Introduction

My name is Tabriqo, and this is my story.



I, my father, and his father before him were all poor hunters.
My familly has lived in a small village just downriver from the
city of Napata on the great river. In the days when I was
born, the lands of my home were along the border between
the lands of the Kingdom of the Hellenes and the lands of
the Kingdom of Meroe. When I was but an infant the king
of Meroe, who was a Hellene himself, sailed down the river
and extended his kingdom all the way up to the walls of the
city of Luxor.

So, for the extent of my youth, I lived under the rule of the
kings of Meroe. To fund his armies, the king levied heavy
taxes and conscripted many people into his armies. When
war came again with the Kingdom of the Hellenes, my father
was drawn into the armies. With a little training, the army
sailed down the river and attacked the Hellenes. The king of
Meroe attacked Luxor without cause, even though there
existed friendly relations between the Hellenes and Meroe.
My father fought for the king of Meroe that day. He died
outside the walls of the city of Luxor, falling to the armies of
the great king of the Hellenes.

[ Nubian soldiers at the Battle of Diopolis-Megale (152BC) : ]


The king of the Hellenes fought back and personally lead his
armies up the river. Before the inundation had come twice,
that king had pushed his borders beyond the reach they had
been at my birth. Now, my village fell under his dominion.
Having stretched his army of Hellenes greatly and in need of
new fighting men, the king began to recruit soldiers to help
fight against the Kingdom of Meroe. I did not blame the king
of the Hellenes for the death of my father, but rather the king
of Meroe. Thus I volunteered. At this time, I had only seen
just over twenty inundations, and looking back, see that at
the time I was but a stupid child with much more to learn.

Those of us who volunteered were taken to Luxor for training.
I was, and still am, talented with a bow. Us with archery
skills were grouped together, drilled in military discipline, and
taught how to understand orders by horn or banner. After
several months, we joined up with an army of Hellenes and
Aigyptoi under the command of the Hellenic king's son,
[Alypios] Antigonos [III].

Antigonos was a great leader but not the type of man you
would expect fighting a desert war. He was very learned and
proper. He was a true Hellene. He always wore elaberate
clothing and made sure his appearance was perfect at all
times. He brought with him all the luxories of a city and
rarely socialized with his men. On the battlefield, however,
he was a true soldier. He was a great tactician and would
enspire his men, even personally leading charges.

From Luxor, Antigonos marched us east across the desert
and then the mountains. Once on the coast, we marched
south taking control of all villages and ports, though there
were few. Finally we came to the port city that had been
constructed by the ancestors of the king of Meroe, when
they were still rulers of Aigyptos. After a siege, we were
engaged the armies of the Kingdom of Meroe and defeated
them on a hill just south of the city. The infantry held their
line and the enemy threw themselves against it until they
were tired.

[ Tabriqo at the battle of Ptolemais-Theron (149BC) : ]


Antigonos sued for peace with the king of Meroe, but it does
not last. We were forced to first fight off an army that
besieged us in the city and then another just inland. Due to
enemy elephants and poor training, the Aigyptoi infantry took
heavy losses. In the first battle, the elephants tore through
our right flank. In the second, they charged the center then
paniced and killed many. The battles, were won, nonetheless.

We were forced to remain in the region for more than a year
without any to do. We waited until the last army of the king of
Meroe attacked us. It was the wet season and Antigonos
chose one of the only river crossing to defend against the
attack. In order to prevent any trouble from the elephants this
time around, Antigonos personally ordered us to light our
arrows on fire and target the beasts. While we targeted the
elephants, Antigonos orders the infantry to form a crescent
around the bridge landing. He allowed the bulk of the enemy
force to cross the bridge before charging in and surrounding
them. The enemy paniced again and we win the battle.

[ Elephants at Alypios Antigonos' final Nubian battle (146BC) : ]


After this battle, the second chapter of my life came to an end
and a new one began. Having served five years, we were given
the option of leaving the army, taking a job as garrison, or
volunteering to continue with Antigonos. Still relatively young
and stupid, I decided to follow the young prince. We travel
west, across the desert until we come back to the river. We
were not too far downstream from my home when we reach the
river and turned to go north. For a moment I considered leaving
the army and travelling up the river to my home, but chose to
stay with the army. I later learned that the Kingdom of Meroe
had regained control of my village, even at that time.

Antigonos and the army sailed down the river. When we pass
the city of Luxor, I realized that this is the farthest I've ever been
from my home. I will travel much further from my home before
my days begin to darken.

As we traveled down the river, we saw many villages, farms, and
cities along the river. There were also great statues, temples,
and pyramids made from stone, built by the ancients. I had
many times seen the pyramids of Merowe, but the pyramids I
saw near the end of our journey were of such a great size that
it is hard to believe they were built by men.

Just passed these pyramids, we left the river and marched to the
city of Alexandreia. I had heard stories of this city, a city of the
Hellenes, a city of greatness. They had said it was something
that only Hellenes could build and was an example of their
greatness. To me, it was just a large, overcrowded, smelly
version of every other city I'd ever seen. If Hellenic greatness
meant putting a lot of people in one place, I didn't see why they
were so great.

During the journey, many of the Aigyptoi had left the army. Once
in the city of Alexandreia, Antigonos went about recruiting more
men to serve in his army, most of them Hellenes. Those of us who
were veterans, wether Hellene, Aigytpoi, or Nubioi, were retrained
and reequiped. I was given a new shield and was offered a new bow,
but found my own superior to anything the Hellenes had to offer. In
fact, my friends and I had a good laugh at what the Hellenes used
as bows.

Before our training was complete or all the necessary replacements
recruited, Antigonos had to sail without us. We had heard of
Persians rising again back home, but cared little. We hadn't seen
anything Persian for hundreds of years. I would soon become very
familiar with the Persians. While we were in Alexandreia, Antigonos
met with his generals and planned a war with the Persians.

The Persians, like the Kingdom of Meroe had gained strength at
the expense of the kingdom of the Hellenes. While the Hellenes
had fought amoungst themselves [Makedonian Civil War
(177-159BC)], the Persians had unified several
peoples and cast out all Hellenic rule. With a new-found strength,
they had invaded the lands of the Hellenes and killed many Hellenes
in a city known as Seleukeia. Antigonos, and all of us in his army,
would lead the war against the Persians and recover what was lost.

My first voyage on the sea was not an enjoyable one. Winter was
fast approaching and the sea was rough. We arrived in Demetreia
several months after Antigonos. It was another Hellenic city much
like Alexandreia, although I liked this one more because it was
cleaner and further from the sea. A few more men joined the army
at the city of Demetreia. Amoungst them were some local archers.
Unlike the Hellenic archers, these men were professional and were
far superior to even my friends and I, who had practiced archery all
our lives.

We did not stay in this city long. Antigonos wanted us on the border,
and so we marched through another desert to another river. They
called the river the Euphrates. It was smaller than my river, but a camp
along its shore became my home for more than a year.

[ Armies of the Arche camped along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers just prior to the invasion (c140BC) : ]