Day 11 - Legion Story

Legion Story

Matthew Ryan Fischer

Rome had been sacked. 

Rome had been sacked.  The Gauls had won at the Battle of Allia.  The city was undefended.

Rome had been sacked.  Again.  Alaric of the Visigoths joined the ranks of history.  But Rome wasn’t Rome at the time.  Still, history has a way of remembering these things and forgetting the importance.

Rome had been sacked.  Again.  The Vandals approached the city and the city grew scared.  Maximus fled rather than fight.  A deal was agreed upon and the gates were opened.  Riches were taken, but lives were spared.  It was too easy.

Rome had been sacked.

Rome was no more.  The garrisons couldn’t hold the cities.  Slave revolts opened gates and allowed the marauders in.  Legions made stands and failed.

None if it made any sense.

Roma was forever.  Roma was The Eternal City.  Roma was a city, a people, a nation, and a way of life.  A little sacking of a city couldn’t stop that, could it?

Apparently it could.

An Empire must be strong.  An Emperor must show will and determination.  Political instability, foreign invasion, and reduced tax revenue, with the possibility of lead poisoning seemed to be stronger than the will of a people or the depth of a philosophy.

How droll.

Mackenzie placed no value on such things.  She was here to build armies and destroy armies.  Historical accuracy meant very little to her purposes.  The game was a game of strategy.  You ruled, raised taxes, kept populations happy and your allies strong, but all of that was secondary to the war.  The war and the win was the point. 

Rome had been sacked.  Many many times.  Historically.  Fictionally.  In film.  In literature.  In games.  In imaginations.  Mackenzie had one job today and one job only – make sure Rome was not sacked again.

Mackenzie had a tough road ahead.  The odds of the game and the tales of history were against her.  She felt herself up to the task, uttering in her mind as inspiration those famous words: “Those who are about to die salute you.”