The Savior of the Western Romans and Italy: Leo Flavius Junior

Year: 641 AD

Eastern Roman Empire

Verona

After years of conflict with the Lombards, Alamanni and Gepids, a large-scale offensive led by the Legatus Legionis Leo Flavius Junior and Lucius Belissarius that destroy the Germanic armies and advance into Germanic territories even taking the city of Vinadobona, which would later become the city of Vienna many centuries later.

But it was not thought of as a way to show their ability to fight, but as a way to show that the Romans are a warrior people and this expedition to lands beyond the Italian peninsula that broke the morale of the Germanic army and the king of the Lombards Rotary was arrested by the Eastern Romans and was received as a trophy by the Eastern Roman Emperor Constance II who kept him in dungeon until the end of the war.

The Roman armies returned to the Italian peninsula full of supplies and money, leaving the kingdom of the Lombards and Gepids on the brink of collapse, causing a mass revolt among the peasants who enlisted in the army and launched a gigantic counteroffensive towards the city of Pavia, the ancient capital of the Lombard Kingdom, led by the Lombard general Rodoaldo.

Roman spies infiltrated the Lombard army and found out about this information, so the Roman armies delimited a line of defense that went from Venice to Mediolanum, establishing a long line of defense in Northern Italy.

Verona

Two months later

On August 15th, at dawn, trumpets were played in the city of Verona and soon Leo who was in his room, got up and dressed to lead the battle against the Lombards, Gepids and Alamanni.

In the streets of Verona, civilians entered their homes and locked themselves in, waiting for the conflict to end in the city. In the midst of the chaos, an Eastern Roman soldier shouted at a young woman:

"You illiterate peasant girl!!!! Give me the money your master gave you or I will kill you now!!!!" the soldier shouted.

Leo noticed this scene and decided to intervene and said:

"Stop! What do you think you are doing? I am responsible for protecting this city from the wrath of the Germans and I will not tolerate soldiers sent from Constantinople turning against the homeland of we Romans!" said Leo.

The Eastern Roman soldier lowered his head and cursed Leo in the Greek language, but to his surprise Leo replied in Greek:

"Listen to your henchman the Eparch of Ravenna, if Italy is still under Roman control it is because of us, remember that we helped with a large amount of money to Justinian the Great, in order to of the Eastern Roman Empire not to collapse economically, we who expelled the Lombards out of Italy, see that if you didn't have our help you would be at the limit since a good part of the Eastern Roman army was destroyed at the Battle of Yarmouk by the Rashidum Caliphate.This is not the time for your pettiest feelings to show themselves before an enemy!What would figures like Julius Caesar, Scipio Africanus, Augustus, Aurelian and Constantine the Great think of the man who succeeded as legatee of the Roman Empire in the Old World?Have you no shame? This illiterate woman is as Roman as Fulvia and Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, this is not how you will have a chance of commanding the region of Italy because they would rebel and would even accept being governed by a Frank or Lombard rather than a Roman!I, as Legatus Legionis of the 10th Caesarean Legion, order you to join the Caesarean swordsmen or I will kill you right now, you piece of human trash!!!" Leo answers.

The Eastern Roman soldier drew his sword from its sheath but Leo drew his revolver and shot the soldier who ended up dying and fell to the ground forming a pool of blood .He looks at the girl, but before he could speak the trumpets got louder, which meant the Germans had arrived and it was time for battle, so the girl locked herself in her parents' house and Leo went to battle.

The Destructors made the noises of their projectiles be heard throughout the city, on the horizon you could see thousands of Germans approaching, their siege towers were destroyed with this the enemy's morale had dropped somewhat, but the Germans seemed to be singing some war song in their native tongue, so Leo ordered all soldiers, whether East Romans or West Romans to follow his orders and said:

"These Germanic barbarians think they can defeat Rome, but I say no! They can send 1 million Germanic warriors and we will kill them all until there is not a single barbarian left! Our ancestors are Julius Caesar, Scipio Africanus, Augustus, Aurelian, Constantine the Great, Flavius Aetius, Cincinnatus. Who are the ancestors of these barbarians? Arminius??? Alaric??? Attila??? Queen Boudica???I'm sure those Germans don't even know who Arminius was!We must put an end to the Germanic threat that looms over the homeland of all of us Romans! For those who only live to sack and plunder cities, they would never understand how a city like Rome was created, it is inconceivable in the mind of a barbarian to build a civilization, we Romans together with the ancient Greeks, Macedonians, Egyptians, Persians and Chinese are civilizations superior to the Huns and the Germanic tribes!These barbarians who are coming towards the walls, come with the intention of demoralizing the Roman soul because they think they are warriors of a crazy god called Wotan and they think it is their turn to destroy Rome as the barbarians did in 410, 455 and 476.But I don't expect anything from them, but I demand that they fight as if they were facing Attila the Hun in the Catalaunian Fields! These worms need to be put in their place, which is standing naked in the woods and screaming at the thunder! Unleash the wrath of a people who shaped the world! Ave Roma!!!! Senatus populusque Romanus!!!!" Leo says.

The Roman soldiers' morale increased and what was once a feeling of fear became a feeling of euphoria, even though they only had 15,000 soldiers compared to around 45,000.

Verona

Verona Amphitheater

A Few hours later

A few hours passed and the result could not have been better, the Germanic army was obliterated from 45 thousand, only 3 thousand returned alive, the vast majority were destroyed thanks to Caesarian weapons.

The city of Verona was celebrating, because they had saved him from the Germans, Leo was honored as a hero by the population and that same girl who had found him a few hours ago and she said:

"Thank you very much, you saved us from becoming slaves to the Germans and as a token of our gratitude, we all want the key to the city of Verona to stay with you." said the girl.

Leo receives the key to the city and the population acclaims him as a new Caesar, he knows that probably the Dux of Venice and the Eparch of Ravenna will not be very happy with this news, but for now He celebrates with the population and for now forgets the issues involved in this war and its political developments, to enjoy himself with the population.

At dawn, when Leo was going to sleep in his room, a messenger arrived and said:

"My lord, this imperial letter came from our beloved Eastern Roman Emperor Constance II, he came to Italy to give his final verdict on the Lombard War." said the messenger

Leo then opens the imperial letter and reads what is written.

Treaty of Constantinople

1st: The Germanic tribes are forced into a non-aggression treaty for thirty years.

2nd: Germanic peoples are prohibited from setting foot on Roman territory.

3rd: Walls in Northern Italy will be created to defend against Germanic invasions.

4th: The Kingdom of the Lombards, Alamanni and Gepids are forced to pay a sum of money or a large shipment of slaves in exchange.

5th: The Children of Theodosius will receive honorary titles from the emperor himself.

6° The city of Rome will be revitalized and thus we can rebuild the Eternal City with all its splendor.

7th: The Third Lombard War is officially over and with that the region of Italy is under Roman control.

Leo didn't give much of a damn since the Germanic armies were probably all defeated and would have to retreat to their lands anyway and went to sleep.

A week later, a messenger arrived from Lucius and he stated that all remaining enemies had fled the Italian Peninsula to other places, but a letter would soon arrive from New Rome telling about the bad rule of his uncle, the emperor Lucius I.