Caesar's Legion

Caesar’s Legion is a slaving organization, led by the charismatic and cunning Caesar. The legionnaires are a well-organized fighting force that mainly operate east of the Grand Canyon and in Arizona. The Legion is comprised mostly of reconditioned tribals and their young offspring. The Legion's standard is a black bull on a red background with the description "Legio X".

Most members of the Legion pronounce its name in the classical Latin way, with a hard C sound (Kai-sar). Wastelanders and members of NCR, as well as some Legion members use the common English pronunciation with a soft C (Sieze-er). Legion members are fastidious about classical Latin pronunciations, such as pronouncing the traditional Roman greeting "ave" (hail) with the proper soft w sound for the v ("ahh-way"). Soldiers are called "legionaries" (not legionnaires, which is a modern French phrase and applied to the French Foreign Legion).

History
Caesar, along with another companion named Calhoun, was sent east by the Followers of the Apocalypse to study tribal languages - a task he considered a waste of time. He was instructed to meet with a Mormon missionary named Joshua Graham who was a tribal specialist. However, not long after meeting up with the missionary, all three were captured by the Blackfoot tribe for ransom. At the time the tribe was at war with seven other tribes, a war they were inevitably going to lose.

Unwilling to be destroyed along with them, and against the wishes of his companions, Caesar chose to use his knowledge to train the Blackfoot tribe in the art of warfare after witnessing their lack of knowledge first hand. By showing them how to clean and maintain guns, operate with small unit tactics, create their own explosives and to strike at their weakest enemies first; divide et impera - divide and conquer. He quickly impressed them enough to the point where he was made their leader.

He also introduced the concept of total war to the tribes around them. They defeated the weakest of their enemies first, the Ridgers, and enslaved many of the able-bodied male survivors but Caesar had the rest, including women and children, killed. When they confronted the next tribe, the Kaibabs, they brought an emissary back to view the carnage. Caesar knew that though the tribes had always fought each other via occasional skirmishes, he considered them to only be "playing at war". The concept of total war was an entirely new, and terrifying, facet to his strategy that they had never confronted before and would form the core of the Legion's tactics and outlook. Eventually, all seven tribes were either destroyed or incorporated in what became known as the Legion.

Caesar and Joshua Graham (his first Legate) used the power base they estabilished to attack and press more tribes into the Legion. For decades, they fought and absorbed lesser tribes, erasing tribal identities and shaping them into a massive, fanatically loyal army that, in Caesar's eyes, embodies the concept of perfect post-nuclear society. By 2271, the Legion has conquered 86 tribes and is by far the largest and most dangerous organization east of the Colorado. They clashed with the Desert Rangers in Arizona and nearly crushed them before they were integrated in the NCR.

The Republic would have the dubious distinction of being recognized by Caesar as a worthy adversary. Under the command of Legate Joshua Graham, Legion forces marched against the NCR garrison at Hoover Dam, in an attempt to take the strategic asset and river crossing. In what became known as the First Battle of Hoover Dam, Legate Graham initially had the upper hand. Graham was able to push the NCR defenders back and lead his forces over the dam. Lead elements of the NCR, including members of the 1st Recon Battalion and NCR Rangers, executed a tactical retreat west across the dam and into Boulder City, all the while using there prowess in marksmenship to kill the Legion officers (primarily Centurions and Decani). What Graham didn't know was that the NCR had boobytraped Boulder City, laying explosives along their line of retreat, and drawing the Legion into a trap. When the first Legion forces entered the city, the NCR detonated the exposives and inflicted severe casualties among the Legion forces. The shock of the explosions, combined with the loss of many of their officers, spread panic through the Legion ranks. The NCR forces then counter-attacked, pushing back and eventually routing the Legion forces who fled east back over the dam. Caesar, angered at the failure of his Legate, made an example of him. The Praetorian Guards (Caesar's elite body guards) covered Legate Graham in pitch, set him on fire, and cast him into the depths of the Divide.

By 2281, Caesar's Legion has reestablished its power in the west and is slowly encroaching on the city of New Vegas. They continue to contest NCR over all of the region, destroying several NCR bases such as Ranger Station Charlie and Camp Searchlight, and creating unease and terror in the remaining bases.

Society
Caesar chose to model his Legion after Imperial Rome because he recognized it as a working template for a society equal to the challenges of a post-nuclear world, one that would prevent humanity from fracturing again and estabilish an age of stability, a new Pax Romana. In the words of its founder, the Legion is a nationalist, imperialist, totalitarian, homogenous culture that absorbs everyone into itself, obliterating their previous identity. Often, this means that a primitive tribe, at the expense of their culture, will find itself uplifted and civilized. Tribal identifiers are destroyed, families broken up and inter-breeding between tribes is used to destroy old loyalties and recreate them fit for the Legion's purpose.

Caesar is considered both the ultimate leader and god's chosen (in this case Mars, the Roman god of war). He commands the military with help of his Legate (Lanius in 2281), while a female-only cast of priestesses is charged with estabilishing and maintaining his cult among the slaves and members of the Legion.

The culture rejects anything it perceives as weakness, both physical and psychological. It forbids painkillers and is largely ignorant of medical science - if someone is weak, then death due to injury or illness will simply improve the Legion as a whole. Incompetence or cowardness is seen as a weakness too and severly penalized - punishment by death or bodily harm is often the most common option.

Structure
The Legion society is largely hierarchical. Anyone outside its ranks is considered to be Dissolute, while those that are both outside of it and hostile are called Profligates. Freshly caught humans are called Captures and are considered the lowest of the low - their only right is to be tested as a slave. If they do not meet the requirements, they are killed.

Slaves are one step above Captures and consist of captured humans unfit for combat duty as a Legionnaire. They are expected to adhere to the virtues of a slave (Honestas, Industria, Prudentia - virtuous, industrious and prudent) and follow their master's orders without questions. They are given a new name and wear rags with a red X painted over the chest. Children of slaves are taken from their parents after birth into the care of priestesses, who raise them in keeping with Caesar's doctrine.

Legionaries are the main fighting force of the Legion and form the bulk of its society. Conformed of able bodied men conscripted into service, they are organized strictly adhering to the Roman ideals. Advancement in ranks is purely merit based - if a Legionary proves himself in combat, he will be promoted. If he doesn't, he'll be lucky to escape with his life.

Currency
Like the Roman currency system, Caesar legion uses two old currency used in Roman times, that are the Aureus (gold) which bearing the portrait of Caesar on heads side and the symbol of the legion on tails side and the Denarius (silver) which bears an image of a younger Caesar on heads side and a group of wastelanders on tails side.

Despite his relationship with the outside, they were still accepted as payment in the all Mojave Wasteland - owing to the high level of trade with the Legion and the safety of its territory for caravans.

It is also the most valuable of the three in game currencies, one Denarius being equal to four caps. While $5 in NCR money is worth only 2 caps and the Legion Aureus having an exchange value of 1-100 in caps.

When siding with the legion you may be given a quest "Caesar's Favor" that gives you the location of a dropbox area filled with very good supplies (meds, Legion Denarius, armor, ammo and the ilk). If you remain in Legion favor the boxes will become filled periodically.

Military

 * See also: Caesar's Legion military hierarchy

The entire Legion military arm is led by a Legate, who answers only to Caesar. The largest unit of organization is the Cohort, which is comprised of 480 men. It is further divided into eight Centuriae (80 men) led by Centurions. These consist of Contubernia, tent groups, of about eight men. Each contubernium is led by a Decanus, the equivalent of an officer. A separate branch, the Frumentarii, are tasked with infiltration and subterfuge. The Praetorians are a special outfit, whose sole role is protecting Caesar.

Unlike the NCR Army, Legionaries are not organised by abstract rank, but by experience. The most inexperienced of them, recruits wear the simplest of garments and are usually marched in the frontline. Those that survive several engagements can expect to be recognized as prime legionaries and as such, be considered for Decanus status or simply be marched in the middle of the ranks. The most experienced of Legionaries, veterans, march in last, if recruits and prime legionaries fail to meet their objectives.

The main commanders, Centurions and the Legate are also the deadliest members of the Legion, unlike their counterparts in the NCR or any other organization. Each has reached their rank through their battlefield accomplishments and their armour reflects that fact - it is made up of trophies taken from defeated enemies. However, they rarely enter the battlefield as they are few and far in between, not to mention that a loss of a centurion would likely result in a loss of unit cohesion.

A special post in the Legion military is the vexillarius. The standard bearers carry the sign of the Legion in battle and act as rally points for Legionaries.

The discipline of legionaries is absolute. In combat, they obey every order without question and if needed, will gladly sacrifice their lives. As such, Caesar can run any mix of legionaries as skirmishers and still retain order in the ranks, if the situation calls for it. The reason for it is simple - punishment for failure is severe. Legionnaires that fail will be lucky if they escape with their lives, as typically, those that failed the worst will be crucified or hacked to pieces by Praetorians in front of the Caesar. It is also possible that the Legate will invoke decimation, where every tenth legionnaire will be beaten to death by his comrades as punishment.

Relations with the outside
As a singleminded, monolithic empire, the Legion's aim to dominate the known world causes hostility between itself and most other organizations in the wasteland. It is locked in conflict with the New California Republic at the Colorado River in 2281. Tribes that weren't pressed into it are also openly hostile to the Legion, fearing that they will become another victims of its campaign of conquest, as even with guarantees of safety and independence, Caesar has gone against his word and assimilated tribes he previously promised he'd leave alone.

The Legion openly discriminates against supermutants and ghouls, considering them beasts. However, they will not go out of their way to attack and destroy them, if they do not provoke an attack.

Technology
Caesar firmly believes that reliance on technology weakens humans and has brought the nuclear war upon humanity in the first place. As such, his Legion is mostly a low-tech organization, relying on numbers, physical fitness and discipline to achieve their objectives. A typical legionary will wear armor mimicking the Roman lorica hamata or lorica segmentata, usually created from pre-War sports gear armored with metal plates, including the helmet, worn over a tunic. In combat, they use either simple firearms (typically revolvers or lever action rifles) or melee weapons crafted from scavenged materials that mimic the ancient Roman short sword (gladius) and javelin (pilum).

However, it is incorrect to treat their technology as primitive. As simple as regular combat gear is, the Legion is capable of erecting large fortifications out of scrap (e.g. Fortification Hill encampment) and mass producing standardized weapons for its footmen. They also have skilled craftsmen in various fields, including production of textiles and stonemasonry. Blacksmiths can also be seen honing their craft at various Legion outposts.

Development
The Caesar's Legion concept was created by Chris Avellone during pre-production for Van Buren. J.E. Sawyer then elaborated on the concept:

"One of the few big things I did on Van Buren was taking an organization Chris invented and changing it (perhaps mangling it in the process) into a neo-Roman slavers' legion with all the weird titles, makeshift costumes, and traditions of that group."

According to Chris Avellone's test pen-and-paper campaign, the first fringe unit of Caesar’s Legion was planned to appear as a hostile enemy in the Circle Junction Train Yards. Furtermore, the Daughters of Hecate and Caesar’s Legion was thought as the female and male polar opposites, which was supposed to allow the player, depending on gender, to rule either one and use them to build an army, Postman style.

Sharptooth, a member of Hangdog tribe, was planned to be a spy for Caesar's Legion, reporting to their agents in Denver, only because Caesar holds Sharptooth's sister as a slave. If this became known, the other Hangdogs would demand to banish him and his family to the wasteland. Bares-His-Teeth would have no qualms about doing this. Before being merged by designers with Blackfoot tribe Hangdogs tribe could be planned to live in northeastern Colorado, near Denver

According to one of Van Buren screenshots the Prisoner, equipped with Fallout Tactics-like pump-action shotgun and some unknown grenades, together with his five CNPC party, could kill hostile pack consisted of Legion slaver and Legion vexillarius.

Territory
According to conversations with Caesar’s Legion, his empire controls much of the Four States Commonwealth. Notably much of if not all of Arizona, and New Mexico with parts of Southern Utah, and Southwestern Colorado up to or around Denver.

Appearances
Caesar's Legion appears in Fallout: New Vegas. They were also to appear in Van Buren, the canceled Fallout 3 project by Black Isle Studios, as well as Black Isle's never-realized Fallout 4. Caesar's Legion was also to play in a minor role in the canceled Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel 2.