Salvatoria: The Memoirs of Lucretia Aurelia

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTEᖇ ᙭᙭: ᗷEᗩᑕᕼEᔕ Oᖴ ᖇᑌᔕᑭIᑎᗩ

January 4, 46 B.C

Near to Ruspina, Africa

I raced north to Carthage before receiving word from my scouts that the Optimate fleet was headed towards the region of Ruspina and Thapsus. I made the conscious decision with my force to resist their landing. I knew, given the size of their army I wouldn't be able to throw them back into the sea.

My time in Britain showed me the psychological effects of having a numerically inferior foe resisting your landing, and slugging up the beach under missile fire. I made camp at Ruspina and had an early warning force stationed on the beach. There was an old abandoned Carthaginian fort which I staffed full of missile troops and archers, as well some cohorts. The area of the landing sight was completely flat with some trees and brush offering some respite. I had my men the week before the invasion dig trenches and place pikes to keep the landers at bay. My fleet of roughly 30 warships was commanded by the dubiously loyal Tiberius Claudius Nero. Caesar insisted he command the fleet after he did so loyally at Alexandria a couple of years prior. He also lied in wait to the north to pin the Optimate fleet and inflict further carnage.

So on the morning of January 4, 46 B.C, the Optimate fleet emerged over the horizon. My men remained hidden, myself amongst the common man's ranks. The Optimates' vessels, sleek and menacing, cut through the waves like hungry sharks. Labienus and Metellus Scipio stood on the deck of their flagship, their faces set in grim determination. It was said that no man bearing the name Scipio could be defeated in Africa...

I would crush that rumor, and bathe in the tears of distress caused by it.

I held my men firm as the Optimate ships anchored, and men began disembarking. As they did, one soldier simply couldn't contain his adrenaline. He popped up from the trench-

"FOR CAESAR!"

He then threw his javelin, piercing and killing a man who dropped dead on the spot.

"CAESARIANS!"

Suddenly battle roared to life on the beach. My lines revealed themselves and unleashed barrages of javelins and arrows as the invaders struggled to mount a response. The Optimates could not raise anchor without leaving hundreds, if not thousands to die, something their honor could not allow. So they clearly made the decision to just force their way through. A fair idea in concept, they undoubtedly believed this was just a patrol or scouting party, and the vast portion of my army was still in Carthage.

That's what my deceptive reports led them to believe anyway.

The sea churned crimson with blood as the opposing forces clashed with the fury of a tempest unleashed. Optimate infantry slugged ashore where they became easy pickings for my infantry. Rallying my cavalry, small in number, but vastly overqualified for the task at hand, they charged up and down the beach in earnest, picking off enemy infantry or missile troops. The height advantage was impossible to counter.

"You Britons had a method to your madness!" I shouted, "Keep fighting! Drive them back into the sea!"

I looked over the horizon keeping an eye out for my fleet. So far... nothing.

"Don't let me down Nero, for if you love anything more than yourself," I sneered.

The battle continued to rage and the Optimates continued to throw man after man into the meat grinder. On the shore, Gnaeus Pompeius, one of Pompey's sons, rallied his troops with impassioned cries, urging them to stand fast against the tide of attackers. His voice boomed over the din of battle, a beacon of hope amidst the chaos of war.

This prompted me to take my horse and join the fray myself. Aided by a contingent of skirmishing horsemen we took to the beach creating a flurry of confusion. Targeting Gnaeus, he didn't see me coming until it was too late - I swung my sword, cutting off his head with a swift strike. The Optimate Army fell into complete anarchy as they tried to rush back to their warships and as their officers demanded they push forward.