Roman assault of Jotapata in Galilee, 67AD

[Compass Rose]

Timing and Exploitation

AAR on the Roman assault of Jotapata in Galilee, 67AD written by Paul Bruffell

Jotapata stood on the north-western edge of Galilee and formed the lynchpin in a ragged line of fortified positions strung out across the uplands and manned by Josephus’ Galilean forces. This battle was the first major assault on a fortified position by the Roman army assembled to crush the Jewish Revolt.
The theme of this battle is spelt out in the title. An assault on a fortified town such as Jotapata is all about timing and exploitation. As Vespasian, the future emperor of the Roman empire, I had 1500 legionaries of the XV legion Appolinaris assembled for the assault on the walls of Jotapata. Typical of the Roman army in siege warfare, I also had three siege towers, 2 battering rams, a number of stone throwing engines, a large number of Syrian archers and some cavalry to sweep up any deserters from the town.
Confident of a successful assault and sufficient game turns to breach the walls, I sat back and admired the scene as my troops took up position.


The Roman units are in red and the Galileans / Judeans are in pale green on the town walls.

As you can see, the battle opens as the Roman assault towers and battering rams are approaching the walls, supported by 6 centuries of legionaries. A further 6 centuries are marching in column just arriving on the left edge of the map with supporting ballista. This battle encompasses the second assault on Jotapata, the previous assault had weakened the walls and so the battering rams are moving to exploit that weakness.
Covering fire from the archers nestled behind their mantlets is not proving as deadly as I hoped but keeps the enemy heads down and reduces enemy missile fire such that they are not effective unless targeting the assaulting units. Roman confidence was high as the legionaries approached the walls with scaling ladders.


Heavy fighting commenced immediately the Romans approached the walls.



The defenders hurled down missiles, boiling oil and rocks on the legionaries. My losses of these highly skilled heavy infantry from the XV Legion began to mount at an alarming rate. The computer AI played the defenders and had stationed light and light medium infantry on the walls and towers. The AI also held back a reserve of Jewish regulars to face any breach in the wall made by the battering rams. In the early part of the battle this proved to be a very effective tactic.


By turn 4 the battering rams had succeeded in punching a hole in the wall and one of the main gates. My legionaries charged in to the breach but suffered heavy losses from defenders on adjacent wall sections firing down on them. Meanwhile attempts to scale the wall occurred in a number of places and heavy fighting was seen all across the battle line. It was at this point I realized I had not moved my second group of six centuries to the front. Failure to support the initial wave now placed my front line units in jeopardy. I gave the order for my six centuries to march rapidly to the point of action. Not changing in to line formation at this point would prove to be a mistake. Timing when conducting an assault is everything.



By turn 5, a group of legionaries had pushed the defenders from the wall and moved on to the parapet themselves. Heavy and chaotic fighting continued along the wall and at the edge of the assault tower platforms. The second wave of legionaries can now be seen marching along the road towards the heavy fighting.
On the far right of the battlefield, legionaries can be seen clambering up the steep ravine and assaulting a weakly defended part of the walls. However, just as the legionaries were poised to launch over the parapet, their commander was killed by a javelin and this halted their forward momentum.



By turn 9 the continuous fighting on the walls had taken a toll on attacker and defender alike. The AI had committed and lost a considerable number of its commanders in an attempt to bolster his levies and contain the experienced Roman legionaries. The first wave of legionaries was now exhausted and the second wave was only just arriving. The AI had now committed most of its regular reserves to contain the Romans at the breaches in the walls. Indeed, one group of 100 men stormed out of a tower and attacked the legionaries at the base of the wall. Seeing this action disrupt the second wave of legionaries, Vespasian sent in a force of heavy cavalry to hack down these defenders who had rushed out from their sally port. Valuable time was lost in eliminating this force of Galilean regulars.


A quick check on the Victory status showed me I was in a ‘Minor defeat’ and needed my second wave to prove as hardy and determined as my first wave of legionaries.Most of my problems had so far stemmed from a lack of coordination between the first and second wave attack.On the positive side, assaults on the wall on the top left and far right of the map had successfully tied down enemy units.
I steadily pulled back the assault towers and battering rams as they had done their job and I did not want to lose this equipment to any further enemy sallying from his battlements.

This was the position at the end of turn 10, half way through the game.



22 legionaries are left fighting on the wall North of the central road. Two units of the second wave are still entangled with a force of Galilean regulars who had sallied out from the fortifications.
By turn 19, as seen below, the Romans had secured themselves on the ramparts and were pushing through the breaches. The intense fighting had at last exhausted the defender’s supply of man power.



Stubborn resistance remained in one of the forward towers but many defending units had now started to retreat. The victory score had now moved back to a ‘draw’ status and Legionary units are spilling over the wall towards the buildings and victory hexes. A lone unit of Zealots remains to face the Roman onslaught.



Turn 20 and the assault came to a close with a draw.
Conclusions –
I needed to have my second wave of legionaries in closer support to my first wave and should have moved up the mantlets (initially with the bowmen) to provide cover for the second wave. The battering rams and assault towers are the key to getting Roman units on to and through the wall. This siege equipment needs to be protected from enemy units sallying forth from their towers.
Commanders must be kept behind the mantlets to avoid losing them to enemy archers. Loss of a commander unit prevents coordination of the legionary assault units. If I had cleared the walls of Galilean forces quicker and the battle moved in to the open space behind the wall then I could have moved in my heavy cavalry to great effect. As it was, they had little impact on the battle.
I hope you found my observations useful in preparation for your assault on a fortified position.