Finally another update! Written by Tjakari, posted and edited by Grouchio
"Courtship of the Falling Feather"
Syria, Spring 712 AUC
Seldom are great men preceded by an equal, in all corners of the earth mankind is locked in a cycle of wisdom and foolishness that fails to desist and forges on into every facet of society. The lands of Eranshahr have for some time been held loosely in the hold of the Parthi, people born on the fringes of an empire and barbarians to the higher cultures they oversee; from Babylon to Bactria the Kingdoms of Cyrus were under the sway of a madman. Orodes II, son of Phraates III and father to Pacorus, co-ruler to the Parthian; a kinslayer touched with madness and given to a cruel disposition that spoke a thousand tales of his blood’s history. Twice in the last twenty years have the Romans and Parthians clashed, once at the battle of Carrhae wherein Marcus Licinius was slaughtered along with 20,000 Roman soldiers, and again under the lead of a young Pacorus some two years after where an attack on Antiochia was lifted. The battles in Syria already fought have been insufficient to any party, in either case one had been humiliated on the field and ambitions were left unfulfilled; Crassus in his most incredible blunder allowed for defeat against a force outnumbered four to one, losing both his honor, those of the legion, and that of Rome all in his death and Pacorus as a child was forced to return from his campaign empty-handed. The bad blood of the nations needed letting and their wounded pride needed said blood to soak.
Once in Syria, Caesar immediately set about organizing his forces: with him he had brought four legions, all of which had served him for quite some time, they were veteran soldiers from his previous campaigns served and in Parthia would form the core of his new field army, from the province of Syria came another four legions, provincial defenders who’s brushes with death likely amounted to raids and agitated mules. The eight legions gathered before Caesar were a sizeable force, none could question that it was an army, yet it was not enough. Unwilling to do as his former colleague Crassus had done, namely raising fresh legions out of pocket, Caesar instead turned outwards from Syria and into the Amici. The borders of the Republic were dotted with allies and clients at the beck and call of the Eternal city, from his base in Antiochia Caesar sent out for the kings in Rome’s sway to bring to him their best warriors: Celts from Galatia, Hellenes from Paphlagonia et al, and the greatest contingent of auxiliary forces came from Ariobarzanes Philorhomaios, a force of 4,000 Cappadocian horsemen. Over the month those foreigners rained into Antiochia, strange men with even stranger words armed to the teeth and draped in magnificent armours. Syria, despite the near constant threat of attack from the East, was remarkably content in the site of those most unfamiliar forces; perhaps the people of the land had grown complacent and had already accepted their lot in the world as a land travelled by all the nations of the Earth. That being said, only a mild curiosity was sparked as the fighters of the Orient marched towards the legions of Caesar.
As his requests were being met with compliance with all the states underneath his hold, Caesar sent another emissary north, though at this time it did not go into the realms of Rome’s allies, but to the halls of Artasvades II, blood of Artaxias I and heir to Tigranes the Great. In Armenia Rome has found an ally many a time since the wars of Mithradates. The kingdom of the Armenians has always been strong one, a land protected by a vast army imbued with a strength as great as any other in Asia. Only in times of great weakness could the kingdom be subdued by the Parthians and now such weakness had passed and the King and Rome wished to do business. When Crassus saw fit to thrust himself onto the Parthian sword, Armenia offered to stand with him; an army of over 40,000 placed on a silver platter for the triumvir to snatch. Crassus was a fool to reject the good King’s offer, however unlike Crassus, Caesar knew well enough to accept such an offer should it be brought to him and so the message was sent. Artasvades had heard of Caesar’s actions in that strange Republic, bringing Pompeius Magnus to heel, spitting on the likes of the Senators which in the East had themselves brought dishonor to Rome’s enemies. Needless to say, the man, born of an equally talented conqueror, was impressed at the Roman Dictator. Now in the lands south of his country, this man had assembled an army from all the lands of East to wage war in Persia, a force greater than any he himself could muster alone. And this man requested his assistance.
Caesar’s army, like any other Roman force had an obvious scarcity of cavalry, the miniscule portions of cavalry allotted to the common legion never reached over a few hundred. Rome was built on the backs of infantrymen and that is where their specialty lay, despite that most unique gift Rome did need horsemen to fight the Parthians in their territory. The number of cavalrymen sent from the Greeks numbered into the thousands but only a few, the legions themselves even less, the one power in the East with a true history of mounted warfare were the Armenians, in that army Caesar had hoped to find an ally that could break the Parthian hold on the near east and open those lands to Rome. With both sides eager to fight, an arrangement was reached; Caesar would receive 8,000 horsemen from those of the common army, as well as 2,000 of his own elite Azatavrear, along with 4,000 horse archers, and ultimately his alliance in the coming war. Armenia, despite the loss of her greatest ruler remained a respectable force in Asia and alongside the Romans would be their army lead by the Bagration.
Of the Nakharar many could trace their line to old blood, kings and rulers of lands unbound to any crown not their own; in fact those ancient kingdoms which litter the lands of the caucuses formed the very basis for the feudalistic relationship enjoyed by the Armenian nobility. Amidst the many houses few could claim a living throne, and the Bagratuni were one of those few. The house of Bagratuni, born of the line of the Yervanduni kings of old, held a peculiar place in the kingdom of Artashes. This most ancient blood, and exalted lineage places their name above many and the air of prestige which precedes its wearers yields great fortune. The Bagration, Tatzates Bagratuni was to lead the armies of Armenia against the Parthians and gain glory for his land and his family.
By mid-spring the forces promised to Caesar by the allies of Rome had made their way to Syria, eager to fight, the blood lust of the men created a haze about the camp, a tenseness that clawed at the seams of order and shadowed calamity like buzzards. The lands of the East lay open, legs ready to receive the legions mast upon the borders of Eranshahr. In the days following their arrival, the auxilia as they were called in the brief lazed terms of soldiers too occupied to bother with the specifics of origin, the army of Rome finally set foot on enemy soil. The legions began their march and in their time they had reached the heart of Osroene, Edessa.
***********
The sight from the walls of the city must have no doubt been a frightful one, coming from the West with the Sun at their back an army made up of countless peoples marching in unison under the force of a single man. A panic must have broken at the battlements as once the force had actually reached the gates of Edessa the portals were opened; no drawn out siege, no contest of might, and no opportunity for glory. However discontented the battle starved men were they were nonetheless eager to explore their conquest. For their troubles the men were gifted with the wealth of the city, soldiers of various types took of the market a lion’s share of whatever caught their fancy. Osroene wasn’t sacked in the traditional sense, in fact wherever Caesar placed his forces there was a strange order that came upon the lanes laden with hapless peddlers and marketeers; no man lost his life and in the city there was reluctant celebration where men pissed and swords rattled.
While the legions and assorted warriors ran the gamut of the enclosure’s interior a messenger made his way through Caesar’s entourage, finally catching sight of the Dictator the man spoke of his apologies in a tone of fear not unfamiliar to men of regal stature, “Iulius Caesar, I offer the invitation of my master, Ma’nu II!”, briefly pausing as if expecting a violence of some sort the man thrust upon the men surrounding Caesar an assortment of gifts, trinkets and ceremonial daggers of fine steel, others of bronze and petty metals of unneeded name. With an even tone of paternal superiority Caesar gave the messenger relief in his response, “Calm yourself child, you fear too much. Your city has already given me enough gifts, the victory shall be enough. If you must take your pleasantries to my officers, in the mean time I will meet your king.” The panic of moments past slowly draining from the veins of the man, the messenger then led Caesar and his retinue to Ma’nu where Caesar would consult the Rex in the terms of his relationship to Rome.
Ma’nu was the son of the late king Abgar. The former King was instrumental in the victory at Carrhae, himself responsible for exposing Crassus’ position. Loyal vassal to the Shahanshah of Eranshahr, Abgar was, after his service to Parthia, executed on the whims of the mad king of kings. Further strengthening the hold on Osroene, Orodes allowed for Ma’nu to succeed his shamed father and rule as king of Edessa. Logically, Ma’nu held no love for outsiders meddling in his land, be they emperors, dictators, or kings.
Understanding well that he had long since lost the means to fight, Ma’nu offered a hand to Caesar and sent his invitation. Make no mistake, the King detested Rome as much as Persia, taking his city was mere icing to accent the mass of distrust and paranoid caution which drove the king’s decision to bring the Roman into his home. Meeting his guest near the bottom of the steps extending up the hillside which led to the palace, Ma’nu observed the gestures of respect of submission expected of him and led the men before him into the dwelling that housed his court. The king, in the years following Carrhae came to understand the weakness of his position; powerless to stand against his master, Ma’nu had but a single comfort in his tiny kingdom. There was but a single herb which assuaged the pain of his wounded pride, in Edessa held many stores for the king’s dependency upon the vine. Wine offered a dullness which allowed life to remain tolerable for the Syriac and in this man’s eyes showed that very same dullness; glazed with subtle fury that gleamed through like a wounded beast, the king was a neutered man poor in joy and whose anger could only be muffled by the glass.
Withholding the wrath that composed his being Ma’nu contorted his face to allow a shallow grin with which he greeted his conqueror, Caesar knowing well the mark of a tested man responded in kind and directed himself up the stairs to the palace. Making his way into the room where they would speak in private, Caesar noticed a certain drabness about the palace. The exterior of the palace, while modest compared to those of greater cities, stood unalike any other construct in Edessa. None could mistake it for anything less than the home of a man of noble birth thus, witnessing the interior held a rather jarring juxtaposition. The walls seemed stripped of regal extravagance and only in the quarters one would assume housed the royal family did you find some trace of a kingly life. It would seem to Caesar and all others in attendance that the man before them had forsaken all others marks of status for his thirst.
Finally, after a half-hearted tour, they found themselves in a large room where all were made to sit. The legionnaires were instructed to man the entrance while Caesar and Ma’nu sat across from one another, following an awkward moment of anticipation Ma’nu broke the silence, “I’m assuming you have a reason for not killing me.” Amused by his host’s perspective on the situation Caesar responded, “Well I can’t go killing my partners, now can I?” With that sentence Caesar called for a drink, “As you may understand, I am on campaign. What you may not understand is that I am not your enemy. I have come to the East for vengeance, a sentiment with which I feel you may sympathize.” Letting Caesar’s words settle, Ma’nu went on to ask who the Roman was avenging. As a nobleman with more than enough time on his hand, Ma’nu was well versed in the tales that surrounded the court of Rome, backstabbing, civil wars, and assassinations, but for the life of him he could not recall in his stupor what connected Parthia to this man in particular. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the battle of Carrhae. Crassus, the dux of that Roman army, was my friend. I come to take back the honor lost at his defeat.” Recalling now in a moment of clarity, Ma’nu remembered the devastating defeat of the Romans some time ago; understand now the reason for his city’s infestation but now could not comprehend the Roman’s mercy. Sensing the confusion on the face of his would-be partner Caesar informed of his plans, his plans for Rome and Parthia, what was to become of Orodes and every Arsacid between the Euphrates and the Indus. “I know well the story of your father, and no doubt your drunkenness is the product of his passing, but allow me my justice and you will have yours. Now Edessa lies under the yoke of a giant, suppressed, weak and small but come with me and it will far to the south and know a prosperity unlike any other in its history.” Ma’nu paid close attention to the promises of this man; before him was dangled the fruit of desire, a lust for war and vengeance boiled in his gut and Rome’s seduction was all too enticing, too sweet to ignore, and an excitement befell the king which had long since left him. Not since the death of his father had an urge to fight, a bloodlust to topple empires been seated in the man and joy took him in all his being and to Caesar he spoke a simple, “Yes,” “Yes, we will have our justice.”
