The Flight of Hellenes : A Syrakousia AAR

[Xtiaan72]

The Flight of Hellenes


Prologue:

It has been well over a hundred years since the treachery of Alcibiades and his disastrous invasion of Syrakousai. The event that shattered Athenian dominance in Greece forever. Since then Athens and Sparta alike have chaffed under the yoke of Macedonian tyranny.

Alexandros is dead and the descendants of his generals squabble over the remnants of his vast empire. Yet again, a resurgent Macedonia tests the limits of it's power and bears down upon our fragile alliance of southern Greek city states. The legendary might of Spartan arms is spent, A mere shadow of it's former glory. So too, the once invincible Athenian "Wooden Walls" are helpless against the massive fleets of the Seleucids. Only the Ptolemies stand with us but our trade routes have been choked off by opportunistic pirates. It is our most desperate hour and the three great leaders of Hellenes meet secretly to decide what can be done.

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: " It is a most audacious plan bordering on insanity!!!" " Have you forgotten what happened the last time Hellenes sought to punish the insolent Syrakousians?" " It was the most infamous debacle in the history of Greece!"

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: "Come now! They are Ionian!" " Alcibiades was all sheepdog, no sheep! " This savage Epierote half-breed usurper will be the death of us all and our Syrakousian brothers." " How dare they refuse to join our league...The wealth of Syrakousai was the key to all of our survival... " The defense of Athens and Sparta is now helpless.....WE MUST TAKE FLIGHT!!!" "To our ships!!!" "As we always have in desperate times." " We will take refuge with the Syrakousians and punish their foolish leader..For old wrongs, as well as new!" " Take our chances with the Romani and Qart-ḥadašt". " They will not be expecting us and between us we can raise one last, great Hellenic host!!!"

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: " I am inclined to agree with this Athenian mad man about one thing. A defense of Southern Greece is absolute folly." " Where there was once 10,000 able bodied Spartans, now I can barely field 300.." " but tell me Agathokles.... How do you plan to pay for this intrepid adventure?"

Aithalidos: " We will deprive the Macedonians of what they will surely take from us anyway... We must use the wealth of the Acropolis and tear down The Colossus!!! " Gather all the finest minds of Hellenes, take them with us and burn everything else to the ground." " If they are to have our homelands, we will leave them with nothing!!!! NOTHING!!!"

Agathokles: " The Colossus!! ARE YOU MAD!!!"

Aithalidos: " You will scrap it, I tell you!!" " Or we will leave you and your tiny island to it's own devices....How long do you think you'd last?"

Areus: " I will go along... I would rather go out in a blaze of glory like the heroes of old than whimper behind a wooden palisade in Sparta... I do have a condition Aithalidos...I must have complete and utter control of the host we are to muster... I am to have the absolute obedience of both of you." " The administration of Trinacria I leave to you, Aithalidos.... But the army is mine."

Aithalidos: "That is as it should be."

Areus: " Agreed?"

Aithalidos: " Agreed..."

Agathokles, head in hands wondered how he had become saddled with these insane allies...He sighed....

Agathokles: "Agreed..."

[Xtiaan72]

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And so it was that two wonders of the world were looted and demolished to deprive the Macedonians of the marvels of Hellenes. Do you see, how deep the hate of our savage northern cousins runs? We are willing to risk even the wrath of the gods to deprive them of our rightful glory.

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And how the Rhodesians wept when their proud Colossus was sold for scrap to fuel the sinews of war.

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So careful was the planning for the expedition that the greatest minds of Athens and Rhodes were gathered to join the host. The Macedons would be deprived of their wisdom and once conquered, Syrakousai would become the greatest center of knowledge in the world outside of Alexandria. Who would be left to council the Macedonians? Not even an evil mother in law.

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The last mighty host of Hellenes gathered in Athens to keep the Macedonians at bay while the shipwrights built the wooden walls that would carry us to Syrakousia. Athens was restless, not knowing what was coming next. If they had only known how hard the heart Areus had become. How nothing would be left for the Macedonians. Only weeks later, their voices would be joined in a pitiful wail that would make even the gods weep.. All of their treasures, their greatest minds ....in exile across the sea. Their helpless souls at the mercy of the Macedonians.

[Dutchhoplite]

I'm going to follow this one :)

[Xtiaan72]

:2thumbsup: It's fun trying to survive! It may be a bridge to far though, we will see!

[Hax]

Pssh. A bridge too far. Syrakousai - Greece is nothing. Iberia - India, now that's a migration :P

Anyways, good luck. Sicilia has a lot of potential, but watch those child-murdering bastards in Lilibeo!

[Xtiaan72]

I actually haven't played EB for a while ( a little rusty), moved on to Deus Lo Vult for a bit...

Problem is I can't disband my army...I was a 100,000 grand in the hole before I even got to Syracuse... It's been pretty nutso just giving up Athens.

So I've got one sweet army, Three hundred pissed off Spartans and a hare brained plan to destroy Carthage's ability to wage war before I'm trapped between the anvil and the hammer! I Actually made some pretty stupid mistakes that will be funny in the AAR

Good Fun.

[Xtiaan72]

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Scarecrows stuffed with straw on the walls of Athens. A drunken token garrison left behind to deal with the incensed Athenian mob... The great host of Hellenes took to sea just as the Macedonians discovered our ruse.

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Aithalidos: "The thing is done. There is no turning back now! The die has been cast...How long is the voyage to Syrakousai?
"
Areus: We aren't going to Syrakousai.....Not yet. A short detour to Krete while the ships pick up our Rhodesian allies.

Aithalidos: "KRETE!!!?????"

Areus: "Yes Krete... We will not abandon Rhodes and we may as well pacify the Kretans. The islands will be secure for quite a while I imagine. The sea is our friend Aithalidos....You are Athenian, you should know these things..."

Aithalidos: "OF COURSE!!! I was about to suggest that very idea!
"

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The Spartans insisted on storming Kydonia by themselves. The Kretans broke under a storm of red capes!

Meanwhile, our small intrepid fleet picked up the junior partners in our endeavor, a very cranky and reluctant Rhodesian contingent.

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[Maion Maroneios]

Nice AAR, though it would be something no Hellen would ever do... Anyway I hope this won't die out soon!

Maion

[Xtiaan72]

Of course not. It's completely insane! I will go into their motivations though. It's going to be a strange AAR, more like an adventure story than a historical study.

[Xtiaan72]

Four years have passed and the treacherous voyage to Syrakousia has begun in earnest. Rhodes and Crete are behind us, secure in their island fastness. The shores of Trinacria grow in the distance. On the bow of the Hellenes flagship, The leaders and advisers of the expedition gathered to plot the next move.

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And fierce Eudamindas, Areus' chief Spartan rival challenged his judgment regarding the whole affair.

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Eudamindas: I never thought this day could come... To witness a great man fall so far. But here we are, our great Spartan king complying with the whims of cowardly Athenians. Fleeing our ancestral homes, abandoning our gods... No glory, no honor.. Surely it would have been better to die on our feet, in battle against Macedonia.

Areus: It is true, I am a fallen Spartan... But betrayer of our people?...YOU GO TOO FAR. Every Spartan warrior is with us on this voyage with their families and beloved retainers. It would have brought us honor to fight to the last man defending what was left of our insolent Helots and Perioeci?... They stopped fearing us long ago. But yes, I am a fallen Spartan...If that means I have rejected the rigid ideals that drove our people to destitution. We live... To rise again and return when we are mighty once more...

So mind your words Eudamindas. I may be a fallen Spartan but soon I will be the King of Syrakousai.... you made your choice.. You could have stayed and died for your archaic beliefs if you wished... Yet you followed.. What does that make your Eudamindas, I'll tell you. You are a man that doesn't have the strength of his convictions...

Eudamindas fumed in silence.



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Akrotatos: Please...Eudamindas....We need your spear. This is a time of grief and sorrow for all of us... But perhaps there will be redemption... There is time enough to fall in battle... If it is a death wish you have... There will be death enough for all of us on Trinacria.

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Aithalidos: King of Sparta, say you, Areus?... Surely Syrakousia will be a Polis in the Athenian tradition!

Areus: Not so Athenian... It has never been a Polis in the past and that is not going to change now. You may do what you will with the other towns of Trinacria. But Syrakousia shall have a new king...and that king will be a Spartan. Do not forget your oath to me. This host is mine to command. If you do what I will... Some of us may yet live but oppose me at your own peril.

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Ariston: HA!!! This is all so amusing! I was loath to join you on this venture. After all, I missed the sacking of Athens for this! Surely that would have been grand spectacle worthy of observation. I was looking forward to being a monkey in the Macedonian Court... An object of ridicule surely but well fed and with bountiful opportunity for fornication! But I would have missed all this! A hopeless adventure! Spartans and Athenians in close quarters, squabbling about anything and everything! The abandonment of logic and reason! Surely this will prove all my theories correct. That all we do is for naught, that we a just pawns of the gods. Please gentlemen....Carry on. CARRY ON!!!!

Aithalidos: Forgive him.... His words would make Plato blush with embarrassment and turn Socrates in his grave... but spare his live. He is a product of our times, nothing more...Nothing less.

Areus: It pains me that we must share whats left of our bread and water with such a creature. Just keep him away from my children. No telling what a man like this is capable of when he is behind closed doors.

" LAND HO!!!!"

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Finally Areus thought.... 'It's about time....Soon I will enjoy the solitude of my own tent and be rid of the cackling of all these old women that surround me'

[strategos roma]

Gee, this is so cool. I bet the rhodians were reallymad at you.

[Xtiaan72]

Yea... I need to explore that more. Rhodes carries most of the war debt and the people are "unhappy".... No Kollosas and a crippling war debt!

[Xtiaan72]

The Siege of Syrakousai was a brutal affair. Although Areus did not bear the Ionian population any particular ill-will; his disdain for their king, Heiro, knew no bounds. Heiro, the bastard son of an Epirote warlord was a complete abomination from the Dorian point of view. The siege has already dragged on for six months. Areus determined to starve the great city out, Heiro to outlast him. Neither one willing to risk a pitched battle.

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Aithalidos: We have been forced to go to half rations Areus. Even worse some of the men are grumbling... Hard to believe all our treasure is gone already. The Rhodesians are particularly full of rancor... With Athens and Sparta gone, our considerable debts have fallen on their heads.

Areus: That is precisely why I sent our fleet back to Krete. Let the men grumble even they can see there is no return. They can take comfort in the knowledge that as bad as conditions are in our camps, things are worse in the city.

A messenger approached the Hellenic generals

Messenger: Agathokles of Rhodes requests your presence in his tent. He is not well my lord.

Areus entered Agathokles' tent. It stank of corruption and death.

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Agathokles: My physician informs me that I will not live to see the morning... He tells me it's the flux but he is wrong. It is a broken heart. I was wrong to go along with the Athenians plan. Rhodes is ruined, my people suffering...and it is my fault.. I cannot blame you for my fool hearty decision. Nor for your wish for one more chance at glory... ( Cough, Cough Cough)

Will you grant a dying man a last request? It is the wish of a loving father. When my son comes of age, let him rule in Rhodes and if your venture succeeds let Rhodes be your ally but autonomous. I know the Macedonians or Seluicids would not have granted me this request. I went along with your plan because I thought perhaps you would.

Areus: I will Agathokles, You have the word of a grateful ally. Your line will continue in Rhodes, this is my solemn oath.

Agathokles: I thank you for that at least. Good luck Spartan...Keep Hellenes free.

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The siege dragged on for another six months... Belts were tightened and then one day a flag of parlay finally flew above the beleaguered Ionian city.

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Heiro: Spartans! Athenians! Look how you repeat the mistakes of Alcibiades! We can hold out behind these walls for years! Think of the hardship, the suffering you will endure!



Areus: You finally condescend to parlay! You must be reduced to eating rats and the leather of your shoes... Our ships have gone! There is no return, your city will fall. Save your people if you can! Come out and fight, we wait for you! Or come out yourself and we will grant you passage to Taras and spare your people. You are a false bastard king, They will be better off without you!

But he did not come out nor did the city surrender. For two long years the siege continue until Heiro himself fell from some dreadful sickness... And then the gates of the city were finally flung open. The Hellenes' were in no mood for mercy after such an ordeal. Every soul of Epirote blood was expelled and the Hellenic soldiers were granted the freedom of the city for three terrible days.

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Stubborn Areus was the new King of Syrakousia but the tribulations of New Hellenes had only just begun

[Xtiaan72]

The Reign of Areus

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Areus kept his promise to Agathokles. Although it was no easy task to fulfill the man's dying wish. Eugenios Rhodos came of age in Syrakousia and needed to run a gauntlet of Macedonian and Seleucid fleets to return home. Along for the journey was Areus' daughter destined for Krete to be married to a Kretian aristocrat. The hope was this arrangement would restore relative calm and normality to the recently conquered Krete.

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Kretian Aristocrat Ermias marries into the Lakendaimonios family and takes control of Krete.

Additionally Doros Akkidos, son of Aithalidos, had finished his schooling in Rhodos and was to return to Syrakousia on the return journey.

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The daring crossing

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Admiral Linos proved his worth in a string of naval engagements but the battles took it's toll on the small Syrakousian fleet. The Seleucids grew tired of Linos' unorthodox tactics. Rather than continue to chase his dispersed fleet around the med, they sued for peace and trade rights were restored, reducing our ballooning deficits.

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Meanwhile, Areus launched an assault on Messana to expand his hold on Trinacria.

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The inhabitants of Messana proved braver than the minions of Heiro, choosing to sally out rather than face the horrors and shame of an extended siege.

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Greek Medium Skirmishers prove their worth.

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The city was taken with minimal loss but the challenges facing Syrakousia were only growing with success.

[Chirurgeon]

Ack! you killed the inhabitants of Syracuse! I wish you the best in your adventure. I have yet to see the Syracusean hoplites in action so that should be exciting :)

[Xtiaan72]

Well in my mind, I was expelling the Epierotes and leaving the Ionians alone! It has been an adventure... I'm being pounded between a hammer and an anvil at the moment and it looks like I'm going to end up a pancake! I have a few ideas on how to win through but it's very much in doubt. This was a tough one (giving up Athens and Sparta) and trying to survive on Sicily.

Thanks for reading!

[NickTheGreek]

Very cool AAR, have you thought about getting Massalia and Emporion? Some tasty Iberian units and even more unique hoplites.

[Xtiaan72]

I'm in the hole 200,000 grand man, won't have any new units for quite a while! I have one decent stack and the Romani are coming at me in an unrelenting wave. I'm hoping I can take Rhegion and that the Romani have already built the mines there... Take Sardinia really quickly and sack Capua destroying everything in the city. If I get lucky maybe the Gauls will get into it with the Romans and take some of the pressure off......