On Mighty Getia: Commentaries on the Pan-Thracian Empire

[Laevex]

_____On Mighty Getia_____
Commentaries on the Pan-Thracian Empire
Moskon per Harpis

CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: TERRIBLE ABUNDANCE
CHAPTER TWO: CONSOLIDATION
CHAPTER THREE: THE HUNT
CHAPTER FOUR: ANOTHER SHEEP
CHAPTER FIVE: THE SIEGE OF SARDIS

A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR

Moskon per Harpis is son of Dromikaites – a mid-ranking officer in the Hosts of Skythia – and his mother is an Athenios noblewoman called Auxesia. He was raised in Harpis in the east of the Getikoi lands, where his Hellenikos lineage earned him resentment amongst his peers, who stereotyped him as effete and bookish. These prejudices proved unfounded however, as he was generally manly in his interests. Dromikaites had trained his son to fight as hard as any Getikos boy with both bow and falx and Moskon took great interest in the wars which his country waged and the strategies employed against the nation’s enemies.

This interest in the waging of war was more of an academic one than would be encouraged in Harpis however and Moskon showed no interest in fighting unless the empire made it mandatory for him to do so. His mother’s recounting of the beautiful academy and libraries of Athenai enchanted Moskon and planted within him the seed of the scholar who he would one day grow to be. He dreamed of the vast knowledge contained within the scriptures of the Greeks and the immense wisdom which the philosophers of Athenai could teach him. He longed to be educated by the most astute men of Hellas and to read the most insightful writings on history, philosophy and science. The young boy kept his desires private though, fearing the repercussions of living up to his Hellenikos stereotype, until he eventually confided in his mother, letting his ambitions spill out and proving to her with his wit and determination that he would make a fine scholar.

While Moskon was a boy, Getia waged a ferocious war against the people of Greece, who were united under the banner of the Koinon Hellenon. For many Getikoi boys this fostered resentment against the Greeks, as many had lost fathers to this war and it was the Koinon who had originally started the aggression in fear of Getikos might. The young scholar however saw this as an opportunity for him, as the basileus’ campaigns southwards gradually annexed the cities of the Hellenes and brought their schools and thinkers under his supreme rule, absorbing them into the Getike Basileia and making them accessible to its citizens.

Ultimately the basileus, Pharadmon, and his army conquered Athenai and Moskon was delighted to hear from his father that, although the basileus had been ruthless in his extermination of the city and its populace, he had spared the academy and the greatest thinkers. As long as their writings and teachings could be censored by the Getikos Council of Academies in order to eliminate rebellious teachings against the gracious basileus, the Getike Basileia would allow the scholars to continue their study as they did under Greek rule. Proud of their son’s ambition, Moskon’s parents sent him to Athenai when he was fifteen to study in the great Akademia there. Staying with his mother’s wealthy family, he lived a comfortable life, although his mixed lineage granted him favour with the authorities, causing his Hellenikoi peers to resent him bitterly. His tutor was Telemachos – a historian who taught the youth of countless wars and battles that had occurred across the world throughout the ages. Moskon became enthralled by stories of Greek heroes from the Hellenikos golden age and imagined his father and other Getikoi warriors in the place of Heracles, Achilles and Leonidas – fighting gallantly for the glory of Zalmoxis, his basileus and his country. Studying more and more accounts of past wars inspired Moskon to seek out the heroes of his own age and to immortalise the great wolves of the Getike Basileia.

Aged twenty-three Moskon per Harpis travelled north, bidding his tutor and family goodbye, to serve the basileus by travelling with him. His task was to document the military and political events of the empire, the high tribal council and the royal court in hope of revealing and memorialising the glory, the heroism and the might of the Daoi of Getia. This is the text that performs that very task.

PREFACE

In the 525th year since the birth of Zalmoxis (188BC) the Getike Basileia (also known as The Pan-Thracian Empire of Getia, The Thracian Empire or simply Getia) is a formidable world power, rivalling all other kingdoms, republics and empires of the known world.

Our glorious empire

The basileus’ lands stretch from the Greek colonies of the Cimmerian Bosporus, where nomadic tribes of the vast Asian steppes roam to the east; to Rhaetia in the depths of the Alps, where Keltoi reside in sturdy forts amongst the snow-capped mountains; to the tip of the Peloponnesos, where the mighty Spartai once called themselves the mightiest warriors in the world. All the peoples who call themselves Thraikes now live under one glorious banner – that of the Getai, the wolves of Zalmoxis – united a generation ago by Pharadmon, the Pavel-ter.

Pharadmon: the Uniter

He was the great basileus who used the grand force of the cold Getikos blade and the fatal Getikos arrow to conquer the oppressors of all Thraikioi tribes and eliminate all divisions and rivalries between them. United, the Thraikes flattened all they waged war against to carve out our magnificent nation and live in peace, knowing that they reside in the most formidable, and thus safest, country in the world.

The current king of our land is Burebista per Helis, this author’s granduncle and vanquisher of the brutal Noricioi and the fearsome Boioi.

He is an old man but is in fine physical condition for his age. Only last week I witnessed him wrestle the young chieftain of a tribe of Boioi to the ground – an impressive feat, as the men of this most recent people to be assimilated into the empire are particularly large and violent, if slightly lacking in cunning. He shows no sign of serious illness, despite his heavy drinking and rumoured womanising, and could be expected to reign as grand basileus for many more years.

Burebista is not just a drunken warmonger however, although his Hellenikoi subjects would never accept that he is anything more. He is a kind man, free from prejudice and welcoming to people of other nations. He frequently dines (and even more frequently drinks) with foreign dignitaries and tribal leaders from across the empire and has many friends amongst the Hellenes and Keltoi who live in his land. He shares with me my passion for the epic adventures and heroic deeds and even writes his own poetry telling of glorious Thraikes like Zalmodegikos and Orpheus.

Zalmodegikos the Honourable

The world that Burebista must guide us through as our basileus is a hostile one. We are surrounded by empires of Hellenes, Romaoi, Keltoi and nomads, spurred to war by their ambitious rulers.

The known world in 525YZ

To the northwest lie our only allies – the United Germanic Tribes under rule of the Sueboi. They helped us greatly by sending vast hoards of warriors in the recent war against the Boioi, who had troubled them for decades. However, the Germanic warriors proved too weak to defeat the strong Keltoi of Mrogbonna and were eventually put to shame when our glorious forces conquered the Boemios capital of Eburonum using a combination of Getikoi horse-archers to slaughter them in the fields and a force of proud hoplites from the subjugated Greek poleis to storm the great fortress-city and crush the defenders. Due to the success of these Greek soldiers a professional hoplite army – The Hosts of Hellas – has been commissioned by Burebista to become a permanent division of the Getikos Grand Army.

Hoplites of the Getike Basileia

The Sueboi and their fellow tribes seem a tenuous group of allies though. They brood with bitterness already that it was us who won the Mrogbanna war and many of their chiefs demand we give up some of the conquered land. Burebista is fair and promises to repay the United Tribes with loyal service whenever they are in need, although he maintains that the lands of the Boioi must not fall under Sueboi rule, as the head of the Germanic council is a racist dog who our basileus believes will exploit the Keltoi of the Boioi. On top of this, the Boioi could never respect their Germanic overlords, as their warriors defeated the northern invaders savagely during the war. If Burebista was not so magnanimous he may even venture to say the Sueboi were useless allies during the war, not even weakening the ferocious Boioi but simply whipping them into a war-frenzy and convincing them of their own immortality. When we overthrew their capital our forces were forced to put many of the populace to death in order to quell this frenzy and convince them of the cold mortality of their conquered lives.

To the west the Italic peninsula and a portion of Gaul constitutes the Roman Republic. Trade with these noble people has been beneficial to both our nations and they surpass even the Hellenes in the vastness of their cities and advanced technology. They have not shown any hostility towards our nation yet, but their military is formidable and since our borders only met less than a decade ago, war on that front is still a possibility.

The nations we share borders with on Anatolia are generally small. The Kingdom of Pontos is a dignified and rich land which has never shown us hostility. The basileus has many Pontikoi friends who often come to his court with their magnificent retinues and harems to be entertained by the Great Wolf. The huge might of the united Thraikioi tribes deters Pontos from attacking Nikaia, the one Thraikios city which they would lay claim to by some weak justification.

The Phrygo-Kappodokian Federation is a power in central Anatolia which swears allegiance to the recently declined Ptolemaic dynasty. We were once allied to the Hellenikos empire of the Ptolemaoi and so these people do not see us as a threat. We trade with them and generally conduct peaceful relations with the fragmented Ptolemaic lands, but if this dynasty ever makes resurgence, the Ptolemaoi might become a threat as they once were.

Along the south of the Anatolian peninsula and in the islands of Krete and Rhodos the presence of the Koinon Hellenon can still be felt. These city states are now loosely allied to each other and have no real world power since Pharadmon drove them out of Hellas.

Our empire’s only true enemy is the Arche Seleukeia. The line of Seleukos has proven to be the most prevalent of all Megas Alexandros’ Diadochi, re-conquering most of his empire. They drove the Ptolemaoi into obscurity and subjugated the Indians, conquering further east than even Alexandros himself. They are truly a formidable enemy and threat to our beautiful lands, but Burebista does not worry about this threat, as the Seleukidai only border with our empire in a small part of Anatolia which is heavily fortified by our strong Thraikioi troops and the governor of the nearest Seleukeios city to our front – Theodotos Aradou Syriakou - is a peaceful man simply concerned with keeping his subjects in check and making sure his basileus does not forget him, as his province of Lydia is considered to be an outlying and uneventful corner of the empire.

The Lydios front

Many of the high tribal council agree that the great Asian empire will not wage war on us unless they first end their war with Carthage, with whom they are bickering over the war-torn remnants of Aigyptos. This means that for now the Thraike Basileia is under no great threat and any war it wages will be chosen by the basileus. The world trembles at his decision.

It seems that the Pan-Thracian Getike Basileia is in a state of stability after years of expanding its borders to establish itself as a gigantic power. It has a strong military, a strong economy and a strong king. Its subjects are varied between Thraikes, Keltoi, Skythai and Hellenes and are of many backgrounds. Surely this is a land to produce heroes! It is a country to fulfil the wish of Alexandros and capable of uniting not only all Thraikes, but all men of the world.