Chapter 2: A War that Straddles the Division Between Myth and History

Chapter 2: A War that Straddles the Division Between Myth and History

“As the high priestess of Has predicted, the storm that had hindered the Hassian fleet so far broke after three weeks. During that time the entire nation had been put to work building ships and gathering supplies for the expedition to Germania. The mission was launched with the intent to remove the threat of piracy from their trade lanes in the Germanic Sea. Despite this simple initial objective, the situation would soon escalate in ways that not even the gods could have predicted.”

-the Chronicler Usibeos, Epics of Last Free City

-Early June 68BCE, off the coast of Jutland-

         Admiral Ardghal scanned the coast of the great peninsula before him. This was Jutland, the great barrier between the North Sea and the Germanic Sea. He had sailed around it many times before, he had fought pirate off the coast, but he had never landed on it before. Now he was leading an invasion fleet of around 200 ships to ferry nearly four thousand men under the command of General Rin to the peninsula.

-2 weeks prior to the invasion, the Roman style villa of Kelly Romano-

         Kelly was a man of dignity. That old storehouse Agon had tried sticking him with would never do. So, he had a villa built in the countryside, his own piece of Roman high society for him and his staff of Centurions to enjoy. As he gazed out on its man made pond, now overflowing with rainwater, he was reminded that he was far from Rome. Turning back to face his two guests who currently sat around his table he took a breath and spoke, “I would like to inquire as to your invasion plans, and inform you that I and my staff will be joining your operation.”

         Admiral Ardghal was far from pleased by this news, “And under what authority do you insert yourself into Hassian foreign operations, and claim space on my ships, space that is needed for the soldiers and supplies of the Hassian army?”

         General Rin Galeil cleared his throat, “Yes I also fail to see why it would be of any interest to you, the Roman frontier is far off, and last I checked the Republic has its hands tied with King Mithridates VI of Pontus.” The Mithridatic Wars as they were called, had made Rome rather unpopular in Has, as Pontus was a fellow Hellenic state.

         “Admiral, you seem to forget that my men and I came here on our own boat, and can easily just follow along with your fleet, and I highly doubt Has is in any position to refuse the aid of veteran soldiers. As for your implication Rin, I want to see how the new Roman trained Hassian Army will perform, and I’d like to remind you that after the destruction caused by the Cimbri, Rome takes a special interest in all things concerning the germanic tribes.” Kelly explained.

         “Fair enough.”  Ardghal and Galeil said almost in unison.

         “The plan is pretty simple, it’s a large operation with a few unknown variables so simplicity is preferred.” Ardghal explained. “I drop Rin and some of his men off on Jutland, then after they built a suitable fortified outpost, I take them to the next spot and rinse and repeat until Germania is pacified. Then I take the fleet to begin anti-piracy operations in the Germanic Sea.

-Early June 68BCE, off the coast of Jutland-

         Aboard Richis’ luxury yacht, Julius, Richis, and Morgan moved in formation with the other ships. “You know,” Julius began, “the Germans are so uncivilized that one can gauge the power of a tribe by simply measuring the radius of their zone of depopulation.”

         “Zone of depopulation?” Richis asked as he took a swig of his finest wine.

         “It’s a barbarian thing, and I mean like really barbaric. Basically, because trade isn’t developed, Tribes will try to amass as much land as possible and ensure that no one but them lives in it, as to ensure they have what they need to grow and survive. Since they are also too primitive for clear borders, the result is less a conquest and more a depopulation, thus the term.” Morgan explained.

         “The Suebi are surrounded by fifty miles of depopulated forest at all times.” Julius added. “They are supposedly the gold standard for Germanic barbarism.”

         “For once, let’s hope that we only stumble upon the bronze.” Richis joked and took a swig of whine.

-Early June 68BCE, foreign quarter of Has-

         Agon was considered by some to be a miracle worker; he maintained law and order in a city of 20,000, a city that contained Britons, Greeks, Illyrians, and Persians, a city that regularly saw traders from Italia, Northern Africa, the wider Celtic world, the wider Greek world, the Sarmatian Steppe, Asia, and the strange lands south of the Sahara, a city that contained a bustling foreign quarter that contained embassies from every land known to civilized man, embassies from lands unknown to civilized man man, and embassies from lands that civilized man couldn’t possibly imagine.

         Agon found himself in one such embassy. The people were so Asiatic that they made Parthians look European in comparison. Their writing looked like slashes of ink arranged into vague pictures. Their native tongue sounded neither civilized or barbarian, in fact it was unlike any other language spoken in the city. Their architecture was exotic beyond belief with it roofs that swooped up into narrow peaks, and apparent absence of glass, the Embassy stood out like a sore thumb amongst the many Greco-Roman style buildings. The guards wore steel laminar armour and carried an unusual pole arm that ended in two dagger-like blades, one pointed forward and the other protruding at a perpendicular angle. Its inhabitants practiced a strange dance in the morning, which was supposedly linked to how they were so good at fist fighting. Their food was probably the most unique, as they used oils to cook their foods (creating a greasy but tasty dish) rather than using them as dressing for vegetables. It was hard to believe that such a strange place could exist, yet goods (mostly silk) from the supposed Han Dynasty continued to flow into the city (whether or not their boast of having a population in the high tens of millions was true was a different matter) on an annual basis, greatly contributing to Has’ virtually unrivaled wealth.

         Agon was here on a matter that he considered to be beneath him. Across the table from him sat an odd group composed of a female merchant and from the Han Dynasty, a general from the kingdom of Armenia, a Greek, a Scythian noble, and the magistrate of the Han embassy. On his side of the table was himself, councilor Chlotharius of Belgica, a Greek councilor, a Briton Chief, and a Persian councilor. The two parties had met here today to discus renewing Has’ membership in the Golden Antler Trade Company, an old treaty system created by some Scythian Noble when they were at their peak of power aimed at ensuring the efficiency of trade. Has had consistently benefitted from its membership, so it was almost certain that it would be renewed. All that was up for debate was some details of the renewal.

“Our terms are simple,” Chlotharius began, “the Company is to refrain from being involved in Hassian politics, and is to refrain from partaking in any activity that may undermine the sovereignty of our sacred Polis.”

The other party discussed amongst themselves in what sounded like Scythian. Although Scythian was an Irannic language Agon’s working understanding of Persian was no help. The Greek, presumably the company’s translator spoke, “There’s nothing disagreeable about your terms, but for the sake of knowing, what would you do if we said no?”

Agon smirked, “Capture Mons Regius, Jultand, and a few other key points along the trade routes around here, then effectively cut you out of the Northern European markets. Yes, it is possible, I’ve spent a few sleepless nights thinking out the logistics of it.”

         The other side went back to talking amongst their selves. “Agon, that sounds rather Draconian.” Chlotharius said.

         “Indeed, I always liked Draco myself.” Agon said, earning him some shocked expressions from the rest of the Hassian party.

         The Company party stopped talking and their Greek member once again spoke, “We find your terms acceptable, we will now move on to getting it in clay.”

-Early June 68BCE, Jutland-

Rin Galeil almost fell over as his transport ship beached. After regaining his balance he ran to the bow to get a look. The land was densely forested, and he was relived to know that his choice to bring a minimalistic cavalry compliment hadn’t been wrong. He grabbed his Theurious (long ovular wooden shield used by the later Hellenic era Greeks) and unsheathed his Celtic long sword (which was superior in quality to both the array of Greek swords and the Roman Gladius which had been considered for the Hassian “Legionaries”). “Alright boys! Let’s get going!” He called out, then hoped over the side of the ship and into the waste deep water bellow. His men followed suit and splashed down behind him. As he and his men waded to shore more and more boats dropped off their loads of warriors.

The Hassian legionary was different in many ways from its Roman basis. Aside from the use of a Greek shield and a Celtic sword, Celtic style chainmail was used, there was no standard helmet (the men around him wore a mixture of Celtic, Illyrian, and Greek helmets), they still carried Greek style ash spears, they used a Celtic style of javelin, and most importantly they wore pants. Furthermore Legionary units were not the majority of the army, as Hoplite style units, Briton style units, and Illryian style units were still overwhelmingly present, and normally the army would have large cavalry and pike compliments (however those forces would likely only complicate fort construction).

         Elsewhere, making the same wade to the shore was Kelly Romano and his staff of Centurions. “You see men, this is why we wear skirts.” Kelly said, “Pants get soaking wet, and then become rather uncomfortable.” His Centurions nodded and made jokes about the drenched barbarians.

         The area chosen was excellent for a fort, it had a small natural harbour, a hill, and the nearby forest would provide wood for the fort’s walls. “This is going to be a lot of work…” Rin muttered and began shouting orders to his men.

-Mid June 68 BCE, Has council building office of Chlotharius Alban-

During the Iron Age, it required a lot of work, wealth, manpower, and warfare to be super power. On the other hand, it only required good leadership to play the role of a super power. The city of Has had a population much smaller than Massalia to the south yet it had gone out and brought a larger bit of land under its sway, Has was not as wealthy as Carthage yet it had taken on the role of providing for the Phoenician Colonies in Africa, Has did not have the military might of Rome yet it’s mission to Germania was every bit as daring as Pompey’s actions in Syria. As a result, any outsider would certainly believe Has to be a superpower by reputation alone. Alban considered this as he looked out his office window at the busy city markets bellow.

“Ahem.” A thickly accented voice called, Alban turned and saw the Han Merchant from the company meeting standing in his doorway, “You wanted to see someone from the Imperial embassy?”

“Yes, yes, I’m just curious about what’s on the other end of the trade line, so would you mind answering some questions for me Ms…?” It occurred to him that he had forgotten her name.

         “Mi Hua.” She said. “Yes I can answer a few questions.”

         “Didn’t you need a translator before?” Alban asked as he noticed the translator he had scheduled had only just arrived.

         “We were speaking Scythian just to keep our discussion private. What sort of Merchant operating in Europe would I be if I couldn’t speak Greek?” She replied.

         “Ok then,” he said as he motioned for the translator to leave. “What is your land called?”

         “Our land is called China, and it is ruled by the Han Dynasty.” She replied. He knew that bit already, he just wanted to start with simpler question.

         “Ok then, rough estimate, what is the population of China?” He asked. He did not know the answer to this question, but he had heard some simply absurd rumors.

         “Well I haven’t bean there in over a decade, but I think it was 35 million the last I heard.” She replied.

         “Impossible. In all of Rome there’s less than ten million!” Alban replied. 35 million inhabitants would make the Han Dynasty the most powerful nation to have ever existed.

         “It’s natural to attribute supremacy to a faction like Rome. It’s conquered the homelands of most of the city’s inhabitants, it’s risen from very little and has destroyed every other power on the Mediterranean except Egypt, and surely it has a monopoly on Southern European trade, making it easily the most powerful faction that you are familiar with. However, just because it’s what you’re used to considering being a supreme unrivaled nation, does not actually mean it is.” She replied.

         “Elaborate.” He said.

         She sighed, “As a merchant I’ve gotten the chance to travel to many parts of the world. I’ve visited Roman areas, and I can see many admirable things in their civilization, and I’ve seen that there are a great many reasons why they dominate the Mediterranean world. That said there are many reasons why the Parthians rule the Iranian plateau, there are many reasons why the Xiongnu rule the eastern steppe, and there are many reasons why Has dominates the northern seas.” She paused, as if to think of what to say next, “There are a great number of reasons why all of the Far Eastern Orient kneels to bow before the Han dynasty of China.”

         “You think Has is powerful?” He asked, and suppressed a smile. The illusion Has put on was powerful indeed.

         “While you’re concept of Polis confuses me, you are certainly powerful relative to your surroundings.” She said.

         “Well you’ll have to ask a Greek about the importance of the Polis, but I guess I have no more questions.” Alban said, and when she looked confused he clarified, “I’m from Belgica.”

-Mid June, 68 BCE, Off the northern coast of Jutland-

         “Contact sighted off the bow!” An officer hollered. Ardghal rushed to the bow and looked out on the water, ahead there was a large mass of what Germanic style ships, arranged in what was unmistakably a battle formation.

         “Bring the fleet to battle stations! I want the light ships to begin harassment operations, the ballista ships should open fire on the thickest part of the formation, and I want fire pot ships brought to the front of our formation.” At his words the drums and horns of the Hassian fleet rung out their orders.

“Sir the enemy has formed up into a V formation, we’ll be out flanked if we try to advance.” The officer stated.

         “I’ve been patrolling these waters for a long time, no single German tribe could have this many ships, therefore this must be the combined fleet of some sort of large confederation.” Ardghal said, then looked at the northern edge of the V, “We hit one section really hard and the rest of the formation will fragment and retreat.” He gave his orders and watched as the fire ships swung around to port and charged the northernmost grouping of enemy ships, as they drew within throwing range a short missile exchange occurred, the Germans threw javelins, the Hassians threw pots of fish oil with burning covers at the enemy. As intended a massive inferno engulfed the enemy grouping, and the northern flank of the enemy formation began a hasty retreat. Seeing this, the southern flank also broke. Upon seeing his fire ships returning safely from the burning mess to the north Ardghal let out a sigh of relief. “Now if only my political opposition was here to view this.”

“They’d say you let them get away.” The officer replied, and Ardghal hung his head in exasperation.

-Mid June, 68 BCE, Office of Francois of Loire-

         Ahumm-Hiram found himself in an unexpected situation, as an experienced merchant he had experienced harassment before, however this was quite a bit more than what he had ever previously experienced. “You will purchase five tons of Tin.” The man in the purple robe said calmly as his West African friend threw another bucket of water in Ahumm’s face.

         “I’ll never be able to sell that much!” Ahumm exclaimed when he was done coughing up water.

         The African stood directly infront of him, grabbed the back of the chair he was tied to, leaned forwards causing he chair to tilt back and spoke, “Listen little man! I know the roman numerals, so I know that one-” he pointed at him with the index finger of his free hand, “plus one-” he raised his middle finger, “equals five!” The then violently thrust the two raised fingers in front of Ahumm’s face, making quite a big deal out of how the two fingers made a V shape.

         “W-well I can’t fault that logic,” Ahumm said then added, “but you know that this will crash the price of Tin back in Rome. Right?”

         To his surprise, Francois, the purple robed runner of this business only laughed, “Why that is my very intent! No longer will roman parents have to worry about the fact that their children’s bowls are made with arsenic. What I am doing is accelerating the advancement of the human condition!”

         “Really?” Was all Ahumm managed to say.

         “No, not really.” Francois replied. “I just want to lower the prices there enough to start a tin buy frenzy. Then when all the mountains in Italy have been mined dry of the stuff, I’ll be able to dictate prices to them. I’m playing the long term game you see.”

         “Well what do you plan to do while the prices shift back to the profitable side in Rome?” Ahumm asked.

         “My company deals in iron and glass as well, we’ll get by, that and I have a plan to create a larger domestic need for tin.” Francois explained.

-meanwhile, at the Tavern-

         Damianos was unveiling to the crowd of drunkards his new invention, “So, simple tin cylindrical container, wax seal over the hole,” he pulled out his knife and punctured the seal, “inside of it there’s ale! And it keeps it much fresher than some clay urn vase with a cork stuck in it!” The crowd roared with excitement.

-Back at the Office of Francois of Loire-

         “So you see, we intent to sell them in crates of 8, 12, and in packs of 6 slightly taller ones.” The African summarized.

         “Your marketing plan is genius!” Ahumm remarked.

         “Good, now that you see things my way I think I’ll have to hire you.” Francois replied.

         “What?!” Ahumm demanded, clearly confused.

         “Amadou, take this man to middle management!” Francois ordered, and the African grabbed the back of the chair and dragged it, and Ahumm away.

         “No! You can’t do this!” Ahumm cried as he was dragged away.

-Mid July, 68 BCE, Germania Magna, west flank of the Hassian line-

         Being many miles from shore, and quite a far way east of Juteland, Leonas Anaruu was for all intensive purposes in an alien land. Being a native of Egypt Has had been a strange enough location, but he had gotten used to it. The towering trees and deep ravines of Germania were in a league all their own. Currently he found himself in a clearing, waiting with the rest of the army commanded by General Rin.

         A casual glance down the ranks showed him something he didn’t expect to see, Centurion Severnus Primus riding down the line in his direction. The centurion stopped in front of commander Alcaeus Falco.

         “Scouts have reported that the target is in the old wood, take your men and start some fires to smoke them out, if you can’t manage that then harass them and lure them out here. In the clearing they’ll be easy opponents for our formation.” Severnus commanded. Being a part of the mercenary unit lead by Alcaeus, Leonas obeyed commands, retrieved the flint from his bag, and followed his commander into the woods picking up dry tinder when he could.

         The aforementioned target was some sort of violent tribe, which had being driving many other German peoples to the Baltic coats. As many tribes had agreed to leave the coast if the could be defeated, it seemed like knocking them off would be a quick way to make the coast more manageable. As the enemy encampment came into view, it quickly became apparent why these people so terrified the Germans. They stood completely still, bolt upright, in a large circle with the most well armed warriors on the outermost ring, their purple eyes glaring out on the forest. Alaeus whispered his commands to the nearest men, who passed them on until the man besides him whispered to Leonas, “we can’t sneak around them, light your fires now, but keep them small. We’ll get them to chase use, and hopefully the fire will for up into a nice big blaze by the time they’ve passed.

         Leonas passed the message on and began preparing a small fire. They were making quite a bit of noise, but the warriors didn’t seem to notice.

Alaeus was the first to finish his fire, and has his eyes raised to follow the rising smoke he saw a large bird flying amongst the upper branches of the forrest. He tracked the creature’s movements, until in landed on a branch directly above him giving him a good look. Four hooves, and wings, the blue fur and multicolored mane were unusual, but otherwise this creature matched the description of the Greek’s Pegasus.

         The Pegasus glared down upon the men, all of whom stared back at it. It gave a hiss and the circle of warriors moved. Not as a formation of men, but simultaneously they all broke out into a mad sprint towards the Alaeus and his small raiding force.

“At a certain point the Hassian historical record takes a turn to the absurd. The records of trade and expansion continue, but they are vastly overshadowed by reports of a long fierce war against “fantastical creatures”.[13] Why such obvious legends aren’t separated from the tablets containing the historical record is entirely unknown.[citation needed]”

-The text of a Wikipedia article on the records of Has