Historical ramblings for those who care; “Liberty" takes place in the late 6th century (575 AD) near the Upper Rhine River, though it tends to march around a lot through Western Europe. The Roman Empire had collapsed and was a shadow of it’s former self in Italy and the Middle East. It was a time of migrations. The Franks were moving southwest from what would be modern day East Germany (roughly) and down into France. The ancestors of the Vikings (Proto-Vikings?) were just starting their traditions of trade. People as a whole tended to be a lot more mobile as feudal traditions had yet to be established.

Though Rome’s power was gone, its influence was still felt across all of Western Europe. After all, if you wanted any sort of rulership of an area, you had to gain legitimacy from Rome. All roads, it seemed, still lead to Rome.

But why did Rome’s power fail? Let’s be honest here. In most High school text books, history sound a lot like “Rome covered most of the known world, then this guy Jesus was born, Rome fell, then we have the Renaissance…” Thank you, American Educational system. :? In truth there were several factors involved, none of which brought Rome down in a day. It was more like a mouse that slowly, day by day, month by month, year by year, century by century, undermined a great walls foundation.

One of the biggest factors, but by no means the only one, was the devaluation of the Aus (bronze coin). Many civic leaders were having trouble paying for things, so they minted new coins to use, thus putting more coinage in circulation. This decreased the value of each coin. Since the coins weren’t worth as much, it took more of them to buy things. Civic leaders found that they needed more money due to inflation so they minted more coins. Wash, rinse, repeat. By the time of “Liberty” the Aus was pretty much worthless (high valued coins, were still going strong, but they were rare). Fortunately, for most folks outside the cities, the barter system was still good.

As Rome’s power constricted it left a lot of the Roman cities in Western Europe to fend for them selves. Many fell apart completely. Many soldiers, both Legionaries and Auxiliaries, were either pulled out of their home cities and reassigned to somewhere closer to Rome, or out and out abandoned. Most of England’s forces suffered this fate, though they were not the only ones. All too often, these cohorts turned mercenary, selling their swords to whomever paid them and were not at all adverse to tearing apart an Empire that they once helped defend.

Rook’s Claw is one such cohort, though they tend to be very loyal to their city of origin and the original traditions set down when they were an Auxiliary under Rome’s control are still strong. Because of this, they have maintained a level of military discipline that few other armies can field. At the start of the story, Rook’s Claw is under the employment of King Chilparic (sp?) in a war against a neighboring Kingdom (which just happens to be ruled by Chilparic’s brother).

The Rook's Claw cohort is (at beginning of the issue) approx. 750 men strong, including officers, and divided up into four divisions; Pedas, Equitis, Arcobasliti, and the Balistarii.

The Pedas (literally; footman) are the largest division at 500 men and are composed of 8 squares of 80 men each. Each Pedas is armed with at lest three Javelins (pilum) a spatha (a long, one-handed sword) and large oval wood shield. If they can afford it, some Pedas will have throwing darts quivered behind his shield. Because every man is responsible for purchasing his own equipment, except for the shield, spatha, and a pair of hobnail boots (some of the best footwear in the world until the advent of computer-added design, with only one major drawback), there is very little armor worn by the Pedas and most of what you do see was probably looted off the battlefield. There are two formations the Pedas typically march in, parade/heavy battle formation (8 men across and 10 men deep), and light battle formation (20 men across and 4 men deep).

The Equitis was the cavalry division and consisted of 150 mounted men (mostly officers). Armed with shield, spatha, chainmail, and a light bow, they tend to ride in squares of 30 (15 across and 2 deep). Most people tend to think that the Legion/Auxiliary did not have a mounted unit. If thinking Classical Rome, this is somewhat true; Legions (were every member was a true Roman, not just a citizen) were composed only of Pedas. The reason was best summed up by a quote from a Roman General (who's name is completely escaping me at the moment). "I can't train a horse to charge a pike line, like I can my men. Horses are too smart." Damned by faint praise. However, Equestrian units were well established in the Auxiliaries, especially in heading towards the Middle East. Heck, they used camel units when they reached desert territories. Since Rook's Claw was once a Roman Auxiliary, it only made since to have the Equitis.

The Arcobalisti are divided into three subdivisions 20 Sagittarii (Bowmen), 20 Funditores (Slingers), and 10 Arcubilistarii (Crossbowmen) and form the skirmishers of Rook's Claw. The term Arcobalisti is kind-of a hotly debated term amongst scholars. While there is lots of documentation of "Arcobalisti" and "Arcubilistarii" with Roman documents, they never really defined what they're calling "Arcobalisti" or "Arcubilistarii". After all, why define something that everyone already knows what you're talking about, eh? Also, while it is very well know that Romans had the crossbow (arcubalistae), there is no documentation of them using the crossbow for military serves, unless you make a jump in logic like I have done. For the purposes of "Liberty from Hell", I have assumed that "Arcobalisti" is "the unit that throws stuff" (i.e. long ranged weaponry), and "Arcubilistarii" is "the crossbow men" of the unit. =Blarg!=

There is one other Unit of Rook's Claw that is not fielded in issue 2, and that's the Balistarii (the Siege Unit), 50 men strong. They're in charge of the heavy catapults and giant balisti that Rook's Claw commands. Generally, if they aren't needed for a siege or taking on fortifications they stay back at camp as camp guards.

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