Created by Emperor Constant in the Roman province of Britain, a special intelligence unit turned out to be so secret that it is still impossible to understand whether it had any effect from it? It is also not entirely clear who, in fact, were the arcanian warriors - the mysterious knights of the cloak and dagger or the formidable European ninja who terrified the enemies …
Educational moment
The shores of Foggy Albion have attracted the Romans since the time of Julius Caesar. And it was not just a dream of the invaders about new lands, but quite a practical reason - in Britain, fugitive Gauls were hiding, who fought against the legions of the great commander. Their allies, the Britons, also took refuge there, from time to time they sailed to the mainland to take part in the anti-Roman struggle, to acquire military experience and trophies.
As a determined man, Caesar decided to end this hornet's nest (and enrich himself at the same time) in 55 BC. Gathered a fleet and with two legions set off on a campaign. The Britons met him right on the coast. Here, for the first time in military history, the commander used what is now called "support of naval artillery": the inhospitable islanders were driven away from the coast by the "fire" of ship's catapults. The Romans won several small battles, brought two tribes to submission, lost many ships during the tides, and returned home without the expected prey. Both sides recorded what had happened to themselves: Caesar said that he had "tamed" the Britons, who claimed to have pushed the aliens into the sea.
To end this ambiguity, the restless commander repeated his voyage a year later, however, this time he collected as many as five legions and a more solid fleet for him. The Britons, mindful of the ship's shelling, no longer interfered with the landing of strangers, hoping to teach them a lesson in the depths of their island. Alas, this time the military fortune was on the side of the Romans. Having defeated the enemy, they withdrew again, imposing a last tribute on the Britons, which the stubborn islanders never paid.
Caesar's visits were supposed to instill in them a sense of respect, fear of Rome, but nothing of the kind happened.
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Obstinate province
Then, apart from the coastal maneuvers of the Roman troops near the English Channel, carried out on the orders of the mad tyrant Caligula, then serious actions to capture Britain began already under the Emperor Claudius. Four of his legions conquered twelve British tribes in 41, but this did not bring the final victory. For more than 40 years, the conquest of the island continued, accompanied by uprisings.
The largest of them was the performance of the Itzen tribe in 61 under the leadership of the widow of a Celtic ruler dependent on Rome, Boudicca. She took revenge for the land taken from her, her public whipping and abuse of her daughters. The rebels destroyed a number of cities that supported the Romans, including Londinius (present-day London), and even defeated the IX Roman Legion. In the decisive battle of Roxter, Guy Suetonius Paulin defeated the rebels, and Boudicca had to commit suicide.
The Romans owed the last military successes in the fight against the British to the legate Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who in six years of campaigns managed to conquer the tribes in a large part of Caledonia (Scotland). However, by 83, he ordered fortifications to be built in the north of the island, cutting off the partisan Scots and Picts from the romanized Britain.
Subsequently, already under the Emperor Hadrian, after the suppression of the Britons uprising in 122, a stone wall was erected instead of these defensive structures (Hadrian's Wall).
Later, the unconquered part of the island was left alone. Only in 207, the emperor Septimius Severus again went to Caledonia. According to some sources, he defeated the Picts, according to others, he lost many thousands of soldiers to no avail. In any case, he failed to acquire new territories. Not all Britain submitted …
What's behind the wall?
Britain, one of the most distant provinces of the Roman Empire, experienced many problems, which for many years prevented its rulers from ending the rebellious North. Meanwhile, these lands became the center of resistance of the islanders. From here they made their raids, which prompted the Romans to take certain measures to avoid trouble.
Since the then most widespread method of espionage - with the help of merchants - did not work here, it was necessary to resort to other methods of intelligence. Sometimes the intentions of a more hostile tribe to the Romans were reported (based on their own interests) by representatives of a less aggressive clan living outside the wall. This was encouraged, since no one canceled the principle of "divide and conquer". And yet this method was unreliable and unstable.
In the 1st-2nd centuries, close reconnaissance was carried out by cavalrymen, who had the opportunity to quickly return to the fortifications in case of danger. Beginning in the 3rd century, a network of peculiar checkpoints appeared behind the wall, where units of the so-called explorators (scouts) were hiding. Their task was to detect enemy spies or small enemy units in time and destroy them. In the event of a meeting with superior forces, it was ordered to retreat to their mini-fortresses, send a signal of danger - with pigeons or messengers - and hold on. It seems that their fate was unenviable, it is unlikely that only volunteers served there.
Unconventional solution
At the beginning of 343, the Picts and Scots broke through the Hadrian Wall, destroyed part of the fortifications and moved into the interior of the province. The explorators overslept both the preparation and the beginning of this major invasion …
Emperor Constans arrived in Britain at the head of the troops. A man who extremely disliked the army and did not trust the commanders, nevertheless managed to push the British back and restore the fortifications. After that, the emperor dispersed the explorators, as they had not justified their mission. Instead, he formed something completely new, which has not been used anywhere else in the empire - an agent intelligence service.
An interesting point: in the writings of the ancient Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, information about the creation of this unit and its disbandment has been preserved. But the part that contained details about the functions and activities mysteriously disappeared … Apparently, Constant's agents had to infiltrate the recalcitrant tribes behind the wall, ferret out their secret plans and inform the command, thwart anti-Roman plans, arrange conspiracies of the leaders, playing them off among themselves, to destroy obvious leaders calling for a fight against Rome, etc. Thus, the newly minted Arkani warriors were a kind of saboteur spies rolled into one. They were recruited, most likely, from among the Romanized Britons, among the faint-hearted prisoners of the Picts and Scots, who, after appropriate processing, agreed to return to themselves and serve against their own.
Given the high expectations and the wide range of tasks, the arkani must have paid well for its work.
Thus, Emperor Constans, who, by the way, had an unconventional orientation, also approached the solution of problems with restless northerners in a non-standard way. Leaving, with a pure soul, he believed that now everything would be all right: after all, the nasty soldaphons, not despised by him, had taken up the matter.
Did not help…
But soon Constant was not up to Britain. But if he wanted, he would have found out that his brainchild did not particularly help the Roman administration - the Picts and Scots, as they rode over the rampart, did so during the period of the arcania's existence.
At the same time, army units in the provinces, deprived of their intelligence, did not trust the information of incomprehensible agents. As a result, it got to the point that in 367 the northerners again broke through the Hadrian's Wall and walked almost all over the country, even reaching the walls of Londinia.
The commander Theodosius the Elder, the father of the future emperor Theodosius the Great, arrived to help the Picts and Scots return behind the wall. Moreover, the term "help" perfectly suited what the commander did: having smashed the enemy with minimal losses, he returned to the enemies all their war booty and escorted them to the line of fortifications, at the same time restoring the wall. Well, just a humanitarian operation of the 20th century!
The northerners liked it so much that they … soon returned! But then Theodosius got angry and showed character, ordering the legionnaires not to stand on ceremony with the aliens … Thanks to his victories, Britain then remained within the borders of the Roman Empire for another 40 years.
And before leaving for the capital, Theodosius dispersed the secret service of the arkani warriors, knowing for certain that they worked more for their fellow tribesmen, betraying the plans of the Romans, and for their own pocket than for the interests of the founding fathers. Ex-spies started a conspiracy against him, which was identified and successfully suppressed.
Strategic reincarnation
It is no coincidence that today we remembered the ancient arcanian warriors. The fact is that they became one of the characters in the worldwide popular strategy computer game Rome: Total War. Moreover, its creators turned them into elite superfighters in strong armor and terrible masks, terrifying the enemy. What was more here - ignorance of history or the desire to embellish the ancient Roman army (which did not need it at all) is unknown. However, ironically, the fighting qualities of virtual warriors turned out to be as unimportant as those of their real prototypes.
Oleg TARAN
