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Aegon in his early years.
When Aegon became ruler of Athens at age 31, most expected him to be a cautious, bookish ruler, focused on knowledge and the economy. In the first of these they were correct, as he sponsored the establishment of a number of libraries and academies across Athenian territory. But the rest of his funds went towards only one thing – building an army that would restore Athens to the glory of the days of Alexander.
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Athenian Empire, 215BC.
Aegon took command of the Athenian army stationed in Libya, renaming it the 'Eighth Army' *. He was soon reinforced by Alkmaion's army that had been stationed in Illyria, in preparation for the coming campaigns in North Africa. With Alkmaion guarding his flank, Aegon struck at the unguarded Nasamones town of Augila in a surprise attack. The Nasamones armies, desperately trying to hold their newly acquired city of Lepcis against Libya and their protector Carthage, were in no position to fight back, and a peace treaty was signed the next year. Such strikes against weakened and distracted targets were to prove a trademark of the many campaigns Aegon was to conduct over the years.
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Athenian forces assembled for an attack. Aegon is visible as the cavalryman with a shield.
After the confidence-boosting victory against the Nasamones, Athenian forces were moved eastwards to prepare for the invasion of a more challenging foe – Ptolemaic Egypt. Athenian spies had reported that the majority of the Egyptian army was stationed on their eastern frontier, fighting against the dominant Seleucid Empire. Aegon seized the opportunity, offering to join the Seleucids in their war in exchange for a defensive alliance and military access. This gave Athens a justification for invading the formerly friendly Egypt, as well as ensuring its soon to be captured territories would be secure against Seleucid expansion afterwards.
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Athenian troops push into Egypt.
Egpyt collapsed like a house of cards. Seleucid armies hammered their Egyptian counterparts as they rushed to defend their homeland, leaving Athens nothing to do but mop up the occasional remnant and capture the defenceless Egyptian cities. Indeed, the greatest threat to Athens' conquests were the Seleucids' own satrapies, who raced Athens down the length of the Nile in order to try and capture the Egyptian cities for themselves. Fortunately, Athens was able to stay one step ahead, and secured the entirety of the province of Aegyptus.
A sour note did enter the campaign shortly after the capture of Alexandria, however, when assassins targeted Aegon himself, although fortunately only wounding him. Aegon was even more furious to learn that, unlike his predecessor who was also wounded by assassins, these had been sent by political rivals from within his own faction! In retribution Aegon sent a group of thugs to beat the leader of the Oligarchs in Athens to near-death. Aegon thought the Oligarchs cowed after this, but history would show they were simply taking a longer view of events....
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Aegon reacted poorly to the attempt on his life.
Even before the beginning of the Egyptian campaign, plans were being drawn up to deal with the Spartan problem. Whilst Sparta professed itself to be an ally of Athens, Aegon's predecessors had been betrayed on several occasions by Spartan troops abandoning those of Athens on the eve of a battle. It was clear they were trying to undermine Athenian success from within, and that they must therefore be destroyed. Athenian diplomats requested that Knossos break off diplomatic relations with Sparta, but when they refused Athens in turn rescinded all it's treaties with Knossos. Nothing would stop their vengeance, and the final unification of Greece.
'The Spears of Ares,' a newly recruited army centred around pike formations, was marched south to the Spartan border, joining 'The Heros of Xenophon' who were already there. As with Egypt, Aegon was unwilling to invade such a long-standing friendly state without a convincing
casus belli, but this came when Sparta signed a defensive alliance with Egypt. Denouncing them as traitors to the people of Greece, Aegon ordered an invasion of Sparta. Athenian forces assaulted the city, whittling down the defenders with missile fire before moving in with hoplites and pikes to finish the job. The newly launched Athenian navy, 'Brizo's Wards,' sank 10 Spartan transports near Pella, thus eliminating Spartan forces. Mainland Greece was once again united.
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Spartan Royal Guard cowering before the Athenian missile fire.
Knossos declared war on Athens in support of their Spartan allies, in a brave but foolish gesture. Even more foolish was their decision to send most of their fleets and armies south, in an apparent bid to threaten Athens' African holdings. 'Brizo's Wards' were able to take Crete in a naval assault against its diminished defences, and this severing of supply lines rendered remaining Knossian forces largely toothless – an annoyance, perhaps, but certainly not a threat.
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The Athenian fleet preparing to assault Crete.
Whilst the war against Knossos was being conducted, Pergamon declared that it had allied with Egypt, and was therefore declaring war on Athens. Aegon was surprised at this news, given that the last Egyptian settlement was currently under siege by Athenian forces, and that all of Pergamon's fleets had been sunk as a result of its conflict with Rhodes. Still, Aegon was more than happy to seize the opportunity to expand into Asia Minor. 'The Heros of Xenophon,' escorted by the Athenian navy, were dispatched to conquer Pergamon's only city of Ephesus, with they did with little difficulty.
Much of western Asia Minor was controlled at this time by Bythinia. Athenian spies reported that their forces were weak as a result of conflict with the barbarian tribes to their north-western border, and so a newly-recruited Athenian army was dispatched to this border in order to catch them in a vice. Bythinia aided their destruction by allying with Egypt and declaring war on Athens (Egypt, it should be noted, consisted of a small fleet in the Mediterranean by this point). The invasion was largely unchallenged until the Bythinian last stand at Pessinus. Whilst their numerical superiority enabled them to nullify the Athenian skirmisher component, the heavily armoured and well disciplined Athenian phalanxes were able to cut through the vastly inferior Bythinian melee troops. Athens had now reclaimed the Greek cities of Asia, and so Aegon turned his attention back to the west.
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Bythinian forces made a desperate last stand at Pessinus.
While the invasion of Bythinia was underway, Athenian troops, consisting of Aegon's Eighth Army, Alkmaion's army, and the greatly expanded fleet 'The Heralds of Glaucus,' had been stationed in the west of the province of Libya. They swept through the single regions held by the Nasamones and Garamantia, who had been weakened by their war with Libya, and without pause conquered Libya in turn. Carthage, reduced to a shadow of its former self by the Turdetani invading from Spain, had rescinded its protection over Libya, but this was not enough to save them. Athenian forces captured their last cities of Thapsus and Syracusae against minimal resistance; Carthago itself had been conquered by the Turdetani the year before.
Athenian forces in the west began preparations to conquer Italy, whilst those in the east were resting after the successful conquest of Bythinia. Aegon was viewed as a conquering hero – but his neglect of affairs at home was about to cause matters to come to a head.
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Uh oh....
Civil war erupted, with a full nine armies and six navies being raised by the Oligarchs in Athens. At first, Aegon was in shock. “How could this happen!” he railed at his advisors. “How could these traitors possibly raise such forces without our knowledge?” Not only did the rebels outnumber his land forces by almost 2:1 and his navies by 3:1, but they had seized Athens itself!
But Aegon was not a man to let events overtake him. After shaking off his initial despair, he ordered an interim capital to be established at Pella. He was determined to contain the rebel forces along a line from Pella to Appolonia, ceding southern Greece but also maintaining the main agricultural areas of the empire. The rebel forces were to be ground down in a war of attrition, with Athenian forces striking at targets of opportunity from their fortified settlements whilst rebel troops deserted or died from hunger. Pella was to be fortified with higher walls and additional siege equipment, whilst Appolonia was to be assisted by the two fleets of the Athenian navy.
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Aegon at the outbreak of civil war.
Aegon's plans came undone almost immediately. Rebel forces quickly seized Sparta and Larissa, as expected, but also moved unexpectedly quickly against Cronos' army 'The Brothers of Xenophon,' which was defending the river crossing leading to Pella. 2500 Athenian troops faced 9500 rebel soldiers, but Cronos had his orders - make them pay for every foot of ground they take.
Before the battle, Cronos split his force in two. The smaller force would defend a small bridge to his left flank, whilst the larger would defend against the expected main body of the enemy assault at a ford. The battle opened with a large force of skirmishers attacking the Athenian positions at the ford. Cronos sent his light cavalry to disperse them, and they succeeded in routing almost all of them. Unfortunately, before they could return to behind friendly lines they were caught by three rebel generals, and their bodyguards of lancers. Two units of Athenian hoplites were sent to try and kill these enemy commanders, but were only able to eliminate one before being forced to retreat by the enemy infantry body. Meanwhile, the force by the bridge defeated a small group of pikemen sent by the rebels in a flanking attempt.
The main clash of troops in the ford was vicious. The water soon ran red with blood. Athenian arrows rained from the sky, and Athenian hoplites held to their phalanxes, but sheer weight of numbers meant they were pushed back, step by step. Eventually, it became clear to Cronos that the battle was lost. He ordered his skirmishers and the force holding the bridge to withdraw back to Pella. The remaining hoplites at the ford held valiantly, and when they broke Cronos himself charged the enemy at the head of his bodyguard, buying time for the retreat. His body was later to be recovered at the foot of a mountain of corpses. He died well.
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Athenian hoplites fight to hold back the tide.
Cronos' force may have been defeated, but they had done their duty – rebel forces were badly bloodied, and were unable to continue their advance on Pella. Indeed, three of the four rebel armies in the battle redeployed to the south-west, in preparation for an assault on Appolonia. This presented a perfect opportunity for Prochoros, leading 'The Spears of Ares,' to counter-attack the one weakened army remaining. The rebels fled, but were caught by Prochoros on a plain just outside Larissa, and battle was joined.
The rebel army was reinforced by levies from the city of Larissa, bringing their total strength to 2000 men – not enough to match the 2500 soldiers in 'The Spears of Ares.' The Athenian skirmishers forced the rebels forward onto the Athenian pikes, and Prochoros, demonstrating his love of cavalry on the battlefield, had his citizen cavalry wheel around and envelop the rebel army, catching their skirmishers by surprise and running 'hammer and anvil' strikes against their engaged infantry. The battle ended quickly, with relatively small Athenian losses and the rebel forces fleeing towards Larissa. Prochoros quickly followed up by capturing Larissa, then razing it as punishment for supporting the rebels and returning north.
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Aftermath of the First Battle of Larissa.
'The Spears of Ares' marched north quickly, eager to return to the safety of Pella. Unfortunately they proved a little too hasty, and the outriders had barely brought word that a large rebel army was over the next hill before they were attacked. The Athenian pike line was able to assemble, but the hoplites supporting the left flank were still disorganised when they were charged by enemy cavalry, followed by their supporting pikemen. Worse still, the rebel commander proved far better than the previous in countering Prochoros' cavalry envelopments through skillful manoeuvring of his hoplites, leaving the battle to be decided by the Athenian infantry.
They won, barely. The hoplites on the Athenian left flank collapsed, and the pikes on that side of the battlefield were involved in a brutal, close-quarters melee for which they were unsuited. Prochoros had to personally involve himself in the melee, running repeated charges against the backs of the rebel troops, until the death of the rebel commander finally shattered the resolve of his army. Prochoros' cavalry finally proved useful in the pursuit of the routing troops, killing or capturing enough that the rebel army had to disband. The captives were executed.
Once again 'The Spears of Ares' moved to retreat back north, and once again they were prevented from doing so. A third rebel army, following hot on the heels of the one they had just defeated, were shadowing them and threatening their supply lines **. Prochoros' troops had fought off two rebel armies in quick succession. They were tired and bloodied, with no means of retreat. There was only one thing to do. Prochoros ordered the attack.
The rebel forces were so surprised by the Athenians turning on them that they could not retreat to Larissa before they were caught. The enemy army had been weakened by desertion and starvation, meaning both forces were roughly equal in number. The rebels had the advantage of being able to hold a hill – however, 'The Spears of Ares' made their attack in the rain, thus reducing the enemy skirmisher advantage. Prochoros was able to outmanoeuvre the inexperienced enemy commander, attacking from the shallowest side of the hill and easily pulling off a double envelopment. The rebels were run down and killed, to the last man. 'The Spears of Ares' had now destroyed three rebel armies, and had achieved a legendary reputation amongst the rest of the Athenian army.
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Prochoros completely outmaneuvered rebel forces at the Third Battle of Larissa.
Meanwhile, at Appolonia, Aegon was faced with a difficult choice. Roughly double the Athenian numbers of troops and ships had been sighted approaching the settlement, and Aegon knew his forces could not hold against such numbers. Reluctantly, he ordered his forces to move north and abandon Appolonia.
Whilst it was not apparent at the time, this was to be a turning point in the war. Athenian successes at Larissa forced the rebels that were preparing to attack Appolonia to return to southern Greece, thus forfeiting any chance of capturing new farmland to feed their troops. The two Athenian fleets caught and destroyed a single, isolated rebel fleet, showing that Athens could still be victorious at sea. Aegon's forces on the west coast of Greece were able to meet up with a newly-recruited army in Illyria, and prepare themselves for a drive south. And perhaps most importantly, the victories of 'The Spears of Ares' showed that even though the enemy was numerically superior, they could be beaten. The spirit of the Athenian army had been restored.
The rebels were now in serious trouble. Their armies and fleets were all greatly feeling the lack of food, and several had lost half or more of their men to attrition. Athenian armies were able to push south, driving the rebels onto their transports in the Aegean. Sparta was retaken, and the honour of liberating Athens was given to 'The Spears of Ares.' Greece was reunited, and whilst the rebels were not yet defeated (one of their fleets slipped around those of Athens and captured Iader, in Illyria), the imminent victory of Athens was ensured.
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'The Spears of Ares' were given the honour of liberating Athens
Aegon had continued to survive in the past few years through sheer strength of will. Now into his seventies, he had been campaigning for most of his life, in Egypt, Libya, Sicily and Greece itself. When he received news of the liberation of Athens he wept tears of joy, and the next morning he did not wake. Aegon had ruled over a turbulent period in the history of Athens, but despite all the challenges he had restored Athens to the title of the greatest nation in the known world. May his successors continue the legacy of Alexander.
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Athenian Empire, 176BC.
* Yes, I realise this is horribly out of character. I'm from the Commonwealth; I can name an army fighting in Libya Eighth Army if I want :beam:.
** This is an 'in-character' explanation for a quirk in the game mechanics, where because an enemy army occupied Larissa and my army was within its zone of control, they couldn't move.
