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Chapter 767 – Capturing Ostia
While the siege intensified, the Third Fleet under Miltiades sailed to the mouth of the Tiber River and approached the port of Ostia.
But the Romans had already blockaded the port with iron chains and placed archers in the watch towers to shoot flaming arrows at approaching warships as a deterrent.
Unexpectedly, the Third Fleet just bypassed the port and instead docked on the south bank of the Tiber River one after another.
The walled city of Ostia is rectangular, with its long west side facing the coast. If Theonia wanted to attack from this direction, they could only cross the sea, which was too difficult. So the Theonian army attacked the east and south sides, while the shorter north side was the port.
Why didn’t they build Ostia along the banks of the Tiber River? Although it would be convenient for the lives of the city’s residents, the large lake to the east of the port provided even greater convenience for working in the fields or fetching water. This elliptical lake, formed when the Tiber River overflowed, is around three hundred metres long from north to south and a length of more than two hundred metres from east to west and has become an integral part of the city of Ostia. In addition, the Ostians had wisely left enough space between the lakeside and the city area to prevent the nearby houses from flooding when the Tiber’s surges towards the lake.
So the Senate wasn’t too concerned about Ostia’s security even after the war with Theonia. Nevertheless, they followed the advice of the Carthaginians by building a relatively long breakwater in the lake near the banks of the Tiber, mainly to prevent the Theonians from pushing their ships a few metres over the banks to enter the city through the lake.
But the Theonian fleet had truly come. After their warships sailed eastward along the riverbank, they bypassed the newly built breakwater, docked on the south side of the Tiber River, and dropped the fleet infantry, each carrying a large wooden plank. Then, under the officers’ orders, the two thousand eight hundred fleet infantry assembled (the Third Fleet had a total of seventy corvus warships).
They reached the lake after advancing a few hundred metres. Then they placed wooden planks in the water, and their helmets, wooden shields, leather scale armour, and short swords on top of the planks. Then, wearing only a leather vest and sandals, they held the sides of the planks with both hands and floated on the water, relying on their legs as oars by kicking the water to move forward. And for the fleet infantry, swimming across a lake less than a kilometre long was an easy task as they were proficient in moving through the water due to rigorous training.
Some people in the city of Ostia shouted in fear when they realised that enemies were swimming towards the city from the lake where they drank and swam, hoping the defending soldiers could prevent the enemy from coming ashore.
But it was already too late, as the vanguard of the fleet infantry had already landed ashore, who then put on their helmets and picked up their wooden shields and short swords. Although the wet and muddy soil made it difficult to walk on, the fleet infantry had an easier time since they were mostly fishermen by birth and had played on the shores near the sea since childhood. Not only did they march freely, but they also gradually formed up in formation as they advanced.
And by the time the defending general received the news, most of the fleet infantry had already gone ashore, and the city was in chaos.
Though the city’s defences were already tight due to the Theonian army’s fierce assault, the Roman general still had to squeeze a few troops and send them into the city to block the fleet infantry’s advance to avoid getting attacked on two sides. But this is just drinking poison to quench their thirst.
The mounted cavalry, observing the defenders’ movements, quickly reported the changes in the enemy to King Davos. So without hesitation, King Davos sent the well-trained Fourth Legion to join the siege immediately, which was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
The Theonian army finally took Ostia at dusk.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Meanwhile, hooves rushing through the city of Rome, which had just quietened at dusk, broke the silence. And the messenger kept on shouting, “Emergency military report! Emergency military report!…” to make the people in the streets dodge in advance to avoid any accidents.
But that had naturally aroused many Romans’ doubts and panic, “What happened?! Could Camillus be defeated?!”
“Don’t say such things! How could Camillus lose?! It should be that our army must have captured the city of Ferentinum!”
“The messenger who has just arrived should have already said it if it were a victory, there was no need for him to rush to the Senate first.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While the Romans kept discussing, the messenger rode through the square and pushed open the Senate Hall’s entrance.
The Roman senators were preparing to leave the hall and go home to rest, so they were greatly shocked once they learned about the Theonian army’s arrival from the sea and was about to land on the coast of Latium.
Over the past few days, the Senate’s main task has been to listen to the progress of the Roman army’s war against the Hernicans. But just as they eagerly awaited news of their ultimate victory, the Theonians had unexpectedly attacked them first.
‘Aren’t the Theonians fighting against Carthage in Sicily at the moment? Are they not defending themselves against the invasion of the Samintes?!!…’ The reaction of most of the Roman senators to this news was one of disbelief.
But unlike most senators’ horrified expressions, Potitus still appeared somewhat calm as he loudly asked, “Have you determined where the Theonian army would land?”
The messenger replied, “General Paulus had sent mounted scouts to track along the coast, and I believe we will receive the news soon.”
Potitus pondered and muttered, “Ardea? It shouldn’t be! It’s too close to Antium, and our army could easily disrupt the Theonians’ landing… There’s a possibility it would be on the coast of Lavinium since this small city doesn’t have many soldiers at all…”
Before he could finish speaking, Apuleius shouted, “Ostia isn’t far from Lavinium!”
“Ostia! The Theonian’s most likely target is Ostia!!…” A burst of exclamation rang out in the hall. Most of them had participated in various affairs of city-states and foreign wars before becoming senators, so they were acutely aware of the cost of losing Ostia and the benefits the Theonians would gain by obtaining it.
“Ostia has three thousand defenders, and Paulus, Maegius and Pantheus would definitely gather their troops and rush to stop them once they found any anomalies. So the situation shouldn’t be too bad,” Lucretius comforted the crowd.
“The previous battles have already taught us how strong the Theonian soldiers are. And according to the messenger’s report just now, the number of Theonian troops about to land is probably more than the number of soldiers we sent to guard the border of Volsci. In addition, the ten thousand Theonian reinforcements within Volsci have also rushed to assist them in their landing, so we must prepare for the worst. Paulus and the others may fail to stop the enemy from landing, and the enemy will likely attack Ostia!” the cautious Potitus warned.
“They shouldn’t be able to attack Ostia in such a short time even if they manage to land smoothly. We still have a chance!” Apuleius exclaimed.
Many senators immediately supported his words. Not only had they misjudged the situation, but the Theonians had also boldly launched another attack from the sea, bypassing the heavily defended Roman towns and cities and attacking Latium, rendering their southwestern defence strategy useless.
“I am afraid Paulus and the others are already fighting the Theonians, and we could only receive the battle situation in the evening,” Ambustus warned them not to expend any more energy on blind speculation. Then he said seriously, “What we must do now is send someone to inform Camillus!”
“I disagree with your suggestion. It is already dark outside, and riding in the dark is dangerous, especially since the terrain in the Tiber Valley is uneven. What’s more, there are remnants of the Hernicans roaming in the wilderness there, and the person we send to inform Camillus of this would most likely have to lose his life before he could reach Camillus. It is a small matter for him to lose his life, but once they fall into the Hernicans and their allies’ hands and learn of the great invasion of the Theonians, it would greatly boost their morale and cause problems for Camillus to lead his army to retreat.” Publius Cornelius Scipio immediately objected.
Many senators believed that what he said was reasonable.
But someone’s voice rang out loudly, “No matter how difficult it is, we must still send someone to inform Camillus this evening so he can lead his troops back as soon as possible!” Potitus spoke decisively. After looking at everyone with a grave expression, he said, “Fellow senators, a serious problem has come to mind. Throughout my decades of life, war had remained as unpredictable as the temperaments of the gods. So even if you think the situation is already bad, it will become even worse! Thus we must consider the possibility that the Theonian army will attack our city of Rome!”
His words caused another uproar in the Senate Hall.
‘Even if the Theonians took a risk to bypass Rome’s land defences and attack Ostia, would they have the audacity to go deep and invade the interior of the Latium region alone?! To brazenly attack a Roman city with enemies all around them?!!’ Although many senators were shocked at Potitus’ speculation, they remained completely sceptical, ‘Ostia alone would already cost them quite a lot of time!’