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We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Fortunately, the end of the holiday rush also seems a portent for the end of the glacial pace of our updates. Look for one in the coming days, my friends! Thank you all for patiently reading along!
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Ch. V.iii: The Woman Who Stunned Rome
The Roman campaign into Aquitania, punctuated by the legions' first naval mission in the Atlantic Ocean, sent a decisive message to the men of Iberia: submit to Roman authority willingly, or be forced to bend the knee by martial force. The united tribes of Aquitania had rallied behind the leadership of Abaraban Karidus in an attempt to push back against Rome's dominance of the peninsula, but a three-front invasion by the Roman legions had broken the defense effort decisively.
This defeat, of course, did not mark the end of Rome's ambitions in the region, but it also did not mark the end of Aquitania's resistance; in the years immediately following the conclusion of the First Aquitanian War, both sides set to work preparing for the inevitable sequel to their conflict.
For those not under the unified banner of Aquitania, though, the prospects were grim. Roman soldiers soon conquered and eliminated the central Iberian tribal state of Arevacia, expanding their reach further northward and threatening to cut off the smaller nations of Onubaia, Hastaia and Calontiensia from their support to the north. It seemed that full dominance of the peninsula was only one or two more short campaigns away, but the Aquitani were prepared to muster every weapon at their disposal to fight for their survival.
When the Romans came marching again in 144 BC, Aquitania stood defiant once again, this time under the leadership of the elder Vasconian chieftess Nerseada Urcetica. Fighting with a renewed ferocity, the defenders quickly sought to launch a series of attacks against the approaching Romans. In many of the early battles, though, that ferocity served only to increase their casualties. The Iberian defenders threw themselves relentlessly into the Roman battle lines, hoping to break the legions' disciplined formations. But as before, the weight and organization of Rome's heavy infantry proved superior to the lighter Iberian fighters, and again, each engagement with the Romans saw two or more Iberians fall for each Roman they killed.
It seemed that the Iberians indeed had no answer for Rome's well-drilled heavy footmen, and morale among the leaders of the defending armies began to falter. Some began to suggest surrender, but they were given a new hope by an unlikely military hero: a 28 year-old woman from the west-central tribe of the Vettonians.
Vrocata Auarosa was a renowned horsewoman in her own right, and after her homeland of Arevacia was overrun, she fled north and began assembling and training an elite company of heavy cavalry fighters, training specifically to fight against the Roman legions. When the second war begin, she entered into service as a mercenary to the Aquitani, and was one of the first to take the fight aggressively to the invaders.
The Roman Fifth Legion was one of the first to cross into Aquitania at the onset of the war, laying siege to the fortified settlement at Pintia. While the Romans were focused on the Iberian fortifications, Vrocata led a series of rapid and violent assaults on the rear, her horsemen cutting down as many unsuspecting Romans as they could and before fleeing as the legion formed its battle lines. Frustrated with his inability to pin down Vrocata's horsemen, Egests Broicokos, the commander of the legion, finally disengaged from the siege and positioned his men to entrap the incoming cavalry on their next assault.
It was then that Vrocata feigned a fresh attack, only to surprise the Romans on every side with an assault of massed Iberian infantry. Surrounded and outnumbered, Egests sent for aid, which came from Aulus Claudius Hispanicus and the First Legion, who marched to support Egests along with a contingent of mercenary troops. With nearly 30,000 Roman fighters in the field, Aulus presumed that victory would come swiftly -- in nearly every battle with the Aquitani, the legions inflicted at least two, if not more casualties for each man lost. But Vrocata and her allies held their ground, and after over a week of fighting, she did what no commander had yet done anywhere in the world: she defeated and routed a Roman legion; and not just one, but two. And, as the crowning achievement of her victory, she captured Egests Broicokos, taking the Fifth Legion's commander back to Aquitania as a hostage.
The defeat of two legions incensed the Romans, who demanded that Vrocata be hunted, captured, and executed in retribution. They accelerated the pace of their invasion, and hunted the Iberians with renewed ferocity, eager to make amends for the embarrassing defeat inflicted on them by this upstart Vettonian woman.
However, to the further humiliation of Rome, none of the legion commanders were able to find and defeat Vrocata to avenge their brothers in arms. Instead, it was another mercenary woman, Teite Uxenta, who ultimately tracked down the Aquitani's most feared commander. Supported by local Roman conscripts, Teite successfully tracked and defeated Vrocata's warband in Tullium, north of Avila, routing her horsemen and sending them fleeing north toward the coast.
Vrocata herself, however, evaded capture as she fled into the northern reaches of Aquitania. Further Roman attempts to locate and imprison her failed -- she was able to disappear from the public eye, and was not seen again. Her defeat marked the loss of the Aquitani's most skilled military leader, and while her initial victory had led to a surge in morale, her defeat and disappearance crushed the spirits of her comrades. Roman soldiers marched on through a string of victories, and before long were conquering more and more of what remained of Iberia's largest tribal state.
Glorious though it was, Vrocata's victory against the legions was the only defeat that the Romans would suffer throughout their campaign. Their legions marched on in further campaigns, and by 131 BC, Aquitania was forced to accept subjugation as a Roman vassal state, ruling over a province north of the Pyrenees, whose borders were drawn and enforced by the senate. With Aquitania defeated and under Roman influence, the campaign to subdue Iberia came to a close. Rome now dominated the entire western portion of the Mediterranean, and great celebrations spread throughout the city as the legions reported their total victory.
The great Roman families rejoiced in the spoils of war, but there was one young man in particular who took a sincere interest in these tales of victory from the frontier. As he listened with awe and envy to the tales of war in Iberia, young Secundus Cornelius Violens dreamed of the day he might command those legions himself.
The Roman campaign into Aquitania, punctuated by the legions' first naval mission in the Atlantic Ocean, sent a decisive message to the men of Iberia: submit to Roman authority willingly, or be forced to bend the knee by martial force. The united tribes of Aquitania had rallied behind the leadership of Abaraban Karidus in an attempt to push back against Rome's dominance of the peninsula, but a three-front invasion by the Roman legions had broken the defense effort decisively.
This defeat, of course, did not mark the end of Rome's ambitions in the region, but it also did not mark the end of Aquitania's resistance; in the years immediately following the conclusion of the First Aquitanian War, both sides set to work preparing for the inevitable sequel to their conflict.
For those not under the unified banner of Aquitania, though, the prospects were grim. Roman soldiers soon conquered and eliminated the central Iberian tribal state of Arevacia, expanding their reach further northward and threatening to cut off the smaller nations of Onubaia, Hastaia and Calontiensia from their support to the north. It seemed that full dominance of the peninsula was only one or two more short campaigns away, but the Aquitani were prepared to muster every weapon at their disposal to fight for their survival.
When the Romans came marching again in 144 BC, Aquitania stood defiant once again, this time under the leadership of the elder Vasconian chieftess Nerseada Urcetica. Fighting with a renewed ferocity, the defenders quickly sought to launch a series of attacks against the approaching Romans. In many of the early battles, though, that ferocity served only to increase their casualties. The Iberian defenders threw themselves relentlessly into the Roman battle lines, hoping to break the legions' disciplined formations. But as before, the weight and organization of Rome's heavy infantry proved superior to the lighter Iberian fighters, and again, each engagement with the Romans saw two or more Iberians fall for each Roman they killed.
It seemed that the Iberians indeed had no answer for Rome's well-drilled heavy footmen, and morale among the leaders of the defending armies began to falter. Some began to suggest surrender, but they were given a new hope by an unlikely military hero: a 28 year-old woman from the west-central tribe of the Vettonians.
Vrocata Auarosa was a renowned horsewoman in her own right, and after her homeland of Arevacia was overrun, she fled north and began assembling and training an elite company of heavy cavalry fighters, training specifically to fight against the Roman legions. When the second war begin, she entered into service as a mercenary to the Aquitani, and was one of the first to take the fight aggressively to the invaders.
The Roman Fifth Legion was one of the first to cross into Aquitania at the onset of the war, laying siege to the fortified settlement at Pintia. While the Romans were focused on the Iberian fortifications, Vrocata led a series of rapid and violent assaults on the rear, her horsemen cutting down as many unsuspecting Romans as they could and before fleeing as the legion formed its battle lines. Frustrated with his inability to pin down Vrocata's horsemen, Egests Broicokos, the commander of the legion, finally disengaged from the siege and positioned his men to entrap the incoming cavalry on their next assault.
It was then that Vrocata feigned a fresh attack, only to surprise the Romans on every side with an assault of massed Iberian infantry. Surrounded and outnumbered, Egests sent for aid, which came from Aulus Claudius Hispanicus and the First Legion, who marched to support Egests along with a contingent of mercenary troops. With nearly 30,000 Roman fighters in the field, Aulus presumed that victory would come swiftly -- in nearly every battle with the Aquitani, the legions inflicted at least two, if not more casualties for each man lost. But Vrocata and her allies held their ground, and after over a week of fighting, she did what no commander had yet done anywhere in the world: she defeated and routed a Roman legion; and not just one, but two. And, as the crowning achievement of her victory, she captured Egests Broicokos, taking the Fifth Legion's commander back to Aquitania as a hostage.
The defeat of two legions incensed the Romans, who demanded that Vrocata be hunted, captured, and executed in retribution. They accelerated the pace of their invasion, and hunted the Iberians with renewed ferocity, eager to make amends for the embarrassing defeat inflicted on them by this upstart Vettonian woman.
However, to the further humiliation of Rome, none of the legion commanders were able to find and defeat Vrocata to avenge their brothers in arms. Instead, it was another mercenary woman, Teite Uxenta, who ultimately tracked down the Aquitani's most feared commander. Supported by local Roman conscripts, Teite successfully tracked and defeated Vrocata's warband in Tullium, north of Avila, routing her horsemen and sending them fleeing north toward the coast.
Vrocata herself, however, evaded capture as she fled into the northern reaches of Aquitania. Further Roman attempts to locate and imprison her failed -- she was able to disappear from the public eye, and was not seen again. Her defeat marked the loss of the Aquitani's most skilled military leader, and while her initial victory had led to a surge in morale, her defeat and disappearance crushed the spirits of her comrades. Roman soldiers marched on through a string of victories, and before long were conquering more and more of what remained of Iberia's largest tribal state.
Glorious though it was, Vrocata's victory against the legions was the only defeat that the Romans would suffer throughout their campaign. Their legions marched on in further campaigns, and by 131 BC, Aquitania was forced to accept subjugation as a Roman vassal state, ruling over a province north of the Pyrenees, whose borders were drawn and enforced by the senate. With Aquitania defeated and under Roman influence, the campaign to subdue Iberia came to a close. Rome now dominated the entire western portion of the Mediterranean, and great celebrations spread throughout the city as the legions reported their total victory.
The great Roman families rejoiced in the spoils of war, but there was one young man in particular who took a sincere interest in these tales of victory from the frontier. As he listened with awe and envy to the tales of war in Iberia, young Secundus Cornelius Violens dreamed of the day he might command those legions himself.
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Glad this is back. I’m always looking forward to new posts, but no rush there. Take your time, as the quality of each chapter is really good.
Vrocata Auarosa, like Abaraban Karidus, seems poised to either be demonized as Rome’s most cruel and barbaric enemy or begrudgingly respected as one of the few worthy opponents who could match the legions on the battlefield. In later eras I could see her becoming a Boudicca-style nationalist heroine. And I wonder what Secundus Cornelius Violens will get up to in his coming career. Maybe something…violent?
Vrocata Auarosa, like Abaraban Karidus, seems poised to either be demonized as Rome’s most cruel and barbaric enemy or begrudgingly respected as one of the few worthy opponents who could match the legions on the battlefield. In later eras I could see her becoming a Boudicca-style nationalist heroine. And I wonder what Secundus Cornelius Violens will get up to in his coming career. Maybe something…violent?
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This Violens sounds like a would-be conqueror of Gaul... Good update as always!
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How long will this arrangement last? Surely Aquitania will resent being subjugated by Rome and will need to be annexed...
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A good effort by Vrocata but ultimately it was not enough to save Iberia. At least she was defeated by another female, foreign mercenary instead of a Roman general. That is a lot of territory to be annexed in one war, so I guess it will be a short while before the next campaign.
Just read through all of this today, excellent AAR! Following with interest.
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Also noticed Pritania is doing quite well for itself on the British Isles. Really hope they survive to the end now, like others have mentioned.
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Well Aquitania managed to avoid being completely steamrolled with that one major victory, but their celebration was short-lived. Rome will only be brought down from within at this point, and perhaps this Secundus Cornelius Violens will be the first step towards that if I'm interpreting the foreshadowing correctly.
Paradox games always have an interesting way of displaying country names. I can't help but notice the second Rome below the first in Corsica and Sardinia. They really want you to know that Rome controls that region.
Paradox games always have an interesting way of displaying country names. I can't help but notice the second Rome below the first in Corsica and Sardinia. They really want you to know that Rome controls that region.
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In the coming centuries, I can see both Teite and Vrocata's stories becoming legendary. It's not every day one defeats a Roman legion.
But where will he go, into Gaul or Anatolia. Or perhaps somewhere else unexpected.
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I mean, I kind of wonder what he did that he already had that cognomen by age 14
I'm not sure if I will continue along this path, but I had the idea of having some vassals along the northern borders, not only as a buffer, but to keep some interesting nations in the heart of Europe for future chapters.
They have! A few nations have managed to make a pretty good start for themselves. I've also been impressed with little Fezzan, which at one point actually waged an (almost) victorious war against Egypt. At one point they had the whole mouth of the Nile occupied.
Well Aquitania managed to avoid being completely steamrolled with that one major victory, but their celebration was short-lived. Rome will only be brought down from within at this point, and perhaps this Secundus Cornelius Violens will be the first step towards that if I'm interpreting the foreshadowing correctly.
Paradox games always have an interesting way of displaying country names. I can't help but notice the second Rome below the first in Corsica and Sardinia. They really want you to know that Rome controls that region.
It is entirely possible that Mr. Secundus will indeed have a hand in the shaping of Rome's future!
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Finally caught up again with this excellent AAR. Looking forward to the Roman march east now that the West is subdued under the Roman boot.
I can offer some thoughts on the conversion if you're interested as there were quite a number of issues I had to resolve to create a dynamic world in my switch to CK3.
I can offer some thoughts on the conversion if you're interested as there were quite a number of issues I had to resolve to create a dynamic world in my switch to CK3.
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