Plinius and the Gladiators (5)

Plinius Fulius was a young man untested in battle but his father was highly placed amongst Tullus's supporters. Tullus being hard pressed for Men of high rank decided to give the charismatic man a chance to prove himself on the field. Tullus would have thought twice if he had known the Gods would pit him against Dewolfus. However, the young man had charm and Tullus knew that that meant luck when it came to the Gods. He was to need a lot of luck Tullus thought when he heard reports of the coming battle in the Senones valley.

Plinius was no fool though and had taken great care in preparing for a heavy battle of Roman armour. He had the largest formations of horse yet seen in the Campaign and to back these he had enlarged his heavy Infantry by enlisting Gladiators. These tough fighters had been stripped of most of their heavy Gladiatorial armour and had been reequipped from the army stores. Those individuals with names for themselves decided to keep their heavy 'show' armour for recognition. As a result the unit entered the field in heavy armour and made for a very impressive sight as it marched down the hill and across the plain. Plinius knew these trained fighters lacked the iron discipline of the Legions, so he joined them with a small bodyguard and the Eagle party. If they did start to fall back he would be on hand to stop them.