The Shadow Empire - A Greek AAR

[kublikhan3]

The Shadow Empire - A Greek AAR

Hello. I have returned from a 2 year hiatus to start up another AAR/fan fiction. This is my fourth AAR, first in Rome Total War. Version is 1.5, Hard/Hard, No mods. I am playing as the Greek faction. To make things more interesting, I have decided to help build up my neighboring factions instead of my own. And hopefully see them become strong enough to take down traditionally powerful factions like Rome and Egypt. To that end, I am going to tell my story from several different perspectives. The first part will be from Carthage's perspective.

Chapter I - Carthage's Tale

Greetings traveler. You have come to Carthage seeking the story of our great city No? Well you have come to the right person for I can tell this story better than any of the street urchin scum you might come across. And I well tell you the story much more cheaply than those weasels would charge you. But first let us discuss payment. A mere 5 Denarii would get you the basic gist of the story, but will leave out all of the juicy details. I highly recommend the premium story. Sure, it is more expensive at 10 Denarii, but I guarantee you will be much more satisfied with the results. Ah.......I see you are indeed a sharp customer. The premium story is a much better value. Now where to begin?

Our story starts at night, in the bedchambers of Emperor Hanno. Hanno was not sleeping well that night. You see his amorous advances towards a certain noble woman, who shall remain nameless, were recently rebuked. Hanno did not take it well and retired to his bedchamber early to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Personally, I think she wasn't right for him anyway. She was too tall for him. And her husband...what? You don't need quite that much detail? My apologies, I am just trying to make sure you get your money's worth. Ok, back to the story at hand. During Hanno's sleep, a disturbing vision was granted to him by Baal. At least he claimed it was from Baal. Personally I think he just had too much drink and was having a nightmare brought on by his recent breakup with....Oh, there I go again. Not quiet that much detail huh? Ok...so in this vision from Baal, Carthage was destroyed. It really unnerved Hanno. Up to this point, Carthage faced no serious threat. But here was Baal, presenting our Emperor with a vision of our destruction. Featured prominently in this vision were the Romans. This vision would wind up having a profound impact on the events to come.

Our Core territories:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If we truly were on a path that would lead to our destruction at Roman hands, Hanno reasoned, then we should alter our path. But how? Then inspiration struck Hanno. Maybe it was our 'go it alone' strategy that was going to lead to our downfall. We needed allies. Powerful allies, and fast. But who was powerful enough to aid us in our coming struggle with Rome? The Spanish and Gauls were primitive, backward people. They did not have what it would take to face the Romans. At least that was Hanno's thinking. But where was this man getting his intel from? Had he even been to Spain? The Spannish had powerful troops in their Bull Warriors and the Gauls....but I am digressing again.... Numidia was also struck from Hanno's list of potential allies. Not only were they weak, but their sympathies were closer to Rome's cause than our own. So Hanno turned to the one faction that he felt had the capacity to stand with us against the hated Romans: The Greeks.

Diplomats were immediately dispatched to the Greek city of Syracuse. They were instructed to secure an alliance at any cost. And if possible, to lay plans for a joint Carthaginian-Greek assault on the Roman city of Messana. Thus driving the cursed Scipii forever from our lands in Sicily. They were given considerable discretion in how they achieved such an alliance. Hanno was confident the alliance would be struck. But even he was not prepared for the response of the Greeks. For when the diplomats came back, they were giddy with excitement. Why were they giddy you ask? Well I think it was because they were thinking of the vast rewards Hanno was going to bestow on them when they delivered the news. Hanno had a reputation for generosity you see. And with the grand opening of a new brothel just down the street....Why are you looking at me like that? Do you want to hear this story or not? Very well I will continue. So, not only had the Greeks agreed to the alliance, at not cost whatsoever to Carthage, but they had agreed to pull completely out of Sicily, and gifted all of their Sicilian holdings to us! They informed us their immediate battle plans lay further to the east, and so would be unable to provide any military aid in our struggles for Sicily. But they still wanted a friendly ally on their flank. And apparently they felt so bad about leaving us to fight the Romans alone, they gifted us one of their best cities as a gesture of goodwill and friendship! Not only had we just doubled our holdings in Sicily without any bloodshed, but we got a nice boost to our troops too. Maybe we were not doomed after all. Hanno was so happy, that he ordered a fresh round of child sacrifices to show our gratitude to Baal. Let me tell you, you did not want to be hanging around the city temples the next day though. The smell that hung in the air after the sacrifices....no you can't use the bathroom I am just getting to the good part!

Despite this diplomatic victory, Hanno was still visibly unnerved at the thought of Carthage's destruction. And let me tell you, he had good reason to be. For within three years time, we were under attack by two different Roman factions. The Julii had invaded the Isle of Sardinia. They swooped up the wall-less city of Caralis and the entire island was loss to us. Have you ever been to Sardinia? Let me tell you it has gone downhill since the Julii took over. They used to have these beautiful......Yes, Yes, I was getting to that.... Ok, so the other Roman faction to attack us was the Scipii. At first our combined armies had managed to rout the Scipii and we sent them scurrying back to Messana. Their legions inflicted heavy damage on us however. We lost most of our best troops and were vulnerable to a second attack. When the Scipii regrouped and hit Syracuse a second time, the city fell to their forces. Now I know what you are thinking. We had two cities in Sicily to train troops from right? So how could the Scipii recover more quickly than us with only one city in Sicily? Well, the answer is a closely guarded Scipii secret. But luckily for you, I have recovered this secret at great risk and cost to myself. I would be glad to share this secret with you for the nominal sum of 20 Denarii. What do you mean that is too much? I assure you that you will be happy with your purchase. What do you mean I still haven't delivered on your last purchase? This epic tale cannot be condensed any further or you will miss all the good parts! Fine fine, I will continue....... After Syracuse fell, the Scipii set their sights on our last city in Sicily, Lilybaeum. The city fell shortly after Syracuse fell. Sicily was lost to us.

Losing the islands of Sardinia and Sicily further unnerved Hanno. He was starting to have that dream/vision of Carthage's destruction every night. And it was not just him. His despair began spreading to our other top leaders and generals as well. Soon Palma and Corduba fell to enemy advances as well. That's right, Carthage had lost all of it's oversea possessions! We managed to add Lepcis Magna and Cirta to our empire, but no one could shake the feeling that we were a doomed people. The bards even started singing songs about our gloomy situation. Say, would you like to hear one? I just so happen to know 'Ole Burne Ye Carthage Burn', and I would be happy to sing it for the nominal sum of...Allright allright, I'll finish the story.

A look at our magnificent city:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Scipii had consolidated their recent conquests and were building up an invasion force to strike at Carthage itself. Our navies were outnumbered, and the Romans were on the verge of taking total control of the sea. Where were those Greeks that were supposed to be our allies!!! I'll tell you where they were: they were busy fighting the worthless Brutii. Pah. Everyone knows the Brutii had the weakest troops in Rome. It was the Scipii that were a true threat! We informed the Greeks of as much and they finally agreed to dispatch some navies to 'help secure our waters until we rebuild our strength to strike at our common enemies' Pah. We had been fighting for years against these accursed Scipii, it was time for the Greeks to bleed for a change. We would 'strike at our common enemies' when we were good and ready. To their credit, the Greeks actually managed to destroy not only the Scipii navy, but the Brutii and Julii navies as well. They even threw up blockades around several Roman ports. The Romans would occasionally train some new ships, but they were quickly dispatched by Greek naval forces. We were saved!

Thank god the Greeks showed up, we were on the verge of being wiped out. With the Roman navies taken care of, we even started patrolling the Mediterranean again and added another territory or two to our empire at Numidia's expense. Hanno and our leaders became much more relaxed. With the Greeks doing all of the heavy lifting, we started concentrating on what Carthage does best, trade! Say, have you seen these new carpets that just arrived from the far east? They are very high quality, but I would be willing to part with them for say....Boy you are grouchy today. Ok, I will tell you the next part of the tale.

Carthage entered a period of relative peace for the next few decades. The Greeks kept prodding us to attack the Romans, but we told them to buzz off. We fought the Romans enough and were not inclined to fight them anymore, thank you very much. Besides, the Romans heavily outnumbered our army. We were not 'wasting' our money on foolish things like troops and ships. We were busily investing in more important things like carpets, camels, and the finest fabric you have ever laid eyes on. The Greeks were none to happy when we suggested they reconquer our lost territories for us and then gift them back to us. They said without any armies of our own we would just lose them again. Well of course we would, if they did not protect them for us! Duh. They were even less enthusiastic about that response. I supposed we should not have been all that surprised when the entire Greek navy withdrew from our waters for 'required maintenance'. But it did put a damper on our festive mood.

After the Greek navy withdrew, it did not take the Romans long to reestablish a navy. They soon sunk our pathetic navy and reassembled a new invasion force. We pleaded with the Greeks to come back and save us. We even promised that this time we would fight a little. But they said their navy was still 'under maintenance' and would be unable to return....ever. The Scipii landed their invasion force outside of Carthage itself. And with no Greeks to call on for help, we actually had to fight this battle ourselves! Hmmph. Of course we did not stand a chance against the Scipii and Carthage fell to their forces. The vile Scipii did not stop with Carthage. They then marched on the rest of our cities and took those as well. Our empire was lost! Scipii even wiped out the Numidians. Well, at least one good thing came of this. But now here I am, stuck under the tyrannical rule of the Scipii. How's a guy suppose to make an honest living around here? What? you want to hear what happened next? That dear traveler, is an entirely different story. I would be happy to tell you the tale of the Scipii for the nominal sum of....Wait, Come back!!!.....This one is Half price!!!

[kublikhan3]

Chapter 2 - Selucid's Tale

Consider yourself lucky, for you are about to hear the story of the Seleucids as told be me, the greatest man to ever walk the Earth, the mighty-thewed general K'tang. Our story begins in 270 BC. I was only a captain then, but already I had more talent in my little pinky then our generals had in their entire bodies. While they whined about being surrounded by hostile empires, I saw nothing but paper enemy soldiers standing on our rightful territory. I argued for an immediate attack on all fronts. Such boldness frightened my superiors. They saw me as a threat. Soon they were doing everything to discredit my plans. They even reassigned me to the diplomatic core. For years our armies stood impotently idle while our enemies got stronger.

I was starting to go mad from their passive behavior when something unexpected happened. We were visited by a diplomat from the worthless Greek faction. They claimed they had struck a major blow against our greatest enemy by taking the Egyptian city of Salamis for themselves. Was this supposed to impress us? So they took the worthless city of Salamis. If that was all they had to say I would have dispatched their envoy on the spot. But they also informed us they had destroyed the paper armies of Pontus and taken the cities of Nicomedia and Ancyra as well. I knew destroying the paper armies of Pontus and taking their pathetic cities was child's play, but my superiors might actually think it was a task worthy of respect. Maybe with these worthless Greeks under my thumb I could finally implement my plans to conquer the world? I informed the Greek envoy that his people were now under my personal command and would serve me in the destruction of the Seleucid's enemies. He replied they would be happy to form an alliance with the Seleucids. I let them sugar coat our relationship however they wanted. Perhaps it was less painful to their pride to think of themselves as our 'allies'? Less they start to really believe they were anything more than my personal slaves, I threatened them with immediate destruction unless they complied with my every demand. These included:
1. The immediate surrender of their conquests of Nicomedia and Ancyra
2. The immediate surrender of the Greek city of Pergamum
3. A gift of 10,000 gold

They promptly agreed to give us 'gifts' of the 3 cities I demanded, and the gold. Again with the sugar coating. If they don't show me the proper respect I deserve I might have to crush them anyway. Since when is delivering me the tribute that is my due a 'gift'? At least my superiors were happy with our new 'allies'. They even rewarded me with a promotion to general and my own army to command. With the 10,000 tribute paid to us by the worthless Greeks, we managed to raise enough forces to finally implement my plans for an assault on all fronts. Despite my rising prestige, I was given the least glamorous front to fight on, Armenia. While the other Seleucid generals were gaining victory after victory against the Egyptians and Persians, I was left fighting the rejects of Armenia. To further spite me, my superiors gave me shoddy troops. At first I did not notice this vile treachery. On the surface, they appeared to be the same types of troops the other fronts received. However after I was defeated in battle by the Armenians, I came to realize the truth. My superiors were so jealous of me that they sent the biggest bunch of losers they could find for my army.

I confronted my superiors about their vile treachery. They of course denied it. But by denying it they set themselves up for my trap. I went on to explain that I in fact had a larger number of troops than the Armenians had. And on the surface they were of higher quality than the enemy. Then for my coupe de grace, I explained that the enemy army I faced did not even have a decent general commanding them, there was nothing but a low level captain. How, pray tell, could I lose the battle if not for shoddy troops? Ha! I had them now. They were so taken aback by mastery of logic, that they could think of no other response than to personally attack my command ability. They suggested I lost the battle because I am a bad general. Further, they sent me back to the diplomatic core until my abilities improved. Oooh, they must be really threatened by my greatness to stoop to such a level.

I was reduced to ordering around the worthless Greek troops. Well, at least my superiors had no control of the quality of troops our 'allies' had. They would be unable to sabotage me now. I ordered the Greeks to take the city of Marzaka. One it fell, I ordered them to take Sinope as well. Pontus was destroyed. Afterwards, I demanded that the Greeks immediately surrender the two cities they just took. Of course they complied, rather than face my wrath. Two more cities added to the Seleucid empire. That's a total of five cities I have won for our empire. That's more than all of our other fronts combined. Still my superiors would not give me my command back. Hmmph. I ordered the Greeks to attack the Armenian armies. Year after year Armenia tried to destabilize the command of my forces but failed. Armenia's armies were completely destroyed. Their cities where vulnerable to attack. Again I pressed my case for my command to be reinstated, and my superiors finally relented. They said with the Armenian armies finally destroyed by a 'real' general, even I could mop up what was left. Hmmph. I'll show them....

The Greeks had been begging me for years to let them go home. Apparently one of their home territories was under attack. Now that I finally had my own command back, I had no further use for the Greeks. I told them to get the hell out of my way. With the worthless Greeks gone, I marched my army on the Armenia city of Kotais. They stood no chance against the tsunami of my army. After Kotais fell, I marched on the Armenian capital itself. They did not stand a chance against my greatness. Armenia was no more. They joined the soon to be long list of empires that were personally ground to dust beneath my heal. I added Phraaspa and Arasaki to our empire as well. Now all of Turkey was under Seleucid command. Now that I had done the heavy lifting, I decided to let our other generals mop up the Egyptian empire. Meanwhile, this would buy me time to put my plan in action.

My personal destruction of 2 empires and the conquest of Northern Turkey had earned my a few allies among my superiors. But most of them still had the delusional notion that the Greeks had done all of the heavy lifting and when left to my own devices I have failed the Seleucid empire. Thus my prospects of promotion were frustrated. Despite all my accomplishments these naysayers refused to give my the respect I deserve. This would have to be rectified. Commanding men in battle is not my only talent. I also had great talent in the more nefarious art of espionage. I hired some spies to collect data on these fools who were frustrating my promotion. It did not take long to determine what their vices were. Some were swayed to my cause with bribes, others I had to blackmail. But either way, I accomplished my goal. I was promoted to a regional commander, and I would have my choice of what region I was posted in. Of course I choose Egypt.

Unfortunately, by the time I became regional commander, Egypt had already been conquered. Again I was denied the glory I deserved. I was considering exposing the secrets of those I was blackmailing as retribution. I was interrupted in my musings by another weakling Greek diplomat. They suggested I march my armies on the Scipii in North Western Africa before they became too strong to conquer. Like I needed the foolish Greek to tell me something I was already thinking! Further, they suggested they let some of their generals lead our men into battle, given their spectacular track record in Turkey. Any other Seleucid general may have been fooled by their lies. Fortunately I was the one they met. Having been stationed in Turkey and personally responsible for all of our successes there, I knew right away they were speaking palpable lies. I ordered them to get out of my sight and began planning the invasion of the Scipii.

I ordered a halt of offensive operations on all other fronts so that I would get all of the reinforcements I need. I assembled nearly the entire might of the Seleucid army in Egypt, over a dozen armies under my personal command. Most of my armies were stationed around Alexandria and Memphis. However I did have a pair of advanced armies near the border. Wanting to strike as soon as possible, I declared war on Scipii and sent those 2 armies into battle. The battle did not go well. The worthless generals commanding those armies had failed their regional commander! I was beginning to question my decision to become regional commander. Perhaps my skills would be better served as a front line general? Curse the gods for making only one of me! If I could duplicate myself I would put myself as regional commander AND general of my armies, that would be ideal. Alas, I had to make do with the incompetent generals I had on hand.

After the bumbling failure of my forward armies, the Scipii actually invaded Egypt. Can you believe the impudence of those upstarts? Did they not know who they were facing? I ordered my main army forward to crush the fools. But again I was frustrated by the incompetence of the fools under my command. I had War Elephants, Cataphracts, Silver Shield Legionaires, Silver Shield Pikemen, Scythed Chariots, etc. in my armies. But what good was all of this power if the fool in charge is a moron? Year after year I would send my forces into battle and yet I could make little headway. The only comfort I could draw was that the Scipii were dying almost as fast as my men were. Finally, their reinforcements had been reduced to a trickled. Now it was my turn to invade. I made some initial progress, but now that I was deep in Scipii territory I found myself closer to their reinforcement points, while my reinforcement points were farther away. Thus it was now my reinforcements that slowed to a trickle. Oooh, a dirty trick is the only way they could stop my advance! They kicked my armies out of their territory, but wisely chose not to invade Egypt again. I began regrouping my armies around Alexandria and Memphis again. No more mister nice guy. The gloves were coming off. This time I was really going to crush the Scipii, now that I knew how they fight.

As I was planning my second invasion of the Scipii, those damn Greeks sent another diplomat offering their aid. They were not even nice about it like they were before! They implied we did not have the 'stones' to fight against the Scipii ourselves and needed their help. They had gone too far this time. I declared war on those pathetic Greeks. Their diplomat quickly scurried away, mumbling threats about retaliation for this betrayal. Whatever. I would eventually get around to crushing the Greek cities. But for now I had bigger fish to fry. The Scipii must fall by my hand! Some of my superiors got all whiny about all the troops that were dying under my command. They wanted to shift some reinforcements to our coastal regions, in case the Greeks made good on their threats. This time it was my turn to laugh at their incompetence. The Greeks had only 3 cities for crying out loud. Our forces would easily crush them. I ordered all reinforcements to continue to go towards our armies in Egypt. I began shifting our armies further west towards the Scipii boarder. This time I would launch multiple armies at them all at once!

But confounding frustrations! Those impudent little Greeks actually did launch an invasion of Turkey. With a pathetic army of armored hoplites no less. Where were the big, scary Spartan hoplites? If this was the best the Greeks had to offer we would stompify them. Unfortunately it meant the Scipii would have to wait until later for our crushification. I began moving my Egyptian armies East and then North to face these upstarts. Man, did they move slow. I had not gotten a single army out of Egypt while half a dozen cities in Eastern Turkey had already fallen. Arrrgg! The Greeks were using sneaky spies to open our gates then quickly move on, while somehow they slothified my armies.

After half of Turkey fell, some guards showed up from my big bosses. I though they were there for protectifications. But no, they were arrestifying me! I could not believe it. They trumpted up some charges about bribes, blackmail, deralicking my duty and some other thing I am disremembering. Just as I was about to crushify the Greeks, I am arrestified! Further, they took away the little word dweebs that were writing about my conqestifications. They said if I wanted my story to be told I would have to continue writing it myself! The nerve! I did not need the little word dweebs anyway. I am much more intelectified without them. What happened after I was arrestified you ask? How should I know! I have been stuckafied in this prison cell for years! But I can tell you what would have happened if I was the big boss. I had grand, long ranging plans for conquestification. Wait! Don't go! You are misifying the best part.......

[kublikhan3]

Part III - Macedonian's Tale

If you are reading this, then in all likelihood I am dead. Cut down by those vile and treacherous Greeks. My name is father Icarus. I am a priest of a minor temple of Zeus. I have chronicled the history of Macedon ever since I first saw us being led astray. I am putting my thoughts to paper so the truth of these events are known. It all began many years ago....

The people of Macedon were a simple bunch. Our days of empire building were long behind us. Of course we still had a strong army to protect ourselves. We were peaceful people, not fools. Still, we were content to live a simple life with the land. That all changed in 269 BC when that damned diplomat from Greek entered Corinith. He welcomed us with open arms and talked of building a common brotherhood with his cousins in Macedon. His silver tounge had charmed us and we did not recognize him for the snake that he was. Once we were completely enthralled by his charms, he began to speak of the dangers of the rising power of Rome. They had already conquered the Italian peninsula, and were in the process of conquering Sicily as well. He said the Greeks did not know how long they could hold Syracuse and were considering abandoning the city, so fearful they were of Roman power. It was not long before our people were trembling in fear of the Romans. The diplomat argued for a grand alliance to be formed against the rising tyranny of Rome. We agreed. He also argued that Carthage should fight the Romans in Sicily, while Macedon should fight them in eastern Europe. Meanwhile the Greek forces would be aiding out Seleucid brothers in their struggles.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Even at this early stage, something did not smell right to me. Carthage and Macedon would do all of the heavy fighting against Rome, not the Greeks? Not to worry, the silver tongued devil said, for we are giving you our best cities in Syracuse, Sparta, Thermon, and he would even conquer Athens for us and give us that too. A few years later he kept his word. Syracuse was gifted to Carthage, while the other 3 cities were awarded to us. That settled it, went the common talk of the day, the Greeks were angels for giving us this aid. No one remembered that old adage, 'beware of strangers bearing gifts.' I tried to warn our people that the Greeks were not to be trusted but nobody would listen. The war drums were already pounding. Our armies were greatly expanded and we set out for conquest for the first time in many years. We did not realize the horror that would be set in motion by these events.

Before facing Rome, it was decided to expand our empires against some softer targets like rebel controlled territories. Already our thinking was starting to be warped by those damn Greeks. 'rebel territories.' It was not long ago that we referred to those territories as 'free territories.' Where once we honored their independent and proud lives, now they were rebels who needed to be crushed. And crushed they would be. The citizens of Byzantium fought long and hard to resist our attacks. They did not want to bend their knee to any foreign power. They had beaten back two of our assaults on their city and promised more of the same if we came back. This only enraged our armies further. Finally by the third assault, Byzantium fell. Our innocence was gone. We had spilled the blood of our neighbors. And we had only just begun.

The conquest of Byzantium brought forth something much more seductive that the words of a Greek diplomat: plunder. The plunder that was taken from that city made our people hunger for more. Soon all of the nearby 'rebel' territories were taken. There were no more easy sources of plunder. The only way to get more was to take it from another empire. And take it we did. Thrace was our next target. They did not want to bend their knee to a foreign power either. But we no longer cared. There territories were added to our ever growing empire and soon they were no more. They were the first empire we destroyed but not that last. Dacia was next to fall under our sword. That would not long stand against us.

And then the inevitable happened. We bumped into another expanding empire hungry for plunder and territory: Rome. At first it was just the Brutii taking the city of Apollonia. We were content to finish our conquest of Dacia and leave them be. But soon the Brutii wanted more and started attacking our territories. By now we had conquered all of Dacia, leaving us hungering for more plunder. So far it looks like the Greeks were doing everything they said they would. They had already destroyed one empire threatening our 'cousins' in Seleucidia and were warring with another of their enemies as well. It was time to live up to our end of the bargain. We went to war with Rome.

The Roman legions were some of the finest troops I have ever seen. It was not uncommon for a Roman legion to repel one of our armies more than twice their size. Our superior numbers soon told however, and we captured Apollonia. The Brutii were quick to respond and captured the city once again. The city was hotly contested and many men died fighting to secure it. Meanwhile the Brutii launched a second invasion force at Greek controlled Kydonia. This was actually the worst thing that could have possibly happened. I was finally starting to make some headway convincing people that the Greeks were not to be trusted. Now they were fighting our greatest enemy. The more Brutii the Greeks killed, the greater their standing in Macedon. They even started intercepting Brutii naval forces directly, cutting off their resupply of Apollonia. Many argued it was these actions that enabled us to eventually defeat the Brutii. Depleted of manpower, they grew desperate to cling to their beachhead in our territory. Running low on troops, the last of their royal family joined the defense of Apollonia. They were defeated and the Brutii faction was destroyed. Their Italian possessions turned 'rebel'.

But now we were faced with an even more powerful Roman faction: the Julii. The Julii were quick to add the Brutii territories to their empire. We managed to wrestle Patvium from their control and rushed many armies to the front at Patvium. But we were unable to break the defensive line of the Roman legions. No more support was forthcoming from the Greeks either. They up and ended all military activity all together and retreated to their island bases. Then they just sat there for decades, living in decadence as Macedon became engulfed in a never ending war. Even an alliance with the British was unable to break the deadlock. They were focusing all of their efforts on finishing off the German empire. They promised they would aid us in our war with Julii but in the meantime we were forced to fight alone.

For all their talk of a grand alliance, the Greeks are not lifting a finger to lend aid to their 'cousins'. They started this war, and now they want us to fight it for them. Meanwhile they live in decadence and rake in more gold than the rest of the world combined. Such things are not the actions of good people. As the war against Julii soured, more and more people came to realize the truth. The final turning point in public opinion came when the Greeks invaded Seleucid territory. Invaded! They backstabbed their own allies and invaded them. We had had enough of their lies. We halted our war with the Julii and withdrew our forces to the center of our empire. We would not be the Greek's next victim. If they attack us they will find us more then ready.

For the past several months I have been lobbying hard for a preemptive strike against the Greeks. I fear my actions have put me in the crosshairs of the Greeks and they have dispatched assassins to shut me up. Thus far I have manged to stay one step ahead of them. But as each day goes by they seem to draw closer. I fear my luck will soon run out. That is why I have penned this letter to be delivered in the event of my death. I want people to know the truth. Even in death, I will not stop my campaign against the Greeks. 'To the last, I grapple with thee; from hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee.'