Chapter III Vandalia über alles 262-186 BC
The First Roman war 262-258 BC
The Roman Republic started as a humble Kingdom in the Italic Peninsula but during the past thirty years they expanded their borders and influence in the region by attacking its neighbors, the Hellenic cities of the south, the Italic tribes of the center and the northern Etruscan league soon fell under the might of the Romans. It seemed that nobody could stop them and their victorious armies until they declared war on Tuscia, a subject of the Haría Tribe, effectively declaring war against the Vandals and starting the conflict that became known as the First Roman War.
The Romans believed that the Vandals were barbarians, backwards uncivilized people that lived in poor villages deep in the northern forests and because of the few reports they had about the Haría, they were “a bunch of smelly swine herders uncapable of waging war against the civilized and superior Roman people". The southerners made things worse by sending an envoy to Stragona with a letter that not only informed them about their war goals, it also insulted their leaders by calling them “coward swine herders” amongst other things.
The Roman military was strong, disciplined and had supremacy in their region, but they never expected that the "swine herders" they had only heard about could outnumber and outpower them, the Harían hordes invaded their territory and sacked all their cities without much effort, enslaving thousands of Roman citizens during their unrelenting advance towards Roma. The Roman armies were divided, while one of them were marching directly into Harian territory.
Rome was one of the wealthiest cities in the Mediterranean, surrounded by other affluent urban centers ripe for pillaging. At that time, Rome boasted a population of over eighty thousand inhabitants, along with aqueducts, granaries, and a marvel of the period: the Great Temple of Jupiter. When the Harians saw it, they were struck with awe; Rome was among the greatest cities of its era, rendering Stragona a mere fortified village in comparison.
The siege of Rome commenced with twenty thousand Harians encircling the enemy capital. The Roman armies, vastly outnumbered, encamped outside the city, refraining from direct engagement with the Harians. The Romans never entertained the notion that their gleaming capital could fall to these barbarians, thus life within the city walls continued much as it had before. Meanwhile, other Vandal armies pillaged all the other cities in the Latium region.
After 217 days of siege, the astonished Roman citizens witnessed the barbarians somehow breaching their city's defenses. Faced with overwhelming odds, the defenders had no choice but to swiftly surrender, in case their capital could be razed to the ground by the undisciplined hordes of Vandals. The agreement between the Harian forces and the Roman garrison demanded the exchange of thousands of Romans as slaves for the promise made by the Vandals not to annihilate what remained of the rich and prosperous capital of the Roman Republic.
Following the acceptance of temporary occupation by the people of Rome, and with the Vandal main force departing to liberate Cisra, the Roman army that had camped outside the city for months during the siege finally attempted to reclaim their capital. In the process, they slew the few remaining Harian warriors within the walls. However, this act constituted a breach of the agreement made between the Romans and the Vandals, resulting in a profound disgrace occurring those who failed to uphold their word.
The Vandal man in charge of the occupation of Rome was the son of one of the Harian generals and when news of his death reached the proud warlord, he ordered his forty thousand warriors to not only occupy Rome, but to destroy it. People without honor did not deserve the be respected and the fear of complete annihilation would teach the Romans a lesson or two.
Forty thousand furious Vandal Warriors marched upon Rome defeating their last army and taking control of the city in the aftermath of the battle. Then they took the city by force, furiously advancing for its streets in a chaotic act of mindless violence, no mercy was shown for the non-combatants and one third of its population, thirteen thousand souls, were brutally murdered in one night, the other two thirds were enslaved. The entire city burned for weeks.
After this, Haria sent an Etruscan diplomat to the Romans, with the following letter:
"You insulted us and attacked our allies, believing yourselves superior. Yet, on the battlefield, we proved with undeniable evidence that Roman steel is neither equal nor superior to Germanic steel. We obliterated the proud capital of your republic, leaving nothing but scorched earth and haunted ruins in our wake. Many of your temples were sacked, and we seized your sacred relics. Know that if we so choose, we can replicate our triumph in your capital in every one of your cities until no Romans remain to witness it.
We offer you the terms of your defeat:
We desire nothing from you. The wasteland of Rome will be left untouched; you may reclaim it once we depart. However, should you ever again dare to assail us or our allies, there will be no mercy for your people."
Rome accepted a white peace; the loss of their capital, their pride, and their armies proved to be sufficient, at least for the time being.
Vandal Unification 252 BC
The flow of gold, relics, and slaves obtained during the First Roman war made the Haria tribe incredibly rich. They amassed such wealth that they could have hired mercenary armies to conquer the entirety of Germania if they desired. However, the Vandals cherished battle, and so battle they pursued. Additional armies were raised, and soon all the other tribes knelt before the undefeated banner of the Haria.
Thus, after unification Vandalia rose as the hegemonic European power. No other tribe, kingdom, or republic dared to provoke the wrath of their armies. Naturally, their men thirsted for more conquests, and the war continued both to the east and the west, now with the objective of uniting all the Germanic tribes under Vandalia's banner.
The Second Roman War. 247 – 242 BC
Despite their crushing defeat in the first Roman War, the Italians sought to reclaim their pride and declared a new war against the Vandals to conquer Cisra. This time, the war was met with enthusiasm by the Vandal elite. Having promised the Romans no mercy if they ever declared war against them, and now, eleven years after the end of hostilities, they had grown so powerful that a conflict against the mighty Romans was viewed as a secondary matter and a great opportunity to enrich many with plunder and slaves.
So the conflict began with thousands of Vandals marching southward, eager to enrich themselves through the sack of the many cities in Italia. At least a hundred thousand Vandal warriors journeyed south and plundered the peninsula, while the brave Romans either fled in their presence or were overrun by the northerners. It was not a genuine conflict, and it was never revealed why the Romans invited this massacre upon themselves, but the Vandals were grateful. The gold obtained from their cities financed the expansion of their territory, and most of the slaves ended up joining the Vandalic hordes as tribesmen.
After almost five years of war, the Romans accepted a peace deal that involved the provinces of Latium and Tuscia becoming part of Vandalia. After conscripting most of the population of the new territories as soldiers or slaves, the lands were transferred to Cisra. Vandalia did not want to hold lands in Italy; after all, that peninsula served only one purpose: plunder. It was easier to outsource the administration of them to the locals rather than deal with revolts or have Vandal clans migrating there instead of remaining in their homeland.
During the period between the Roman Wars, one of the clans of the Haria tribe, seeking refuge from the chaos of Central Europe, made the decision to wander far into the west and ultimately settled in North Africa. It was a futile quest for freedom, and the looming threat of war with the powerful Carthaginians prompted them to abandon the region after half a decade. It was indeed one of the many strange behaviors of the Vandals during this period.
Vandalia über Alles 192 BC
A century of war came to an end when Vandalia succeeded in conquering all the Germanic tribes and uniting them under their banner. It was more a matter of time than of difficulty, as Vandalia integrated all men of fighting age into their hordes. Thus, each of their victories made them more powerful, with their army boasting at least four hundred thousand warriors by the time they concluded their campaigns to unite all tribes.
The end of the wars of Germanic unifications, most of them easy victories that became lost to history, did not mean the end of conflicts for the Vandals. Many of their clans started to migrate to the rich kingdoms of the Mediterranean, seeking to earn gold and glory as mercenaries fighting in foreign wars or to settle in distant lands. The riches and prosperity achieved in the past fueled the Vandals desire for more, and with the lack of a real central authority, every Vandal man was akin to a king; the one with the most warriors could carve out a kingdom anywhere in the world if he desired.
The world was ripe for the taking.
