The Fall of the Pharaohs

[eadingas]

1. Background: The Greek and Dacian Wars.

1.1 Balkan Cauldron

The thirty years before the eruption of the Egyptian War were an unending chain of victories for the Roman Army. After establishing its dominion over Italy, settling a dispute with Carthage over Sicily and securing the Alpian passes from the Gaul threat, the eyes of the Eagles turned east, where their chief enemies lay.

The Punic War was swift and decisive. In its aftermath, the two Mediterranean powers came to a conclusion that their interests are not mutually exclusive. The Carthage was busy fighting the Iberians, and it conceded all of Sicily in exchange for peace. The Republic was never interested in fighting its wars in the West. The logistic aspect of transporting an army across the Mediterranean was enough to deter a fledgling nation with no naval power to speak of. And there was a war to win in the East.

The Senate has decided that to punish Epeirotes for their insolence in trespassing the sacred Italian soil, the Hellenic nation must be destroyed. A two-pronged attack was launched. First, a fleet of merchant ships transported one legion straight into the heart of Epeirote territory, near Ambrakia. Secondly, a stronger land-based force marched from Patavium, across the lands of the barbaric Illyrians.
At first, the neighbours of Epeiros were only too happy to see their rival diminished in power. But soon they recognized a greater threat, and in an unlikely alliance, Macedonians and Hellenes launched an attack that might as well have proved deadly if only it was better coordinated.
There came twenty years of heavy fighting across the Balkans. The royal city of Ambrakia itself changed its allegiance at least three times, as two successful Macedonian counterattacks wrestled it from Roman hands. The greek fleet controlled the Adriatic, and the only way to transport the troops was through Illyrian plain, busy with rebels. The mighty phalanx were more than a match for the Roman armies.

Eventually, however, the Eagles prevailed. First, Pella fell, and with it, the advanced Macedonian shipyards became Roman. This enabled the Republic to wrestle control of the seas from the Greeks. The fall of Peloponnesus came next, reducing the Pan-Hellenic Alliance to a small group of poleis around the Delphic Sanctuary, fiercely defending their mountain hideouts (Curiously enough, this rebel force would hold their ground for the next thirty years, as Rome could never spare enough troops to deal with it decisively) Without their ally, and without their capital, Makedonians retreated east, across the Bosphorus straits. Hot in pursuit after them, and after the remaining Hellenes colonies, the Legions trespassed into Ionia. Thus, Rome came into direct contact with Empire of the Pharaohs.