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Micha
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Technical University of Ilmenau, Germany
Oct 2002
time: 06:29
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UPDATE - 285 to 280 b.c.
Middle East
Persia
While the troops are trained in tactics and the generals in strategy, several high ranking persian officials have been assassinated in Jerusalem, Gaza and Tyros. Again, the Jewish conspiracy is supposed to be responsible for that, with economic help from Carthage.
The strikes happened during the night, and even the bodyguards of the victims seemed to be involved. As a result, new officials have to be appointed in the region, and those still alive spend more taxes on their own security, so the great king suffers from a loss of income.
Another point of concern for Persia is the recent loss of its main costumer for oriental goods, Carthage. The trading ships didn´t come to Tyros, so all the spices and tea remained in the warehouses. The decrease in export revenues is expected to be about 20 talents!
On the plus side, the great king managed to increase the taxing efficiency and thus countered the sinking budget. Overall dissent seems to be sinking, while the Judaea province is on the brink of open riot!
In a surprise attack, the Sinai tribes plundered Attus and destroyed the mines there. The garrison fougth the raiding infantry but what hopelessly outnumbered and not mobile enough to hinder their mission. Obviously the nomads didn´t do that on their own, as they went straight for the mines and plundered only little... A dedicated townsmen force armed with stick tried to oppose the horsemen, but they had to learn pretty quickly that they were not gonna win anything against mounted archers...
The garrison retreated back to Judaea, being attacked by horse archers during the march, until they finally reached those regions under Persian control (as opposed to the Sinai, that is in fact only claimed by Persia). The city has not suffered many losses in lives, but it´s now cut off from Persian supply...
Egypt
When the old Pharao died, he was commonly known as „the bold“. That name was earned during the endless wars against almost every neighbour, after which Egypt arose with a completely razed nile delta, almost one third of its original inhabitants dead and a list of new archenemies among the population of other countries. However, Egypt is now an independant kingdom again and pays no tribute to any master.
His successor promised a period of peace and rebuilding, which is greatly appreciated by the peasants and merchants. Also a new campaign to regain the southern provinces was announced, again pleasing the population. Especially the gold and copper mines south of Coptos and the old gems and ivory trade routes are a chief concern of the Egyptians these days...
With the agricultural aid program the grain output has been increased dramatically, now competing with Sicily and even the suppliers to the north, the Bosporian Greeks. After that was done, the Pharao was in need of costumers to sell the surplus to...
To the East, Persia surprisingly agreed to sign a peace treaty at current borders, adding some chunk of land to Egypt. Wise men from all over the world debate about the reasons for this unlikely masterpiece of diplomacy to happen...
By spreading anti-Carthaginian propaganda, the population is focussing their complaints on the enemy rather than internal problems. Many young men want to sign up for the military, but given the lack in manpower these days, there families are denying it. Every hand is needed to rebuild the country ad to bring in the harvests...
In the south a Carthaginian invasion force has been encountered! Red about the battle under the headline Western Mediterranean.
Greece and Asia Minor
Macedonia
With the Olympic Games starting once again, many Greek return to Hellas in order to bring pride to their towns and themselves.
While, as expected, the Spartans were victorious in wrestling, Athens was able to grab the philosopher title, Sardes won the musician contest and the first prize in dramas went to Pella!
Many tourists have been attracted by the event, bringing money into the country. On their way to the arenas they could see the first buildings of a giant temple complex in Amphipolis.
Part of those tourists was a small group of „envoys“ from Odessos. They usually kept quite and watched in awe as the chariots took them along the Black Sea coast down to Thrace, where they were to see the large parcs and big government buildings of Adrianopolis. It was there that they had first experienced the wonders of modern architecture as well as the great delusions that come from too much wine... After visiting Amphipolis, Pella, Athens and the Olympic games, they literally had to be forced out of Macedonia back to their hometown. The counsil of elders has then agreed to formally pledge allegiance to the king of Macedonia, thus adding Odessos to the long list of cities that make the kingdom the wealthiest Country in the known world!
On a side note, Odessos indeed had something to give, too. The small town is amongst the largest producers of salt in the area...
Meanwhile the growing wealth has led to a slow change of the farming system, and thus to a restructuring in society. With many farmers becoming quite well off, the need for cheap labour arose. Many landowners turn their faces to the north, where the Balkans provide a large supply of slaves... Of course it was on the king to start the slave trade, but the Moesians already engage in private trades with the Macedons. That means the state monopoly on slaves is not secured, meaning no income is generated for Macedonia and the slaves are not available to all markets within the country, meaning they don´t provide the feeling of luxury several wealthy citizens of the southern Metropoli are eager to experience...
Adrianopolis strives to be among the greatest cities in the world, at least from the amount of comforts it provides for its citizens. More and more people are drawn into that place, most of them looking for their fortune. There is now a healthy upper-class in that city, spending a lot of money for the temples and welfare programs. They demand for more luxury goods, though, since money is of no use if there´s nothing to buy for it...
To the north, Alexander´s army and the Moesian Corps marched up the Illyrian coast until they reached the hills of Aquileia. Soon they found what they were looking for: The Aquileian Tribal Army. Some 18,000 barbarians faced by a 28,000 strong Greek force.
With the Macedonians travelling along the coast and the Auxiliaries moving in the hills the generals hoped to outflank the barbarians. However those were not too eager to fight trapped by the sea, so they decided to engage the Moesian Army in the hills.
Seeing this unfortunate development, the Macedonian general hurried his troops uphills to help the Moesians. Surprised and inferior in numbers, the latter were quickly routed. The Aquileians tried to hunt down the fleeing soldiers, so they spread too much to oppose the mighty Macedonian main army when it finally arrived. The hetaires had little difficulties in plowing through the barbarian ranks, while the hoplites were not challanged at all. But the dense formations of the Phalanx were much too slow to attack a swift force as are the barbarians...
After a full day of battle the Aquileians retreated. Macedonian cavalry reached the fleeing Moesians and convinced them of their victory, so they eventually returned to the main army.
Greek casualties were quite low, while their allies had lost almost half of their forces. Not so much due to wounds and deaths but mostly due to desertions. Seven talents have been looted from the enemy.
The Macedon general sends a messenger to Pella asking to get rid of the Moesian forces. It proves more of a burden than a help.
With the Aquileians licking wounds, the Greek soldiers started securing the terrain, planting border marks along a stripe of land from the coast inwards. An iron deposal has been spotted in the area, providing the quantities of ore needed to arm the entire army with the superior iron weaponry (and helmets, body armour, shields, arrows, better ship rams, better battering rams for sieges, ...).
The deposal just needs to be mined, and preferably a small harbour being build wouldn´t hurt, too.
Italian peninsula
Rome
Good news for Rome! The Ligurians had finally joined the Republic, adding their vaults worth 12 talents to those of Rome. As a major producer of fabrics, the area will now produce for the Roman Republic and accepted the state monopoly on fabrics and linen.
The Ligurian Army has been turned into „Legion V Liguria“, being the largest force in the Roman military. Also the Apulian Guards have officially been transferred to Rome, providing hoplite coverage from the barbarian cavalry.
And it became even better! When the armies wesnt west to capture Placentia, they found the city unprotected!
The small townsmen garrison surrendered after only two days of siege (which was in fact the time needed to deploy the troops and not an intended siege)...
On their way to Genua a Celtian ambush was detected by the careful Roman scouts. Due to the loss of their disguise the ambush turned into a bloodbath for the Celts! More than 400 barbarians were killed, 250 went into slavery. The proceeds added up to 8 talents. Only few troops from the Legion V were lost...
Genua itself was found abandoned. When the Romans marched in, some hundred inhabitants returned to the town, greeting the Legions as friends but asking too many questions about the late timing...
The new territories were soon connected to the Roman road network, providing more trade efficiency and improving the overall infrastructure in those areas.
It was then when news arrived about something going on to the south. The Legions I and IV have already begun their redeploy to Neapolis and the castellum.
Magna Graecia
With the conquered territories being annexed by Rome and evergrowing casualties for the Greec auxiliary troops under Roman command, dissent in Tarent has reached a point where open riots occured.
One of the rioting groups sent an envoy to the Macedon town of Epeiros, asking for assistance. The local governor Pyrrhus was granted the title „King of Magna Graecia“ if he decided to assume control of the rebel forces.
He hired a large mercanery force as well as gathering many greeks around him, adding up to a sizeable army of 25,000 troops and 20 war elephants, which he transported to Tarent with the Magna Graecian navy.
Upon arrival, all of the Greek colonies in the south joined his cause, while Adria, Massilia and Nicaea parted from the Federation.
Envoys were sent to Rome, demanding that all lands north of the Padus river were to belong to Magna Graecia, as well as the whole of Sicily. In the case of denial he threatened to sack Rome...
In order to back these words, the army marched into Samnium.
Western Mediterranean
In Carthago Nova the „Guardian of the West“ has finally been finished! The large bronze head was liftet onto the body of the giant statue and is now the top of the tallest artificial structure in the earth! Thousands of visitors will flock into the city to have a look at the thing that inofficially is called a wonder!
The city now has to deal with a massive amount of immigrants, making it extremely cheap to found new colonies in Spain. Pirates will stay away from the port, while many merchants may pay higher prices for trading just to have the opportunity to see the Collossus.
All in all, Carthago Nova is now a stronghold of Carthaginian culture and influence in the area, making the borders expand by privatly paid settling in the area.
Using the absence of a strong Carthaginian navy, the Pirate activity in the Baleares area has increased dramatically. The Islands of Ebusus (Ibiza) and Palma have fallen, ending the Carthaginian influence over the rich vinyards in the area...
In other news, Hamilcar Barca has been appointed chief of the military in Carthage. This man turned out to be a tactical genius, and the troops applaud his promotion. A large new contingent of war elephants has been sent to the Cyrenaica to reinforce the forces there, along with fresh troops from Carthage.
The whole army has been ordered through the desert to launch a surprise attack on Egypt. While the attack itself came not as surprising (almost everyone knew about the planned attack) as hoped for, the direction and target was indeed unclear.
Marching south, right through the Sahara desert, the entire Corps of 25,000 men and 120 elephants remained unseen until they reached the Oasis Siwa! As a sacred Oracle to the Greek world, the sacking was to cause much trouble all over the Eastern Mediterranean. Being a religious place, no army was there to encounter the forces of Hamilcar. The temple´s vaults have been plundered and about 85 talents worth of loot had been sent back. Being private property of the temple, Egypt´s economy didn´t suffer from the loss. However, upon hearing of the incident, most people condemned the action as a barbaric act and thus not much sympathy was to be expected throughout Egypt.
Supplying the army with water and foot turned out to be quite a problem to Hamilcar, and only due to his brilliancy the planned attack on Hermopolis could be conducted. The local Lybian tribes let the army pass unharmed, in fact they even supplied the invaders with additional water from their hidden wells. Despite that, the morale of the Carthaginian troops was dropping with every day in the endless desert. Following an old caravan trail, many of such trading trecks have been encountered; While some could flee, most have been plundered as well. Additional riches worth some 14 talents have been sent back to Carthage.
Accompagnying the treasures home passing through enemy territory drew some 2,000 men from the invasion force to ensure safety and prevent the loot to get lost (even within Carthaginian territory)...
Alarmed by fleeing caravans the Egyptians now knew where the strike was to come from; The Pharao´s army hurried to Hermopolis and engaged the Carthaginians just outside the town.
Being thirsty is a hindrance in battle, but coming from two months of desert marching and then having the enemy stop you just a few miles before reaching a huge river turned out to be a blow especially to the animals. The horses and elephants were hard to control, and many did not obey their riders during the battle.
Apparently the Egyptians have appointed a new general as well, as their army fought much better than last time, with deep thought tactics and special forces.
When Hamilcar watched the battle from the top of a nearby hill, he reckognized the enemy commander´s abilities in countering a superior force with what little means they had. He saw the core of heavy infantry in the central front line, upon the top of a small hill, flanked by auxiliary troops and the large cavalry force. Some more troops as well as the chariots had been kept in reserve, and Hamilcar could only guess where they were right now. However, something looked strange among the Egyptian ranks:
Behind the heavy infantry there seemd to be a line of auxiliaries without armour and arms. Some dozens of riders could also be seen, practically worthless in the melee he expected to emerge.
While he was still wondering, his army charged forward, using the heavy elephants to break into the closed infantry formations. Without a sufficient amount of spearmen, the Egyptians couldn´t stand a chance against the beasts. But instead of retreating, the front lines made an opening and several hundred buring pigs ran towards the charging elephant force!
Driven by a few horsement into the right direction, the screaming pigs caused the elephants to panick almost immediately. The thirsty and frightened animals scattered in all directions, many of them losing their riders, and a few even running through the Carthaginian ranks. Only some twenty remained in fighting shape, so Hamilcar led his cavalry into the battle, giving order to the infantry to engage in melee fighting but to watch for the chariots.
Though fighting hard the Egyptian foot soldiers had a hard time against the remaining elephants. Especially since enemy cavalry was attacking them whenever they could free themselves from the Egyptian riders. Lacking many of the ressources the Carthaginians could rely on, the Pharao´s troops had serious disadvantages in hand-to-hand combat. Armours and arms were in poor shape, as the smiths lacked the amounts of copper needed for maintenance. The troops couldn´t drown their fears in wines as none was in reach, and the general inferiority in numbers added the last bit.
However, they were fighting a defensive war, so their morale was much higher. Also, as the defenders, they were to determine the place of battle, so they had a good defensive position.
Also one shouldn´t forget that Hamilcar´s men were thirsty and thus not at full strength...
At the end of the day, the battle remained in a draw. Neither side was to gain the upper hand, and the Carthaginians simply couldn´t retreat to the desert because of the lack of water.
In the late afternoon the Egyptian chariots attacked what was to be considered the rear of the enemy forces. While the first charge was a great success, Hamilcar immediately ordered his remaining 15 elephants to oppose the chariots, which then had to stop the attack and go around the whole battlefield just to try a new attack there.
In the night both sides pulled back to regroup, and Hamilcar desided to let go of the battle and simply make it to the Nile.
So the Carthaginians went around the Egyptian position and forced their exhausted cavalry to scout the safest way to the river. Most of his forces made it there, finally being in supply of water again.
A nighttime raid by the Egyptians discovered the bypassing, and so the Pharao´s forces were pushed forward to engage Hamilcar again.
Until the early morning many men were killed in the dark, eventually even by friendly fire. Both sides had suffered huge casualties, the Egyptians being the ones with the least reserves had to pull back but hindered the Carthaginians from entering any of the nearby towns.
Regarding it a stalemate and running out of supplies, Hamilcar and the Egyptian general sent envoys to discuss a ceasefire.
Reasonably, it was soon agreed upon, and the Carthaginians retreated back to Siwa and from there to Paraetonion.
A few of the routed elephants could be captured by Egyptians, who had some experience with them already, while two dozens returned to the Carthaginians as well. The rest disappeared to the south, several sightings being reported by hunters near Abydos...
NPC orders / Events
- "Alexander´s Army" lost 315 Hetaires, 455 horsemen, 125 swordsmen, 24 hoplites, 665 foot soldiers
- [Moesia] "Eastern Moesian Tribes" lost 652 horsemen, 2,985 foot soldiers
- "Aquilejan Tribes" lost 1,280 horsemen, 4,658 foot soldiers
- Macedonia now has access to a salt ressource
- "Pharao´s Army" lost 108 war chariots, 3,678 horsemen, 2,208 swordsmen, 3,481 foot soldiers
- "Pharao´s Army" captured 11 war elephants
- "Cyrenaican Army" lost 62 war elephants, 2,005 horsemen, 5,114 foot soldiers, 1,445 light infantry
- Carthage closes the trades for tea and spices with Persia, losing both goods
- Persia loses the trade routes to Carthage
- Rome loses the tea trade with Carthage
- "Sinai tribes" lost 420 horsemen
- "Attus Garrison" lost 615 foot soldiers
- „Legion V Liguria“ (Vappa Monterus) lost 264 foot soldiers
- Rome now has access to a fabrics ressource
- Pirates have seized control over the Baleares
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27-01-2005 02:30
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