| “ | Ha, you thought you could trick me? Nothing happens without my knowledge and now you will pay! Charge, men! | „ |
| ~ Caecilius Metellus to Camelius and Tiberius Livius before his death. |
Caecilius Metellus is one of the main antagonists (along with Tiberius Livius) in Celtic Kings: Rage of War, Return to the Throne scenario. He was one of the commanders of the legions of the Roman Empire who, together with another traitorous commander, murdered the governor of Apollonia in order to rule over the lands together.
Biography[]
Caecilius Metellus was a commander in the Roman army who wanted to gain more power with another commander, Tiberius Livius. Together they killed the governor of Apollonia, and his son Camelius was dragged from his bed while he slept and exiled to live out his life as a slave, but this was not enough for Metellus, so he sent Teutonic mercenaries after him to kill him. He then became the governor of the city of Apollonia, and Tiberius received the neighboring territories, but the alliance between the two conspirators was quite fragile. Caecilius used his wealth to hire barbarian, viking and gladiator mercenaries, whom he ordered to plunder Tiberius' territories and kill whomever they wanted. The most serious incident occurred when a large horde besieged the city of Atia and many people died in the battle, but the city held out, thanks to commander Cornelius and a brave, strong Roman soldier, none other than Camelius.
The two conspirators did not know that instead of killing Camelius, the Teutonic mercenaries attacked a Gallic village, where the defenders of the village killed them all, and the young man joined the Roman army and became a strong, well-known soldier, coming under the command of Tiberius Livius. Livius first ordered him to defend the city of Apollonia, specifically to allow only Roman citizens into the city, and to kill anyone else who tried to enter. Afterwards, the commander was disappointed to report that a thief had entered the city, but he was not angry with his new soldier, but gave him a chance to correct his mistake, because he had plans for him. After Camelius' soldiers killed the thief, Livius said that he was getting fed up with Caecilius because he thought he was a stupid and weak governor, had only a few connections in Rome, wanted to take his place, and had a plan to do so. He told him that he was planning a coup against him and that if the young man killed the golden-armored Principles soldiers, the fight against the governor would be easier, but he warned that he had to do this in a way that the other defenders of the city would not see. The vengeful soldier believed that this step would bring him closer to achieving his goal and killing one of his father's murderers, so he told Tiberius that he sympathized with his views and accepted his offer. After killing the Roman soldiers wearing golden armor, Camelius went with Livius to the main square of the city, where Caecilius Metellus was already waiting for them and said that he knew about everything and that he would kill anyone who conspired against him, and then all hell broke loose in the city. Then Liberatus gladiators and the remaining soldiers of his own attacked Tiberius's troops, who fled the city after a while, but sent reinforcements to Camelius, with whom they successfully fought the enemy. The young man killed the governor in a duel, thus taking revenge on one of his father's murderers, but no one knew that he had secretly prepared something that no one expected.
In the main square of the city, the priests were about to elect Camelius as governor of Pannonia when they suddenly received a report that Gauls and Vikings had launched an attack to capture the city and its territories. To the east of them lay the village of Haltr, led by a mad, evil druid who was an ally of Caecilius Metellus, so the conspirator, even after his death, posed a final, tough obstacle to Camelius. The Druid's village was protected by a forest that was cursed, paralyzing Roman soldiers who entered and he turned the young man into a crow. However, Camelius successfully transformed back into a human and broke the curse in the forest, after which he and his army captured the village, killed the mad druid and all the barbarians and Vikings who fought on his side, thus Caecilius Metellus' last allies fell, his legacy was destroyed forever.
Personality[]
Caecilius Metellus was a very arrogant, power hungry, greedy, mean and cruel person. He was capable of anything for power and territory, even betraying his own ally and spending all his money on gathering hordes of barbarians and Vikings to his side, who would commit assassinations, plunder or kill the civilian population of neighbour lands of Apollonia, or conquer villages and cities. He was only interested in power and wealth, his pride and arrogance were too great, as he believed that with the many paid barbarians and gladiators at his side, no one could harm him, but he was very mistaken and this caused his downfall, as his regular soldiers in the city of Apollonia were not many.