Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War

Legio XVII: Roman Legion at War

Published by Thomas A. Timmes at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Thomas A. Timmes

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Customer reviews for Books I, II, and III

I'm 62. I've been reading about Roman Military history since I was 8. This book trumps them all! Fantastic read!

Excellent book that is rich in detailed strategy, weapons development and battlefield maneuvers. One of the best I’ve read of the dozens concerning the Roman Legions and their role in Rome’s expansion. A must read!

I am an avid reader of Roman history - both fact and fiction and consider this title one of the very best I have found. The narrative, the characters have been treated in a manner that are totally engrossing. The battle scenes are graphic and I would certainly enjoy a similar offering from this author.

I am an avid reader of historical fiction, especially of Roman and British military expeditions. This is one of the most interesting books that I have read in the past thirty years. As a former Captain of Marines, I was especially impressed by the detailed description of the preparations of both operations and logistics. Too many writers focus on just the battles and totally miss the critical issues of preparation that leads to success.

Thomas A. Timmes has written a fascinating insight into the Roman Legions....I was afraid that this book would read like a bland history book. It was instead a very interesting, educational read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading about the early BC Roman Empire.

Thomas A. Timmes knows how to write history fiction books. thoroughly enjoyed reading Legio XVII - Legio at War. The author displays superior characterization skills in this book. I enjoyed the way the story unfolded and how it concluded. The Introduction was a priceless gateway to the story and the Epilogue was a treasure chest of ah-ha moments. I would wake up in the middle of the night just to read a couple more paragraphs. I honestly could not put the book down. Thank you for turning me into an addict of your work.

Good, enjoyable reading by a sound author

Best book of its kind

Excellent series with good historical and accurate assessment of the Roman Legions and battle strategy

I found it a fascinating and an extremely entertaining read

Rates as one of my top authentic Roman factual books, excellent keep them coming

Absorbing in detail, gripping in action and had the feel of real history

Well written book on the operations of a legion and how it works

Keeps you reading all way to the end very enjoyable good read

....new and refreshing style... very interesting and exciting read

Good exciting book with plenty of action

We'll worth a read, couldn't put it down. We'll researched, didn't want it to end. Look forward to more books

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue Discovery of the Scrolls

Chapter I Manius Titurius Tullus ~ 207 BC

Chapter II A Soldier’s Life ~ 242-225 BC

Chapter III The Gallic Wars ~ 225-222 BC

Chapter IV The 2nd Punic War ~ 218 BC

Chapter V Containing Hannibal ~ 215 BC

Chapter VI Cisalpine Gaul ~ 210 BC

Chapter VII Among the Gauls ~ 209 BC

Chapter VIII Destination Innsbruck ~ 209 BC

Chapter IX The Battle of Innsbruck ~ 209 BC

Chapter X Battle of Metaurus ~ 207 BC

Epilogue

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

About the Author

Connect with Tom

Preface

Ancient Rome is a gripping and mesmerizing subject to scholars, collectors, reenactors, readers, and the curious. Roman history holds many of us in an embrace of pure enchantment whether reading about its origin as a miniscule kingdom in 753 BC or its transformation into a Republic in 387 BC or status as a world class Empire by 130 AD.

My interest in all things Roman dates back to 1960 when I was a young PFC on active duty with the U.S. Army. My days were filled with soldiering, but my evenings were spent at the Post Library soaking up page upon page of tramping across Spain with Scipio and fighting endless battles with Caesar in Gaul. A spark of interest in Roman history was struck in those wooden barracks and has brightened and endured for more than fifty years.

A few of the early books I read that influenced my interest in history, and Roman history in particular, were the 1960 book by JFC Fuller, The Generalship of Alexander the Great, The 15 Decisive battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo by Sir Edward Creasy (1851), The Roman Way by Edith Hamilton (1932), The Civilization of Rome by Donald Dudley (1960), War Commentaries of Caesar, and A History of Civilization by Brinton, Christopher, and Wolff (1955).

Books we read as young people are important for many reasons, not the least of which is the interest it spawns in a variety of subjects. Some small curiosity that starts out as a simple question may later turn into a roaring passion that adds delight to our days and fuels our desire for continued reading.

Hollywood films are replete with films depicting major events in Rome’s long road from birth to death. One which had a particularly strong impact on me was the 1964 epic starring Sophia Loren and Stephen Boyd titled, The Fall of the Roman Empire. It was jarring because Rome was falling, in living color, on the big screen, and I knew very little from where or what it was falling! I knew I needed to expand the scope of my reading.

But more than simply acquiring knowledge about Roman history, I wanted to experience the day-to-day life of a Roman Legionaire and his Commanders. What was it like to carry his equipment, to drill endlessly, and to hear and feel the sights and sounds of the ancient battlefield? Today, there are many books available that put the reader on the battlefield.

Preparations for a military campaign and fighting battles involve much more than throwing a spear and thrusting a sword. Strategy and tactics play a huge role. In addition to tactics, the savvy Commander must factor into his planning the essentials of logistics, engineering, medicine, plus soldier morale and welfare. As the Romans said, Food, fodder, and fuel spell the difference between success and failure.

In this book, I have undertaken to blend authentic Roman history during the Second Punic War with a supportive fictionalized Legion into an historical novel that allows the reader to accompany a Legion at war from the planning phase to the actual battles. Hopefully, the reader will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have often been asked the question, Was Rome really as cruel as depicted in the movies. My answer is yes, but not only Rome, the entire world at that time was cruel. Why? they ask. I respond, "There was nothing in their culture, education, or religion that told them of another way to behave. For that to occur, the world would have to wait until the first century AD when the teachings of an unknown Jew in a remote part of the Empire would change Rome and Western culture forever. Jesus of Nazareth introduced the radical concepts of loving one another, compassion, gentleness, and forgiveness.

This book would not exist without the support and assistance of my dear wife Beckie, MA in Psychology, who patiently read, reread, edited, and provided invaluable comments to its many drafts. I also thank my daughter Bethany, MA in Sociology, for generously giving her time to detail the manuscript and for suggesting several broad organizational refinements to smooth out the rough edges. My two sons, Thomas and Andrew each with PhDs, provided a critical dose of reality to the effort and much needed encouragement.

I count myself blessed to have such a capable and willing support team.

Prologue: Discovery of the Scrolls

In 2006, the world awoke to the disturbing news that a strong earthquake leveled the historic seaside town of Tiberias in Israel. Initial satellite phone reporting claimed the city was in flames and that a major hotel sitting astride Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) had crumbled into the sea with huge loss of life.

As an anxious world learned later, those initial reports proved to be highly exaggerated. The facts revealed that a magnitude five earthquake and series of strong aftershocks along the Jordan Valley Fault of the Dead Sea Rift severely damaged fifteen percent of the older structures in Tiberias with no loss of life and that fire from broken gas lines consumed another five percent. Newer buildings on the outskirts of the town showed only minor damage and hotels were open for business within a week. The veranda of one hotel, however, had indeed crumpled onto the rocky coast.

Scientists from across Israel advised residents that this was only a warning and that the next earthquake may be far larger and costlier in terms of loss of life and property damage. Officials from the Institute of Earth Science in Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev pointed out that the last major quake along the Dead Sea Rift was in 1033 AD and that smaller ones have occurred historically in 30, 33, 115, 306, 363, 419, 447, 631-2 (aftershocks continued for a month) 1033, 1182, 1202, 1546, 1759, 1837, 1927 and 1943.

In the months following the earthquake, damaged homes were either completely demolished or rebuilt. But in three adjoining homes that had totally collapsed, demolition workers, and later archeologists, discovered that the three collapsed structures that had been built over older buildings which had been built upon others down to a total of forty-five feet below ground level. This phenomenon warranted a full-blown archeological dig.

In 2010, four years after the earthquake and two years after the excavation was initiated by the Director of Antiquities from the Israel Antiquities Authority, workers had unearthed numerous artifacts from coke cans at the top to Stone Age tools at the bottom. But it was at about the thirty foot level that the work suddenly got very interesting. A budding archeologist made a remarkable discovery and quite by accident.

The digging site had been meticulously marked out in customary grid fashion and dozens of university students and skilled workers began the painfully slow process of scraping, chipping, and sifting the long buried earth. The ground yielded numerous artifacts of everyday life in an ancient fishing village including pottery shards, coins, and broken kitchen ware, but nothing out of the ordinary. That is until one of the students, Ofra Abishai, a nineteen year old Israeli performing her required field work for a degree in Archeology, slipped on the descending stairs, instinctively reached out to steady herself, and forcefully struck the side of the pit with her trowel. It sunk deep into the soil.

The soft earth turned hard and gave off a resounding thud. She knew she had struck something solid, probably a rock. Once she steadied herself, she eased the trowel back into the two inch hole and began to gently pry the dirt away from the opening. After about twenty minutes, she uncovered what appeared to be the edge of a large flat rectangular rock.

She continued to dig for a few minutes and then thought better of it. She contacted her supervisor, showed him the rock in the wall, and asked permission to dig it out. He approved and about five hours later, the entire team was clamoring to peer into the hole to see the clay jars.

The rock turned out to be part of what appeared to be a small 5’x 3’x 2’ rectangular room built just outside the wall of one of the long-buried houses. The tiny room was built of rock, but not easily accessed. It only opened from the top and with considerable effort. It was also built underground at the time it was constructed, which suggests that it may have served as a hiding place for grain and valuables in time of danger.

Inside the little room was an intriguing collection of fifteen sealed clay jars ten inches wide and a foot high. They were neatly lined up in three rows of five jars each and in relatively good condition. It appeared that the hiding place was designed specifically to fit the jars.

X-rays later showed what appeared to be papyrus or parchment scrolls neatly wrapped in linen inside the jars. Ancient document conservators removed and opened the jars in a highly controlled environment to avoid any contaminants that could speed the deterioration of the contents.

One by one the documents were removed, but not unrolled or opened at this point. That was another lengthy and highly technical process to prevent the parchment from cracking and crumbling and the lettering from fading or simply falling off the parchment.

Scientists marveled that the parchment and ink letters were still legible and somewhat pliable, which they attributed to the very great care in which the documents were wrapped and stored. The linen wrapping itself was coated in beeswax to ensure an airtight seal for each scroll. Someone obviously went to great lengths to ensure the contents of the jars would last as long as possible.

Over a period of several months, the fifty-two parchment documents were slowly unrolled and opened in an airtight chamber by a team skilled in preserving ancient documents. Each parchment was immediately scanned and photographed amidst meticulous record keeping. At this point, scientists noted that the documents were written in Latin with some Greek and Hebrew words sprinkled throughout. They speculated that the contents appeared to be a narrative as opposed to the usual, mundane household recordkeeping.

It was at this time that the Israel Department of Antiquities contacted the University of Innsbruck and invited me into the project to serve as Team Chief to interpret the scrolls. The team was given the task to assemble and interpret the five hundred twenty scanned pages into a book for scholarly study. The team consisted of a Greek, a Hebrew, and three Latin linguists. Professors Emily Burns and Adiv Tuviya, the Greek and Hebrew specialists respectively, lived locally and were on call, while Professors Bruce Holloway, George Albright, and Tom Connor were assigned to the team to do the heavy lifting with the Latin.

Since the contents of the scrolls were indeed a historical narrative, one of the main tasks was to determine the correct sequence in which the pages were written. Pages from the same scroll were easily put in order, but the scrolls themselves were jumbled. Since the fifty-two scrolls each contained about ten electronically scanned pages, the team had to translate each page, identify its particular sequence in relation to the other pages, line up the scrolls as they were written, and number the pages so the narrative would tell a continuous story.

Linguists alone could not do that. The team needed an historian to guide the effort, but that would have to wait until they had interpreted a sufficient number of pages to be able to identify the time period and subject of the documents.

Within a few months, the team pinpointed the location and time period. All the pages were perused by the linguists to identify towns, people, events, and nationalities. The team collaborated daily to compare notes and to see if a picture was emerging. Eventually, the team determined that they were dealing with a personal narrative about a Roman General (Praetor), Manius Titurius Tullus, and his exploits during the time of the Second Punic Wars, 218-202 BC.

The events described in the scrolls take place primarily in northern Italy, or Gallia Cisalpina as it was called by the ancient Romans. The Cisalpine represents about twenty-five percent of modern Italy, or 28,000 square miles, which is roughly the size of Ireland or the U.S. states of Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined. The largely unmapped territory of the Roman-era Cisalpine combined with its numerous valleys, deep forests, and broken topography could easily host large troop formations.

The call went out for an expert on the Roman Punic Wars, and we were soon joined by Colonel Tom Charles, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. He would be on loan for the next six months.

The Colonel presented a briefing for the team on the Punic Wars to provide context and aid in the correct sequencing of the scrolls. He frequently used his reach-back capability to tap the vast reservoir of expertise of the USMA History Department to gather additional information.

Even though the lettering on the scrolls was meticulously printed, instances of fading, cracking, and crumbling of the original scrolls made the task difficult. Equally challenging was the team’s lack of familiarity with many of the Latin words. COL Charles was able to assist the team by providing the history of Rome’s involvement in the Cisalpine and with obscure Roman military terminology.

For the publication of Legio XVII, the team supplemented some of the old Roman Latin names of towns with their modern counterparts as well as converted Roman weights, distances, and measurements to the avoirdupois common to English usage. Additionally, Legio XVII includes modern maps and dating conventions such as 225 BC. Original Latin words are italicized throughout.

Even though the author of the scrolls, Joseph Ben Levi, remains basically in the shadow of the narrative, numerous personal notes about him are sprinkled throughout the text. These references about Joseph are collected and presented in Appendix A.

One scroll did not match the others because it was written much later than Joseph’s and in Hebrew not Latin. The author of this scroll is Joseph’s grandson, Benjamin, who explains the origins of the scrolls and his responsibility to protect and preserve them.

In his Hebrew scroll, Benjamin identified the settlement of Rakkat (modern day Tiberias) as his home and the home of his great grandfather Levi, future Quaestor of Rome and friend of Praetor Manius Tullus. He tells us that his grandfather, Joseph, wrote the original scrolls as an outline while in the field on military operations with Praetor Tullus. Benjamin’s scroll further describe how Joseph later served honorably in the Roman Senate as a powerful Plebeian Tribunus. After he retired from public life, Joseph’s remaining years were spent copying, refining, and expanding the scrolls of his youth. The expensive parchment scrolls were then passed down from Joseph to David, his son, and finally to Benjamin, son of David, who wrapped and sealed them in jars for safekeeping.

Apparently, David lacked the talent of his grandfather Levi and his father Joseph and detested the cosmopolitan, secular atmosphere of Rome. Upon Joseph’s death, David decided to return to the land of his ancestors to pursue a more pastoral lifestyle and eventually ended up back in Rakkat, home of Levi’s birth. For some unknown reason, his son Benjamin buried and abandoned the scrolls.

From Joseph’s scrolls, we learn that Praetor Manius Titurius Tullus, the primary subject of the scrolls, was admired and respected by the men of Legio XVII. He appears not only to have been an excellent, even brilliant tactician, logistician, and innovator, but above all, he cared for the welfare of those serving under him.

The scrolls record the thirty-month expedition of Tullus and his Legio XVII in northern Italy and southwestern Austria from 209 to 207 BC. While faithful to the intent of the language of the scrolls, the team felt it important to modernize some aspects of the narrative. For example, we changed certain third person pronouns to personal pronouns or used actual names to avoid confusing the reader. In other situations, we adopted a narrator position or used more current language to better convey the author’s intent. The translation presented herein adheres to the original text except for an occasional addition consistent with historical fact and the story line of the scrolls. Google Maps and public domain images are used throughout the book.

After reading the scrolls and understanding the accomplishments of Praetor Tullus and Legio XVII, the team unanimously agreed that Legio XVII will be accorded a prominent place in the history of Roman and Western civilization. The Legion helped prevent Hannibal from gaining vital reinforcements and thwarted a general uprising among the Cisalpine Gauls. The consequences of failure on either of these two counts would have rewritten history for Rome, and ultimately, western culture.

COL Charles suggested we mention our indebtedness to the Roman historians Polybius and Livy as critical sources in understanding the scrolls, as well as Theodore Mommsen’s History of Rome, Jonathan P. Roth’s The Logistics of the Roman Army (264 B.C.-A.D. 235), Pat Southern’s The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History, and Robert L. O’Connell’s The Ghosts of Cannae, Random House, 2010. These works, as well as numerous other articles and Internet websites such as Roman Army Talk, UNRV, Classical History, and Historum were of invaluable assistance in telling this story properly. The members of these sites are extremely knowledgeable about antiquity, and more than happy to discuss issues and to answer questions.

Maria Kralinger

Team Leader

Innsbruck, Austria

Chapter I: Manius Titurius Tullus

The Ovation September 207 BC

At 5’8", Praetor Manius Tullus stood a little taller than the average Roman, and he used the extra few inches to enhance his gravitas whether on the battlefield or training grounds. By letting his height and war wounds do the talking, he did not have to degrade himself, like so many others, with bragging and bluster. Maybe it was just his age, or maybe it was his battle wounds from Cannae ten years earlier, but by age fifty-three he had become soft-spoken, gentle, and more compassionate.

As he stood tall in the Senate chambers with all eyes upon him, he felt immensely proud and humble as the Senate Ovation, the second highest honor bestowed by the Senate and People of Rome, filled his ears and echoed loudly off the chamber’s walls. Everyone he loved was there: Lucia, his wife, and their two children, Flavia and Titus; his dear friend Quaestor Levi, his wife Rivkah [Rebecca], and their son Joseph and his wife Decima; all the leaders from Legio XVII that served him so faithfully: Tribuni Servilius and Vitulus; Centurio Andreas; his spy master, Elitovius; Snake, his Illyrian archer; Rasce, his Etruscan cavalry commander; Lucani and Luceria, the Samnites who nursed him back to health after Cannae; Timo Bosettius, his loyal Rhaetian ally, and his Roman wife, Rosa; and Tribune Tomaeus, his brilliant Engineer. He felt like he would burst with gratitude and pride, and would treasure this moment for the rest of his life.

As he stood there smiling, he recalled that the thirty-month expedition of Legio XVII did not get off to a very promising start. The Senate granted Scipio and the other Commanders top priority for men and materials in their fight against Hannibal and his Carthaginian Army. His own expedition against the Gauls in northern Italy and the Suevi in Austria was considered a side show, a necessary one, but not as important as fighting the North Africans.

Despite having to beg and borrow to outfit his Legionaries, he soon commanded a legion as professional and competent as any that took the field against Hannibal. Indeed, in short order, Legio XVII had earned a well-deserved reputation for its fighting ability.

In his heart, he thanked the gods for the competence of his subordinate commanders, particularly Tribuni Servilius and Vitulus, who not only protected their respective outposts but soundly defeated experienced and hardened mercenaries. His own victories against the Suevi at Innsbruck he attributed to the courage of his Legionaries and the leadership of his centurions. He recalled how he briefly considered that his Legion might dissolve and run when thousands of attacking Suevi topped the hill to his front. But 5,500 stout Roman shields backed by courage, deadly pila (spears), stabbing swords, and eight Scorpios stopped them in their tracks and won a great victory for Rome.

The Battle of Cannae ~ 216 BC (ten years earlier)

Never before, while the City itself was still safe, had there been such excitement and panic within its walls. I shall not attempt to describe it, nor will I weaken the reality by going into details... it was not wound upon wound but multiplied disaster that was now announced. For according to the reports two consular armies and two consuls were lost; there was no longer any Roman camp, any general, any single soldier in existence; Apulia, Samnium, almost the whole of Italy lay at Hannibal's feet. Certainly there is no other nation that would not have succumbed beneath such a weight of calamity.

― Livy, on the Roman Senate's reaction to the defeat at Cannae

In 216 BC, Tribune Manius Tullus was a part of the ill-fated, last ditch attempt by Roman arms to defeat Hannibal. Rome had already been soundly defeated by the Carthaginian and his mercenaries at Trebia in 218 and Lake Trasimene in 217, where Rome lost two legions. Now, eight confident Roman legions and an equal number of Auxiliaries marched to Cannae to put an end to Hannibal and his invasion of Italy.

Manius recalled with perfect clarity the intense 88 degree July heat that accompanied the huge force that marched away from Rome heading southeast to confront Hannibal. As a senior Tribune, he was mounted upon a horse, but would occasionally dismount to walk alongside his Legionaries during the fifteen day, two hundred thirty-mile march to Cannae. As usual, everyone was carrying their body armor rather than wearing it; otherwise, men would be dropping from the intense heat captured by the metal plates. The men always said you could actually cook chickpeas on hot body armor!

Morale was good. The army expected a difficult but ultimately victorious battle primarily because they had a two to one advantage in manpower.

Because of the large Roman Army that surrounded him, Manius was not overly concerned when he noticed Legionaries dropping out of the march unconscious or lying limply alongside the road. Most appeared to be suffering from exertion and the intense heat, and he knew many would rejoin their Legions later in the day. Still, as the day wore on, he grew more troubled with each new casualty that fainted or staggered off to the side estimating that the equivalent of an entire Legion had fallen out. He silently asked the gods to provide some cloud cover.

Manius suspected dehydration was the culprit. To confirm his suspicion, that evening at camp he wandered through the tired Army asking questions. What he learned stunned him. Men were drinking water at breakfast, but did not want to carry their heavy canteens during the march and left them on the wagons. Manius blamed the Centurions for failing to enforce proper hydration. He reported his findings to the Legion Commanders and orders were immediately issued to ensure the men carried their canteens and drank every two hours.

It was a typically hot and dry August day when the two armies finally faced each other across a large, dusty plain. Hannibal had been at Cannae for several weeks already, more than adequate time to develop an innovative plan of battle that would surprise and defeat the Romans.

The two armies looked at each other across the open field for two days. The Romans rested from their march; Hannibal prepared.

As the armies maneuvered into their final battle positions, the Romans could barely see the Carthaginians for the great swirls of dust intentionally kicked up by thousands of Carthaginian feet and horse hooves. Hannibal also deployed his skirmishers early on to mask the shifting and deceptive disposition of his troops. Because of the flat terrain, the Roman Consuls could not see that the Carthaginian center comprised of Gauls was actually bowed out toward the Romans in a crescent shape rather than the usual straight line.

Manius dismounted and positioned himself with the Principes of one of the centermost Legions wanting to be where he could do some good. The armies were arrayed in the customary manner with the width of the Roman front equaling that of the Carthaginians. Then at the last minute, the Consuls decided to narrow the Roman front by stacking the Legions one behind the other and compressing the Hastati and Principes.

This type formation would provide maximum crushing power to the center of the Carthaginian line, but severely reduce Roman flexibility to deal with any changes in the tactical situation on the right or left wings as the battle developed. Manius was told later that as the Legions advanced and made contact, the Carthaginian center slowly retreated while their reinforced flanks held firm. Unbeknownst to the Romans, the Carthaginian center was intentionally giving ground and drawing the Romans into a U shaped trap.

Figure 1 - Roman Advance

The Legionaries doing the fighting sensed an easy victory and pushed forward all the harder. At this point, Manius knew something was wrong, but was powerless to do anything about it. He kept moving forward with the unstoppable and successful Legions, but he could see that they were advancing into the mouth of a cave with Carthaginians now on both sides. He could also see that the Romans were being slowly compressed the deeper into the cave they went. Suddenly, the Carthaginian center stopped giving ground and began to fight in earnest. At the same time, the Libyan spearmen on the flanks began to push inward hard. The Legions were in the middle of a vast, hostile army and being squeezed tighter and tighter. At this critical point, the ten thousand strong Carthaginian cavalry commanded by Hasdrubal and Hanno returned to the battle after soundly defeating 6,000 Roman horsemen and completely blocked the rear and any avenue of escape.

The heat, dust, noise, shouting, and screaming were overwhelming. Roman soldiers were being slaughtered, not through any fault of their own, but because they were unable to use their shields and swords. Only the soldiers on the extreme outer edge of this deadly circle had any chance of fighting, and they lacked enough room to maneuver. The bulk of the Roman army was simply a mob packed so tightly together by the pressure on all sides that all they could do was stand and await a killing blow as the circle tightened. They could not run away or fight. Trapped and powerless to alter the outcome, they were going to die and accepted their fate feyly. as the killing lasted for eight long hours.

Throughout the battle, Carthaginian spearmen rained javelins down in an endless stream upon the cowering remnant of an army. In their desperate struggle to protect themselves, some managed to raise their shields and deflect the razor sharp pieces of metal to the left and right ~ and down into their comrades.

Manius stood on the outer edge of the deadly circle, and could see the Carthaginians chopping down Romans with all manner of weapons. He was taken by surprise when he felt a Roman pilum hit his thigh and screamed in pain. He looked down and saw that its conical head was completely imbedded in the muscle. As he bent down to inspect the wound, he felt a massive blow to his helmet. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

The next two days were a shadow, a dream that he could not let go of or grasp. He was in and out of consciousness. At times, he awoke to darkness unable to move, pain racking his head and leg, and unbearable pressure on his chest. Then he would relax and feel nothing as the blackness returned.

Manius lay for two days severely wounded and near death on the blood soaked field at Cannae. Suddenly, voices entered his tortured dreams. He felt the sun hit his face blinding him as he tried to open his eyes. The pressure was lifted off his chest; he could breathe freely again. When a man and his wife heard his weak moans and realized someone was alive in these piles of bodies, they went looking, pulling apart the gruesome stacks of bloody, twisted, and smelly bodies while being careful to avoid the sharpened metal swords and spears that lay everywhere. The scene reflected the handiwork of the Demiurge at his malevolent worst.

When they dragged the fourth body off a mound of broken bodies, they saw Manius’ chest rise sharply and knew this was the one who moaned and was still alive. After wiping away the blood, they examined the wounds to his head and thigh and realized that with care, he might be saved. They also recognized him as someone important by the insignia on his uniform and decided they had found what they were seeking. Their goal, unlike many of the others searching for coins and rings among the dead, was to find someone alive, nurse him back to health, and take a reward from grateful relatives. The several other wounded soldiers they discovered earlier were obviously not important enough to bother with and were left to die.

Lucani first cut away the wooden part of the pilum in the Manius’ thigh so just the metal shaft protruded. This would make it easier to move him. Then they forced some water into his mouth and unceremoniously loaded him onto their dilapidated mule-drawn wagon. They had a long way to go; it was a three day’s journey back to their village of Sabina et Samnium [Agnone] in the Samnite area of central Italy.

As they pulled away from the carnage, they could see hundreds of people and thousands of vultures picking through the corpses. Vultures came from everywhere. The familiar Griffon and Cinereous vultures, the strikingly handsome Egyptian, the rarely seen Black vulture, and even the high flying Bearded vultures had come down from the Alps for the gory feast.

After the battle, the Carthaginians had made a quick sweep through the piles of bodies to kill the wounded and gather valuables, but were reluctant to spend the time trying to uncover every hidden, living Roman. They did collect, and later displayed, up to three hundred rings of wealthy Romans including many Senators who died in the battle.

In a few days, the battlefield would begin smelling and all the survivors would have died of their wounds and exposure. Only the vultures would be able to stand the stench. Lucani and Luceria rejoiced in their good fortune to find one still alive after two days of looking. They had arrived on the field as soon as the Carthaginians had left. It was not Hannibal’s practice to burn or bury the dead, and on this occasion, there were simply too many bodies. It was wiser to move on as quickly as possible and let nature take its course.

Hannibal had accomplished his goal. There was no one in all of Italy who could now contest his movements. He could go and do whatever he wanted. He decided to winter over in Capua and moved his army south. In the spring, he would attack Tarentum unless the city came over to him as so many others had already done.

Once Lucani and Luceria arrived back in their village, they set about the difficult task of keeping Manius alive. They sold and traded off the coins and other objects they had taken from the battlefield and devoted their full energy to nursing Manius. Their sturdy one room hut was sparsely furnished, had a large fireplace, and was adequately insulated. They prepared a bed for Manius near the fire to keep him warm and free of drafts in the coming winter, and they worked around the clock to keep him alive.

Manius’ skull had likely been fractured probably by a Celtic ax blow. Removing his helmet was difficult as its crumpled edges were embedded in the bone. Manius moaned as Lucani gently pried back the bent edges of the bashed helmet and lifted it off his head. The wound was washed and left open to drain. Later, Luceria would stitch the scalp. Next, the metal part of the pilum was cut out of his leg and the wound cauterized, eliciting screams from Manius even in his henbane induced stupor. Henbane was a Samnite nostrum mixed in water to dull pain.

Manius had a fever, and his head and leg wounds were showing signs of infection. Luceria applied a mixture of herbs to the wounds and washed them frequently to combat the angry red swelling. His leg grew to double its normal size. She began to doubt whether he could be saved. She forced him to drink whenever he was conscious and caught the small amount of urine he passed in a wooden bowl. It was hard work, and despite Manius’ weakening condition, the couple gleefully planned how they would spend the reward money they were earning. It made the nights go quicker.

Manius’ arrival in the Samnite village had not gone unnoticed. Some of the neighbors, and one, old, former warrior in particular, demanded that the couple kill the Roman. The Samnites had not forgotten their last war with Rome, a mere seventy-five years ago, and there was still bitterness no love for the Romans in Agnone. Lucani ended the debate by promising the villagers a piece of the expected reward if they helped him and his wife keep him alive. Their greed got the better of them, and Manius soon became the village project with everyone lending a hand in his care. In the evenings, the villagers debated the amount to ask for him and considered how they should notify his relatives.

Lucani and Luceria marveled at how popular they had become since Lucani promised to share the reward. Villagers now vied with one another to be seen helping with the care of Manius by bringing food, firewood, and water to the hut. Everyone wanted to please the caregivers to ensure that their contribution was not overlooked or forgotten. Neighbors were extra kind to one another to prevent resentment and backbiting that could result in losing their share of the reward. In a perverse way, the hated Roman had introduced an era of goodwill into this poor Samnite village that would last for years.

In the beginning, Luceria would