the point could pierce the skulls of the defenders.

  Follis (pl. folles); A large bronze coin introduced around 294 AD with the coinage reform of Emperor Diocletian.

  Funditor (pl. funditores); Unarmoured Roman slingers who would take part in the skirmishing before a battle.

  Horreum (pl. horrea); The Roman granary and storehouse for other consumables such as wine and olive oil.

  Iudex; The fourth century Goths did not have kings as such. Instead, each tribe – led by a reiks – would elect a ‘judge’ or ‘iudex’ who would steer them through a period of migration or conflict.

  Imperator; Title of the Roman Emperor.

  Insulae; The often architecturally-unsound tenement blocks of the empire’s urban sprawls.

  Intercisa; Iron helmet constructed of two halves with a distinctive fin-like ridge joining them together and large cheek guards offering good protection to the face. The illustration on the cover provides a good example of this style of helm.

  Latrunculi; A Roman board game. Kno
wn as ‘the Game of Brigands’, it was vaguely analogous to modern Draughts, and is thought to have been useful for teaching military manoeuvres and tactics.

  Libra; The Roman measurement of weight roughly equivalent to the modern pound.

  Lilia; Pits filled with sharpened stakes dug into the earth outside Roman fortifications. Often hidden or covered by foliage, these pits were the bane of any attacking army.

  Limes (pl. limites); The Roman frontiers, studded with forts, military roads, choke points and walls. These borders would be manned by the limitanei legions.

  Limitaneus (pl. limitanei); The limitanei were the frontier soldiers, light infantry spearmen who served in the legions posted along the empire’s borders.

  Mithras; A pagan deity particularly loved by the legions – probably something to do with the belief that Mithras was born with a sword in his hand! In the late 4th century AD, Christianity had taken hold in most of the major imperial population centres and it was only in remote areas like the limites that the last worshippers of Mithras were to be found. The cult of Mithras is thought to have evolved from the Persian Mithra, the God of Light and Wisdom. Also, although Mithras is often described as ‘Deus Sol Invictus Mithras’, he is not to be confused with Sol Invictus (the God of the official imperial cult established by Emperor Aurelian).

  Natalis Invicti; The birthday of Sol Invictus, the ‘Unconquered Sun’ – believed to be the 25th December.