Rome: A History

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Chapter 2

The history of the Greek states was as turbulent as itself, throughout its history it had been invaded and conquered many times. The most successful invaders would be undoubtedly the Persians, who invaded under their King of Kings, Xerxes, in 520 BC. It took them many hard battles to eventually win control of most of the Greek cities in 517 BC, although one of the cities hold out, the city’s name was Sparta.

The other city states who had opposed the Persians most fervently either submitted, or sent the bulk of their citizenry to friendly tribes to the far north of Greece, or to other Greek colonies across the Mediterranean; this is why most of the cultures that developed in Europe during the Roman period has at least some Greek influence on them. The cities that were evacuated to the barbarian tribes would later win dominance amongst the barbarians due to their superior technology, and in time would develop into the Greco-Germania empires, which would stretch from Thrace to the Baltic Sea; the most powerful of them was New Macedonia, whose own homeland was conquered by the Persians, they would field professional armies of Phalanx Pikemen augmented with fearsome barbarian warriors armed with falxes and broadswords.

Sparta, as the only city who did not acknowledge the Persian power in Greece itself was constantly attacked by the Persians, but they held the city for over sixty years, until when a Persian civil war occurred in 444 BC between two rival claimants for the throne, did they went on the offensive, quickly retaking the Peloponnese from the weak Persian satraps. Thousands of young Greeks from across the Mediterranean, hearing the news of the victory, travelled to Sparta. The Spartans which were now extremely spread out to hold in check the Persian armies, welcomed the newcomers as “Honorary Citizens”, doubling the size of their army and their citizenry.

Gradually, armies from the exiled Greeks returned and retook their old cities. Within two decades the Persians were thrown out of Greece, and the old cities were re-established. Very quickly though, one of the most powerful of the returning cities, Athens, quickly quarrelled with Sparta, and started the Peloponnesian War. Few records regarding the Peloponnesian War survive, although it is clear at the end of the war, in 419 BC. AthensSparta and would never rise again, until well after Sparta was gone. was reduced to a vassal of

The Spartan Hegemony on Greece was gradually weakened over the coming years, and in 386 BC, Thebes, a bitter opponent of Sparta, called upon the aid of the Emperor of New Macedonia, Philip the Second, who had already destroyed the other Greco-Germania empires and reconquered Macedonia itself, to smash Sparta. The ensuing war was brutally short, in months their Hegemony in northern Greece was broken, although the Spartans held firm in the Peloponnese. Has Phillip not been murdered in 376 BC, he might have crushed the Spartans once and for all. But when he was murdered, chaos reigned in his empire; dozens of claimants for the throne appeared, despite the fact that the rightful heir, Alexander, the twenty-two year old crown prince, was already crowned. Showing a force of will that is very rare, young Alexander marched north and rallied his vassal tribes, the northern claimants to the throne were quickly defeated.

Travelling with only his elite Agema, Alexander raced south and reached Greece in a week. Again, he rallied the Greek cities which were favoured by his father, and defeated the southern claimants.

Few knew what the young emperor was thinking during those days, although all of them must have thought that he was planning something monumental, it was. He led army 100,000 men strong into Asia Minor in 374 BC, to conquer the Persian Empire. He quickly defeated the Satraps who were ordered to fight him. Meanwhile back in Greece, the Spartans realised that this is their chance to regain their power in Greece; they amassed an army and attacked their old vassal Athens, which had wisely allied with the Macedonians. Hearing the news, Alexander left 60,000 men in Asia Minor under Ptolemy, his childhood friend and an able general, and raced back to Greece, defeating the Spartans during the decisive Battle of Athens, and signed the treaty of Corinth, which limits the Spartan territories to the Peloponnese; never again would the Spartans attack a city in central and northern Greece.

Having secured peace in Greece, Alexander returned to his campaign in Persia. Ptolemy was an able to take several cities in Alexander’s absence, and the Emperor rewarded him by giving him an army to attack Egypt; the Persian Satrapy of Egypt would fall the following year.

Still left with the bulk of his army, Alexander pressed on, reaching Persepolis, the Persian capital in the summer of 373 BC. He spent the rest of the campaign season settling the conquered land, but moved on again the next year, with phenomenal speed, he defeated the last of the Persian satraps in Bactria and captured the last Persian king, Darius. After suppressing some renegade Persian generals, the campaign was completed. He had conquered the Persian Empire in five years, and he was only twenty seven years old.

Throughout the next ten years, he consolidated his empire, although rumours has it that he planned to invade India, he never did, for managing his empire, which now stretches from the Baltic to the border with India, took much of his attention.

However at the age of thirty-seven, he launch a campaign against the Saka to the north of the Persian Empire, the Saka, a nomadic people who lived on the plains, had raided across the border for a long time, and he decided to strike back. During a battle against a scouting Saka force, Alexander was shot by a Saka horse-archer, he died later that night.

Although he had a young son also named Alexander, he did not succeed his father but instead was murdered by the Captain of the Agema, Meleager. A civil war developed quickly, in the chaos, the Germanic tribes declared their freedom, although a few were still ruled by Greek aristocrats. Egypt was successfully defended by Ptolemy and he watched as Alexander’s empire was ripped apart. Thirty years later, in 333 BC, new empires emerged from the ashes of the old one: Antigonus the Cruel ruling over Macedonia; Lysimachus ruling over most Asia Minor; Antiochos the Saviour ruling most of the former territories of the Persian Empire and Ptolemy and his son ruling Egypt. Amongst the new empires, there were also many small states, like the state of Epierus, founded by a relative of Alexander.

The King of Epeirus, Pyrrhus, was a determined military man, he yearns to be recognised as an equal to his far more famous relative Alexander the Great, and in 320 BC, he got his chance. But neither the Romans nor the Epirotes would know that their war would soon grow into a clash between empires.