[IN PROGRESS] Cyrene Expanded

[Magas of Cyrene]

That would be a great way to portray them in the current build, though KAM´s currently working on completely overhauling the hellenic rosters.
So maybe he´d appreciate it if you discussed your findings with him and sent what you already have as concrete submod to him.

I´d imagine it would take make his work easier

Well, not sure if any of that will be of help, but sure, I will

Thanks for the help, by the way!

[Maetharin]

I generally think that in such climates, Linen armour should and would have been preferred by infantry, I could imagine even Roman legionaries using them in their own iteration in all hotter climates.

[Magas of Cyrene]

I generally think that in such climates, Linen armour should and would have been preferred by infantry, I could imagine even Roman legionaries using them in their own iteration in all hotter climates.

Agreed - and that's probably one of the reasons why it was so popular among Libyan troops in Carthaginian employ. That said, if Cyrene's soldiers will mostly use Linothorax, there needs to be a good variation of them, here's what I've gathered so far: fadsad

https://uk.pinterest.com/magas5715/cyrene-expanded/

By the way, would you say Cyrene is a Succesor Kingdom, a Greek Colony (Like Massalia) or a Greek city state in the DeI start date? I'm leaning towards Succesor Kingdom due to Magas' rise shortly after the game starts.

[Maetharin]

Well there were tyrannies in Greek cities too, and its roots are definitly Greek.
I think the best comparison would be Syracuse.
And actually Carthage.
I´d say whereas Syracuse would be the most accurate comparison at the beginning, Carthage would be the potential every city state had.

But from a cultural standpoint, there would not be much of a difference between city states and Hellenic Empires.
F.e. Pergamon started out as a City with its immediate surrounding and only over time got bigger,
but it still is counted as one of the Successor Kingdoms.

IMO the biggest difference between the Successor Kingdoms and a City state is the absolute attachment of the state to its city.
Whereas a Successor Kingdom´s existance relied solely on the person of its ruler.
If there was no definite ruler, the whole state trembled and in extreme cases crumbled.
Whereas a city state can stand on its own as political entity, wether its ruled by a King or any other form of Government.

Both have weaknesses and strength.
Carthage had to recall Hannibal once it was threatened.
Whereas the Antigonid state could lose Pella and still be ruled by Antigonos Gonatas. (Even though technically Pyrrhus was crowned as king of Macedon)

[Magas of Cyrene]

Well there were tyrannies in Greek cities too, and its roots are definitly Greek.
I think the best comparison would be Syracuse.
And actually Carthage.
I´d say whereas Syracuse would be the most accurate comparison at the beginning, Carthage would be the potential every city state had.

But from a cultural standpoint, there would not be much of a difference between city states and Hellenic Empires.
F.e. Pergamon started out as a City with its immediate surrounding and only over time got bigger,
but it still is counted as one of the Successor Kingdoms.

Yeah, it's more of a gameplay consideration, because like you've said, the differences weren't as pronounced. I was leaning towards Succesor Kingdom due to Magas being a (very late, but still) Succesor, who wrestled control from the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

That said, I'm not even sure it's possible to change it, but it looks like this:







Apoikai Hellenikoi or Succesor Kingdom fits the most I think.

And by the way, here's the idea for the unique regional capital chain:

Kyrene

Level I

• -2 food
• +1 growth per turn
• +2% research rate
• 507 wealth from subsistence
• +5% wealth from all sources
• 75 wealth from maritime commerce
• + 0.1 All Population Classes

Kyrene

Level II

• -5 food
• +2 growth per turn
• +3% research rate
• 844 wealth from subsistence
• +10% wealth from all sources
• 150 wealth from maritime commerce
• + 0.5 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class

Kyrene

Level III – Trade

• -6 food
• -6 public order
• +4 growth per turn
• +4% research rate
• 1350 wealth from subsistence
• +40% wealth from all sources
• 300 wealth from maritime commerce
• + 0.5% 1st Class Citizen
• + 0.5 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class

Kyrene

Level III – Regular

• -6 food
• -3 public order
• +3 growth per turn
• +6% research rate
• 1182 wealth from subsistence
• +20% wealth from all sources
• 200 wealth from maritime commerce
• + 0.7 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class

Kyrene

Level III – Fortified

• -7 food
• -3 public order
• +2 growth per turn
• 844 wealth from subsistence
• +10% wealth from all sources
• + 0.5% 3rd Class Citizen
• + 1% 1st and 2nd Class

[Maetharin]

Since you´re talking about the city building chain, I think it would be better if we transferred cultural influence from temples to cities.
It doesn´t really matter if I buid this one church in a roman city, it may change its religion, but its still a roman city.

I´d say temples should have more to do with PO than with cultural influence.
Of course some CI would be realistic, but not as much as it is now.

It would be cool if it were possible to make the PO bonus of temples dependent on the dominant culture in the region
But I´ve no idea if this were possible.

[Cope]

Fixed up the symbol a bit.

[FlashHeart07]

Fixed up the symbol a bit.

You are quite skilled with paint. But it looks weird with the dirt and the colours.

[Magas of Cyrene]

Since you´re talking about the city building chain, I think it would be better if we transferred cultural influence from temples to cities.
It doesn´t really matter if I buid this one church in a roman city, it may change its religion, but its still a roman city.

I´d say temples should have more to do with PO than with cultural influence.
Of course some CI would be realistic, but not as much as it is now.

It would be cool if it were possible to make the PO bonus of temples dependent on the dominant culture in the region
But I´ve no idea if this were possible.

Yeah, but then again a city could be Roman, but heavily hellenized...it's hard to represent the cultural influence, to tell you the truth. Adding cultural influence to the Library building chain might be one idea though.

Fixed up the symbol a bit.

I must say it's an amazing job! It looks very similar in style to the Rome II emblems, though the details get a bit lost when zoomed out. Many thanks!

And thanks to cino for developing the initial sketch

In other news, here's the Cyrene faction description (courtesy of Fanatacus.org - original source: http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armies/I56.html):

According to Greek mythology, Cyrene (Kyrene) was the daughter of the naiad Creusa and the mortal Hypseus, king of the Lapiths. Apollo fell in love with her and took her to Africa, where he built her a city (called Cyrene), in the region that came to be known as Cyrenaica in eastern Libya. Herodotus tells a slightly different tale regarding the founding of Cyrene (or modern Shahat) circa 630 BC. According to the Histories, Grinus of Thera received a oracle at Delphi that Thera should found a colony in Libya. No notice was taken by the Therans of the oracle, until their island was afflicted with seven years of terrible drought. A visit to Delphi to determine the cause of their woes produced the advice that "that if they and Battus would make a settlement at Cyrene in Libya, things would go better with them."


Not knowing quite where Libya was, the Theran elders searched far and wide for a guide, finally finding a cloth merchant who offered to lead them to the island of Platea off the Libyan coast. After reconnoitering the island, the advance party returned to Thera where the elders drafted colonists by lots and put them under the command of Battus and equipped them with two penteconters. Not long after setting out, the would-be colonists attempted to return to Thera, but were driven off with showers of missiles. They eventually settled on Platea, but the drought continued in Thera and another oracle chided the Therans for not establishing their settlement on the mainland of Libya. This they finally did, convincing Battus and the Therans on Platea to shift the colony to Aziris on the Libyan mainland, where they struggled for six years. Finally, the native Libyans led the Theran colonists to the west, across the rich district of Irasa in the dead of night, to a high plateau on the upper slopes of Jabal Al-Akhdar, overlooking the sea. Here there was a spring, dedicated to Apollo, which was named Cyre (Kyre).

During the reigns of Battus (40 years) and his son Arcesilaus (16 years), the colony struggled. During the rein of the third king, Battus the Happy, however, the oracle at Delphi encouraged the migration of Greeks to Cyrene, and a multitude of new settlers expanded outward to form new settlements, seizing lands from the neighboring Libyans. The port city of Barca (Barke) was founded at this time. The Libyan king Adicran appealed to Egypt for aid, prompting the Pharoah Apries to lead a large army against Cyrene, blissfully ignorant of the military prowess of Greek hoplites. The Cyrenaeans soundly defeated Apries, and his defeat prompted an Egyptian revolt in 570 BC. The Achaemenids conquered Egypt in 525 BC, ending Egyptian attempts at hegemony, while showing only modest interest in Cyrene itself, allowing the Battiad Dynasty to rule as satraps.


In subsequent years, Cyrene and its port at Apollonia (Marsa Sousa) became the chief town of the Lybian region between Egypt and Carthage, and traded with all the major Greek cities, reaching the height of its prosperity in the 5th century BC. Greek colonists continued to overflow the city, creating new cities and ports, which operated within the Cyrenean sphere. The region was fertile and well-watered, with hills and light woods, in sharp contrast to the balance of Libya.
In 431 BC, Arkesilas IV was assassinated, ending the Battiad Dynasty. Cyrene became a republic following a civil war with Thibron in which the Cyrenean republicans mustered an army of 30,000, including Carthaginian and Libyan allies.
According to Thucydides (7.59), Spartan reinforcements (comprised of helots and ex-helots) bound for Sicily was blown off course to Libya in 414/413 BC. They were given two trieres by Cyrene, and repaid the favor by joining with Euesperides against the Libyans. a allied with Euesperides against the Libyans.


The city made alliance and was subsequently absorbed into Alexander's Macedonian empire. In 324 BC, a rogue band of 5000 mercenaries under the command of Harpalus (who as later assassinated) and the Spartan captain Thibron took refuge in Crete, where a number of Cyrenean exiles persuaded them to reestablish themselves in Cyrenaicia. The pirate army landed first at Cyrene, seizing the nearby harbor and defeating the Cyrene army outside their gates. Beseiged, the city fathers paid a ransom of 500 talents of gold and chariots, and Thibron's pirates moved out to prey on other Cyrenaician cities. Feuded by local rivalies, the cities of Barca and Hesperis supported Thibron, who also recruited mercenaries from the Peloponnese. Cyrene raised its own army of 30,000 with Carthaginian and Libyan allies. A great battle ensued, with the Cyrenaician army proving no match for Thibron's experienced veterans. Cyrene was beseiged, and at the height of the seige, a republican coup within the city prompted the oligarchs and upper class to flee, many taking refuge with Thibron and others trekking to Egypt to plead for Ptolemaic intervention. Ptolemy sent an army under Ophellas, which prompted erstwhile foes Thibron and Cyrene into a futile alliance. Ophellas easily overwhelmed the allied force, capturing and crucifying the Spartan adventurer Thibron.
Ophellas was appointed Ptolemy's governor or satrap (c. 322 BC) but revolted in 312 BC, ruling thereafter as an independent leader, thus representing the start of the Cyrenean I/56b list. Ophellas took an Cyrenean army with Athenian allies to support Agathokles of Syracuse against the Carthaginians in the first Punic War, but was murdered for his troubles in 308 BC. Again Cyrenea resisted attempts to restore Ptolemaic rule, but after five years Ptolemy's half-brother Magas (son of Berenice) was able to capture Cyrene and establish himself as governor.


After a time, Magas fashioned himself as king of Cyrene (283/277 BC) and planned an invasion of Egypt. Ptolemy hired mercenaries and garrisoned the frontier in anticipation of their advance, but the Cyrene army was forced to turn back to deal with the revolt of the Marmaridae, a tribe of Libyan nomads. His military plans thwarted, Magas turned to political intrique. Using his marriage ties to Apame, daughter of Antiochus, Magas persuaded Antiochus to break the treaty which his father Seleucus had made with Ptolemy and to attack Egypt. Although Antiochus' plans failed to come to fruition, the threat distracted Ptolemy's attention from Cyrene. Magas ruled until his death in 250 BC, whereupon the Cyrenaica formed a loose federal government aided by Demophanes and Ekdemus of Arcada.


In 246 AD, Berenike II, the daughter of Magas, married Ptolemy III, and Cyrenaica was reunited with Egypt. During the subsequent period of loose Ptolemaic rule, the Cyrenaican cities continued to grow and were equipped with permanent defensive walls. The old port of Barca was greatly expanded and renamed Ptolemais. Euesperides (Beaghazi) was renamed Berenice, and Taucheira (Tocra) became Arsinoe. Cyrene's port at Apollonia was recognized as an independent city, and the region of Cyrenaica became known as the Pentapolis or the land of the five cities.


According to Polybios, the Cyreneans revolted against Ptolemy Physkon in 163 BC. In a pitched battle, Physkon drove off the Cyreneans Libyan allies but was unable to crack the Cyrenean phalanx. Cyrenaicia remained an independent kingdom under Ptolemy VIII until reabsorbed in 146 AD.


In 96 B.C. the region of Cyrenaica was willed by Ptolemy Apion to Rome as an independent kingdom. The quaestor Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus arrived in 74 BC and officially annexed the region as a Roman province, thus ending this army list. The city of Cyrene thrived under Roman rule until factions within the city rebelled during the Jewish revolt of 115 AD. The heavy-handed Roman General Marcus Turbo suppressed the rebellion by killing over 20,000 civilians and destroying much of the city, which never fully recovered.

[Magas of Cyrene]

Some information about Cyrene and Libyans I've found during my research:


Greeks and Libyans

It has been seen above how the extension of Greek settlement in Cyrenaica provoked wars with the local Libyans, and how clashes with the Libyans recurred throughout the period. But Greeks and Libyans did not always meet as enemies. Libyans are on occasions found in alliance with the Greeks, as with Cyrene against Thibron in the 320s. It is also probable that the contingents of war-chariots which served with the armies of Cyrene and Barce in the fifth and fourth centuries were provided by Libyan allies. There was also a considerable absorp*tion of Libyan elements into the population of the Greek states. It is not clear whether the Libyans were expelled from the lands taken by he Greek settlers or retained as subjects. It can, however, be assumed that the slaves employed by the Greeks on the land and in the cities would have been predominantly Libyans.


What is more remarkable is the assimilation of Libyans into the free population. It is possible that the Greek colonists brought few women of their own. At any rate, it apparently became quite normal for Greek men to take Libyan wives. A poem written by Pindar for a citizen of Cyrene in the time of Arkesilas IV (Pythian Ode, ix) relates how one of the early settlers at Cyrene (an ancestor of Pindar's client) competed successfully in an athletic competi*tion at Irasa, in the territory of theLibyan tribe of the Giligamai, to win the hand of a Libyan woman. That such marriages were common is proved by the constitutional regulations imposed on Cyreneby Ptolemy after 322 BC, which are preserved in an inscription, and which include the provision that the children of Cyrenaean men by Libyan wives should have citizen status.This Libyan element in the population of the Greek cities evidently had some impact on their culture. A few Greeks adopted Libyan names.


It has already been noted that the royal name Battos was, according to Herodotus, of Libyan origin. Alazeir, the name of the ruler of Barce in the time of Arkesilas III, is also Libyan. Libyaninfluence on the Greeks was most evident in the sphere of religion. Herodotus observes that the women of Cyrene celebrated the festivals of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and observed the prohibition on the meat of cows (which were sacred to Isis), while the women of Barce also observed the Egyptian pro*hibition on the eating of pork, and states that these Egyptian customs came to the Greeks through the Libyans. It is significant that Herodotus speaks here of the women only, confirming the suggestion that the Libyan element was strongest among the women of the cities.


It is also interesting that Libyan influence was apparently stronger at Barce than at Cyrene. Another cult which the Greeks adopted from the Libyans was that of a god whom the Greeks called 'Ammon', a version of the Egyptian god Amun-Re', in origin a fusion of the sun-god Re' with the ram-god Amun, who was often represented as a ram-headed man. The principal centre of the cult of Ammon was his temple in the Oasis of Siwa, famous for its oracle, and the cult was widespread among the Libyan tribes further west. The oracle at Siwa was frequendy consulted by Greeks from Cyrenaica and even from further afield, as by Alexander in 332 BC. The Greeks identified Ammon with their own principal god Zeus, and worshipped him in their own cities as 'Zeus Ammon', who was usually represented as a man with a ram's horns.


Representations of Zeus Ammon were a favourite device on the coins of Cyrene, Barce and Euhesperides. From the Greek cities of Cyrenaica the cult of Zeus Ammon spread to the rest of the Greek world. This was, however, only a very superficial form of assimilation. The Greeks worshipped Zeus Ammon as a Greek god, borrowing only the name Ammon and the device of the ram's horns, without adopting any Libyan or Egyptian forms of ritual. Among other borrowings, the Cyrenaean passion for chariot-racing was certainly influenced by the local Libyans, among whom the horse-drawn war-chariot was still in normal use, whereas it had long ago been abandoned in Greece.
Herodotus, indeed, claims that the Greeks learned from the Libyans the technique of using teams of four horses for chariots. That the Greek colonistsin turn influenced the culture of the Libyans is highly probable, but difficult to establish in detail. Herodotus states of the Asbystai, in the hinterland of Cyrene, that 'for the most part they copy the customs of the Cyrenaeans', and observes that the same was true of the Auschisai and the Bakales, neighbours of Barce and Euhesperides. But he does not go into any details. Greek influence possibly explains the practice of extended burial which Herodotus notes among the Libyans, since the Nasamones to the west of Cyrenaica buried their dead in a sitting posture.

Source:

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF AFRICA

General Editors: J. D. FAGE and ROLAND OLIVER

Volume 2 from c. 500 BC to AD 1050

----------------


One other interesting thing I've found is the suggestion that there may have been Jewish Katokoi in Cyrene during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, so fairly close to the DeI start date. I have to research this topic more.

[greekmen]

Thanks! Maybe you could try some unique shield symbols?

For example, here are the current Cyrene Pikemen:



Some ideas:

1. Zeus-Ammon

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

2. Apollo Karneios

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

3. Trident and a Lion

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

"The trident shields are for Tritonis, the God of the salt lake Triton in Libya; the Lion shields are for the Nymph Kyrene who was wrestling a lion."

4.Quadriga Chariot

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

5.Nymph Kyrene

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

These are just for Greeks, I imagine the Libyans would use a mixture of those and their own.

I could give it a try, but you need to send me the texture files since I have no knowledge of modding total war games so I have no idea how to extract things.

[Magas of Cyrene]

I could give it a try, but you need to send me the texture files since I have no knowledge of modding total war games so I have no idea how to extract things.

I've found a YouTube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOq-DslgTfM

I'll look into it in more detail tomorrow.

I'm currently reading through some more sources about Libyans in Cyrene. Oh and here's a a nice depiction of a hoplite:



Changing the Phrygian helmet into an open-faced one, adding a crest, a smaller shield, a sarissa and a cloak would make a perfect Cyrenean pikeman!

[Magas of Cyrene]

Cyrene's fertility

The pattern of these enterprises illustrates the fact that in this part of Africa Greek interests were primarily agricultural, and not commercial. Unlike the founders of Naukratis in Egypt, the Greek colonists in Cyrenaica and further west were interested not in trade with the natives, but in acquiring good agricultural land for settlement colonies. Theraean tradition connects the foundation of Cyrene with a prolonged drought, and it is likely that the main purpose of the enterprise was to unload the surplus population of the island. The non-commercial character of the Greek colonization is also indicated by the location of the two principal cities, Cyrene and Barce, someway inland, and not on the coast. The land of Cyrenaica was celebrated in antiquity for its fertility. Herodotus, who probably visited Cyrene, describes with wonder its three annual harvests, crops ripening successively on the three terraces of the plateau, and also speaks enthusiasticaly about the fertility of the Euhesperides area. Both cereals and tree crops were grown, and the Greeks also raised herds of cattle, sheep and horses.The Kinyps area, the scene of Dorieus's venture, was likewise an island of relative fertility in the desert of the Tripolitanian littoral, enjoying a higher rainfall because of the relief of the Jebel Nefusa. Herodotus, who had not been there, describes it with some exaggeration as the best agricultural land in Africa.

Cyrene's trading

Nevertheless, the Greek mcities of Cyrenaica soon developed a con*siderable external trade. Archaeological evidence from Cyrene shows that from very early times the city maintained commercial contacts both with Greece and with Naukratis in Egypt. In the first place, the fertility of Cyrenaica was such that it yielded agricultural produce far in excess of the requirements of the Greek colonists, who were therefore able to supply quantities of corn to the Greek world. Wool and ox-hides were also exported. In the second place, trade with the Libyans of the interior developed to an unpremeditated importance. This was due to the discovery of the mysterious plant called in antiquity silphion,whose root served a variety of culinary and medicinal purposes. The plant gr ew only in Cyrenaica, and there it disappeared during Roman times, so that it cannot be botanically identified. It grew in the desert margins to the south of Greek territory, and the roots were collected by the Libyans, who brought them to the Greek cities. The kings of Cyrene endeavoured to exercise a monopoly of the trade in silphion, but a certain amount was smuggled out to the Carthaginians further west along the coast, and Carthage was also to some extent a supplier of silphion to the Mediterranean world. The profits derived by the Greeks from the trade in silphion were considerable, in token whereof the silphion plant became a favourite device on the coins of Cyrene, Barce and Euhesperide

Cyrene's cities

At any rate here – in 631BC, according to the most probable account - the Theraeans founded a city which they called Cyrene'. The other successful Greek colonies in North Africa seem all to have been offshoots of Cyrene. Three settlements appear, on archaeological evidence, to have been established soon after Cyrene itself: Apollonia (Marsa Susa), which served as the port of Cyrene, and two settlementson the coast further west, one at a site whose original name is not recorded, which was later known as Ptolemais (Tolmeta), and one at Taucheira (Tocra). The city of Barce (El Merj), in the hinterland of Ptolemais, is said to have been founded by dissidents from Cyrene around the middle of the sixth century BC. Ptolemais and Taucheira became dependencies of Barce, the former serving as its port. A third independent city was founded further along the coast at Euhesperides (Benghazi), on archaeological evidence probably in the early sixth century. In later times, Cyrenaica was sometimes referred to as the 'Pentapolis', the 'Five Cities', the five being Cyrene, Apollonia, Ptolemais (which ultimately overshadowed Barce), Taucheira and Euhesperides. The Greeks thus colonized the western pordon of the cultivable littoral of Cyrenaica.

Source:

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF AFRICA

General Editors: J. D. FAGE and ROLAND OLIVER

Volume 2 from c. 500 BC to AD 1050
----------------------------------------------------------------

So what does the mean gameplay wise? First of all, I've changed the faction boni. The above information was also also useful for coming up with region effects for Kyrene:


[Faction boni]

- Military Underdogs: +10% non-mercenary recruitment costs.

- Silphium Trade: +10% trade income.

- Athens of Africa: +10% research rate.


(Comments) I was also considering using Cyrenean Fertile Lands: +25% wealth from agricultural buildings, but I don't think it makes much sense, considering it's only the Cyrene's lands that are that fertile.


[Kyrene region modifiers]

Base Government: -5% public order penalties from foreign culture.

Base Food Production: +4 food from this region.

Base Growth: +4% growth per turn in this region.

Tax Potential: +10% tax rate.

Grazing potential: +10% wealth from livestock buildings.

Trade Potential: 12% wealth from all local commerce buildings.

Industrial Potential: -10% wealth from industrial buildings.

Silphium Trade Hub: 3% tariff

Export Food Edict: -3 food (local provincial edicts).

Export Food Edict: +20% local farming income (local provincial edicts).


(Comments) Considering the information I've gathered about Cyrene's fertility, trading potential and heavy urbanization, these seem the most logical.

[Magas of Cyrene]

After some more reading:

- I believe that Kleruchoi is probably a more fitting term for the military class, since Cyrene had close ties to the Ptolemaic Kingdom at the time DeI starts and would most likely adapt a similar recruitment system.

- According to Flavius Josephus, hellenized Jews settled in Cyrene during the reign of Ptolemy Soter (305 – 283/2 BC), again very close to the DeI start date. He mentions that they were sent to man the fortresses in the region, no doubt to reinforce Ptolemaic hold over the territory. Shimon Applebaum in Jews and Greeks in Ancient Cyrene mentions that there is a possibility of a cleruchic settlement of Jews in Cyrene ("Accordingly it is possible that Josephus himself, at least, believed that the Jews of Cyrene had been sent from Egypt as an organized body of settlers"). Applebaum compares it to the settlement of Jews in Asia during Antiochus' III rule ("The King directs his deputy to settle immigrants in garrisons [or fortresses] and at the most vital points, the orders being explicit to allot them plots of land and plantations").

- Continuing the above: Before the Thureos reforms, the Jewish Kleruchoi could be represented like they were in Europa Barbarorum:



These Ioudaioi Taxeis have been recruited in the army for the purpose of providing reliable garrison troops, useful for policing borders and keeping the general population in line. They have been given somewhat outdated equipment consisting of a Phrygian helmet, a solid spear, javelins and a round shield. Though generally unimpressive, many of the soldiers supplement this equipment with armor purchased or manufactured on their own. This added body armor, combined with a good track record of loyalty and valor, make them a tough and reliable medium infantry force, capable of taking on much heavier opponents. This makes them excellent troops to fight off the occasional raids from desert peoples or hold off a more serious invasion until more professional reinforcements have arrived.

[http://europabarbarorum.wikia.com/wi...ish_Spearmen)]

- After the Thureos Reforms they could look like this:





So basically lightly equipped, unarmoured Thureophoroi.

- Some other Jewish Kleruchoi units could also be represented in the Cyrene's roster. Perhaps archers or slingers?

That's it for today, please tell me you what you think

[Maetharin]

Yeah Kleruchoi most likely fits, as it also was the word used for military colonists going back to the Delian league IIRC.

Concerning their equipment, before the Thureos was widely adopted, most hellenic mercenaries used the bronze Pelte.
Also concerning their armour, we do not f.e. know how widespread armour was among the common soldiery.

[servent9]

well.. it's actually easy to edit population class.

I add new Ptolemaic_greek_classes in ui. and rename foreign_greek_classes of 3rd and 4rd classes to politai and xenoi.

Ptolemaic 1st eugeneis 2nd kleurochoi 3rd politai 4th xenoi. to Ptolemaic kingdom and Cyrenaica and Cyprus.

[Maetharin]

The thing about editing the population class is that we then need a lower politai and a higher xenoi class quantity, but I have no idea what numbers to use there.
Also one has to change the population classes of the units themselves, or even the lower tier machimoi become politai, which is what we want to avoid.

[Magas of Cyrene]

Yeah Kleruchoi most likely fits, as it also was the word used for military colonists going back to the Delian league IIRC.

Concerning their equipment, before the Thureos was widely adopted, most hellenic mercenaries used the bronze Pelte.
Also concerning their armour, we do not f.e. know how widespread armour was among the common soldiery.

Kleruchoi would probably be able to and equip themselves properly, I assume everyone else just tried to get the best armour they could afford (if any).

well.. it's actually easy to edit population class.

I add new Ptolemaic_greek_classes in ui. and rename foreign_greek_classes of 3rd and 4rd classes to politai and xenoi.

Ptolemaic 1st eugeneis 2nd kleurochoi 3rd politai 4th xenoi. to Ptolemaic kingdom and Cyrenaica and Cyprus.

The thing about editing the population class is that we then need a lower politai and a higher xenoi class quantity, but I have no idea what numbers to use there.
Also one has to change the population classes of the units themselves, or even the lower tier machimoi become politai, which is what we want to avoid.

Good to hear it's easy to change. The way the population is currently represented does pose certain problems, however. This is how Cyrene's population division looks like at the start:



Making Politai the most numerous won't work, like you say...One idea would be to have:

Kleruchoi
Politai
Laoi
Xenoi

It has the added bonus of making Kleruchs a true elite. It has a nice side effect of making the pikemen and other Macedonians very rare, as it should be. The Politai would be then Greeks (who could be recruited as hoplites, peltasts etc.), Jews and Libyans of higher social standing ("That such marriages were common is proved by the constitutional regulations imposed on Cyreneby Ptolemy after 322 BC, which are preserved in an inscription, and which include the provision that the children of Cyrenaean men by Libyan wives should have citizen status" - Cambridge History of Africa) serving as the better equipped and trained soldiers.

Third class would be Laoi, which was a word used to usually denote native population (in this case - Libyans, but it could also mean Jews and other free non-Greeks).

The Cambridge World History of Slavery Volume 1, The Ancient Mediterranean World has a bit more detail about the Laoi - "For Coele Syria, when controlled by the Ptolemies, a royal ruling from 260 BC clearly states that the laoi there were legally free. Members of the native peasantry were "free"; with certain excpetions, in the future they should not be sold. The need for this royal order suggests that there was indeed a market in laoi. Nevertheless, their free legal status was unequivocally stressed").

Furthermore, A History of Egypt Under the Ptolemaic Dynastyby Sir John Pentland Mahaffy contains the following passage: "Of the native troops we have few sporadic notices in the documents belonging to the later days of the dynasty (Ptolemaic - Commodore). They were organized in the corps called the laarchiai, each under a commander called a laarches."

The Laoi would be the most numerous, and would make up the ranks of the cheap, lightly equipped and relatively untrained soldiers. Laoi, from my understanding, was a broader term than Machimoi, which primarily meant native Egyptians.

Lastly we would have the Xenoi, which would mean slaves and everyone else not included in the other classes. They wouldn't be recruited as soldiers at all, making the expansion that much difficult.

Again, it isn't perfect, but with only 4 population classes some compromises unfortunately have to be made. Eugeneis would obviously be missing, but I think that, at least for Cyrene, they'd most likely be more involved in the civic affairs than in the military ones, given their very low number. Of course that'd mean that Cyrene wouldn't have access to Hetairoi and other elite troops, but I don't think it was very likely they had anyway.

As for the role of the Kleruchoi in the Hellenistic societies:

"But fundamentally, the cleruchs seem to have been almost a closed class, the founding fathers of the Ptolemaic state, after a fashion, and their descendants. These military settlers were a distinctly privileged class, holders of much fine farmland in the richest agricultural state of Mediterranean antiquity; they appear thus to be also a rather fixed class, remaining fairly stable from generation to generation. If this is so, it is evident that becoming a military settler was not a very realistic expectation for a third- or second-century." (The Origins of Ptolemaic Cleruchs - Roger S. Bagnall)

I would posit that they'd be a doubly priviledged class in the Cyrenean society, since they'd probably be fairly few in number.

So, this is my take on the topic, what are your thoughts?

[Magas of Cyrene]

After some additional reading I've revised the political parties of Cyrene:

House of Magas (Magasian Dynasty? Not sure what would be the best term)

Magas of Cyrene (c. 317 – 250 BC) was a son of Berenice I and Philip of Macedon. He was also a stepson of Ptolemy II and ruled Cyrene as his vassal, until 274 BC, when he rebelled and named himself king. Later on he even attempted to seize Alexandria, but was unsuccesful. Although his new found dynasty was short-lived, it's up to the player to change the course of history...

Macedonian Nobility

Macedonian Kleruchoi who have acquired a higher social standing, members of the elite.

Pentapolis Nobility

Greek nobles of the five cities of Cyrenaica - Cyrene, Apollonia, Ptolemais (which ultimately overshadowed Barce), Taucheira and Euhesperides. The “old” aristocracy.

Merchant Oligarchs

Cyrene maintained commercial contacts both with Greece and with Naukratis in Egypt. The discovery of the mysterious plant called in antiquity silphion, which the kings of Cyrene endeavoured to exercise a monopoly of, has granted considerable profits to the kingdom. Hence the probable rise of the Merchant Oligarchy as an important political power in Cyrene.

[Jake Armitage]

you're up to take an history degree here