The cold brisk air crossed the faces of the legionairres as they stood on the battlefield looking at their foes before them. Spurius Tiberius Laevinius, an ardent soldier of Rome gripped his sword a little tighter that day. He was a proud servant of the Julii Family, however he was not conditioned to fighting fellow Romans. He was in fact disgusted with the very Idea. However all of Rome seemed loyal to the self-proclaimed Imperator. Still no matter where anyone sided with in Politics all that mattered is where they stood on the battlefield. Spurius stood on the side of the Julii. Whether he had a choice was unknown to him, it all happened in such a hurry that before he knew it he was standing there at Patavium. The Brutii had led a strong Garrison there nearly 1,000 men. However their General, he was new to the game and very inexperienced. General Manius Aemulius however was a conditioned soldier. He spent years fighting the Carthaginians and brought only victory to Rome. Defeat was unknown.
Still however, Spurius could only feel his gut turn. He was used to clashing on the battlefield with untrained unworthy barba. Mostly the Gallic tribes with a few incursions against the Germans. Now he must clash against other Legionairres, other men trained the same as he. Suddenly all the thinking that was going through the minds of the soldiers vanished. There was a loud horn. The Centurion named Gyratia then yelled aloud, "Forward March!" There was no thinking involved, it was a reaction, automatic and uncontrollable the entire unit moved as one. Spurius was put in the left wing of the Legion, a Legionary Cohort and hardened soldier of Rome. His legs moved in precision, left then right, left then right. Another horn blew slightly different in tune than the last. The Centurion once again barked an order. "Century Halt!" As if the legs of the men lost will to move they came to a stop. The Right Wing continued to move in however, from the trees, Spurius could see a Calvary Ambush had been unleashed. The horses collided with the Triarii, knocking men in every direction. Suddenly, Spurius and his unit began moving again, they marched over then inward closing on the enemy forces.
The General for the Brutii seemed to have made note of his mistake, the Brutii legions began to move in backward motion attempting to avoid being outflanked. The General's Unit stayed back surveying the field, General Aemulius did the same. He waited for the right time to strike, he was Infamous among the men for swinging his own sword in battle, often leading the attacks. A foolish, but brave tactic. Gyratia ordered the Halt, this time with no notification from the General. Two other units had come to a halt while the rest of the Left Wing pushed in a forward line. Gyratia and the other Centurions then moved out from the rest. Spurius still waiting for action ran with the rest of his men towards the trees. Once safely out of view the units moved down through the hilly treeside. Then halting and waiting. The rest of the battle ensued, a Calvary attack from the Julii was launched evening the odds on the Right Wing, which was battered from continuous charges.
The Left wing then made a charge and clashed with the left flank of the Brutii legion, Spurius waited. Parts of the Brute's Left Wing, which was gaining victory in the beggining over the Julii's right broke and fled. Two Calvary Units had begun to follow in pursuit but were stopped with the Generals orders. Instead they had moved around to the complete rear of the enemy forces and clashed into their exposed backs. More units attempted to flee but were slaughtered before making any progress. The Brutii General then began moving toward the Century Spurius had been in. The men were low to the ground and thought they were spotted. However just short of the tree line he turned and followed along side, with another Calvary unit. He was apparently going to attempt and take the Julii's rear by surprise. However Gyratia jumped from the underbursh and gave the order to charge. All three Centuries rushed from the trees and collided with the advancing General. Caught unprepared they suffered many initial casualties, however once out of shock they had begun to cut down the men where they stood, falling like trees.
Spurius, holding his Gladius tight then rammed a horse with his shield causing it to jump high into the air, then used a thrust from the Gladius to pierce the animal's neck. As it kicked he then slashed at the rider cutting his leg, both he and the horse fell over. Spurius continued to slash until he had finally done the unthinkable and killed his first Roman. General Aemulius noticing the side battle then charged his calvary into the enemy units. The initial rush knocked some of the men Spurius served with over. However in seconds the entire units began to run, the three Centuries regrouped as Manius's Bodyguards followed suit. Cheers rushed through Spurius and his comrades upon seeing the General fall to the ground. Gyratia decided it was then time to move towards the rest of the battle and led the men down. General Aemulius then circled around to the rear and charged the flank of the center. Spurius's century then arrived and following the whistles initiated a sequence of combat. Shield, thrust, shield,thrust, shield, thrust-slash, shield. The units before them had saw enough blood and had not seen the General for most of the battle. To them it was no longer worth it, they broke and fled. Soon it could be seen that the remants of the Brutii Army had broke and run for the hills. The Infantry too exhausted to give chase stayed behind as the Calvary began slashing at the men's backs. 798 Brutii bodies were counted later and 431 Julii Soldiers aswell.
A/N: OK its just a start I hope to do better in the following chapters, this is just to sort of show you that we're dealing with a Legionairre during the Civil War of Rome.