Chapter 28- Council in Session

In the spring of 236, the Council sent spies to the south of Hellas, where the Koinon Hellenon, our allies, resided. There they discovered a huge army near Korinthos and another one near Athenai.


It was a matter of great concern to the Council. Where was it headed? It was undoubtedly waiting orders from the Southern Hellenic Assembly, which ruled over the Greek city states in southern Greece. Based in Athenai, they were reliable allies- for now. However, the Spartan king, a powerful member of the assembly, did not take a very positive attitude towards our great confederation. He was reported to have even thrown a diplomat down a well when he didn't like the terms offered. In Sparte, the warriors were the diplomats.
Where this large army was headed was unknown to us. Hopefully it would be headed for Chalkis, but in the meantime, we had to prepare for the worst- an attack on Demetrias.

To prepare for an attack, we needed an army in position to respond.
One of the Councilmen from Serdike, named Kazurus, had an idea.

“Why don’t we send the general who we just bribed down there with a mercenary army? He has good commanding skills, as his record shows. He would be perfect to deal with any Koinon Hellenon problems.”


A Councilman from Naissos, named Tauros, objected.
“What if he defects to the Koinon Hellenon, or even worse, Makedonia? We all know how he is partial to money. He betrayed his own homeland for money! There’s no telling what he will do! That would spell disaster for all our operations in the region.”

“Councilman Tauros has a point.” Said Councilman Kazurus. “So here is what I propose- we give him bodyguards of all men who are fiercely loyal to us, and they don’t allow any diplomats to approach him. Furthermore, let us offer him 10,000 mnai a season for him to stay with us.”

“Are you mad?! 10,000 mnai?! That will drain our treasury faster than a hole in a jug!”

“Then what would you rather us do? His army is the only one not tied up in some operation or another. Once we raise a suitable garrison for Demetrias we can move the field army that is defending it now out of there and onto its next destination, and the mercenary army can be disbanded or sent to the Bosporus to be forgotten, as we do with all of our useless mercenaries. ”

“What if we send the mercenary army to Ak-Ink, to impede the Romani advance?”



“Objection! Two problems: one, he may lose heart at fighting countrymen and switch side mid-battle, and two, he may betray us as he did them and go back to his homeland, turning over Ak-Ink to the Romani. The bloodshed will have been worthless. In addition, we can’t just send the mercenaries to the Bosporus. Many of them are really good units. Apparently, it's Borat, or whatever he calls himself, who is the problem.”

Councilman Diales, the son of the famous spy, spoke up.
“Why don’t we replace him with a general whose loyalty is in no doubt?”

The head of the Council, Tarsa per Drobeta, also the heir to the throne, spoke up.
“But then where will we put him? Have him reside in Buridava for the rest of his life? We can’t do that. We must put him in combat at some point or another, or he may defect because he feels that he wasn’t being appreciated!”

“So why don’t we just kill him and say he never existed?” Diales looked a bit excited, for he was also the newly appointed intelligence chief. “I could frame him for some crime so we won't have to go through all of this.”

“Diales, my father did not pay 40,000 mnai out of his own pocket just to have him killed off the bat. Besides, everyone already knows about the bribe, and they will wonder what happened to him. I have a better idea. Send him and his mercenary army into the mountains between Pella and Demetrias to help defend the area. Once we raise a suitable garrison for Demetrias, we pull the field army acting as a garrison out and replace “Borat” as commander of the defense forces in the region. Then we can send “Borat” constantly busy with dealing with the many small rebel camps that spring up from time to time.”


“Your excellence, that is a great idea. Will we also pay him the 10,000 mnai a season?”

“Yes, and Seuthles, write up his payments but make sure that the terms state that the payments will be terminated once he is moved out of Hellas. Once he is out of the area, it will be lowered to 5,000 mnai, the standard for all Getic generals.

“Yes sir, it will be done.”

“Meanwhile, we must decide on what to do with the Skythian Noble Cavalry. They are costing us and it's very hard to retrain them as we extend our lands further south. Therefore, I propose that we replace them as our standard cavalry with the Thraikian medium Cavalry.”


“But they aren’t as strong as the Skythians and they have a very good record.”

“Seuthles, would you rather pay for them to journey the hundred miles or so north to retrain them?”

“No, I would rather not. So what do we do with the current units of Skythians we have?”

Councilman Diales spoke.
“Why don’t we send them all to the south and keep them in reserve? Surly it will take a while for the Thraikians to train and our armies in the south need to have their cavalry support When they are done training we can pull out all the Skythians and hold them in reserve in Thraikia in case we need a quick cavalry strike on an enemy army.”

“Wonderful idea Diales! Now we need to deal with the Makedonians. Should we invade Chalkis as soon as we have the forces?”

Tarseraden, the lead member of the defense council raised his opinion.
“Nay. The Koinon Hellenon has their eyes on Chalkis. By invading Chalkis, we may bring the wrath of their armies against us. We need allies now, not enemies. I suggest sending assassins to kill the Makedonian generals and family members, in an attempt to cause civil strife within the remnants of Makedonia.”

“Ornes, authorize the recruitment of assassins to carry out what Tarseraden said.”

“It will be done.”

But the head of finances had one last question.
“How much money should be allotted for this?”

“Seuthles, put aside 15,000 mnai for this. Meanwhile, do you think the people will take a 5% increase of taxes in order of national defense? Even with the 40,000 mnai a season tax from each city, it may not be enough to fund future operations.”

“I'm not sure though, but we can try and see what the response is.”

“You do that then. The last item on the agenda for the week: Duda, the client ruler of Singidunum has died. Should we appoint Duda II, his son, as governor? He has no real talent in much, even at the age of 30.”


Tarurones, the elderly head representative from Singidunum, approved of Duda II.
“Duda II, the eldest son of Duda, comes from a very popular family in Singidunum. Almost everyone likes him and his family. It would be a shame to not appoint him, even if he has no skills.”

“But isn’t there someone else who has more skills?”

“Don’t you remember? Duda, when appointed, had little skill himself. And look how well he turned out.”

“Nay, I don’t remember, for I was a little toddler when that happened. In any case, I accept your better judgment on this. Council dismissed.”

Thus ended the council session that would decide the course of our great confederation.