Battle of Piacenza

No slave should ever fear a master such as this. Too weak to even lift his whip.

— Skermandes, Heronian General

The fate of the Amorian Emperor was not sealed by a Vardanian hand. Instead, Barbarian steel would decide the course of history. Where Ephemea had marked the beginning of the end for Emperor Aneas, Piacenza would prove to be his final act.

The Wrong Scapegoat

Fresh off his defeat at Ephemea, Aneas the Amorian was desperate to shore up his weakening regime. Fatally, he chose to blame the Heronians, a Scetian ethnic group that served the Imperial Army in large numbers. Naturally, this did not go over well and throughout early 3061 DA, tensions ran high.
The situation escalated when Aneas ordered a decimation of the Heronian Army. An act which pushed them into open rebellion. Weeks of inconclusive fighting finally culminated on the 2nd of Apris, when the main contingents of the Southern and Heronian Armies met on a field north of the small village of Piacenza.
For the first time was the decay of the Imperial Legion laid bare, Aneas' units simply melting under their enemies' assault. It was over within an hour, those escaping the initial battle being hunted down for another day before the Heronians gave up. The Southern Army ceased to exist as a notable force.
While Aneas managed to escape, his reign was effectively over. Hiding behind the walls of Coisra, he could only watch as his regime collapsed. His actions had not only destroyed a major part of the Imperial military, but also shattered Heronian trust in the Empire. An act that would have dire consequences.

Once masters of the world, not but a broken band of brigands. How the mighty can fall.

— Emperor Honorian I.

Conflict Type

Battle

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

02.04.3061

Ending Date

03.04.3061

Conflict Result

Decisive Heronian Victory. Southern Army Destroyed. Amorian Regime Collapses.

Southern Field Army

led by Aneas the Amorian

~ 50.000 Soldiers

Crush the Barbarian Uprising.

Virtually Annihilated.

Heronian Army

led by Areovistus the Heronian

~ 50.000 Soldiers

Halt the Imperial Advance.

Light Casualties.

by Mariusz Kozik