PDA

View Full Version : Diadoch of Pyrrhos



Reenk Roink
01-30-2006, 23:59
*note, I modded some things here and there to help my story*

What is Epeiros?

https://img233.imageshack.us/img233/15/intro3hk.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Pyrrhos.

https://img393.imageshack.us/img393/4159/17hc3.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Pyrrhos is Epeiros. Pyrrhos made Epeiros what it was…what it is.

Pyrrhos expanded Epeiros in all directions. The generals of Alexandros feared Pyrrhos. And rightly so, as Pyrrhos emulated Alexandros. Not only was Pyrrhos a great tactician like Alexandros, but Pyrrhos was the greatest soldier. And Pyrrhos was the most able to balance both of these responsibilities.

But now, O reader…Pyrrhos is dead.

https://img379.imageshack.us/img379/6310/29qi1.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Who in the Hellas, in the World, could defeat Pyrrhos? Only Pyrrhos himself.

Pyrrhos was capricious. Pyrrhos was impatient. Pyrrhos lacked foresight. And the Fates…the Fates hated Pyrrhos. Such ignominious misfortune fell upon such great a man. But Pyrrhos will still be remembered for his deeds. Who else fought with such bravery at Ipsos to impress his then enemy, Ptolemaios Soter? Who subdued the Illyroi to the north? Who took over Makedonia by capturing the hearts of Demetrios’s army with his very presence? Even the sly Lysimachos could not fool Pyrrhos with his guile, when he forged the letter from Ptolemaios Soter. He sent the letter stating “From King Ptolemaios to King Pyrrhos” when Ptolemaios addressed Pyrrhos as “pater filio” (“from father to son”). So Lysimachos used his tongue and purse to remove Pyrrhos from Makedonia, with lies and bribes. And do not forget how Pyrrhos nearly took Italia to help those women of Taras who promised him so much, but gave so little, Yet they still speak of their Spartai descent. They will be dealt with later. But even without their help, Pyrrhos engaged those resilient Romani, and defeated them twice. And Pyrrhos would have continued defeating them no matter if they threw ten more armies at him if he could have kept his focus. But still, did you not see how Pyrrhos drove the Carthaginians from Sicilia? How he took their stronghold Eryx? He would have finished them at Lilibeo had it not been for the restless, ungrateful people who owed him their freedom.

But that is over now…I weep at how that noble man, of the most virtuous character was slain.

A hag, seeing that her son would be killed by Pyrrhos, threw a tile which stunned him, allowing that foul Argive to slay him.

It is the fault of Antigonos.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4764/46go.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

It was Antigonos who refused to send Pyrrhos reinforcements in Italia. It was Antigonos who, after being wholly defeated and dethroned, still plotted mischief against Pyrrhos. He took advantage of Pyrrhos’s absence and failure to completely subdue Makedonia. He stirred up trouble in the Hellas, playing politics in Spartai and Argos. Pyrrhos is dead because of him. And let me not forget the first born of Pyrrhos, Ptolemaios.

How cruel are the Fates, that Pyrrhos must witness his son’s death in Spartai before his in Argos. Ah, Ptolemaios. Who else was more akin to Pyrrhos himself. Was Ptolemaios not the one who took Corcya with 60 men? In a naval battle, he took a quinquireme by jumping upon it from a small boat, with only seven men accompanying him, such an energetic and skilled warrior was he. But like his father, he also was capricious. After his death Pyrrhos himself remarked: “his death has come later than I feared, or than his recklessness had merited.”

Yes, Antigonos is the one. And does he really think that because he has done the duty that the gods demand, returning the bodies of Pyrrhos and his son, and sending back Helenos, the youngest of Pyrrhos’s line, who was called from Taras to accompany his father, that he may escape my revenge, that he may quell my anger and sorrow, that he may redeem himself? No, he cannot. I swear upon my father’s soul that I will return the favor upon Antigonos, and that my sons, named after my dead father and brother, will do likewise with his sons. I will never be as great a warrior as Pyrrhos, but I will keep my focus, I will avoid my father’s faults, and I, Alexandros II Aiakides, Basileus of Epeiros, will have my vengeance.

https://img92.imageshack.us/img92/2551/53aw.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Megalos
01-31-2006, 00:51
Come on I want more!! great reading so far...keep us updated!

Dooz
01-31-2006, 01:07
"Who in the Hellas, in the World, could defeat Pyrrhos?"
*snicker*

Wonderful, Reenk. Loving it. Feed me more!

Reenk Roink
01-31-2006, 02:22
Gah, ok guys, I was considering taking a break, but I'll post part two tommorow. Warning, it has a lot to do with stabilizing the economy, so don't get too bored. Unless you're an economist, in which case you will bust out the "Taquilal (Mexion Booze)" and hire the strippers...

Dooz
01-31-2006, 02:30
Gah, ok guys, I was considering taking a break, but I'll post part two tommorow. Warning, it has a lot to do with stabilizing the economy, so don't get too bored. Unless you're an economist, in which case you will bust out the "Taquilal (Mexion Booze)" and hire the strippers...

http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/8501.jpg

Let's get it on.

AntiochusIII
01-31-2006, 02:33
Very...poetic, shall I say...

So you modded the game so that Pyrrhos and his eldest son would "die." Correct?

Keep up the good work! I'm holding back on EB right now because I don't want to port back to 1.2, still wary of the many bugs in the beta, and want to save times of my life for other things more pressing which EB would've mercilessly sucked up.

But I love these stories nonetheless! :2thumbsup:

Reenk Roink
02-02-2006, 00:20
The gods test me...I wish to grieve for my father, but I know that I have no time to... Epeiros is vulnerable now. The army my father took has either deserted or defected to Antigonos, and I only have a small number of levies that were left to defend Epeiros. I must balance the treasury as well, my father's wars were costly...

https://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2714/83xx.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

My dear brother Helenos has not arrived yet, and my worry increases for him.

https://img451.imageshack.us/img451/3842/34ep.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Ah, Helenos, truly he is a simple lad, not wanting to be bothered with the responsibilities of ruling kingdoms or leading men...Sometimes, I wish to be the same way…

The Tarantines...they call themselves descendants of Spartai...
*whips head to the left and spits*…
the women of Spartai were able to frustrate Pyrrhos, the women of Spartai were the ones who surrounded Ptolemaios and killed him after he rode his horse into the center of the city, yet these “sons” of Spartai would rather stay home with their women and wine.
And those Romani become more brazen each day…

I have instructed Malios (Milon) to leave Taras immediately. He will return to Epeiros with the small garrison my father left. Let us see if these Tarantines defend themselves with half the courage of the women of Spartai.


https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2876/43sn.jpg (https://imageshack.us)


And what can I say of Malios? Surely this was the man that impressed Pyrrhos...Pyrrhos of all men, with his military genius. And assuredly he impresses me with his loyalty. He tires of the life of a soldier, and as much as I need him keep the sword, no man deserves respite from it more than he. There is no man on earth that I trust more, and truly, Alexandros II Aiakides confides in Malios.

Alas, if all my father’s men could be like Malios… But Hieron…

https://img385.imageshack.us/img385/7622/75rp.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

Hieron has used my father’s gains in Sicilia to call himself “Tyrant.” I keep watch on him, and if the day comes when I land in Sicilia, like I landed with Pyrrhos almost 8 years ago, truly we shall see how the “Tyrant” of Syracuse behaves towards the son of his master…

With much of my father’s army having deserted to Antigonos, he is strengthened manifold, and I weakened severely. And yet the situation in Epeiros is dire. Antigonos has emerged from the coast he was pushed to and reclaimed Makedonia like a vulture who waits for a great man to die…

The mercenaries my father hired are fickle, and have joined with Antigonos, yet they are preoccupied with the commotion of the Hellas. The Peloponnesians were betrayed into the power of Antigonos; and while partly concern, partly exultation, prevailed variously among the inhabitants, as any city had either expected aid from Pyrrhos or conceived apprehensions of him, they either entered into alliance with Antigonos, or, impelled by mutual animosity, plunged into hostilities with one another.

But with all this, Antigonos thinks enough of himself to allow his subordinate to plunder the countryside of the Kingdom of Alexandros II Aiakides!!?? Certainly Antigonos acts more like a vulture with each passing day. How unfit for rule is a man who avoided his enemy and fought him through proxy when he was strong, but builds up the “courage” to attack once his enemy has fallen?

https://img453.imageshack.us/img453/8371/74ss.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

I yearn to face him in battle, but I know that is foolish. Antigonos is too powerful right now, I cannot invade Makedonia, and I must rebuild Epeiros first. Still, I will not allow him to assault me unopposed. I have gathered the levies in Ambrakia along with some Illyroi warriors...do not understimate them, the levies were drilled under Pyrrhos himself, and the Illyroi warriors, though unpredictable, are indispensible when commanded by a strong leader...and I know just the man to lead them...