Rome Must Fall

The middle-aged man named Calpurnius Scaepula spoke urgently, “I served for many years as an engineer in the Roman army; I can help you build siege equipment. Quintus——” He pointed to the elderly man beside him, “served as a primus pilus for many years and has extensive siege experience. He can teach you how to attack Pompeii.”

Scaepula then pointed to the burly man who had spoken first, “Aulus, once a renowned warrior in the Roman army, has been awarded the Civic Crown for bravery. He can gather over 40 experienced warriors, who, though older, have rich combat experience, to fight alongside you.”

“What you’re saying is tempting, but it’s a pity…” Maximus sighed twice.

Quintus, who had been silently observing, finally spoke, “Since you’ve already made your decision, why didn’t you let the leader who originally received us tell us in that camp earlier? Sir Maximus, just say what you have to say.”

Realizing his intentions had been seen through, Maximus felt a bit embarrassed. He gave a dry laugh, looked at Quintus, and said seriously, “Even though the other leaders are against it, I still want to give it a try. However, I only have 800 soldiers under my command. A frontal assault on Pompeii is impossible. If you don’t have another plan, then let’s drop the matter and you can leave.”

“Eight hundred men, and you want to take Pompeii?! That’s simply——” Aulus began to exclaim, but Quintus cut him off sharply, “Aulus, be quiet!”

Aulus immediately fell silent.

Quintus looked at Maximus and asked, “Do you have paper and pen?”

“Yes,” Maximus quickly provided them.

Without hesitation, Quintus walked to the wooden table and started drawing.

Maximus leaned in to watch. He saw the elderly man quickly draw an oval shape with lines and dots on the papyrus.

Quintus looked at Maximus and explained, “This is a map of Pompeii.”

Maximus nodded in understanding.

“Pompeii’s walls are about one kilometer long. The walls facing inland are 700 meters long, with a height of five to six meters. The walls facing the sea are two to three meters high. There are six gates in total——” Quintus pointed to the map he had just drawn: “Herculaneum Gate, Vesuvius Gate, Capua Gate, Nola Gate, Sarnus Gate, and the Sea Gate. Pompeii has a population of over 6,000, with a city guard of 300. In an emergency, at least 800 can join the defense. The strength to defend the entire wall is insufficient for your entire force, but it’s more than enough to counter your 800 soldiers.”

Maximus said calmly, “I must remind you that among my 800 soldiers, only half have armor and weapons. The others are equipped only with farm tools and clubs.”

“You——” Aulus started to speak again but was quickly silenced by Scaepula beside him.

Quintus remained unfazed and continued slowly, “With only a few hundred men, capturing Pompeii by force is impossible. A surprise attack is the only way. When you first arrived at Vesuvius six months ago, Pompeii might have been lax, with city gates open until dusk and people moving freely. However, as your threat to the surrounding towns grew, Pompeii began keeping all land gates closed, rarely opening them.”

“All land gates?” Maximus picked up on the subtle clue in his words.

“Yes, all land gates. The sea gate, however, remains open.” Quintus took up the pen and drew a winding line on the map of Pompeii, indicating the coastline. Pointing to it, he said, “This is the coastline, and this is the sea gate. The Pompeians fear you, so they’ve closed all land gates, relying only on sea routes for external communication. All necessary supplies are brought in by merchant ships through the sea gate into the city.”

“So, you’re saying that if we want to launch a surprise attack, the only way is by sea—using ships to transport soldiers into the harbor and then entering the city through the sea gate?” Maximus asked, pondering.

Quintus tapped the coastline on the simple map and shook his head. “The Pompeians built their city here because the coastline is at least five meters higher than the city itself. There’s a sloping path from the sea gate to the harbor. Given that all land gates are closed, even if the sea gate is open, the checks are stricter than ever. It would be very difficult to sneak in, and storming the sea gate would be even harder.”

Quintus pointed to a specific spot along the coastline, “The harbor area on this side of the bay is at least a hundred meters from the sea gate. By the time your soldiers land, the sentries on the city walls will easily spot them. Once the sea gate is closed, the Pompeians will have the high ground to shoot arrows, leaving your men with no escape.”

“It seems with my limited force, capturing Pompeii is impossible,” Maximus sighed deeply and waved dismissively. “In that case, I won’t keep you any longer——”

“Sir Maximus, please wait!” Seeing that Maximus was about to dismiss them, Quintus quickly dropped his pretense and said urgently, “Attacking the sea gate directly is impossible, but launching a surprise attack from the harbor into the city is feasible!”

“Oh? Why?” Maximus responded nonchalantly, appearing indifferent.

“Look here,” Quintus pointed slightly upward and tapped heavily.

Maximus then noticed that on the left side of the sea gate, directly above the harbor, there was a break in the originally outlined map of Pompeii, an area that wasn’t connected: “What is this?”

“There’s a stretch of about 200 meters here without any city wall,” Quintus said in a low voice. “They say it’s been like this since the city was built. The reason might be that the elevation difference between this part of the city and the bay below is over eight meters, and the slope is very steep. It would be impossible for enemies to climb up, so it looks quite safe indeed. However, Pompeii has existed for hundreds of years, and the bay area below the city has now become a bustling port district. The area below this section without walls is now entirely covered with buildings. Some have even brazenly ignored the Pompeii city government’s prohibitions and built three-story buildings here, just to have more rooms to rent out to the poor people in the port area——”

Quintus paused for a moment, his indifferent expression suddenly becoming somewhat distorted. He sneered and said: “The only ones who would dare to do this, and yet leave the city government powerless against them, could only be Pompeii’s first family—the Vettii family, known as the ‘Protectors of Pompeii’——”

Hearing this, Maximus felt a jolt: the Vettii family is the very target of this old man’s desire for revenge!

Quintus continued, not noticing Maximus’ reaction, “The Vettii family built several three-story Roman-style houses side by side in the harbor area beneath this wall-less part of the city. The rooftops are nearly level with the city’s height. All we need to do is get to the rooftops and place four or five-meter-long wooden ladders or planks to easily enter the city from the harbor area.

“The people of Pompeii, like other Campanians, are cowardly and have never experienced war. With walls to rely on, they might have the courage to fight you. However, once you penetrate the city, even with just a hundred or two soldiers, they won’t dare to confront you unless they outnumber you by at least two or three times.”

Quintus snorted disdainfully and ran his finger across the map, “Once your soldiers enter the city from here, they can follow this road west for less than 200 meters to reach the Herculaneum Gate. Kill the guards and open the gate, allowing your other soldiers, who are lying in wait outside, to rush in. With your 800 men plus our support, you can completely conquer Pompeii!”

By the end, Quintus was visibly excited, but Maximus merely blinked and said, “From what you’re saying, entering the city from the nearby bay seems easy, but how can we get the troop ships into the harbor? If the Pompeians are on alert on land, they must also be vigilant at the harbor.”