The Anabaseis of the Kings of Makedonia

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Oh yes, the dory! Completely forgot about it How did you get it, anyway?

Maion

I just discovered it when I looked at my Basileus. I think it was triggered by conquering Side. Though another Basileus had conquered it before, and I didn't notice anything. I think it makes for a great roleplay opportunity and I should remember to pass it over before he dies...

I felt a bit insulted though about the comment. My men are comparable to those of Alexandros, oh yes they are...

[Maion Maroneios]

I just discovered it when I looked at my Basileus. I think it was triggered by conquering Side. Though another Basileus had conquered it before, and I didn't notice anything. I think it makes for a great roleplay opportunity and I should remember to pass it over before he dies...

I felt a bit insulted though about the comment. My men are comparable to those of Alexandros, oh yes they are...

Side, eh? That's awesome, I've never actually been that far in my Makedonian campaigns Always somehting popping up, like a new version of EB, or some new modding idea of mine that I wanted to be implemented, thus forcing me to start a new campaign

Maion

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Side, eh? That's awesome, I've never actually been that far in my Makedonian campaigns Always somehting popping up, like a new version of EB, or some new modding idea of mine that I wanted to be implemented, thus forcing me to start a new campaign

Maion

That's funny! I play this campaign since summer 2008 and I gave a f*** about EB 1.2 coming out. And I'll certainly give a f*** on the outcome of EB II as well.

Whoa, that reads as if I would give a f*** on EB, which is quite ridiculous given the amount of time I invest into it...

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Part 1 – The Ptolemaic War: The Campaigns in Mikra Asia (243 – 236 BC)

The Campaign of King Alkyoneus
The war that should play such an important role in the process of transforming the kingdom of the Antigonids into an empire had begun with the attack of the forces of Ptolemaios on Seleukid mercenaries near Sardis. After the first battle, which could be denominated both a tactical defeat and a strategic victory, the Makedonian King Alkyoneus was confident. He had the supreme military power, enough money and could concentrate his resources solely on a single front. His younger cousin Neikarchos had arrived with additional levy Phalangitai that were keeping the enemy from attacking Sardis. Alkyoneus took his army and marched eastward towards the Ptolemaic holdings along the southern coast of Mikra Asia.

Near the town of Eumenia in eastern Lydia, Alkyoneus met the army of General Epigenes that remained after his Pyrrhic victory of the previous year. He had still 12,000 Phalangitai under his command, but this time they stood absolutely no chance against the 31,000 Makedones. The King’s Galathraikes and Keltohellenikoi Hoplitai did a good job at cutting down the enemy in the dense forest that surrounded the ruins of an old estate. After this victory the road to Side was open, and Alkyoneus was unchallenged when he took possession of the chief city of Pamphylia.

Galathraikes charge in at Eumenia.


The Ptolemaic élite is cornered by Makedonian light troops.

However, Side was a populous city and difficult to control. Furthermore, the King’s supply lines were unsafe because of another Ptolemaic army controlling the area between Sardis and Side. It was the best decision to hire some mercenaries and leave the control of the city to these. Alkyoneus was warned by his advisors though: the mercenaries were enough in number to challenge the Makedonian rule for the region, but at the same time not numerous enough to keep the population in check, let alone the Ptolemaioi. But the King’s decision stood, and a better one was not at hand.

Alkyoneus decided it was best to march back west on the road along the coast – and not on the one through the mountainside – because he planned to finish off the Karian power in Halikarnassos. The marching was difficult and slow, because neither the Ptolemaioi nor the Karioi had taken care of the roads, spending their money elsewhere. When the army finally reached Karia, word came from Lydia that the enemy army was intending to lay siege to Sardis; and furthermore had the inhabitants of Side overthrown and killed the mercenary garrison and committed themselves under the yoke of the Ptolemaioi again. These were two bad news at the same time, and Alkyoneus’ men were hungry. The King decided to confront the enemy immediately.

The battle of Sardis took place on a rugged plain, partly covered in wood. Alkyoneus’ 29,000 reached from the east, whereas Neikarchos’ 19,000 entered the field from the direction of the city. The 17,000 troops of Kallikles Philopator were trapped in the middle. Although especially Neikarchos sustained heavy casualties due to his unorganised advance through the woods, the battle was easily won by the Makedones, and Kallikles forced to retreat eastward.

The Basileus bravely joines his men in the fray at Sardis.

The dead were barely cremated when news reached the King of a great victory at sea: near the shores of Krete, the new Makedonian fleet of πεντερεις (Pentereis, vessels with five rows of oars) had defeated a Ptolemaic fleet. Alkyoneus knew all too well how important the seas were. His march along the coast of Pamphylia and Karia would have been endlessly easier had he been supported by a fleet. The Makedonian ship-building program had just begun, and at the shipyards of Rhodos were laid down the keels of more than hundred and fifty vessels, τετρερεις (Tetrereis, with four rows of oars) mostly. The next year, another two great victories were achieved near Rhodos itself and in some distance off the Lykian coast. The Pharaoh of Alexandria must have been shocked, since he was used to θαλασσοκρατια (Thalassokratia, the rule over the seas) for decades. Since the fall of Antiocheia more than twenty years ago, this was the first time that his might at sea was contested.

The Ptolemaic War in its initial stage.

Encouraged by these successes, Alkyoneus marched south unto the polis of Halikarnassos. At home in Makedonia, veteran Pezhetairoi had been re-enlisted as αργυρασπιδες (Argyraspides), and πελτασται μακεδονικοι (Peltastai Makedonikoi) had been recruited among the most able of young noblemen of the country, and now 2,400 of each joined the King on his campaign. After a brief siege, Alkyoneus did as he had done at Pergamon, and ordered to storm the city. This time, however, the resistance was less and the Makedonian troops were better fitted for an assault on a polis. The Keltohellenikoi, the Galathraikes and, most of all, the Peltastai Makedonikoi excelled at slaughtering the light Karian troops.

Toxotai Kretikoi support the Peltastai Makedonikoi with arrows on fire.


The first defenders of Halikarnassos turn to flee.


The ferryman's guests.

After the fall of Halikarnassos, Alkyoneus must have had enough of the bloodshed. He decided to spend his energy in the future on directing the war and administering his kingdom from Pella. His son Perseus had already proved to be an able commander and was eager to lead the troops against the Ptolemaioi. As a strategic making safe against the Romaioi, an alliance was formed with the Lusitanioi, a warlike people that inhabited the lands to the far west of the Μεσογειος (Mesogaios, the Mediterranean Sea). For the same reason, an envoy was sent to the far off people of the Kingdom of Saba in southern Arabia. For the obscene sum of 3700 Talents [221.000 Mnai or 100 tons of silver], the Sabaioi were willing to aid Alkyoneus against the Ptolemaioi. However, it should take two years until some action was really taking place, and there were more than a few voices that doubted the King’s mental abilities.

At Pella and Korinthos, schools were founded, and in the following year, a mining business was set up in Bithynia. In the parts of western Greece that belonged to the Symmachia Hellenon, the Hellenic League, Makedonian veterans settled down to further strengthen Makedonia’s grip on the region. In the Makedonian πατρις (Patris, the homeland; at this time consisting of Thessalia, Makedonia proper and the Dardanoia), land allotments were given to the poor. In Rhodos, a giant stone wall was built to protect the polis so important for Makedonia’s majesty, and both in Athenai and Sparte a great garrison fortress. Ambrakia was equipped with shipyards that could host even the mightiest of warships, and on Euboia, an expensive mercantile harbour was carved out of the rock. The last wounds of the dark years of civil war and foreign invasion were slowly healing, and prosperity reigned in the country.

The Campaign of Prince Perseus
Perseus was ambitious and immediately ordered the newly built fleet to anchor near Halikarnassos. The troops were loaded into the ships, and the Kleronomos Basileiou and Στρατηγος Αυτοκρατωρ Ασιας (Strategos Autokrator Asias, the commander-in-chief for Asia) sailed along the shoreline of Karia, Lykia and Pamphylia and disembarked east of Side, whereas the fleet blockaded the port of Attalia, which lay only a few miles west. He had just commenced the siege of Side, when Leonnatos of Gaza, an experienced commander that had fought with Kallikles at Sardis, came to relieve the city. The troops of the city itself, mostly unorganised bands of criminals, were commanded by Nikon, a distant relative of the Pharaoh. Together the Ptolemaic troops numbered 39,000, against ten thousand less Makedones. Perseus had to fight uphill partly, a circumstance that resulted in heavy casualties for the Antigonid phalanx – more than five thousand stayed on the field. Nevertheless, Perseus proved his abilities once more, and at the end of the day, only 1,500 Ptolemaic soldiers were still alive to flee into the mountainous hinterland. Both Leonnatos and Nikon fell, and so did the city of Side.

The Makedones had to fight uphill at Side.


Leonnatos Gazaios searches the decision by commiting himself into the fray.


Nikon decides to flee the battle, but is chased by the Tarantinoi.

The next spring, Perseus took advantage of the good weather and sailed to the island of Kypros. The Ptolemaioi had been so confident in their naval strength that they had thought it completely unnecessary to organise any kind of defence for the island. Instead, they delivered the Makedonian fleet a battle at sea within sight of the island’s capital Salamis and lost. Perseus took the governor Eudamios Oxyrhynchios prisoner and set up the island’s administration as a σατραπεια μακεδονικη (Satrapeia Makedonike). At the same time the Pharaoh was losing ground in Mikra Asia, he was nearly unstoppable in the east. Ptolemaic troops meanwhile held control over the fertile lands of Mesopotamia, reducing the Seleukides only to the mutual mouth of the great rivers, Iran and a small strip inland of Mikra Asia, reaching from Sophene in the east over Kappadokia to Galatia.

The next year, after order seemed to be sufficiently stable on Kypros, Perseus returned to Asia. As soon as he had left, riots broke out in Salamis, but the Makedonian garrison was able to suppress the uprising. The Prince disembarked on the Kilikian coast a short distance west of Seleukeia on the Kalykadnos River. From the east, Isigonos Soknopaiou Nesou approached with 17,000 heavy infantry, of whom 5,000 consisted of the feared Klerouchikon Agema. Perseus’ army had been recently replenished with 2,400 ρομφαιαφοροι (Rhomphaiaphoroi) from Thraikia. Unlike at Side, the Makedones could fight downhill this time, and so it’s no great surprise that the battle was won by Perseus without much effort.

Rhomphaiaphoroi and Peltastai eager to join the fight at Seleukeia.


Galatian mercenaries charged by Hippeis Thessalikoi.

From a dynastic point of view, the year 237 BC was also significant: Perseus’ wife gave birth to her only son, and in reverence to Antiochos of Seleukeia, who had already passed and whom the Prince greatly adored, the child would bear the same name. Perseus’ other son, Euphamios, was not fully of royal blood, but instead the offspring of the Prince and one of his countless mistresses. Nevertheless Perseus was proud of 19-year-old Euphamios who was doing well at Sparte where he underwent the traditional Agoge. At the same time, Karenos, the Tyrannos of Lesbos, made his last breath, and riots broke out on the island. Heliodoros, a son of Kalos and cousin of Alkyoneus, marched into Mytilene and brought the rebellious elements to justice. The uprising was a perfect excuse for the King to transform the island from a close ally into a Satrapeia, and Lesbos would not remain the only case – Rhodos and Krete would soon follow.

Perseus continued his advance along the coastline of Kilikia until he reached the famous polis of Tarsos on the Kydnos River, that was occupied by Ptolemaios’ trusted Strategos Kallikles Philopator, whom the Makedones had already fought five years prior at Sardis. Kallikles had 34,000 troops under his command, including 8,500 Arabian light infantry and even 3,000 ιουδαιοι ταξεις (Ioudaioi Taxeis) from the lands around the ancient city of Hierosolyma. However, when Perseus’ 27,000 Makedones reached the gently falling slope to the west of Tarsos that comprised the field of battle, Kallikles had no more than 24,000 at his disposal. The rest of his troops was stuck east of the Saros River and could not reach the battle in time. It is questionable though if the additional ten thousand could have made any difference. Kallikles found his end in this battle, along with 20,000 of his soldiers, and the city fell. Perseus lost two thousand that day and another thousand a short time later, when he fought the rest of the Ptolemaic troops that had decided to defend the crossing over the Saros. After that battle, the enemy was expelled from Mikra Asia. So ended Perseus’ first campaign against the Ptolemaioi, and there was only one logical next step on the Prince’s agenda: Antiocheia. But fate had other things in mind with the Prince of the Argeades.

At Tarsos.


The Ptolemaic soldiers are cut down in the woods.


At the River Saros.

[d'Arthez]

Awesome! Great pics and a very nice story line.

AARs like these are a great advertisement for EB!

[satalexton]

HOIST YOUR XIPHOS INTO THE CLOUDS!

HAIL MAKEDONIA!!!

[Maion Maroneios]

I bow to your excellency

Maion

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Good chapter. I love it when someone of the royal line gets a famous name.

It definately feels like your transforming from a kingdom to an empire. I will often quit a campaign when I get to that point, only roleplaying can perserve a campaign at that point.