[EB AAR] Pontos Rising

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 4: The Temple at Ephesos

In the spring of 271 BC, the youngest son of the king of Pontos came of age. Arsames Kianos had been born late in his father's life, and despite his royal blood he did not make a good first impression on the court. Although he was always well-spoken and cheerful, the young prince could came across as abrupt and self-centered. There were also rumors that he was perhaps a little too free with the royal treasury, and (much more damagingly) that he avoided sparring with anything heavier than wooden weapons.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Well aware of these rumors, the king arrived to take personal control of the town of Ipsos, and instructed Arsames to accompany the army of Ariarathes Herakleotes as it marched towards the next Seleukid town of Sardis. If anything could toughen the young man up, it would be combat. And there would be combat aplenty at Sardis, the town which marked the western end of the old Royal Road. As the Pontic army marched, they were closed shadowed from across the border by general Alkibiades of Pergamon, still suspicious of their intentions.

Once again the Seleukids were outnumbered almost two-to-one by their besiegers, who prepared battering rams to assault the wooden walls. Ariarathes had not waited for many reinforcements, and his army was much the same as the one that had taken Ipsos.

The rams were to prove unnecessary, for a Pontic spy succeeded in spreading dissension within the town. Having heard of the fall of Mazaka and Ipsos, some townspeople of Sardis were persuaded that opening the gates to the Pontic invaders was their best option. This stratagem succeeded beyond Ariarathes' wildest dreams, for as his skirmishers kept the defenders pinned in place at the open side gates, he realized that the Seleukids had left the front gate completely unmanned.

Seizing the opportunity, Ariarathes ordered the main body of his troops to rush the front gate. Too late the garrison realized their mistake, and a Seleukid phalanx began to move from a side gate. This allowed the Pontic skirmishers outside to run up and hurl javelins over the low wooden wall into the backs of the phalangites, inflicting many casualties.

When it finally reached the main gate the small Seleukid phalanx found the Pontic army ready and waiting, and although it fought hard it was ultimately broken by two charges led by the young prince Arsames. Seeing the loss of his best troops, the Seleukid general Attalos Pergamou Mysiakes now despaired. After urging his bodyguards to hack at the pikes of the Pontic phalangites, he was himself cut down as Ariarathes led a counter-charge.

Soon only the peltastai were left on the square. Their flags flew defiantly, but were of no more use against Pontic sarissas than were their short swords. The older Ariarathes and younger Arsames then combined their bodyguards for a final charge into the rear of the peltastai, sealing the victory.

Ariarathes Herakleotes had won another somewhat bloody victory, losing men who might have been saved by a more experienced general. And although Arsames's bodyguard had fought bravely and well, rumors still persisted that he himself had not been in the forefront of the action.

[Another battle that I could have done a little better at: when the peltastai first moved off the square to challenge my oncoming phalanx, I raced in some skirmishers behind them to try to throw javelins into their backs. The peltastai promptly turned and began slaughtering the skirmishers before I could pull them out]

The town itself was not harmed. In this way it was hoped that word of the fate of Sardis would spread, and that other towns might also be persuaded to open their gates to Pontic armies. However, outside the town lay the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, and this was stripped of all its finery. For the temple had been the true target of the campaign all along: the gold and silver within it amounted to some 20,000 Mnai, and this was immediately transported back to the capital Amaseia.

Within a season, the money-men and scribes came to Ktistes Mithridates with great news: the temple wealth had repaid all of his kingdom's debts, his military was once again being paid regular wages, and Amaseia was now constructing facilities for the training and equipping of new phalangites. Additionally, the small mines around Sardis and Ipsos now generated enough silver to allow for a minimal amount of construction every season.

And from across the sea came more good news: a Pontic diplomat had traversed the land of the Hellenes, meeting with the warring generals Kalos Argeades of Makedonia, Pyrrhos Aiakides of Epeiros, and Chremonides Aithalidos Attikos of the Koinon Hellenon, and had negotiated trade rights with all three. No preferential rights had been given to any of the three, as Pontos maintained a policy of strict neutrality towards the west.

Meanwhile the newly conquered towns of Mazaka, Ipsos, and Sardis were integrated into the Pontic empire as Philhellenic Satrapies, giving them some degree of self-government, and boosting the loyalty of the population in their respective provinces.

In a year and a half, Ktistes Mithridates had expanded his tiny kingdom to the point where it could stand alone against the world. Now he just had to hold onto it.

[Going for Mazaka, Ipsos, and Sardis is a standard Pontic blitz tactic, kicking the Seleukids out of Asia Minor and getting the economy back to a slight profit. Looting the temple is optional, but saves a year or two of waiting around to get out of debt!]