Equestria Legio

by Teal

Chapter 4

Tribunus Marcus Maximus did not know who was in front of him, but whoever they were, he did not like what he was seeing. Moving ahead of the column, as the rest of the 50th Legion marched out of the forest, Maximus, escorted by Agrippa, Epidus, and Junius, studied the large mass of mounted armored troops, trying their best to figure the identity of the force.

They were clearly not Roman, they were certain of that. Bearing dark obsidian colored armor, carrying combersome pikes, wielding a dark red standard that bore what looked like a red eye that seemed to glow in the dim light, and being mounted on horses instead of going on foot, this force carried no signs that marked them as a Roman legion.

But if these troops weren’t Roman who were they?

Could they possibly be barbarians? That thought brought a chill in their spines, as the implications of that idea was frightening.

If these were indeed barbarians, then that meant that the Germanic tribes had better and more numerous forges, resources, and stores than they had previously thought.

Even from a distance, they could tell that the armor was of good quality, that of which can only be created by the best blacksmiths. To be able to equip such a large force with so much good quality armor, then it meant the barbarians had hundreds of forges with thousands of expert blacksmiths working away, creating such imposing pieces.

Their armor wasn’t the only notable thing, however, as it could clearly be seen that the whole contingent was mounted. From Maximus’ count, there would at least be two thousand, or more, mounted troops in front of them. That meant an impressive amount of horses the Germanic tribes would have to gather and feed. This then alluded to the fact that they must have had a large amount of resources to care for all these creatures, with them probably having large grazing grounds to keep them all fed and ready for battle.

This was a lot to take in, and Maximus couldn’t help but be impressed and frightened, all at the same time.

In any other circumstance, he would have first doubted that the barbarians were capable of creating and massing such a force. He would have doubted that they were skillful or organized enough to be able to create such an army. But after all they have experienced in the forest behind them, after seeing with his own eyes how a barbarian army of united tribes managed to wither and nearly annihilate of Roman army of four legions, Maximus was sure that they were also completely capable of creating a threatening force of heavy mounted troops.

Shaking his head and studying the force once more, he noted the odd tactic of arming cavalry with pikes. Never before had he seen such a tactic done, and the effectiveness of it was questionable. Such heavy and unwieldy weapons were ill-suited for fast and maneuverable cavalry, and he knew that it would only unbalance and slow them down.

He found it really strange that this force chose to combine two things that didn’t go together well, and he began to wonder if there was a secret to it that he was missing.

His thoughts were cut-off though when Junius made a remark that caught his attention.

“Well, whoever they are, they’re no friends to those people on that hill.” Then, following the Primus Pilus’ pointing hand, Maximus gazed at a large hill on their far right to see a battle being fought there.

From what he could see, Maximus noted a small group of cavalry fighting its way down against a large mob of mounted troopers. Due to the distance and dust of the fighting, he found it hard to study the small cavalry force. However, the large mob was far easier to identify, as their massed formation gave him a perfect look at the familiar dark armor that was somewhat similar to those worn by the marching force in their front.

“Maybe they are with us?” Agrippa asked in a hopeful tone.

“They are cavalry.” Epidus pointed out. “The only cavalry we had were those from the Auxillia, the scouts. Those barbarian traitors betrayed us, if you have forgotten.”

“Maybe they are part of a small group that chose to remain loyal and are now facing the wrath of their fellow tribesmen?” Agrippa suggested, still renaming hopeful. “Because, if those black armored troopers are barbarians, then who else are they going to be angry at aside from us?”

“That may be.” Epudis said, thinking it over. “But how are we to be certain that those black armored troops are indeed barbarians?”

“Well, if you want my opinion-” Junius said suddenly speaking up to cut-in. “-I think the fact that a portion of their force is breaking off and forming a battle line against us means they’re barbarians.”

Suddenly turning their attention towards the first group of black armored troops, they noted a substantial portion of their column moving away from the march and reforming themselves to face the Romans. Maximus was impressed at how smooth and organized the transition went. Without breaking up or turning into a disorganized mob, they managed to go from a marching column and into a battle line. All while mounted in horses. All in a short few minutes.

Clearly this group had been well-drilled with the maneuver, similar to how Roman legions were drilled to move from one formation to another. If it wasn’t obvious before, then it was clear to him now that the force in front of him was no ordinary barbarian group.

“I believe that is all the information we need to know.” Maximus announced, as the black armored group began to make its way towards them. “Whoever these barbarians are, it seems they consider us enemies. So we must give them the same treatment and consider them the same way. They dare attack our legion, and so they must be enemies of Rome.”

Glancing once more at the approaching force, he wondered if they really were to be considered as enemies. For all he knew, this force might just be checking them out.

He quickly tossed away this thought, however, realizing the logic of things. If they wanted to check them out, then they would have sent a smaller scouting force, not a whole line, against them. An envoy with an escort was a better scouting force than a whole force of armed men.

Maximus may not know who exactly this force was, but the intent of their actions was clear to him. They wanted to do battle.

Shaking his head, he studied the open field before them and smirked. This was perfect terrain for a fight, with all the room for maneuvering. Unlike the forest behind them, the land here would allow him to form his whole force into a line, a formation that would allow them to use the tactics they were more accustomed with.

There would be no hit and run attacks here. This was a true fight.

“Let's get back to the legion and form them up.” He finally said. “It is time to show these barbarians how the 50th fights in a real battlefield.”

---

To Maximus’ dismay, he only had five of the 50th Legion’s cohorts with him. The other five cohorts were still lost behind them, still stumbling and making their way in the cursed forest. He had hoped that they were just close behind, that they would appear only moments after they got out. This was not the case, and he had no idea when they would arrive.

For the time being, he was left with five cohorts to fight with. Although he didn’t have exact numbers yet, in regards to each cohort’s strength, the estimates given to him by individual centurions told him that he had a force of around two thousand legionnaires.

Against him was a contingent of more than a thousand heavily armored and mounted troopers. His best guess estimated that there were one thousand five hundred of them at the very most.

This gave him the superiority in numbers, which was a big advantage. But he knew that he shouldn’t feel safe based on numbers alone, so he kept his mind concentrated on doing a proper fight, with no mistakes and the least number of casualties as possible.

Studying the approaching enemy force, he found it strange and odd that they weren’t charging at them at a full force, just how a cavalry focused force would have. It seemed that their tall pikes were indeed impeding their movements, making such fast attacks difficult for them.

Instead of charging at full speed at his formation’s flanks, the enemy force just extended their line to meet the Roman’s line. Moving as one long formation, they advanced stiffly, but menacingly, their tall pikes up in the air as they took their time getting to them.

Seeing their formation, Maximus couldn’t help but compare its similarity to a Greek Phalanx. With their prominent use of pikes, and their rigid application of a battle line, the barbarian attacked came at them the same way he thought a Greek Phalanx would.

Completely destroying the advantages a mounted force would bring, these barbarians chose to limit their force’s capability by having their mounted troops go into line and face the Romans head on. Noting this, Maximus started to doubt if this menacing force was as good as they initially thought. They had the weapons and armor, but their tactics were odd and seemingly ineffective.

He didn’t let this limit his tactics and strategy, however, and he made sure to keep an open eye for any trickery. These barbarians had pulled off a multitude of traps throughout the past few days, and Maximus was going to make sure that he wasn’t going to fall for a new one.

The cohorts of the 50th Legion formed up in the standard linear formation they were familiar with, ten ranks deep and a small gap between each cohort to allow for maneuvering. This was formed quickly thanks to the excellent drill of each unit and the forceful, yet effective, command skills of centurions.

The men’s eagerness to spill blood also quickened their step, as their frustration and hatred was now released due to the opportunity to fight an open battle. This was what they were trained to do, this was where they were at their prime. They were ready.

Pacing the rear of this line, Maximus inspected the legion and made sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. Not that it was needed to be done, since every legionnaire knew his place in battle. What he was doing was more of a display of authority, to show the men that their leader was not only in command, but was also there for them.

“Good to see that the cursed forest hasn’t weakened the men’s fighting spirit.” Praefectus Castrorum Publius Epidus commented, as he strode beside the tribunus.

Maximus grunted an agreement, as he finished his rounds and gazed back at the enemy. The mounted force was closer now, less than a hundred yards from their line.

“Prepare pilas!” Maximus ordered, which was repeated by every single centurion in the legion. Almost in unison, every legionnaire who still had pilas took hold of their weapon and grabbed it firmly, ready to throw it at the enemy ahead of them. Because of the constant fighting in the forest, many of the legion’s supply of pilas had been expended. But from what Epidus had told him, a good amount of the men still had one or two with him.

Sooner or later they would come into throwing range, and it was then that Maximus hoped that the various volleys of Roman pilas would disrupt the enemy’s formation and ruin their strong frontal strength.

Phalanx formations like this always had a key weakness, and that was the fact that they aren't flexible enough. Because of that important fact, the key to defeating them was to ruin their formation and prevent them from forming a proper solid line. To do this, they would need to create gaps in the enemy formation, gaps that would expose vulnerable areas in the line. Even the slightest of gaps can easily be exploited, and with cumbersome pikes that are hard to reorient, it will be hard for the enemy to cover the gaps quickly enough.

To achieve this, a volley of pilas would need to be used to knock out the front ranks, and expose portions of the line. Dropping the front ranks would make the enemy stumble, forcing those behind the first file to slow down in order to avoid tripping on the bodies of the one ahead of them. It was during this moment of file closing that the formation would be vulnerable, as those behind have to focus on dressing the line.

Because of the important role the pila would play, it was important to have accurate aim, with as many pilas hitting as many of the enemy as possible. Luckily for Maximus, the legion was well renowned for its skills of raining pilas at the enemy. Afterall, they didn’t call the 50th Legion “Imber” for nothing.

Soon enough the enemy line began quickening its pace, trying to quickly close the distance as they got closer. Any doubt in regards to hostile intent was quickly thrown away when the pikes of the dark armored troops were lowered and pointed at them, creating a long wall of sharp ended pikes that slowly made its way towards the legion.

Doing his best to keep his cool, Maximus kept his eyes on the enemy, checking their distance and waiting for the right moment. Step by step, the enemy line got closer until they were only thirty-three yards away, the optimal throwing distance for their pilas.

“Loose!” He orders, which was followed by the echo of the centurions.

Almost immediately after giving the word, a large volley of pilas came flying from the legion’s line, darting through the air and raining down on the advancing enemy.

Penetrating armor and embedding themselves upon the enemy, the long soft iron shank would bend due to the weight of the rest of the pila bearing upon it. This made it hard for the pila to be removed, forcing the enemy to stumble as the weight of the weapon made it cumbersome to move.

From his position, Maximus watched as many of the enemy’s first rank either fell dead from mortal wounds or tripped over due to imbalance. The effect of this was quickly seen, as the menacing wall of piles suddenly had gaps, with areas having less pikes bearing upon it compared to other portions of the line.

“Loose!” Maximus ordered once more, and once again his words were echoed by his centurions.

Another volley of pilas flew to the air again, but this time it was fewer than the first. It seemed that only half of the men had a secondary pila to throw, but the effect of this volley was still devastating. The enemy who had moved up to replace their fallen friends soon fell also, disrupting the first rank once more, as those behind them began to step up. The volleys were effective, and they did a good job at not only weakening the enemy, but also disrupting them.

However, no matter how good the legions volleys were, they were still not enough to completely stop the enemy line from advancing. To defeat them, the Romans would have to get up close and personal.

“Front ranks, lock scutums! Draw gladii!” Maximus ordered, and he heard the centurions echo his words, which was followed by the sound of the wooden shields of legionnaires bumping with those beside them. Then the sound of swords being pulled from their scabbards filled the air, as the thumping sound of the enemy’s steps grew louder as they closed the last few yards.

At this distance Maximus finally got a good look at their enemy. What he saw confused him.

There were no riders.

Despite facing mounted troops, Maximus noted that the enemy force in front of them had no riders on their horses. Instead, it seemed like they were facing heavily armored horses, with piles attached to their sides.

That couldn’t have been though, for it was impossible for a riderless horse to maneuver themselves in such a perfect battle line, let alone control the pikes on their own.

Because of the absurdity of this thought, and because of the closeness of the enemy, Maximus made the quick conclusion that it must have been just the trick of the eye and that he saw things wrong. Quickly shoving aside any more similar thoughts, he returned his focus on the greater battle before him and watched as the enemy slowed down their pace and bared the pikes against his legion’s line.

Looming towards them, sharp bladed ends extended far beyond the enemy line, the points of their pikes soon made contact with the cohorts, a solid wall of shimmering points bared at them like teeth.

Reacting to this and following the training that was though and endlessly drilled to them, the legionnaires of the front rank used their scutums to shove the bladed ends upward, shoving it away from them as they went under the length of the pike. Then, with their gladius in one hand, they began charging forward, keeping their scutum up as they used it as a roof to prevent the pikes from being used against them.

Working together to protect each other from the layers of pikes before them, the legionnaires kept a steady wall and roof of shields against the pikes, preventing the enemy from doing any damage. Advancing under the enemy’s helpless pikes, they soon reached the first ranks of enemy forces and jabbed their gladii on any gaps in the armor they could find.

Pike armed enemies were not new foes for the Romans. They have faced such forces countless times before in Greece, and because of that they had perfected the needed counters against them. Maximus himself had read the various history papers and tactical manuals on facing pikes, and he knew that his legion was trained well by their centurions on how to properly deal with such a formation.

Whatever the barbarians were thinking in using pikes against them, it was clear that their choice of weapon and tactic was a mistake.

In a matter of minutes, the cohorts of his legion ate through the first rank of the enemy lines and went onto the second. Cutting them down one by one, they managed to stab and slash at the weak gaps on the enemy armor. Encumbered by their pikes, they were unable to maneuver in the tight confines of their formation and prevent the onslaught from happening.

Soon enough the enemy line, unable to take such losses and pressure, started falling back. At first it was a slow retreat, with the enemy line slowly backing away. But as they legionnaires stabbed their way at the enemy, those in the rear began turning their horses and galloping away in fear. This was soon followed by the next rank, and the next, and the next, until a catastrophic route of the enemy line followed.

Maximus soon watched as the enemy rode away from his legion, while the centurions of his cohorts shouted at their men, trying to maintain order and prevent a chase from happening. Unless the order from him came, no legionnaire would make a careless pursuit.

Triumphant and victorious from their short, yet bloody, battle, Maximus had expected to hear a chorus of cheers at the sight of the enemy retreating. This had been their first clear victory in days, and for once he and his men were sure that they had defeated and routed their enemy in battle.

But instead of the joyful shouts that he expected, he noticed that his men were quiet, almost speechless aside from the low murmur and whispers they were telling one another. Confused by this, and glancing towards Epidus, who was equally confused, he soon gestured for them to come closer to the cohorts, to try and see what was wrong.

As he got closer though, he could hear one common question running through the ranks.

“What in the name of Jupiter are those things?”

---

The same question was running in the mind of the commander of the marching column. When he detached his taxeis of pike to meet the reinforcing Equestrian force, he had expected to meet raw untrained recruits. But instead he saw creatures that were unfamiliar to him and his subordinates.

In fact, the fear and efficiency at slaughtering presented by these strange creatures got to the hearts of many of his junior officers, and despite his attempts to stop them, many of them fled for their lives and galloped back towards the fort, taking with them their enslaved command.

The commander knew that such poor performance would be punished later on, and many of them would soon regret retreating after he was done with them.

Deep inside though, he knew that part of the failure was from him too, as he had been careless enough to not bring any mages with him. Thinking that the threat brought upon an alicorn princess required the power of as many mages they could get, he had ordered them all to go with the column that went to reinforce the Dark Hood cavalry. Because of that, he had no unicorns left to protect his force from projectile attacks.

When the javelins started to fall around them, that was when he realized the mistake he had made. It also didn’t help that their armor, although heavy, was never meant to protect them against heavy projectiles such as javelins. With javelins being an uncommon weapon, something mainly used by Minotaurs and Griffons, nopony had expected the Equestrians to use them, thus no protection against them was made. Designed for lighter arrows, the armor was near useless against the heavy projectiles thrown at them.

Whoever these new creatures were, they were a threat that played with new rules.

---

From their position on the hill’s slopes, Princess Luna and her Lunar Guards watched as the enemy fell back before them. Whether it was from the fear of being attacked from the rear by the new arrivals, or because of specific orders to consolidate and protect the fort against the new force, the Dark Hoof Cavalry they were facing just moments ago fell back to join the rest of the retreating force at the fort.

“Princess, I don’t know who those ponies are, but I do know that I owe them a drink for saving us.” Dusk Hunter remarked, as he used his blood soaked hoof to wipe off the sweat on his forehead. However, all this did was stain his face, which made him let out an annoyed grunt.

“Indeed.” Luna remarked, as she glanced away from the retreating enemy forces and glared towards the well-dressed lines of the unknown force that emerged from the forest.

Whoever they are, they did a great job at fighting and routing the Crystal Empire’s forces. But the question still remains, who were they and what did they want?

More questions entered Luna’s mind as she continued to think about the strange force that came to their aid.

Were they enemies of the Crystal Empire? Will they be enemies of Equestria?

In the end, Luna knew there was only one way to find out. Turning her attention towards her Lunar Guards, she studied their tired, dirty, and wounded forms, feeling sorry that she had brought them to this situation.

They had fought well, and she would reward them for their deeds, but they took a heavy loss because of this. An additional eight dead came as a result of the latest fight, and she mourned the death of each one of her ponies.

Although she was known as a ruthless War Mistress, deep inside she was just suppressing the pain of it all. That was the cost that came to being a commander, and no matter how much it pained her, she knew that she had to build a wall to keep it all inside. Weakness was something that she cannot show now, especially at a time of peril for her nation.

Taking a deep sigh, she shook her head and turned her attention to Dusk Hunter.

“Captain, take care of thy wounded and gather those who have perished in the fighting.” She told him. “Once that is done, your Princess would like to have a small detachment accompany her. We would like to go to that force that came to our aid and thank them properly.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the very long wait for the update everyone, life has kept me busy recently. I also can't guarantee when the next chapter would come, but I plan to at least have it out by this month.

Comments

[Edguy0009]

Next up, first contact.

[Starlight Nova]

Did the ancient Romans really know Germany existed?

[Teal]

10623371
Yup, the Romans referred to the lands beyond the Rhine River as Germania, and they had contact with the Germanic tribes there.

[Skyblazer9]

Well I'm very excited to see how the Romans will react to meeting Princess Luna. Keep up the good work.

[JayTheAgent]

Great chapter! That said, I have a little nitpick about the Latin declension - at times you use English plural forms and at times Latin - stick to either, and if you choose Latin, I do believe the correct forms would be (in approximate order of appearance) plural accusative forms given the context:

Pilum - Pila
Scutum - Scuta
Gladius - Gladiōs

I only studied Latin in passing but it still kinda rubs me the wrong way anyway
I'm using Wikipedia as a reference, so anyone more knowledgeable is free to correct me if I'm mistaken on any of these
That being out of the way, I'm looking forward for more!

[jinougaboss]

Is this story dead?

[Teal]

10948636
Fear not, I have come out of the debts of hiatus and have began writing Chapter 5! Just a little heads up though, Equestria Legio is currently second on my list of stories to update, so it might still take a while for the nect chapter to come. Also, I got a ton of school work pilling up, so I won't have much time to write to begin with...but hey, its still progress!

[jinougaboss]

11076293

it's nice to know this story is not dead yet, there are few roman stories and incomplete and i hope to see the end, however take your time and good luck

[Alex80]

Updates

[joelicus]

When will the next chapter come out?

[Moon Hiker]

I just read the first four chapters and I like it a lot so far. Here's hoping you find the inspiration and time to write more!

[Moon Hiker]

Came back to check and my previous comment is still the most recent. Well, I hope things rattle loose and we get some more of this story. Romans in Equestria (or really any humans that aren't of the modern world) is an interesting idea that I'd love to see more of.
How will they react, what mythology can they draw on to make sense of things, how do they view the inhabitants of this new world? I hope we'll get some more of this before long.