Scion of Alexandros

[Yyrkoon]

I was considering a civil war, but it's already being done. I think I'm going to increase my narrative, reduce battle reports except important ones (which I've already started doing). I started with the idea of Sherman's March to the Sea because that's actually my favorite tactic in winning a protracted war. Just send a single full-stack strike force deep into enemy territory skirting their big armies and with an army of spies so I can sack town after town. Thing is that tends to work best in Seleukia or Aigyptos where you have a bunch of concentrated cities with lots of wealth, but it might be fun to pull in Italy/Spain. Hm. I'll have to think about it after I put out the next installment.

[Yyrkoon]

From Theodotus' Biographia:

It was the year 260 and we had just left mainland Hellas by ship, fleeing the tyrannical Antigonos, my worthy patron's father who had detained Alkyoneus and was convening a meeting of the Argeades family so that he could bully them into executing the greatest living Makedonian. By stealth, guile, and treachery, we made our escape and embarked to destroy the last of the rebellious Hellenes at Krete and Rhodos. After capturing Krete and dealing with the army of the Hellenes, we immediately embarked upon our small ship and set off for Rhodos.

We landed on Rhodos and began preparations for a long siege. Our spies informed us that the garrison was rather spare and their supplies were not so great. After blockading their naval port and laying siege to the city for a year and a half, the garrison, starving and exhausted, capitulated to our forces. Alkyoneus decided that having too many rebellious Hellenes in one place would only breed rebellion and ordered a portion of the population be dispersed amongst our other holdings. Alkyoneus was forever full of energy, and in the spring of 258, only months after we captured Rhodos, he called a meeting of his captains.

"Men," he said "our spies bring word that my father has raised an army in Hellas and is on his way here as we speak. We must again take to our transports and take flight, but we must go further than we have yet gone to put a safe distance between ourselves and the now-consolidated Makedonian empire."

"But strategos, our men are weary" began Philippos "we have been in flight now for over two years. There is some grumbling among the soldiery that we shall never cease our flight and your ambition will be the death of us all."

"Do you share their sentiments Philippos?" He asked.

"No sir, I merely tell you what others have told me. I would follow you to the ends of the earth."

"And so you shall" Alkyoneus smiled. "Men, we must get beyond the grasp of my father and lay the groundwork for the expansion of our empire and await the death of the old dotard."

"Alkyoneus" I found myself speaking out to my old friend as a friend, not as my commander "I have been with you these fourteen years since we first met. Tell me, why do we not stand and fight. Surely your veterans could easily defeat whatever force your father sends against them. We are on Rhodos, it is nearly impregnable and we have stocked it so that it will supply us for years. Why do we not stand and fight?" I asked.

"Because I will not be the cause of yet another civil war. Our people have bled, bled, and bled again for foolish ambition. I will defy my father, perhaps I will kill him, but never will I let my ambition or his foolishness cause me to embroil our fragile empire in a protracted civil war. Just think on it Theodotus. If we fight one another we shall be easy prey for our stronger neighbors. The Romani, the Seleukids, the Ptolemaioi, the savage Getai, the Keltoi. No my friend, we must bide our time. My father is old yet and my son-in law Borus governs Pella and my daughter is a good, noble, loyal girl. He shall do my bidding, but it is too soon for that; my father's men shall reach us before messengers could ever reach them of his fate. We must fly."

"But where?" Asked a corpulent captain of the phlangitai.

Alkyoneus' response was simple and forceful "Aigyptos." And then, as if presaging the fat man's next question "Let word be sent out to our men that any man who has any reservations about our endeavor is to be allowed to stay here. He will be given land and be paid for two years of service as militia should the need arise. Or, if he prefer, he can return to Makedon and have the same there. Do not tell the men where we go - any of them - only that we move on to evade my father's armies. I will not have anyone knowing where we go save those present here today." And with that, word was sent to the men of Alkyoneus' offer. Some elected to take it, mostly those with families for fear of never seeing their sons grow to be men. The majority elected to stay on with us. Before we departed Rhodos, Alkyoneus filled our ranks with mercenaries from Asia and with that we boarded our small ship and departed.

Four days after we departed, a great storm began to brew which tossed our transport and nearly killed us all. After two days of being tossed by the storm, Alkyoneus went on deck and made sacrifices to Poseidon and the next day all was calm. We sailed on for many weeks when we began to wonder if we were not lost as a result of being tossed by the storm. Most of the men had no idea how far Aigyptos was, but those of his captains with some education knew that one did not sail out of sight of land on the way to Aigyptos for three weeks. Finally, I managed to catch the strategos alone and asked him the burning question.

"Alkyoneus, I am no fool" I said, "we are not going to Aigyptos, are we?"

"Theodotus, you are no fool" he said as he gave a wry smile and went up on deck to consult with the navigator.

After nearly six months at sea, we were at last in sight of land, yet we sailed on. Weeks passed and we saw neither land nor ship when finally Alkyoneus called his captains together for a council meeting.

"Well, as you have all no doubt divined by now, we are no headed to Aigyptos. Indeed, if you had been paying attention, we have been running from Helios these past few months and are thousands of stadia from home. The land we saw a few weeks past was Sicilia. and we turned somewhat south lest we be caught by the Syrakousai navy and have some rather awkward questions to answer. We have nearly arrived at our final destination, Kart-Hadast."

It would take an entire papyrus scroll to adequately describe the looks on the faces of the assembled captains. as we began to collect our thoughts, a flashy captain of our contingent of Toxotoi Kretoi stood up and split his face in two with a grin "This means loot yes?"

"More than you could ever imagine" Alkyoneus nodded. "We lay siege to Kart-Hadast and then sieze Libya" he said as though he were announcing that he wanted another flagon of wine with his dinner.

. . .

We made landfall four days later five hundred stadia from the greatest city of the Mediterranean, Kart-Hadast.



The city was flanked on one side by the sea, and on all others by vast rolling plains of such fertility that the city was rumored to have several hundred thousand inhabitants. Its structures were immense, unlike anything we had ever seen before. Even its walls were simply magnificent in their scope and masonry.



Apparently the Phoenicians of the maritime empire saw little threat from their landward borders, and consequently the city's garrison was rather small. We quickly constructed several siege towers with which we planned to assault the city's walls and began our siege.



Two of our siege towers were sent just west of the city's southern gate while a third made its way toward the city's eastern gate.



The towers assaulting the southern gate were manned by hoplitai and the third was manned by peltastai. Our men siezed the wall in three places while the city's inadequate garrison scrambled to meet them. Our Hoplitai headed east to meet the defenders while our peltastai made their way toward the gatehouse of the western gate to allow our army access to the city so that we could envelop its defenders. The Phoenicians who met our hoplitai were unlike any soldiers we had ever encountered before. Clad in heavy metal curiasses and wielding brutal Libyan axes, they were formidable defenders. We later learned that they were called Dorkim Leebi-Feenikim Aloophim (Elite Liby-Phoenician Infantry). They fought with a tenacity and skill unseen since the days of Alexandros' conquering army and made rather short work of the pederast hoplitai.



Fortunately for us, the hoplitai had bought the peltastai enough time to open the western gate for our forces who rushed in exultantly. The delay caused by our march around the city gave the Karthadistim enough time to organize a defense against our assault and when the gates opened, we found their Sophet, Mago, leading the defenders himself.



Mago and his men fought valiantly. They would have made any Hellen proud, but they were simply too many of our men for them and, one by one, they fell until only Mago was left.



Alkyoneus made several attempts to convince Mago to surrender, promising him that he would be treated as our honored guest and that he could retain much of his power in Kart-Hadast, but the man fought on like a wounded lion until he fell to our men. With their Sophet slain, the Karthadastim stood little chance and the great city's defenders were slaughtered to a man.

We spent the next year pacifying the city and its environs. In 257, word reached us that the Makedonian Basileus, Antigonos, my patron's father, had suddenly died of natural causes. When told of his father's death Alkyoneus nodded and simply said "Excellent timing." Antigonos' younger brother, Kalos then ascended to the throne, but, having no children of age, reluctantly named Alkyoneus as his heir. With that, the now great Alkyoneus Argeades had become heir to the throne of Makedon. His only problem now lay in the fact that his uncle was his age and quite unlikely to die any time soon.

The messenger who brought this news was also an emissary of the new Basileus, Kalos Argeades who brought word to my patron. "My name, sir, is Demetrios and I come bearing word from your noble uncle Kalos. He has proclaimed you his rightful heir and wishes to extend the olive branch to you and heal the rift that so nearly brought our people to civil war. He asks that you send your eldest son, Perseus to Hellas so that he can be trained by the Spartiate in the Agoge so that he may become a strong and worthy strategos of our people."

Alkyoneus asked for two days to consider the proposition and he drew me into his chambers for counsel. "Theodotus, do you think my uncle wishes to hold my son hostage? Could this be yet another plot to control me? Perhaps he wishes to kill my son or hold him to force me to return to face the family. Yes this is a plot. A vicious plot against me! I, the great Alkyoneus Argeades, uniter of Hellas, conqueror of Kart-Hadast! He wishes to see me dead!" he exclaimed as he took on a fevered tone.

"Calm down Alkyoneus. Calm down. If he had wanted to kill you, he could have sent an assassin rather than an emissary, no? Here is what you shall do: Send Perseus to Sparte with two of your finest assassins and spies. Also order your son in law, Borus to make his residence in Sparte while your son undergoes the Agoge. That way his safety is assured and you stand to gain greatly from a hardened strategos once his training is complete."

The next day, Perseus was told of his up and coming training regimen, and that he was to embark as soon as possible.