I'm just writing it out of pleasure:)
Could you post this kind of rubbish on a Colosseum forum? Let me try ~D
Fine, let me try something boring like writing (yet) another war story. :charge:
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262 B.C. Egypt, near the gate of Memphis.
A young general in a blackened suit of armor rode slowly towards to city on his horizon. His eyes seem closed, tired. Behind him lies a long contingent of soldiers walking, riding, and marching their way wearily across the empty landscape. Most prominent of all things was a tall silver banner depicting the proud warrior helmet, the symbol of the Seleucids.
They had just fought a battle with Egypt.
As he stared forward wearily upon the sight of what was being exposed to him. A line of tall stone walls with powerful towers and an unassailable gate. The city in front of him seemed invincible. It just lacked one thing: soldiers.
He had killed them all.
His name was Cleitos, a prince of the proud and mighty Seleucid line, rulers of Syria and beyond, descendants of the powerful Seleucus Nicator, they never gave up their quest of restoring Alexander the Great's empire.
He was here to do so, in the desert lands.
The Ptolemiac dynasty of Egypt was actually also another group of descendants of one of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy Soter. They were rich, fabulously rich, and ambitious. For a long time since the early of the two empires, they had always been at war. Seleucus himself, in fact, was killed by an assassin from Egypt, also called Ptolemy.
Conflict loomed ever since...
Cleitos was here to brought an end to this. He held with him a special wrath upon the Egyptians who had killed his glorious father, Antiochus, in a cunning ambush near Jerusalem. Egypt must be destroyed at all cost. That includes the life of the king himself.
How did it came to this place? We must look back for the events that took place 8 years ago....
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Please give me comments. Or if you want me to stop posting because you don't like it, you can tell me too. ~D
Re: I'm just writing it out of pleasure:)
More Stories.... ~:handball:
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It was year 270 B.C. King Antiochus of the Seleucid empire was aging. He felt that soon he would have to retire from his place as a king of the Seleucids, and he felt insecure.
The "Empire" at the time consisted of little more than Syria, Babylonia, and Ionia. All of them were exposed at all sides to various attackers. Pontus, Armenia, Parthia, Greeks, and especially Egypt all looked upon the Seleucids with greed and ambitions.
He had to do something.
Antiochus knew that the key to save his empire from its current state was a successful war with Egypt. He also knew that to win a war with Egypt he must took the initiative, and who else would better lead the troops to victory than he himself?
He also knew that the key was Jerusalem.
The city was strategically located in the heart of Palestine and lies just between Syria proper and Egypt. Who controls the city, wins the war. The Seleucids knew that; the Egyptians knew that too. War was imminent.
Antiochus gathered up a decent army of militia hoplites, peltasts, and militia cavalry. The empire was too weak to afford anything better than that. They would do for the time being.
Upon his march from Antioch to Sidon, little Egyptian resistance was met. Antiochus suspected something...
Sidon was indeed heavily fortified with many Egyptian troops garrisoning the city. Yet, a good general knew he would expect that, and Antiochus was a good general.
The battle for Sidon was harsh, in which many brave warriors died in the fields and the streets. Thousands, in fact, died that day. For the Seleucids won the day. With their superb maneuvering skills and their long spears and overwhelming firepower, they slowly push the defenders to the plaza, where the true massacre was committed. Most of those thousands killed were mere citizens of Sidon who were put to the sword by Antiochus's orders. That would haunt him for all the last days of his life.
His doom was coming, the Fates had decided.
Egypt, under the command of their northern general Ptahhotep of Jerusalem was gathering its armies. They were preparing for a full-scale invasion to avenge the fall of Sidon. With their man-power and their wealth, time was their allies.
So the battle must be fought in Judaea. King Antiochus of Syria set out towards Jerusalem with little more than five hundred men on his side...
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Maybe it's just too boring? Please give me any comments. So that I can improve it or (for your sake) stop. :book:
