The Ruby Ranks: The Transformation of the Imperial Legion Part I

Imperial Legion Historian Cornelius Fesculius

The entity known as the Imperial Legion has existed in some form or another for roughly 4,000 years. It has undergone drastic and numerous changes since its inception during those first gasps of freedom by the Cyro-Nordics of the Alessian Slave Rebellion. This account is by no means intended to be a retelling of the Legion’s entire history, or a record of all of its engagements throughout history. The intention of this account is to discuss and analyze the major changes to the structure, tactics, and general makeup of the Legion. This first part should take one from the Slave Rebellions of Alessia to the end of the First Era. The difficulty in researching the early years of Legion comes from the scarcity of reliable records that have survived to this time. From the information that is available we can draw certain conclusions and extrapolate the generalities of those distant days. I have spent several months scouring through the Imperial Library and other famous institutions of learning in the remaining Imperial provinces. What follows is the most concise record this humble historian could compile.

The official date of the inception of the Legion is impossible to point out. In all probability it didn’t have one. It almost certainly came about organically during the chaotic days of the rebellion of the early Cyrod men against the Ayleid Empire. Yet one could label 1E 242 as the tentative birth date of the Legion. Now the basic structure of the Legion would emerge as ideas were tried and tested in the forge of battle. What was the earliest form of the Legion? From the period the surviving “Song of Pelinal” Volumes offer significant clues to the answer of such questions. From Volume III, “When Huna, whom Pelinal raised from grain-slave to hoplite…” Hoplite is the key word from this passage. Any student of military history will know that a hoplite indicates a type of solider who was usually armed with a large round shield and thrusting spear. They were usually protected by a full face helmet, a breastplate, and greaves. It is thought that our modern full faced steel helmetsg) of our Imperial officers harken back to the original hoplite design. These hoplites would have fought in a “phalanx” formation. This mass rectangular formation was formed when men stood shoulder to shoulder, one would be protected by their neighbors shield, while they in turn protected the man next to them with their shield and so on. This type of military formation would have been wholly divorced from any that had previously been seen. While they might have drawn inspiration from the ancient Elven lance, this application had never been witnessed before and might explain for the Slave Rebellions stunning early success. Certainly a formation made up of thousands of spears would have had an intense psychological presence, not to mention when this formation came to physical blows with the opposing side.

Now there are those amongst military historians that believe the Legion would have appeared visually and have been armed similarly (i.e. with short swords) to the modern Legion known today. I disagree and cite evidence from Volume V of the Song of Pelinal. “for once Plontinu, who favored the short sword, said it, and that night he was smothered by moths.” This individual is made distinct by describing that he favored the short sword. Now I reason that if everyone in the new Legion had been armed in such a way, the author would have not made this remark to distinguish him. It is reasonable to assume then that they would have been armed as the standard hoplite would have been.

As the Alessian Empire slowly gained traction in Cyrodiil the Legion itself became a formidable force as it crushed the last Ayleid holdouts and cities. Almost overnight it had changed from liberating mass to a professional army of citizen-soldiers. The Legion itself almost certainly took part in enforcing the Alessian Doctrines after they had been passed. Any remaining Ayleid vassal kings or settlements were targeted and abolished. Enforcing the Doctrines though proved to create dissent among the various vassals of the Alessian Empire. At the Battle of Sungard the Legion hoplites were able to conquer the Nordic army on open plains in short order. Unless outflanked, the phalanx formation was nearly invincible on flat ground. However it was with the secession of the Colovian Estates that the cracks in the Legion’s armor would become impossible to conceal.

In 1E 478 the Colovian Estates under Rislav Larich (the Righteous) broke away from the Alessian Empire due to social and political reasons, the west becoming alienated with the east was chief amongst them. Emperor Gorieus then foolishly maneuvered his tightly packed phalanx into a narrow pass and the Colovians then blocked the only avenue of escape. After showering this mass of men with arrows they then goaded the Alessian legions on a merry chase through the Cyrodilic hinterland. The emperor and his legions were forced to retreat back to Nibenay to lick their wounds. The loss of Colovia would prove to be costly to the Legion as most of her native sons had made up the bulk of the infantry, Nibenay had committed men as talented battlemages but it could not make up for the loss of so many.

As the Alessian Order reeled from their loss in their homeland the tide began to turn for them abroad. After the Reforms were outlawed in High Rock by the Direnni, the Legion was moved north to regain the Orders rule in the region. After several engagements pushed the Order backwards the Legion steeled itself for a decisive confrontation. The Battle of Glenumbria Moors humbled the Legion in such a way that drastic reforms would be undertaken as a result of it. The battle itself showed the inherent weaknesses of the phalanx formation. Where the hoplite infantry had been able to work well in the Heartlands and rolling hills of Cyrodiil, it suffered in the rocky and uneven territory of High Rock. The phalanx was unable to keep cohesion as it advanced across the marshland and swamps of the Moors This in turn was exploited by the Elves who had witnessed the formation before as they had been fighting against it for two years at this point. The Legion fought doggedly even though their flanks had been turned and gaps formed in their front line but in the end the day belonged to the Elves. The Direnni Elves themselves would earn a pyrrhic victory at the Moors, their power base would be forever broken and no less than 20 years later they would be ousted from High Rock.

This sound defeat of the once vaunted phalanx would usher in a period of reforms and rebuilding of the Legion that was desperately needed. In fact the Legion would not field a major army outside the borders of the Empire for the next several centuries. It was during these years that the Legion did away with the hoplite infantry and phalanx mass formation. Instead they would focus on a triple line systems arrayed in a checkerboard pattern. This “maniple” system (likely a corruption of the word “handful”) would be based on smaller units able to maneuver far easier than the cumbersome phalanx. The first line of men would be the greenest and least experienced troops. At this point the Alessian Empire could ill afford to lose their veteran soldiers and placed them in the second line. These troops would be better armored and carry a larger shield. The third line would be made up of the most experienced troops who did carry the traditional spear and shield, thus they would be called upon in the most dire of situations to protect the front two lines, or to form a phalanx and make a final charge. (The phalanx still held several advantages on open ground.) Overall this new manipule formation would be far easier to maneuver upon a rough battlefield and could, if commanded properly, turn to face an enemy advance upon its flanks. This was something the phalanx would never manage. In addition to the new formation the individual legionnaire would be armed with a short sword and broad shield that benefited this type of battle order. After their initial exchange of missiles and darts each legionnaire would effectively become an individual swordsmen, able to fight on his own if need called. Their armor also expanded to protect the now more exposed soldier. Chainmail, leather and steel formed a tight armor and skirt that replaced a single breastplate.The helmet also opened up to allow for a greater field of vision.

By the Eleventh Century of the First Era the Legion had tested itself time and again in Cyrodiil and was ready to return to dominance. With the ascendance of Empress Hestra to the throne in 1E 1029, the Legion gained an extraordinary commander who would put this “new” Legion to the test. It was during this time that the Legion would gain a characteris it had come to be defined by, its dogged stubbornness in the face of hardship. In her first year of rule Hestra reincorporated Colovia to the Alessian Empire, a much needed boon to the Legion as it swelled the number of men and women able to serve. Hestra then turned her eyes north towards High Rock who had now been free of the rule of empire for over 500 years at that point. The rebranded Legion was easily able to conquer and slaughter the foul host of King Styriche, the Vampire of Verkarth. What was left of the Grey Host ran straight into Breton garrisons who then pounded the final nail into the coffin. Hestra was impressed enough to invited the Bretons to join formally into the First Empire, an offer which they could not refuse.

In effort to protect her new province Hestra turned her eyes towards the Durdach Mountains and the tribes of Reachmen that would often send forth from them to plunder and oftentimes invade. Pushing into what is now the Reach, a hold of Skyrim, Hestra’s legions made the Reachmen tribes to submit, or be slaughtered. The new manipule formation proved to be quite adapted and flexible when it came to navigating the crags and crevices of the Reach. The Legion also learned valuable lessons about guerrilla warfare and the proper conduct of sieges as it brought the Reach to heel. It was during this time that the Legion came up against the legendary Red Eagle. He fought a cunning war of attrition and avoidance of pitched battles. He soon had gathered nearly all of the Reach to repel the Legion and nearly succeeded as the centuries and cohorts were killed down nearly to the last man. It was during this brutal and merciless combat that the Legion and indeed the people of the Empire showed their true colors. They simply would not give in to the heathen rebels and raised more legions and armies to finally conquer this Red Eagle. With nearly the whole of her army Hestra laid siege to Red Eagles last bastion. At a terrible price the famous Eagle was finally fell, perhaps at the cost of a thousand men for one man. The Legion emerged from this a much more experienced force capable of not only dealing with full armies but irregular fighters as well. They would soon turn their stubbornness and ingenuity towards conquering the sea as well.

Argonian pirates had plagued the Topal Bay for years and it finally became too much for Hestra to bear. She called for the head of the most infamous pirate, "Red" Bramman. The Imperial Navy came up with an ingenious way of evening the odds in a battle at sea. Instead of simply destroying the ores of an enemy vessel or ramming it in an attempt to sink it, they would deploy a bridge with a hooked end that would allow the legionnaires to conduct battle as if they were on land. Having discovered the bandit's hideaway by following him deeper into Black Marsh than anyone had dared gone before, the Navy was finally able to enact justice and brought Bramman’s head back to the Empress as a prize. The Imperial Navy, which had not seen much use up to this point gained valuable experience from the pirate crisis and was able to effectively guard the Bay against further incursions.

Hestra did more for the Legion than to simply hone its edge. At home in Cyrodiil she greatly expanded the road networks across the country in order to help expedite the travel speed of the legions as they moved from one area to another. This policy of road building would be continued by the Remen Emperors later in history. While this had economic benefits it was first and foremost a military tool to be used in times of warfare.

Alas such success and prosperity could not last forever. As the effects of the Thrassian plague ran its foul course it had the effect of decimating the Legions manpower. Such loss of life and ensuing economic and social turmoil only had the effect of exacerbating the cultural issues and differences of Western and Eastern Cyrodiil. The bloating and corruption of the Alessian Order had also reach a breaking point as it’s harsher and increasingly draconian edicts were subverted or blatantly ignored. 1E 2321: The War of Righteousness erupts as the Colovian West separates itself once again from the perceived decadence of the Nibenay East. This had the effect of splitting the Legion in half as its native sons and daughters turned on one another as national identity died and regional loyalty become increasingly fundamental. The two sides would become even more culturally diverse over the next 400 years. Unable to guard, or even operate in the provinces the Legion abandoned them to their fates as they solidified their independence. The Empire of Alessia was dead, its Legions scattered and divided against one another. Honor, civic virtue, national pride and covenant were all but forgotten in the squabbles of thief barons and false moth priests. It would take a invasion of snakes from a mythical land to unite the remnants of a once proud empire. The man who would resurrect not only the Empire and the Legions but expand them to a scope never before dreamed of would would pronounce: “I AM CYRODIIL COME.”