H33

News of the Naval Skirmish at Aegilium Insula reached me fairly quickly and required me to send Kleon and his army South to Sicily in order to bolster our defenses on the Island. Unfortunately, with Carthage constantly skirmishing with my fleet in a number of running engagements, naval transport was a bit sparse on the ground at the moment, which meant that Kleon would need to march the long way back down the peninsula to Rhegion, and then use local ships to make the crossing to Sicily.

Predictably, by the time Kleon had made it as far south as Campania, news of the loss of Akragas and that Carthage had defeated a second army of five-thousand Local Sicilian Greeks south of Himera had reached me. By the time he's made the crossing to Zanclo, Himera itself was under siege. Unfortunately, I could not pay much attention to goings on in Sicily myself, because the entire first month of the fall campaign had me chasing Brutus all throughout Latium, attempting to pin his army down and force a decisive engagement.

It was a difficult task, to be sure. In the rugged terrain of Italy, my cavalry was of limited use, and with my fleet still tied up in skirmishes with the Carthaginian Navy, any naval support would be a long time coming. It seemed as if Brutus, having defeated Hortius Decius and his primarily Samnite Army, had now decided to use Hortius Decius' tactics against me. With steel weaponry looted from Hortius Decius' captured army, Brutus was inflicting casualties on my force in hit-and-run attacks.

Not too many at one time, mind, but they added up. That was a smart move on his part, as any ambush that turned into a major engagement would still see him lose, he avoided any amount of fighting that would draw in my main force, and After all, his numbers were still fewer than mine, and his men less blooded. Still, it tied up my army in skirmishing in Latium, while Carthage was on the advance in Sicily. As September turned to October, and Himera Fell to Carthage, I knew that I could not afford to dawdle.

Fortunately, the Local Sicilian Greek Poleis had finally mustered a force of Twenty-Five Thousand to join with Kleon's Army of Forty-thousand, so it was unlikely that Carthage would make any more gains in Sicily this year. I still required my decisive battle. Carthage had deep pockets, even if foreign adventurism in Brittania had drained their manpower. They could hire troops as mercenaries from their various clients in Gaul and Hispania to bolster their dwindling force in Sicily. With my fleet still engaged against theirs near Sardinia and Corsica, the crossing to Sicily was still open for them. I needed a win against Brutus, preferably this week.

It was on the second night of the first week of October after a party of scouts had been ambushed near Bovillae by another hit-and-run attack from Brutus' army, that I did the one thing I hadn't done since waking up as Pyrrhus those many years ago. I prayed. Religion was never my thing. In my old life, I had been an atheist, and even while taking on the role of Pyrrhus, I only really displayed piety when required of me by social convention. Finding out that there were aliens who could force your mind to time travel and implant it into a historical figure had sort of proven to me that Gods were hokum who could be faked with sufficiently advanced technology.

Still, it couldn't hurt to pray. If it was all bullshit, then one of two things would happen. Either nothing would come of it, or another one of those Alien Space Bats might take pity on me. Who knew what the outcome would be? After all, didn't the one who sent me here say he had entered me in some sort of contest? That implied a winner and a loser, and if helping me out caused him to win? Well, I could think of worse courses of action to take.

I ordered a goat brought to me, and when it came, made sacrifice to Zeus Panhellenios and prayed for the Gods to send me a sign that they were on my side in this war. I made a show of it in front of my army, cloaking my request for a hint at Brutus' whereabouts in terms of defending the Greeks of Magna Graecia from Roman and Carthaginian domination. When the ceremony was over, it was as if my troops went to sleep that night holding their breath, waiting for something.

That something came the next morning. . .

XXXX

I was awoken by my bodyguards with news that the camp sentries had been approached by a grizzled shepherd who spoke Greek and was asking to speak with me. I dressed and made ready to receive the shepherd in my command tent. I was treated to quite a sight, as a forty-something man, with a grizzled beard and simple tunic, as well as an iron slave collar on his neck, approached me, kneeling.

"Pyrrhus King, my name is Antiokos. I am a slave of Marcus Cloelius Pastor, a Shephard looking over one of his many flocks of sheep in the hills around Lake Albanus. I beseech you humbly for an audience." Bowed the Shephard.

"You speak Greek well, and have a Greek name. Tell me Antiokos the Shephard, where are you from?" I questioned.

"I was born here in Latium, my King, to slaves of the Patrician Gens Cloelia, but my father was not. He was a soldier in the army of your esteemed uncle, Alexander of Epirus, captured during the battle of Pandosia by the Lucanii and sold into slavery in Rome. My father never forgot his homeland, not until the day his soul passed beyond the Styx into the embrace of Hades. I carry his memory with me, and it is in the name of that memory that I come to you, oh King." Answered the Shephard, Antiokos.

"You wish to be freed, I take it? That you may return to the lands of your father?" I asked.

"If that is your will, oh King. My primary reason, however, is to tell you information of vital importance. I know where the Army of Decimus Junius Brutus is encamped, for it is not so far from where my master saw fit to place the flock I was to watch over for him." Responded Antiokos.

That got my attention, as it was quite a neat story. It had the sort of narrative symmetry I would expect for my mysterious benefactor to help me along in order to win whatever contest the society of Alien Space Bats had concocted. His father was captured at the Battle of Pandosia, where the Epirotes under Alexander the First of Epirus had been betrayed by local Lucanii allies. Now he was betraying Brutus in a similar manner on behalf of Epirus. I leaned forward, very interested.

"Tell me their location, and not only will I free you, I will take you back to Epirus and furnish you with a home and flock of sheep of your own, for I am well-known to reward good service handsomely." I commanded.

"Brutus makes camp in the ruins of the city of Alba Longa, in the hills on the shore of Lake Albinus, my King. It was destroyed by Rome and left to grow over during the Latin Wars, now the hills around it are largely sheep pastures. Tusculum now holds the hills' population and all that is left of Alba Longa are tumbled stones, overgrown by vegetation. No one lives near the ruins and the terrain makes it an ideal site to ambush from." Informed Antiokos.

"And you have seen this with your own eyes?" I asked.

"Not the camp itself, but I have seen several sizable Roman raiding parties marching out of and into the ruins, my King." Admitted Antiokos.

I nodded, that was good enough for me. "Very well. Kadmos here will see that you are fed and watered." I nodded to one of my guards.

"And what will you be doing in the meantime, sire?" Queried the Guard in question.

"Why, taking my army to the Ruins of Alba Longa, of course." I replied, grinning.

And with that, I mustered my forces and marched out of camp. . .

XXXX

Antiokos had proven as good as his word, as we found out three days later at Alba Longa. Brutus must have realized he was caught, because he didn't attempt to run away, instead marching his army out of the Ruins and forming up on a hillside above my army. Forty-five-thousand Romans against my fifty-thousand troops. He chose his position well, with the advantage of the slope, and looted steel weapons. We would bleed before the day was over, but it needed to be done.

We both needed an unqualified victory here. If he won, but I managed to salvage my army, he would need to fight again, and this time he would not have his perfect hiding place to aid him. If I won, but he managed to return to Rome with some semblance of an army, this war would drag on until I took Rome, wasting precious time I could be using to fight Carthage in Sicily. Both of us needed to win here.

Perhaps that was why Brutus decided to Parlay before the issue was settled. He must have realized that the position in Sicily could shift at any time simply by Carthage hiring mercenaries. He must have reasoned that I couldn't afford to drag this out any more than he could. We met each other halfway up the slope of the hill, under a banner of truce, with only a single bodyguard each to accompany us. Decimus Junius Brutus hailed me with an open hand, a slight smile, and a nod.

"Hail Pyrrhus King. It seems we meet again." He began.

"Indeed. I wonder, have your standards for acceptable terms changed since we last spoke?" I questioned.

"The Senate and People of Rome have seen your victories. They know you to be formidable now. They would accept a white peace, should you be inclined to offer it?" Asked Brutus.

"I see. Alas for you, my terms have changed somewhat. I now require that you release Samnium as a neutral buffer state between Magna Graecia and Rome. I also require Roman acknowledgment of the Italiote and Siciliote Leagues, both of which include Epirus as Primus Inter Pares." I intoned.

"I see. Can you truly afford to be making such demands with Carthage running rampant in Sicily?" Frowned Brutus.

"Does this mean Rome categorically rejects peace?" I demanded.

"Let us be frank here, Pyrrhus King. While your Greek Leagues may be palatable, as Magna Graecia was not subjected to Roman Rule prior to this war, we categorically reject any attempt to carve a buffer state out of Roman Territory. Samnium has been beaten, twice now in recent memory. Even should, by some stroke of fortune, the Senate accept a peace where Samnium is allowed to remain free, there is no scenario whereby Samnium could ever remain neutral to Rome. There is too much bad blood there on both sides." Sighed Brutus.

"Are not you the Senate? Is not that what being Dictator means?" I questioned.

"For the moment, yes. However, Dictators are not Dictators for life. I was made Dictator rei gerundae causa, for the Conduct of the Matter. As soon as this war ends, so too does my term as Dictator by all the laws of Rome. The Senate will then retake power in Rome and be free to make policy as they please." Informed Brutus.

"I see. You realize that it is unlikely that you will win here, yes? Should I defeat you, I will march my army to the very gates of Rome. Any terms I ask for then will be harsher." I warned.

"You may win this battle. In truth, it is the most probable outcome. However, your army will be but a shade of itself in doing so. We have the high ground and have weapons taken from Hortius Decius and the parties we ambushed to even the disparity further. If you destroy my army here, you will not have the strength to take Roma. Her walls are too well-built and her granaries too provisioned for a siege. You will have to assault via ladder and siege tower, and that will be the death of what army you will have left." Informed Brutus.

I frowned at that. He was right in that winning this battle was likely to be bloody. Between the elevation, the rugged terrain, and his looting of steel weapons, it might just be enough to make taking Rome unfeasible. My counter for that was to develop a crude trebuchet to knock through Rome's walls, but getting one workable would take time that I needed to push back Carthage in Sicily. The question was one of whether Kleon and the Sicilian Greeks could hold Carthage or not, as well as how fast Carthage could hire and transport mercenaries.

"If I abandon the provision of a neutral Samnite Buffer Kingdom between us, I am going to want payment of the debts you owe me." I hedged.

"Unfortunately, paying for this war has drained the Treasury of Rome a goodly amount. Our debts to you stand at one-million-three-hundred-twenty-thousand Denarii. That is more than we can pay. To even pay that much in the next five years is going to require us to debase the Denarii. We could perhaps pay a quarter of that over the next five years. But you will have to release all prisoners for us to do so. We will have need of them to increase economic output." Bartered Brutus.

"That's a payment of sixty-six-thousand Roman Denarii every year for five years. I can agree to that." I nodded.

"Then it appears that we have terms." I shall bring this back to the Senate and within the week you shall know whether they intend to honor such a treaty once my term as Dictator has ended." Agreed Brutus.

And with that, both armies removed themselves from the vicinity of Alba Longa, camping within sight of each other and the city of Rome itself. Brutus' camp was between mine and the city, of course, and I was certain Brutus only agreed to have my camp within sight of Rome because it would help sell the Senate on the treaty. It must have worked because four days later, the Senate of Rome would ratify the Treaty of Alba Longa. I was finally free to turn my attention to Carthage.

Unfortunately, by the time the agreed-on Prisoner Exchange had occurred and I was able to make my way south, news had come in of a naval defeat off Sardina. Carthage had used an ambush of fire ships from a hidden cove near one of their Emporion there and sunk thirty of my ships while forcing the rest of the fleet back with a sudden counterattack. With that victory, Carthage could begin to move forces around.

By the time I got to Sicily, the Carthaginian Forces there would be bolstered by garrison troops from Sardina and Corsica, as well as by Iberian and Gallic Mercenaries. . .

XXXX

AN: Sorry about the wait for this Chapter. I had a bunch of stuff come up that kept putting it off. I hope you guys enjoyed it, though.

For now, Rome is at peace and the informal leagues that Pyrrhus has going in Magna Graecia are set to be formalized and recognized by Rome. Unfortunately, while Brutus was giving Pyrrhus the business, Carthage was busy advancing in Sicily.

A note on Religion, this thing with the Greek Slave showing up to give vital intel to Epirus a day after Pyrrhus publically sacrificed to Zeus Panhellenios for a hint at Brutus' location is going to have knock-on effects down the line. Zeus Panhellenios is going to become a big deal among Greeks in terms of religion accordingly going forward. At least in areas under Epirote control and influence.

Whether it actually was the ASB trying to help out and get ahead in his contest is open for discussion, though. After all, this sort of thing happened on multiple occasions IOTL. At places like Pandosia and Sentinum, vital, battle-winning intelligence was given to one side by traitors that determined the outcome of the war.

At any rate, the next chapter will be an interlude in Sicily.

Stay tuned. . .