#pharsalus

In the beginning there was squabbling over land, or an insult or even a kingdom who was a scaredy cat and decided to lash out at everyone about them for no good reason. What ever has happened, your characters are at war. Soon they will face the enemy in battle, where they will fight for freedom, eternal glory and- *record scratch* But we are getting ahead of ourselves. What does happen before that thunderous charge? How does everything start?

Finding Ground

Before a battle, the armies would try their best to find the best ground. Scouts would be sent out in search of the best terrain they can do battle on. Boggy ground can be used to derail calvary such as at Bannockburn. Flat hard terrain can be used to aid chariots like Gaugulmela. Finding the perfect ground does not mean a battle will be won. Many a good army was lost on the most meticulously picked battlefields because of forces beyond their control. An example of this would be at the Battle of Pharsalus, where Pompey had every advantage but lost the battle anyway.

Negotiations

As the armies line up and ready themselves for battle, commanders on both sides might meet to discuss terms (but only if they had their monarchs go ahead). Commanders might attend themselves or they might send their lieutenants. What would follow after would be a back and forth, with one side offering terms and the other countering with their own. There were rules surrounding these meetings. Generally both sides were sworn safe conduct and placed in a sort of neutral bubble. Nobody was allowed to draw weapons or try kill one another as that went against the code. During the talks between the English nobility and the commons during the Peasants' Revolt, a knight slashed open the rebel command Wat Tyler's face. This was a no no and probably would have ended in a riot only tween Richard II had other ideas. Perhaps one negotiation I would have loved to have been involved in was the chat between Hannibal and Scipio before the Battle of Zama. The shade that must have been thrown. The drama. The sexual tension. Maybe not the last one but still...

Battle plans

When negotiations for surrender or peace do not work, either side must begin to plan their strategies. Most war councils would have included the most important commanders in the army. These plans would be exclusively attended by the most senior commanders (all of noble rank, commonly before the 20th Century).

Field Marshall/General/Lord High Admiral: The highest rank upon the field. They are given their orders from the monarch to represent their interests upon the field of battle. It was an honour almost exclusively given to nobility.

Brigadier: The Brigadier commands a unit of the recruits, serving under the above rank. They are similar to a Roman centurion though their unit might surpass the traditional 100.

Colonel: The Colonel could often be given temporary control of the army if the Marshal was unable to do so or elsewhere. They were also in command of a regiment (major division of an army) as well as their own unit (smaller division).

There would also be a speckling of other lower ranks, who would likely pull their rank of nobility to attend.

Lieutenant Colonel: The Lieutenant Colonel served as assistant to the Colonel in his regiment, serving as de facto leader if the Colonel falls or is occupied elsewhere.

Major: was third in line in command of a regiment, in command of their own unit and allowed take control when their superiors where unable to command.

Captain: The captain serves as the leader of a company of men. In mediaeval France, the captain was often a lord or a knight commanding his tenants on the field of battle, of course taking orders from the above ranks.

Lieutenant: the captain's assistant with the company to keep the soldiers in good order and command if needed.

Sextus Pompeius Consulting Erichtho before the Battle of Pharsalus by John Hamilton Mortimer 

British, 18th century

oil on canvas

Pharsalus as a collective traumatic memory ✔

Their talk was no longer of the recent horrors of a bloody peace, but they recalled memories of the civil wars and spoke of the many times the city had been captured by Roman armies, of the devastation of Italy, of the plundering of the provinces, of Pharsalia, Philippi, Perusia, and Mutina, names notorious for public disaster.

Pompeius and Brutus as virtuous men (and symbols of the Republic) ✔

They said that the world had been well-nigh overturned, even when the principate was the prize of honest men; but yet the empire had remained when Julius Caesar won, and had likewise remained when Augustus won; the republic would have remained if Pompey and Brutus had been successful;

Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson in Rome (2005) Pharsalus

S1E7