Lost Histories - The Seleucid Dynasty

[Hax]

Alright, I'll try just to write another AAR. I actually hope to finish one this time. I am inspired by Chirurgeon's The Indomitable Nile and Fixiwee's A History of Men AAr's.

Another inspiration is the brilliant book "Lost History" by Michael Morgan, who is a brilliant writer and the book is a must-read for anyone interested in Islamic science.

So, wish me luck!

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Game info
Campaign: Arche Seleukeia
Difficulty: M/M
Starting year of AAR: 225 BC
Executable: BI.exe

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Prologue

12th september 2009
Antakya, Turkey

The autumn had clearly shown its ever-growing influence on the changing environment of Antakya. Already the golden-brown and red leaves were floating down the Isa river down to the Akdeniz. Being one of the oldest and yet most forgotten cities of Turkey wasn't all that common in the present-day world. At the same that German archaelogists were trying to uncover yet another layer of vague Hittie markings near Hisarlik, Murat hurried home from the university, the thought of weekend buzzing in his mind. For some reason, however, that he could not rationally explain, he had always felt out of place in this stressful and time-obsessed society that seemed to focus only on the continuous exploit of lower-class citizens. But then, Murat thought, perhaps it was worse in America.

Syrian influence was obvious, as it had become a tradition to blame every kind of loss on "The West", abstract a concept as it was. But then, Antakya was very much so a multicultural city. Not only ethnic Turks, but also Arabs, Kurds, Greeks and Armenians inhabited the city. Murat contemplated this as he watched the leaves gently coming down the stream. As the leaves floated by him, Murat thought of the ruined city near the shores of the sea. There was probably nobody in Antakya, save some old Greeks who constantly complained about the "horrible" life of modern-day Turkey and how everything in the past was always better, but the city Murat was thinking of was called 'Seleukeia Pieria' in the Greek tongue. As one of the few students that actually payed attention during history class in primary school, he had remembered some things about the situation of Turkey before the Ottoman Empire.

Murat halted on the bridge that connected the two parts of the city. On the east there was the "old" city, churches and mosques dotting the landscape, as well as the bazaar. On the west there was the modern city, Atatürk's dream, including skyscrapers and the supermarkets, as well as home..

Without fully realising what he was actually doing, Murat turned around and walked back over the bridge towards the east.

He had already forgotten about the weekend.

[Epimetheus]

Awesome, a Seleukid AAR! Not the rarest of the rare, but there's still far too few of them for my liking. I'll be following this, so good luck!

[gamegeek2]

NO U

WORK WORK WORK

...

btw, subscribed. Loving the start!

[Hax]

Alright, Chapter I is here, I think. The coming chapters won't include that much pictures, but there should be a lot of them soon!

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Chapter I - The Death of a King

Seleukeia, 230 BCE

The ceremony had most likely already started. Ironically, the "traditional" heir to what the Seleucid King was not even present. After all, Antiochos Theodotos had not spoken to his son for more than ten years. To the eye, Kallinikos and Antiochos looked so alike. They looked the same, talked in the same way and had the same facial expressions.

There was one major difference, however: Antiochos and Kallinikos thought in two completely different ways. As a King, Antiochos had been ideal; he was kind, forgiving, yet fierce in battle and was known for his rousing speeches. If not for his intervention, the Parthian horsemen would have taken the rich eastern provinces even before his son could talk.

Kallinikos was as intelligent as his father, but lacked the wisdom that had made his father so popular. For himself, Kallinikos didn't really care about what people thought of him. The sole factor which made him go on in life was the prospect of power. And when Antiochos perceived this dangerous ambition and lust for power within his son, he would no longer meet with him and would often avoid mentioning him in public. When he did, he used the word "my heir apparent" or "my son", avoiding his name.

And the thought of Kallinikos making it as far as the King of the Seleucid Empire had made Antiochos more than a little bit nervous. It made him actually nauseaus. It was at this point that Antiochos slowly started to try and select another heir. The thought of silently "removing" Kallinikos from the annals of history had crossed his mind, but he had decided against it. Antiochos had no wish on spending some time in Tartaros.

Instead, Antiochos had started to changing the laws that direct the situation of the heir. Carefully consulting with his chief advisors, Seleukos had managed to circumvent the rule that the Kingship would go to the firstborn son of the ruling King. After all, was his brother Achaios not older than he had been? At this moment, Kallinikos was twelve.

Whispers had been going around. Rumours were that Kallinikos was not even Antiochos' real son, but rather a bastard child that the royal family adopted out of sheer compassion for the youngling. Obviously, it now appeared, that had been a bad decision.

Personally, Antiochos never denied that he and Kallinikos weren't related, he had done this multiple times, in public. When Kallinikos reached the traditional age where he became a man, Antiochos still hadn't found a potential successor. As was expected of him (though gruntingly) he pronounced Kallinikos to be his heir. And thus it was decided.

Ten years later, however, while Kallinikos was away fighting rebels in the East, Antiochos sent a message to his Councillors, publicly stating that he retracted Kallinikos' position of being his heir and proclaimed the governor of Alexandreia, Ophelandros, to be the next King. Interestingly, Ophelandros was one of the original sons of Antiochos I Soter, and he was alike to his brother (despite being thirteen years younger) in intelligence, but sadly not in charisma or vigour. Despite that, Ophelandros was immensely popular with the population of Alexandreia, managing to cool down situations which (according to local stories) not even Apollo himself could have managed to relax.

Antiochos' (II Theodotos) decision set quite some bad blood amongst the followers of Kallinikos. His followers were mostly Hellenes of a lower class whose ancestors had hoped to come to Mesapotamia with big dreams, only to see them crushed by "foreign influence". They looked towards Kallinikos as the man who would elevate the status of all Hellenic citizens back to their rightful position. Ironically, Kallinikos himself wasn't of pure Hellenic blood either, as were most members of the Seleucid Royal family.

As such, Seleukeia was divided in two camps, the Antiochioi, who supported their King's decision, and the Kallinikoi, who supported the ex-heir. The full effects of this split wouldn't be known until at least a decade later, and for now, Seleukeia was peaceful.

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The funeral procession continued. Already quick messengers were travelling the dark roads down to Antiocheia and from there on, to Alexandreia. And as the sun went down and the sound of the horses' hooves disappeared from the range of hearing, Kallinikos must have been smiling. His time would yet come.

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Alexandreia, 227 BCE

Seleukos II Ophelandros was by no means a fool. He knew fully well that Kallinikos would strike at whatever moment he seemed weak, and for now, things were going well enough. He scratched his beard and looked at the large map of his possessions that his servants had pinned to the wall. He pondered for a moment, looking over his possessions. Clearly, he would have to send the boy somewhere, but where? Persepolis shot through his mind as a possible solution, but he had some experience with the rowdiness of the Persians...they would perhaps see a liberator of some sorts in Kallinikos and suddenly decided to overthrow his rule. He sighed. If Andromachos had still been alive, he would have easily found a good ally in southern Persia.

He didn't like the idea of being too close to Kallinikos. He had accepted that he was no far as good as he was in orating, and he would not put his public talking skills to the test. As far as he was concerned, Egypt was secure, as was Syria. He was less sure about Anatolia. Two loyal generals were currently campaigning against the satrap of Pontos, who had recently (with the news of Antiochos' passing, no doubt) decided to launch an attack against the city of Ipsos. Almost simultaneously, the Makedonians left their island fortress at Mytilene and moved against Pergamon. Luckily, Ophelandros had foreseen such an action and had taken the right measurements against such an attack. Within a year, an army had been raised in Syria that was then sent out to conquer Mytilene. Ophelandros expressed sorrow about the massacre of Mytilene, but did not outright condemn it. After all, the Makedonians had provoked an attack.

As his mind rested upon Syria, an idea started to form. The governor of Syria was a loyal person, after all, he was entrusted with raising a proper army that had to deal with one of the most dangerous threats so far: a Makedonian invasion. Let the boy go to Antiocheia for a while. He nodded to himself while quietly contemplating the idea, and as soon as the proper words were in his head, Ophelandros withdrew to his private quarters and was not seen until the coming of the dawn.

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Seleukos II Ophelandros' decision to issue an official decree that required Kallinikos to study Syrian customs in Antiocheia was one he was quite satisfied with. If he had refused to go to Antiocheia, it would be the same as denying a direct order from the King, which would cost him an immense amount of respect. In Antiocheia he could be closely watched by the governor of Syria, who was known to be one of the chief allies of Ophelandros.

Kallinikos would not deny this order and arrived in Antiocheia half a year later. As a public display of disobedience, he carried with him 200 Hypaspistai, who were immediately relocated to serve one of the most memorable leaders of the Seleucid dynasty: Antiochos III Diogenes

[Horatius Flaccus]

Great start!

[Fluvius Camillus]

Hello Hax!

So first a guide and now an AAR? I wish you good luck! I dont have the time to read it right now but will do so soon probably.

Another inspiration is the brilliant book "Lost History" by

By whom? I think you forgot something here.

~Fluvius

[Hax]

By Abdul Alhazred, of course.

No but seriously, his name is "Michael Morgan".

[Hax]

Chapter II - The Fall of Thraikia - Part I

Antiocheia, 229BC

Even before the first beams of sunlight crept over the the Tauros mountains, Diogenes had already risen. He stood around 1.75 high, had curly brown hair and piercing brown eyes, and all about him there was this natural sense of dignity Although this dignified sense might have suggested arrogance, Diogenes was not known for his intolerance, something that had become all too common within the Seleukid royalty.

Antiocheia was in turmoil. Soldiers had been up for more than three hours now, being ordered and shoved around by their superiors. There was royalty arriving, after all. Diogenes had not been happy at all. After all, he should have left Antiocheia about a year ago. Ever since he had received news of the Makedonian betrayal and the subsequent skirmishes at Mytilene and Pergamon, he had been eager to leave. The commands had been given, the boats prepared and he was less than a day away from boarding when orders arrived from Alexandreia. Ophelandros wanted him to stay and await the arrival of the late King's son. And so, he had waited.

The natural advantage being, of course, that he had more than enough time to prepare his army. And he raised an army not seen since the battle of Ipsos, where his great-grandfather's Indian Elephants crashed into the lines of the King Antigonos the One-Eyed.

On the other hand, Diogenes and Kallinikos had never quite seen eye-to-eye. Diogenes had never been as good with words as Kallinikos had been, but he had the vigor, loyalty and faithfulness that Kallinikos lacked in.

Diogenes let his mind wander as the night's veil was slowly lifted and the Orontes glistened in the morning sun. His appointment as the successor and future King of the Seleukid Empire was something he and his grandfather (who had passed away some time earlier) hadn't quite expected. After all, Sarpedon had only been the Satrap of Mazaka before his death, and had not been known for any great feats during his lifetime. And Sosiphanes...suffice to say that he and his father didn't talk that much. Perhaps there was another reason, one that he tried to understand but couldn't exactly point out.

He was roused from his thoughts by a messenger. Kallinikos had arrived.

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227 BCE
Byzantion, Thrace

The meeting had been quite painful. Kallinikos had been every bit as arrogant and cold as Diogenes had expected. He came marching into the city in broad daylight, surrounded by a personal guard of Hypaspistai who were meant to serve in Diogenes' army against the Makedonians. These hypaspistai were then reorganized and sent to serve with Diogenes.

He had left as soon as he could, though. The very same evening the huge army had marched out of Antiocheia and had crossed into northern Syria. They passed the Cilician gates two weeks later.

The journey towards Bityhnia was met with little resistance, and Diogenes' force had been able to march towards Nikaia with little to no effort. At Nikaia, however, they met a Makedonian force that consisted of about 11,000 men. They were joined with an army of 5,000 men. Diogenes' army counted at least 30,000 men, and as such he didn't perceive a great threat.

The Makedonians were defeated without that many casualties, yet there is an important aspect of the battle that should not be forgotten; this marked the first time that the Seleukids would employ armoured elephants in battle.

Diogenes would grow too impatient, however. He crossed the Hellospont in autumn and would assault the city of Byzantion in winter. In the weeks before the assault they were plagued by continuous snowfall and temperatures of below 0 degrees centigrade and the Syrians were not used to fighting in snows that reached up to their knees. In the third week of the siege, Diogenes ordered the attack.

Diogenes had rushed the assault of Byzantion, and this would prove to be a major problem. The elephants were uneasy and the rest of the soldiers were uncomfortable with the thought of having to plough their way into the city with the excesses of snow. To make matters worse, the Makedonians were expecting reinforcements. Both the morale and the temperatures were low. The slingers from Edessa and the Damaskan archers had opened fire at a single phalangite unit that was located close enough for their missiles to hit.

The elephants had quickly succeeded in knocking down the gates however, and that is where Diogenes made his first mistake. He sent in the thorakitai first.

Although the thorakitai were heavy infantry and quite adapt at dealing with similarly armed enemies, they suffered a natural disadvantage where the phalangites had a natural advantage. As they marched through the streets, they first met the governor of Byzantion, a Makedonian nobleman by the name of Synleeiktenos Oloossos.

Sensing that the conquest of Byzantion might take longer than expected, Diogenes sent in the hypaspistai, marking his second mistake. The hypaspistai were an elite guard that should be left behind to guard the general, and only act in the worst possible scenario. This mistake would only become obvious some ten year later, however.

What Diogenes didn't know was the fact that the Makedonian reinforcements were mostly made up out of Thraikioi peltastai, who carried large falxes with them. These falxes were powerful enough to pierce armour and shields, and as such, the Hypaspistai were pinned down.

Realising his mistakes, Diogenes rushed in with his bodyguard: his third mistake. All was not lost, however. He was already aware of the necessity of phalangite units, and thus sent the elite silver-shield phalangites into the fray. They were known in Greek as argyraspidai, and had proved their worth during the battle of Nikaia, half a year earlier.

The thorakitai had been reduced to just 1/4th of their original size and were suffering from stress and the effects of the biting cold. Just before the argyraspidai arrived, they threw down their shields and spears and ran from the fray.

The argryaspidai quickly advanced through the streets. Synleeiktenos was caught inbetween the phalanx, had his horse cut down from under him and his life was ended when he was crushed underneath the weight of his horse.

With the death of their leader, the Makedonians surrendered. Diogenes was left with only the bulk of his phalangitai and his cavalry intact, as both the hypaspistai and thorakitai had been reduced to hardly 1/5th of their original size.

Facing rebellion from the Makedonians and his own elite soldiers, who were severely displeased with how Diogenes seemingly threw them away, Diogenes ordered that one out of every ten Makedonian males living in the city would be put to the sword; the rest would be sold as slaves.

Byzantion had been captured, but it had been a grim victory.

[Epimetheus]

Looks like Diogenes' career is off to a rocky start. Here's hoping he won't end up being one of the most memorable Seleukid leaders for the wrong reasons!

[Vasiliyi]

Ah, an AS aar. I'm liking it so far. One of my favorite factions actually. Good work Hax, I'm looking forward to more.

[Cute Wolf]

Good AAR Hax!!! Keep the excellent work

[XSamatan]

Following!

Nice start, however I would give a little less hints to future events...

XSamatan

[Horatius Flaccus]

Yeah, the hypaspistai hint was a little to obvious.

But I really like your writing style, and I will surely be following this.

[Skullheadhq]

NO U

WORK WORK WORK

Siggd, also...

WORK WORK WORK

[Cute Wolf]

Siggd, also...

WORK WORK WORK

Wow... a real slavemaster!

[gamegeek2]

I've started my own Gray Death campaign (VH/M), and have wiped the Pahlava off the map (265 BC). I mean, even making the game comes second to playing it!

And Hax certainly has this excuse going for him, for he's not only playing the game, he's writing about it. Something I sadly had to stop when I joined the EB Team (I can only devote so much time...)