Salvatoria: The Memoirs of Lucretia Aurelia

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTEᖇ ᙭᙭II: TᕼE ᗯᖇᗩITᕼ

August 46 B.C

Cirta, Kingdom of Numidia

After our decisive victory at Thapsus, I rested my forces in Carthage for two weeks as the Senate actually recognized my success by granting twenty days of Thanksgiving. Yet, I needed to finish the job and get revenge on the Numidians. Of course, I was not pleased with Caesar gaining dictatorial powers from the Senate. He was dictator for the next ten years, and he once again had lost my trust. Once again, he had proven to me that I had merely been a tool. This would be my last campaign for Caesar. I would no longer serve him, as his soldier, slave, what have you. I convinced him to cross the Rubicon to prevent Pompey from becoming a dictator. Now, I had created another, and he had lied to me all along about what his ambitions had been. I needed to send a lesson, not only to my allies and enemies, but to Julius Caesar.

I was frankly pissed off, and I was subduing Africa not for him, but for myself. This was my war. My conquest. My triumph. Gathering my largest force yet, I led 100,000 men deep into the heart of the Kingdom of Numidia. The rugged terrain made the march brutal but we braved the worst of it.

As my legions advanced, they faced constant skirmishes and ambushes from the remnants of the defeated Optimates, as well as their Numidian and new Mauretanian allies. These engagements tested the resolve and discipline of Caesar's soldiers, but they pressed on with determination, driven by their loyalty to Caesar and the promise of victory.

The rugged landscapes of Numidia favored guerrilla tactics, and the Numidian cavalry, renowned for their speed and skill in desert warfare, harassed my forces relentlessly. However, I was not to be deterred, this my opponents now knew. I deployed his veteran legions strategically, using their discipline and cohesion to counter the fluid tactics of his adversaries. Yet, there was never a decisive engagement as we marched into the heart of the country.

The campaign featured a number of battles when Senator Orvos turned to fight. The first proved a disaster as he put Musulmanii and Gaetuli on the flanks. These cavalrymen were skilled raiders and skirmishers but had almost no concept of waging pitched battles. Therefore, at Capsa, the flanks of the Optimate army broke almost immediately. I overran the nomads, forcing a humiliating peace, replacing their kings with clients and bringing them into the fold as clients of Rome. This lost Orvos the vast majority of his cavalry - yet he refused to fold. He was a brave man.

Future engagements saw me adapting strategies to the challenges posed by the terrain and the tactics of his opponents. The battles were hard-fought, but my forces proved superior in both skill and determination. I was a terror to the Optimate soldiers, and my spies told me they feared my very name.

Finally, four months after Thapsus, the decisive moment came as I cornered the enemy into the rough terrain of Dolmens. My army closed in and the battle was bitter and brutal. Despite being vastly outnumbered, Orvos and his men fought like caged animals, and with unmatched ferocity. The battle raged for hours, my army failing to make ground easily. Finally, we split the Romans from Numidians, and dividing them shattered them. A legion defected, and I welcomed it into my arms. My army now numbered 105,000 men. Despite the success, Orvos escaped Dolmens with 9,000 men and a select few cavalry. The Numidians lost 60% of their force and surrendered. I marched to Cirta which had been somewhat rebuilt. They threw open their gates and we entered without being harassed.

I had effectively eliminated opposition in Numidia, but their betrayal had nearly cost me dearly. I would not tolerate the existence of this petty kingdom any longer. I stood before the populace and my army as I declared the Kingdom of Numidia annexed into the province of Africa. The women wept and the men were scorned. I then declared as divine punishment for their rebellion, Cirta would be put to the torch. My exact command to my army was...

"My loyal soldiers, render unto Cirta what Scipio rendered unto Carthage,"

So it was. For seven days and seven nights, the streets of Cirta were engulfed in chaos and violence as Roman soldiers pillaged homes, temples, and public buildings. The once-proud city was ravaged as treasures were looted, and its inhabitants subjected to the horrors of war. The sack of Cirta was a brutal display of Roman military might and a stark warning to any who dared oppose Caesar's authority. The city's fall marked the end of Numidian independence. Of the population of 50,000, only 3,000 were spared, enslaved, and deported to Illyria. The city was burnt to a husk... and then I ordered that husk torn down.

The plundering of Cirta also served as a grim reminder of the consequences of resistance against my army. Throughout the Roman Republic, tales of the sack of Cirta spread, instilling fear and awe in equal measure. It was a testament to the ruthlessness of my ambition and the price that would be paid by those who dared to defy me. As I prepared to bring my just punishment to Mauretania, the message was made clear to all of my enemies. Should they resist, there was absolutely no length I wouldn't go to assure vengeance was delivered.

One man saw the message clear as day, as he moved to placate me and assure that I didn't arise to challenge his rule in Rome.

Gaius Julius Caesar now wondered, by putting that twenty-year old woman in charge of the fourteenth legion, what monster he had unleashed.

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July, 45 B.C

Volubilis, Province of Mauretania

I continued west, and September marked the beginning of a brutal and bloodthirsty invasion as my forces surged into Mauretania. The kingdom, though formidable, stood little chance against the might of the Roman war machine. Cities and towns fell swiftly as Roman legions swept across the land, leaving destruction and devastation in their wake.

The siege of Iol stands as a testament to the ferocity of the Roman assault, and my lack of mercy which contrasted me from Caesar. The defenders fought valiantly, but they were no match for the overwhelming force of Caesar's legions. After a prolonged siege, Iol fell to the Roman onslaught, its walls breached and its defenders slaughtered or enslaved. Senator Orvos and the remainder of the Optimate threat was destroyed, and he fell in battle, the last major threat to Caesar's dictatorship - and my conquest of North Africa. The city was burned to a crisp, and left as a sign of my merciless act.

But the true horror unfolded in the battles that followed in the Mauretanian heartland. Four fierce engagements, each marked by desperate resistance from the Mauretanian forces, played out amidst the rugged landscapes of the region. The Romans, driven by their insatiable thirst for conquest, unleashed a wave of violence and destruction upon their adversaries. They would raise a new army in desperation to drive me out - each time I smashed it again.

The Mauretanian kingdom, once proud and independent, was brought to its knees as its armies were crushed and its cities sacked. The capital of Volubilis, a symbol of Mauretanian power and prestige, suffered the full wrath of the Roman conquerors. Its streets ran red with blood as Roman soldiers pillaged and plundered, leaving nothing but smoldering ruins in their wake.

With the destruction of Volubilis and the annexation of Mauretania into the Roman Republic, my dominance over North Africa was complete. The once-proud kingdom was now little more than a distant memory, its people subjugated and its lands subject to Roman rule.

The violent conquest of the region saw me stand atop a throne of seventy thousand skulls, my ambition now striking fear into Rome and Caesar. The invasion had been one of unparalleled decimaton for the Mauretanians. I marched on the Mauri next, and rendered their kingdom to a memory that would soon be forgotten. Now, I marched back to Africa to confront my final challenge.

Caesar must be broken for betraying everything we stood for.