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Rome - Total Realism / Faction descriptions for 270 BC
« on: January 19, 2017, 06:40:36 PM »
I will edit the faction descriptions for 280 BC, which are stored on TWC, and post the results for 270 BC here. Another link to the final faction list for 270 BC would be nice 
1. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
''They make a desert and call it peace.'' Calgacus
The history of Rome began with a she-wolf. She brought up the twin boys Romulus and Remus, of whom the first went on to found the city of Rome in 753 BC and kill his brother. These were the early seeds of violence in the story of a city that was allegedly populated by the descendants of Troy. In it's early days, Rome fell under the influence of the Etruscan League and developed into a royal society. However, at some point before the halfway point of the first millenium BC, the people of Rome decided that enough was enough and expelled their last king, Tarquinius Superbus.
The fifth century saw the first period of military expansion, including successful wars against their Latin neighbours, who also laid the earliest foundation for the famous system of Roman allies in Italy. Those years also witnessed the rise of the adjacent town of Veii as Rome's most fabulous foe. It took the Romans decades of war and frustration to finally win a decisive victory over Veii in 396 BC, which resulted in the Roman occupation of the town. But Fortuna was not all that gracious nine years later, when ferocious tribes from the lands of the Celts entered Central Italy and met the Romans in battle. At this meeting on the river Allia, the Roman army was emphatically crushed and the survivors had to run to the safe haven of Veii. Following on to that remarkable defeat, according to legend, a little group of heroes safed the besieged capital after most people had fled the town. But the Romans had learned from their mistakes and erected the impressive Servian Walls, which still form the main defense of the city now in 270 BC.
With Rome fortified and the Celts retreating back into the Northern plains, the Republic underwent crucial changes both internally and externally. The common plebs, which already held the positions of the tribunes, also got their first consul in 366 and gained exclusive access for the election of the censors in 339 BC. At the same time, Rome finally conquered all of Latium and went on to challenge the Samnites, a people from the mountainous terrain of Central Italy eastwards from Rome. The armies of Rome advanced steadily over these years, but their cunning foes eventually lured them into a deadly trap. But against all expectations, the Romans, encircled and defeated, were set free by the Samnite victors. While the Samnites hoped this would end the hostilities, the Romans felt it was an unbelievable act of humiliation. From that point on, both sides fough until the bitter end. In the third and final war (298-290 BC) it was Rome who won the dominance over Central Italy. Just three years later, the Plebs also won a victory to bring the the struggle of the orders to an end.
Rome's greatest test, however, was yet to come. In the 476th year after the foundation of the city, King Pyrrhus of the Molossians landed in Italy to wage war on the Romans. He had been called by Tarentum to aid the Greeks in their fight against Roman expansion and arrived with the reputation of a brave warrior and skilled commander. At Heraclea, he smashed the consular armies and incited panic among the ranks of the common soldiers, not least out of fear of the strange beasts called elephants he had brought with him over the strait of Hydruntum. But the Roman accepted this formidable challenge and received the support of Mars, the God of War, to eventually defeat Pyrrhus in a glorious battle and drive him back to Greece.
It is now, in the year 485 ab urbe condita, that we look back on these events. Rome now holds the supremacy over all the surrounding areas well into Southern Italy, has established a formidable system of allies and still keeps on expanding that influence successfully. The expansion into the central Mediterranean, however, has been observed with sceptical eyes in Carthage, the great commercial metropolis of Northern Africa. Roman imperial ambitions might eventually carry her into war against this former ally. Meanwhile, in the North, the Celtic tribes still pose a considerable threat and every Roman can tell horror stories about these wild and brutal people. But Roman weapons have proved their worth time and again, and slowly new reforms are starting to improve the citizen legions' lethal effectivity even more. Once again, Rome's fate lies on the shoulders of the common men...
2. THE SELEUCID EMPIRE
''Fortune favours the bold.'' Simonides of Keos
Roughly two decades before the battle of Chaironeia, a noblewoman called Laodike gave birth to her son in the small town Oropos in Macedonia. These days, one can hear the stories that Apollo himself, the god of music and god of the sun, was the true father of this child. But officially it was the son of Antiochos, a man of the army who hailed from the mountain area of Orestis. That boy was named Seleukos, and with his parents holding close relations to the royal court, he enjoyed a formidable education. Once Seleukos became a teenager, he served as a squire to king Philip II, and upon becoming a man, joined the new royal battle guard, the Hypaspists. After the battle of Chaironeia and the murder of Philip, the Hypaspists accompanied the demigod Alexander on his brave and magnificent adventures in the East. The red-haired hero brought down the empire of Persia, and the Hypaspists followed him through the endless deserts into India. Seleukos emerged not only as an impressive soldier, but also proved his abilities to command and organise. Thus it was no surprise when the godly Alexander elected him for his Elite companions, the Hetairoi. At the battle on the river called Hydaspes in the mythical land of India, Seleukos commanded part of the right wing of the army and defeated the enemy's monstrous elephants.
Upon their return to Susa, Seleukos married Apame, a woman whose beauty grandly excelled that of her native Sogdia, a rocky badland in the wild North East. Apame gave birth to Antiochos, the first and most beloved son of Seleukos. But at the same time, the gods on Olympus felt that Alexander had done enough in the world of the mortals and he died in the palace of Babylon. A most ambitious and very Greek competition between his generals emerged, and Seleukos took part in the early Diadoch wars on the side of the royal regent Perdikkas, but later found an esteemed friend in Ptolemaios, who had become the pharaoh of Egypt. Together they put up a fierce resistance against the mighty Antigonos Monophtalmos, who only had one eye, but the ambition to rule the whole world. They defeated his young son Demetrios at Gaza in 312 BC and Ptolemaios sent his friend eastwards, to reclaim his rule over Babylon. Accompanied by only a small contingent of elite soldiers, Seleukos was joyfully welcomed in that ancient city, and it was then whe he laid the foundation for his own empire.
When Antigonos heard of these events, he was furious and started a war against Babylon the following year. But the courageous Seleukos refused to give in and repelled the attacks of the One-Eyed time and again. After his victory, Seleukos advanced eastwards and was acclaimed as the new ruler of these Eastern people, also signing a worthy treaty with Sandrokottos (whom his own people call Chandragupta), the lord of the Indians. The brilliant Seleukos gave him deserts in return for 500 terrible war elephants. With those, he strengthened his army and then returned to the West, where he joined Ptolemaios and Lysimachos at the battle of Ipsos in 302 BC. In this heroic engagement, his elephants held off Demetrios Poliorketes' famed cavalry and Antigonos was finally killed. While Demetrios became a refugee and Seleukos was able to annex wide parts of Asia Minor and northern Phoenicia into his dominion, sadly a quarrel emerged between him and his friend, the Pharao. Both men, with only the best intentions, laid claim on the strategically important land of Koile Syria. For now, they settled their conflict peacefully, but that did not solve the problem in the long term.
In 286 BC he captured Demetrios and turned on Lysimachos, his last remaining foe, who ruled over his own little empire in Thrace. While Seleukos assembled his troops, rather cheerless news arrived from Alexandria, where the great Ptolemaois had died. His son Ptolemaios II. succeeded him as Pharao, but his elder son Ptolemaios Keraunos was expelled. Upon arriving in Asia Minor, Seleukos decided to take Keraunos with him, thereby establishing a rather disturbed relationship with Ptolemaios II. The Seleucid Army met Lysimachos in battle at Kouroupedion in 281 BC, and both kings, who had made the campaigns from Macedon to India and back, and then fought endless further wars over the decades, rode into battle as old men. Seleukos won a decisive victory and Lysimachos paid with his life, which ended after 80 exhausting years. Seleukos now only had one last dream: To return to his native Macedon and hopefully unite it with his empire in the East. But when Keraunos realized what the price was, he betrayed him. The murder of Seleukos, who died, 77 years of age, after having done and achieved more in his life than most men could ever dream of, sent shockwaves through the Hellenistic world.
His son Antiochos thus faced a more than formidable challenge to keep the empire together when he inherited the kingship. Revolts broke out in Syria and Asia Minor, Bithynia and Cappadocia asserted their independence and Keraunos ruled in Macedon. To make bad matters worse, the Gauls ravaged Greece and the Bithynian dastard king invited them into Asia. Not fearing the ferocious Barbarians, Antiochos rode into battle and trampled the Celts with his mighty elephants. Seeing his rival king busy in the North, Ptolemaios II seized the chance and betrayed the old friendship of their fathers to invade Koile Syria only a few months after the Elephant battle. Bold campaigns from both sides eventually failed and a year ago Antiochos had to settle for peace with his most powerful foe. Now Damascus and the adjacent regions have fallen into the hands of our enemies, Cappadocia and Bithynia had to be forfeited and the Galatians have settled in central Anatolia.
But Antiochos possesses the greatest kingdom in the known world, and an army made up of the finest Macedonian and Greek soldiers, including the Hetairoi and Hypaspists, but also a vast reserve of native warriors and- of course!- the big flock of elephants who carried the day against the Galatians five years ago. His son has just come of age, the merchants of Antiocheia often travel far into the lands of India to bring the finest luxuries of the world to the court and Antigonos Gonatas, a friend of Antiochos and rival to Ptolemaios II., now rules as king of Macedonia. The gods still hold a bright future for the Seleucid dynasty, but Antiochos must be wary of his enemies, internal as well as external, and wait for the right moment to strike and reclaim the lost lands in Syria and Asia Minor. May he be guided by Zeus to victory!
3. THE ANTIGONID KINGDOM OF MACEDON
''For famous men have the whole earth as their memorial.'' Perikles
Four centuries before our time Karanos of Argos was the first man to claim the crown of Macedon. His treacherous brother Pheidon had expelled him from the city of Diomedes and the stupendous oracle of Delphi, with the voice of Apollo himself, led Karanos into Macedon. There he reached the town Edessa in Emathia and renamed it Aigai, after the flock of goats he had followed to find the way during a terrible storm. Karanos united the tribes of Macedon and established the kingdom. Some of our historians might say this story is a product of mythology rather than actual facts, but who are we to foster doubts about the gods of Olympos?
Just North of the godly mountain itself the young kingdom soon began to flourish, albeit it lacked the dense population of Southern Greece. But the subjects of Macedon were not as refined as those Greeks I mentioned before, and their Barbarian heritage was responsible when they laid down to the power of Persia. The Macedonian kings became his vassals and paid regular tributes to the Great King. But at the end of his reign, Alexander I. (ca. 498- 454 BC) regained the kingdom's independence. During the years of the ogreish War between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians Macedon sided mostly with the latter. But it was after the end of that war, that Macedon began to enter the stage of the Greek World on more prominent terms. The great king Archelaos I (413- 399 BC) reformed the state and the army and improved Macedon's trade relations.
However, his successor Amyntas III (393- 370 BC) scarcely survived an Illyrian invasion at the beginning of his reign, but a formidable alliance with Sparta saw him defeat the Chalkidian League under their mighty leader, the city of Olynthos. Following the death of Amyntas, Macedon sunk into chaos. Disastrous wars against Athens and Olynthus over Chalkidike and Amphipolis were only exceeded when the gods decided to hand their favour to the Theban general Pelopidas. All on his own, only accompanied by his retinue, he walked into Macedon and conquered it with a bag of precious gold, which was enough to convince the miserable mercenaries of the Macedonian king. These years of embarassment only came to an end when the brilliant hero Philip II (359- 336 BC) rose to the throne. The gods and godesses of Olympos had benevolently endowed him with the grandest of skills and he reformed the poor crowd that was Macedon's army into a force to be reckoned with. Philip introduced the long spear we know now as the Sarissa for his phalanx, improved the royal company cavalry and added both the guard of the hypaspists as well as the feroucious Agrianians. These new troops showed their worth in the battle of Crocus Field (352 BC) before smashing the might of Olynthos once and for all in 349 BC. Philip the Great won victory after victory and in 338 BC his heroes crushed the armies of Athens and Thebes on the battlefield of Chaironeia. Now the lord of all Greece, he was on the apex of his impressive power. But the Moirai are always erratic and hardly two years after his greatest victory Philip was murdered.
Everyone knows what happened after the death of Philip, when his son was crowned as Alexander III. The red-haired young hero sackd the powerful city of Corinth before he went on to take on the big task of his life: His campaign into Persia. The little corps of brave, Greek heroes overcame both nature and the millions of men commaned by the Great King to defeat him several times and conquer his mighty empire. At the battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) Alexander earned the most brilliant of victories in the history of mankind and proved himself worthy of the favour the gods had granted him. But the restless demigod successfully pursued Dareios through the Zagrous mountains and into the Barbarian Northeast, where he subdued peoples the Greeks had never even heard of before. There he married the beautiful princess Roxane, but in Susa he also espoused Stateira and Parysatis, who were related to the last Great King. But again the Moirai thought that Macedon had got enough glory, and they prevented Alexander from conquering the Arabians and the Carthaginians by calling him up to Olympos. After the death of Alexander, his generals, called Diadochoi, began to tussle for his empire.
Among the Diadochoi was Antigonos Monophtalmos, who was also the most powerful and the most ambitious. When the regent Perdikkas had died, and Alexander's son, who was the child of Roxane, was still too little, Antigonos tried to gain the supremacy over Alexander's empire. The One-eyed was a formidable warrior and fought many battles against his multiple foes, crushing them here and there. To everyone's surprise, the secretary Eumenes of Kardia emerged as his brightest rival and Eumenes succeeded to inflict heavy casualties on Antigonos in the battle of Paraitakene (Autumn 316 BC). But the secretary's victory was to be to no avail, as the ruthless Antigonos followed him into the Persis, where both armies met again at Gabiene at the end of the year. Although Eumenes proved to be a sound commander again, he was eventually betrayed by his own men. Having get rid of Eumenes, Antigonos expelled Seleukos from Babylon and was at the height of his power. This prompted the other remaining Diadochoi, clever and able men themselves, to ally against the mighty One-Eyed. Althought Antigonos captured Phoenicia and Syria in the spring of 314 BC, which was followed by the occupation of Bithynia and Caria. But in the following year Ptolemaios, the pharao of Egypt, snatched Cyprus from under his rule, and together with Seleukos he defeated Antigonos fiery son Demetrios at Gaza (312 BC).
During this time, the treacherous Cassander held Macedon and ordered the murder both of the mother of the godly Alexander as well as the king Alexander IV. But young Alexander had ruled only in name, while Olympias had been a real rival for Cassander. In 306 BC the king was defeated by Demetrios at the battle of Salamis (Cyprus) and blended by the glory of the victory Antigonos and Demetrios proclaimed themselves as kings. The other diadochoi followed them in doing so, but it was Antigonos who paid for his hybris when the alliance of his foes defeated and killed him at Ipsos (302 BC). Demetrios survived, but fled into the unknown. However, five years later Cassander died of the dropsy and this opened the chance for Demetrios to reclaim the throne of Macedon. However, Ptolemaois, Pyrrhos of Epiros and Athens turned against him and Demetrios had to flee the country again before the relentless Seleukos captured him on campaign in Asia and the Besieger died in 286 BC.
Ptolemaios Keraunos, the oldest son of Ptolemaios, then made himself king of Macedon after his dishonourable murder of Seleukos. Antigonos Gonatas, son of Demetrios, only commanded a little corps of Macedon's elite troops at this time and seemed to be in no position to challenge Keraunos for the throne. But the invasion of the horrible Celts into Macedon and Greece led to the murder of the betrayer and Antigonos seized the moment. A swift attack brought the Barbarians to their heel and following the trek of the majority of the invaders to Asia, Antigonos faced little problems to recruit the remaining Celts in Greece into his own army. In Macedon, the people were relieved that the rule of their illegitimate king had come to an end and supported Antigonos as their new monarch.
King Pyrrhos of the Epirotes, however, returned from Italy at this time and quickly invaded Macedon without warning. Only with the help of the Greek cities did Antigonos survive, and when Pyrrhus died in the streets of Lakedaimon, the rightful rule of Antigonos over the kingdom was finally secured. Antigonos Gonatas is not content with just Macedon, however, and despite controlling the garrisons of Demetrias, Eretria and Akrokorinthos, the king still wants to expand his control over Hellas. Will he be able to succeed and finally squash the indepence of both Athens and Sparta? Or will the mighty Pharao of Egypt, Ptolemaios II., intervene and stop the ambitions of the Antigonid ruler? With an army of Macedonians, Greeks and Celts at his disposal, Antigonos is well equipped for the war in the South. But he must never forget the threat of the tribes of Illyria and Thracia, who are looming beyond his border. Now is the time to prove if Antigonos Gonatas is a worty successor of the crown of Philip and Alexander...
4. PTOLEMAIC EMPIRE
''The past is certain, the future obscure.'' Thales of Milesios
In the beginning Ra wept, and from the tears he wept, came man. Ra created Egypt, and when he travelled sky on Mandjet, the Eye of Ra spent warmth and light on Egypt. Every day Apophis the serpent tried to stop Ra when he was on the Mesektet, but Ra would always return with the help of Osiris. Now the foreigners who call themselves Greeks tell us to believe in their gods, but we can see that the god they call Dionysos is actually our ancient deity Osiris.
But long before the Greeks were graced by the light of the Eye Egypt had already become a majestic kingdom, led by the sublime pharao. Dozens and hundreds of dynasties led Egypt through a long history of brilliance and glory. Which mortal has not heard of the victory of Ramses the Great, son of Sethos, over the Barbarians at the battle of Quadesh (1274 BC)?
However, with splendid power and unimaginable wealth came Hybris, as our Greek friends would say. The court of the pharao started to degenerate and from infinite might Egypt fell down under the sway of the Persians. The rules of the Achaemenids was harsh and unpopular, but a number of revolutions by the people of Egypt failed to expel the foreigners from our godly country. But after years of torture Ra smiled on Egypt again and sent Alexander, whom the Greeks call ''the Great'', to liberate the country of the Nile from the Persian Barbarians. Alexander was the son of Amun and he destroyed the supremacy of the Persians over the people of the East. When Amun-Re decided to take his son back to the Great Pesedjet of Heliopolis, his generals where deceived by Apophis and Alexander's empire broke apart.
One of these generals, who enjoyed the protection of Horus the falcon, was Ptolemaios. He had been among the troops who accompanied the brave hero into Asia and was promoted to be the king's edeatros (taster) and later to a position among the somatophylakes (bodyguards). Ptolemaios continued to impressive and rose to the office of a general when Alexander was campaigning in Sogdia and Bactria. He excelled in India and at the time of the demigod's death Ptolemaios was among the most important of Alexander's generals. Seeing the splendour of Egypt, Ptolemaios chose the country of Amun-Re as his new residence. When the regent Perdikkas ordered the corps of the demigod to be brought to Aigai in Macedon from Babylon in the East, Ptolemaios insidiously assailed the convoy and abducted the corps to the godly city of Memphis. Perdikkas was raging, but Ptolemaios was just in his action since Alexander himself had declared before his demise that he wanted to be entombed at the Oasis of Siwa. To underline his power and his immortal legimitation Ptolemaios decided to bury him in Memphis.
During the wars of the Diadochoi Ptolemaios fought together with Seleukos, who claimed Babylon and built his own empire in the East. Together these two fine Greek officers stood against the mighty Antigonos and eventually defeated him after a series of wars. Ptolemaios, whose power had risen every day like Mandjet in the morning, followed the example of Antigonos to make himself king, and as he was in Egypt he became the new Pharao, celebrated by the people of Lower and Upper Egypt equally. When Antigonos died at the battle of Ipsos (302 BC), his renegade son Demetrios disappeared for a while before entering the fray again in Greece. He deceived the people of Macedon to steal the throne and subdue the other Greeks under his sway. But the sly Demetrios had underestimated the power of the sublime Pharao, and when Ptolemaios sent a huge fleet, bigger than the number of boats on the river Styx in Hades, he was able to help the clever men of Athens to overcome the army of Demetrios. The Pharao forged a superior alliance with Pyrrhos from Epiros and Lysimachos and together they defeated Demetrios, who was later captured by Ptolemaios' old friend Seleukos.
At the end of his reign Ptolemaios built a new, glorious Mausoleion in the city of Alexander for the corps of the great demigod general. All the people from Egypt and the Greek world came to see this wonderful piece of Egyptian culture and Greek architecture. Ptolemaios died shortly after and his remnants were also entombed in the new Mausoleion to prove his divine connection with Alexander and Ammon-Re. His eldest son Ptolemaios Keraunos was banned from the empire and Ptolemaios II., his younger son, was crowned as the new Pharao.
Ptolemaios II. had proven himself as a wise and cautious man, and soon after he became the ruler of our ancient land, he put his parents among the gods and brought the tomb of Alexandros Megas to Alexandria to show all of his subjects the connection between these former mortals, who had been blessed by the gods. In ignorance of the omniscience of the Pharao, his wife betrayed him and was sent into exile. Eventually, Ptolemaios chose his sister to become Arsinoe II of Egypt. The siblings ruled well and the two Egypts prospered, but Magas, son of Philippos and the divine Berenike and thus half brother of Ptolemaios, soon grew jealous of the power of the king. Having been appointed governor of Kyrene in his younger years, he rebelled from the rightful rule of Egypt during the fifth Peret of the Flood after the ascension of Ptolemaios II. And then Antiochos, the son of Seleukos, companion of the divine Ptolemaios I., joined him in his treachery by giving his daughter Apame to him so she could become his wife and an illegitimate queen of Kyrene.
Thus challenged, the Pharao could only react by making war on his enemies. At the time of Akhet he assembled the royal forces and marched into the lands of the Macedonians, taking Damascus and large parts of Palestine. Antiochos was rightfully defeated, while Magas tried to invade Egypt in the absence of the pharaonic army. But now Seth came to the help of the Egyptians for once and made the Libyan tribe which is known as the Marmaridae rise up against usurper Magas. Both of the pharao's enemies had to submit to the peace conditions offered by our Kingdom of the two Egypts and the war was successfuly concluded.
The struggle with the Seleucids might not be over yet, however, and Magas still sits on the throne of Kyrene. The people of Egypt must raise to the cause once more and support their Pharao with every possible means in the fight against the Barbarians. Ptolemaios II., our Pharao, will unleash the power of the Greeks and the ferocity of the Carians and the deadliness of the mercenaries on his enemies, and the most ancient empire in the world will rule once more!
5. CARTHAGE
''From Africa always something new'' Aristoteles/Plinius the Elder
Phoenicia. A small, but rich land in the East, home of our ancestors. More than half a millenium ago (between 825 and 813 BC) a little expedition from Tyros set out to found a colonly in the West. Our recors don't tell if they were searching for precious metals, or if the population of the country was becoming too big to feed, or if it was just the will of the gods that led them to the rocky shores of North Africa. But in any case, they founded our wonderful city Carthage. In the time of only a few decades we became the lords of the North African coast and began to found colonies on Sardinia and along the western Coast. Shortly before the Greeks began to settle Sicily, we built trade points on that island as well and afterwards connected them with roads and forts into a system called the Epikrateia.
The Epikrateia stands strong against the Greeks in the East, but it has been challenged many times over the years. The powerful city of Syracuse, led by it's cruel tyrants Gelon, Hieron, Dionysios and others, those cursed scourges of Sicily, have brought chaos into the Epikrateia time and again. But protected by the mighty Senate of Carthage and the great power of the gods above, Melquart be praised, the Epikrateia has survived and remains a constant source of precious revenue for our Republic. Then, 270 years ago we defeated the brazen Greeks off the coast of Corsica at the battle of Alalia (540 BC). Once the Greeks had retreated, we began to colonise the island in full and equally controlled it's bigger Southern neighbour Sardinia. A number of ancient Phoenician towns like Nora had existed there before (since the 9th century BC) and since that time three centuries ago we built up a fine infrastructure even Baal- Hammon is surely proud of. The native Nuraghic (Sardinia) and Torrean people (Corsica) were satisfied as long as we kept to the coasts. But the vast plains of Sardinia offered fertile ground, surely a present by Tanit, and today Sardinian bread is always popular among the urban population of Carthage.
Our expansion also incorporated other Phoenician colonies like Gades near the Pillars of Melquart. Since Phoenician curiosity is as insatiable as our shredness is boundless, famous sailors also explored the lands on the edge of the world. The great Hanno discovered fire-breathing mountains in the South, down the endless coast of Africa, while Himilko travelled to the North to find a land where air and water amalgamate. Carthage thrived economically and we began to dominate the Western Mediterrenean. Bust just four decades ago (310 BC) our hegemony was challenged again by Syracuse. After a lenghty war the gods bestowed the fortune upon us to besiege Syracuse. However, the sly Agathokles, our greatest foe and tyrant of Syracuse, shocked all Carthage when he landed a force in Africa itself. After landing at Cape Bon, he captured two of our towns and crushed our civic army- Baal- Ammon may be merciful to them! To gain the favour of the gods we made luxurious presents to Tyros and the following year our glorious leader Hamilkar stormed the fortress of Syracuse. But once again, the false Greek gods had deceived us and Hamilkar died in the attack, losing his army and the hopes of Baal- Ammon's people. A great weeping and praying took place, and to make matters even worse the Ptolemaic Greeks in Egypt sent reinforcements to Agathokles (308 BC). We were looking at the end of our proud civilization...
But one year later, the gods finally answered our calls and Agathokles himself returned to Sicily, leaving his son Archagathos behind in charge of the Greek warriors in Africa. With our new forces, animated by the spirit of Baal- Qarnaim, we celebrated two impressive victories over the foreigners and saved our home. Shortly after these events (306 BC), we signed a splendid peace with the Greeks of Syracuse. While our city and land recovered quickly thanks to the many talents of our people, Agathokles proclaimed himself king like his Greek equals in the East, emulating their hero Alexander who had destroyed the Persian Empire and brought our native Phoenicia under the sway of the Hellenes. Eshmun smiled upon us when Agathokles died nineteen years ago (289 BC) and the threat of another invasion faded.
We thought we would finally live in peace, but not even a decade later, Pyrrhos of the Molossians invaded the Epikrateia. We were pushed back against the wall once more, despair arose amongst our ranks again and we had to trust on the gods to save us again. Lilybaion, however, was too strong for the Greeks once more and Pyrrhos was forced to eventually retreat back to Italy. We have become used to these invasions, but with Melquart's strength on our side we will always survive!
But we need to be wary of the power of Syracuse. The restless Greeks of this magnificent city will never stop their attacks against us and with Hiero the Younger yet another tyrant has risen to the their throne. The Senate shall therefore support those Greeks on Sicily who are enemies of Syracuse at all times to keep the Greeks apart, and these people really only need little reason to be split and fight against each other. In the North East, the Campanian mercenaries who call themselves the Mamertines have seized the town of Messana, and across the strait our former allies, the Romans, might become a threat in the near future. However,the Gold of Carthage is it at your disposal and with the blessing of Baal- Ammon, we shall retain our position as the foremost power in the Western Mediterranean!
6. THE GREEK CITIES
"Stranger, tell the Spartans that here we lie, obedient to their laws." (Epigram at Thermopylai)
In the beginning Prometheus descended from Olympos and gave fire to mankind. From then on, many tales happened and many more have been told, stories about the glorious heroes Perseus and Herakles, just to name a few, legends of the fights between the gods and how they affected the lives of men, and myths from far distant lands in the North and the East, of men who travelled to the Columns of Herakles and to the edge of the Okeanos, of the great war over Troy or the fates of tragic couples like Orpheus and Eurydike. But we do not want to speak about myths in these days of wars and oppression. What has happened to us, the Greeks, to our heroes and tales?
Truth be told, the gods have justly decided that we had to be punished for our mistakes. The war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians brought hatred and mistrust over Hellas. This was proven to all by the so called King's Peace, which was presented as a just solution to our internal wars, but in truth- Zeus may forgive us!- it only led us back into the Persian Slavery. Then the king of the gods bestowed a great fortune on us, when Alexander the Heros, the Great, the Semi-God, rose to the throne of Macedon and began his adventure in the East. He brought down the Barbarian Empire and spreaded Greek glory and genius all over the world! But his destruction of Thebes would also live on in the memories of the Hellenes and remains a warning to all of us who love freedom.
Alexander was a fair and mighty king, but the gods, inconsistent as ever, took him away from us mortals and left his empire to be divided between his greedy generals. Ever since then, wars have ravaged the Oikumene and Hellas in particular. Hades has come over us, but Antigonos and Demetrios also promised all of our cities freedom and independence. But these two were defeated in the grand battle of Ipsos (301 BC) and others rose to power. Ptolemaios, it has to be said, established a great and just rule over the Egyptians, which is worth the praise from every true Greek. Seleukos, meanwhile, built up another huge empire on the remnants of the Persian rule in the East. He was a close and faithful friend of Ptolemaios and backed by his friend in Egypt, he expanded to the West and eventually defeated both Demetrios and Lysimachos. However, after the battle of Kouroupedion (281 BC) the murder of Seleukos by the coward Ptolemaios Keraunos plunged the Greek World into chaos once again.Worse was to follow when the Celts invaded Hellas. Oh, the terrible disaster! Pain and sorrow was brought to the Greeks. The blonde Barbarians their trousers pillaged our farms, ravaged our homes and sacked our towns. Neither respect for the Gods nor for our families could stop them, and the Kingdom of Macedon fell prey to their ferocious attacks. After Keraunos was killed, the Aitolian League assembled the Greeks in the time of need and won a glorious victory over our foes. Delphi was saved and the Galatians were forced to leave Hellas once and for all. Praise to the Aitolians! Praise to the Gods!
But now the time has come to shake off the Macedonian burden and to show their new king Antigonos Gonatas of what a true Greek is made! The benign king Ptolemaios II. offers aid to Athens and Sparta and Chremonides, Son of Eteokles from the Aithalidai has demanded an alliance against Macedon. To him we must listen! The time has come to claim back our freedom and lead Hellas back into an age of glory! For this we must unite and finally put the quarrels among us aside! Old and new rivals alike, Aitolians and Achaians, Athenians and Lakedaimonians, must end the bloodshed and turn against the tyrants who rule our world. Our Hoplites must be armed, our skirmishers must be trained and our finest warriors will already be eagerly awaiting the start of this epic battle.
Yes, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live - at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!! May Athena protect us- Greece will be free!
7. THE PARTHIANS
''Being assailed by the Romans, also, in three wars, under the conduct of the greatest generals, and at the most flourishing period of the republic, the Parthians alone, of all nations, were not only a match for them, but came off victorious'' Justin
We are the Parni. Our tribe has dwelled on the coast of the Daryā-i Xazar as long as humans can remember. We have seen the rise of the Assyrian and the Babylonian Empire, the coming of the Median Empire and the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. We have witnessed the campaigns of dozens of usurpers and that of Alexander, the divine boy from the West. All of them have vanished into the shadows of history by long, but the Parni are still there.
The Gods haven given us strength and the ability to ride the horse like no other people on Earth. The Nisaian horses are superior to all of their fellow races and we have become their masters. From the back of the horse we fire our arrows into those who are foolish enough to dare to cross into our lands. Over the decades of centuries, many a mighty military man has come from beyond the Zagros mountains, but none of them succeeded. None of them was able to destroy the tribe of the Parni, and we are still here to watch the world around us.
Our sacred native land we must defend, but the neighbouring tribes in the North and the East have to be watched carefully, despite being tied to us by the bond of common blood. From the South, the foreigners have brought to us the doctrine of Ahura Mazda, the superior God who has created the Geti. Now we have been illuminated and worship the fire, the strongest and most divine of the elements. The Gods will show us wisdom, and we will carry the Farahavar into battle. What lies ahead for us, the Parni, and our Chorasmian brothers? Will we destroy each other in war, or will we migrate to another place? In the South we can find the wealthy and mighty Empire of the Macedonians, who might not pay too much attention to this region they see as remote. This can be a chance for us, the Parni, to rise to glory. We have survived many a war, and now Ahura Mazda will lead us and show us the way to the truth and the wisdom of the Geti!
1. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
''They make a desert and call it peace.'' Calgacus
The history of Rome began with a she-wolf. She brought up the twin boys Romulus and Remus, of whom the first went on to found the city of Rome in 753 BC and kill his brother. These were the early seeds of violence in the story of a city that was allegedly populated by the descendants of Troy. In it's early days, Rome fell under the influence of the Etruscan League and developed into a royal society. However, at some point before the halfway point of the first millenium BC, the people of Rome decided that enough was enough and expelled their last king, Tarquinius Superbus.
The fifth century saw the first period of military expansion, including successful wars against their Latin neighbours, who also laid the earliest foundation for the famous system of Roman allies in Italy. Those years also witnessed the rise of the adjacent town of Veii as Rome's most fabulous foe. It took the Romans decades of war and frustration to finally win a decisive victory over Veii in 396 BC, which resulted in the Roman occupation of the town. But Fortuna was not all that gracious nine years later, when ferocious tribes from the lands of the Celts entered Central Italy and met the Romans in battle. At this meeting on the river Allia, the Roman army was emphatically crushed and the survivors had to run to the safe haven of Veii. Following on to that remarkable defeat, according to legend, a little group of heroes safed the besieged capital after most people had fled the town. But the Romans had learned from their mistakes and erected the impressive Servian Walls, which still form the main defense of the city now in 270 BC.
With Rome fortified and the Celts retreating back into the Northern plains, the Republic underwent crucial changes both internally and externally. The common plebs, which already held the positions of the tribunes, also got their first consul in 366 and gained exclusive access for the election of the censors in 339 BC. At the same time, Rome finally conquered all of Latium and went on to challenge the Samnites, a people from the mountainous terrain of Central Italy eastwards from Rome. The armies of Rome advanced steadily over these years, but their cunning foes eventually lured them into a deadly trap. But against all expectations, the Romans, encircled and defeated, were set free by the Samnite victors. While the Samnites hoped this would end the hostilities, the Romans felt it was an unbelievable act of humiliation. From that point on, both sides fough until the bitter end. In the third and final war (298-290 BC) it was Rome who won the dominance over Central Italy. Just three years later, the Plebs also won a victory to bring the the struggle of the orders to an end.
Rome's greatest test, however, was yet to come. In the 476th year after the foundation of the city, King Pyrrhus of the Molossians landed in Italy to wage war on the Romans. He had been called by Tarentum to aid the Greeks in their fight against Roman expansion and arrived with the reputation of a brave warrior and skilled commander. At Heraclea, he smashed the consular armies and incited panic among the ranks of the common soldiers, not least out of fear of the strange beasts called elephants he had brought with him over the strait of Hydruntum. But the Roman accepted this formidable challenge and received the support of Mars, the God of War, to eventually defeat Pyrrhus in a glorious battle and drive him back to Greece.
It is now, in the year 485 ab urbe condita, that we look back on these events. Rome now holds the supremacy over all the surrounding areas well into Southern Italy, has established a formidable system of allies and still keeps on expanding that influence successfully. The expansion into the central Mediterranean, however, has been observed with sceptical eyes in Carthage, the great commercial metropolis of Northern Africa. Roman imperial ambitions might eventually carry her into war against this former ally. Meanwhile, in the North, the Celtic tribes still pose a considerable threat and every Roman can tell horror stories about these wild and brutal people. But Roman weapons have proved their worth time and again, and slowly new reforms are starting to improve the citizen legions' lethal effectivity even more. Once again, Rome's fate lies on the shoulders of the common men...
2. THE SELEUCID EMPIRE
''Fortune favours the bold.'' Simonides of Keos
Roughly two decades before the battle of Chaironeia, a noblewoman called Laodike gave birth to her son in the small town Oropos in Macedonia. These days, one can hear the stories that Apollo himself, the god of music and god of the sun, was the true father of this child. But officially it was the son of Antiochos, a man of the army who hailed from the mountain area of Orestis. That boy was named Seleukos, and with his parents holding close relations to the royal court, he enjoyed a formidable education. Once Seleukos became a teenager, he served as a squire to king Philip II, and upon becoming a man, joined the new royal battle guard, the Hypaspists. After the battle of Chaironeia and the murder of Philip, the Hypaspists accompanied the demigod Alexander on his brave and magnificent adventures in the East. The red-haired hero brought down the empire of Persia, and the Hypaspists followed him through the endless deserts into India. Seleukos emerged not only as an impressive soldier, but also proved his abilities to command and organise. Thus it was no surprise when the godly Alexander elected him for his Elite companions, the Hetairoi. At the battle on the river called Hydaspes in the mythical land of India, Seleukos commanded part of the right wing of the army and defeated the enemy's monstrous elephants.
Upon their return to Susa, Seleukos married Apame, a woman whose beauty grandly excelled that of her native Sogdia, a rocky badland in the wild North East. Apame gave birth to Antiochos, the first and most beloved son of Seleukos. But at the same time, the gods on Olympus felt that Alexander had done enough in the world of the mortals and he died in the palace of Babylon. A most ambitious and very Greek competition between his generals emerged, and Seleukos took part in the early Diadoch wars on the side of the royal regent Perdikkas, but later found an esteemed friend in Ptolemaios, who had become the pharaoh of Egypt. Together they put up a fierce resistance against the mighty Antigonos Monophtalmos, who only had one eye, but the ambition to rule the whole world. They defeated his young son Demetrios at Gaza in 312 BC and Ptolemaios sent his friend eastwards, to reclaim his rule over Babylon. Accompanied by only a small contingent of elite soldiers, Seleukos was joyfully welcomed in that ancient city, and it was then whe he laid the foundation for his own empire.
When Antigonos heard of these events, he was furious and started a war against Babylon the following year. But the courageous Seleukos refused to give in and repelled the attacks of the One-Eyed time and again. After his victory, Seleukos advanced eastwards and was acclaimed as the new ruler of these Eastern people, also signing a worthy treaty with Sandrokottos (whom his own people call Chandragupta), the lord of the Indians. The brilliant Seleukos gave him deserts in return for 500 terrible war elephants. With those, he strengthened his army and then returned to the West, where he joined Ptolemaios and Lysimachos at the battle of Ipsos in 302 BC. In this heroic engagement, his elephants held off Demetrios Poliorketes' famed cavalry and Antigonos was finally killed. While Demetrios became a refugee and Seleukos was able to annex wide parts of Asia Minor and northern Phoenicia into his dominion, sadly a quarrel emerged between him and his friend, the Pharao. Both men, with only the best intentions, laid claim on the strategically important land of Koile Syria. For now, they settled their conflict peacefully, but that did not solve the problem in the long term.
In 286 BC he captured Demetrios and turned on Lysimachos, his last remaining foe, who ruled over his own little empire in Thrace. While Seleukos assembled his troops, rather cheerless news arrived from Alexandria, where the great Ptolemaois had died. His son Ptolemaios II. succeeded him as Pharao, but his elder son Ptolemaios Keraunos was expelled. Upon arriving in Asia Minor, Seleukos decided to take Keraunos with him, thereby establishing a rather disturbed relationship with Ptolemaios II. The Seleucid Army met Lysimachos in battle at Kouroupedion in 281 BC, and both kings, who had made the campaigns from Macedon to India and back, and then fought endless further wars over the decades, rode into battle as old men. Seleukos won a decisive victory and Lysimachos paid with his life, which ended after 80 exhausting years. Seleukos now only had one last dream: To return to his native Macedon and hopefully unite it with his empire in the East. But when Keraunos realized what the price was, he betrayed him. The murder of Seleukos, who died, 77 years of age, after having done and achieved more in his life than most men could ever dream of, sent shockwaves through the Hellenistic world.
His son Antiochos thus faced a more than formidable challenge to keep the empire together when he inherited the kingship. Revolts broke out in Syria and Asia Minor, Bithynia and Cappadocia asserted their independence and Keraunos ruled in Macedon. To make bad matters worse, the Gauls ravaged Greece and the Bithynian dastard king invited them into Asia. Not fearing the ferocious Barbarians, Antiochos rode into battle and trampled the Celts with his mighty elephants. Seeing his rival king busy in the North, Ptolemaios II seized the chance and betrayed the old friendship of their fathers to invade Koile Syria only a few months after the Elephant battle. Bold campaigns from both sides eventually failed and a year ago Antiochos had to settle for peace with his most powerful foe. Now Damascus and the adjacent regions have fallen into the hands of our enemies, Cappadocia and Bithynia had to be forfeited and the Galatians have settled in central Anatolia.
But Antiochos possesses the greatest kingdom in the known world, and an army made up of the finest Macedonian and Greek soldiers, including the Hetairoi and Hypaspists, but also a vast reserve of native warriors and- of course!- the big flock of elephants who carried the day against the Galatians five years ago. His son has just come of age, the merchants of Antiocheia often travel far into the lands of India to bring the finest luxuries of the world to the court and Antigonos Gonatas, a friend of Antiochos and rival to Ptolemaios II., now rules as king of Macedonia. The gods still hold a bright future for the Seleucid dynasty, but Antiochos must be wary of his enemies, internal as well as external, and wait for the right moment to strike and reclaim the lost lands in Syria and Asia Minor. May he be guided by Zeus to victory!
3. THE ANTIGONID KINGDOM OF MACEDON
''For famous men have the whole earth as their memorial.'' Perikles
Four centuries before our time Karanos of Argos was the first man to claim the crown of Macedon. His treacherous brother Pheidon had expelled him from the city of Diomedes and the stupendous oracle of Delphi, with the voice of Apollo himself, led Karanos into Macedon. There he reached the town Edessa in Emathia and renamed it Aigai, after the flock of goats he had followed to find the way during a terrible storm. Karanos united the tribes of Macedon and established the kingdom. Some of our historians might say this story is a product of mythology rather than actual facts, but who are we to foster doubts about the gods of Olympos?
Just North of the godly mountain itself the young kingdom soon began to flourish, albeit it lacked the dense population of Southern Greece. But the subjects of Macedon were not as refined as those Greeks I mentioned before, and their Barbarian heritage was responsible when they laid down to the power of Persia. The Macedonian kings became his vassals and paid regular tributes to the Great King. But at the end of his reign, Alexander I. (ca. 498- 454 BC) regained the kingdom's independence. During the years of the ogreish War between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians Macedon sided mostly with the latter. But it was after the end of that war, that Macedon began to enter the stage of the Greek World on more prominent terms. The great king Archelaos I (413- 399 BC) reformed the state and the army and improved Macedon's trade relations.
However, his successor Amyntas III (393- 370 BC) scarcely survived an Illyrian invasion at the beginning of his reign, but a formidable alliance with Sparta saw him defeat the Chalkidian League under their mighty leader, the city of Olynthos. Following the death of Amyntas, Macedon sunk into chaos. Disastrous wars against Athens and Olynthus over Chalkidike and Amphipolis were only exceeded when the gods decided to hand their favour to the Theban general Pelopidas. All on his own, only accompanied by his retinue, he walked into Macedon and conquered it with a bag of precious gold, which was enough to convince the miserable mercenaries of the Macedonian king. These years of embarassment only came to an end when the brilliant hero Philip II (359- 336 BC) rose to the throne. The gods and godesses of Olympos had benevolently endowed him with the grandest of skills and he reformed the poor crowd that was Macedon's army into a force to be reckoned with. Philip introduced the long spear we know now as the Sarissa for his phalanx, improved the royal company cavalry and added both the guard of the hypaspists as well as the feroucious Agrianians. These new troops showed their worth in the battle of Crocus Field (352 BC) before smashing the might of Olynthos once and for all in 349 BC. Philip the Great won victory after victory and in 338 BC his heroes crushed the armies of Athens and Thebes on the battlefield of Chaironeia. Now the lord of all Greece, he was on the apex of his impressive power. But the Moirai are always erratic and hardly two years after his greatest victory Philip was murdered.
Everyone knows what happened after the death of Philip, when his son was crowned as Alexander III. The red-haired young hero sackd the powerful city of Corinth before he went on to take on the big task of his life: His campaign into Persia. The little corps of brave, Greek heroes overcame both nature and the millions of men commaned by the Great King to defeat him several times and conquer his mighty empire. At the battle of Gaugamela (331 BC) Alexander earned the most brilliant of victories in the history of mankind and proved himself worthy of the favour the gods had granted him. But the restless demigod successfully pursued Dareios through the Zagrous mountains and into the Barbarian Northeast, where he subdued peoples the Greeks had never even heard of before. There he married the beautiful princess Roxane, but in Susa he also espoused Stateira and Parysatis, who were related to the last Great King. But again the Moirai thought that Macedon had got enough glory, and they prevented Alexander from conquering the Arabians and the Carthaginians by calling him up to Olympos. After the death of Alexander, his generals, called Diadochoi, began to tussle for his empire.
Among the Diadochoi was Antigonos Monophtalmos, who was also the most powerful and the most ambitious. When the regent Perdikkas had died, and Alexander's son, who was the child of Roxane, was still too little, Antigonos tried to gain the supremacy over Alexander's empire. The One-eyed was a formidable warrior and fought many battles against his multiple foes, crushing them here and there. To everyone's surprise, the secretary Eumenes of Kardia emerged as his brightest rival and Eumenes succeeded to inflict heavy casualties on Antigonos in the battle of Paraitakene (Autumn 316 BC). But the secretary's victory was to be to no avail, as the ruthless Antigonos followed him into the Persis, where both armies met again at Gabiene at the end of the year. Although Eumenes proved to be a sound commander again, he was eventually betrayed by his own men. Having get rid of Eumenes, Antigonos expelled Seleukos from Babylon and was at the height of his power. This prompted the other remaining Diadochoi, clever and able men themselves, to ally against the mighty One-Eyed. Althought Antigonos captured Phoenicia and Syria in the spring of 314 BC, which was followed by the occupation of Bithynia and Caria. But in the following year Ptolemaios, the pharao of Egypt, snatched Cyprus from under his rule, and together with Seleukos he defeated Antigonos fiery son Demetrios at Gaza (312 BC).
During this time, the treacherous Cassander held Macedon and ordered the murder both of the mother of the godly Alexander as well as the king Alexander IV. But young Alexander had ruled only in name, while Olympias had been a real rival for Cassander. In 306 BC the king was defeated by Demetrios at the battle of Salamis (Cyprus) and blended by the glory of the victory Antigonos and Demetrios proclaimed themselves as kings. The other diadochoi followed them in doing so, but it was Antigonos who paid for his hybris when the alliance of his foes defeated and killed him at Ipsos (302 BC). Demetrios survived, but fled into the unknown. However, five years later Cassander died of the dropsy and this opened the chance for Demetrios to reclaim the throne of Macedon. However, Ptolemaois, Pyrrhos of Epiros and Athens turned against him and Demetrios had to flee the country again before the relentless Seleukos captured him on campaign in Asia and the Besieger died in 286 BC.
Ptolemaios Keraunos, the oldest son of Ptolemaios, then made himself king of Macedon after his dishonourable murder of Seleukos. Antigonos Gonatas, son of Demetrios, only commanded a little corps of Macedon's elite troops at this time and seemed to be in no position to challenge Keraunos for the throne. But the invasion of the horrible Celts into Macedon and Greece led to the murder of the betrayer and Antigonos seized the moment. A swift attack brought the Barbarians to their heel and following the trek of the majority of the invaders to Asia, Antigonos faced little problems to recruit the remaining Celts in Greece into his own army. In Macedon, the people were relieved that the rule of their illegitimate king had come to an end and supported Antigonos as their new monarch.
King Pyrrhos of the Epirotes, however, returned from Italy at this time and quickly invaded Macedon without warning. Only with the help of the Greek cities did Antigonos survive, and when Pyrrhus died in the streets of Lakedaimon, the rightful rule of Antigonos over the kingdom was finally secured. Antigonos Gonatas is not content with just Macedon, however, and despite controlling the garrisons of Demetrias, Eretria and Akrokorinthos, the king still wants to expand his control over Hellas. Will he be able to succeed and finally squash the indepence of both Athens and Sparta? Or will the mighty Pharao of Egypt, Ptolemaios II., intervene and stop the ambitions of the Antigonid ruler? With an army of Macedonians, Greeks and Celts at his disposal, Antigonos is well equipped for the war in the South. But he must never forget the threat of the tribes of Illyria and Thracia, who are looming beyond his border. Now is the time to prove if Antigonos Gonatas is a worty successor of the crown of Philip and Alexander...
4. PTOLEMAIC EMPIRE
''The past is certain, the future obscure.'' Thales of Milesios
In the beginning Ra wept, and from the tears he wept, came man. Ra created Egypt, and when he travelled sky on Mandjet, the Eye of Ra spent warmth and light on Egypt. Every day Apophis the serpent tried to stop Ra when he was on the Mesektet, but Ra would always return with the help of Osiris. Now the foreigners who call themselves Greeks tell us to believe in their gods, but we can see that the god they call Dionysos is actually our ancient deity Osiris.
But long before the Greeks were graced by the light of the Eye Egypt had already become a majestic kingdom, led by the sublime pharao. Dozens and hundreds of dynasties led Egypt through a long history of brilliance and glory. Which mortal has not heard of the victory of Ramses the Great, son of Sethos, over the Barbarians at the battle of Quadesh (1274 BC)?
However, with splendid power and unimaginable wealth came Hybris, as our Greek friends would say. The court of the pharao started to degenerate and from infinite might Egypt fell down under the sway of the Persians. The rules of the Achaemenids was harsh and unpopular, but a number of revolutions by the people of Egypt failed to expel the foreigners from our godly country. But after years of torture Ra smiled on Egypt again and sent Alexander, whom the Greeks call ''the Great'', to liberate the country of the Nile from the Persian Barbarians. Alexander was the son of Amun and he destroyed the supremacy of the Persians over the people of the East. When Amun-Re decided to take his son back to the Great Pesedjet of Heliopolis, his generals where deceived by Apophis and Alexander's empire broke apart.
One of these generals, who enjoyed the protection of Horus the falcon, was Ptolemaios. He had been among the troops who accompanied the brave hero into Asia and was promoted to be the king's edeatros (taster) and later to a position among the somatophylakes (bodyguards). Ptolemaios continued to impressive and rose to the office of a general when Alexander was campaigning in Sogdia and Bactria. He excelled in India and at the time of the demigod's death Ptolemaios was among the most important of Alexander's generals. Seeing the splendour of Egypt, Ptolemaios chose the country of Amun-Re as his new residence. When the regent Perdikkas ordered the corps of the demigod to be brought to Aigai in Macedon from Babylon in the East, Ptolemaios insidiously assailed the convoy and abducted the corps to the godly city of Memphis. Perdikkas was raging, but Ptolemaios was just in his action since Alexander himself had declared before his demise that he wanted to be entombed at the Oasis of Siwa. To underline his power and his immortal legimitation Ptolemaios decided to bury him in Memphis.
During the wars of the Diadochoi Ptolemaios fought together with Seleukos, who claimed Babylon and built his own empire in the East. Together these two fine Greek officers stood against the mighty Antigonos and eventually defeated him after a series of wars. Ptolemaios, whose power had risen every day like Mandjet in the morning, followed the example of Antigonos to make himself king, and as he was in Egypt he became the new Pharao, celebrated by the people of Lower and Upper Egypt equally. When Antigonos died at the battle of Ipsos (302 BC), his renegade son Demetrios disappeared for a while before entering the fray again in Greece. He deceived the people of Macedon to steal the throne and subdue the other Greeks under his sway. But the sly Demetrios had underestimated the power of the sublime Pharao, and when Ptolemaios sent a huge fleet, bigger than the number of boats on the river Styx in Hades, he was able to help the clever men of Athens to overcome the army of Demetrios. The Pharao forged a superior alliance with Pyrrhos from Epiros and Lysimachos and together they defeated Demetrios, who was later captured by Ptolemaios' old friend Seleukos.
At the end of his reign Ptolemaios built a new, glorious Mausoleion in the city of Alexander for the corps of the great demigod general. All the people from Egypt and the Greek world came to see this wonderful piece of Egyptian culture and Greek architecture. Ptolemaios died shortly after and his remnants were also entombed in the new Mausoleion to prove his divine connection with Alexander and Ammon-Re. His eldest son Ptolemaios Keraunos was banned from the empire and Ptolemaios II., his younger son, was crowned as the new Pharao.
Ptolemaios II. had proven himself as a wise and cautious man, and soon after he became the ruler of our ancient land, he put his parents among the gods and brought the tomb of Alexandros Megas to Alexandria to show all of his subjects the connection between these former mortals, who had been blessed by the gods. In ignorance of the omniscience of the Pharao, his wife betrayed him and was sent into exile. Eventually, Ptolemaios chose his sister to become Arsinoe II of Egypt. The siblings ruled well and the two Egypts prospered, but Magas, son of Philippos and the divine Berenike and thus half brother of Ptolemaios, soon grew jealous of the power of the king. Having been appointed governor of Kyrene in his younger years, he rebelled from the rightful rule of Egypt during the fifth Peret of the Flood after the ascension of Ptolemaios II. And then Antiochos, the son of Seleukos, companion of the divine Ptolemaios I., joined him in his treachery by giving his daughter Apame to him so she could become his wife and an illegitimate queen of Kyrene.
Thus challenged, the Pharao could only react by making war on his enemies. At the time of Akhet he assembled the royal forces and marched into the lands of the Macedonians, taking Damascus and large parts of Palestine. Antiochos was rightfully defeated, while Magas tried to invade Egypt in the absence of the pharaonic army. But now Seth came to the help of the Egyptians for once and made the Libyan tribe which is known as the Marmaridae rise up against usurper Magas. Both of the pharao's enemies had to submit to the peace conditions offered by our Kingdom of the two Egypts and the war was successfuly concluded.
The struggle with the Seleucids might not be over yet, however, and Magas still sits on the throne of Kyrene. The people of Egypt must raise to the cause once more and support their Pharao with every possible means in the fight against the Barbarians. Ptolemaios II., our Pharao, will unleash the power of the Greeks and the ferocity of the Carians and the deadliness of the mercenaries on his enemies, and the most ancient empire in the world will rule once more!
5. CARTHAGE
''From Africa always something new'' Aristoteles/Plinius the Elder
Phoenicia. A small, but rich land in the East, home of our ancestors. More than half a millenium ago (between 825 and 813 BC) a little expedition from Tyros set out to found a colonly in the West. Our recors don't tell if they were searching for precious metals, or if the population of the country was becoming too big to feed, or if it was just the will of the gods that led them to the rocky shores of North Africa. But in any case, they founded our wonderful city Carthage. In the time of only a few decades we became the lords of the North African coast and began to found colonies on Sardinia and along the western Coast. Shortly before the Greeks began to settle Sicily, we built trade points on that island as well and afterwards connected them with roads and forts into a system called the Epikrateia.
The Epikrateia stands strong against the Greeks in the East, but it has been challenged many times over the years. The powerful city of Syracuse, led by it's cruel tyrants Gelon, Hieron, Dionysios and others, those cursed scourges of Sicily, have brought chaos into the Epikrateia time and again. But protected by the mighty Senate of Carthage and the great power of the gods above, Melquart be praised, the Epikrateia has survived and remains a constant source of precious revenue for our Republic. Then, 270 years ago we defeated the brazen Greeks off the coast of Corsica at the battle of Alalia (540 BC). Once the Greeks had retreated, we began to colonise the island in full and equally controlled it's bigger Southern neighbour Sardinia. A number of ancient Phoenician towns like Nora had existed there before (since the 9th century BC) and since that time three centuries ago we built up a fine infrastructure even Baal- Hammon is surely proud of. The native Nuraghic (Sardinia) and Torrean people (Corsica) were satisfied as long as we kept to the coasts. But the vast plains of Sardinia offered fertile ground, surely a present by Tanit, and today Sardinian bread is always popular among the urban population of Carthage.
Our expansion also incorporated other Phoenician colonies like Gades near the Pillars of Melquart. Since Phoenician curiosity is as insatiable as our shredness is boundless, famous sailors also explored the lands on the edge of the world. The great Hanno discovered fire-breathing mountains in the South, down the endless coast of Africa, while Himilko travelled to the North to find a land where air and water amalgamate. Carthage thrived economically and we began to dominate the Western Mediterrenean. Bust just four decades ago (310 BC) our hegemony was challenged again by Syracuse. After a lenghty war the gods bestowed the fortune upon us to besiege Syracuse. However, the sly Agathokles, our greatest foe and tyrant of Syracuse, shocked all Carthage when he landed a force in Africa itself. After landing at Cape Bon, he captured two of our towns and crushed our civic army- Baal- Ammon may be merciful to them! To gain the favour of the gods we made luxurious presents to Tyros and the following year our glorious leader Hamilkar stormed the fortress of Syracuse. But once again, the false Greek gods had deceived us and Hamilkar died in the attack, losing his army and the hopes of Baal- Ammon's people. A great weeping and praying took place, and to make matters even worse the Ptolemaic Greeks in Egypt sent reinforcements to Agathokles (308 BC). We were looking at the end of our proud civilization...
But one year later, the gods finally answered our calls and Agathokles himself returned to Sicily, leaving his son Archagathos behind in charge of the Greek warriors in Africa. With our new forces, animated by the spirit of Baal- Qarnaim, we celebrated two impressive victories over the foreigners and saved our home. Shortly after these events (306 BC), we signed a splendid peace with the Greeks of Syracuse. While our city and land recovered quickly thanks to the many talents of our people, Agathokles proclaimed himself king like his Greek equals in the East, emulating their hero Alexander who had destroyed the Persian Empire and brought our native Phoenicia under the sway of the Hellenes. Eshmun smiled upon us when Agathokles died nineteen years ago (289 BC) and the threat of another invasion faded.
We thought we would finally live in peace, but not even a decade later, Pyrrhos of the Molossians invaded the Epikrateia. We were pushed back against the wall once more, despair arose amongst our ranks again and we had to trust on the gods to save us again. Lilybaion, however, was too strong for the Greeks once more and Pyrrhos was forced to eventually retreat back to Italy. We have become used to these invasions, but with Melquart's strength on our side we will always survive!
But we need to be wary of the power of Syracuse. The restless Greeks of this magnificent city will never stop their attacks against us and with Hiero the Younger yet another tyrant has risen to the their throne. The Senate shall therefore support those Greeks on Sicily who are enemies of Syracuse at all times to keep the Greeks apart, and these people really only need little reason to be split and fight against each other. In the North East, the Campanian mercenaries who call themselves the Mamertines have seized the town of Messana, and across the strait our former allies, the Romans, might become a threat in the near future. However,the Gold of Carthage is it at your disposal and with the blessing of Baal- Ammon, we shall retain our position as the foremost power in the Western Mediterranean!
6. THE GREEK CITIES
"Stranger, tell the Spartans that here we lie, obedient to their laws." (Epigram at Thermopylai)
In the beginning Prometheus descended from Olympos and gave fire to mankind. From then on, many tales happened and many more have been told, stories about the glorious heroes Perseus and Herakles, just to name a few, legends of the fights between the gods and how they affected the lives of men, and myths from far distant lands in the North and the East, of men who travelled to the Columns of Herakles and to the edge of the Okeanos, of the great war over Troy or the fates of tragic couples like Orpheus and Eurydike. But we do not want to speak about myths in these days of wars and oppression. What has happened to us, the Greeks, to our heroes and tales?
Truth be told, the gods have justly decided that we had to be punished for our mistakes. The war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians brought hatred and mistrust over Hellas. This was proven to all by the so called King's Peace, which was presented as a just solution to our internal wars, but in truth- Zeus may forgive us!- it only led us back into the Persian Slavery. Then the king of the gods bestowed a great fortune on us, when Alexander the Heros, the Great, the Semi-God, rose to the throne of Macedon and began his adventure in the East. He brought down the Barbarian Empire and spreaded Greek glory and genius all over the world! But his destruction of Thebes would also live on in the memories of the Hellenes and remains a warning to all of us who love freedom.
Alexander was a fair and mighty king, but the gods, inconsistent as ever, took him away from us mortals and left his empire to be divided between his greedy generals. Ever since then, wars have ravaged the Oikumene and Hellas in particular. Hades has come over us, but Antigonos and Demetrios also promised all of our cities freedom and independence. But these two were defeated in the grand battle of Ipsos (301 BC) and others rose to power. Ptolemaios, it has to be said, established a great and just rule over the Egyptians, which is worth the praise from every true Greek. Seleukos, meanwhile, built up another huge empire on the remnants of the Persian rule in the East. He was a close and faithful friend of Ptolemaios and backed by his friend in Egypt, he expanded to the West and eventually defeated both Demetrios and Lysimachos. However, after the battle of Kouroupedion (281 BC) the murder of Seleukos by the coward Ptolemaios Keraunos plunged the Greek World into chaos once again.Worse was to follow when the Celts invaded Hellas. Oh, the terrible disaster! Pain and sorrow was brought to the Greeks. The blonde Barbarians their trousers pillaged our farms, ravaged our homes and sacked our towns. Neither respect for the Gods nor for our families could stop them, and the Kingdom of Macedon fell prey to their ferocious attacks. After Keraunos was killed, the Aitolian League assembled the Greeks in the time of need and won a glorious victory over our foes. Delphi was saved and the Galatians were forced to leave Hellas once and for all. Praise to the Aitolians! Praise to the Gods!
But now the time has come to shake off the Macedonian burden and to show their new king Antigonos Gonatas of what a true Greek is made! The benign king Ptolemaios II. offers aid to Athens and Sparta and Chremonides, Son of Eteokles from the Aithalidai has demanded an alliance against Macedon. To him we must listen! The time has come to claim back our freedom and lead Hellas back into an age of glory! For this we must unite and finally put the quarrels among us aside! Old and new rivals alike, Aitolians and Achaians, Athenians and Lakedaimonians, must end the bloodshed and turn against the tyrants who rule our world. Our Hoplites must be armed, our skirmishers must be trained and our finest warriors will already be eagerly awaiting the start of this epic battle.
Yes, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live - at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!! May Athena protect us- Greece will be free!
7. THE PARTHIANS
''Being assailed by the Romans, also, in three wars, under the conduct of the greatest generals, and at the most flourishing period of the republic, the Parthians alone, of all nations, were not only a match for them, but came off victorious'' Justin
We are the Parni. Our tribe has dwelled on the coast of the Daryā-i Xazar as long as humans can remember. We have seen the rise of the Assyrian and the Babylonian Empire, the coming of the Median Empire and the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. We have witnessed the campaigns of dozens of usurpers and that of Alexander, the divine boy from the West. All of them have vanished into the shadows of history by long, but the Parni are still there.
The Gods haven given us strength and the ability to ride the horse like no other people on Earth. The Nisaian horses are superior to all of their fellow races and we have become their masters. From the back of the horse we fire our arrows into those who are foolish enough to dare to cross into our lands. Over the decades of centuries, many a mighty military man has come from beyond the Zagros mountains, but none of them succeeded. None of them was able to destroy the tribe of the Parni, and we are still here to watch the world around us.
Our sacred native land we must defend, but the neighbouring tribes in the North and the East have to be watched carefully, despite being tied to us by the bond of common blood. From the South, the foreigners have brought to us the doctrine of Ahura Mazda, the superior God who has created the Geti. Now we have been illuminated and worship the fire, the strongest and most divine of the elements. The Gods will show us wisdom, and we will carry the Farahavar into battle. What lies ahead for us, the Parni, and our Chorasmian brothers? Will we destroy each other in war, or will we migrate to another place? In the South we can find the wealthy and mighty Empire of the Macedonians, who might not pay too much attention to this region they see as remote. This can be a chance for us, the Parni, to rise to glory. We have survived many a war, and now Ahura Mazda will lead us and show us the way to the truth and the wisdom of the Geti!
