Interlude: Bolgios of the Treverii

Coming south to the Greek Lands may have been the best choice he could have made, reflected Bolgios of the Treverii. When his father had perished at the hands of the Boii, and his older brother been made a subordinate of the Boii King, Boatharios, there were those among his father's warriors who had demanded they strike against the Boii. These warriors had looked to Bolgios for leadership. His brother had told him that either Bolgios could take those warriors out of Pannonia and not be considered a renegade, or he could lead them into Boii Lands on a suicide mission, be declared an outlaw, and rebel, and have his name be cursed for 3 generations.

At the time, Bolgios had resented being given that impossible choice. Even after arriving in Macedon, he still questioned whether he had made the right decision, especially after that copper counter, Demetrios had cut his and his troop's pay. Now though? As his cavalry rode into a small formation of encamped Macedonian skirmishers, putting them to flight? He was glad he came.

As he hacked down at a skirmisher who was desperately trying to fend off his assault by using a javelin like an extremely short spear, Bolgios knew that his brother had been right about 1 thing. Attacking the Boii with 3,000 men was suicide. He would not accomplish any vengeance with such an action. He would only die heroically, like the poor Macedonian goat herder trying desperately to fend off his spatha. The dumb bastard hadn't had the sense to run after half his contingent had fled and now he'd overextended with his too-short weapon and Bolgios' spatha carved into the poor bastard's shoulder from above, slicing through the padded cloth of the tunic and taking his arm off in a spray of gore. No doubt Bolgios would have suffered a similar fate if he had attacked the Boii.

Looking around, Bolgios saw that his cavalry had made quick work of the rest of this Lochos of skirmishers, those who stayed to fight at any rate. With the Macedonians all either dead, dying, or fled, it was now time to start looting this camp. 640 men had been stationed here, even if they had turned out to mostly be green as goose shite. There had to be decent loot.

That was another reason why coming south had been a better choice. Alone, with only what warriors would desert, Bolgios had no hope of overthrowing his brother, consolidating power, and marching on the Boii. 3,000 men would not be near enough to defeat the 7,000 others his brother still had loyal to him, never mind the Boii's tens of thousands. However, coming south allowed him to gain wealth. Gaining it from war plunder also enhanced his reputation as a leader. With enough wealth and fame, he could gather warriors to his cause and overthrow his coward of a brother, then demolish the Boii in battle, cast down their fortresses, and let the crows feast on the eyes of their king, Boatharios. He might even be able to parlay this war into a working relationship with the Greeks.

"At the very least, it will let me buy better equipment for my troops." He muttered as he searched a large tent. Looking around the tent, he found provisions and equipment, but no gold. Equipment mostly consisted of iron javelins, helmets, and swords, a few smaller pelta shields, and the padded cloth tunics that the skirmishers had been wearing. Nothing too worth taking, though he was certain he could find some dumb bastard willing to buy such low-quality equipment. The bigger find was the wealth of wine, olives, salted pork, and other foodstuffs. He'd even found some freshly killed sheep just waiting to be roasted for the Locharch and his officers.

"Not bad." He grinned, picked up a small, handheld, amphoriskai, and popped off the stopper, sniffing at the contents. He grinned as he smelled the heady scent of some very good wine.

"Why do you have there, my lord?" Came an aged voice from the opening of the tent.

Bolgios turned to see the older form of Billius, his father's second in command and now his. The older warrior was grizzled, but still alive and vital, with only his voice betraying the toll being exiled had taken on him in these years.

"Lemnian wine. Whoever the Locharch who commanded this camp was, he had good taste." Grinned Bolgios.

"Yes, that tracks with what young Camulus found. A whole trove of coins, expensive clothes, and even a set of high-quality equipment like those of our employers." Nodded Billius.

"Show me." Insisted Bolgios.

Billius did show him. In a tent set up in the exact middle of the camp, was a lavish treasure trove of fine clothing, silver chalices and plates, and the pay chest for the entire Lochos containing 19,500 drachmae, or roughly 3.25 talents of silver. The biggest find, however, was the finely crafted, high-quality iron, breastplate, greaves, helmet, vambraces, shield, and Falcata sitting on an armor stand.

Bolgios turned to Camulus, the youngest cavalryman who had joined him in exile, no more than a youth of 16 when they had set out from Pannonia. Now a man of 20 winters.

"You found all this? I'm surprised you knew what to look for." He teased.

"Big tent means a big payday, right? Besides, come look at this." Grinned Camulus, leading Bolgios toward an odd wooden table with the papyrus these greeks loved to write things down on. Bolgios looked down at the papyrus and saw orders. This lochos was to break camp in the morning to march northwest and meet up with a larger force aiming to retake Ktimene from the Epirotes and close the route back through the mountains for Pyrrhus.

"Huh, it looks like not only have we defeated a decent-sized formation of enemy troops, not only have we found good plunder, but we've stumbled upon a hint of that cur Demetrios' plans. Look here, Bilius." Grinned Bolgios.

Bilius scanned the orders and frowned. "We're supposed to ride east to burn Demetrios' precious new war fleet tomorrow. We don't have time to chase after various contingents of troops forming up to strike at an already garrisoned city." He intoned.

"True, and I wouldn't deny us a chance to burn those ships that cur wanted so much that he felt it was acceptable to cut our pay to get them. However, the heavy swords and skirmishers under Bannus and Cudius are still with our employer's column and not needed for a raid, seeing as they aren't mounted. We send them orders to take this Macedonian assault force by the rear as they try to siege out Pyrrhus' garrison. Our employers have many thousands of men, they won't miss 2 thousand more, not when those men could be put to better use." Explained Bolgios.

"Their Strategos, Atreus might not be so forgiving. They might think we're breaking the contract with them, just like we did with Demetrios, and attack us on sight." Cautioned Billius.

"That's why we include the orders with Demetrios' seal and tell Bannus and Cudius to show them to Strategos Atreus as proof of our intentions. He'll have to let them attack the army heading for Ktimene or he'll have to tell Pyrrhus why he could have prevented the city's capture and chose not to." Nodded Bolgios.

"You think that will work?" Asked Camulus.

"From all accounts, Pyrrhus of Epirus is not someone you want to cross. Bardyllis did, and now where is he? Dead. His conquests were given over to Epirus, and his homeland was divided amongst claimants to his throne. I don't think Atreus has the stomach to stand up to someone like that." Shrugged Bolgios.

"As you say, my lord." Replied Billius, preparing to make the necessary arrangements.

For now, Bolgios would rest his horses and feast his men. He would break out the Lemnian wine, olives, and roast the fresh mutton from the provisions tent. He would share out the loot amongst his captains and pay his troops with coin seized from the pay chest of the enemy. He would sleep in the tent of the lapdog of Demetrios and don his armor when morning came. He would do all the things a proper chief would do and cement himself as a better chief than his brother in the eyes of the men. Then tomorrow, they would ride east, heading for the new fleet beached on the shores of the Pegasian Gulf.

When they arrived, they would burn those expensive ships to the ground and repay Demetrios' insult with fire and ash. . .

XXXX

AN: So this shows a glimpse of what the Gallic Auxiliaries are doing in this campaign. Already this war is going to have consequences reaching far outside the Mediterranean, starting with the Gauls currently ruling Pannonia.

IOTL Bolgios was 1 of the Gallic Chiefs that invaded Greece with Brennus. Here, he's planning to take the fame and loot he earns here to attract an army to himself and attack the Pannonian Boii, 1 of the largest Gallic tribes in Pannonia and thus a major contributor to the overpopulation.

If the Gallic invasion of Greece still comes, it's going to be leaner, meaner, and more technologically advanced than IOTL thanks to this.

Next up will be an interlude with Porphyrios and the Epirote Fleet, their secret mission, and how that plays out.

Stay tuned. . .