The Battle of Veseris, 340 B.C. By Stephen Jackson "Janus, Jupiter, Father Mars, Quirinus, Bellona, Lares, New Gods, Native Gods, deities who have power over us and our enemies, and Gods of the Underworld: I supplicate and revere you, I seek your favor and beseech you, that you prosper the might and victory of the Roman people, the Quirites, and afflict the enemies of the Roman people, the Quirites, with terror, dread, and death. As I have pronounced the words, even so on behalf of the army, the legions, and auxiliaries of the Roman nation of Quirites, do I devote myself and with me the legions and auxiliaries of our enemies to the gods of the Underworld and to Earth." Thus is the prayer as written by Livy for the General who sacrifices himself in order to attain victory for his troops on the battlefield. You know the story of Publius Decius Mus at the Battle of Ausculum against Pyrrhus. This module contains the one where his grandfather devoted himself on another, rather interesting battlefield, and started the family tradition. The Latin allies had supported Roman domination since the early Etruscan wars. Supplying the alae sociorum, they had often borne the brunt of the fighting and gotten little of the credit. Being of the same ethnic stock as Romans, Latin resentment of their treatment as second class subjects gradually festered and came to a head. Rome agreed to end the First Samnite War in 341 BC. The Samnites then began attacking the Sidicini, who appealed to the Latins for aid, having been refused by the Romans. The Latins marched into Samnium and were doing very well when a Samnite delegation arrived in Rome asking them to call off their allies. The Senate was concerned that control of the Latins was slipping and summoned several leading Latins to Rome. The Latin delegation demanded that in the future one Consul should be a Latin and the Senate should be drawn from both peoples. In effect, there should be one nation with Rome as the capital, and all the people called Romans. Seeing that the Romans violently rejected similar demands two and a half centuries later (89-86 BC, The Social War), its safe to assume that Romans of the fourth century saw red. The Senate went into an uproar and the chief Latin delegate somehow (Livy says he slipped) ended up badly hurt at the bottom of the Senate steps. The Senate voted for immediate war and the consuls enlisted two armies. Normally, two consular armies would be four double legions, but the alae legions are in this case the enemy. Livy specifically says that the alae legions were missing from the consular armies, and says nothing about additional troops being levied. It seems likely that the consuls marched with only their Roman legions, and they were joined by a force of Samnites, who were also at war with the Latins and faring poorly. The consuls were Titus Manlius Torquatus and Publius Decius Mus. Manlius, now in his third consulship, gained his cognomen in 361 BC when he defeated a Celtic champion in single combat. The Gauls fell back and were subsequently defeated; this being attributed to Manlius' demoralizing defeat of their champion. His spoil was the torc from around the Gaul's neck, and he became a popular hero at home. Both consuls reportedly had the same dream; that if either army's general devoted to death the enemy legions and himself with them, victory would fall to his side. The consuls together decided that on whichever flank the Roman army started to give way, the consul in command there would sacrifice himself to save the army and Rome. They summoned the tribunes and had the news disbursed to the legionaries, so they wouldn't become alarmed at a consul's death. There was much apprehension on the Roman's part on having to fight their former allies. It was noted that contingent would fight similar contingent, and the opposing centurions would come face to face. To negate any blow to morale by having Latin centurions kill leading Roman ones, as the Latin centurions were considered to be better fighters (says something doesn't it?), the primipili centurions were moved to the rear and placed in ranks with the triarii, their places being taken by younger, more fit centurions. Indeed, the consuls were so concerned about any blow to morale that they issued orders that no one was to leave his position to fight the enemy until ordered. While the opposing armies were encamped, Titus Manlius, son of the consul, was leading a cavalry patrol. Coming near the Latin camp, a Tusculan cavalry leader named Geminus Maecius challenged young Manlius to single combat. Perhaps remembering the glory gained by his father by defeating the Gaul, young Titus accepted and defeated the Tusculan, unhorsing then spearing him through the throat. When his son brought the spoils to him, Manlius turned away, condemning his son for defying consular authority. He declared that consular authority and military discipline are more important than a man's natural love for his children. In a move which shocked all who saw, Manlius ordered his lictors to bind young Manlius to the stake, remove the axe from his bundle of fasces and decapitate him on the spot. The brutality of the punishment supposedly caused an increase in discipline among the Roman legions, though nearly all cursed the consul for his heartlessness. The battle itself took place near the foot of Mount Vesuvius, in the vicinity of the River Veseris (or the town of Veseris depending on how you translate). Manlius commanded the right wing, Decius the left. The Latin army under Lucius Numisius was confident after several victories over the Paeligni, Samnites and others, and pressed the Romans relentlessly. When the hastati on the left gave way and fell back among the principes, Decius incanted the formula of devotio, leapt onto his horse, and rode deep into the midst of the Latin cohorts until he was felled by a rain of missiles. The Latins were thrown into confusion by this act, while the Romans rallied, believing that the gods were now with them. Still, fighting was hard and Manlius was considering whether to call the triarii forward from where they were resting on one knee. Numisius committed his own triarii who fought savagely with the principes, wreaking havoc on the Roman ranks. At this point Manlius called the Roman triarii to their feet, reminding them of Decius' sacrifice. They allowed the remains of the brutalized maniples to pass through their ranks, then moved forward and closed up. The heavier weight of the Roman "phalanx" pushed forward and cut down the tired Latin maniples, breaking up their formations. The Latins scattered and fled, and their camp was taken. Aftermath: Livy claims that the battle was a complete Roman victory, but it was undoubtedly much less than that. Casualties on both sides were appalling in that the battle came down to opposing ranks of triarii. Numisius soon rallied another Latin army by convincing the Latin cities that the Roman army had suffered losses equal to his own, stressing that the hastati and principes had been slaughtered before the veteran triarii restored Roman fortunes. The war dragged on another two years, ending with the Romans granting citizenship to several Latin towns, and the "Latin Rights" (non-voting citizen status) to others. During the battle Livy pays little attention to the Samnite forces with the Roman army, merely saying that they "struck terror into the hearts of the Latins", mostly after they were already fleeing. Livy wouldn't likely give much credit for the victory to those same Samnites who were to defeat the Romans (and Latins) at the Caudine Forks only two decades later. In 295 BC, Publius Decius Mus followed his father's example at the Battle of Sentinum, against a combined Samnite/Celtic army. Look for this battle to appear in a future SPQR product. Map: Use the Cannae map and all terrain features. The Aufidus River is now the Veseris, which runs along the south edge of the map. Counters: All units are from SPQR except for the OCs and Samnite units, available in War Elephant and Africanus. Deployment: It is recommended that both sides use free deployment, setting up anywhere on their half of the board with a divider to hide deployment from your opponent until both are set up. The Latins get all units from the listed AS legions, and the leaders indicated. The Romans get all units from the listed Roman legions, four Samnite units, and the leaders indicated. For those who prefer a standard deployment, it is listed below. Latin Deployment Unit Hex(es) Notes Numisius {OC} (Use Livius) With any AS LG unit Praefects Sociorum (3) With any AS LG unit [a] Praefect Equitum Drusus 3208 Praefect Equitum Falco 3238 AS XIV, III, XIX, I Velites 2816 - 2830 (every other hex) AS XIV Cohorts 3014, 3016, 3018, 3214, 3216 [b] AS III Cohorts 3020, 3022, 3218, 3220, 3222 AS XIX Cohorts 3024, 3026, 3224, 3226, 3228 AS I Cohorts 3028, 3030, 3032, 3230, 3232 AS XIV, III, XIX, I Triarii 3517 - 3531 (every other hex) AS XIV, III Cavalry 3206 - 3211 AS XIX, I Cavalry 3235 - 3240 [a] Praefects Sociorum were normally Roman officers in command of the alae legions, supported by officers of the alae's nationality, who sometimes even had to translate the orders from Latin into Greek, Oscan, Etruscan, etc). For this battle, the AS legions are under their own officers. All three Praefects have an initiative of '3'. [b] All cohorts are stacked two per hex. The CE cohort may be placed in whichever stack desired. Roman Deployment Unit Hex(es) Notes Manlius (use Laevinus) With any LG unit [a] Decius Mus With any LG unit [a] Tribunes Cassius & Antonius With any LG unit Tribune Magnus With any Roman Cav unit [b] Aemilius With any Samnite Cav unit [c] V, XV, VII, X Legion Velites 2111 - 2133 (every other hex) V Hastati 1916, 1918 [d] V Principes 1716, 1718 [d] XV Hastati 1920, 1922 XV Principes 1720, 1722 VII Hastati 1924, 1926 VII Principes 1724, 1726 X Hastati 1928, 1930 X Principes 1728, 1730 V, XV, VII, X Triarii 1412 - 1434 (every other hex) Samnite HI 1-2 1436, 1438 [e] V, XV, VII, X Roman Cav 1806 - 1809 Samnite RC 1-2 1736, 1737 [f] [a] Roll a die to determine which consul is overall commander. The other assumes overall command if the OC is killed by any reason. [b] May only command Roman Legion cavalry units. [c] May only command Samnite units. [d] All hastati and principes are stacked two to a hex. Principes primus may be placed in any stack desired. [e] Reduce size of Samnite HI to '5', or use Mercenary Hoplite HI 1-2. These units are part of the triarii line and subject to the Triarii Tactical Doctrine (see below). [f] If you don't have these units, use I and III Legion cavalry, but consider them Samnite. Special Rules 1) Roman triarii (and the Samnite HI) are subject to the Triarii Tactical Doctrine. The Latin triarii are not subject, but once any Latin AS triarii unit has engaged any Roman infantry unit in shock combat, the Roman player is released from the doctrine. Its something for the Latin to think about before he uses his smaller line of triarii. 2) The Devotio rules from the Ausculum battle may be used by the Roman player. Either Decius Mus or Manlius may devote himself. Numisius does not get a chance to counter-act the devotio. 3) Optional: Since the dream prompting devotio was that either army could be devoted, allow Numisius to devote himself. If he does, replace any one Praefect Sociorum with Varro at the beginning of the following turn as OC. If one leader devotes himself after the other has already done so, the effects cancel each other out effective the following turn. Line Command eligibility Roman Latin Roman Cavalry AS Cavalry Samnite Cavalry Velites AS Velites Hastati Principes Triarii and Samnite HI Triarii and Cohorts Retreat Edge: Roman - East Edge Latin - West Edge Victory: Roman army withdraws when units totaling 150 TQ points have been eliminated. The Latin army withdraws when units totaling 151 TQ points have been eliminated. If both armies withdraw simultaneously the Latin player wins (due to the blow to Roman prestige). Balance: This scenario is very closely balanced due to the similarity of the opposing forces. Each has one veteran, one standard, and two recruit legions. Latin advantages are in cavalry and a heavier weight of LG infantry. Roman advantages are in heavier Velite and Triarii wings, plus having the right flank anchored by hills and the Samnites. Players may switch legions as desired, though it is not recommended that the Romans use the I Legion. Alternately, use the Rout point bid method. Size and TQ Levels Player Size TQ Pts Rout Ratio Quality Ratio Latin 204 377 40% 1.85 Roman 212 373 40% 1.76 Source: Livy is the only source for this battle. Delbruck consigns this one (and all Roman fourth century battles) to the realm of mythology.