On the advice of MAA I'm putting the pictures nice n big.

From Theodotus' Biographia:

Once my patron had rid himself of his chief rival for the Makedonian throne, he expected to be named heir immediately. Unfortunately, his father did not see things in quite the same way and named his younger brother, incidentally the same age as my patron, as the next in line to be his heir. Realizing that he would have to wait years to ascend to the throne if he were to wait for nature to take its course with yet another obstacle, Alkyoneus became increasingly irritable and began to formulate a plan.

"If I can unite all of mainland Hellas and eliminate our competition here, I can petition my father to allow me to conduct an expedition against the remainder of our enemies in the Koinon Hellenon. I will request no men other than my present standing army and will ask for no reinforcements. If I succeed, he has increased his holdings. If I fail, he has lost his most bitter and despised rival. But first, Epiros."

Our expedition against the last Epirote stronghold on mainland Hellas, Epidamnos, began in 264. Our best spy was sent to infiltrate the city and send word of their garrison. Our man sent back word that the city had a formidable garrison, but that the men were led by a commoner. The Epirote nobility were all campaigning against the Illyroi. Seeing his opportunity and counting on the guile of our spy, Alkyoneus ordered our entire army to set forth from Ambrakia, leaving only a minimal garrison to keep order.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

Our agent was able to kill the gate guards and lock himself in the gatehouse upon our approach, thereby keeping the gates open for our army to pour through.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

Alkyoneus took heart at this and ordered us forward without further ado. "Men" he shouted, tonight we feast in the Epirote palace of Epidamnos! Now show those upstarts true Hellenic courage! Charge!" With little warning, our men poured through the gates and caught the defenders off-guard. They put up a valiant struggle, but were ultimately overwhelmed by our better-disciplined and more prepared men.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

We annihilated the garrison and Alkyoneus dispersed the population to help repopulate his future empire.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

He quickly established order when word reached him that the Epirote Basileus, Ptolemaios Aikides was returning from his Illyrian campaign. Leaving only a bare-bones garrison, we set out to hunt him down like a dog. On our march, we encountered a band of Scythian mercenary horse archers who were hired into our service. We caught up with the Epirote dog, but his men turned tail and fled like frightened rabbits before a hungry wolf. We caught them after several months chase in the mountains east of Epidamnos.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

The Epirotes never had a chance. Alkyoneus ordered our Scythians to harass the enemy as they cowered in a copse of trees to the east while our phlangitai and Prodromoi followed leisurely. The enemy were trapped and our victory was swift. Their Basileus did not even fight like a man, he ran like a coward and was cut down as he attempted to flee the field.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

With their Basileus killed, the line of Pyrrhos had been extinguished and the petty nobility of Taras declared their city's independence. The Epirotes were no more and Hellas proper was finally united under the banner of Makedon! Sparing no time for rest, Alkyoneus ordered us to march to Athens where he was to meet with his father to petition the Basileus for a ship and the permission to leave Hellas to extinguish the remaining Hellenic rebels of Rhodos.

"Hail Basileus" Alkyoneus called as he saluted his father.

"Welcome my son" Basileus Antigonos replied. "I see that you have, by luck and taking advantage of the hard work of your noble cousin - may the gods protect him - managed to exterminate the Epirotes. Next we must deal with the Illyroi barbaroi and then challenge the Seleukids in Asia. Are you prepared to lead an army under command of your noble uncle Krateros to expand our empire eastwards?" he asked.

"Oh but my father, I bring ill tidings" Alkyoneus began "for you see, my noble uncle, your brother, fell ill in Korinthos and died quite suddenly just last night."

"What!? How could you know this?" Antigonos asked as he began to suspect Alkyoneus' hand in the matter.

"Ah father, a messenger arrived from Korinthos this morning, and asked to see you. I told him that I, as your son, could hear the message and would deliver it to you forthwith. I decided that it was best to wait to deliver the ill tidings to you, but your mention of my noble uncle forced my hand."

"You!" the Basileus fumed. "I know you had a hand in this you treacherous whelp! I shall have you executed!"

"Have you any proof father?" Alkyoneus asked. When his father grew silent, he continued "Besides, oh great Basileus, would it not be better to allow me to take my army and eliminate your foreign enemies? I ask for no money, no reinforcements, and no support of any sort from you other than a single transport ship with which I can carry my men first to Krete and then to Rhodos where I will eliminate the rebellious Hellenes. If I succeed, you have gained a secure base of operations from which to launch your invasion of Asia. If I fail then you shall commemorate me as a hero of the Hellenes no doubt and mourn my passing, but know that I fell for your glory and honor."

"No!" Antigonos bellowed. "You shall be kept here in Athenae under my personal supervision and I shall convene what little remains of our house to determine what is to be done with you. Guards!" he called as two of his Hydaspistai entered to escort Alkyoneus to a secure location.

I was allowed to leave, but I knew that Antigonos' spies watched my every move. I quickly slipped out of the city and spoke with Alkyoneus' captains. It was agreed that I was to slip into the city at night and bribe the guards while Philippos went to the harbor to secure a ship for our passage.

Late that night, I slipped into Athenai and made my way along the narrow streets toward the palace. As I reached the palace, one of Antigonos' Hydaspistai saw me and called out to me "You there!" he shouted as I stepped into the light. "Ah Theodotus!" he exclaimed as I recognized the voice of my sparring partner from the training grounds of Pella.

"Alcibiades" I called. Not wanting my purpose to be discovered, I quickly lied "I saw you earlier today while I was in the city and decided to catch you this evening for a drink. Come my friend, let us have a bit of wine eh?" At this point we entered the agora and began to drink. I made sure to water my wine heavily, but kept buying him the strongest available. After two hours, Alcibiades was securely asleep in the arms of a young Athenian and I was inside the palace with the help of his uniform and keys.

I approached Alkyoneus' room and quickly unlocked it. I gave him a knowing nod as he looked up at me. "Well, it's about damn time. Quickly, let us go. No no. Stand behind me holding this rope tied loosely around my wrists in case anyone sees us. You can claim you are transporting me before the family council." He said as if he knew our plan before we had even conceived of it. Or even more, as if he had formulated it himself. We slipped out of the city without incident and made our way to the port where Philippos had secured a ship for our passage to Krete. Our army was already aboard and we slipped out of the harbor silently as the sun rose over Athenae.

We arrived in Krete after a month's journey and our scouts informed us that an army of the rebel Hellenic league was to the west of Kydonia. We quickly assaulted the city and took it without incident. We then turned and attacked the Hellenic army under the command of an Ionian strategos by the name of Herodoros.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

The battle was short and brutal. His men threw themselves against our sarissas and our hippeis ran down his men like dogs.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

Rather than stand and fight, the coward fled, but was cut down by our brave soldiers.


By bkruiz at 2008-11-28

With a secure and independent base far enough from Antigonos that we did not have to fear immediate pursuit, Alkyoneus began to plan our next strike . . .