Battle of Talglenus (437 CE)

## Casualties and losses

The **Battle of Talglenus** (Common Dacanian: *Bellum Talgleni*) was the first battle of the newly formed kingdom of Veunoria, taking place on the 9th of May 437 CE. The battle began with an attack near the village of Talglenus (Caranese: *Talglanar*), on the eastern edge of the Augustian province of Erisko. While Veunor Caldurus expected to meet only a small Augustian force, as most of Erisko's forces (18 legions or 100,000 soldiers) were suppressing the Morvanian Uprising, the Eriskoi governor, alarmed at an army of 14,000 soldiers (mostly semi-trained militia, with 2,000 light cavalry) marching into Augustian territory, assembled a legion consisting of every remaining Praetorian in Erisko (around 2,000) and 4,000 regulars and sent the legion to meet Veunor's army. The heavier Praetorians slowly pushed Veunor's army back, until they exited the valley, allowing Veunorian cavalry to envelop the Augustian army, which retreated to the valley to avoid complete destruction. The battle is considered a tactical (though minor) Augustian victory, but showed the growing might of Veunoria, which would eventually grow to stretch from Erisko to Raaltar.

Four years later, in November 441, the Augustian emperor Maegrus I launched an invasion with 12 legions and 6,500 cavalry (60,300) to suppress the growing Veunorian threat, only to be defeated in the Battle of Alkheros (Eriskoi: *Αλχερος*). Maegrus I never launched another invasion of Veunoria, but his successor Regus I did, ending up one of the worst disasters in Augustian history, and possibly contributing to the collapse of the Augustian Empire. After repeatedly defeating several Augustian invasions, Veunoria's strength grew exponentially, and Veunoria would become the most powerful country in the region of Carannia by the late 6th century.

## Background

### Coup in Larrak and seizure of power

Two years after seizing control of the Republic of Larrak in 434 CE, weakened by a 43-year long civil war between inland Caranese and coastal Balanic factions, Veunor Caldurus was elected *Vaenqahan* (war leader) by the remnants of the Larrakil senate on 4 May 436, with unlimited power over the entire country. He used this power to dismantle the Senate's authority and form the Kingdom of Veunoria (*Regnum Veunoriae*).

Over 1/4 of Larrak's population (~3,200,000) died during the civil war, leaving the country in ruins, and the nearly total usage of mercenary forces, common among Caranese and Balanic republics, meant few facilities for training professional soldiers were built. With all the money spent on hiring mercenary armies, the treasury was completely empty. Veunor Caldurus began a set of desperate measures to prevent total collapse, using the few soldiers he had to seize much of the property of the four most powerful merchant dynasties (the Caranese **Tolvun** and **Aledar** & Balanic **Velcore** and **Haveya**). With the dynasties weakened due to internal disputes and inter-dynasty wars, most of the estates, farms and harbors, which the merchants controlled, fell almost immediately, and all valuable items were plundered, bringing 600,000 kouhi (~12,000,000 sestertii) into Veunoria's treasury.

Veunor Caldurus also imposed massive taxes on wealthy Larrakil, with an unprecedented (for the time) income tax of 10% for those with >1,000 kouhi (~20,000 sestertii) income to 20% for those with >12,000 kouhi (~240,000 sestertii) income. While these taxes would eventually further devastate the economy if set for too long, the new income tax, and other heavy taxes, brought another 500,000 kouhi (~10,000,000 sestertii) into the Veunorian treasury in just one month. The measures led to a number of riots, which Veunor's skilled government and brutal suppression eventually crushed, though unrest would continue for some time.

### Rebuilding of Veunorian army

Veunor Caldurus used the money to recruit and train 2,000 militia and equipped them with seized weapons and armor, using them to eliminate all resistance from the senate, the merchant dynasties, and other rebellious lords. By September 436, all four merchant dynasties, supposedly over 4,000 years old, were extinct, nearly all senators were dead and all opposing lords were either dead or in exile, leaving Caldurus completely unopposed within the country.

Veunor began to rebuild the army, using the seized money to begin constructing facilities for training professional soldiers and growing the number of recruits to 20,000. The new army was partly styled after the Augustian legions, with a directly copied command chain and emphasis on fighting in all terrains. However, with limited money and time, Veunor could only outfit 2,000 soldiers with high-quality armor and weapons. These elite soldiers would become the Veunorian Legion (C. Dacanian: *Legio Veunora*, Classical Caranese: *Legova Veyanare*), and the rest were split into three Guardian Armies (C. Dacanian: *Exercitus Custodis*), whose name may be overblown for a semi-trained army mostly equipped with light armor and low-quality weapons. Veunor also received 2,000 elite light cavalry (*Zantoli*) from the Caitan of Erinaar, for his efforts to completely destroy the rebel lords that were also threatening Erinaar.

### Morvanian Uprising and Erisko's response

In 432 CE, the province government of Morvania ran out of money due to increasing military expenses, both for land and naval units, constant Sarmahaeri and Enaarim raids, and the looting of Morvania's treasury by *vaeriel* Yavarin's (274-690 CE) rogue army, compounding the decline in trade income due to general instability within the Augustian Empire. The Morvanian Uprising began that year with large mutinies from mercenaries, but wouldn't grow into a full insurrection until summer 435. The situation deteriorated so quickly that over 30 legions (~150,000 soldiers) were sent to suppress the uprising just in the first three months, with another 25 legions (~125,000 soldiers), 18 from Erisko, sent in the year after.

Immediately after receiving news of the Morvanian Uprising, Veunor Caldurus began recruiting even more soldiers, growing Veunoria's army to 35,000. 14,000 of these, together with the 2,000 *Zantoli* cavalry, were sent in April 437 into the territory of the province of Erisko in an unprovoked attack on the Augustian Empire. Veunor won a few skirmishes against town guards, successfully taking the county capital of Milvonus (Eriskoi: *Milvonos/Μιλυονος*) in just 24 hours, and defeated a 5,000 strong militia hastily trained by local military commanders to stop the Veunorian army.

The rapid, unmitigated advance of Veunor's army caused panic in the province of Erisko; some estimated that his army, allegedly numbering 50,000, could enter Erisko proper by late May. With no apparent response from the four remaining stationed legions, the eastern Eriskoi city-states began training their own armies, expecting to recruit a 20,000-25,000 strong army, combined with remaining legionaries to repel Veunor's invasion. Their efforts to mobilize an army faced major problems, as none of the city-states had enough money to train the needed amount of soldiers. Eventually, and much too late (winter 437), they recruited their own army of 15,000 militia, which was destroyed in the Lemian revolt of 439.

Navulos Varkhos, the governor of Erisko (434-452), rushed to eastern Erisko to investigate the situation, disproving claims of a large Veunorian army. On 29 April, he began assembling his own army from the remaining legionaries and the 2,000 Praetorians guarding the Temple of Saphros in Erisko, forming an improvised legion of 6,000 soldiers, better equipped and trained than Veunor's army and even some Augustian legions. In just 7 days, the Praetorians and the legionaries made a forced march all the way to the Talglenus valley, where they were formed into the *Legio XXXI Eriskonis* (31st Eriskoi Legion). Varkhos' plan was to hide the legion on both sides of the valley, using the thick forest for cover to ambush Veunor's force and hopefully destroy it, however miscommunication within Varkhos' legion forced it to reposition at the valley floor.

### Battle

On the evening of 8 May, Veunor Caldurus' army reached the southern edge of the Talglenus valley. Veunor ignited large numbers of campfires to unsuccessfully lure the Augustian army, then moved into battle position once the plan failed. The army of Navulos Varkhos consisted of 1 legion with 6,000 soldiers: 4,000 regular legionaries and 2,000 elite Praetorians, in a 3x2 formation with the Praetorians on the wings. Varkhos had no cavalry as all proper legions and auxiliaries were in Morvania. Veunor Caldurus' army consisted of 14,000 soldiers: 6,000 *custodes*, the best Veunorian infantry at the time, 1,000 *velites*, 5,000 recruited city guards and 2,000 Erinaaril z*antoli* light cavalry, by far the most elite of his army. Because of the narrow width of the Talglenus valley, Veunor placed his infantry in a partial 3x6 line, with the *zantoli* at the wings and the *velites* on his right.

On the morning of 9 May, the armies collided. The weight of the elite Augustian legionaries caused Veunor's army to briefly panic and almost fall apart, but Veunor rallied his soldiers, keeping them in the fight while his ranged units threw javelins at the legionaries. Eventually, the legionaries pushed Veunor's army out of the valley, and some of the city levies fled. At this point, the *zantoli* rushed in, flanking the legionaries and dealing significant damage. Fearing a complete encirclement, Varkhos ordered the retreat of his army, while Veunor's *zantoli* launched several cycles of skirmishes to prevent them from returning to fight the rest of his army.

### Aftermath

The battle is considered a tactical Augustian victory, as Veunor Caldurus' attack towards the Talglenus valley was repelled, however the victory was minor at best as Varkhos was unable to further pursue Veunor's army. The Veunorian army lost around 400 (150 killed, 250 wounded) soldiers, most of them during the initial Augustian attack, while the Augustian army lost around 280 soldiers. In late spring and early summer, Veunor continued his campaign, taking a few strategically important towns and growing his army to 20,000 soldiers. In July 437, a Nerthenian militia of 15,000 was defeated, leading to the imminent surrender of Davkhoan, and the deteriorating situation in Erisko led to 5,000 soldiers defecting to Veunor in late August. By the end of the campaign in September, Veunor had an army of 28,000 soldiers: 15,000 *custodes*, now more experienced and better armed, 9,000 militia, 2,000 missile cavalry and 2,000 *zantoli*.

The Augustian emperor Maegrus I even considered withdrawing legions from Morvania to fight Veunor's growing army, but decided not to after Varkhos' victory in Talglenus.

(note: rewrite background, this is getting out of hand, put the background above into the "Rebuilding of Veunoria" page - Valixor)

## Notes

1. ↑ Professional soldiers took years and large amounts of money to train, though they were way cheaper once they were fully trained. This long-term cost was too much for most states, faced with constant raids, so mercenary forces, with a low upfront cost but high salary were preferred. One consequence was that most land wars in the classical and medieval period in Carannia were small in scale, and mostly fought over strategic trade locations, but naval wars were far larger.
2. ↑ The number of 30+ legions includes large numbers of auxiliaries. In that period, 21 proper legions were sent to Morvania.
3. ↑ While obviously false, the source for this exaggerated number is uncertain, and features in the Acta Erisci of April 437 where Veunor's army is mentioned in passing.
4. ↑ By the end of April, these legions had already left Erisko to suppress the Morvanian Uprising.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Wars of Veunoria/*Bella Veunoriae*, Book I, Veunor Caldurus revised translation, 1939, Halwich Publishing Group
2. ↑ History of Augustia (*Historia Imperii Augustii*), Book XXVIII (420-445 CE), Gnaeus Tustulus, translation 1874
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Acta Erisci, April 1257 AUC/437 CE - Acta Imperii 320 BCE-514 CE revised translation, 1936, Halwich Publishing Group
4. ↑ Acta Erisci, July 1259 AUC/439 CE