The Rebellion of 188: From the Official History of Legion V

Imperial Legion Historian Cornelius Fesculius

The year 188 of the 4th Era isn’t as well known to most citizens of the Empire as the dates of 175 or 180. The years the White Gold Concordat was ratified and the Second Treaty of Stros M’Kai were signed respectively. Yet for the Imperial Legion it was a year of strife and several desperate maneuvers to consolidate the rule of Emperor Titus Mede II after the horrors of the Great War. Sensing the weakness of the Empire and her depleted legions, Corsair renegades began to plunder the coasts of High Rock and seized Wayrest. The latter action forced the Emperor to dispatch Legion III to retake the city and put an end to the corsair’s activities. During the same year civil strife arose in Bravil. Skooma addiction had already been a problem in the city but the hardships following the Great War only exacerbated this underlying vice. Full blown war erupted between two of the largest skooma traffickers and their street gangs. The city watch was overwhelmed by the violence and petitioned for military aid. Legion VI was dispatched to the city to maintain order and put down these various gangs to prevent anymore damage to the city. It was amidst these events that a rebellion arose against the Empire that proved to be a true threat to the Emperor’s sovereignty.

Sergius Colga Glantia was a wealthy estate owner from the Colovian Highlands whose lands had been spared most of the pillaging and havoc of the war and thus retained a measure of his wealth. It is thought now that he was merely an opportunist and saw the poor state of Cyrodiil in recovery as an ideal place to further his position in the world. He began soon after the war had ended to openly criticize the Emperor’s signing of the White Gold Concordat as a cowardly half measure that was against the best interest of the people of the Empire. The loss of Hammerfell as a province and their subsequent rebellion against the Thalmor gave Glantia more evidence of the Emperor’s failing. He soon began to gather various nobles and disgruntled landowners to his cause, as well as many displaced poor who had been left homeless by the war. It soon became clear from Glantia’s rhetoric that his ambitions had been rising and he now had his sights set on the Imperial throne. Penitus Oculatus agents had been placed in this growing organization to gather intelligence on their numbers and locations, but their ability to nip the rebellion in the bud had been hampered due to the hunt for remaining Thalmor agents in Cyrodiil. There have been rumors that Glantia had clandestine aid from the Thalmor but these have been as of late, unsubstantiated. What is known is that Glantia began to arm a personal army in the Highlands and began martial training. Through the promise of coin and land he began to gather even more of the destitute and urban poor who had flooded the cities after their farms had been razed. With their numbers swelling over 10,000 in early 188 and the addition of various disruptions that tied down several of the legions, Glantia launched his rebellion. He made formal demands that Emperor Titus Mede II abdicate his throne, dismiss the Elder Council, and called for various land reforms aimed at pleasing the masses and bringing more supporters to his side.

The Emperor had few reserves to call upon, the only legion that was back to full strength in Cyrodiil was Legion V, most of its ranks were filled with green recruits who had never seen battle before. Although all of the tribunes and centurions were veterans of the Great War and had been drilling their men in the latest tactics learned the hard way during the fighting. A full cohort of Orcish legionnaires had also been folded into the ranks and nearly all were battle hardened veterans, most notably having formed the unbreakable shield wall that protected General Jonna’s left flank during the Battle of the Red Ring. With the remaining legions dedicated to guarding the border against the Dominion, the Emperor couldn’t risk weakening these defenses, thus Legion V would be the only force to combat this rebellion, they would be facing a force nearly twice their size.

Glantia’s forces began their march to the Imperial City southwest of Chorral, attempting to flank the Black Road, fearing to march upon it as they thought the legions would block the route. Their plan was to stay concealed within the forest and suddenly emerge next to the Imperial City and quickly storm it, overthrowing the Emperor in a quick coup. The legate of Legion V, Antonius Maxiina made a bold move early on, splitting his already outnumbered forces into their individual cohorts in order to give them freedom of movement to harass and delay the rebels as they headed for Lake Rumare. The strategy was to deny Glantia’s rebels any opportunities to forage for provisions and herd them through a narrow corridor in the forest right into the Orcish cohort camped near Fort Nikel.

Legion scouts were quickly able to locate the rebel column as it pressed on eastwards. In avoiding the main road the rebels had managed to avoid major blocking units placed along it, but they found the terrain harder than expected and it slowed their progress drastically. Glainta himself also showed his lack of imagination or military training by having his column march straight towards the Imperial City, with little deviation in the first few days of the campaign. He also neglected to scout out the regions in front of his forces or to protect his flanks against the Legion’s ambushes. So it was that Legion V was able to contain the rebels to a limited area and to prevent them from resupplying along route, a strategy that paid off as hungry deserters simply left Glainta’s ranks, most would either surrender or find themselves in Legion lines. As the ambushes and disruptions to the march continued, it finally became obvious to Glantia that he was following a path of least resistance, exactly as the Legion wanted him to. He finally made the decision to break out of this corridor and head south in hopes of forcing the Legion to waste valuable time redeploying its troops, hopefully in the wrong locations.

On the sixth day of the rebellion Glantia finally gathered his forces in battle formations for the first time and prepared to smash their way south through the thin line of Legion soldiers. He was counting on his superior numbers to carry the day. As history looks upon this first battle, commonly known as the First Battle of the Wilderness, it shall note how woefully under trained the rebels were. They did copy the legion’s standard battle formation of skirmishers out front with heavy infantry just to the rear. Glantia arranged his forces in a wedge formation, hoping to smash through the thin line of the Ruby Ranks and escape to the south. By midmorning, all of the rebel forces were in place and ready to begin their assault, the legionnaires has been able to erect some rudimentary defenses in the night and were prepared to hold off the attack. The first advance against the legion lines were beaten back as their superior training helped them to cut down a large number of ill prepared rebels. However after repeated drives against them the legionnaires seemed to fall back in a retreat that looked to turn into a rout. The rebels, sensing victory, lost discipline and pursued hot on their heels. Little did they know that they were running straight into a trap. As the feigned rout neared the ancient Ayleid ruins of Narfinsel, fresh legion reserves emerged from the brush and broke into the flank of the pursuing rebels who were soon thrown into a panic. The actually number of those waiting in ambush was quite small, but the sudden violence was enough to break up the rebel advance and send them in flight back to their camp.

This failed breakout attempt force Glantia to rethink his strategy and sent him into a frenzy, he decided that the the best course of action was to quickly follow the path the Legion had laid for him and to rely upon his still numerically superior forces to overwhelm this single legion’s strength, if he moved quickly enough he could attack before they had all their forces in place. Glantia then broke camp and left behind much of their supplies that would only slow them down and ordered his men to march for the Imperial City as quickly as they dare. It was a desperate gamble and one that might have paid off it he had been commanding a professional force.

Legion V meanwhile had regrouped and quickly made haste ahead of the rebel advance to join the Orcish legionaries to hold the line against this oncoming rebel assault. Their knowledge of the terrain and post war contingency plans against invasion were paying off. The rebel force took almost three days to the area around Fort Nikel to which they had been forced to travel their entire journey. Glantia paused his troops on the ninth day to move them into position and wait for nightfall. All knew that such attacks at night were very risky but considering his position, he felt confident in ordering it. His troops could only go forward, the torches of the Imperial City glittering across Lake Rumare could hardly be missed, he had the legion with their backs to the lake and they were outnumbered, a night attack could only prove one more short fall to the legion. Glantia was confident he would be in the city by the next morning. Maxiina, the legate, again rolled the dice. The risk was in the formation he arranged his legionnaires in. He formed his men into a weak center line, with his green recruits in the middle with himself, and he split the Orcish and veteran troops on the flanks. The stage was set to see whose gamble would pay off.

The final confrontation of this campaign goes by several names, the Second Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Fort Nikel, Battle of the Black Road. They all describe the same engagement that ended the this short lived rebellion of Sergius Glantia. As the night fell over the Cyrodilic hinterland both sides made their final preparations and moved into position. Glantia again had lined up his remaining men in a wedge formation again, realizing the legion had no more reserves to hide away and that their backs were to the wall against Lake Rumare. Again his lack of imagination is evident in his choice of attack, or perhaps he truly did believe that he broke the legion lines in the first engagement and it was only the late counterattack that had foiled his victory. Whatever the case was, as the twin moons rose into the night sky, Glantia launched his attack. The darkness was quickly replaced by mage fire that lit up the forest and set fire to many of the trees between the two sides. Those present at the battle recall the fear of being wounded and unable to move in face of the advancing flames. Yet amidst the various wildfires the rebel wedge charged and crashed into the center of legion’s line. The green recruits in middle of the line held their own with Legate Maxiina, who had ordered them before the battle to give ground, albeit grudgingly. The rebels who were desperate for victory pressed even more men into the center in hopes of creating a breakthrough. As Glantia pulled more of his men from the periphery, the veteran legion troops were slowly working their way forward and soon would be on the flanks of rebels.

The battle itself could be seen distantly from the walls of the Imperial City, many who had lived through the Thalmor siege on the city recalled how similar the scene was to that of 174. The Rumare reflected the fires of battle and the cries and shouts carried across the water to the ears of the citizens. The City Watch had began to fortify the walls and seal the entrances, in case the worst came to pass. It is said that the Emperor himself stood upon the walls with his bodyguard, preparing to defend the walls of the capital himself. It was said that many citizens wept as countrymen battled countrymen, the futility of the rebellion was apparent to many.

As the battle continued it became apparent even to Glantia that he and pushed himself and his men into a dire situation. Amidst the smoke and flames he could see the the legionaries on his flanks and tried in vain to reposition his men. It was far too late, nearly all of the rebels were committed to smashing through the thin center and had lost most of their cohesion as they threw themselves against these new recruits. It was at the critical moment in the fight that a sharp horn call was heard in the rear of the legion lines, a signal. At this the veteran and Orcish troops suddenly turned inward and drove against the thin rebel flanks, quickly folding them back until the nearly the entire rebel force was in this semi-circle. All forward movement by Glantia’s force ground to a halt as they turned to defend themselves. Those that could see what was happening attempted to flee from the fight before they were completely encircled. Panic swept through the rebel ranks as the entire legion now drove towards the center, slowly and methodically eliminating all pockets of resistance. As it became clear that their was no escape, rebels began to throw down their weapons and surrendered in droves, pleading for mercy from their fellow kinsman. Soon nearly all of the rebels had surrendered to the legion. Glantia himself was captured before he could take his own life. As the dawn’s first rays appeared over the trees it was obvious to all in the city who had carried the day.

Legion V marched into the city the same day with their hoard of prisoners to a jubilant and exuberant city. The rebellion that had threatened to cripple the already weakened Empire had been foiled in mere days. Legate Antonius Maxiima was hailed as a hero and master tactician, his conduct of the campaign was hailed as genius by the Imperial War College. Every single soldier of the legion received medals in the coming weeks, made specifically at the Emperor's demand, to the families of those who had been killed in the fighting, each received a generous stipend along with a letter of condolence signed by the Emperor himself. To the rebel prisoners who had followed Glantia, the Emperor showed great clemency, sparing their lives so long as they all personally recanted their actions and swore an oath of loyalty to the Empire forevermore. Many view this as rightly as a generous and merciful action, but Emperor Titus Mede II again showed his pragmatism, realizing he couldn’t afford to put all of these men to death. Towards Sergius Glantia and his inner circle of nobles, the Emperor acted with swift vengeance, condemning their petty ambition and rebuking them for attempting to take advantage of their country when she needed their talents and wealth the most. They were executed the very same day and their heads put on pikes around the Green Emperor Way, so that all could see the fate of those who attempted to take advantage of Cyrodiil. Legion V itself joined their sister legions back along the border with the Dominion and await the coming storm, but now with battle experience and the high hearts of victors.