Roman Republic at War by Don Taylor

Author:Don Taylor [Taylor, Don]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473894426
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2017-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

Lauron, 76 BC (Roman Civil Wars, War with Sertorius) – Soon after arriving in Spain, the proconsul Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus confronted the forces of the Roman rebel general Quintus Sertorius, while the latter was in the midst of besieging Lauron, a town in Hispania Terraconensis near the coast. Pompey intended to force his opponent to abandon the assault completely, but he first sought to thwart Sertorius’ efforts to capture a nearby strategic hill. His attempt failed, and Sertorius was able to seize the knoll and thereby position his forces between the town and Pompey’s legions. Satisfied that he had trapped his enemy between the walls of Lauron and his own army, the proconsul failed to recognize the presence of 6,000 hostile troops still occupying Sertorius’ former camp to his rear. Their location made it impossible for him to assault the main body of the enemy or attempt to relieve the town for fear of being surrounded. Snared by his own tactical blunder, and Sertorius’ cunning, Pompey was forced to stand by helplessly while the town was systematically reduced.

Plutarch, Sertorius, 18.3–6, Pompey, 18.3; Paulus Orosius, Seven Books of History against the Pagans, 5.23.

Lautulae, 315 BC (Second Samnite War, Samnite Wars) – As the theatre of war shifted northwestward from Samnium and Apulia into Latium, Roman and Samnite armies concentrated in the region of Sora, a Volscian community in the Liris River valley which had recently allied with the Samnites after massacring the Roman colonists in the city. The two armies met in the vicinity of Lautulae, a town situated to the west near the Tyrrhenian coast. In the battle which followed, neither side gained a decisive victory – though the Roman army appears to have suffered more in the fighting, having at one point apparently experienced panic and flight in a portion of its ranks – before nightfall put an end to the action. After the clash, the Roman dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus assumed a defensive posture within the safety of the army’s marching camp while an account of the engagement was relayed to the Senate. Counted among the Roman casualties suffered in the day’s action was the magister equitum Quintus Aulius Cerretanus.

Titus Livius (Livy), History of Rome, 9.23.1–5; Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 19.72.6–7.

Lautulae, 315 BC (Second Samnite War, Samnite Wars) – After a failed encounter with the Samnites near Lautulae the Roman dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus kept his army safely within the confines of the legionary camp for several days in order to permit the soldiers to recuperate from fighting. When word reached Rome concerning the outcome of the contest and the death of the magister equitum Quintus Aulius Cerretanus, the Senate dispatched a fresh army under the newly appointed Master of the Horse, Caius Fabius Ambustus, brother of the dictator. Rullianus prepared for battle upon learning of the approach of the relief army. He related the details of his plan to Ambustus, who thereafter concealed his army at some distance in expectation of a signal to action.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.