A Burgeoning Empire - A Pontic AAR

[The Celtic Viking]

Okay, a few words before I start. This is an AAR that I started for myself and that I've now chosen to, after V.T. Marvin's first encouraging reaction, upload for everyone to read. If it's received well I will continue uploading it here (if not I'll take a hint and keep it to myself ), though I won't promise anything in regards to how often new updates will come. This is especially true now in the beginning, since I might lose my internet connection on Tuesday and if I do, I don't know when I'll get it back.

Long story short, please tell me if you liked it. If you didn't like it, just let me know why and how I could improve on it for the future. I have no pictures at the moment - it's all text - but if popular demand is up, I may bring some to the table.

I'm playing this on M/M difficulty settings, alex.exe with force diplomacy and the city mod (as well as my own "Prosperous Gaul" mod, which probably won't impact my game).

Without further ado...

Chapter Guide
Chapter 1: Road to Freedom
Chapter 2: A Threat From The West
Chapter 3: The Greek War

[The Celtic Viking]

A Burgeoning Empire

Chapter 1: Road to Freedom

Introduction
I am Oxyartes Herakleotes, son of Artabazanes Herakleotes, and I have long served as a diplomat under Basileus Ariobarzanes Kianos of Pontos, as I served his father, Ktistes Mithridates Kianos. I am writing this brief history of my beloved land to immortalize its rise, history and share in its rich life to whoever might be interested in having it. If everything else in my life falls to naught, I will still consider my life fulfilled so long as this tome survives.

Humble Beginnings
In the beginning, the Pontic kingdom started off as a mere satrapy of our neighbours to the south, as dependents ruled by a king subject to the will of the Seleukid throne. So it stayed until early summer in 272 BCE, when another satrapy of the Seleukids and allies to the Pontic king, the Pahlavans under Phrâpâtes ê Dahâën declared themselves independent and went to war against their former masters.

It didn’t take long before diplomats from king Phrâpâtes came knocking on the then still reigning Ktistes Mithridates Kianos’ door, enquiring about his stance on the subject. Though basileus Ktistes had never said it officially or unofficially in public, it was no secret that he, too, harboured lusting thoughts of independence. However, after a long, hard deliberation, he came to the conclusion that the state of his army was not yet ready for a task of such proportions, and the royal coffers weren’t deep enough to sustain such a costly war. So the diplomats were sent back empty handed, except for an official acknowledgement that, since they were now at war with the Seleukids, the Pontic basileus could no longer stay allied with Phrâpâtes. The relations with the Seleukid basileus Antiochos Syriakos were improved, at the cost of some sour looks from Nisa.

Basileus Ktistes instead turned his gaze south-west towards Galatia. The Galatians are an interesting people: being of Keltoi ethnicity, they had recently come from further west to settle in Mikra Asia, and were allied to the Pontic king. This alliance, however, got on shaky ground when they heard of how Ktistes handled the Pahlavan situation. They were – as always – ready for war, and they were hungry for the glory and loot. In their eyes, it was nothing but a sign of weakness not to take the opportunity when it so readily presented itself. Many called Ktistos a coward, and a small, armed uprising started, with the attempt of grabbing power in Galatia and taking it out of its alliance with Ktistos. This was, of course, completely unacceptable in Amaseia. Ktistos quickly mobilized his army and sent it packing towards Ankyra under the command of his son and heir, Ariobarzanes Kianos, to deal with these insurgents and secure the alliance. Being too old and weak for it, he couldn’t command it himself, and in fact died before the army even reached its destination.
The insurgents were quickly beaten, Ankyra garrisoned “to keep the public order and ensure the safety of the Galatian government”. In reality, though, they were there to secure the Pontic interests and keep the Galatians in line.

When a raiding party from Sinope appeared outside of Amaseias gates, Ariobarzanes returned with most of his army, leaving only a small garrison under Arsiochos Kolchikos behind, and heading north. The Sinopeans, having no chance to stand against his might, quickly retreated back to their city, and fierce diplomatic actions began. Ariobarzanes demanded smaller, territorial concessions from Sinope, as well as a rather hefty sum of money, to pay for the damage caused and to repair relations. The Sinopeans, counting on help from Hellas in the case of a siege, were confident, and soundly rejected any such talk. This gave Ariobarzanes little options: he had to attack. So, when spring came the next year, he set out and besieged Sinope. The Hellenes protested and declared war, but it was little more than words. No armies were sent. Sinope fell the same year.

Independence
In 266 BCE Ariobarzanes was put in the same position that his father was just 6 years before, but this time the Seleukids were the aggressors. Bithynia had long had friendly relations with the Pontic king and had often received help before, so when they were attacked, they came to Ariobarzanes and pleaded for help once more. The answer came almost immediately, and this time they had agreed. Ariobarzanes set out himself with his full might, force marching in hopes to get to Nikaia in time. Despite this, the Seleukid army assaulted and took the city before they could get there, and quickly took control of the surrounding villages.

However, with a lot help from the locals, Ariobarzanes quickly got the safest – and easiest – route to the city where the Seleukid army was camped, and put it on siege. However, with his army out west, the Seleukids took their opportunity to put Ankyra and Amaseia under siege. Not panicking, the Pontic king, being a veteran of many wars, stayed the course and trusted the defense of the cities to his generals. However, just in case, he decided to assault the city, as his army vastly outnumbered the enemy. Speed was valued more than a few extra soldiers’ lives.

After a relatively short, but bloody, fight, the city was taken and the army marched victoriously through the streets, cheered on by the populace as liberators and heroes. However, they couldn’t bask in the triumphant glory for long, because Amaseia and Ankyra were still under siege, and they had to move back east to defend their own cities (because, though still independent in name, the Pontic royal family still considered it “their” city). This would, however, prove unnecessary, as the victory gained in Nikaia was enough to persuade the Seleukids, who had enough problems elsewhere to deal with, to agree to not only a cease fire, but a renewed friendship – this time as two sovereign nations. The Pontic kingdom had gained its independence, and come out as a strong force in Mikra Asia.

Consolidating the Kingdom
With its newly gained freedom, the Pontic kingdom found itself in an interesting position. It controlled the northern part of Mikra Asia, with a long border against the Seleukid kingdom to the south, Pergamon and Byzantion to the west and the Tzanoi (Trapezous) and the Haikh (Ani-Kamah) to the east. All of these had, at the time, at least a somewhat positive relationship with the Pontic throne; moreover, peace and trade had been reestablished with the Ptolemaic king as well. That is why Basileus Ariobarzanes felt secure enough to stay, together with the main portion of his army, with his allies in Nikaia, at least until their government had been restored. He had come to have a very positive opinion of the locals, a feeling that the locals reciprocated in kind.

But freedom hadn’t come for free. The war had, as Ktistes Mithridates Kianos had feared, drained the Pontic coffers so as to force them to take loans and get in debt. If the kingdom were to avoid a quick failure on its own, it would have to get out of it and quick. To do this, Ariobarzanes tried to stimulate trade by making deals with people so far away as even the Carthaginians in North Africa, Sicily and Iberia. Taxes were also raised all across the empire, but despite all this, it would still take many years before the debts attained could be paid off. The thought of what would happen if the Seleukids managed to solve their problems with the Ptolemaics, Pahlavans, Baktrians, Saka Raukans and all other enemys of their empire before the Pontic debts could be paid off sent a shiver through the ruling class in Amaseia. Few doubted that the Seleukids, given the opportunity, would think twice about bringing Pontos back into submission. How could Pontos oppose such a force without money of its own to pay for its armies?

The fear and tension in Amaseia was greatly heightened in spring 264 BCE. A Seleukid army under Attalos Pergamou Mysiakes had moved right up to the borders of Nikaia. Attalos was a middle-aged man of Hellenic ethnicity, and so although his army was not able to compete with that of Ariobarzanes, it was suspected that he might be looking for revenge for Sinope’s fate. The garrison that was left in Ipsos was intimidating, and had a clear advantage over the Pontic army, not forgetting either the reinforcements coming in from the east. Little could be done about it except to take defensive positions, and hope for the best.

The hope, such as it was, was squashed rather brutally when the Attalos besieged Ankyra. Diplomats were immediately dispatched to the Seleukids only to find out that this was not an action that the Seleukid dynasty had sanctioned. Apparently, this was an act of rebellion, led by a man alone. The Seleukid diplomats assured the Pontic king that they had no intention of supporting him, or opposing the Pontic forces in any way. It was their wish to honour the alliance, and promised “full cooperation”. Upon hearing this, Ariobarzanes sent Zenon Ximeneus, a young man of Thraikian birth who he had recently adopted, in command of the Pontic army to deal with Attalos. He would stay back in his beloved Nikaia for the time being.

Prior to the battle, Zenon was reinforced from the east with slingers who had taken part in the battle for Sinope. Zenon could thus be confident in having superior forces in all categories. Together with the reinforcements from the garrison of Ankyra, the battle was over before it began. That was a fact that even Attalos had to admit, who, when he saw the great number of enemies he was up against, retreated immediately. He was forced to admit defeat in his (rather short-lived) campaign and had to pay a hefty fine before being let back into Seleukid employ.

With that threat taken care of, the Pontic royal family went back to paying off its debts. Slowly but surely this was being achieved, but still it took 3 years to get completely out of debt. In the summer of 261 BCE, they were finally free in monetary senses as well.

A Seleukid attack was still seen as a threat, though, and the army had to be reequipped and retrained to have any semblance of a chance against the Seleukid phalanx. For this purpose Ariobarzanes reclaimed control over the army, and marched together with it and Zenon back to Amaseia.

As time went by, not much worth noting happened in, or around, Pontic lands. The population was growing and the investments were for the most part put into the economic sector rather than the military. Things were very quiet and peaceful in Mikra Asia at this point. Besides some on-and-off struggles between the free, Greek state of Pergamon and the Seleukids, there were very little fighting being done, everyone wishing for peace or not wanting more trouble than they already had. Not even the Ptolemaic presence caused any disturbance to this, which could probably be explained by the fact that all knew that whosoever broke the status quo might win, but that such a victory might wound them enough so a third party could step in and take over.

[Hooahguy]

very nice!
all it needs now are pictures.

[ertai1987]

excellent, Pontus is propably the most fun-to-play faction. I take a diffrent approach (preemptive strikes against the grey behemoth is my motto!), but nonetheless Ankyra-Nikaia-Sinope is a great start!

[The Celtic Viking]

Cheers, guys! I agree that blitzing is probably the strategically most sound option for Pontos, but the game gets a little less political that way, and I opted out for that reason. If you liked this AAR then obviously that was a good choice; I didn't exactly pack it full of action and shiny objects, did I?

[ertai1987]

yeah, I really liked the political-rp background in your story, I don't mind if you don't use pictures, but a description of your armies or perhaps a battle narration (switching to present tense from time to time) would be definetely welcome.