To Synedrion (The Royal Council)

https://img145.imageshack.us/img145/...nedrionit1.jpg

This is a thread aimed only for players who are subscribed to The Vergina Sun. Here, we are going to hold all Synedrion meetings. They Synedrion is to be held every once a year, at the closing of the war season (Winter). The Basileus has to officially state the beginning and end of every session here, so that players know when they have to post. Elections and voting procedures will be given the form of a public poll, which will be created by me, Maion Maroneios, with the Basileus' request.

How the Synedrion works: Every Winter, the Synedrion is going to hold a meeting after the current Basileus' official announcement. The Basileus is the one who defines when a meeting begins and ends. All voting procedures will take the form of a public poll. In order to participate in the Synedrion, you have to have the corresponding rank (defeault for all starting characters).

When a session begins, the Basileus makes the opening speech, by making the first post where he lists all details he wishes to discuss with the Synedroi. This means all other players have to wait for the Basileus to post first, then start the discussion. After a session reaches an end, all possible decisions that have been discussed will be formed into Edicts, that require half plus one vote of the Synedroi to pass. Only the Basileus has the right of making a list of all Edicts he wishes to undergo a voting procejure, which has to pm'ed to me in order to make a corresponding poll. If an Edict is of great importance and the votes are a tie, another voting procedure will undergo. This time, it will need only 2/3 of the Synedroi's total votes.

If a certain player has his avatar far from Pella, he can send a so-called "representative" who will speak with his voice to the Synedrion. The same goes to the Basileus, who can appoint either his Basilikos Grammateus, or someone else in charge of running the Synedrion and making decisions depending on the Basileus' wishes.

For any further questions, go to the TVS Player Chatroom.

Maion

Opening of the Synedrion - 11th May, 272 BCE
This is an emergency session.

The man who brought the parchment to the speaker in the agora steps into the floor and waits for the Synedrion to gather. He then speaks up as loud and clear as his voice allows him:

"I am Agathangelos, and I was sent by basileus Antigonos Gonatas to represent him here when he can't attend himself. My first announcement to you here on his behalf is that Krateros Argeades, his older brother, will be the Basilikos Grammateus.

What he wish to be addressed in this emergency session is the Epeirote problem. We all know it: the Molossian king Pyrrhos is in Makedonia and he pose a real threat to Pella. We need to decide how we are to counter this, while still not forgetting about the Hellenes to the south, or the barbarians to the north. Should we separate our forces in the south, so that either Krateros or Antigonos himself march north with their army while the other stays to keep check on the south? Should we seek peace with either faction, and concentrating all our military might on the other?

This is what you have to discuss."

Agathangelos bows.

Theophilus Diokletes rose. A prominent Synedroi his younger days, he now spent much of his time being hired as tutor for young noble's, and had recently taken up to representing the young Alexandros Argeades, the son of the King's brother.

I wish to thank Antigonos for bringing together this council in the country's most dire need. We face a great peril, gentlemen, one we would do well to act quickly rather than to argue long into the night.

The Molloson will bear his army upon the gates of our capital within a matter of a few weeks, if not days. Though defeated in Magna Graecia, Pyrrhus will be well equiped to assault our poorly defended nation while it's armies reside in the south. While Pella itself is of only administrative and historical importance, Makedonia is not. It is our homeland, and houses the great cities of Thessalonika and Aigai, along with the great mining towns to the north. It must be defended. But by who?

As I understand it, Antigonos still plans to march on Athenai, does he not? These treachorous good-for-nothing Ionians still look down their purfumed noses upon us, the conquerers of the world. They need to be reminded of their place, it is true. But does this hatred of the independent democracies override our need to defend our homeland? I wonder how our small empire will react should Makedonia itself fall. How loyal are our subjects? Loyal to the king? Or loyal to strength?

Whatever path we may choose, we must be certain it is the right one. We must show strength, unity, and above all, ruthlessness. We cannot allow all we have accomplished thus far to be thrown away by some semi-barbarians from the west!

As I speak for the young Alexandros, who could not make it to Pella himself, I would like to inform the Synedrion that Alexandros nominates himself to serve in the war effort, be that against the Greeks, or the Molossions.

Thank you.

Theophilus Diokletes sits.

A shadow enters the floor of the synedron, right after that another one. Then the two persons with long hoods make a short stop. The tall one seems to take a look of the scenery, then turn around and exits the synedron entrance while no noise is hearable from some steps. The other immedeately steps further pushing back the hood. A long grey beard, hiding a smile becomes to be seen.

Welcome fellows of our Macedonia, free people of our good king!
As you all know, we are in serious trouble, after all those years campaigning outside of hellas, Phyrros finally decided to join our beatiful lands with his troops. The basileus has told to hold a emergency session of this commitee.
Informants of mine have given me some nice thoughts about the current situation. From our point of view, we have no need to seperate our troops in the south facing the alliance of free greek poleis. They should stay there without even think about their homes in danger.
There will be no danger for our capital of Pella. ...
With coopted work of the basileus fleet, the well known an also well trained garrission of Demetrias could be here - before Phyrros even has the chance of setting up a siege. In case they really hurry up, all ressources for a trouble-free defeat of the Epirotes can be here - without a weakening of our troops further in the south.

If you want more informations, I'll be here again in a few hours. There are people who whish to meet me right now. I have to hurry, but I hope my thoughts can help you out.

Illuminating himself in his grey hood, the person leaves the synedron with harsh steps, even without waiting for some response frome the audience.

Karpos Aiginios sits back in his chair, his enormous girth roiling under his white robe Phyrros must be dealt with, that is sure. but I for one believe that trying to split our forces to go against them would be a horrible mistake. For that reason I believe the peace must be reached with the Greeks. at least until we manage to get Phyrros out of the way. Theophilus Diokletes, those "perfumed Ionians" may look down on us, but to March against them now could end in disaster. If you can not stand them at least respect them for what they have done. They held off the Persians long before Megas Alexandros marched against them, for that we must show caution. Peace is the order of the day I say! Do not split our forces, I beg you all. For I see it ending only in pain.

Philadelphios Teleochos an elder Synedros stands up and addresses the Snyedrion:

"Fellow Makedones! We seem to have many different plans on how to defend our Kingdom from the threat of Phyrros and his army of Epeirotai and Barbaroi, as well from the so called “Koinon Helennon” formed by those dim-minded Attikans, those over proud Lakedaimoi from Sparte and the Rhodoi who never saw and will never see farther then there own coffers…They might have driven back the Persians centuries before but after that all they could achieve since then was to fight amongst eachother and bring war and destruction to Hellas. Megas Alexandros and his Makedonian warriors were the first to unite Hellas and avenge the Persian actrocities.

Of all of these the most dangerous in my mind seems to be Phyrros the Molosson and his soldiers. The foolish Hellenes of the south always fought against each other and they will not agree now either on what they should do. Taking this into account I would suggest our true Basileus to march with his army north to support the defense of our Capital against Phyrros should it be of need.
However Basileus Antigonos should be ready to face an attack by the Attikans. They have shown several times how eager they are to fight an enemy who seems to be fleeing. Just remember Chaeronea… even there when the soldiers of Philippos started to move back the warriors of Athens were sure in there victory… On to Makedonia they shouted in there overconfidence… and soon Megas Alexandros himself lead the charge of Hetairoi which sealed the fate of Hellas against them.

If the Attikans attack then kill or capture them all. Only so will they learn the price for defying the true ruler of all Hellenes. Once there soldiers are all sent to Hades or in our captivity they will be too scared and too weak to even attempt to interfere with our actions.
If they don’t attack then we should gather our armies and prepare to drive back Phyrros to Epeiros where he belongs…"

Philadelphios sits down and awaits the reaction of the other Synedroi.

Theophilus Diokeltes stood, looking over at Karpos Aiginios.

Karpos Aiginios, if you listened to my speech you would have heard that I make no mention of splitting our forces, nor do I denounce the Greeks as weak or below us. I merely say we have war on two fronts, and we must choose between them.

I do not believe we are in a position to make peace with the Greeks. They want independence; they started this war, not us. The only terms we can offer is independence, and we would be forced to retreat our garrisons in Korinthos and Attika. I cannot agree to that.

Agathangelos stood up and cleared his throat.

"Neither can I. That is the very reason why our situation is so precarious. We have two field armies, one commanded by Antigonos Gonatas, and the other by Krateros. Both are at the moment in the south. If you do not wish them to split up, Karpos Aiginios, then you are left with a dilemma: which front would you have us leave undefended? Of course, the question whether our resistance will be strong enough in either place if we only send a part of our forces is also a strong point, as you point out, and we will need to balance these issues dearly. It is not as clearly cut so that the preferable course of action is obvious. I'm sure we all agree about that.

Personally I have not yet made up my mind on what route we should take, but I do lean towards a split, with Gonatas moving back north. More soldiers to stand a better chance against Pyrrhos can be levied up in Thessalia, and if our coffers allow it and our need demands it, there is the option of hiring mercenaries. If we do that I have enough faith in Gonatas' ability as an army commander to have a fair chance at beating Pyrrhos back to Epeiros, and if he manage to do that, we may be able to ascertain a peace with him, and convince him to focus on Italia instead. Meanwhile, Krateros should be able to keep the Greeks at bay. I'm not saying it would be easy, or that it would carry no risk, but a smaller army travels faster, and we may be able to surprise them that way, catch them off guard.

I'm not completely sure though, as I said, and your thoughts are, as always, heavier than gold."

I agree. We need to get our priorities right. The Greeks, for the moment, need to be held at bay, while we must show Pyrrhus that Makedonia is strong enough not to bother attacking. We need to prove that Pyrrhus is better off attacking Magna Graecia. Once Epirus is dealt with, we can turn our main attention back south.

But Antigonos will not reach Pella in time to save it. We need to decide whether to abandon it and reclaim it later, or to risk the lives of the brave Makedonians that protect it.

A medium-sized man with a grey beard stands up and, after catching the eyes of the rest of the Synedroi, speaks with a clear and loud voice:

Noble sympatriotai, I am happy to see you all here! My name is Antisthenes Pellinios, and some of you may already know me. I hail from a very old Makedonian family, with all of my ancestors having served as Synedroi in the past.

Certainly, the times are grim for little Makedonia, but seeing ourselves unified instead of divided at these times shows something very important: That we, the true heirs of Megas Alexandros, have withstood all those years of war and sivil strife successfully and are still standing. For the most important thing in life, at least from what I have understood, is not how hard you can hit, but how many hits you can sustain and still be able to get up every time.

Now, let me get into the main part of my speech. Namely, the problem we are currently facing. You see, as grim as our situation may seem, we can never lose ourselves. Even with those Epeirotai knocking at our doors just as we speak. The people are counting on us, their leaders, to get them out of this mess. And who are we to refuse that to our people? They, after all, are free people of the Basileion Makedonias and do not deserve to live under the tyranny of this Pyrrhos from Epeiros. For tyranny it will be, given the outrageous ambitions of this man. He even thinks he is going to be the next Megas Alexandros himself or, maybe in his wildest dreams, even greater!

Some laughter can be heard throughout the Synedrion and Antisthenes waits until the noise sunsides to continue.

To make things even better, we have lost most of the control in southern Hellas due to this unreasonable rebellion. And I am referring to this petty, though dangerous, alliance formed by Chremonides of Athenai. The southern Hellenes are not to be taken lightly, fellow Synedroi. They might not stand a chance against our military forces, but in the seas they are very dangerous. Furthermore, the fact that we are shifting our eyes to the north towards the invading force of Pyrrhos, is more than enough to incite them to attack our holdings in Peloponnesos. As you may know, our fellow Makedones, Krateros and Alexandros of the royal family, are left alone to protect Achaia. The only thing we can count upon right now, are the forces of Basileus Antigonos, who is campaigning in Attike.

If we want to effectively counter this crisis, we must grab every field that needs to be attended, isolate it and figure out how to fix the problem. Of course, the problem becomes more complicated as more fields eneter the problem, but all can be done with necessary organization, rationale and carefullness. Here are some points I have prepared and possible solutions:

1) The Pyrrhos matter. Since obviously the garrison present in Pella is too small to hold back the Epeirotai, we will have to reinforce the garrison. A good way to do that, in my oppinion, would be to stansfer troops from Demetrias to Pella as soon as possible. The fastest way, as I see it, would be to use our royal navy and ship the troops from Thessalia to the port of Thessalinike, then a quick march to Pella.

2) The southern poleis matter. Here, I believe our forces are strong enough to wipe out any remains of the Koinon Hellenon, as the Southrons call their alliance. Athenai lies before our Basileus like a ripe fruit ready to be picked, so I understand the temptation must be great. Though, in my oppinion, Antigonos should do the following: Take the bulk of his army and march back north, while leaving a portion behind so that Krateros and Alexandros can defend Achaia while the Epeirotai are being taken care of.

3) Economics. Since all this requires coins, something which we don't have an ambudance of, I believe the Basileus should consider announcing War Taxes to applied to all across the Basileion.

There is more I wish to say, but I believe I should let others speak before I end and, of course, listen to any criticism on my rationale.

And with that, Antisthenes sits back down and takes a gulp of water from a cup that is given to him by a nearby slave.

Risto, representating Archon Basilikou Stolou Alkaios rose
The Archon Basilikou Stolou says that his fleet is ready to support whatever decision the Synedrion reaches. He does not wish to interfere in the matters of generals, just as Poseidon will not interfere with that which is Zeus'. Likewise, he must remind you that Zeus does not interfere with Poseidon's realm, and asks for the same courtesy from the Synedrion. He stresses that we are in no shape to challenge the Athenoi for control of the Aigaion as of this time. We will not engage this alliance at sea unless he deems it prudent. In the coming months, after this crisis is abated, we can discuss naval reforms.

The Synedros stands. Axios Anaxagoras is relaxed and speaks clearly.

My fellow Makedones...the time has come for a great people, under a great king, to make great decisions. Our situation is not bleak at all, but reassuring, because it is yet another test of our might and our self-confidence. For if none of us have forgotten, it was not too long ago that one of us rose against Persian might and Makedon's heartbeat was felt through vast lands as an earthquake moves the Earth itself. Let us not forget, that any decision we make, we give all our effort and all our strength. It is for this reason that I have full confidence in you, my brothers, and the Basileus of Makedon herself, my King, that any decision you make, you will have my full and unconditional support. May Pyrrhus, Koinon Hellenon, and the barbarioi know their limits, for nothing will stand in our way. Long live the Basileus!

A man stands, he is obviously an experienced military man, though he seems uncomfortable in his current surroundings.

Greetings fellow Makedons, I bear a message from my master, the brother of our Basileus, Krateros Argeades.

"Friends, no doubt you are all debating the Pyrrhos problem and how we should attack it. My opinion is we should do just that, attack it. My brother Kalos has a small force with him in Demetrias, and my nephew Alkyoneus has a force here in Pella. The two combined should be enough to defeat Pyrrhos, perhaps our fleet may be of use in helping Kalos make Pella without Pyrrhos intervening. I am well aware of the youth of both men but when has youth ever stopped a man fulfilling his destiny? I am certain history will tell tales of the two young men who defeated Pyrrhos and saved Makedonia.
As for me, I am ready to undertake whatever the Synedrion feels necessary, go north to mop up the Epirotes after Pyrrhos is dealt with, or stay here and show this "Koinen Hellenon" who is destined to rule Greece."

I should add this message was written before my master was made Basilikos Grammateus and on his behalf I would like to thank the Basileus for the honour. I will wait here until I have orders to return with.

A few minutes later another messenger arrives from Krateros.

Lords, I bear a message from my master Krateros.

"I have received word from my spies within Pyrrhos' army that he believes we are unaware of his position close to Pella, he is under the impression we believe him to be many miles away yet. If we could join Kalos' and Alkyoneus' armies together in Pella, then march south he may attack, unsupported by his son who is marching to join him. We should use Pyrrhos' own bravery and rashness against him. Alkyoneus should then march south to garrison Demetrias.
I am unsure if it is possible to join the two armies in time and leave it to those closer to the scene to decide if this is a viable plan."

The messenger leaves the hall.

Alkyoneus rose graciously

"And who exactly is to be in command if this charge against Phyrrus? Did your master tell you that?"

Theophilus Diokeltes rose.

Is that all you care about, Alkyoneus? Our homes are in trouble; concentrate on that, not on who gets the glory. The Synedrion will vote for someone to lead our men to victory.

Antisthenes rises up and addresses the aroused Synedroi

Friends! Let us be rational, first and foremost.

He then turns around and faces Alkyoneus

Noble Alkyoneus, we all undrestand you have a great weight on your soldiers, as you have been tasked of guarding our great polis of Pella. Your reaction to this messenger's words are completely rational and I feel I have to protest too; Pyrrhos Aiakides, as foolish as he may be, is an excellent commander and has even defeated our Basileus in combat before! Let us not forget that and believe ourselves to be invincible.

Antisthenes turns towards Karpos Aiginios and addresses the man

Noble Karpos, you have spoken before and I restrained from opposing your words, awaiting for someone to justify what I am about to tell you. You see, I do not believe focusing on one front at a time is the best solution at the present moment. Our Basileion is crumbling on multiple fronts and we must face every problem at once, if we have any hopes of overcoming our enemies.

Let me give you an example; if you have a dam that has a hole in it, you use your finger to stop the leakage. When the dam starts to crack in many places, you block the holes in every possible way before you start repairing the dam. You never focus on one or few big holes, or the dam will break and the land will be flooded.

He then turns and addresses the whole Synedrion

Men, at the present point I believe we should act in one way only; defensively. Right now, we cannot afford another plunder. Even if we manage to subdue southern Hellas, we are in danger of losing our homeland to Pyrrhos. If we focus too much on Pyrrhos, we risk to loose it all. So we have to find a way in the middle, as I proposed before. Split our forces, with the bulk of Antigonos' army going up north to counter the Epeirote invasion, while a small portion stays back to reinforce the garrison of Korinthos.

Furthermore, there are some other matters I wish to remind you. Namely, Pyrrhos has a reputation of doing half-done work. He starts something that catches his attention, then something new arises and he abandons any previous plans. He is not a man that finishes a job well, in other words. Zeus willing, Pyrrhos might even abandon his invasion of Makedonia and give us time to recover.

If, now, our Basileus decides he is going to fight defensively, he has many advantages. The most important one being the fact that our phalanxes are at their best in crowded areas, plus we are fighting in our own homeland. This is something many of us seem to fail to understand, but a man fighting for his land is ten times stronger than a man fighting for coins or a despot.

Antisthenes finally sits down again

Perhaps we should send envoys to the Cartheginians for aid? They are at war with Phyrrus already, and it would be a burden off our navy as well.

Theophilus nodded.

Hmm, a good idea. But it may take some time for an envoy to reach them by land, and a voyage by sea concerning such an important matter would require a personal escort of Makedonian ships, of which we can hardly spare.

Krateros' first messenger, awaiting orders for his master, rose, unsure of whether he was allowed to speak or not.

Er, in my experience Carthaginians have one concern and one only, money. Um, unless we can convince them of profit from such a venture, it is unlikely they would actually come to our aid. They may agree to an "alliance" and proclaim Pyrrhos as their enemy, but what would they actually gain from sending troops or fleets to aid our efforts? He is well away from their sphere of influence and not affecting their trade.

If I may, unless we attack Pyrrhos it seems highly likely Pella will fall, his forces are split at the moment, if we give them time to join and assault our homeland it will be much more difficult to defeat them.

He glances around nervously then sits, still looking over his shoulders.

Agathangelos stands up, clearing his throat.

"Antisthenes, what you are proposing is just what I proposed with the only alteration that Antigonos should leave some forces behind. Do you really think that is wise? His army isn't great as it is, and though the force Pyrrhos has at his disposal right now is relatively small as well, his son is not far away with reinforcements. As you admit yourself, Pyrrhos is undoubtedly a good commander, so it seems foolish to me to weaken Antigonos' forces even further before facing him. Is Krateros' army not strong enough to hold the Greeks at bay at least while threat of Pyrrhos is met? Right now I have less fear of them than I have of the Molossian king, though I of course don't mean to underestimate them either.

But should we take to your proposal, what units would you have Antigonos leave? Not the phalangites or the hoplitai, I hope - they're the backbone of his army, the anvil, and he would need them himself. The cavalry wing? Small as it already is, it provides another vital function - the hammer - and he can't make it without them. What's left are the Keltoi and the psiloi, and he wish not to part with the former, and the latter are just rabble armed with javelins and slings anyway. I doubt they could help save us from the Greeks if Krateros' can't with what he has already. So what of it? Who and how many of them would you have him depart without?"

Krateros' messenger, looking surprised at his own boldness, rose once more.

My friend, I am unsure of your military experience but I have fought in many battles. Pyrrhos has elephants with him and strange as it may seem those psiloi are exactly what the Basileus will need to take down the elephants. I am unsure of the make up of Kalos' and Alkyoneus' armies, unless they have many psiloi the Basileus should take his.

He gives a small wince as he sits down too quickly from sheer nervousness.

Theophilus Diokletes arose once more.

It is obvious by now, gentlemen, that we do need to divide our forces. However, all our field forces reside in the south, while only a handful act as city garrisons in our northern strongholds. As large as it is, Antigonos' army is largely made up of those young men levied from Makedonia and Thessila on his march southwards, with only a small core of proffessional troops. With many of our elite brigades wiped out by Pyrrhus' past attacks, we rely on few professional soldiers to uphold our kingdom.

However, the levies will be extremely angry to have marched to Attika only to turn around, march past their homes once more and go and fight a much stronger and larger enemy, with more professional soldiers in his midst. We may face a mutiny in the single most disastrous time possible. Therefore, I propose the following:-

Move the entire garrison currently stationed in Demetrias via sea to aid in the defence of Pella, while those forces levied from Thessaly that serve in Antigonos' army return home to defend their polis.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(OOC: move a couple of levy hoplites or something from Antigonos' large army to garrison Demetrias.)

Krateros should remain in the south, though if facing a large enemy force perhaps retreat to Korinthos. It would be a disastor should our garrison there be overwhelmed and the city lost.

The rest of Antigonos' army should march north to confront Pyrrhus' forces, by then hopefully whittled down to a defeatable number by our forces in Pella. If needed, perhaps our forces there can be supplimented by extra troops or mercenaries, to better aid the defence of the capital.

Agathangelos addresses Krateros' messenger.

"Who, me? I am merely a messenger really, and I have never seen battle myself, though I thought myself bold enough to understand the rudimentary bits of it, all I've learnt from speaking with Antigonos. I did not know that, though I am sure Gonatas himself did. But that leaves only the Galatians then, and as I said, he does not wish to leave them behind. Say what you wish about their habits, culture and language, but those barbarians sure know how to fight."

He turns to Theophilus.

"If you think Antigonos' army is large enough to leave that many of the core soldiers, then you are working from greatly exaggerated numbers. As you say yourself, all his soldiers with the exception of the small cavalry wing are levies, and how well will they stand against Pyrrhos' troops if outnumbered as well? You must not forget Pyrrhos' son, friend. Antigonos will need all the men he have. I do not think they will mind, certainly not to the degree of mutiny, as you would have it."

I must agree with Agathangelos, I wonder if Theophilus truly understands the mind of a soldier if he thinks they will mutiny at having to defend their homeland.

The messenger gives a little chuckle before sitting down.

Theophilus stands, looking puzzled.

I feel you misunderstand me. I said that those who we levied from Thessaly should return home, lest they be forced to march past their homes to fight elsewhere. Those we levied from Makedonia itself will of course continue to march with Antigonos to defend our country and their homes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OOC: I meant that we station just a couple of levy units in Demetrias from Antigonos' army., we can choose what two. The rest of the army can march north to fiht the Epirites.

Antisthenes stands up and addresses Rito

Rito, allow me to disagree with this idea. External matters and creating alliances with far-away people is not what I would consider as rational in these times. Why, an envoy would take that much time to reach the Karchedonioi, that they might even return home finding an Epeirote flag over the Akropolis of Pella!

He then turns to Agathangelos

Noble Agathangelos, let me explain. I am no man of war, thus I cannot have an oppinion as to what soldiers Antigonos should take with him or leave behind. It just sounded rational, though from what I hear the troops of Antigonos aren't as powerful as I thought they were. In that case, maybe it would be better for Antigonos to march straight to Pella after all. Then again, I'm not sure of the strength of Krateros' army either. Thus, I believed an equillibrium of numbers to be the best solution.

There is something else I believe would be wise to do at this point. Namely, I think our Archikataskopos could gather some information on Pyrrhos' army composition, as well as his son's, and present them to our Basileus? Then, Antigonos could probably make a final decision based on pure facts instead of speculation.

Antisthenes sits down again

Archangelos addresses Theophilus.

"Makedonian soldiers will fight where the Makedonian commanders tells them to fight. When we levied them they expected to leave Thessaly to take Athenai, and it is still men we're talking about. They will not break up and cry because they will have to defend Makedonia instead. Also, why don't you address the problem with Pyrrhos' son and the reinforcements he bring?

How can you expect Antigonos to defeat such a capable commander as Pyrrhos when he has to face better trained and more numerous soldiers coupled with elephants, and all he has is levies, and he has to leave 50% of his army's backbone in Thessalia because you fear the men won't be willing to fight for the freedom of Makedonians? Madness!"

He takes a few breaths and then turns to Antisthenes.

"I wholeheartedly agree with that. We need information about the strength and size of the reinforcements sent to Pyrrhos are. I do not wish to make a hen out of a feather, but I am equally loth to making a feather out of a hen, and when all is said and done, I'd rather be safe than sorry. With the information we have at this point, I must insist that all able men in Antigonos' army be brought with him."

Theophilus answers Agathangelos more clamly than the latters latest response.

Antigonos still commands a decent enough force, Agathangelos, even in a couple of hundred men are left to defend Demetrios. I make no mention of 50% of his forces left to defend Thessaly; I am not suicidal, and I am not sure where this high and random figure came from. I talk of leaving a unit or two of Thessalians to defend Thessaly. I would not wish it to remain completely defenceless if we are to move it's garrison to defend Pella.

And although Antigonos' army is smaller and less well equiped than Pyrrhus, you have not counted the forces at Pella and the distraction and casualties into the balance. With the current Pella garrison, supplimented by the garrison from Thessaly, and perhaps a few hundred mercenaries and levied Makedonian farmers, we will have a strong enough forces to withstand an assault against the city,even if Pyrrhus utilises his famous elephants.

"I never ever claimed you wanted 50% of his forces to stay. You did, however, suggest that 50% of his core soldiers would be left behind. That is what I have argued against. Do not strawman me."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OOC: you clarified what you meant earlier OOC by saying "a couple of levy hoplites or something". The core of Antigonos' army is made up of 2 phalangitai deuteroi and 2 hoplitai haploi. That's 50%.

"You still, also, avoid Pyrrhos' son like a cat avoids water, nor do you take into the account the losses our soldiers will suffer from Pyrrhos' assault. With his son coming in with reinforcements, he will likely outnumber Antigonos' even if we give Antigonos the survivors from the siege - if indeed there will be any. Coupled with the losing 50% of his core in Thessalia, it would be far from favourable terms you'd have Antigonos fight on. I fear having it your way would spell disaster."

Theophilus remains standing to answer.

I make no suggestions, Agathangelos. I am merely saying that the Thessalian levies should garrison Thessaly, while the rest of Antigonos' army moves north. The only time I mention the 'core of his army' is to say that it is small due to the past war with Pyrrhus. I say nothing about leaving them behind.

You seem to searching for enemies on both sides, Agathangelos. You may be forgetting we are trying to work together to defeat a common enemy. I can give little assurance to the people of Pella or to the rest of you; we face huge numbers of enemy troops, and reinforcements are still not here. However, what I can do, as a former military commander myself, give my analysis as to what I would do were I Pyrrhus, and had his forces at my disposal.

We do not, of course, yet know the exact composition of the enemy armies, though we can guess. We do know Pyrrhus has brought back the veterans of the Italian campaign, battered and bruised and much smaller than the number that left, but well trained. He is also supposed to agreed a treaty with the Illyrian king Pleuratus, which must have bolstered his manpower considerably, not to mention secured his northern borders. All that, coupled with what units he may have been able to muster from Epirus on his return, leads me to believe we may be facing around ten thousand men, possibly more.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(OOC: Added a zero to EB numbers [x10])

Our forces in Pella, with the added reinforcements from Thessaly, will be around half that, which in my opinion should be plenty to either disuade Pyrrhus from attacking, or to lead him to lose so many men he is forced to pull out. Either way, once Antigonos arrives, we should have enough men to comfortably defeat both Pyrrhus and his son's reinforcments.

If I were Pyrrhus, I would be tempted to try and take Pella as quickly and painlessly as possible, but I would be well aware of Antigonos marching north. This may lead Pyrrhus to make an unplanned and inadequate attack on the capital, while moving the bulk of his army south to engage Antigonos before he can reach Pella and combine his forces with that of Pella's garrison. Such an inadequate attack would be far simpler to repel than that of a fully fledged siege, of which personally I do not believe Pyrrhus to be capable of.

"'Searching for enemies on both sides'? What on earth are you talking about? I am simply telling you what I think of your suggestion. It's funny that you think not agreeing 100% with you is 'not working together' and that that somehow makes us 'enemies'. If that's really how you think, then perhaps the Synedrion is not the place for you.

Like I've said before, I think you're seriously underestimating Pyrrhos if you think victory will come that easily. What we have in Pella are levies and psiloi. The garrison of Thessalia is the same but with one cavalry wing as well. That may be good enough to deter Pyrrhos with his current forces, but with the reinforcements, the tide will have turned once again. Since Antigonos would only bring more levies, it would be tough enough as it is. But leaving part of his force in Thessalia will only serve to worsen the situation! Antigonos will need every man he can get because, even though I have not fought a battle yet, I pride myself to know enough that if you go against a battle-hardened and experienced force led by a highly capable and experienced commander with only levies, you'd better make sure that you at least outnumber them.

You can speculate and hope he underestimates the garrison all you want, but that does not mean it must be so. It can turn out completely differently, but hey, if you can spout potential scenarios, why can't I? Suppose that Antigonos would do as you wish, and Pyrrhos marches full strength on him instead of bothering with Pella. If that were to happen, Antigonos would be truly screwed. He would not even have a fighting chance! After Antigonos is beaten, we would be completely at Pyrrhos' mercy.

What we should do is to send the infantry and most of the psiloi from Thessalia to Pella, while the cavalry joins Antigonos' army which marches north. We levy up new soldiers in Thessalia and leave Krateros to defend the south against the Greeks. Not one soldier from Antigonos' army should be left behind."

Antisthenes stands up, a slight expression of worry painted on his face

Synedroi! Let us keep our heads cool, there is no need to argue and throw lines at each other! We are supposed to be united, remember?

After a brief moment of silence, Antisthenes continues by facing Theophilos

Dear Theophilos, allow me to disagree with your ideas. First of all, as Agathangelos correctly stated, we cannot underestimate the geniosity of Pyrrhos. As confident as one can be, only the sight of Pyrrhos is said to turn the bravest men into trembling cowards. He is a man with a great reputation, and the main reason why even some of our fellow Makedones have turned over to the side of the Epeirotai, favouring their rule and accepting Pyrrhos as their "true" Basileus. I just hope there is no such person amongst us today...

Several moments of awkward silence pass, after which Antisthenes speaks again

So, as I said, the only way to effectively counter Pyrrhos, seems to be if we pull all our forces to the north. Krateros and Alexandros, of course, will be left alone with a rather small force to defend against those pitiful Southrons, though it seems as those with some military experience believe it's enough.

There is one last matter that I wish to attain. Namely, a very important factor that we should never forget or underestimate. And by that I mean divine will. If it isn't the gods willing for us to survive, then we simply won't. But never, ever must we forget how we got here and pay our respects to the Olympioi. After all, when all human means have failed, they are the only ones that can truly help us.

Antisthenes sits down again

Agathangelos rose.

"Well spoken, Antisthenes. I agree with every point you made. With all this said, I think the discussion stage is over. Now for the edicts..."

Originally Posted by Edict E1.1:
A part of the garrison in Thessalia shall move, transported by our fleet, to reinforce Pella.

Originally Posted by Edict E1.2:
Antigonos will march south with his whole army, taking with him the Thessalian cavalry that is currently a part of the Thessalian garrison. He will then confront Pyrrhos and kick him out of Makedonia. Krateros will remain in the south under control of our southern military forces, and Alexandros will stay to aid him.

Originally Posted by Edict E1.3:
If edict E1.2 succeeds, and Antigonos is successful, peace shall be proposed to the Epeirotai.

Originally Posted by Edict E1.4:
War taxes should be commenced immediately to help pay for the war effort.

Agathangelos stands silent for a few seconds, thinking.

"Oh, yeah..."

Originally Posted by Edict E1.5:
New soldiers should be levied in Thessalia to replace the men leaving for Pella, and in Pella to further help the garrison stand against Pyrrhos.

"I think that covers it all."

Agathangelos bows and sits down again.

I second all these Edicts, and I thank the Synedrion for the patient and civilised manner that this emergency session has been conducted in. Let us now spend our time preparing the defences of Pella as best as we can, send our scouts out to find the exact numbers of Pyrrhus' army, and trust our victory to the will of the Gods.

OOC: Yes, they do.

I second all these edicts as well, and the fleet is standing by to transport our troops.

I second all these edicts.

Antisthenes stands

I second all edicts, except 1.5. I believe we do not have enough coins to do that.

He then sits down again

If not, we will have to look at leaving a small number of men from Antigonos' levies to garrison the city. We cannot let Thessaly fall into Pyrrhus' hands while we are distracted at Pella.

"Losing Thessalia would be an insignificant loss compared to losing the only field army we have, and our Basileus with it. I'd rather we sent less men to reinforce Pella and simply trusted Krateros to help Thessalia if it comes under siege."

Antipatros Lamiakos, this time without travelsuit, walks in the hall.

Wise men, comrades of our basileus.
Voice told me from the situation in this emergency session. I'll second all those edicts, even if I have my thoughts, like Antisthenes, that Makedonian money will not last forever and we have to spend every mnai at the right place.
Just tell where me and my shadows should have our eyes on - we will see it soon. And you shall see it also!
May divine be with us.

And he again hides himself, but this time in shadows from some pillars, right behind some older members of the synedron.

"Antipatros, we want to know just how many men and of what quality they are that Pyrrhos' son is bringing with him, and how soon he can join his father. There is urgency in your mission, and yet you still must make sure that your information is trustworthy and precise. That is what you have to do."

Antipatros walks to the middle of the hall, taking a roll of papyros out of sleeve.

I have some bad and some good news.
Phyrros himself, right now camping in our sight, has only his unit of Indian Elephants, a contingent of Misthophorio Phalangitai and a contingent of Misthophorio Thraikioi Peltastai with himself. All of these have some battle experience.
The bad information is, that his son, after my most recent informations has these units in his Army:
https://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6730/phyrrichosarmy.jpg
And even worser is, that he is maybe just two marches outside close to our great farms outside Pella.

Antisthenes stands up, his face showing clear worry

Let us not waste any more time then and continue with the voting procedure!

Maion

Agathangelos rises.

"Gentlemen, all edicts have passed and it is now up for us to set it in motion. Krateros..." Agathangelos turns towards his brother's messenger. "... is to initiate war taxes all over our kingdom. He should also see to it that fresh men are levied in Pella and Thessalia. Make sure they are not too expensive, though, even if we can afford it."

Agathangelos turns towards Alkaios.

"Prepare the fleet that is to carry the Thessalian reinforcements to Pella. Make sure they are ready to depart as soon as the men reaches the port."

He now turned to Alkyoneos Argeades.

"Alkyoneus, if you have not begun doing so already, start preparing the defence of Pella immediately. May the gods be with you.

The rest of you already know what to do. Get to it."

Agathangelos nods quickly, then makes a sign. A man runs up to him, takes some notes and runs off. It appears to be a messenger.

Originally Posted by The Celtic Viking:
Agathangelos turns towards Alkaios.

"Prepare the fleet that is to carry the Thessalian reinforcements to Pella. Make sure they are ready to depart as soon as the men reaches the port."

(OOC: Should I just take the fleet to the nearest port where they can board, or should I board the men and return to Pella as well?)

OOC: I think it's easiest if I just give you permission to move them, so take the phalangitai & sphendonetai to Pella. The akontistai should stay and the cavalry is for me, as per edict E1.2.

Agathangelos coughs.

"Oh, yes, there's one more thing that I almost forgot.

I now declare, on this the 17th of May, 272 BCE, this emergency session to be officially closed."

Agathangelos bows, and then heads out to the Agora."

Risto nods
I shall send word with haste to Alkaios that he is to transport all phalangitai and sphendonetai from Thessalia to Pella! (OOC: will do this when I get home tonight)

Krateros' messenger bows low.

Thank you, I will return to Krateros to inform him of the Synedrion's wishes.

The man scurries out of the room.

Opening of the Synedrion, 12th Decembre 272 BCE.
This is a normal session.

"Members, we have gathered here once again to determine what the next course of action will be for our kingdom. The main problem of the last emergency session was the arrival of Pyrrhos, but with him going off elsewhere - for the gods know what reason - the situation has changed completely.

Instead of having to face of an Epeirotai siege of Pella, we are now faced with a Greek siege of Korinthos instead. Antigonos cannot make it there in time, and according to the reports from Krateros himself, it is questionable whether Alexandros' army is strong enough to counter it. Antigonos have already agreed to send the Thessalian cavalry over to Alexandros, but if they can make it in time and if they then can make enough of a difference remains to be seen. He also sends what what footsoldiers he can spare, which is nigh 2400* men. To replace these, he would call for the phalanx in Pella's garrison to, by ship, be transported up to Thessalia.

Unless a new threat enters our northern lands before that is done, Antigonos Gonatas wish to make a bold move. Since he cannot reach Korinthos in time, he would like to restart his previous campaign to take Athens. If done swiftly enough, it will bring in new income and put us with one less threat to worry about. If he succeeds, we can then decide whether he should move back to safeguard our northern borders again, or if we should risk pushing even further and taking Sparta as well, with Korinthos first of course, if the gods wills it to be lost first.

The last thing that needs to be decided is the economy. We cannot sustain the cost of such a large military that we have right now, and yet we will face great risks if we scale down. Getting deep into debt is ever a threat, and if we do nothing, that is what will happen. We must do something to change this.

This is what you have to debate."

Agathangelos bows.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OOC: * = assuming that 1 phalanx is 120 men strong and then multiplied by 20.

Also, if I need to pronounce the Basilikos Grammateus again, pretend I said Krateros again, and I'll edit it in later. I'm extremely tired right now as well, so give me a break when it comes to spelling or just missing something.

Theophilus Diokletes stands.

I thank the members of the Synedrion for their courage and calmness in the face of a very demanding and worrying situation, of which now seems to have been diverted. I of course speak of the Molloson. I do not, however, presume to understand his reasons for pulling out so quickly. I would suggest that Antipatros Lamiakos be sent to determine Pyrrhus' actions.

Meanwhile, I have here a letter of instructions from the Strategos Alexandros Argeades. It follows:

Originally Posted by :
Sirs, it is with anguish and urgency that I write the news that Korinthos has been blockaded by the combined forces of Athens and Sparta, trapping my father, Krateros, the Basileus Grammatikus, inside. My forces, even when combined with my father's Companions, are unlikely to be enough to defeat or even dissuade the Greeks from their task.

I therefore wish to emphasise the need for reinforcements as soon as possible, and in as much numbers as can be accomplished, that the Greek army may be easily defeated while losing as few Makedonians as possible. With so few defenders, I highly doubt the Greeks will waste much time with building the minimal equipment required to storm the walls and do away with our Basileus Grammatikus.

I also hear of Antigonos' plans to repursue the siege of Athens. I, however, wish to place another offer on the table. Perhaps it would be more prudent to wait until we have the information confirmed concerning the whereabouts of the Epirites, lest once again we settle down to a long siege only to find Makedonia is once again up in flames. If the Epirites are nowhere to be seen, then I would agree Athens should be taken. However, if Makedonia is still in trouble, perhaps the Basileus needs to return to defend our homes. Once the Greek army is defeated, as is surely only a matter of time, then Alexandros will be well placed to finish the work Antigonos started. The Athenian garrison is small and incomplete.

I leave it to you, members of the Synedrion.

Theophilus finished the letter, and stood, looking around at the Synedrion for an answer.

Alkyoneus swept into the Synedrion, ignored most of the nobles present and directed himself straight to the respresentee of his father.

"Agathangelos. Tell my father he should take Athens now, not later. Corinth can fend for itself, and if not.. We will recapture it, since possession of Athens will cut off the peloponessos from the mainland.
We should even increase our military power, despite our financial worries. If we move in force now, we can sweep via Athens past Corinth to Sparta.
Hit them hard and fast, before they can gather their strength. Until now, we have let others take the initiative...
First Phyrros, who tramped up and down our countryside and made us hop whenever he made a move.
Now, we are hopping on the tune of some band of greeks.

It is time we take matters into OUR hands, and make others hop to the tunes of our flute.
If necessary, I am willing to loan the treasury from my own purse it it would see us through.

I don't believe in half measures, we should go all out against the southern Greeks without dallying.
Then we can turn around and keep Phyrros out of our lands, until our new acquirements in the peleponessos give us the strength to do more."

He looked to one of his servants, trying to remember his name.
"You. Sit here and listen. And you, stand by until the other needs you to run messages to me"

Leaving his two servants flabbergasted, he departed from the Synedrion again. The 2 men left behind looked upon eachother bewildered. What were they to listen to? What should be reported? Where would their master be for that matter.

Antisthenes Pellinios stands up and addresses the Synedrion

Synedroi! Remember what we have discussed in our last meeting. The people count on us, we cannot let them down. We have to handle things unbashed.

I have recently decided to take long walks in our Agora, trying to listen to the people's oppinions, ideas and suggestions. Do you know what I got for an answer? Nothing. Utter silence. The people were confused, are confused, afraid, dissapointed. They expect us to save them, though we seem to berely be able to act on our own.

As Alkyoneus correctly stated, we are dancing to the beat of our enemies. They are playing with us; pulling our strings and making us play a game of hide and seek. First Pyrrhos threatens Pella, we march north to counter him, then he leaves to Epeiros and next thing me know the perfumed fops from the south are knocking on the gates of Korinthos.

Obviously, we cannot sustain any more losses. The loss of Korinthos may not prove fatal for our Basileion, but it will probably leave us in a pretty bad shape nonetheless. Our economy is already pretty bad. As far as I know, we do not have the ability to train or build anything more. As such, yet again, I will agree with noble Alkyoneus we have to take loans.

It is about time we take things in our hands for a change. It has been too long that we, the once most powerful people on the Kosmos, have been battered repeatedly by Usurpers and Pretenders. I know this is hasty talk and my tongue is probably running way ahead of my head, but aren't you all sick of watching our little Basileion crumble in the face of all those enemies, while doing nothing but trying to protect her lands? I say we launch a full-offensive. Take loans, train more soldiers even if this means giving farmers knives and pointy sticks to fight, and throw a full-offensive against the Southrons.

Attacking Athenai should not take too much time. Assault the polis as soon as possible. The Athenaioi, with their silver tongues, will probably persuade the Spartiatai into abandoning the siege of Korinthos to come to their aid. Gonatas, I believe, will be more than happy to give them a good old beating like the old days. Take Athenai and her surrounding poleis, then go for Lakedaimonia. When Southern Hellas falls to our hands, we can face north-west with renewed funds and enough manpower to launch a large offensive.

The days of gory are not gone, sympatriotai. If it is the gods' willing, we can and shall be great again.

All Hail Makedonia!

Antisthenes sits again with a wave of applause of some of the Synedroi

A young man walks into the grand hall, he is calm and poised without a single expression on his face. He thanks the guards, subtly slipping a few coins in their hands. He walks around slowly, taking in the faces of the people around him. Gradually he moves towards an empty chair and with slight indignation takes a seat. Without standing, he rises his voice but without shouting he calls,

'I am Karpos Aiginios, Archiproxenos. I have finally come to speak my mind on the matters that this nation has found itself in. The war against the league in the south must be ended quickly. Once the siege of Korinthos has finished, whatever way it may go, I wish to move to the great city of Athenai and conduct a mutual meeting to agree to terms of peace. I feel this would be the best way to stabilise our country instead of going into countless sieges of the southern states gradually decreasing our coffers. I believe that peace should be once again, be talked about with the Epirites and also with the Ptolomics. We can also try and settle for trade rights, the sea being of great importance once more.

Leaving the statement standing Karpos bows his head and takes a sip of wine.

The tall person, seen with Antipatros Lamiakos last time, enters the synedron. With slow steps and like impending, the person enters the middle.

Synedroi, I come with a message from my master Antipatros Lamiakos.
He's currently searching for some shipment to Peiraieus in Byzanthion. Time will tell, if he can find a merchant soon.
He may excuses his absence, researching for informations about next targets of the Getai-tribe.
I think, that he will travel to Epeiros next, as our basileus wishs. Furthermore, he informed me, that he wants to spend his budget for employing a young friend of us. With this, we may can observe more movements from our neighbours.

Antipatros sends you his regards.

Slow, the tall shadow leaves middle of the synedron, opting for the agora.

A small man, filthy from a long ride enters.

Lords of Makedon, a message from the Basileus Grammateus.

Friends, by the time this message gets to you you will probably be well aware of my dilemma. My spies were able to get a look at the Athenian/Spartan army before they arrived, I had the opportunity to leave but decided to stay to prevent the locals turning to the enemy. The force comprises of approximately 2500 Spartans, over 3000 ally hoplites of varying ability, 2500 phalanx, 1600 Cretan mercenaries, 1600 heavy peltasts and 3500 psiloi. It would be suicide for Alexandros to engage such a force, we need the Basileus to help. I wonder if the idea to attack Athens and force the enemy to drop the seige and leave has entered your thoughts, if so it's a bad idea they are unlikely to do so as Alexandros blocks their way. May the Gods be with you all.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OOC I used the 20:1 ratio in enemy numbers

Theophilus Diokletes stands.

The way I see it, gentlemen, we have three choices:

1: Let Korinthos, and the Basileus' brother, fall, while concentrating our forces on Athens


2: Try and draw the besieging army away from Korinthos by attacking Athens will full force

or

3: Combine both our armies and attempt to lift the siege on Korinthos before it is assaulted.

Personally, I do not like to think that our kingdom will abandon our loyal generals so easily. This war may take longer than we want it to, gentlemen. But is it morally right to sacrifice our friends in order to finish it quicker? Because at the moment some of you are preparing to trade Athens for Krateros' life.

Now, the way I see it is that we have a fourth choice. Or, rather, an expansion of one of our previous choices. Our armies are, for the moment, underdogs on the battlefield. Therefore we need to utilise strategy and cunning to win this war. I propose a new plan. While Antigonos' army attempts to draw the Greeks to defend Athens by besieging them there, Alexandros and his forces will march, not to Korinthos, nor Athens, but to Lakedaimon itself. With such small forces, the attack is unlikely to succeed, at least to the point where we can think of occupying Sparta. But it may be enough to shake the Spartan king now in command of the army besieging Korinthos into pulling his forces back to defend the country that has never been invaded.

It is a bold plan indeed, gentlemen, and unlikely to succeed. But it may just give us the time we need. We need all the time we can get at the moment. So, what are everyone's thoughts?

I believe we must try and draw the besieging army away from Korinthos at all costs necessary. Then we must sue for peace! We cannot win a war with the southern states with our current military, yet alone occupy and hold their vital cities. I have said before and will say again peace must be established with all the Hellenic nations before we can think of starting a war. I think Korinthos can be sacrificed, but the Basileus Grammateus must be allowed to escape.

You are aware we are in debt as it is. Now you want us to sacrifice all our holdings in the Peloponesse and not take any other land in return? I hope your paying tonight...

I meant that if there is no other way of getting Startegos Argeades out of Korinthos before the assault then the loss of that city is a small loss indeed.

I have intention of allowing the Greeks access to Korinthos! I would leave Pella now and fight them tooth and nail myself were it not for my extended age, and my new employment standing in for the young Alexandros.

Then I have absolute faith that Korinthos can and will be defended properly, but with our current debt, how will we defend our borders whilst our troops will have become depleted, especially as we have no idea of Pyrrhus' location or his strength.

"At this point, peace with the Southrons is unlikely in the least. They started this war after all, and with no exchange of land and they still having a superiority in arms, and even besieging Korinthos, which is likely to fall. If you were them, would you have signed peace with us? It would take a lot of money to do that, money that we do not have. Nor do we have the luxury of land to give to them, if we were so desperate for it. I just don't see an end to this war at this stage.

As for attacking both Athens and Sparta, it would be a bold attempt. Perhaps we have a better chance dealing with two separated lions than we do with one hydra? It is an interesting proposal, no doubt."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Originally Posted by Beanerz:
I have intention of allowing the Greeks access to Korinthos!

OOC: I hope you didn't actually mean that! :laugh4:

Maybe they don't desire peace, maybe they do, but imagine that an important city is cutting your lands in two, stopping prosperous trade, whilst your nation had a larger army. I think no one in here would have second thoughts about taking this city. Peace with the Southrons can be established but it must be handled with the right choices in regards to the ownership of Korinthos. Perhaps they can be puersuaded, if we manage to defend Korinthos, that we arn't as weak as we seem.

Defend it with what, exactly? Krateros has but some 40 odd companions in there! The population is only recently turning to his side. They won't offer much of a fight against the Greeks!

And am I the only one thinking of trying to save Krateros here? Cities can be lost and taken back, but lives only reach the former. Agathangelos, I am sure this strategy can work, if we act immediately. Alexandros can take what forces he has now, without wasting the reinforcements, which can meet him on his return. His current forces will be enough to grab the attention of the Spartan king, without dragging too many of our men away from the north.

As I have said before, Korinthos is expendable as long as the life of the Basileus' brother can be saved.

Turning to an aid he looks through his notes. Finding what is needed he tears the piece of scroll off and hand it towards the Strategos.

Originally Posted by :
I think Korinthos can be sacrificed, but the Basileus Grammateus must be allowed to escape.

As for our funds, I would be willing to have one more fleet dismantled for the time being. But it must be rebuilt when we are able to do so! In the meanwhile, I should stress again the idea of allying ourselves with the Carthaginians. Why? Well quite simply, they control much of the seas. Both the Koinon Hellenon and the Egyptians (our enemies, mind you) have great fleets. Allying ourselves with a power such as Carthage will keep our enemies in check, even if we cannot challege them directly. What say you, friends? I can personally lead the envoy to Carthage, if you would like.

I have no argument but how safely and of more importance, how quickly will you be able to transport myself to and from Sicily, (as that is where I'm supposing we are going) as I wish to talk to other factions as quick as possible.

We can leave immediately, if the council wills it. Otherwise, I can act as envoy and your can stay here, should they need you to remain. (OOC this can be done by recruiting a diplomat using my avatar's personal funds and keeping him aboard my ship). It will likely take several seasons to travel there and back, and there is always be the chance of pirates.

With permission, I will take one fleet and leave the other for the council. You may use it for troop transport and then disband it, if you would like.
(OOC: I'll take one fleet to Carthage, and the other can be left to transport troops to Korinthos, and then be disbanded.)

I have no problem with that, however I would rather go myself;

Thus I propose Edict 2.1 - Karpos Aiginios is to be transported by 1 fleet to Carthage and back to propose an alliance and trade rights.

I Second Edict 2.1

The tall shadow raise itself for a second time asking with a piano voice ...

Synedroi!
Even if it's winter, we are no animals and therefore need no hibernation.
There are things to discuss but if this takes more time, I have to leave to prepare further steps of my master.
Please send me a summoner - I have to meet some tribesman from the north. At least, if they made it over the passes.

The person takes a look and some can see a bright smile beneath the long grey cape.

Agathangelos stood up, and went to the middle of the floor. With a straight back (as always), he looked around and then began to speak.

"First of all i would like to point out to Karpos Aiginios that it is only the Basileus who propose edicts. You may join in the voting progress and you may second any motion I make in Antigonos Gonatas' name, but you may not make any edicts of your own, which is why the one you proposed is invalid. Do not take it personally; it is just how we run things here.

As a last thing before I propose the edicts, I would like it if anyone who has a sum of their of two loan, to make their offers. I will then make sure that every realistic proposition makes it into an own edict. I will be making an offer from Antigonos' personal fortune last. If you wish to make a proposition, do not linger though, for we must be as speedy as possible with our decisions here. You will not have an infinite amount of time."

Agathangelos bowed and sat down again.

Noises of a horse reach the synedron while the tall shadow enters the place for another time.

Fellowers,
even if our band of spys don't have the knowledge to lead troops as our Stateges can do, we can evaluate things clearly. As my master is hopefully in the good hands of Poseidon, I could only speak for our group here in Pella - not for the Archikataskopos himself.

First thread is to face the military problem in the south. Many possibilities were discussed through the last days. Me for myself think, that an attack on those attic Southrons would be the best solution. While our basileus would besiege Athenai, Krateros and Alexandros would have to pull off the charges from those Lakedaimonians with their short spears.
But as one mentioned already, Attica is barely defended and the Basileus couldn't reach Corinthos in time, they would have to sit out the next season anyway - so a siege on Athenai is the right decission.

Second thread is the current status of affairs with Quarthadast(sp?) - this should be done by the Archon Basilikou Stolou and the Archiproxenos in their own way, to hurry things up.

Third thread is the immediate need of another kataskopos - as I mentioned earlier, Antipatros can't observe the activities of those Molossians while there IS a dire need of informations regarding those activities in Hellas.

I hope, my or as you may like our valuation of the threads Makedonia has to face help out.

And while some synedroi may wonder, what accent came lightly out on top, the shadow kind of hoover in one of the dark edges of the synedron.

"Agathangelos, as i already told my father in a letter, I'd be willing to lend im from my own purse.

Of course, I expect to see a return for my sacifice, besides a refund when this war is over."

"Naturally - so would we all. I was simply hoping that people could come with such proposals so that we all could together, through the 'magic' of the supply and demand relationship, quickly nail down the fairest deal, but the time for that has run out. We cannot wait for it any further, so I will simply skip ahead and make the edict proposals for now."

Originally Posted by Edict 1.1:
To relieve our financial crisis and keep our economy going, the national treasury should take a loan. The Basileios Grammateus will be responsible to propose the deal/s with the indivuals who would supply the money.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.2:
Basileus Antigonos Gonatas should take his Basilikos Stratos and besiege and capture Athenai. The phalanx from Pella's garrison should, transported by the Royal Navy, move to reinforce him.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.3:
Alexandros should take the army under his control and besiege Sparta, in hopes of drawing away the besieging party of Korinthos.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.4:
An alliance should be established with the Carthaginians in hope of naval support.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.5:
Trade rights should be established with the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Keltoi.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.6:
In order to ease the burden on our economy, and save us from having to take too large loans, another fleet should be disbanded for now.

Originally Posted by Edict 1.7:
A peace treaty should be signed with the barbarians to the north (OOC: Getai), and trade should be established with them.

"Unless there is something I have forgotten, I think those are the edicts we should vote on. Second them as you will."