The Roman Conquest

[Hopdevil007]

Caesar had never much concerned himself with his advisors or their advice. Regardless he still waited for them to arrive for the traditional once a month council. A gold coin shuffled through Caesar’s knuckles as he waited. The coin flowed smoothly between fingers until it reached his thumb and then crossed his palm to begin the process again. This process was executed over and over again as Caesar pondered the Roman economy. The thought of it made him smile broadly. The Roman economy was extremely wealthy and luxuries were in every household nationwide. Although Caesar saw these monthly councils worthless he did have questions for his military advisor, Trajan. The coin continued its dance as Caesar rose from his large leather chair at the end of the ivory council table. With his free hand he poured a cup of wine and glided across the room to the window. The ceiling was high, as in all the palace rooms, making the window enormous.
As Caesar looked out on Rome pride swirled in his stomach. Rome was the epicenter for science and culture for the entire world. Since the beginning of time Roman hands had been building great structures and Roman minds thought up great ideas. From the window Caesar could see the gold mines as well, which for a moment reminded him of the rhythmic motion of the coin in his hand. His mind drifted back to wealth for that moment and he began thinking of the trade routes to the outer cities. The roads in and out of Rome caught his attention and he stared at the ant like figures coming to and from Rome. From this viewpoint he could see five of the eight “roads to Rome.” As on a compass, roads went out of Rome in eight directions establishing cities at the end of each road.
The first indication of the coming advisors was the high pitched laughter of the trade advisor. Caesar had a high level of contempt for her; she always gave the same advice “We should acquire more luxuries and resources.” Oddly enough, Rome has enough luxuries and resources to supply every other nation and still have surplus. When the door to the hallway opened the advisors poured in, the trade advisor, stumbling a bit promptly poured a glass of wine for her and the diplomatic advisor. Apparently they had been in the middle of a conversation about the German ivory imports. “Lush.” Caesar said to himself, at least she wasn’t hitting on the science advisor again who had already taken his seat at the far end of the table and began to work equations in his notebook as he always did. By the time Caesar had seated himself his domestic and military advisors had taken their places at his left and right. A few moments later he began.
“So what’s new?” Caesar said with a subtle eye roll. The trade advisor gave her usual advice and looked around the room for support, seeing none she retreated to her glass of wine. The science advisor reported that the new rifle design would be ready earlier than expected and thank the domestic advisor for the additional funding. The diplomatic advisor had many things to say. Caesar drifted off during this speech; he never cared for foreign relations much. Finally it was Trajan’s turn to speak.
“We have gone far beyond our troop capacity my lord. The city governors will not support us enough and I have been forced to take funding from the national budget. But may I ask, what are we going to do with 100,000 cavalry and 200,000 musketmen?”
Besides Trajan and the domestic advisor, the rest of the council seemed very surprised. “Well,” began Caesar “although we are the strongest nation in the world we are lacking one thing: territory. Our neighbors the Aztecs are a primitive and barbaric culture. As we speak our Galleons are in route to Veii where the invasion army Trajan has mentioned is assembling.” The diplomatic advisor started to say something but was cut short by Caesar. “The Aztecs are distracted by Egyptian forces that are massing at their northern border. That is why we will attack to their south just above the tundra and hopefully the element of surprise will win us Tlaxcala and Tenochitlin before they can respond.”
The diplomatic advisor stood quickly and blurted “You don’t know what you’re doing! This is a mistake Caesar. The Greeks and Germans are at our necks. If you do this they will take the Aztec’s side and may join them in a war against us.”
“That is why you will contact the Russian and Iroquois to guarantee our everlasting friendships.” Responded Caesar with a menacing look. “Bribe them, I think you’ll be surprised how cheap you can buy them out for. In the meantime these councils are suspended and anything important can be sent to me at Veii where I’ll be over seeing the rest of our project.” With a glance from Caesar Trajan trailed at Caesar’s heels as they marched out of the palace to the stables. By the time they reach Veii the army should almost be assembled. Trajan couldn’t help but wonder that if this was a good idea, never before in history had Roman troops marched on foreign soil.

We shall see.....

[TheGuitarist]

Great! I really like the way this is beginning. You have a nice style that makes the story read very smoothly. Keep it up.

[dnassman]

Excellent style in writing and very easy to read. Keep it up.

[Hopdevil007]

heres some more....thx for the feedback. always encouraged.


The Roman fleet sailed west at remarkable speed. Trajan stood on the Bridge of the flagship, the O.S. Cumae. Although Trajan was confident that Roman muskets would easily shred lightly armored defenses of the Aztec’s, he still nervously clenched the letter sealer Caesar had given him. As he stared at the golden trinket and got lost examining the insignia of Caesar’s court on the stamping end, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen in the days to come. The initial battle would be won. Roman spies reported minimal defenses in the targeted cities. Unfortunately, the spies also indicated that the Aztec’s northern army was twice the size of Rome’s entire standing army. It was on this fact Trajan was occupied. Although the warriors were weak and ill equipped they outnumbered the Roman’s ten to one.
“Land Ho!” Exclaimed the lookout from the ship’s mast. Trajan was startled by the sudden noise and shoved the piece of gold in his breast pocket and fingered his pistol. The Admiral approached him cautiously sensing his anxiety.
“The landing point is in sight Supreme General. Shall we give the invasion order?” The Admiral asked.
Trajan had not yet become used to being called Supreme General. The title was given to him by Caesar only days before when they took to sea. It was also at that time he received the stamp in his breast pocket along with his orders. The orders stated that objective one and two were the target cities. Objective three was to secure a line of defense across the southern part of the peninsula on which the cities stood. At which point he was to send word to Rome of the victory and request reinforcements. Other orders, such as capturing slaves and raiding Aztec treasure, were also included amongst permission to do other vulgar and violent acts against the Aztec populations.
“You have your orders Admiral.” The act of using authority quelled his anxiety and helped him recompose himself as a leader. “Signal the other ships at once…invade.”
As the orders filtered down the chain of command the sound of hurried bodies and shouts came from the entire fleet. Before Trajan’s eyes every ship within sight started to load musketmen into landing boats. Each soldier bore a shinny helmet set against the sea and the noon sun. Under each helmet was a well-trained Roman soldier with the red uniform and a three days beard.


Meanwhile, Montezuma was eating lunch with in the royal palace of Tenochitlan. The Aztec palace was a shack compared to where Caesar ate his meals but at the same time was a luxurious chateau by Aztec standards. Montezuma finished his meal and began to walk out of the room. As he crossed by the window he stopped. From his palace window he could see large wooden ships with the noticeable red flags approaching the coast north of the capital.

[civman2000]

keep it up!

[dnassman]

Yes keep it going.

[Hopdevil007]

i been meaning to type some more but school goes in quarters for me (finals) and i been busy as all hell. i got a vacation comming up so i expect maybe the third chapter by mid october. sorry for the wait

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Will be looking forward to more.

[Hopdevil007]

here you go...been a long time comming.

Caesar was enjoying one of his favorite things when the message came. When practicing his aim Caesar didn’t wear his royal garb he dressed as any other soldier would, distinguished only by the ivory hilt of the pistols that crossed his waist. With the royal court watching he pulled leather and began shooting. A maze of gunfire came from Caesar in every direction and each bullet found its mark. As he fired his fingers reloaded the chambers with the fluidness of water making it seem as if he wasn’t reloading at all. With barrels still smoking Caesar looked around and saw that all thirty targets that surrounded him had holes in their bulls-eyes. He loosened the chambers and let the empty shells fall to the ground and waved at the cheering crowds above. After he holstered his guns and gave them to a servant for cleaning he was handed an envelope with the royal seal on it.

“I can’t guarantee that the Egyptians will not interfere!” Exclaimed the foreign advisor.
“We can afford to continue bribing them. Not to mention they fear us more than ever after Trajan’s massacre of the Aztec army. He has destroyed their defenses with few casualties and needs 150,000 soldiers as an occupation force to help quell resisters. I’m delivering them myself.” This announcement by Caesar surprised everyone at the council table except the domestic advisor who seemed to always know Caesar’s plans. Even the science advisor raised his face from his work. “In the meantime things will run as usual. And you,” Caesar pointed at his foreign advisor with one hand and fingered the ivory on his gun with the other “make sure the Egyptians stay off our backs or you will pay dearly.”

“Thank you colonel.” Trajan remarked. His defensive line was holding on the south of the peninsula that was once home to Aztec capitol. The Aztecs tried again and again at an uphill assault against the battle hardened Roman soldiers with no success. Casualties in these assaults usually were so one-sided that Trajan almost considered not even bothering hearing the battle reports from his field generals. “You are dismissed.” He replied.

The colonel saluted, stepped back, and exited the room where Montezuma once ate his meals. Since then it had been turned into the Roman Central Command and base of operations in the war against the Aztecs. Trajan rose and walked to the window and began reading the letter addressed to him from Rome. After he finished he gazed down at the stables where Roman horses were housed for the use of the cavalry. “Major.” Trajan called.
“Yes sir?” Saluted the major.
“Spread the word amongst the generals. I’ve just got a message from Caesar, he’s coming here and plans on heading the second attack. Order every cavalryman back into full alert tomorrow morning and tell them to prepare for assault.”

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Ceaser himself on the field of battle this should be good,he was in reality a fine miliatary commander.

[Hopdevil007]

im not much of a writer...more of a reader and this is the first story i wrote. bear with me and it will come slow, thx. and chris' thx...gave me a new idea for the story. oh yeah...what caesae r u talking about????

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Julius Ceaser who conquered Gaul