Chapter 37
480
In the year 480 Constantinus with 15,000 men would march into Seuvi territory however unlike the quick campaign he had been hoping and planning for, Constantinus would experience a protracted campaign. The Kingship of the Seuvi had fallen upon a man by the name of Veremundus. He was an experienced warrior having experienced several of the last wars against rome being in his mid 50s. He had seen that under the new roman leadership since Majorians rise that the roman army had become an effective fighting unit once again. It was for this reason Veremundus refused to fight the young Caesar in the open or in some cases at all, his army only numbered 10,000 and was a mixture of veteran warriors and extremely young men, men who could hardly be called that, being less than 17 summers old and forced to adulthood because all their fathers had died.
With this sort of force Veremundus decided the best tactic was to instead allow his warriors grow their skills in ambushes and hit and run attacks. Which allowed his men to blood themselves without the risk of losing to many men. There was some anger as the summer passed that all they were doing was killing ill equipped men in an unhonourable way. Veremundus argued to his men that the Honourable way would see then dead and leave their families to the mercy of the Romans, and had the romans every shown mercy?
For Constantinus this sort of war was a learning experience and a frustrating experience. Whenever he thought he had the Seuvi pinned down in a valley his men would march into the Seuvi camp to find it empty and the fires only recently dead. The ambushes on his supply train and his patrols did nothing to help his mood either. Even the towns he passed through for the most part were empty the people having run away only days before hand. The only true action his men got for all their marching was when they chanced upon the column of villagers who were trying to get away from the romans. Their had only been a few auctual warriors with the group of perhaps 250 people. But most of the warriors were old grandfathers and young sons who in a year or two would have joined the seuvi army. The breif clash resulted in 50 dead seuvi and only a few dozen lightly wounded romans, the women and children were put in chains and readied to be sent to the slave markets. But Constantinus thought of a different plan. He released the captives, but it was no mercy. He was giving Veremundus more mouths to feed over the winter, a winter they would spend with very little food and shelter, as Constantinus then issued that the entirety of the Seuvi kingdom was to be razed. If they wouldnt fight him, he would make sure they wouldnt live long enough to fight.
For the weeks afterwards Constantinus marched his men around the kingdom burning crops graineries killing and burning any farm animals, and farms in general. He did leave the cities alone, as they would force Veremundus to act next year unless the same thing happen the following year. Now of course Constantinus was not able to destroy every farm grainery or food store. The damage however was enough that the Seuvi would starve during the winter.
The following year 481, Constantinus marched once again into Seuvi territory this time he didnt pass many freshly sown fields only burned wrecked farms. At Portus Cale he issued the proclamation that any town or city that submitted to him and agreed to live under direct Roman rule would live free of harm and would be sent supplies immediately. The effect was great as many towns sent men with their surrender, however not as much as expected. The reason however was soon found out when one of Constantinus patrols found a town, where the entire population had starved or froze over the winter....
As for Veremundus there was no sign of him, and as Constantinus marched into the northern territories of the Seuvi he found the so called Seuvi King, or it should be said, Veremundus found him. The ambush had it not been fouled by a young warrior who jumped forward to early, would likely have succeeded. Instead the young warriors eagerness gave the romans the time to raise their shields into a defensive stance and ward off most of the incoming missiles. Thousands of javelins and arrows rained down on the romans, followed by the Seuvi charge, however instead of crashing through the roman formations the roman shield wall held. The fighting was feirce and brutal but after a couple hours with the dead mounting and not in favor of the Seuvi Veremundus called a retreat. That night after dealing with their dead and wounded Constantinus followed the route one of his scouts had found and in the middle of the night crashed into the Seuvi camp. Veremundus's defeat was total as Constantinus personally held a Sword to his throat.
The capitulation of the Seuvi was total. Within weeks roman administration began appearing in the new conquest. The terms were similar to that of the Visigoths, Constantinus left one of the Hispanian Duxs a man named Afranius Galates to garrison the area with 3,000 men. Constantinus would not however simply go back to rome, first he then dealt with the Baugudae in the Vascone area of Northern Hispania. His lightning attack allowed him to raze several settlements and defeat a small Baugudae army in battle. The Baugudae leader would in front of his people submit them to roman rule, making all of Hispania roman again.
When he arrived back in Rome at the end of 481, Constantinus was given a triumph alongside his brother. The following years however much to the annoyance of Constantinus was peaceful, never being an idle man however Constantinus was constantly planning campaigns, against the Franks the Alemanni and the Ostrogths. His obsession became difficult for Theodosius to bear, especially since Constantinus began ending every conversation or arguement with the following, "Give me 30,000 men brother and i will finish what father started." Meanwhile Gallus became the confidant and at times the messenger of both brothers. Carefully soaking in all the information that he could from his brothers. Something which would become useful years later...
During these years however Theodosius had second son named Gaius Julius Valerius Marinus.
However in 485 as both halves of the empire enjoyed peace and prosperity, one of the men who had been a major part of why that happened finally passed. At the age of 66 Anthemius would pass in Constantinople. His eldest surviving son Flavius Procopius Marcianus succeeded him. Marcianus had married Julia Placidia years before and the two had since had two daughters, Procopia Marciana and Procopia Placidia, with a son being born following Marcianus's accession by a matter of months, being named Marcus Procopius Anthemius.
Marcianus's first actions were to name Aurelius Ulpianus Traianus as his Magister Militum. While the east had several magister militums already, Traianus would be higher ranking, as well as commanding the Emperors personnel troops around thrace and western anatolia. His brothers Flavius Procopius Anthemius, known as Procopius and Flavius Procopius Romolus would be given administrative commands around the empire, though Procopius would later become a Historian, in which much of eras historical writings would come from. Romolus however had a future that was etched with trouble.
480
In the year 480 Constantinus with 15,000 men would march into Seuvi territory however unlike the quick campaign he had been hoping and planning for, Constantinus would experience a protracted campaign. The Kingship of the Seuvi had fallen upon a man by the name of Veremundus. He was an experienced warrior having experienced several of the last wars against rome being in his mid 50s. He had seen that under the new roman leadership since Majorians rise that the roman army had become an effective fighting unit once again. It was for this reason Veremundus refused to fight the young Caesar in the open or in some cases at all, his army only numbered 10,000 and was a mixture of veteran warriors and extremely young men, men who could hardly be called that, being less than 17 summers old and forced to adulthood because all their fathers had died.
With this sort of force Veremundus decided the best tactic was to instead allow his warriors grow their skills in ambushes and hit and run attacks. Which allowed his men to blood themselves without the risk of losing to many men. There was some anger as the summer passed that all they were doing was killing ill equipped men in an unhonourable way. Veremundus argued to his men that the Honourable way would see then dead and leave their families to the mercy of the Romans, and had the romans every shown mercy?
For Constantinus this sort of war was a learning experience and a frustrating experience. Whenever he thought he had the Seuvi pinned down in a valley his men would march into the Seuvi camp to find it empty and the fires only recently dead. The ambushes on his supply train and his patrols did nothing to help his mood either. Even the towns he passed through for the most part were empty the people having run away only days before hand. The only true action his men got for all their marching was when they chanced upon the column of villagers who were trying to get away from the romans. Their had only been a few auctual warriors with the group of perhaps 250 people. But most of the warriors were old grandfathers and young sons who in a year or two would have joined the seuvi army. The breif clash resulted in 50 dead seuvi and only a few dozen lightly wounded romans, the women and children were put in chains and readied to be sent to the slave markets. But Constantinus thought of a different plan. He released the captives, but it was no mercy. He was giving Veremundus more mouths to feed over the winter, a winter they would spend with very little food and shelter, as Constantinus then issued that the entirety of the Seuvi kingdom was to be razed. If they wouldnt fight him, he would make sure they wouldnt live long enough to fight.
For the weeks afterwards Constantinus marched his men around the kingdom burning crops graineries killing and burning any farm animals, and farms in general. He did leave the cities alone, as they would force Veremundus to act next year unless the same thing happen the following year. Now of course Constantinus was not able to destroy every farm grainery or food store. The damage however was enough that the Seuvi would starve during the winter.
The following year 481, Constantinus marched once again into Seuvi territory this time he didnt pass many freshly sown fields only burned wrecked farms. At Portus Cale he issued the proclamation that any town or city that submitted to him and agreed to live under direct Roman rule would live free of harm and would be sent supplies immediately. The effect was great as many towns sent men with their surrender, however not as much as expected. The reason however was soon found out when one of Constantinus patrols found a town, where the entire population had starved or froze over the winter....
As for Veremundus there was no sign of him, and as Constantinus marched into the northern territories of the Seuvi he found the so called Seuvi King, or it should be said, Veremundus found him. The ambush had it not been fouled by a young warrior who jumped forward to early, would likely have succeeded. Instead the young warriors eagerness gave the romans the time to raise their shields into a defensive stance and ward off most of the incoming missiles. Thousands of javelins and arrows rained down on the romans, followed by the Seuvi charge, however instead of crashing through the roman formations the roman shield wall held. The fighting was feirce and brutal but after a couple hours with the dead mounting and not in favor of the Seuvi Veremundus called a retreat. That night after dealing with their dead and wounded Constantinus followed the route one of his scouts had found and in the middle of the night crashed into the Seuvi camp. Veremundus's defeat was total as Constantinus personally held a Sword to his throat.
The capitulation of the Seuvi was total. Within weeks roman administration began appearing in the new conquest. The terms were similar to that of the Visigoths, Constantinus left one of the Hispanian Duxs a man named Afranius Galates to garrison the area with 3,000 men. Constantinus would not however simply go back to rome, first he then dealt with the Baugudae in the Vascone area of Northern Hispania. His lightning attack allowed him to raze several settlements and defeat a small Baugudae army in battle. The Baugudae leader would in front of his people submit them to roman rule, making all of Hispania roman again.
When he arrived back in Rome at the end of 481, Constantinus was given a triumph alongside his brother. The following years however much to the annoyance of Constantinus was peaceful, never being an idle man however Constantinus was constantly planning campaigns, against the Franks the Alemanni and the Ostrogths. His obsession became difficult for Theodosius to bear, especially since Constantinus began ending every conversation or arguement with the following, "Give me 30,000 men brother and i will finish what father started." Meanwhile Gallus became the confidant and at times the messenger of both brothers. Carefully soaking in all the information that he could from his brothers. Something which would become useful years later...
During these years however Theodosius had second son named Gaius Julius Valerius Marinus.
However in 485 as both halves of the empire enjoyed peace and prosperity, one of the men who had been a major part of why that happened finally passed. At the age of 66 Anthemius would pass in Constantinople. His eldest surviving son Flavius Procopius Marcianus succeeded him. Marcianus had married Julia Placidia years before and the two had since had two daughters, Procopia Marciana and Procopia Placidia, with a son being born following Marcianus's accession by a matter of months, being named Marcus Procopius Anthemius.
Marcianus's first actions were to name Aurelius Ulpianus Traianus as his Magister Militum. While the east had several magister militums already, Traianus would be higher ranking, as well as commanding the Emperors personnel troops around thrace and western anatolia. His brothers Flavius Procopius Anthemius, known as Procopius and Flavius Procopius Romolus would be given administrative commands around the empire, though Procopius would later become a Historian, in which much of eras historical writings would come from. Romolus however had a future that was etched with trouble.
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