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Khushi Jaan, California City, CA (2025)

12/27/2025

The Battle Caesar Didn’t Win. ,

12/13/2025

Upon the death of Junius Bassus, governor of Judea, the new governor, Flavius Silva, dedicated himself to besieging Masada, which appeared impregnable. Since the province was now pacified, he brought an entire legion, the X Fretensis, along with auxiliary units, totaling approximately 10-15,000 men: the Roman superiority was overwhelming, and the Romans wanted to make a show of force. The Roman intentions were clear from the start; Flavius Silva had a rampart built all around the fortress, about 1.80 m high and interspersed with legionary and auxiliary camps, for a total of 11 towers and 8 camps. Closer to the camp and exposed were 5 auxiliary camps, while two legionary camps were in a more protected position. Finally, a camp was located to the northwest, on a hill slightly higher than the fortress, where Flavius Silva established himself: the Romans, in overwhelming numerical superiority, had not only closed off every possible escape route, but had even positioned themselves higher up. However, the very steep slopes of the hill prevented any attack; the path towards the Dead Sea was controlled by the tower, while the more accessible path had been blocked by boulders weighing 45 kg each. After inspecting the perimeter, Flavius Silva found a point where the difference in elevation was "only" 137 meters. The Romans decided to fill the gap with a huge embankment, built in about 2 months, at the top of which a platform approximately 29 meters wide was created. A 27-meter-high siege tower equipped with catapults and ballistae, and a battering ram, was built and brought to the top of the embankment. The tower managed to breach the walls with the battering ram, but the Zealots began throwing all sorts of flammable objects and torches at it, setting it on fire; until the wind changed direction and the fire also burned the scaffolding that the Jews had built on the walls, causing the section demolished by the battering ram to collapse. The Romans retreated, preparing for the assault the following day. The next morning, the sight was desolate for the Romans: they found nothing but corpses.

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history (Photo Angus Mcbride)

12/13/2025

On November 3, 361 AD, Emperor Constantius II died in Cilicia while marching against his cousin Julian, who had been acclaimed emperor by the Gallic soldiers and thus remained the sole emperor.
The last surviving son of Constantine, of A***n faith, he initially ruled with his brothers Constans and Constantine II, with whom he initiated a purge against the remaining descendants of Constantine, particularly Hannibalianus and Dalmatius, while Julian was spared, remaining confined to Cappadocia for many years.
He fought the Persians in the East for many years, until he remained the only direct descendant of Constantine. He faced and defeated the usurper Magnentius, reuniting the empire. He remained on the Gallic frontier, then decided to adopt his cousin Julian as Caesar and entrust him with that frontier, while he returned to the East. In 357, Constantius visited Rome in honor of his vicennalia, beautifying it with the obelisk now in San Giovanni, then located in the Circus Maximus. In 360, on the occasion of a renewed Persian threat, he requested troops from Julian, who, however, rebelled against the idea of being sent to the East, acclaiming him emperor. The two would have eventually clashed if Constantius had not died beforehand, at just 44 years old, leaving the empire in the hands of the young pagan emperor.
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12/13/2025

During Caesar's first landing in Britain, in 55 BC, the Romans found themselves in great difficulty, with the Britons waiting for them on the shore. The legionaries were hesitant, until the standard-bearer of the Tenth Legion, Caesar's favorite, jumped into the water against the enemy, shouting (De Bello Gallico, IV, 22): "Jump down, comrades, unless you want to betray the eagle to the enemy: I will certainly perform my duty to the republic and to the emperor."
The legionaries then, spurred on by the standard-bearer, followed him and managed to drive back the Britons, who dispersed.
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12/13/2025

In 496 BC, the Latin League and a faction of Romans who supported the Tarquins prepared to fight against the Roman Republic. The Latin army numbered approximately 40,000 men and 3,000 cavalry, while Rome could field 24,000 infantry (4 legions) and 3,000 cavalry. The consuls Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis and Titus Verginius Tricostus Celiomontanus found themselves facing, among their enemies, Tarquinius Superbus and Sextus Tarquinius. Verginius decided to appoint Aulus Postumius as dictator to more decisively manage the war; half of the army was positioned between Rome and Tusculum, with one legion under the command of Postumius and the other under Verginius, while two legions remained in reserve in Rome, under the command of Titus Aebutius Helva, appointed magister equitum (master of the horse).
The Latins, seeing the scarcity of their enemies, began to prepare for an attack together with the Volsci of Antium, while Postumius brought in the remaining forces from Rome, positioning them between the mountain and Lake Regillus (perhaps the area of present-day Monte Porzio Catone or Monte Compatri, in the Castelli Romani). After an uncertain clash, Consul Aulus Postumius led the charge of the Roman cavalry.
The intervention of the Roman cavalry reversed the fortunes of the battle, which saw the Latins finally flee. Marcus Valerius Volusus Maximus, brother of Valerius Publicola, the first consul of Rome with Lucius Brutus, charged against the young Titus Tarquinius but was killed. Tarquinius Superbus attacked Postumius but was wounded and carried to safety by his men. Mamilius, wounded, returned to fight. But Titus Herminius saw him and killed him, but wounded himself, he returned among the Romans, where he died while being treated. Rumors spread among the Romans that the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, had appeared on two white horses to lead the counterattack – a story perhaps partly stemming from the fact that it was the Roman nobles themselves who had turned the tide of the battle. Castor and Pollux were then said to have raced back to Rome to announce the victory. Having defeated the Latin League, Postumius and Aebutius returned triumphantly to Rome. The dictator then decided to erect a temple to the Dioscuri as a sign of gratitude.

12/13/2025

On November 6, 331 AD, Flavius Claudius Julianus was born, later nicknamed "the Apostate" by Christians. He was the only surviving relative (along with his half-brother Constantius Gallus) of the three sons of Constantine, who, in the summer of 337 AD, after their father's death, purged their relatives. Julian eventually decided to fully embrace paganism after becoming acquainted with the Neoplatonic philosophers Libanius and Maximus in Constantinople, where he returned after a six-year period of virtual confinement in Cappadocia, where he had been sent by his cousins and raised according to Christian teachings.
He wrote many works (including panegyrics), and on November 6, 355 AD, on his twenty-fourth birthday, Constantius II made him Caesar in Mediolanum (Milan). Constantius's other brothers had died: Constantine II in a war against his brother Constans, and the latter had been defeated by Magnentius in 350. Finally, the Gallic usurper had also fallen at the hands of Constantius II, who found himself ruling a vast empire and decided to divide it with his cousin, his only surviving relative.
Julian proved to be a good administrator and commander, defeating the Alamanni at Argentoratum (Strasbourg) in 357 AD, and was finally acclaimed Augustus and emperor by the Gallic soldiers in 360, who were discontented by the news that Constantius II had requested those units for his Persian campaign. Julian hesitated, but finally accepted: a conflict was only avoided because Constantius II died beforehand: the pagan emperor remained the sole emperor. He promoted pagan worship at the expense of Christianity, preventing Christian teachers from teaching (saying that their teachings contradicted the faith), and finally invaded Persia, but after initial victories he was forced to retreat, because Procopius, to whom he had entrusted part of the army and who was supposed to arrive from Armenia, had disappeared. During the retreat, he was finally wounded in a skirmish at Maranga, and died shortly afterwards.
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history stories

12/13/2025

After throwing the at the 's command and quickly drawing their gladius from their right side, the charged the enemy, remaining in formation, but generally leaving some space on their flanks to fight more effectively. In fact, recalled that during combat each legionary maintained a distance of slightly less than a meter from his comrade, and only when necessary did they close ranks into a wall of shields, especially to repel enemy attacks. The combination of throwing the pilum and attacking with the gladius, if well executed, was deadly: at in 197 BC, the legionaries, despite the difficulty in fighting the Macedonian phalanx, when they managed to infiltrate the enemy formation with their maniples, caused a massacre, also because they did not understand the Macedonian gesture of surrender, which consisted of raising their sarissas.

“When [the Macedonians] saw the bodies dismembered by the Spanish sword, arms severed from shoulders, heads cut off from trunks, entrails exposed and other horrible wounds […] a tremor of horror ran through the ranks.”

LIVY, AB URBE CONDITA LIBRI, ###I, 34

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Learn more about Roman History: www.storieromane.it

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Image by Giuseppe Rava: https://www.g-rava.it/it/rava
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12/13/2025

In 43 AD, Emperor Claudius found a pretext to invade the island of Britannia: the restoration to the throne of Verica, a king recognized by the Romans. Claudius, having recently become emperor, sought military legitimacy for his title; in fact, he had always dedicated himself to literature, philosophy, and politics (Claudius was a true philologist: he decided to introduce new letters into the Latin alphabet for certain sounds). He therefore decided to invade the island of Britannia. The command of the operations was entrusted to Aulus Plautius, the first governor of the island, in command of 4 legions (II Augusta, IX Hispana, XIV Gemina, XX Valeria Victrix – the II Augusta was commanded by the future emperor Vespasian) and 20,000 auxiliaries.
The Roman campaigns lasted several years and required several emperors, but this did not prevent Claudius from claiming (despite the island not being pacified) the title of Britannicus, so much so that he gave the same name to his son (later killed by Nero). Initially, under the principate of Claudius, Roman rule was confined to the southeast of the island, that is, to central and southern England. The conquest was rapid, but the pacification and organization of the province took much longer. On the morning of the invasion, Vespasian, who would one day become emperor, distinguished himself by launching an assault on enemy positions, crossing the Medway River with the Legio II Augusta that he commanded. The clash was very fierce and was only resolved the following day with the enemy's retreat. However, the conquest was far from certain, with the territories taken by the Romans roughly limited to present-day central and southern England. The Romans established their main center at Camulodunum, in the southeast of the island. ________
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history

12/13/2025

Hadrian's Wall

Constructed of concrete and faced with dressed stones, it was on average 8 Roman feet wide (about 2.5 meters), while the rampart rose to about 5-6 meters and had battlements and a patrol walkway. There were approximately 320 signal towers, and every mile, almost always adjacent to the rampart, there were quadrangular forts of about 20 m x 20 m for the sentinels who guarded the entire perimeter of the fort. At a distance of 4-5 miles from each other, there were actual forts (castra stativa or stationes) of 1 or 2 hectares, built against the wall or even set back from it, where auxiliary cohorts and alae were stationed to patrol the border. For further protection of the wall, on the northern side, there was a ditch with the typical Roman V-shape, averaging 9 m wide and 4 m deep. For further protection, on the inner side, there was another ditch protected by an embankment both front and back, about 7 meters from the ditch (which in turn was about 60 meters from the wall) and averaging about 2 meters high. Finally, a third, narrower but steeper embankment defended the southernmost side of the ditch. A paved road ran along the entire wall, allowing for the rapid movement of troops along the limes and the arrival of reinforcements (legions and auxiliaries) from the interior.

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12/13/2025

In the 3rd century AD, the Praetorian Guard became even more crucial to the political balance in Rome. From this period onwards, and indeed already from the time of Marcus Aurelius, they always accompanied the emperor on his long military campaigns on the Rhine, Danube, and in the East. The political weight of the Praetorian prefect simultaneously became increasingly significant, becoming a kind of vice-emperor, like Timothy under Gordian III and his successor Philip (known as the Arab), who would seize power and become emperor. The Praetorians then killed and deposed emperors as they wished: Pupienus and Balbinus, considered saviors of the republic by the Senate after the elimination of Maximinus Thrax in 238, were brutally murdered. Even a beloved emperor, like Aurelian or Probus, would perish at the hands of the Praetorians. The corps, reduced in size by the Tetrarchy, was finally disbanded by Constantine.
In the image: Praetorians from the first half of the 3rd century (Severan period)
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12/13/2025

“If someone were to contemplate the Roman people as a single individual and review their entire life, how they were born, how they grew, how they reached what can be called the maturity of their manhood, and how afterwards, so to speak, they reached old age, they would find that they passed through four stages of progress. The first period, when they were under the rule of kings, lasted for almost 400 years, during which they fought against their neighbors in the immediate vicinity of the capital. This period would be their infancy. The next period extends from the consulship of Brutus and Collatinus to that of Appius Claudius and Quintus Fulvius, a space of one hundred and fifty years, during which the Roman people subjugated Italy. It was an era of extreme activity for their soldiers and their arms, and can therefore be called their youth. The following period is given by the one hundred and fifty years up to the time of Caesar Augustus, during which peace spread throughout the world. This was the manhood and, so to speak, the robust maturity of the empire. From the time of Caesar Augustus to our own times there has been a period of no less than two hundred years, during which, due to the inactivity of the emperors, the Roman people, so to speak, grew old and lost their power, except that under the rule of Trajan they once again moved their arms and, contrary to general expectations, once again renewed their vigor with youth.”

(Florus, Epitome, I 1, 4-8)

Khushi Jaan

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