[Teaser] The Jugurthine War Part III

Here's a portion of the script (WIP) for the third installment of the Jugurthine War mini-series. Enjoy!

Intro

Jugurtha had spent years carefully plotting his takeover of the Kingdom of Numidia. His audacity and cunning knew no bounds as he assassinated rivals, bribed Roman officials, and kept at bay the numerous legions sent against him. But finally in 109 BC, the Consul Metelleus, a foe both keen of mind and pure of virtue, stood ready to challenge him. Their epic clash would feature pitched battles, sieges, and guerilla warfare which resulted in the bloodiest year of the war so far. Let us now see who was the better of these two generals.

The Battle of Muthul

The year was 109 BC and the Consul Metellus had just finished whipping his men into fighting shape in time for the campaign season. With his army now prepared for battle, the general now led the Legions back into Numidia, determined not to meet the humiliating fate of Albinus. The Consul was at the head of the column with a mixed force of light infantry from the Legions and auxiliary archers and slingers. The rear was brought up by Marius and a force of cavalry, while the flanks of the column were guarded by additional auxiliary cavalry and light troops mixed with them for close support. The Romans’ first target was the town of Vaga, a major center of trade in Numidia where several Italian businessmen had also settled. The settlement did not resist the Consul’s advance, and after garrisoning it he now had a major logistical base inside Numidia itself. Throughout this first part of the campaign, streams of envoys continued to come from Jugurtha, but they were repeatedly rebuffed by Metellus, who continued to convince many of them to betray their king. Finally, Jugurtha decided he had no other choice but to resolve the issue on the battlefield, and gathered a large army to face the Romans.

Sallust describes to us the site that Jugurtha carefully chose to make his stand: quote

“In the part of Numidia which Adherbal had received in the division, there was a river rising in the south by the name of Muthul, from which there was a mountain twenty miles distant on a parallel course, forsaken by nature and human cultivation. But from the middle of it, reaching an immense distance, there sprang a kind of hill which was covered in wild olive and myrtle and other types of tree that grow in arid and sandy ground. In the middle there was a plain which, owing to the dearth of water, was desert apart from the areas near the river: these were planted with copses and frequented by live-stock and farmers. It was on this hill, then, which we have said stretched on a sideways route, that Jugurtha extended his line of men and took up position.”

As to the nature of the opposing armies, we unfortunately have few details on their size. The force inherited by Metellus from Albinus seems to have been larger than the standard Consular army of the time, based on Sallust’s mention of a “third Legion”, as well as the additional Auxiliaries raised to support the army. We can thus estimate that the Romans could have had as many as 40,000 men. Similarly, we have few details on Jugurtha’s army, save that it outnumbered the Romans and was composed of a mixture of infantry, the vaunted Numidian light cavalry, and a contingent of 44 war elephants. Assigning numbers to his army is thus problematic, but it is likely Jugurtha had at least several thousand more men to call upon than Metellus.

When forming his army up, Jugurtha kept the pick of his infantry and all of the cavalry under his command, while his war elephants and a supporting force of infantry were given to his second in command, Bomilcar. The infantry were likely placed in the center of the formation, while the cavalry and elephants would have been used to protect the army’s flanks. The Romans soon arrived on the battlefield, and it did not take long for Metellus to notice the Numidians stationed on the high ground. The Consul quickly deduced that Jugurtha planned to trap him between the hills and the river to his back, and he reformed his march column to be able to swiftly deploy into battle order when the time came. He had his right flank, the one closest to the enemy, heavily reinforced with three lines of reserves rather than the traditional two that Roman armies fought with at the time. He then spread his archers and slingers between the Legionary maniples in the center of the formation, while the flanks were covered by the cavalry. With his forces now prepared, Metellus advanced into the open plains, with Marius at the van of the column with a part of the cavalry.

As Jugurtha remained steadfastly on top of the hill, Metellus believed that the Numidians would aim to wear down the Romans in a series of skirmishes rather than descend from the high ground and fight a pitched battle. Thus, he sent one of his Legates, Rutilius, with a force of cavalry and light infantry to quickly secure a camp site near the river. However, once the entire Roman column had marched into the open, Jugurtha’s true plan was revealed in full. 2,000 Numidian infantry now detached from the army and moved to block the path that the Romans had just used to enter the field, cutting off an easy route of escape. With the Romans being boxed in, Jugurtha ordered the attack, catching the enemy by surprise. Sallust describes the chaos that followed:

“Some Numidians slaughtered those in the rear, others made assaults from left and right: their presence and pressure were ferocious, and in every quarter they disrupted the ranks of the Romans – amongst whom even the stauncher ones, when encountering the enemy, were bewildered by the irregularity of the battle, being wounded themselves only from long range and having no opportunity of striking back or fighting hand to hand. When a Roman squadron began a pursuit, Jugurtha’s cavalry, following earlier instructions, did not retreat in a body or in the same direction but dispersed in as many different ways as possible. So, whenever they were unable to deter the enemy from pursuit, with their superior numbers they simply surrounded their scattered pursuers from the rear or flanks; and, whenever the hill was more advantageous for flight than the plain, the Numidians’ horses were of course on familiar ground and easily made and easily made their way through the bush, while the harshness and unusualness of the terrain held our men back.”

And yet, despite this dire situation, Metellus’ men did not break like those under Albinus had just a year before. The Romans stubbornly held their ground and nerve throughout the day, until the Numidians began to grow tired and the pace of their attacks lessened. Jugurtha’s infantry were now especially cautious, and had largely retreated to the relative safety of the high ground. Metellus was quick to seize upon this opportunity, and the Roman army now began to redress its ranks while the Consul personally rallied four Cohorts of infantry to his side to storm the hills. Jugurtha tried to urge his men on the heights to stand their ground, but as the Legions began to march up towards them the battle turned against the Numidians, who retreated in the face of the superior close- Roman infantry. The Numidians sustained some casualties, but most of them escaped owing to their greater mobility and knowledge of the local terrain.

Meanwhile, a second engagement was taking place near the Roman camp site, where Bomilcar decided to seize the opportunity to prevent Rutilius from constructing this safe haven for Metellus’ army. Unlike in the battle on the plains, here the Numidians quickly came to grips with the Romans, hoping that their powerful war elephants would allow them to rapidly break through their lines. However, the rough terrain impeded the charge of these living tanks of antiquity, and when the Numidian infantry at the front realized this, and that the rest of the Roman army would soon be reinforcing Rutilius, they quickly lost heart and began to flee. The Numidian elephants suffered catastrophic losses as they became bogged down and were overwhelmed, but again many of the enemy warriors escaped thanks to their greater knowledge of the terrain, or due to the cover of night.

And yet, even with Jugurtha having quit the field, the Romans had learned not to underestimate him, and remained on high alert, now seeking to concentrate all of their forces together. However, darkness was by now approaching and made visibility poor, and the two parts of the Roman army under Metellus and Rutilius actually first mistook each other for more Numidians and came close to attacking each other in their nervous excitement. Luckily, the cavalry in either detachment prevented this potential “friendly fire” scenario by riding ahead of the main force and quickly reporting the correct identity of the opposing army to their commanders. With his army regrouped, Metellus made camp near the Muthul, where the Romans remained for the next four days tending to their wounded and handing out rewards to deserving soldiers.