Caesar's Legion

Caesar's Legion is a faction based on large scale slavery and tribal dominance. Founded in 2247 by Edward Sallow, who then renamed himself Caesar, and Joshua Graham (also known as the Malpais Legate), the Legion models itself after the ancient Roman Empire to create a unifying identity imposed on its tribes. As of 2281, the Legion operates east of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, primarily in what was once Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Background
In the year 2246, the Followers of the Apocalypse sent a group to the Grand Canyon to study the many tribal languages that had developed in the region. The group included Followers Edward Sallow, Calhoun, a physician, Mormon missionary Joshua Graham, a specialist in tribal dialects. Not long into their travels, the group was captured by the Blackfoot tribe and held for ransom.

Noticing that the tribe didn't know how to fight, Sallow instructed his captors in the arts of war. Under his guidance, the Blackfoots not only defeated but subjugated the neighboring tribes and came to regard Sallow as their leader. Under the combined leadership of Caesar and Graham, the latter of whom had been declared the "Malpais Legate," the newly-formed "Legion" led campaigns against other tribes, forming a fanatically loyal army of assimilated warriors. In the early days of the Legion, the powerful Twisted Hairs tribe of Arizona would aid the Legion as scouts. However, the Legion would eventually break the alliance and conquer the Twisted Hairs as they had with many other tribes, erasing their tribal identity and crucifying those who resisted on Interstate 40.

In 2271, the Legion's presence served as a catalyst for the Ranger Unification Treaty. President Kimball recounts during that year, the Desert Rangers of Nevada joined the New California Republic's forces to protect the region against "the tyranny of [Caesar's] regime."

Subsequently, the Legion expanded west into the Mojave and established a base of operations on Fortification Hill overlooking Lake Mead and the Colorado River in 2277. The advancing forces eventually made contact with the NCR near New Vegas and began a campaign to take the region with their forces consisting of at least 87 tribes.

Battle of Hoover Dam
Under the command of the Malpais Legate, Legion forces marched against the New California Republic's garrison at Hoover Dam, in an attempt to take the strategic asset and Colorado River crossing. In what became known as the First Battle of Hoover Dam, The Malpais Legate advanced against the NCR defenders but his forces were unable to penetrate the Republic's defenses. The NCR First Recon and NCR Rangers, under the command of Chief Hanlon, executed a tactical retreat west into Boulder City after using their prowess in marksmanship to kill the Legion's centurions and decani from afar, an act that prompted the Malpais Legate to order the Legion's elite forces to push forward in pursuit of the enemy sharpshooters. He realized too late that the Rangers and First Recon had booby-trapped Boulder City, laying explosives all along their route of retreat and throughout the city itself.

When the Legion's elite forces entered the city, the Rangers and First Recon detonated the explosives and inflicted severe casualties on the enemy, crippling their offensive. Shortly after the few survivors of the trap at Boulder City were finished off, NCR Troopers under the command of General Lee Oliver then counter-attacked, pushing back and eventually routing the Legion's main force after having successfully held the Dam. Caesar, angered at the failure of his Legate, made an example of him. The Praetorian guard covered the Legate in pitch, set him on fire, and cast him into the depths of the Grand Canyon. Caesar forbade mention of his name and now he is spoken of only in hushed whispers by the lowest legionaries and slaves, who call him the Burned Man.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p. 41: "Caesar's Legion: This horde of cruel, yet highly disciplined slavers has spread across the southwest like an all-consuming flame. Founded by a fallen member of the Followers of the Apocalypse, Caesar's Legion is effectively an enormous, conscripted slave army. As Caesar conquers the peoples of the wasteland, he strips them of their tribal identities and turns their young men into ruthless legionaries and women into breeding stock. Unlike the rag-tag Raiders back east, Caesar's "Legionaries" neither look nor act like haphazard, irregular troops. They are well organized, moving and attacking in large packs, and deliberately commit atrocities to terrorize those who might dare oppose them. ''True, Caesar is the perfect man. But he is not just a man: he is the Son of Mars, ordained by the god of war to conquer all Earth. To prepare the way, Mars razed the Earth, cleansed it with fire, and brought the weak and the wicked low; and now his son has come to deliver the wasteland from chaos and barbarism. To follow Caesar is to obey the will of Mars; to disobey is to condemn oneself to death. As the Son of Mars, Caesar has the divine right to demand servitude from all he encounters. Not everyone believes that Caesar is the product of a god's loins, of course. The most recently captured slaves tend to be pretty skeptical. But they aren't very vocal in their criticisms, and their children are raised not by skeptical parents but by priestesses appointed to that task by virtue of their knowledge of an adherence to the state religion.'' ''Nearly all physically capable, compliant males are compelled to serve in its armed forces. The primary value of pre-menopausal females is to serve as breeding stock (with Caesar or a legate governing how they are assigned to males), though they, like older females and less physically-capable men, are also used to perform a variety of other tasks. The largest unit of organization in Caesar's Legion is the Cohort, numbering about 480 infantrymen. Cohorts are further divided into Centuriae, which contrary to their name numbers about 80 men, and each Centuriae is divided into ten "tent groups" (Contubernia), making this the squad level of organization. Raiding parties are of this size (about eight men) and will be led by a Decanus (a squad leader, basically). Caesar desires two things: a Carthage, and a Rome. In the NCR he has at last found a grand adversary, against which he can wage a military campaign worthy of history books. And in Vegas, powered and watered by its great dam, he has found a capital worthy of, well, a Caesar. Contrary to the old saw, Rome will be built in a day. All it takes is plentiful slave labor, and Caesar has that in spades."'' (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Faction profiles)

Caesar's Legion reestablished its power in the west, rebuilt its army, and has slowly encroached on the city of New Vegas. They continue to contest NCR in the Mojave region, destroying NCR bases such as Ranger Station Charlie and Camp Searchlight, overrunning the NCR town of Nelson, decimating the town of Nipton and creating unease and terror across the region.

Society
As Caesar conquers the peoples of the wasteland, he strips them of their tribal identities and merges them into his forces. The non-tribal people who live in Legion-controlled territory are not considered legionaries.

Ideology
Caesar wishes to dedicate its members to a higher ideal, he seeks to prevent humanity from fracturing and destroying itself again. He believes that the only way to achieve this is through enforcing a nationalist, imperialist, totalitarian, homogeneous culture that obliterates the identity of every group it conquers. The individual has no value beyond his utility to the state, whether as an instrument of war or production. Caesar firmly believes that mankind requires warriors and their sacrifice, rather than gadgets that allow for bloodless victories. Caesar describes the Legion's culture as one that "forbids painkillers and is largely ignorant of medical science."

Caesar cites the NCR as an example of government corruption by wealthy brahmin barons and landowners, greed permeating every level of society, all leading to the abandonment of the collective and the greater good. The Legion is intended to be the Republic's opposite, shunning democracy in favor of a strong, centralized rule that would prevent fragmentation and internal weakness. The Courier: "What do you think of the NCR?" Caesar: "Do you want my opinion as a former citizen, or future conqueror? Actually, my opinion's the same either way. As a young man I was taught to venerate President Tandi of Shady Sands. "The Founding Mother of the New California Republic." Did you know her Presidency lasted 52 years? And that her father, Aradesh, was the Republic's first President? Does that sound like democracy to you, or a hereditary dictatorship?" The Courier: "President Tandi was voted into office each time." Caesar: "Because the council didn't dare oppose her. She was too popular. She had the people's love. So things ran smoothly, more or less. And as soon as she was gone, as soon as there really could be "democracy" - what happened then? Ever since losing its queen, the NCR has been weaker, more diffuse. Democracy has been its weakness, not its strength." The Courier: "How is the NCR weak?" Caesar: "Greed runs rampant. The government is corrupt, accepting bribes from Brahmin barons and landowners, to the detriment of citizens. The NCR is a loose conglomerate of individuals looking out for themselves. It's lost virtue. No one cares about the collective, the greater good. It's not built to last. I'm just hastening the inevitable." The Courier: "Surely, the NCR is a powerful foe?" Caesar: "Of course. The most powerful my Legion has faced. Also the first to which I am ideologically opposed. Until now, every tribe I've conquered has been so backwards and stunted, enslavement has been a gift bestowed upon them. My conquest of the Mojave will be a glorious triumph, marking the transition of the Legion from a basically nomadic tribe to a genuine empire. Just as my namesake campaigned in Gaul before he crossed the Rubicon, so have I campaigned, and will cross the Colorado." (Caesar's dialogue)

This opposition is based on a loose interpretation of Hegelian dialectics, where the thesis (NCR) and the antithesis (Caesar's Legion) will inevitably form a synthesis at the resolution of the conflict, eliminating flaws and leaving a new quality, with common elements and ideas. He likens the situation between the NCR and the Legion to the transformation of the ancient Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Social structure
Cassandra Moore mentions that she has heard the Legion doesn't allow women in the military, considering them nothing more than breeding stock. Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition pp. 460-461: "True to Caesar" "Many years have passed, and by post-apocalyptic standards, Caesar's accomplishments have been prodigious. But the man's hunger for greatness has never been sated. Having assembled a loose nation of slavers and slaves, having won countless "wars" against inferior peoples, secretly he still feels like an upstart, an amateur-a barbaric King of the Gauls, instead of a lofty emperor of Rome. ''To advance, he needs two things: a Carthage and a Rome. In the NCR he has at last found a great adversary, against which he can wage a military campaign worthy of history books. (Indeed, worth teaching his subordinates how to read and write, so that future generations can read his own Commentarii.) And in Vegas, powered and watered by its great dam, he has found a capital worthy of, well, a Caesar. Contrary to the old saw, Rome will be built in a day. With that out of the way, the next step will be to proclaim his apotheosis. All good Roman emperors became gods, although that was usually done posthumously...'' ''Besides a (highly unlikely) military defeat, Caesar fears one thing only: exposure. The denizens of the wastes are too ignorant to realize that his entire empire is a grand act of plagiarism, but the Followers of the Apocalypse know exactly who he is and what he has done. Should his tribe discover that he cribbed the entire culture from books about ancient Rome, rather than having its customs dictates dictated to him by Mars...well, it's very unlikely that could happen. And he won't let it happen. That is why his forces have a standing order to kill all Followers of the Apocalypse on sight, and to brutalize all 'civilized' or learned captives and haul them before Caesar's interrogators. Those who make the mistake of saying, 'Hey, you guys, it's like you're emulating the ancient Roman empire,' end up as severed heads on poles."'' (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide; Behind the Bright Lights & Big City) Jimmy states that women are treated as a form of currency. Veronica, when asked about the Legion, states that they "Mount their soldiers as much as they mount their women." Cass also states to a male Courier with the Confirmed Bachelor perk Courier that she "doesn't like soft living or soft men" to which Cass states that he has a "Legion outlook on things". Major Knight also confides to a male homosexual Courier that the Legion is "a little more forgiving about... friendships."

Caesar also works with members of the White Glove Society to further his goals. It is also believed by some NCR citizens that those in the Legion practice cannibalism.

Those who escape this fate and become subjects enjoy superior stability and security, thanks to the Legion's governance. Traders can travel on their own without guards most of the time in Legion lands. Coupled with the absence of heavy NCR taxation out in the frontier, many traders stick to Legion lands for regular trading, though some cross the river to trade with the NCR from time to time. The Legion holds firm to their ideology against drugs and alcohol, punishing those they capture with the illicit substances severely.

Anyone outside the Legion ranks or under their rule is considered to be "dissolute" or are called "profligates," referring to those lacking morals. Freshly caught individuals 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 legionary. They are expected to adhere to the virtues of a slave and follow their master's orders without question. They are given a new name and wear rags with a bright red X painted over the chest. Some captures and slaves are forced to wear slave collars to ensure their docility. Slavery is managed by the Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus. Consul Officiorum typically acts through his representatives or administrators, who handle sales, bargaining, and issuing legal documents, such as bills of sale. The Legion treats documentation with exceptional care, especially when pregnant women are concerned: Slavers may receive subsequent payments if the child is born.

Trade
Dale Barton often prefers to trade in Legion territories, saying that he finds it cheaper as he doesn't have to hire protection on most occasions, nor does he have to pay taxes, due to the effectiveness of Legion suppression of raiders and wasteland creatures. Rose of Sharon Cassidy admits that caravan life would be much easier if the Legion controlled the roadways instead of the NCR, as the Legion does not require the same exorbitant tolls and simultaneously provides consistent and effective protection of routes in their territory. She states that if towns could be provided the same level of security as roads, they would likewise be tempted to capitulate.

Equipment
Lower ranks typically use either simple firearms (typically revolvers or lever-action rifles), power fists, or melee weapons in the form of machetes and throwing spears. Higher ranks, such as prime legionaries, decani, and centurions have access to superior weapons, such as Anti-Materiel Rifles, marksman carbines, and super sledges. The personal guards of Caesar themselves are equipped with high tech ballistic fists. The Legion's lack of technical expertise means that many legionaries are untrained in the use of certain weapons, with some unaware that land mines can be disarmed.

While no Legion member wields energy weapons, they show interest in purchasing them from the Van Graffs. The Legion has a large number of Stealth Boys. These Stealth Boys are never seen used by Legion soldiers in the Mojave but are used by the Legion at Dry Wells and the Legion Marked Men in the Divide. Centurions make their own armor, crafted from elements of body armor scavenged from felled foes. Beyond that, the Legion is opportunistic and will use any kind of technology to further its goals, whether it be using a howitzer to suppress NCR snipers or occupying HELIOS One after the Courier wipes the NCR out with ARCHIMEDES.

Appearances
Caesar's Legion appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.