Hegemonia-City States, Faction Preview - The Ionian Cities
The Ionian Cities
Models: Dark Fenrir, Skins: Spirit of Rob & Hades, Map : Uranos, Research & Text: Apostates & Ozz, Additional Art : Lupus
-"War is the father of all and the king of all, and some he has made Gods and some men, some bond and some free..."
Heracleitos, philosopher from Ephesos, city of Ionia
The Ionian Cities
The Ionians are a Hellenic people who, reached a higher level of cultural development. Their progresses in sciences, arts, literature and philosophy have given mankind immortal monuments of their liberal and sensible spirits. Their researching minds and natural optimism spread Ionian spirit even to historiography and medicine in very early times. Hellenic prosperity in Asia Minor was not curbed even when the Lydians expanded their dominion to the west coasts of the Aegean, instead at this time the theory of natural philosophy was born through the critical observation of the environment. Thales from Miletos, began it and then the unique Hellenic philosophy blossomed while the Greek approach in every issue that mattered to humanity had just started. Different minds and varied cosmotheories, even completely opposite approaches for life, like Pythagoras, Heracleitos, Protagoras, Anaximandros, Anaxagoras and so many more, came from this area and carried Ionian wisdom to Abdera, Athens and to the West through the numerous colonies they established in Magna Graecia, on the south coasts of Thrace, all around the coasts of Black Sea and even to Massalia in France which was a Phokaian city. The Miletians had even established a city in the Nile ! Ionians have always been adventurous and their naval traditions helped them to become even more capable sailors.
Miletos, Ephesos, Phokaia, Erythrai ,Klazomenai, Kolophon, Teo, Levedos, Priene later on Smyrne too, along with Chios and Samos in the nearby islands never actually formed a strong political unity but had a common yearly celebration, the Panionia which was held at the cape of Mykale where the sacred temple of "Elikonios" Poseidon lay. During the Panionian festivals, the 12 cities enhanced their bonds, held meetings to improve their relationships and prompted trade deals. They also spoke a common Hellenic dialect the Ionian, -in fact the most linguistic developed greek dialect, the attic dialect, was an Ionian derivative too- and they used the refined Ionian style in architecture. However the vibrant and wealthy Hellenic culture of the Asian Minor coasts had to pay tribute to king Croisos (Kroisos), when he ruled Lydia in mid 6th century BC, and after the capture of the Lydian state by the Persian king Kyrros (Cyrrus), the Ionian cities became subjects of the Persian empire. During the reign of Darius, Ionia formed a satrapy and each city was ruled by a tyrannt loyal to the Persians. One of them, Histiaios, who used to serve the foreign ruler well, fell into disfavor and was imprisoned in Sussa. That was the trigger for the Ionian cities to revolt, supported by some forces from Athens, Eretria and reinforced by Kyzikos, Lesbos, and even the Cypriot cities joined the war against the Persians which was lead by Aristagoras of Miletos and Dionysios of Phokaia.....
They were very wealthy cities, with strong fleets, but not as strong and effective land armies (comparing to the other Hellenic factions, of course!). Naturally, when there was danger to the cities, these Hellenic citizens fought hard, but compared to the mainland Hellas factions, all of whom marched through fire and steel all these centuries, the Ionian cities just could not match them. After all they had proved to be quite ineffective against the invasions of the Cimmerians, Lydians and Persians. As a result, when a conflict was started, the Ionian cities usually asked for help from the mainland Hellenic cities. The famous tyrannt of Samos, Polycrates however had managed to become a strong and very difficult foe for all his enemies; he was also the first Greek to defeat the Persians in battle, he had constructed the famous aqueduct and strong fortifications, before he was captured and executed by the Persian satraps.
After his death, tyrannts loyal to the Great King were deployed in all Ionian cities, who sometimes were even more loyal to the Persian authorities than the Persian nobles and generals were !
The Ionian Cities have a good chance of victory when they face the enemy at sea; however they have a distinct disadvantage against the numerous Persian forces on land if they are not assisted on time by their traditional allies from the other side of the Aegean. After all they had strong fleets and ruled the Aegean Sea, even before the Athenians did. They will have to use all the wealth and knowledge generated by their rich and prosperous cities and all their Hellenic valour to resist Persia or they will be crushed by the vast armies of the High King.
Ionian Hoplites
The Ionians fight as heavily armed hoplites, as is common with most Greeks at this time, but they have proven to be ineffective against foes such as Cimmerians, Lydians and Persians which has cost them their independence. They are not professional soldiers but they usually wear heavy metal breastplates to offer protection from the missiles the Persians use however this can be a disadvantage as it makes them slow moving and easy targets to hit. They also carry the hoplon, decorated with the fearsome image of Zeus’ eye, which offers some exta protection against the missiles of Persian troops.
Ionian Archers:
Ionian archers are armed with bows and a sword. These troops mostly served in the navy but obviously they fought on land when necessary. Unlike the Marine Archers these have only an open helmet and light padded armour for protection.
Ionian Light Hippeis
The Ionians will also have a small unit of light cavalry, best used for raids, skirmishing and engaging light or disorganized enemy troops, they represent an effort to counter the lightly armed, but numerous Persian infantry.
Ionian Family-member Bodyguards
The Ionian general rides to battle accompanied by mounted horsemen who are armed with a kopis sword, the shock of their impact against disciplined spearmen is rather limited but the horses offer mobility and if used correctly they can be decisive, provided they have enough support.
Ionian Marines:
The Ionians are very skilled in warfare at sea and their marines are of superb quality, able on both land and sea. They are surperb fighters armed with spears and shields.
Samian Archers:
The archers of Samos had raided the Aegean Sea under the command of the tyrannt Polycrates. They are skilled and experienced skirmishing troops who combine mobility with light protection.
Kolophon Cavalry:
The city of Kolophon produces superb cavalry which has proven to be a decisive force. When they join battle, they are able to tip the scales in their sides favour. Armed with "kopis" swords and short spears they are known for their excellent morale and skills and are a considerable threat for any enemy, particularly those who underestimate them.
Hoplites of starting provinces:
These Hoplites come from rich cities and are good solid troops but they cannot match the hoplites of mainland Hellas in a straight fight.
-Samos
-Chios
-Miletos
-Ephesos
-Phokaia
We hope you have enjoyed this faction preview, comments and suggestions are always welcome...
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The Hegemonia Team
Re: Hegemonia-City States, Faction Preview - The Ionian Cities
Updated map regions to BI 1.6, and better quality images of units and screenshots of the Ionian Cities area....
:dizzy2:
Re: Hegemonia-City States, Faction Preview - The Ionian Cities
Re: Hegemonia-City States, Faction Preview - The Ionian Cities
wow! keep it up guys :2thumbsup:
Re: Hegemonia-City States, Faction Preview - The Ionian Cities
Yeah, those units look great!:2thumbsup:
