Rome: Empire of Blood (Book One, Completed)

Rome: Empire of Blood

PART 1

EMPIRE OF BLOOD

Terms a reader must know;

Legionary: a roman soldier, armed with a gladius (sword), scutum (shield), and occasionally a pugo (dagger). In AD 18 they still wear the chainmail lorica hamata though some already afforded the lorica segmentata

Legion: a group of 5500 men consisting of legionaries and cavalry.

Cohort: a group of 500-800 men that consists of 8-10 centuries. There are 10 cohorts in a legion. A cohort is led by a senior centurion and a tribune.

Century: a group of 80 legionaries and 20 engineers, cooks, and doctors. A century consists of 10 contibernium or squads (literally "of ten men") latin: centuria, plural centuriae

Decani: a group of 10 men led by a decanus.

Legate/legatus: a man usually of equestrian or senatorial rank that leads one or more legions. Latin: legatus

Military Tribune: an officer of equestrian rank or higher, usually serving as a cohort leader/staff officer. Latin: tribunes militum

Centurion: a man that leads a century. Though senior ranking centurions hold commands of cohorts or even higher such as second-in-command (praefectus castronum or camp prefect)

Decanus: comparable to modern-day sergeants. These men lead a group of 10 legionaries (decani). A decani shares a tent.

PROLOGUE

AELIUS

Germania Frontier

Winter AD 18

LUCIUS AELIUS looked at the vast, silent, sea of trees and snow ahead of him as he stood from the walls of Fort Drusus. Neither civilized man nor Roman lived beyond these walls. Only beasts and barbarians.

This is the furthest Roman outpost set by Germanicus Julius Caesar, who is currently acting as Legatus Legionis to the Roman provinces in Asia, and whom Aelius had fought alongside with to recapture the lost lands that were lost in the Teutoburg defeat a decade ago. Lucius Aelius Sejanus, acting under the name of Germanicus' uncle Tiberius, had him moved to Asia for no apparent reason. At least not a reason known to common soldiers like Aelius.

Aelius was wearing his fur coat that day. His hair had grown and so had his beard; dots of snow could be seen on his scarred face. In Rome, he would be seen either as a Jew or an unwashed barbarian because of the beard - but in the frontier there didn't seem to be a difference between Roman and barbarian. Only banners made the difference. The banner, and the eagle, made the difference.

His gray eyes shifted to the skies after hearing an eagle's shout, the intimidating and nimble creature gliding almost right above him.

A good omen. Thought Aelius. A flying eagle had always been a good omen for Romans. It was a sign for victory.

However, unbeknownst to the tribune, a bearded legionary with the usual strong features of a Roman soldier appeared behind him. "Tribunus Aelius, sir." He called his name.

Aelius turned and recognised the face. "Legionary Memmius." Aelius said. "What is it?" He asked, and as he did, he saw a scroll of paper in his hands, with the seal of the Sixteenth Legion stamped in the middle of it. "Closer." Said the tribune, his face showing no particular emotion. Memmius stepped closer towards the officer.