The Rise of the Arche Boukephelia – A Baktrian AAR

**MerlinusCDXX** · 07-26-2009, 03:28

I will also be following this. I like Eastern and Nomadic AARs, I think the East doesn't get enough AAR attention. Good start BTW.

**Apraxiteles** · 07-26-2009, 10:25

From "The Rise of the Arche Boukephelia"

Of Krateros and the Eastern Satraps

This history of the Arche Boukephelia begins in the fifty-first year after the death of Megas Alexandros. The first year of the 127th Olympiad by the account in Hellas[272 BC]. It is several decades before the Boukephelian dynasty's founding. At that time, Pyrrhos of Epeiros was campaigning in Hellas, and Antiochos (I) Soter, King or the Arche Seleukeia, was in the midst of fighting a bloody war in Syria with Ptolemaios (II) Philadelphos of Aigyptos. Further to the west, the Karchedonioi and the Romaioi were struggling for superiority. Far away from the action of the Mediterranean Sea, distant Baktria was the furthest of Alexandros' conquests still in the hands of the Greeks. At the time, it was a semi-autonomous satrapy on the eastern edge of the Arche Seleukeia. The satrap of the region at the time, Theodotos (Diodotos I), was seeking greater autonomy for the region in order (he claimed) to better protect the region from the ever increasing Skythian raids from the North.

It was on the pretext of aiding the defense of the region, that Krateros the Bull-headed was sent there. Little is known of the life of Krateros before he came to Baktria. He came from a lesser pure-blooded Makedonian noble family, and it is known that his father served with Seleukos (I) Nikator in Megas Alexandros' elite Hypispastai, but he never seems to have risen to any prominence. It was because of Seleukos' relationship with his father that Krateros was appointed to be the captain of an elite unit of Peltastai Makedonikoi.

While never playing a decisive role in any of the battles in the wars of the Diodochi, he did perform well enough to maintain his position. He earned a reputation among his own men for his stubbornness, temper, and overall gruff nature, and it is because of this that he earned the nickname "Boukephelaios", the bull-headed. He seems to have taken to this characterization, and had his unit paint bull's heads on all their shields.

Nine years after Seleukos Nikator's death, his son, the new king, Antiochos Soter, was embroiled in the First Syrian War. Krateros and his peltastai were not involved at the time, however. They were under the command of Antiochos' first son, Seleukos (II), the satrap of Media, and Viceroy of the Upper Satrapies. It was on his orders that Krateros and his unit were sent to the far distant land of Baktria.

However, it seems that Seleukos (II) was more worried about treachery from Theodotos than any barbarians. Theodotos had been been making friendly overtures to the various lesser satraps in the region, even going so far as to marry his eldest daughter to Patrokles of Marakand, a the satrap of neighboring Sogdiana.

Seleukos, concerned of a conspiracy, and knowing that his father and younger brother were too wrapped up in the war against the Ptolemaioi to do anything to help should the eastern satrapies rebel, decided to send Krateros to keep an eye on Theodotos. Krateros had served the Seleukids for many years, and he always carried out his orders without complaint. However, it seems that he and his men were rather indignant at being sent to such a distant land for such a seemingly mundane political reason. That a trusted and loyal unit of elite troops was sent to the boondocks during a time of war seems to have infuriated Krateros.

It is odd that Seleukos (II) would send elite assault troops for the task. Some historians have posited that Seleukos planned to have Krateros assassinate Theodotos. Some have even suggested that he was suspicious of Krateros discovering his own treacherous activities and reporting them to his father, and decided to send him as far away as possible. Indeed, that may have been why he was serving under the young Seleukos in the first place, rather than serving in the Syrian War. But there is no proof either way. In any case, while he remained loyal to the Seleukid dynasty, he seems to have by this point become rather bitter and cynical about the politics of the Diodochi.

Regardless of whatever plans Seleukos (II) might have had, the eastern reaches of the Arche Seleukeia were thrown into chaos, not by the various internal conspiracies, but from events outside. Many years before, Seleukos (I) Nikator had fought a war with the great ruler of India, Sandrokottos. Seleukos lost, and was forced to cede to Sandrokottos all of his Indian territories, as well as Arachosia, Gedrosia, and Paropamisadae. After which, an alliance was made between the two, with Seleukos sending one of his daughters to cement the deal. Both kingdoms maintained good relationships for two generations.

During the spring of the year 51 after the death of Alexandros[272 BC], the same year that Krateros was sent to Baktria, the ruler of India, the son of Sandrokottos, Amitrochates, died, and India was thrown into chaos. Two of his sons, Sochimos and Piodasses entered into a bloody civil war over the throne. As a result, several of the western provinces of India, particularly those which had Greek settlers living in them, rebelled and declared their independence. These events were far from the minds of those living in Seleukid domains. And those governing the bordering satrapies expected that the situation would end without soon, without affecting them. After all, what better defense could the eastern and southern borders have than the great Caucasus? They were much more concerned with invading nomads from the north, and their own rebellious populations.

Seeing the weakness of the Seleukid kingdom's eastern domains, one of the new petty kingdoms decided to try and take advantage of this. Most of the Seleukid soldiers from the region had been sent to fight in the war against the Ptolemaioi in Syria. What few troops remained were mostly local levies concentrated on defending the northern border against the Scythians. The south-eastern border was, for the most part undefended. And so, just a few months after gaining independence, Iochibanes, a Persian noble who had become the new king of Paropamisadae, invaded the Seleukid satrapy of Baktria.

Theodotos immediately sent out riders to request reinforcements from Patrokles of Marakand and the neighboring satrapies, as well as a message to Seleukos in Media, informing him of the situation. It seemed unlikely, however, that any aid would arrive before Iochibanes' forces would reach the provincial capital of Baktra.

…to be continued

[EDIT: Added BC dates in brackets for additional clarity]

**Reality=Chaos** · 07-26-2009, 13:06

woaw that was kinda dizzying... so many political ties in such a short time

It will make for an interesting story line I'm sure

Maybe you could put some BCE dates in it fo rthose fools like me who ar not very good at translating different dating systems

otherwise, I'm subscribed

**Horatius Flaccus** · 07-26-2009, 23:42

Great start! Keep it up.

**Apraxiteles** · 07-28-2009, 06:36

From "The Rise of the Arche Boukephelia"

The First Battle of the Zariaspa

The city of Baktra (modern Megale Boukephela) had a strong natural defense. The many forks of the Zariaspa River made it impossible to approach from the south or east, and Iochibanes' forces, had to cross the river at least twice in order to reach the city. Rather than approach by the main road, he decided to march the shortest path through the less developed region south of the Zariaspa, which meant, ironically, that the invasion from the east would end up attacking from the west.

It is surprising that any first-hand accounts of the First Battle of the Zariaspa have survived to this day. It was by no means a large battle, and none of the commanders who fought in it would live long enough to write anything about it, if they would be inclined to do so anyway. However, the testament one of Krateros' soldiers, a man named Polynikes has remarkably survived.

Polynikes would eventually serve Krateros' son as his chief adviser, and after his retirement would eventually write his memoirs about his service during the wars of the Diodochi. Sadly most of his writings were lost in the great fire that destroyed the original library of the Akademia district of Baktra. A number of fragments remain, mostly covering the period after Krateros' arrived in Baktria, as well as the early campaigns of Krateros' son. It is from his testament the we must base most of our knowledge of much of the early history of the Boukephelaioi.

———

From the "Memoirs of Strategos Polynikes"

"When we finally arrived at Baktra after our long journey east, we found the city in chaos. I had thought that we would go to waste defending this distant land, but on arrival we found our services desperately needed. A small kingdom in the Indian Caucasus was actually launching an invasion on the satrapy. I wondered, had the might of our kingdom withered so much that even the petty mountain tribes at the ends of the Earth were willing to challenge us? Or perhaps this eastern barbarian king was simply an idiot. Personally, I preferred the thought of fighting some rag-tag army of hill-men to those Skythian nomads to the north.

Apparently we were not the reinforcements that Theodotos was expecting, but he welcomed us graciously anyway. The satrap of Sogdiana had marshaled the northern garrison, and was marching south as we spoke He would be arriving any day, but it looked like the invading army would reach the city in before him. The plan was simply to hold the city defenses until reinforcements arrived, with our men forming the core of the core of that defense.

This did not sit well with Krateros. He explained that our men were far more skilled in offense than defense. He suggested that if we were going to be doing the bulk of the anyway, that we might as well do it on the open field. I could see that Theodotos was pondering it intently. He looked at his map of the region, apparently trying to work out where we should meet the enemy were we to march out and meet them. After a moment, he pointed at a location on the map, the last ford that Iochibanes' troops would have to cross before they reached the city. This, he said, is where we would meet them, at the ford of the river Zariaspa.

We set out from the city that afternoon, accompanied only by Theodotos and his son, their elite cavalry echelon, and a small number of native archers who had been quickly levied in defense of their homeland. Before we left the city, he had all his men cast a prayer to Artemis at her great shrine here, built by the natives. We found this somewhat odd, Theodotos explained to Krateros that Artemis was the patron deity of both the Oxos river, of which the Zariaspa was a tributary, and of skill with the bow, and that we would need both on our side in order to win this battle.

We camped that night on the banks of the river. It was bright and clear the next morning when the enemy arrived. Theodotos had hoped that the morning fog which so often blankets the valley would aid us this day. But I doubt even the Oracle at Delphi in Hellas could accurately predict the weather. In terms of numbers, the odds were bad. There were less than three thousand of us against almost eight thousand barbarians. However, most of them were poorly equipped hill-men.

The plan, such as it was, was quite simple. Our archers would take up position on the bank, and fire arrows arrows dowsed in burning pitch at the men crossing the river. When they reached the shore, it was our job to charge and push them back. The cavalry was to be held in reserve, hidden in a small grove near the ford until the time was right.

I was surprised when Theodotos told us that he would be fighting with us in the front lines. He told Krateros that it was necessary in order to fool the enemy, and that it would bolster the troops' morale. His cavalry unit was placed under the command of his son. I must say that we were all impressed. None of our previous lords had ever seen fit to actually fight beside us before. He did stick out like a sore thumb though. I had never seen a more ornate or expensive looking suit of armor than my life, and I had seen Seleukos Nikator in full royal battle regalia. The opulence of the satrapy of Baktria was certainly not exaggerated.

The enemy archers took up position on the opposite shore, and missiles began flying across the river. Our archers held their flaming arrows in reserve, waiting for the enemy infantry to begin fording the river.

The enemy trrops formed a column, then began charging across the river. Our archer switched their arrows, and began firing on them.

As the first wave approached the shore, we banged our swords against our shield, and shouted taunts at the enemy, then, our unit charged.

Right behind the first group of infantry them was Iochibanes cavalry unit. He was seemed to be using the men in front of him as a screen to protect him from our arrows.

However, the first wave of infantry buckled in on itself at the sight of our charge, fleeing back across the river. Iochibanes, seeing this, broke off his charge as well. It seemed like the enemy might route right then and there, before we even had a chance to draw any blood.

I was amazed as Krateros and Theodotos both broke formation and charged ahead. I don't even know how they managed to run that fast in full armor through a river. They reached the retreating enemy long before we got there, and began slaying their foes like a scythe through wheat.

We were roughly halfway across the river, when Iochibanes blew his horn. Suddenly all his men stopped and turned to face us. This had apparently been his plan all along, to lure us into the water where our heavier armor would put us at a disadvantage.

A fierce melee ensued. I remember seeing Krateros stand his ground against one of the charging horses, and with a single swift stroke, slit its throat. Despite what might seem a disadvantage for us, using swords against horsemen, we cut them down in droves. Iochibanes own mount was soon slain from under him. He quickly recovered, and managed to retreat back behind his own men.

We continued pushing them back, despite their superior numbers, but we were beginning to lose men quickly as the enemy started to surround us. We managed to annihilate the enemy cavalry, but at that moment, we saw Theodotos go down. Krateros rushed to his side. I'll never forget the look of anguish on Krateros when, for the first time in his career, ordered us to retreat. Despite the troops closing in on us from all sides, Krateros still managed to somehow bear the wounded satrap out of harms way.

Seeing this Theodotos' son charged out of his position, abandoning any pretense of strategy as he rushed to aid us.

Faced with the thundering charge of the vengeful Diodotos, the enemy finally routed.

I'll never forget the sight of the Zariaspa river that day. How it ran red with the blood of friend and foe alike. How, at the end of the day, the flow was nearly choked off with corpses.

–––

From "The Rise of the Arche Boukephelia"

They had won an improbable victory. Out of nearly eight thousand enemy soldiers, it is estimated that only about four hundred had escaped, including Iochibanes himself. Theodotos managed to survive his wounds, although he became lamed as a result. He would never be able to fight on foot again.

Historians are puzzled to this day as to why he chose to head Krateros' advice and marched out to meet Iochibanes, and why he chose to fight on foot by Krateros' side. It seems likely that he was suspicious of Seleukos' (II) motives in sending Krateros, and thus was trying to win Krateros over. It also appears that Theodotos had grown to despise his son-in-law, Patrokles, who was marching to his aid. and was willing to do anything to avoid being in his debt.

Regardless, as a result of this, Krateros and Theodotos seem to have earned each other's respect, and friendship. As a result of his performance in the recent battle, Krateros became something of a local hero to the Hellenes of the region. In return for saving his life, Theodotos offered Krateros his youngest daughter, Melissa's, hand in marriage. Krateros, who's first wife had apparently died many years ago without bearing him any children, accepted, and they were wed soon after.

All of this would earn Krateros the ire of Theodotos' other son-in-law, Patrokles of Marakand, satrap of Sogdiana.

To be continued…