4th century BCE (Vae victis!)

This period marked the fall of Rome, and the chaos in Italy that followed. Throughout history, it has been marked as being decidedly chaotic with wars running wild, kingdoms falling and thousands dying. Yet this time also marked the beginnings of new empires - empires, that for better or for worse, would last for millennia to come.

The End of Rome
As the Senone Army had already sacked Rome, they had an important decision to make. Marcus Furius Camillus had been declared dictator of Rome, and the decision to take him out or leave him in alone was yet to be decided. After much debate, it was decided by Brennus that Veii should be taken, to prevent any future Roman resistance. With the decision made, the Senones finished looting Rome, and marched northward to lay siege to the city of Veii. However, while they were on the way, a Roman Army of 5000 attacked them. Despite the setback, the Senones were able to destroy the army within two weeks and move on. However, the delay had allowed Marcus to fortify Veii far more than he would have without the attack presenting a daunting challenge to Brennus and the Senones.

By mid 388, however, after a restful winter, the Senone Army launched an attack on Veii. For eight days, the Romans held out, even with their rapidly dwindling supplies and high casualties. Finally, on the ninth day, the Senones smashed through the Roman defenses, and won the battle. During discussions, it was agreed upon that the Romans would give the Senones a ton of gold, as well as weapons and food. The exchange took place the next day at noon, and as more and more gold piled up for the Senones, the Romans began to suspect treachery. Finally, Marcus Furius angrily accused the Senones of using weights that were too heavy. Brennus, angered by the accusation, took out his sword, and plunged it into Marcus' chest, yelling "Vae Victis!" as the sword killed his defeated opponent.

The Etruscan Conquest
As Rome collapsed, the Safineis began to attack the southern part of the area, with the goal of taking the whole nation. The Senones, meanwhile, had no interest in taking over Rome, and decided to return to their homeland via Etrusca. The Etruscan government, worried about Safinei expansion, asked the Senones for help defeating the Umbrians. In exchange the Senones would get many valuable goods, as well as an alliance with the Etruscans. The Senones agreed, and their army of 11,000 met up with 12,000 Etruscan solders. The combined army marched into Umbria, and defeated the first attempt at resistance. The second attempt, while more formidable, was also put down within two days.

After these two battles, Umbria was in panic over the massive invading army. Their only chance lay in an army of 15,000 they were able to raise, and that number was likely exaggerated. The armies met only 35 miles away from the Etruscan border. The battle was long and brutal, lasting a full three days. Eventually however, the Sennones were able to launch an attack from the side, destroying the Umbrian army. This led to a six week campaign to finish off the Umbrian army. It was a quick success, and by the end of it, almost no further Umbrian resistance remained, at least in the northern part of the nation, though the southern part had to be dealt with.

The war in the south took almost two years to conclude and was devastating for both sides. The Umbrians used early guerrilla tactics, and although the Senones matched them in that respect, it was still devastating, particularly to the Etruscans. Very few major battles occurred during this time, and the fighting was mostly limited to areas in and around Umbrian villages. Eventually, the Etruscans would triumph, but not without more then a thousand casualties. In the end, the war was a success, and the Sennones left the Etruscans in peace, with plenty or supplies and currency. The war was arguably the main cause of the alliance between the Etruscans and the Senones, an alliance that would last thousands of years. It also set off a period of animosity between the Etruscans and Safinies, tensions that would eventually culminate in the Fifty years war.

Safinei Expansion
After the Senones had destroyed the Roman army, the Safineis took advantage of the situation, and moved in from the south. The Safinei army met almost no resistance, save for isolated village militias and Roman army remnants. As the army advanced north, the fighting grew noticeably, but no full army was able to challenge them for the entirety, until they reached Rome at The battle of Rome. The force the Romans managed to come up with numbered about 3500, less then half the Safinei army. The Safinei army quickly destroyed this force, and took control of Rome, effectively annexing the former Roman Republic. After this, the Safinei moved north to occupy the remainder of Rome to prevent Etrusca from taking over the region, and thus securing the land for many years.

With Rome solidly under Safinei control, the nation began to leveragetheir newfound influence across southern Italy. Their main reason for this was to limit Etruscan expansion, and be able to fight them in the event of a war. The Safinei began to start trading with the southern Italian states, dominating their economies to the point where they controlled them. As economic control began to take hold, so did political control, with the kings of southern Italian nations being essentially chosen by the king of the Safinei, and often unable to enforce their rule without Safinei intervention. By 370, these measures essentially reformed Southern Italy into a collection of Safinei puppet states. with annexation looking like a possibility. This reduced the Italian peninsula to two factions; the Safineis and the Etruscans.

50 Years War
After Safineim and Etrusca became the sole powers on the Italian peninsula, conflict was essentially inevitable. The conflict broke out in 380 BC, and ended in 330 BC. The 50 years war was long and brutal, and resulted in the deaths of about 11,000 people. With the exception of the final Etruscan campaign, the fighting was mostly confined to small border conflicts, with high casualties. During this phase of the war fighting was extremely unpopular and thus recruitment numbers were tiny. While neither side instituted a draft, both armies were known to pressure lower class men to fight. The only selling point for the war was low civilian casualties, but as raids became more focused on villages instead of armies, the war became even less popular.

After several decades of the fighting remaining on the border, the Etruscans launched the final campaign of the 50 years war. The campaign's goal was to take what was formerly the Roman Republic from Safineim and put it under Etruscan control. The campaign was initially successful, taking both Rome and Veii. Later, however, the attack bogged down, and the Safinei were able to mount a defense, effectively ending the campaign. While both sides experienced about the same amount of casualties, Etrusca managed to take Rome and other nearby Safinei territory. The war was almost inconclusive, but it led to two more wars, the latter of which led to the takeover of Safineim by Etrusca.