Caesar's Legion

In the year 2246, the Followers of the Apocalypse sent a group to the Grand Canyon to study the region's tribal languages. The group included Followers Edward Sallow, Calhoun, a physician, Mormon missionary Joshua Graham, a specialist in tribal dialects. Not long into their travels, the group was captured by the Blackfoot tribe and held for ransom. At the time, the tribe warred against seven other tribes and suffered from a lack of skill in warfare. Sallow noticed the Blackfoots' martial ineptitude and feared that their more numerous enemies would soon overwhelm them. Unwilling to leave his and his comrades' fate up to chance, and against his companions' wishes, Sallow instructed his captors in the arts of war, giving them knowledge in gun maintenance, small unit tactics, explosive improvisation, and military strategy, drawing largely on what he had read about the military tactics of Ancient Rome. Under his guidance, the Blackfoots not only defeated but subjugated the neighboring tribes and came to regard Sallow as their leader. With that, Sallow took the name Caesar and began reorganizing the tribals he commanded into the Legion. Caesar established warfare policies in the Legion based on the concepts of "divide and conquer" and "total war." The Legion defeated the region's seven tribes from weakest to strongest and completely dominated each faction's land and people. The people conquered in campaigns were conscripted, enslaved, or killed. Caesar saw the tribes "playing at war," and tribals viewed his tactics as foreign, as their warfare consisted of skirmishes that never escalated into major conflicts. Under the combined leadership of Caesar and Graham, the latter of whom had been declared the "Malpais Legate," the newly-formed "Legion" led campaigns against other tribes, forming a fanatically loyal army of assimilated warriors. In the early days of the Legion, the powerful Twisted Hairs tribe of Arizona would aid the Legion as scouts. However, the Legion would eventually break the alliance and conquer the Twisted Hairs as they had with many other tribes, erasing their tribal identity and crucifying those who resisted along Interstate 40. In 2271, the Legion's presence served as a catalyst for the Ranger Unification Treaty. President Kimball recounts during that year, the Desert Rangers of Nevada joined the New California Republic's forces to protect the region against "the tyranny of [Caesar's] regime." Under the command of the Malpais Legate, Legion forces marched against the New California Republic garrison at Hoover Dam, in an attempt to take the strategic asset and river crossing. In what became known as the First Battle of Hoover Dam, The Malpais Legate advanced against the NCR defenders but his forces were unable to penetrate the Republic's defenses. The NCR First Recon and NCR Rangers, under the command of Chief Hanlon, executed a tactical retreat west into Boulder City after using their prowess in marksmanship to kill the Legion's centurions and decani from afar, an act that prompted the Malpais Legate to order the Legion's elite forces to push forward in pursuit of the enemy sharpshooters. He realized too late that the Rangers and First Recon had booby-trapped Boulder City, laying explosives all along their route of retreat and throughout the city itself. When the Legion's elite forces entered the city, the Rangers and First Recon detonated the explosives and inflicted severe casualties on the enemy, crippling their offensive. Shortly after the few survivors of the trap at Boulder City were finished off, NCR Troopers under the command of General Lee Oliver then counter-attacked, pushing back and eventually routing the Legion's main force after having successfully held the Dam. Caesar, angered at the failure of his Legate, made an example of him. The Praetorian guard covered the Legate in pitch, set him on fire, and cast him into the depths of the Grand Canyon. Caesar forbade mention of his name and now he is spoken of only in hushed whispers by the lowest legionaries and slaves, who call him the Burned Man. By 2281, Caesar's Legion has reestablished its power in the west, rebuilt its army, and has slowly encroached on the city of New Vegas. They continue to contest NCR in the Mojave region, destroying several NCR bases such as Ranger Station Charlie and Camp Searchlight, overrunning the NCR town of Nelson, decimating the town of Nipton and creating unease and terror across the region.

Summary:

Caesar's Legion (Latin: Legio Caesaris), also referred to simply as The Legion, is a totalitarian dictatorship founded in 2247 by Edward "Caesar" Sallow and Joshua Graham, built on the conquest and enslavement of tribal societies in the American southwest. To enforce unity in the absence of any civilian institutions, the Legion loosely models itself after the military of the Roman Empire, repurposing its language and aesthetics for the post-apocalypse. As of 2281, the Legion controls large amounts of territory east of the Colorado River, primarily in the former states of Arizona and New Mexico, with footholds in Utah and Colorado. Worshipped as the "son of Mars" by his followers, Caesar's ultimate goal is to conquer the New California Republic and merge its civil institutions and infrastructure with the military strength of the Legion, creating a new totalitarian empire.

Type

Geopolitical, Country