The herald found it curious that the king smiled at this news. What he did not know was that Ktistes Mithridates had brought a diplomat along with his army, for the very purpose of breaking his alliance with the Seleukids. Now he would not even have to use a proxy - he told the herald to his face that Pahlava was the home of his forefathers, and that since he was being forced to make a choice in the matter, the alliance with Arche Seleukeia was therefore, sadly, at an end.
Ktistes Mithridates was not surprised when later messengers brought news that the small kingdoms of Hayasdan and Baktria had also broken away from their alliances with Arche Seleukeia. Other leaders had seen which way the wind was blowing, and taken their chances. Individually they were small, but maybe together they could topple a mighty empire…
In the same season, Ktistes Mithridates accepted a new member into the royal family. Smerdis Phabdaios was a rare Galatian who still remained true to Pontos, unlike the majority of his countrymen in nearby Ankyra. And although his barbarian habits brought him into disfavor with many refined Hellenic and Persian members of the royal court, his natural aggressiveness would serve Pontos well in the wars to come.
Ktistes Mithridates immediately sent Smerdis Phabdaios to join the army of his son and heir Ariobarzanes Kianos, and together they laid siege to the Seleukid town of Mazaka, beginning an open war with the Arche Seleukeia. For Mazaka was of crucial importance: a small town on the Royal Road, it was dangerously close to Amaseia. Were it to remain in Seleukid hands, Mazaka would undoubtedly serve as their base for repeated attacks into the Pontic heartlands. The town also controlled access to the high mountain passes to the east and south - a small garrison here could block incoming armies from spilling out into the unguarded plains below. If Pontos were to have any hope of survival, it must occupy Mazaka.
A Pontic spy within Mazaka reported that the garrison was weak, composed mainly of levy spearmen raised from the townspeople, and commanded by a Seleukid general who was barely out of boyhood. Ariobarzanes therefore waited just a season before attacking, long enough for additional skirmishers to join his army from Amaseia, and to construct a single ram.
The small Pontic force was not a very impressive sight as it stood before the walls of Mazaka, with a core of approximately 5000 levy phalangites bolstered by 7500 light skirmishers. Nonetheless, the besiegers possessed almost a two-to-one advantage in numbers over the defenders. The Pontic skirmishers were unarmored and carried only a handful of javelins, and would be of little help in a fight in city streets. There the phalangites would have to hold their own, but they were irreplaceable, for Amaseia did not yet have the ability to train and equip new phalangites of her own.
The battle opened with the skirmishers rushing forward to hurl their javelins over the low wooden palisade, and into the mass of Seleukid troops marching into position. The hail of missiles caused many casualties and much confusion within the enemy ranks.
Still this was not enough, for when the phalangites brought the battering ram to bear on the main gate and broke it down, they found the defenders still standing firm behind the breach, despite the bodies of their comrades lying at their feet. The levy spearmen were in the front ranks, while behind them were heavy skirmishers, professional peltastai who stiffened the resolve of the townspeople.
Ariobarzanes therefore ordered the phalangites to move the ram along the wall and make a second breach. As the Seleukid forces dithered about which unit should defend this new threat, half of the Pontic phalangites had time to rush the breach, come into a rough formation, and set their sarissas just as the Seleukid peltastai charged them. The contest was an unequal one, with the peltastai desperately struggling to get past the sarissas and engage the phalangites with their swords. Unable to break the pike wall, and having already taken heavy losses from the skirmisher javelins, the peltastai eventually broke and ran.
The other half of the phalangites now faced off against the Seleukid levy spearmen. This matchup was even more lopsided, since the spearmen were unarmored and equipped with just a simple shield and short spear. Despite the urgings of their commander, who bore a silver shield to denote his rank, the spearmen soon joined the peltastai in running for the square.
With the remaining enemy now refusing to leave the center of town, Ariobarzanes and Smerdis each took half of the phalangites and slowly approached the town square from opposite directions. The young Seleukid general, Sarpedon Syriakos, could eventually stand it no longer and charged forth with his bodyguards, slamming into Ariobarzanes' phalangites on a narrow side-street.
This was the moment that Ariobarzanes and Smerdis had planned for: the phalangites dropped their sarissas and switched to axes for close combat, and while Ariobarzanes attacked Sarpedon's bodyguards from the front, Smerdis led his bodyguard in a charge around the main square and attacked Sarpedon from the rear. The Pontic bodyguards swung their vicious forward-curved swords, competing eagerly for valor. Finally Sarpedon was trapped against a wall, and there he fell.
The death of Sarpedon Syriakos was truly the end of the battle, for there was now no real hope left for the defenders. The remaining levy spearmen did not immediately realize this as they stood firm on the square, shouting insults at the phalangites who marched in and took up position around the edges of the square. It was only when the sarissas were lowered and began their slow remorseless grind forward that the spearmen suddenly understood the true horror of their situation.
And thus was Mazaka captured. Pontic losses were gratifying light, amounting to less than one-twentieth of the original numbers, and sparing the precious phalangites from any great damage. Ariobarzanes had proved his worth as a general.
The remaining townspeople were spared, and little looting was done - not that there was much to loot in the first place. For although Mazaka had much potential mineral wealth in the surrounding province of Kappadokia, at this time it was still little more than a minor trading town that had the (mis)fortune to be in a strategic location. The silver it now sent to the Pontic king was never going to be enough to halt his campaign, for Pontos was now in debt to moneylenders, and with every season that debt would grow.
Ariobarzanes Kianos therefore took his bodyguard and marched to catch up to his father, leaving the phalangites with Smerdis Phabdaios to guard the critical mountain passes around Mazaka. The war would continue in the west.
Chapter 1: A King of War
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