The Road to Immortality: An Arche Seleukeia AAR

[seleucid empire]

Chapter 3: Lambs to the Slaughter
"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep. I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion (Alexander the Great)"
272 The Gates of Tarsus


Sarepedon woke his men at on the very brink of dawn. He ordered his men to have breakfast quietly and then to form up. They weren't going to take the town by surprise. He knew that but at least this way his men would be well fed and less groggy than those of the enemy. As his army approached the walls, Sarepedon could already hear the panic and chaos of the defenders trying to organize their defenses.

They had camped outside Tarsus for 3 months. Sarepedon had expected the Ptolemies to attack as soon as he arrived. After all they had 6 000 men to his 2 000 but it appeared the Ptolemaic commander was smarter than Sarepedon first thought and he saw Sarepedon's cavalry and superior infantry as too much of a threat to face in the open. However there were two important things he didn't know. Firstly that there would be no help arriving from Side as the town had just fallen to Seleucid forces under general Attalos. The second was the stubbornness and determination of Sarepedon. No man would have dreamed that Sarepedon would assault the fortifications while outnumbered 3 to 1. But that's exactly what he did

"Men of Seleucus! Today is the day we've been waiting for for the last 3 months. Fight with honor. Fight with everything you have! And remember, you cannot die today because you will live on forever in history!!"
His men cheered and they began to push the great ram up to the walls.



The Peltasts broke through the wall and began to slaughter the enemy skirmishers. The Ptolemaic general sent his spear men and slingers to halt the advance of Sarpedon's peltasts. The Peltasts began to take casualties and Sarepedon and his personal guard charged into the fray, killing the enemy general and causing all of the Ptolemaic troops to flee to the town center where they were massacred



Sarepedon was relieved when it was finally over. He didnt want to waste anymore time killing sheep