), and bactria under bessus ( 315 b. e. ) all broke off and created their own kingdoms, and left the once mighty and strong persian empire a weak and pathetic shell of its former self. darius iii was murdered in 320 b. e. ( 327 b. c. ), and ehran itself was thrown into turmoil as to who would rule. his brother oxyathres took control of what was left of the once mighty kingdom. persepolis, as it was known by the ancient persians the euphrates river ’ s name in akkadian chapter four : the early hellenistic period part six : pirates and corsairs with the fall of the argead dynasty and the rise of the philotid dynasty in makedonia came many changes in the world, not the least notable of which being the sudden increase of the “ barbaros ” and their ships in the adriatic. earlier in that century, syracuse had affectively snuffed out much of the liburnian power in the region, but the chaos and turmoil that followed the senone invasion of northern italia had drastically upset the balance. it would be naive to say that piracy had disappeared in the adriatic because of syracuse, but it was certainly lessened enough that when piracy suddenly made a comeback, it was worth writing about. what ’ s worse, these pirates weren ’ t just petty illyrians : the senones had taken to the sea. swarming the adriatic were lembos ships, a style of ship native to illyria that had no sails and a single bank of oars. these small, light ships were fast and maneuverable, capable of carrying fifty men in addition to rowers. they were low to the sea, thus, difficult to detect, adept at quickly approaching prey, then swiftly disappearing into shallow inlets where they could not be followed. the senones, who over the past few decades, through both peace and war with the liburnians, had learned the ways of navigation, adopted the ships. there is tell of the occasional veneti and lingoni pirates. the greeks, who for centuries had traversed the adriatic, holding a monopoly on trade with the tribes there, were suddenly in danger. by 300 b. e. ( 307 b. c. ), it was said that no honest merchant dared enter that sea without the protection of an army. while the description seems somewhat melodramatic, it isn ’ t entirely inaccurate. it should be noted that whenever a large greek army crossed


c. ), it was said that no honest merchant dared enter that sea without the protection of an army. while the description seems somewhat melodramatic, it isn ’ t entirely inaccurate. it should be noted that whenever a large greek army crossed the adriatic into italia, or moved north into illyria ( both of which would happen on multiple occasions in the coming centuries ), merchants would be on their heels. but the greeks weren ’ t the only ones suffering a sudden increase of piracy in the once relatively calm seas. carthaginian ships were again targeted in the tyrrhenian sea. ligures, the latino - senone etrusci, celts from the north, and even the occasional greek ship ( which were becoming more and more rare in italia, with more and more greek settlements falling to samnite control every year ) made sailing in the western mediterranean treacherous. however, the problem evolved to the next stage of violence in 309 b. e. ( 316 b. c. ), when a small fleet of etrusci raided and sacked olbia, a carthaginian port - city in northern sardinia. some historians hypothesize that the increasingly dangerous sailing in the mediterranean contributed to cathage ’ s increased centralization in coming years. the need for stability and strength soon became an asset that carthage saw could lend them access to further trade and influence, a fact which the carthaginians surely saw proven by the relatively peaceful aegean sea, which was firmly under the centralized control of makedonia. it ’ s the seemingly unimportant events of history, after all, that really do change everything. think of a giant canoe filled with iron - age barbarians chapter four : the early hellenistic period part seven : my friends call me m. p. for short the battlefield smelled just as bad as the last, and gavius pontius could already see squawking buzzards descending on the glistening corpses ( both from the sheen of their armor and the brightness of their blood ). in the distance he could see a cloud of dust, the retreating tarantine army. pontius had, again, lost a small fraction of his samnite army, crushing the hellenes, and forcing, battle after bloody battle, closer to the walls of their city. “ if not for the rotting greek corpses, i could almost smell the salt of the sea in the air, ” lamponius, the lucanian meddix, grunted as he approached, and took off his feathered helmet


of their city. “ if not for the rotting greek corpses, i could almost smell the salt of the sea in the air, ” lamponius, the lucanian meddix, grunted as he approached, and took off his feathered helmet. “ we are so close to the city. ” pontius ’ brown eyes scoured the field, and his nose curled with the stench. no matter how familiar the smell after a battle was, an unholy mix of rotting flesh, shit, sweat, and urine, and blood, he never did really get used to it. he gripped the pommel of his sword, knowing full - well that he would likely make the same scowl he donned now many more times before the end. “ we ’ ve been this close before, ” pontius said. “ the greeks are a clever folk, we should not wait for them to call on their friends across the sea. ” “ but the men are tired. ” “ it was my father ’ s advice that we run them down while we can, ” pontius gave lamponius a scathing look, “ and it is his advice that i will take. ” the lucanian meddix nodded. he knew very well to agree with pontius, the greatest military man in all of italia. the man fell back, and gave the order. the samnite, lucanian, and bruttian armies made ready to march. trumpets sounded, drums pounded, and a deep, earth - shaking chorus of male voices — they were in pursuit. pontius knelt down to the ground, and picked up a small stone. it was black and smooth, likely a river - stone shot by a slinger. he took out his knife, and quickly carved a small passage onto it : “ here at mateola was fought a great battle. victory to the safineis led by m. p. ” an example of oscan writing when word reached taras of their defeat at mateola in 312 b. e. ( 319 b. c. ), only a days march from their city, the city was in chaos, utter chaos. there was little in the way of defense, and after a brief siege, the samnites under meddix gavius pontius took the city, affectively ending greek political control of southern italia. the ramifications of this loss to the greek world were deeply felt in almost every way : economically, emotionally, psychologically, and politically. since the death of alexandros i


the city, affectively ending greek political control of southern italia. the ramifications of this loss to the greek world were deeply felt in almost every way : economically, emotionally, psychologically, and politically. since the death of alexandros i of epiros, the samnites had carved out a strong foothold in central italia, pacifying and absorbing several of the tribes to their north, including the sabines, marci, and hernici. only a few small tribes were left ( some as buffers, some were simply lucky ) between the growing samnite federation and the senone kingdoms to the north. through increasingly intimate political bonds, the lucanians and bruttians, though independent, became even more influenced by the samnites to the point that they seemed to be simply an extension of the samnite body. and now the samnite body had its eyes set on the remaining greek city - states to the south, those that still existed. while the makedonians warred over who would be their ruler, the samnites and lucanians moved in on the messappian tribes in the southeast. they were quickly subdued, and in 314 b. e. ( 321 b. c. ) they moved in on the now surrounded city - states of magna graecia. metapontion asked for immediate aid from their neighbor, taras, which, upon further inspection, was not the wisest of decisions because of taras ’ current frailty. but taras responded with an army of mercenaries and hoplites ready to do battle with the invading tribes. one humiliating defeat later, and a massive army of samnites, lucanians, and bruttians were outside the city of taras, and this time, there would be no turning back. the swift, more mobile italian armies caught up to the retreating greeks, and as the greeks pushed their way through the gates of taras, desperately trying to escape their certain demise. the city was forced to close its gates on its own army, leaving hundreds, perhaps thousands of men to be slaughtered. as mentioned earlier, the siege was brief, and meddix gavius pontius personally lead the charge into the city, sweeping through the streets like a flood. it was around this point that the greek world went absolutely ape - shit. the oligarchy in syracuse quickly took firm control over rhegion in an attempt to ensure a halt to the swelling samnite menace and to prevent a possible invasion of


was around this point that the greek world went absolutely ape - shit. the oligarchy in syracuse quickly took firm control over rhegion in an attempt to ensure a halt to the swelling samnite menace and to prevent a possible invasion of sicily ( a very real fear ). the tarantines, particularly a merchant and aristocrat named dionysius, in exile pleaded to the makedonian queen kynane and regent philotas to send aid and relieve their city from the clutched of these barbarians. the makedonians willingly agreed, but due to another war with sparta, led by agis iii, they were unable to send their entire force. instead, one of the queen ’ s favored generals, seleukos, was sent with an army of 30, 000 men and 2, 000 cavalry to oust the samnites and to place dionysius as the new king of taras. seleukos arrived in italia in 311 b. e. ( 318 b. c. ) at heraclea, which at the time was barely managing to keep its head above water ( metaphorically of course ). it was a show down the likes of which had not been seen in italia. meddix gavius pontius, hero of the samnite federation, versus seleukos, one of the greatest generals of makedonia. indeed, the bards would sing of this tale for ages to come. in otl during the 2nd samnite war, pontius reportedly asked his father for advice about the fate of a roman army he had captured. his father said either to kill the entire army, thus destroying the enemy, or to give them back their weapons and make friends with the romans. pontius did neither, choosing to disarm the roman army, thus humiliating them, and force them to march back to rome in shame. this resulted in an angered rome with all the same manpower. ittl pontius heeds the advice of his father with more enthusiasm. chapter four : the early hellenistic period part eight : you can ’ t win ‘ em all seleukos landed with his army of thirty thousand in the spring of 311 b. e. ( 318 b. c. ) in the still independent city of heraklea. seleukos wasted no time and minced no words. heraklea was now under the protection of makedonia under the rule of the basilissa kynane and her regent philotas. there was little protest


heraklea. seleukos wasted no time and minced no words. heraklea was now under the protection of makedonia under the rule of the basilissa kynane and her regent philotas. there was little protest, the victimized greek colonies were simply eager for an ounce of protection against the native tribes. seleukos ’ invasion of magna graecia was largely successful. with superior siege weapons and the support of the greeks living within each city he liberated, ousting his enemies from the coastal cities wasn ’ t altogether a difficult feat. thurii, siris, metapontion, croton, and taras were all abandoned by the lucani - brutti - samnite alliance by the end of the year, and without a fight. seleukos, perhaps, became overly confident due to this lack of resistance. he is quoted as having said, “ with [ italia ] inhabited so thickly with cowards, it ’ s a wonder that so many greeks have died upon it. ” in 310 b. e. ( 317 b. c. ) seleukos, having firmly secured the lands around the gulf of taras moved to directly remove the italian threat. he marched his army, with the addition of some 10, 000 greek colonists, into bruttium. the mountainous interior proved difficult for the makedonian phalanx to maneuver through, and when they finally met the bruttian army near cosentia, they took heavy losses, but still managed to overwhelm the enemy. seleukos spent the next few months pacifying the small area, which proved to almost be more trouble than it was worth. just when he thought he had finally put the bruttians beneath his boot, another army would appear from the hills, with increasing help from the lucanians and samnites. it was not until the scorpion had risen in the night sky that he actually met the full barbarian force he was supposed to be fighting. apparently, upon hearing news of the massive greek army, a certain meddix pontius had spent the past year rallying the support of all the tribes under samnite rule and influence. of course the lucanians and bruttians were game ( they had the most to lose, after all ), but it took some convincing to make ( for example ) the sabines or the ausones to march an army south to fight off the makedonians. seleukos was unaware of


( they had the most to lose, after all ), but it took some convincing to make ( for example ) the sabines or the ausones to march an army south to fight off the makedonians. seleukos was unaware of the movements of the tribes to his north, however, and marched to capture the greek colony of pixunte, deep within lucanian territory. near the head of the siris river, seleukos could hear the approach of war - drums. deep and earth shaking, they were accompanied by the howls of trumpets. the ensuing battle was a bloody one. the samnite battle - formation, especially designed for the steep hills and mountains of the region, easily out maneuvered seleukos, but the makedonian still had numbers on his side, with an army almost double the size of his adversary. after loosing a reported 2, 000 men ( a conservative estimate ), the makedonians managed to push the italians into a retreat. the army disappeared into the hills just as swiftly as they had appeared. seleukos must have known that he was not chasing them, but rather, that they were chasing him, because he ordered that his veterans take the rear of the column as they made their way towards pixunte. upon reaching the colony, the shouts and screams of dying men rose from the rear of the greek column. seleukos, the talented general that he was, managed to take control in the chaos and rallied the greeks into phalanx formation. but by the time this was achieved, gavius pontius and the armies under his command had slipped away yet again. contemporary samnite literature does not speak much on the strategy and tactics of meddix pontius, but later sources claim that pontius, cunning as he was, knew that the “ burnt men ” were too many, and that meeting them outright in battle would not lead to victory, so instead he intended to harry and whittle away the makedonian force until it was small and weak enough to be crushed in battle. regardless, seleukos garrisoned the colony, and continued along, this time to retake poseidonia. the year was 309 b. e. ( 316 b. c. ), two years since seleukos landed in heraklea, and it appeared he had finally struck a nerve. poseidonia had been conquered by the lucanians generations ago, and it is known that within the city the lucan


c. ), two years since seleukos landed in heraklea, and it appeared he had finally struck a nerve. poseidonia had been conquered by the lucanians generations ago, and it is known that within the city the lucanians and greeks were able to coexist quite well. according to samnite sources, one of the lucanian general ’ s family lived within the city. in the dead of night, he took his men and abandoned the rest of the army to defend the city from seleukos. the result was slaughter for the lucanians. seleukos could now say he had a solid victory beneath his belt in italia, and now gavius pontius was suddenly a few thousand men short. demanding revenge, pontius was unable to resist his generals and allies. much to pontius ’ chagrin, he met seleukos in battle. outside the lucanian town of tegianum, the italians and the greeks fought. little is known about the details of the battle. what is known is that seleukos took heavy losses, but was ultimately able to overwhelm the italian tribes. he surrounded the lucanian body, capturing their meddix. the entire bruttian force was killed save for sixteen men who escaped with the majority of the samnite army. in the aftermath, seleukos ensured the surrender of the lucanians and the bruttians. however, he had not defeated the samnites, nor would he ever. for another three months, his army chased after a ghost army that would attack at night and disappear into the shadows, an army that was simultaneously being chased and was on the chase. tired of it, seleukos turned his attention the messappia, a strip of coastline along the eastern side of the “ heel ” of italia. a few samnite settlements were in the region, and the messappian tribes ( believed to be descended from illyrian colonists ) were weak. by the end of the year, he had secured most of magna graecia … but there was still that whole samnite issue. well, it seams that the samnites were willing to solve that one for him. in 308 b. e. ( 315 b. c. ) a peace envoy reached seleukos. the terms were simple : no more war. there would be no transfer of wealth, no transfer of land, no hostages, nothing. while it was unorthodox,


315 b. c. ) a peace envoy reached seleukos. the terms were simple : no more war. there would be no transfer of wealth, no transfer of land, no hostages, nothing. while it was unorthodox, there had been no clear victor between the makedonians and samnites, and seleukos didn ’ t exactly plan on spending the rest of his days patrolling the frontier to keep out samnite armies. a treaty was signed, and the war was over. to commemorate the military expedition, seleukos had the colony of callipolis renamed seleukia. kynane, pleased with the success he had with pacifying the region, named him viceroy of magna graecia. the first possibly recorded instance of a slur against the greeks, the samnites called them burnt men. why is unknown, but theories range from the sun being the emblem of makedonia, to that the greeks were slightly darker than the samnites, and thus looked like they were burned. judging by his exploits in the second samnite war, it is fair to say that pontius had some amount of capability in guerilla warfare. chapter four : the early hellenistic period part nine : the critic the hall of pellas fell silent, and all eyes landed on philotas, who stared with the kind of look that would make a wise man shrink away, perhaps into the shadow of on of the high marble columns that flanked the hall. the laughter and merry conversation of the court cut off and was replaced by a heavy quiet. the nobles clenched their robes and took quiet breaths. the air turned tense, but basilissa kynane seemed not to mind much as she continued to eat her dinner. she brushed her curled silver hair from her face and cheerily popped an olive into her mouth before taking a sip from dionysus ’ drink. “ i named him viceroy of magna graecia, ” she said, licking wine from her lips. her illyrian accent made her speech guttural and swift, yet she still had the grace to speak koine with ease. “ and why would you do that? ” philotas growled. “ we now control the italiote cities, we hold monopoly over all shipping in the ionian sea, and it is all thanks to seleukos, ” she said fondly. “ if anyone deserves the position, it is him. he fought many a - battle to win that territory, and i


over all shipping in the ionian sea, and it is all thanks to seleukos, ” she said fondly. “ if anyone deserves the position, it is him. he fought many a - battle to win that territory, and i trust him to govern it well. ” “ with all due respect, queen of queens, ” philotas gritted his teeth, “ your brother, whom i served under against the persians, conquered five times that much territory in just as much time. we are at war with the hellenes to our south, pirates and corsairs lurk in every corner of poseidon ’ s realm, barbarians are at our doorstep, and you have rewarded seleukos for his squandering of men and incapable leadership?! ” though kynane certainly had aged since taking the thrown, she was still younger than her son - in - law. his beard had turned white, and his skin had begun to look like leather as he surpassed his sixtieth summer. his face shook when he spoke, and something about him came off like he thought he was something grand. though kynane was fond of her son - in - law ( he had always been a loyal ally ), philotas was never made of quite the right stuff to be a part of courtly life, and, what ’ s more, she thought he knew it. why else would he try so desperately to make it seem like he did. “ i hardly think that is fair, ” kynane looked up sternly. “ my brother - in - law, alexandros basileus of epiros was killed fighting the very people seleukos has conquered, and he did so with an army just as large and just as competent. ” “ if i may, ” euridike spoke up, her voice quiet yet strong. she cradled her pregnant belly, and stepped forward. this would be the third child she was expecting, and something about motherhood had made her wiser, more eager to play a part in the politics of makedonia. “ i have to agree with my husband. seleukos was sitting like a swine at the wallow for two years trying to subdue a single tribe whose territory is no greater than attica. ” “ and how long have we been trying to subdue attica, euridike? ” kynane shot back. euridike bowed her head, and kept silent. “ seleukos is viceroy of our it


attica. ” “ and how long have we been trying to subdue attica, euridike? ” kynane shot back. euridike bowed her head, and kept silent. “ seleukos is viceroy of our italiote holdings, and that is that, ” kynane said with finality. begrudgingly, philotas held his tongue, but he also held his opinion. while we do not know exactly why illyrians would have sounded like, from what we do know, the language seemed to be quite guttural. if albanian is the supposed descendant of such languages, that would be only a hint as to how the illyrians would have sounded. eurydice and philotas have had a son and a daughter by now. the son, who is six years old, is named orestes, and the daughter is named europa. she is four years old. they are expecting another child in two months, who will be another boy. they will name him pausanias. chapter four : the early hellenistic period part ten : a very busy time the leuxid dynasty of etruscana was had a very busy thirty years. upon word that the former king of veo, tarvos, had been killed at the battle of issos, the seno - etruscans no longer had any possible political rivals … except for those bastards to the north who still claimed to be the one true senonirix. dubiepos, who had ruled sena and perusia for decades finally died in 327 b. e. ( 334 b. c. ), which left much of his territory vulnerable. leux i quickly gathered his army and marched up the tiber, even taking perusia. he then moved west, and defeated the senone kingdom of fufluna in battle. he then proceeded to take fufluna. leux ’ s so - called etruscans had finally taken all of the land once known as mexl rasnal. dubiepos ’ successor, isarnogutus was forced to abdicate his power in perusia to leux, but managed to make a treaty allowing him to retain control of sena and the senone territories held along the adriatic. this, along with continued influence from the liburnians and other illyrian tribes across the waters, is perhaps what isarnogutus made an official policy of piracy in the adriatic, and began building ships based off the illyrian model. celtic culture


along with continued influence from the liburnians and other illyrian tribes across the waters, is perhaps what isarnogutus made an official policy of piracy in the adriatic, and began building ships based off the illyrian model. celtic culture continued to flourish in the region, however written histories are scarce. no major political shifts seemed to have occurred after this until the end of the century. with tensions running high on sicily as syracuse and carthage continue to vie for control of the island ( as they had for hundreds of years, now ), the syracusian polis elected a corinthian man named acestorides in 313 b. e. ( 320 b. c. ) and was able to banish the tyrant agathocles. this was the second time agathocles was exiled from the city, and it was the second time the oligarchy was restored. a year later, acestorides left, and was replaced by sostratus. sostratus, it seamed, was not nearly so strong a leader, and in 310 b. e. he was unable to resist the return of agathocles, who arrived in syracuse with a huge army of mercenaries. agathocles stormed syracuse, displacing some ten thousand people ( either through slaughter or exile ). when agathocles returned, however, he swore to follow the democratic constitution of syracuse which had been set up for governance of the city. over the following five years, agathocles consolidated his hold over syracuse and remade the syracusian army and navy into a force to be reckoned with. he subdued most of the island of sicily. using fear to drive his political power, agathocles continuously warned of the forces looking to seize syracusian control of sicily : carthage, makedonia, and safinim, each looking to take away the democratic life that the greeks of syracuse enjoyed. but agathocles ’ expansion and conquest of sicily, the western tip of which was firmly under carthaginian control, could not continue to go unchecked. syracuse declared war on carthage in 304 b. e. ( 311 b. c. ) when agathocles attacked and laid siege to the carthage - controlled city of akragas, officially breaching the treaty after the second sicilian war. in response, the carthaginian council of elders sent hamilcar, son of gisco to lead the counter - offensive with an army of 40, 000


city of akragas, officially breaching the treaty after the second sicilian war. in response, the carthaginian council of elders sent hamilcar, son of gisco to lead the counter - offensive with an army of 40, 000 infantry, 1, 000 slingers, and 5, 000 cavalrymen to defeat agathocles. so started the third sicilian war. hamilcar, son of gisco, quickly relieved the city of akragas, and forced agathocles ’ forces to retreat. the carthaginians soon had the syracusians on the ropes, defeating agathocles at the battle of himera, and a year later in 303 b. e. ( 310 b. c. ), hamilcar had seized control of almost the entire island and laid siege to syracuse itself, with a distraught agathocles stuck inside. but agathocles would not be captured, nor would his city. he had a plan : a wild, insane plan. it was a gamble, but if the gods were on his side, it would work. hellas and makedonia : war broke out again between makedonia and the hellenes in 313 b. e. ( 320 b. c. ) when sparta, under the leadership of agis iii sent an armada to “ liberate ” the island of rhodes. other hellenic cities quickly joined the band - wagon, and began sending armies and fleets to take nearby makedonian held territory that they clamed did not belong to makedonia ( that land of barbarians ruled by their illyrian queen!!! ), but to their polis instead. athens was quick to seize euboea, and the cyclades. the aetolian league built a fleet with the purpose of taking the ionian islands ( specifically ithaka, lefkada, kefallonia, and zakynthos ) from the makedonians. in the meantime, thessalians, phocians, and locrians all sent armies north to push back the makedonian border. the war that followed was long and bloody. makedonia was still recovering from its civil war, and with so many enemies at its farthest frontiers, the kingdom could only really gather troops from makedonia, thrace, and the aegean. an army led by the makedonian general demetrios was sent south to relieve the makedonian city of phila from the thessalian army laying


could only really gather troops from makedonia, thrace, and the aegean. an army led by the makedonian general demetrios was sent south to relieve the makedonian city of phila from the thessalian army laying siege to it. his army, some 30, 000 strong, managed to push back the thessalians, but demetrios himself was killed in the battle. the makedonians could do almost nothing about losing their holdings in the ionian islands. having lost their holdings along the adriatic to illyrians during their civil war ( what seemed like a minor detail in the grander scheme of things ), they were unable to send a fleet to retake the islands. what fleets they did have to spare were entangled in naval battles throughout the aegean. with athenian and spartan ships lurking behind every island, the makedonians could hardly do anything. sparta held firm control over crete, and now that athens controlled euboea and the cyclades, the makedonian navy, under the leadership of eumenes, was in disarray. finally, in 311 b. e ( 318 b. c. ), the spartans and athenians defeated the makedonian navy at the battle of astypalaia, between the cyclades and rhodes. agis iii annexed the island of rhodes to the growing spartan hegemony the following year. at this point, the makedonians decided that enough was enough. philotas, belakros, and nikanor ( makedonia ’ s best generals at the time ) each raised massive armies with the intent of finally subduing the hellene thorn in makedonia ’ s side. nikanor and belakros marched down the east and west coasts of hellas respectively. they planned to meet each other and philotas in corinth, that is, after philotas retook rhodes and dealt a crippling defeat to the spartan military. however, due to intense tempests, philotas was forced to delay his expedition. but when he left, the makedonian navy, in all its grandeur set out to squash its southern enemies. the three pronged attack had initial success. thessaly was subdued, and nikanor was able to defeat the aetolian league in battle. philotas was able to oust the spartans from rhodes. philotas then made way to seize crete, where he was resoundingly defeated. nikanor was defeated in doris


raids proved only to be the beginning of a long, arduous series of wars between the two nations which would mostly be fought over the seas. in the meantime, relations with seleukos and philotas withered into death. philotas, claiming that seleukos was negligent in his duties, tried to replace him with his brother nikanor. and so, when seleukos refused to step down, nikanor was sent over with an army in 304 b. e. ( 311 b. c. ), causing seleukos to title himself basileus of italion. that same year, nikanor was defeated, captured, and executed. a year later, in 303 b. e. ( 310 b. c. ) philotas died of old age. his brief, though eventful reign came to an end, and he was succeeded by his son, orestes ii of makedonia. eurydike would serve as regent for the next few years until her son matured to the age of a man. a treaty was signed between orestes ii and seleukos i, which solidified his control of the italiote kingdom. pharaoh mazaces i was, should we say, quite distraught when he heard that a series of rebellions had popped up across egypt, and, what ’ s worse, they had crowned a new pharaoh : some man from upper egypt by the name of nectanebo. the year was 315 b. e. ( 322 b. c. ), and mazaces had ruled egypt in some peace for a decade or so. well, at least he thought it was peaceful. on the contrary, libyan barbarians had been raiding from the west, and this nectanebo fellow, who claimed to be the son of nectanebo ii, the last egyptian pharaoh from, well, you know, egypt, had been gaining some real support in nubia and upper egypt. so what if he was actually able to defend the egyptian people from libyan raiders! mazaces could do that! couldn ’ t he? there was a light rapping on his door. “ come in, ” mazaces burped. it was then that the door busted open. men covered in strange armor stormed into the room, mazaces ’ servant dragged at the head of them, terror scrawled across his face. “ what is this? ” mazaces squealed. “ they ’ re greeks,


busted open. men covered in strange armor stormed into the room, mazaces ’ servant dragged at the head of them, terror scrawled across his face. “ what is this? ” mazaces squealed. “ they ’ re greeks, your holiness, your brilliance, your — “ one of the soldiers dispatched the servant with a swift thrust of his spear. the greek leader, such a gallant fellow, mazaces thought, spoke in accented persian : “ in the name of nectanebo, son of the sun and holder of both lands, we claim the city of memphis. ” “ well, that ’ s nice, ” mazaces said stupidly just before being thrown out the window. and so, with the help of a few greek mercenaries, the 33rd dynasty came to power, and nectanebo iii began his reign. one could only imagine what hamilcar must have thought when he saw the syracusian ships cutting through the water at full speed towards his blockade. surely, agathocles had gone completely mad! the carthaginian ships outnumbered and out - manned anything that the tyrant of syracuse could possibly muster. now, the real question is : could one even attempt to imagine what hamilcar must have thought when agathocles ’ ships broke the blockade and continued their route south? madness, indeed. agathoclese landed in libya in 303 b. e. ( 310 b. c. ) with an army of some 14, 000 men. it was a small army, but a small army that would prove tough for the carthaginians to defeat. hamilcar was forced to end his siege of syracuse and send back most of his army to libya in order to defend his homeland, which was scrambling to figure out how to deal with this assault. hamilcar and his army arrived, and with the help of two other carthaginian generals, hanno and hamilcar ’ s brother bomilcar, marched to oust agathocles from their homeland. little is known of the details of the battle that followed, but somehow agathocles ’ forces managed to completely overwhelm the carthaginians. hanno was slain in the fray, and hamilcar was captured. seeing that his fellow commanders were dead and captured respectively, bomilcar called for a retreat to carthage. agathocles ’ army followed, and was soon in front of the high stone walls of carthage. try as he might,


captured. seeing that his fellow commanders were dead and captured respectively, bomilcar called for a retreat to carthage. agathocles ’ army followed, and was soon in front of the high stone walls of carthage. try as he might, agathocles could not break into the city. on a hot summer day, trumpets sounded, and an ostentatious presentation made its way to the walls of carthage. the guards and sentries atop the ramparts averted their eyes, and prayed to ba ’ al when they saw who agathocles had dragged in chains in front of the city. bomilcar himself was quickly called to see his brother. beaten, naked, and bound, hamilcar, son of gisco, could barely stand. the greeks had shaved off his beard and had flayed much of the skin off his back. burns glistened in the hot sun, and the sand in the wind undoubtedly caused a great deal off pain to his already painful wounds. agathocles prowled around his prisoner like a fat lion, his silver mane billowing in the wind. he shouted up to the ramparts that carthage needed to learn humility, that the city had grown too big and that it needed to understand that agathocles, and agathocles alone would rule syracuse. as he said this, he took a flail from one of his entourage and began to beat hamilcar with it. hamilcar took the beating silently at first, but soon his pride gave out, and he began to scream in agony, agony that, according to legend, was heard even in by the council of elders that day, who did nothing in their capitol. agathocles continued to torture hamilcar in front of the carthaginians. he took a knife and began cutting off hamilcar ’ s fingers and toes, and then he castrated hamilcar and threw his bloody testicles into the dust with a demonic howl of anger. he gouged out hamilcar ’ s eyes with his bare hands, slashed his knife across hamilcar ’ s face. after an entire day of torture, hamilcar was barely alive when agathocles gave the command, and a burly greek stepped forward with a club and smashed hamilcar ’ s skull. agathocles may have meant to intimidate the carthaginians with this display, but it only stiffened the city ’ s resolve, and agathocles was


stepped forward with a club and smashed hamilcar ’ s skull. agathocles may have meant to intimidate the carthaginians with this display, but it only stiffened the city ’ s resolve, and agathocles was unable to take the city. instead, his forces continued north, and seized control of the territories along the coast. for two years, agathocles harassed punic forces and raided the carthaginian coastline. bomilcar, the last surviving carthaginian commander, was elected malik by the council of elders, but was, however, still subservient to them. piracy, particularly greek piracy, made it difficult for reinforcements to arrive from sicily or i - shfania. it was in this turmoil that bomilcar, with the assistance of 500 citizens and an army of mercenaries marched on the capitol, planning to re - establish the carthaginian malikdom, and forced the council of elders to swear fealty to bomilcar ( the opposite of the current relationship ). in the night, they marched with torches and shimmering blades. the council of elders gathered a small army, themselves, and attempted to convince bomilcar ’ s allies to jump ship, that if they gave up bomilcar, they would be pardoned. this almost worked, but one citizen of carthage, mago, son of hanno, was quick to point out that it was bomilcar who fought agathocles, who saw his comrades die at the hands of the greeks, not the council of elders. fighting soon broke out and the city streets were filled with the sounds of battle. for hours, the fighting was caught in a brutal stalemate, but as the inhabitants of carthage came out on the streets to join bomilcar, who had their support as the lone savior of carthage, the tide began to turn against the council of elders. bomilcar, atop a grey horse, rode up the capitol and began lopping off the heads of any elder who would not bow before him. in the morning, the aristocratic council of elders were either dead or groveling at the feet of bomilcar i, malik and judge of carthage. a year later, in 300 b. e. ( 307 b. c. ) after consolidating and ensuring his control over carthage and all carthage - held lands, bomilcar i gathered a force to finally oust agathocles from libya. bo


300 b. e. ( 307 b. c. ) after consolidating and ensuring his control over carthage and all carthage - held lands, bomilcar i gathered a force to finally oust agathocles from libya. bomilcar crushed agathocles, who fled back to syracuse with his tale between his legs. defeated, agathocles barely managed to negotiate peace and retained control of the city of syracuse ; however, he lost almost all political control of sicily to carthage. gaulish for “ voice of iron ” this is complete bullshit considering the fact that agathocles was a tyrant, and that carthage and safinim both at this time practiced government resembling republican democracy. the same name of the last pharaoh of the 30th dynasty, the last native dynasty, which was deposed by the persians about twenty years ago. the continent of africa in general was referred to as libya. spain : punic for land of the hare or possibly land of the hyrax the carthaginians were famous for the quality of their horses. suffet, the position often held by carthaginian military leaders, meant judge. this is a very similar position to the biblical judges of the israelites. chapter four : the early hellenistic period part eleven : the part that takes place later, silly aedono sighed as he turned yet another page. the air in the library was dusty and smelled like mold, and as much as he loved the place, he really didn ’ t want to be there right now. but what else was he going to do, he had to study for, you guessed it, history. but at this point, all of the names and dates were beginning to blurr together. there was something about a makedonian king getting his head cut off. at least that much stood out. “ ugh, ” he grunted, and slammed his forehead onto the oak desk. he then recoiled, which tends to happen when you slam your face onto a hard surface, with a hiss of pain. it was then that he heard it. a soft giggling danced into his ears. aedono looked up, and saw her : a beautiful girl with raven - black hair. she was looking up at him from a book entitled : the culinary traditions of winedovrikag. aedono smiled back at her, but them — oh no … oh no! she was walking towards him. aedono went about making sure his breath didn ’ t smell bad, that his hair


culinary traditions of winedovrikag. aedono smiled back at her, but them — oh no … oh no! she was walking towards him. aedono went about making sure his breath didn ’ t smell bad, that his hair had been washed, that … oh no, he forgot to put on cologne! fuck, she is going to think he is such a loser … “ what ’ re you reading there? ” she asked. she had an accent aedono could not quite place, but he was halfway certain she was isevanyan, and if that were true, aedono was either the luckiest or most unfortunate man on the face of the earth. “ i ’ m just studying for a class i ’ m taking on antiquity, ” aedono managed to say. “ that sounds interesting, ” she said, her tongue rolling off the tip of her lips every time she made a lambda sound. “ only after the first few hours of it. ” that made her laugh, and what a laugh it was. if sound could produce light, aedono was almost positive her laugh could : “ well i was just studying some, er, exotic cooking practices, ” she said, tapping the cover to the book now resting in her arms. “ my name is naomiash. ” she placed her well - manicured fingers delicately on aedono ’ s wrist. “ aedono, ” he said, reciprocating the action. “ that name, ” naomiash said, “ that is not a tuscoian name, is it? ” “ no, ” aedono said. he could feel his heart rate move faster. it was moments like this when he would silently curse the land of his fathers for birthing him. “ oh, ” she said, delighted, “ so you, too, are a student from afar. ” damn, it was cute to watch her struggle with the language, he couldn ’ t help but think. “ but you have no accent! your tuscoian is beautiful! ” “ thanks, ” he blushed a little bit. “ well, er, i have to go, but it was nice meeting you, ” naomiash said. “ i would like to see you again. ” “ yeah, me too. ” she began to walk away. aedono couldn ’ t help but stare at her, the way her purple and blue cotton dress flowed over her body, the way if he imagined just right, you could see her figure


yeah, me too. ” she began to walk away. aedono couldn ’ t help but stare at her, the way her purple and blue cotton dress flowed over her body, the way if he imagined just right, you could see her figure unveiled and the shape of her plump … oh what the hell! “ hey, ” aedono said. she turned around, her black hair wafting the scent of her perfume his way. not fair, he thought. “ i have to finish my studies, but you want to have dinner tonight? ” she smiled in a crooked way that made her look a little mischievous, the smile one might see on a nymph. “ alright, sure. i am staying at the inn down the street, meet me there. ” “ great, ” aedono said, with maybe a bit too much of a sigh. his nerves were getting the best of him. “ i ’ ll see you tonight. ” then she was gone. aedono looked down. it was a damn good thing he had a desk in front of him the whole time … a girl reading a cookbook about a far off cuisine no one here could guess is from!?!? what is this tomfoolery! ( by the way, winedovrikag is a place located in what is otl maine and is inhabited by a people who are known as the winedo, which sounds like veneti. but which veneti?!?!?! ) derived from the punic ishfania, which was their name for hispania. lambda, for those who don ’ t know, is the greek letter l, and also, for those who noticed that she has yet to make that sound, remember, they aren ’ t really speaking english. the weighted scales : a world of an aborted rome apparently it ' s the best ancient tl of 2011. oh baby! last edited by errnge ; july 31st, 2012 at 06 : 59 pm.. the weighted scales : the world of an aborted rome chapter five : to live and die by fire part one : the not - makedonian greeks though things might have looked bad for agathocles and his realm in syracuse after his long and drawn out war with carthage, things actually weren ’ t that bad, all things considered. because of his daring and violent invasion of the carthaginian coast, he had not only caused political tumult across the sea, but he had also shown


out war with carthage, things actually weren ’ t that bad, all things considered. because of his daring and violent invasion of the carthaginian coast, he had not only caused political tumult across the sea, but he had also shown the world that he, agathocles, who now took on the title of king of sicily ( although he ruled only a small area of the island ) was a man with whom to be reckoned. though times proved to be tough, agathocles was a respected ruler. the two sons he had from his first wife, archagathus and agathocles, were murdered in 300 b. e. ( 307 b. c. ). from his second wife, he had a single daughter named lanassa, his only surviving child. looking for allies, and as well as an heir to his throne, he married her to into the royal family of sicily ’ s closest greek neighbor, the seleukid dynasty of italion in 287 b. e. ( 294 b. c. ). seleukus ’ son and heir, antiochos was a strong military man born of makedonian stock. he was respected in his father ’ s kingdom for repelling multiple attacks from the barbarian samnites to the north. some speculate that it was by his behest that agathocles was poisoned four years later, while others insist it happened from a fever in 283 b. e ( 290 b. c. ). these rumors sparked a brief resistance to antiochos ’ rule there. for a few months, syracusian democracy was restored, but with the help of his father ’ s army, antiochos was able to enforce his rule of syracuse, officially joining the territories of syracuse with that of the basileus ton italion. antiochos was the king of sicily ( as styled by agathocles before him ), and would inherit the kingdom of italion after his father died. meanwhile, across the adriatic in the kingdom of epiros, the past thirty years had been relatively stable after the death of their great king alexandros i. for years, his wife kleopatra ruled as queen regent until their son neoptolemos came to age. but though epiros was stable, it was not without its complications during this period. while kleopatra ruled, she was in constant worry about the exiled king arybbas of epiros, who had co - ruled with her late


though epiros was stable, it was not without its complications during this period. while kleopatra ruled, she was in constant worry about the exiled king arybbas of epiros, who had co - ruled with her late husband until 336 b. e. ( 343 b. c. ) when philip ii of makedonia exiled him and made alexandros i the sole ruler. in the meantime, arybbas had been living in hellas. after alexandros i was slain in battle with the italian barbarians, to ease the dynastic tensions, the co - kingship was re - established, and arybbas ’ son aiakides ruled ( presumably alongside neoptolemos and kleopatra ). kleopatra was integral in bringing about the epirote assistance of kynane i of makedonia ’ s claim to the throne during the makedonian civil war. aiakides bore an heir named pyrros in 312 b. e. ( 319 b. c. ). pyrros has actually been a potential husband to agathocles ’ daughter larassa. the looming threat with arybbas was again completely snuffed out when arybbas got himself killed while fighting against the makedonians the first hellenic war in which he had been a commander in the thessalian army. speaking of the hellenes, the spartan king ariston ii sent a fleet to kyrene in 285 b. e. ( 292 b. c. ) after receiving a plead for assistance from the kryenian republic against an egyptian invasion ordered by the newly crowned nectanebo iii. well, upon his arrival, he did repel a somewhat small invasive force from egypt, but then asserted that kyrene was officially under the protection of sparta, and thus all but nominally made the region part of the revived spartan power. back in hellas, there was growing concern, even amongst sparta ’ s allies about this sudden upswing in spartan influence, but they dared not turn on their laconic brethren and expose a possible weakness for basileus ton basilion orestes ii of makedonia to exploit … well, that is, while he still had the power to do so. otl, agathocles had two more children from a third wife, who was of the ptolemy dynasty. with no such dynasty, there was no such marriage, and no such children. not the antiochus from otl. antiochus


. otl, agathocles had two more children from a third wife, who was of the ptolemy dynasty. with no such dynasty, there was no such marriage, and no such children. not the antiochus from otl. antiochus of otl had a persian mother, whereas this one has a macedonian mother ( seleucus was never in persia ittl ). he would likely retain the same name because antiochus was, in turn, the name of seleucus ’ father. without cassander ’ s meddling in the nation, epirote dynastic succession is significantly less confusing that otl. aeacides isn ’ t driven out with his baby boy pyrrhus, who was also banished during his reign by cassander, during which time neoptolemus ii of epirus ruled as a macedonian puppet for five years until pyrrhus had him murdered. all the while, otl, random members of the molossian clan seem to have taken power, and have power taken away from them, only to show back up with an army and retake power again … yeah, all of that was avoided with an earlier death of cassander and even more so by an earlier death of alexander. otl, the two were actually briefly married. the greek political world just seems like such a small place sometimes. chapter five : to live and die by fire part two : the sons of war as we all should know, history does not occur in a vacuum. every cause has an affect, and with the rise and fall of king agathocles of sicily came a wildcard to the game being played over the island of sicily. hired as mercenaries by agathocles to fight against the carthaginians, a group of campevan samnite warriors sailed south to a new land filled with opportunity. these italian warriors, after having fought loyally in agathocles ’ war against carthage, were distinguished for their courage and ruthlessness in battle. when the war was over, like many of agathocles ’ mercenaries, they were recalled to sicily, where they opted to stay, as opposed to returning home. it seems they found something very appealing about staying on a new, warm, beautiful island filled with adventure and opportunity. it almost sounds novel - esque. well, after the war, carthage had gained control of most of the island, including the valuable port city of messana. sicily seemed at peace, and the sicilian peoples were certainly very welcoming to


and opportunity. it almost sounds novel - esque. well, after the war, carthage had gained control of most of the island, including the valuable port city of messana. sicily seemed at peace, and the sicilian peoples were certainly very welcoming to the mercenaries. messana opened their gates to the mercenaries, who were aloud to live there peacefully in the houses of the city ’ s inhabitants. of course, for men who lived by the sword, this simply wasn ’ t enough. it was a warm night in 281 b. e. ( 288 b. c. ) when the mercenaries ’ plan unfolded. they all waited for their hosts to quietly fall to sleep in their beds, and killed them in their slumber. surely the screams and cries of women in the night alerted those men of the city still alive of the treachery within their walls. but by that point, the italians had taken to the streets, and set out killing every greek man they laid eyes on. bathing in the blood of men who had supposed their friendship, this rag - tag band of campevan samnite warriors named themselves the mamertines : the sons of mamers. securing the city, the mamertines then divided up the loot, land, and women between them. those men left alive were driven from the city. how the mamertines governed the city under their first generation of dominion, but whatever they did, they managed to transform the once peaceful merchant town into a haven for piracy. the mamertines scourged the island of sicily, raiding surrounding cities, and exacting tribute from cities as far away as gela on the other side of sicily. they came to directly control a dominion along the northern coastline, seizing several greek cities by 273 b. e. ( 280 b. c. ) when a group of related italian mercenaries revolted in rhegion. antiochus i of syracuse, basileus of sicily and italion, had quite enough, and attempted to quell these pesky italian mercenaries who were causing a particular amount of trouble for him ( much of the lands they raided were his dominions in either sicily or magna graecia ). he sent an army to squash them, like the spiders he doubtlessly saw them as, but twice his armies were defeated, first at naxos by the mamertines, and again outside rhegion. thus, the strait of messana, once the most prosperous trade route in the west mediterranean became the most dangerous


, but twice his armies were defeated, first at naxos by the mamertines, and again outside rhegion. thus, the strait of messana, once the most prosperous trade route in the west mediterranean became the most dangerous stretch of water in the hellenic world. something needed to be done, that much was for sure — but things were only going to get worse over the next few years. in the past, sicily had mostly been a struggle between syracuse and her greek allies against carthage and the cities allied to her, but now in the north of sicily, a pirate nation had carved itself out in one of the most travelled trade routes in the ancient world. hard times, hard times … samnites who haled from their territory in campania. they were likely just a group of native oscan campanians, similar to otl, but with samnite domination of the region having been secured for about 50 years, they would likely have identified somewhat with the samnites, and surely some of their numbers were authentic samnites. the oscan version of the god mars, god of war in the italian pantheon. chapter five : to live and die by fire part three : the last achaemenid parsa : 292 b. e. ( 299 b. c. ) xerxes iii slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. his fingers were curled so tight, he could feel the skin in his palm give way, and red droplets of blood began to trickle from his hands. his brow was knit and his face was grim. “ king of kings! ” his body guard, a man named ezrezraspa said, “ you must leave! they are at our gates. if you do not leave, they will mount your head on a spike! ” “ i will not run from these rebels, ” xerxes iii snarled. “ i am the king of kings, descended from ahura mazda. i am the one true ruler of the world! ” ezrezraspa looked at his liege disbelievingly, “ my lord — “ the bodyguard fell silent. he could hear the shouts and screams grow closer as the invading army came closer towards the palace. these were no rebels as xerxes so blindly believed ; these were an invading army of medians, come to reclaim their ancient claim to power. ezrezraspa scratched his beard nervously. “ bring me my arms, ” xerxes growled. “ i will show them


so blindly believed ; these were an invading army of medians, come to reclaim their ancient claim to power. ezrezraspa scratched his beard nervously. “ bring me my arms, ” xerxes growled. “ i will show them my glory and power. ” “ do not dare question me! ” xerxes shouted so loudly, ezrezraspa almost couldn ’ t hear the approaching medians. “ bring me my sword. ” it took ezrezraspa a moment to regain his composure. surely the king of kings had gone mad! but he did as he was told nonetheless. he brought a curved sword that had been hanging on the wall, and presented it to xerxes. its hilt was golden and covered in jewels, wrought in the shape of a lion ’ s head, the steel blade projected from its mouth like a tongue. the drums beat louder with each moment, and soon ezrezraspa could distinguish individual voices from the mob. the palace shook when they broke in. the trophies and riches hanging upon the walls made a clatter, some of them even fell from their hanging places. “ today, my friend, we will die together with honor and glory! ” xerxes stood up, his sword held in his bloodied hands and walked past the dumbfounded bodyguard. “ they will sing songs of us, of how many of the enemy we brought low! with the sheen of our steel, we will remind them of the divine power of the line of achaemenes! ” ezrezraspa gulped down the spit accumulating in his mouth. as poetic as all that sounded, he was not exactly a fan of dying. down the hall he could hear his comrades. some charged futilly before howling in agony as they were slaughtered. others could be heard screaming in fear, their footsteps echoing ever so louder as they ran before being felled like a fleeing gazelle from the hunter. xerxes looked back at his bodyguard, his green eyes shimmering. he was actually happy to be standing by his friend in his last moments. xerxes was young, but he felt at that moment that he had lived enough, that this would be a good death. that was when the door began to shutter, and hoots and hollars could be heard on the other side. the medians were breaking down the door. ezrezraspa really didn ’ t want to die : no, not today. he drew his sword


to shutter, and hoots and hollars could be heard on the other side. the medians were breaking down the door. ezrezraspa really didn ’ t want to die : no, not today. he drew his sword. “ that ’ s right, ” xerxes said, “ join me in battle once more, ezrezraspa. ” “ you ’ ve never seen a real day of battle in your life. ” “ what! we both know that isn ’ t true. ” “ maybe if you had, we wouldn ’ t be caught like a trapped fox while the hounds close in on us. ” “ you dare to — “ the door began to creak. they would break in any moment now. “ yes, i dare. ” xerxes could hardly react before ezrezraspa had pushed him to the floor and kicked his disgustingly ornate excuse for a weapon out of his hands. ezrezraspa pointed his blade at xerxes ’ neck, and said : “ one of us will survive this day. ” xerxes kicked out, and heard a crisp snap from his bodyguards ankle. he let out a yelp of pain. xerxes stood up quickly, and landed an elbow to his bodyguard ’ s nose. ezrezraspa dropped his sword, and grabbed his face in recoil. xerxes was quick to retrieve the weapon. he grabbed ezrezraspa by his collar, and threw the man to the ground. xerxes placed a foot over ezrezraspa ’ s chest and replied : “ if that is your wish. ” with that, he swept his blade across ezrezraspa ’ s neck, leaving a massive crevace which soon welled up with blood, and spilt out onto the marble floor like a spring. the blood came out in pulses, some even shot up and splattered the king ’ s face with his own fluids, but with each moment, less and less jetted out. ezrezraspa ’ s eyes glazed over, and he died choking on his own blood. the door burst open, and median spearmen flooded into the room, shouting and covered in gore, but they all halted at the sight before them. a median man dressed in fine steel armor stepped forward, and took off his helmet. his armor gave away his rank as an officer and as nobility, contrasting with the simple tunics most of


gore, but they all halted at the sight before them. a median man dressed in fine steel armor stepped forward, and took off his helmet. his armor gave away his rank as an officer and as nobility, contrasting with the simple tunics most of his men wore. “ my name is ezrezraspa, ” xerxes said. “ the king of kings is dead. ” medes just took over persia. take that! chapter five : to live and die by fire part four : the king of kings, and the son of the gods men - nefer : 291 b. e. ( 298 b. c. ) there were a lot of things basileus ton basilion orestes ii did not like how things were panning out in the world at large. he could feel it in his bones. though he was still young ( only 24 years of age ), he was a competent leader, and his people respected him, which was more than could be said of his father. after receiving the throne, his mother eurydike managed to keep the peace, but things were beginning to get messy, and it was about time makedonia had a strong ruler again. orestes managed to placate, and even curb some of the power of the “ satraps ” in anatolia and syria by dividing up their lands into smaller administrative regions, but also by placing more garrisons on the frontier. he undid at least some of the damage his father did with the italiotes, still ruled by seleukus, and even won over a few of the hellene city - states through simple diplomacy no less. as it would turn out, trade agreements were often times more affective than battle. but things weren ’ t as great as they would seem. yes, orestes ii had managed to undo some of the damage done by his incompetent father, but there were some things well out of his control. that was why he had arrived in person to speak with the pharaoh of kemet nectanebo iii. kemet was indeed as wondrous as all the stories made it out to be, but there were some unnerving things about it. no, not the culture : orestes was well aware that exotic places did exotic things. what disturbed him, rather, were the more familiar things about kemet, specifically the members of the pharaoh ’ s guard who were sent to receive him. orestes ii was not the only one who was


aware that exotic places did exotic things. what disturbed him, rather, were the more familiar things about kemet, specifically the members of the pharaoh ’ s guard who were sent to receive him. orestes ii was not the only one who was shocked at their arrival. his own guards stuttered in confusion, and orestes ’ younger brother pausanias blurted stupidly, “ those aren ’ t libyans at all! ” indeed, they weren ’ t. the six men sent to receive orestes ii and his entourage arrived bedecked in the finest hellenic armor seen outside makedonia, each man bearing massive round shields made of bronze and high - crested corinthian helmets. they were old - fashioned, yes, ( something orestes ’ grandfather would have worn, perhaps ) but of superb quality. but these were no mere costumes, for the men who wore them had fairer complexions that the people of kemet, wore thick beards, and spoke perfect, unaccented koine. these men were hellenes. while pausanias blathered on about how great he thought it was that even the pharaoh could recognize the skill and worth of the hellenes, orestes ii was disturbed. what was nectanebo doing by seemingly exclusively placing hellenic men in his personal guard? how did they get hear, and in what number? something strange was afoot. from the ship, they stepped onto the dock on the shores of the nile. they were escorted through, no doubt, the finest and most beautiful monuments of memphis. huge pillars rose into the sky with mysterious symbols engraved onto their faces. statues of gods towered over them with heads, both animal and human, larger than even some of the ships that sailed past along the river. bright, exotic trees lumbered over them. it took quite some effort for orestes to keep himself from continuously gazing upward. he was the king of kings, after all, and needed to act like it. while impressive, these ancient monuments could not intimidate him. in the halls of the pharaoh, incense and perfume filled the air sweetly. dark - skinned musicians played in the corner upon some strange stringed instrument and drums made from goatskins. the pharaoh sat upon his throne, watching them march closer. he was dressed in fine white linens, gold plates, and covered in jewels. some kind of pigment was put on his face to cover any imperfections, and a black past put around his eyes. it made him look how


them march closer. he was dressed in fine white linens, gold plates, and covered in jewels. some kind of pigment was put on his face to cover any imperfections, and a black past put around his eyes. it made him look how he wanted to look, like a god. orestes ii knew there would be some ritual accompanied by their approach, but he had to be patient. his meeting with nectanebo iii was of the utmost importance. as orestes predicted, there was indeed a ritual. oil was placed over the heads of the pharaoh ’ s visitors, the servants and priests sang some chant in their language, and still there was more. hours passed before orestes was aloud to approach nectanebo iii. finally, orestes was aloud to speak to the pharaoh. “ son of the sun and holder of both lands, pharaoh nectanebo, third of that name, i, basileus ton basilion orestes, second of that name, come to you from my home across the sea in peace to hold some converse with you. the peoples of this world are moving around us, and it is we, the holders of the light of civilization, who must be sure to keep peace. ” one of nectanebo ’ s guards translated flawlessly. nectanebo looked to be serene as his translator spoke, but something flashed in his eyes, and orestes knew it was concern. he knew of what orestes spoke. the pharaoh then spoke, and the guard translated it back to koine : “ may we withdraw to a more private enclosure of the pharaoh? his brilliance understands that this is a subject as sensitive as the surface of the water, and there are many ears about that might betray this conversation. ” orestes gave his approval, and they withdrew to a room behind the hall. as soon as they left the hall, nectanebo let out a sigh of exasperation, and handed his scepter to his guard, chattering something in his tongue. his guard nodded, and left the room, only to return shortly thereafter with some wine. nectanebo chirped something, and the guard poored the wine into some chalices wrought from gold. he sipped from each cup before handing one to the pharaoh and another to the basileus. nectanebo, after taking a gulp of wine, wiped his mouth, and looked at orestes as if seeing him truly for the first time. he began


from each cup before handing one to the pharaoh and another to the basileus. nectanebo, after taking a gulp of wine, wiped his mouth, and looked at orestes as if seeing him truly for the first time. he began to speek, and his guard translated : “ word has reached our ears of the end of xerxes iii, how his bodyguard betrayed him only just before the barbarians of medes burst into his chambers. while this does mean the end of an ancient enemy for the both of us, we fear this could be the birth of another. ” “ medes concerns me as well, ” orestes said, “ but not so much as what has been going on in babylon. their king has just died, and his son, their new king eiran, the first of his name, has begun to expand his realm already. his armies have been seen moving into armenia and arabia as well as elam. but more than this, barbarians have been on the move lately. to the north, keltoi have begun to raid further and further south towards our realm, and scythians have been seen amassing huge armies north of media. ” “ the barbarians south of our land have, too, been restless of late. we fear an invasion from all sides. ” “ i have a sister named europa, ” orestes said. “ she may be yours to marry, or marry one of your sons if you agree to my proposal. that should either of us face invasion or attack, that we shall receive the aid of 10, 000 soldiers and a formal alliance of kemet and makedonia. ” nectanebo thought, but orestes knew he would agree. if the babylonians or medians invaded makedonian held palestine, they would waste no time to invade egypt. but though orestes feared them, he didn ’ t expect their attack so much as he did from the shadowy cold wastelands to the north. and that was why he needed nectanebo iii to help him. memphis was called men - nefer in this period, a name that means “ enduring and beautiful ”. the city was also known as hut - ka - ptah, which means “ enclosure of ptah ’ s soul ” or “ enclosure of the ka of ptah ”. the greeks corrupted both into memphis and aigyptos respectively. kemet is what the egyptians referred to their own land as. an aramaic name, the common language of babylon


’ s soul ” or “ enclosure of the ka of ptah ”. the greeks corrupted both into memphis and aigyptos respectively. kemet is what the egyptians referred to their own land as. an aramaic name, the common language of babylonia, means “ vigilant ”. chapter five : to live and die by fire part five : on the edge of the world little is known of the ancient history of india. we know that the region had very complex civilizations, traditions, and cultures. we know that they once had a massive chronicle of their ancient past which is now lost to us, likely destroyed in the great burnings of the great nomad invasions. however, some lucky pieces have been discovered, surviving in caves and in the ruins of ancient fortresses. what can be gathered, before persian and hellene sources began commenting on the happenings of the region, comes from the histories of tamilgam to the south. what we know is that the massive region has a history of being divided and warlike, rich and ostentatious, and a great meeting place of cultures. the persians under darius i managed to conquer the indos river valley, however, they lost control of it before their downfall. from the eastern banks of the ganges river in a region called magadha rose the first empire the region would see under the leadership of the nanda dynasty. the nanda empire spread from the bay of bengal in the east to the indos river in the west, encompassing almost all of india by 322 b. e. ( 329b. c. ). the nanda empire, sometimes called the magadha empire, ruled with a massive army, the likes of which could not be mustered by any kingdom in the west. persian and median chroniclers claim that at full force, the nanda could gather a force of over 200, 000 men, with some claiming 100, 000 more. the nandas ruled for almost a century and a half before their massive kingdom crumbled beneath them. and how this happened was of great interest to the commentators to the west. when the persian empire crumbled after the makedonian war, a cruel king named dhana nanda ruled the magadha empire from 322 b. e. ( 329 b. c. ) to 309 b. e. ( 316 b. c. ). during his reign, several rebellions were put down brutally, especially in the western parts of his realm. taxation was heavy, and it was not uncommon under his rule


c. ) to 309 b. e. ( 316 b. c. ). during his reign, several rebellions were put down brutally, especially in the western parts of his realm. taxation was heavy, and it was not uncommon under his rule for entire regions to suffer famine despite being prosperous and lush. when he finally died, the people of india gasped a sigh of relief, and hoped that his successor would prove kinder. unfortunately, his son dashanaka nanda was even worse. uprising after uprising was put down viciously, often with entire villages slaughtered and killed down to the last infant. in 295 b. e. ( 302 b. c. ), dashanaka nanda made a move to expand his realm further west into the land of five waters, which resulted in a long, drawn - out, and bloody war. dashanaka managed to make some advances, but despite his superior forces, he was unable to conquer the entire region. among the peoples and kingdoms holding out against the nanda advance were the kingdoms of mourya, taksasila, paurava, and the asvakas. the war seemed to be caught in a stalemate, and then in 290 b. e. ( 297 b. c. ), a man from the west arrived in the court of the old king ambhik in taksasila with a host of asvaka horsemen. he was a persian, and he called himself xerxes. it would turn out that the former king of kings, after his escape from the medians, made his way east to the rich lands there at the edge of what used to be the great country ruled by his ancestors. word spread like wildfire of his escape and journey, how he lied to the medians as they broke into his chambers that he was but a guard, and had killed his guard to convince the medians that the king was dead, how he snuck out of the country in the night disguised as a merchant, and travelled through the rich lands of vaktrianistan and crossed the mountains into india and made friends with the chieftains of the asvakas. he was thus given 100 asvaka horsemen to accompany him even further east. to prove his royalty, he presented his ring, which had upon it the seal of the achaemenids, the standard of cyrus the great. he was thus received into the court of taksasila with open arms and as a guest. xerxes became an important figure in the resistance against the nan


upon it the seal of the achaemenids, the standard of cyrus the great. he was thus received into the court of taksasila with open arms and as a guest. xerxes became an important figure in the resistance against the nanda, becoming a high - ranking general, and became friends with the mourya king chandragupta. the coalition of resisting kingdoms, however, was led by the king of paurava, parveteshwara, who was the oldest and wisest of the kings, as well as the leader of the largest army. but it was xerxes, apparently, who convinced parveteshwara to make this defensive war offensive, noting the poor moral and willingness to retreat that plagued the nanda armies. if they moved across the beas river, surely the nanda interior would crumble. it turned out xerxes was speaking from some experience, and he was correct. in 288 b. e. ( 295 b. c. ), parveteshwara and his coalition of kings along the indos river marched into nanda territory, and effectively defeated the nanda army ( after a nanda mutiny ) at the battle of avanti after the native king defected from the nanda and swore fealty to parveteshwara. it was after this battle that dashaka nanda was assassinated by his general bhadrasala, who then usurped the throne, and became the ruler of what was left of the magadha empire, founding a new dynasty after himself. it seemed that victory was in grasp for parveteshwara and his allies when it all fell apart. ambhi, who was almost as old as parveteshwara, made an attempt on his life. his ambitions are vague, and it is known that the two kings had an old rivalry from their youth, but little else is known as to why ambhi tried to kill his ally. regardless, ambhi ’ s assassination attempt backfired, and he was captured and killed. parveteshwara grew paranoid after this, and sent armies to invade not only taksasila, but also mourya, and tried to arrest xerxes, who he believed to be in conspiracy with ambhi. after all, it was ambhi who had introduced the persian to them all. chandragupta, a deeply religious king, knew paurava would overrun his small kingdom of mourya ; so, he instead offered exile in exchange for the safety and well


it was ambhi who had introduced the persian to them all. chandragupta, a deeply religious king, knew paurava would overrun his small kingdom of mourya ; so, he instead offered exile in exchange for the safety and wellbeing of his people. mourya was thusly integrated into paurava, and chandragupta went south to live the rest of his days as a buddhist monk, where he disappeared into obscurity. but obscurity was not for xerxes. he and his one - hundred asvakas cavalrymen made for their homeland amongst the kamboja to the west, or at least that was their intention, but they were surrounded by parveteshwara ’ s forces on the west bank of the indos river, and a brief skirmish broke out. xerxes and seven of his horsemen escaped, while the rest fought to the last man to save their leader. xerxes returned to the mountainous homeland of his men in kamboja, just south of vaktrianistan in 287 b. e. ( 394 b. c. ). but this was not the last the world would hear of xerxes iii, the last king of persia. this was ensured when he and his men joined a caravan of merchants on their way to the mediterranean where their eastern goods were in high demand. xerxes was on his was to makedonia, the land that had ultimately brought about the demise of his lineage. otl, we actually know a lot about ancient india. as explained later, northern and southern india never unified ittl, so the tamil dynasties remained independent and uninfluenced by the peoples of northern india. ittl, the region they live in is known as tamilgam, derived from tamilakam ( tamil home - country ). india ittl is only what we know as northern india, or the area encompassing and between the indus and ganges rivers. without the mauryan empire to unify the whole sub - continent, there is a massive cultural divide between the dravidian south and the indian north, thus, what we know as southern india is not considered to be a part of india. this also resulted in the south never adopting buddhism. the punjab taxiles, one of the indian kings who allied himself with alexander the great on his conquest of the punjab. we know this king in the west as porus chapter five : to live and die by fire part six : playing catch - up war broke out between the


left, that is ) for another pan - hellenic war against the barbarian makedonians who still had their foot placed over the neck of hellas! makedonians were even in control of italion and syracuse, surely this could not stand. it seemed another war was about to erupt in greece, but orestes ii managed to diffuse even this. after the satrap of lydia repelled areus from rhodes, orestes set on a campaign to win over the hellenes through gifts, marriages, treatises, and a little propaganda, portraying the babylonians as the true barbarians, who wish to attack greeks settled in the levant, to rape their women and enslave their children. orestes wisely forgot to mention that the levant was one of the least colonized areas of the makedonian realm with only a few thousand greeks living there. most hellenization had occurred further north in anatolia, where only in the hinterlands and mountainous inlands did people still speak phrygian, and possibly some remnants of the hittite languages. but orestes ii used a much harder hand on his relatives in epiros. the dual kings there, neoptolemos and pyrros had been waging a series of wars with the illyrians to their north, expanding their realm. orestes ii, disliking the prospect of bringing war to the region insisted ( and by insisted, i mean threatened to destroy their kingdom ) that the epirotes cease their northward expansion. begrudgingly, they obliged. it is believed to be around this time that pyrros began buying elephants from syria and egypt, bred them, and adding them into his army, becoming the first european nation to use elephants in its military. across the sea, on the carthaginian coastline, malik bomilcar i had made the wise decision to win over the allegiance of the numidian tribes at his back. the relationship thusfar between the numidians and the carthaginians had been mutually beneficial with carthage receiving some of the finest cavalry the world had seen, and the numidians becoming part of a very lucrative trade system in the western mediterrnean in which the carthaginian were central. however, bomilcar needed to be sure that they would recognize him, and not any senatorial sympathizers, as allies. in italia, leux ii, king of the kingdom of senonia ( not to be confused with sen


however, bomilcar needed to be sure that they would recognize him, and not any senatorial sympathizers, as allies. in italia, leux ii, king of the kingdom of senonia ( not to be confused with sena along the adriatic ) began to feel the heat from the tribes to his north. the celts living in the padus river valley had grown restless, and with the leadership of the large boii and insubres, they began to raid the frontiers of the seno - etruscan heartland. it seems leux ii was able to hold them off with the help of some ligurian allies. little else is known about their war. however, the samnites began to undergo some internal changes. with the infiltration of more and more greek influence, the samnites began to build cities along their coastlines. prominent among these was hurz maimas, which they built along the campevan coastline, not far away from neapolis, and leiguss amvianud, which started out as a fortress in near the border with the italiotes, but due to its location in an important mountain pass in the appenines, became a thriving little city in the mountains. their current meddix pomptis egnatius began making preliminary raids from leiguss amvianud in 290 b. e. ( 297 b. c. ) into italiote lands, but there were no major conquests … yet. seleukos, growing tired of the increasingly powerful samnites to his north, sent an army of 10, 000 to face them. they marched into the appenines, aiming to capture the samnite capital of beneventum. three months later, ten greek slaves returned to taras. their backs were riddled with wounds from whips and flogs, but what they pulled in carts behind each of them was more horrifying. in each cart were one - hundred heads, their beards cut off and their eyes and tongues cut out. the slaves told a horrible story of an ambush, how all of the greeks and makedonians slaughtered, and that they were told to return to taras with a message that was clear as day : do not risk war with the samnites. it was in the midst of all of this, in 286 b. e. ( 293 b. c. ) that a man arrived in pellas seeking refuge in makedonia. he was accompanied by


not risk war with the samnites. it was in the midst of all of this, in 286 b. e. ( 293 b. c. ) that a man arrived in pellas seeking refuge in makedonia. he was accompanied by a small contingent of exotic bodyguards, and clothed in riches from the orient, telling wild tales of his travels. he called himself xerxes, and he wished to hold audience with orestes ii. at the time, the only mediterranean power known to have used elephants in warfare was the persian empire. presumably, there were some in the macedonian empire ittl, but there is little evidence for it before this time. carthage did not adopt war - elephants until after 280 b. c. otl. the po river valley oscan for “ largest fenced in land ” oscan for “ border legion ” chapter five : to live and die by fire part seven : important people the cities of makedonia were grand, indeed, fattened by the wealth of the eastern mediterranean. xerxes and what was left of his bodyguard were by no means as impressed by them as they were by the massive wealth of india, but impressed they were nonetheless. the land, the people, and the cities : they were all too different to really compare. “ the people here dress very strangely, ” leippada, the captain of the asvaka, said, noting the vanity of the makedonians, how the men and women of great fitness wore next to nothing. “ they likely think the same thing about us, leippada. ” xerxes had to tread carefully here. in the court of pellas, with its riches and ostentation, was only a veneer of civilization. every guard, lined across the walls, had a sharp eye peering beneath the shade of their phrygian helmets on xerxes and his company. their hands were held firmly on their spears, and xerxes knew that one false move would result in an untimely death. at the head of the hall, sat basileus orestes ii, drinking wine and speaking loudly for all to hear. before him stood a woman with golden hair and bright eyes, something extremely rare in even this part of the world, and a cloaked man of slight stature. the woman, beneath her golden locks, wore a golden torque around her snow - white neck. the man, bearded and grey, had a bronze ring placed on his brow and around his head. they were accompanied by a


this was a man of great wealth. “ this sword is not meant for you, ” xerxes said, trying to get past the man, but a muscular arm blocked his way. “ ah, so you and i have similar interests i see. ” “ get out of my way. ” “ there are much more affective ways of assassination, my friend, ” the man whispered. “ that i can assure you. ” xerxes froze. perhaps his sudden rigidity betrayed him. the man used the opportunity to close the door. “ my name is pyrros, basileus of epiros. ” the man said, “ and by morning, i will have already accomplished what you seem to have come this far to do. ” “ what do you mean. ” “ orestes has been throwing his weight around, trying to wrestle my people into doing his will. i suppose slaying illyrian barbarians is not his will, which is why it was in the best interests of both myself and my kingdom that orestes be romoved from his position of power. the man can ’ t very well be dethroned, his people love him, so it seems you resolved to the same end that i did. ” “ you ’ ve killed him? ” xerxes managed to garble out. “ he ’ d dying as we speek, at least if the poison does its work, ” pyrros said. “ i thought i would visit you before i leave. don ’ t want to be present when his body is found. i don ’ t recommend you be hear either. ” xerxes stared at this pyrros. he was clearly a military man. he looked to be near forty years old, had a round face, a nose that looked like it had been broken before, and an almost constant sneer upon his face. “ i should thank you for doing the work for me, ” xerxes said. “ orestes was a bastard anyway. i highly doubt at old philotas ’ age he would have really have been able to sire so many children. ” “ an interesting theory. ” “ hardly seems to matter now anyway, does it? ” pyrros smiled. “ they will suspect you of killing him. ” “ my men are ready to escape into the night. ” “ as are mine. you should join me in passaron. i could use a man like you. ” xerxes looked basileus pyr


suspect you of killing him. ” “ my men are ready to escape into the night. ” “ as are mine. you should join me in passaron. i could use a man like you. ” xerxes looked basileus pyrros in the eye, and with a smile, he agreed. celts in macedon?!?! what on earth could this mean? i ’ d remember those names if i were you. this was the original capital of epirus, and ittl remained so because ambracia was never given to epirus by cassander. it still remains under makedonian rule. chapter five : to live and die by fire part eight : fallout 286 b. e. ( 293 b. c. ) saw the sudden death of orestes iii of makedonia. how he died is to this day uncertain, but contemporaries of the late basileus claim that he was poisoned, and died in his sleep. the finger was pointed at almost every political figure of the day : agents of nectanebo iii of egypt, eiran i of babylon, antiochos i of italion, pyrros of epiros, xerxes iii, ariston ii of sparta, tectosages emissaries, and not to mention a whole list of makedonian nobility. ultimately, however, no one knew : there were just too many people who wanted to see orestes dead. apparently, xerxes indikos, who had newly arrived in the courting pellas thought it unsafe to remain after orestes ’ death, and he found refuge in epiros under pyrros, who made him one of his generals. there, xerxes proved very useful for his already extensive experience with war elephants, and he became a close friend of pyrros. at the same time, neoptolemos ii, the co - king of epiros, saw xerxes as a threat, and claimed that he was orestes iii ’ s assassin, offering him to the makedonians. orestes iii died with no children, so the crown moved to his younger brother, pausanias ii buried his brother, legitimizing his right to rule. when agents of neoptolemos arrived in pellas to offer over xerxes indikos, pausanias jumped at the opportunity. but, as it turned out, xerxes was lucky to find a friend in pyrros, who saw to


neoptolemos arrived in pellas to offer over xerxes indikos, pausanias jumped at the opportunity. but, as it turned out, xerxes was lucky to find a friend in pyrros, who saw to neoptolemos ii ’ s death, thus eliminating the co - king and becoming the sole ruler of epiros. in response, pausanias demanded that pyrros hand over xerxes, else risk an invasion by makedonia. while pyrros prepared for war with makedonia ( not only in defense of his new general, but possibly his own ), pausanias ii set about crucifying anyone suspected of assassinating his brother, including members of his own court, thus ostracizing much of the makedonian nobility. when war broke out between makedonia and epiros in 284 b. e. ( 291 b. c. ), pyrros assembled an army of 30, 000 men, half the size of the makedonian army. pausanias ii himself led the attack, meeting pyrros near orraon in molossia, the home territory of the epirote royal family. in the ensuing battle, pyrros masterfully out - maneuvered pausanias, flanking the makedonian line. pyrros ’ 15 war elephants present at the battle caused disarray in the makedonian line, and by the end of the day, pausanias had lost more than half of his army, while pyrros ’ casualties were at a minimum, only an estimated 1, 500. none other than xerxes indikos and his asvaka horsemen captured pausanias himself. reportedly, xerxes forced pausanias to surrender at sword - point, humiliating the young king. considering how crushing the victory was, the terms pyrros set forth were relatively lenient. epiros was given freedom to wage war with its illyrian neighbors to the north without protest from makedonia ; makedonia ceded the city of passaron to epirote control, and pausanias ’ sister europa was to be married to pyrros, further connecting the two royal families. perhaps pyrros thought that by making the terms of makedonia ’ s defeat so slight, that he could achieve some kind of friendship between himself and the nobility, presenting himself as the forgiving ( and capable ) leader, thus undermining pausanias ’ power.


by making the terms of makedonia ’ s defeat so slight, that he could achieve some kind of friendship between himself and the nobility, presenting himself as the forgiving ( and capable ) leader, thus undermining pausanias ’ power. regardless, when pausanias ii returned to makedonia, it was clear that the age of strongmen like philip ii, alexandros iii, and philotas was long gone. sensing makedonia ’ s weakness, king eiran i of babylonia marched on the makedonian frontier, overrunning phoenicia and the levant in 279 b. e. ( 286 b. c. ). the makedonian satraps in cilicia managed to turn the babylonians away from anatolia at issos, bolstered by the promised troops sent by nectanebo iii from egypt. while nectanebo ’ s contribution without doubt saved much makedonian territory from babylonian expansion, the fact that egyptians saved the day did not have exactly great results in the court in pellas. people were outraged, claiming that makedonia was becoming a puppet to nectanebo iii and that the egyptians were calling the shots. rebellions broke out throughout pausanias ’ territory, the most violent of which was in the ionian islands. these rebels were, unsurprisingly, backed by the hellenes of sparta and athens. the rebellion was violently put down, with thousands slaughtered. basileus pausanias ii, though incompetent, was learning quickly what it required to maintain his power, and he began to put down any sign of dissent within his realm, assassinating and replacing viceroys, satraps, generals, and nobility with people loyal to him, regardless of their merit. after his campaigns in india, xerxes iii is often referred to as “ indikos ”. macedonian tradition held that a succeeding king was required to burry his predecessor. otl pyrrhus had neoptolemus ii assassinated because he was merely a puppet of the seleucids. the result is similar to ttl. chapter five : to live and die by fire part nine : the third babylonian empire eiran i, otherwise known as eiran the scourge, may have been one of the greatest military minds of the fertile crescent since the fall of assyria. he succeeded his father to become the second ruler of the new babylonian kingdom, which propelled the fledgling successor - state into a multi - cultural


nectanebo iii in egypt to discuss the repercussions of a war with babylonia, making an alliance with the pharaoh and promised his sister europa to him ( a marriage that never happened, as she was later married to pyrros of epiros. why nectanebo seemed to make no mind is unknown. ) eiran i spent the next decade subduing the various tribes to his south in arabia, vassalizing the qedarites, and exerted control over the copper mines in maqan and established a garrison in omana, as well as annexing the island of tilmun. these acts of aggression caused friction with the medians, who had just subsumed the last remnants of achaemenid persia and had nominal “ claim ” to the area. regardless, this fortified babylonia ’ s position in the mesopotamia - india trade system, which had previously been controlled by the persians. in 279 b. e. ( 286 b. c. ), eiran i rightly sensed makedonia ’ s growing weakness, and moved to take control of syria, phoenicia, and palestine. his army, some 30, 000 strong, overran the region that had been poorly garrisoned by the makedonians, and was in no shortage of what we might call “ helleno - phobes ”. marching down the coastline, the scourge sent one of his generals, a man named bar - talmai, to move into anatolia, hoping to deliver a crippling blow to the makedonians in asia. this was not meant to be. pharaoh nectanebo iii, following through with his agreement with the makedonian crown, sent some 15, 000 infantry ( well more than what had been promised to orestes ii ). they arrived by sea and with their help, the satrap of cilicia was able to repel the babylonians as issos and keep them from entering anatolia. enraged, eiran i marched his troops further down the coast, past gaza, and into the sinai peninsula. it was clear that his retribution for egyptian interference would be swift and brutal. nectanebo iii, however, had not seized egypt from the persian without his own military know - how. but the egyptian military was not as well equipped as the babylonians, though equally as numerous. but the pharaoh had a plan. it didn ’ t work. nectanebo iii intended to make a stand near the sea of


know - how. but the egyptian military was not as well equipped as the babylonians, though equally as numerous. but the pharaoh had a plan. it didn ’ t work. nectanebo iii intended to make a stand near the sea of reeds, inspired by the tales of his hellenic personal guard of thermopylae. with his army there, he hoped to hold off the babylonians long enough for reinforcements. but, nectanebo forgot to take something into account : unlike thermopylae, the sea of reeds was very easy to get around. before he knew what had happened, his army was surrounded, slaughtered, and nectanebo iii met his end. eiran i continued to march onward into egypt, having only taken minimal casualties as the sea of reeds. nectanebo iii ’ s eldest living son ( three had been killed at the battle of the reed sea ), bakare necho took up the position of pharaoh, and took the name necho iii. he only had a few days to prepare before eiran would reach the delta. eiran i set about a rampage in egypt, burning villages, desecrating shrines, and causing general chaos in the countryside. necho iii ’ s army of 10, 000 marched north from memphis, but when he met the babylonians in battle, it was his own greek mercenaries who turned against him. apparently, eiran i had made a deal with them in the night : they surrender necho iii over to him, and their leader, isidoros would be crowned pharaoh with the backing of the babylonian army. it was a sweet deal, and only a fool wouldn ’ t accept. isidoros turned necho iii over without a second thought, and the land of egypt was ripe for the taking. eiran i instilled isidoros in memphis as the pharaoh, but only after slaughtering the entire royal family, deposing most of the nobility and replacing them with members of the greek cohort. in the autumn of 277 b. e. ( 284 b. c. ), the 34th dynasty ( also known as the mercenary dynasty ) of egypt rose under the firm hand of the third babylonian empire, and the scourge earned his name. the neo - babylonian empire, which lasted 626 - 539 b. c. is referred to ittl as the second babylonian empire. the neo - babylonian empire was pretty conservative, and used they dying akkadian language


makedonia and thessaly, plans that surely would have worked, when another opportunity arose that promised an ounce more excitement. while pyrros had been securing his adriatic border, someone else had been doing the same on the other side : the samnites. war broke out again between seluekid italion and the samnite league in 277 b. e. ( 284 b. c. ) when the latter instigated a rebellion in lucania. meddix pomptis egnatius took quick advantage of the anarchy, and marched his army of 30, 000 men down the messappian coastline, sacking and pillaging as he went with little resistance. basileus seleukos was old, and his son still governed in syracuse, dealing with an unruly bunch of mercenary rebels and pirates known as the mamertines along the northeast coast of sicily. seleukos was forced to meet the samnites head - on near kallipolis. seleukos expected a swift victory. he had hired a large army of mercenaries to bolster his italiote greeks, thus leading an army of approximately 40, 000 men, outnumbering the samnites. however, seleukos ’ scouts gave an incorrect location as to the samnite encampment. it was no mistake, as the scouts were bruttians, former allies of the samnites, and while the italiote army moved south along the tarantine coastline, they were ambushed, and seleukos was forced to retreat, abandoning kallipolis, seleukia, and all of the cities to the south of taras. a year later, as the walls seemed to be closing in around him, seleukos asked for help from pyrros of epiros, the up and coming military strongman. epiros already had a history of fighting in italia at the behest of magna graecia. seleukos offered to pay tribute to epiros for pyrros ’ help, and in 276 b. e. ( 283 b. c. ) pyrros of epiros arrived in taras with an army of 25, 000 infantry ( many of whom were mercenaries ), 3, 000 cavalry, and 20 elephants. with pyrros ’ help, the italiotes were able to subdue the ongoing lucanian rebellion. meanwhile, pyrros managed to cut off the samnite line