The camp was filled with noises – those of laughter, song, weapons and shields clashing and arrows flying. The soldiers have been here for over three weeks, waiting for some action or a change in their now regular daily routines. The money for the mercenaries was going low and any day these men might simply go away.
Standing in front of his tent Deukalos observed his men while chewing on a piece of meat. He was only seventeen summers old, but his grandfather, Antigonos Gonatas, had already given him control over an army. As trained and well equipped as they may be, much of this force was still composed of mercenaries.
For example, most of the pezhetairoi were recruited as mercenaries. 488 of them to be precise, while only 369 were recruited as regular soldiers from Lower Macedonia right before the plague. Allied Greek City states had also supplied the army with cavalry, toxotai, peltasts and hoplites mostly coming from Sparta, Cydonia, Athens, Argos, Thebes and Sicyon. More than 100 horsemen had come from Upper Macedonia, but most of them were light troops such as sarissophoroi carrying the cavalry sarissa. Mercenaries coming from Byzantium and Pergamum also joined the army as Thureophoroi.
This army was stationed a little east of Larissa which was its main food supply. This army lived off of money which the king had little. So a campaign had to be made quickly with a decisive victory to ensure a successful payment of the debts. Antigonos had promised to send a letter to Deukalos in a short while, but it seems that even the old warrior-king had lost track of time in the cold winter.
Eyeing a lone pezhetairoi, Deukalos looked at the man with displeasure and asked: “What are you looking at? Want something?”
“No, I am just wondering why we, men, are led by a child.”
Deukalos didn’t take much of an offense and replied: “Because I am expendable but the old king is not.” Deukalos threw a piece of meat to the man who then went away.
Almost immediately after that a rider galloped in front of Deukalos. He was a young man, but still he seemed older than the general. For a minute they looked each other in the eye.
“Are you Deukalos, son of Basileus Antigonos?” The man asked as he jumped off from his brown mare.
“Maybe. What is it?”
“My name is Nikanor and I bring a letter from your grandfather.” With that the messenger took out a scroll and showed it to Deukalos. The later nodded and, turning on his heel, went inside the tent.
The tent had no luxuries except for wine and some meat and grapes on a desk in the middle. Deukalos lay back in the bed, looking at the ceiling.
“So, how is he?” Deukalos quietly asked, not turning his head at Nikanor.
“Excuse me?” Nikanor asked looking puzzled.
“The Basileus - how is he?”
“Oh. If I may, my lord, he is getting weaker by each passing day and resides in his quarters for a large part of the day. If it weren’t for Echecrates he would have forgotten to send this letter all together. Now, about the letter.”
Nikanor stretched his arm at Deukalos, who simply waved back. “You read it.”
“Yes, my lord.” Nikanor answered and unfolded the parchment.
“Deukalos,
Forgive me for not sending this earlier – it slipped out of my mind. I still remember one thing: that I would advise You were to march when the snows would melt. And I will keep my word.
There are Illyrians to the northwest which could be an easy target for conquest, but hard to keep under our grip with the Gaulic and Dacian tribes to the north and the Epeirots over the Adriatic Sea. But from there you shall be able to march north against the Gauls and later against the Thracians. However, our coffers are almost empty and we could use the mines to the north. We have already experienced several transgressions from the Thracians who even dare to send forces to pillage our lands!
If you are more confident, there are also the Greeks to the east – in Asia. The Attalids are powerful and should be dealt with quickly. However, by choosing such a move you would not only create a large-scale war in the east, but would also leave our homeland unprotected and violate the alliance pact with the Seleucids. Now that they are conquering Syria, they are a force to be reckoned with.
The choice is up to you. You are young, but so was Megas Alexandros when he conquered Asia. I do, however, advise you to think carefully. And don’t be shy to ask your generals.
Your grandfather, Basileus Antigonos Gonatas.”
“Well that was helpful.” Deukalos said and grabbed his head, thinking.
Nikanor put the parchment on the desk, bowed and left. Once he was out and Deukalos could hear a horse gallop away, the young man whistled. A hypaspists entered the tent and bowed.
“My lord?”
“Go and call for the senior officers. And don’t order it to some kid again, I need a military meeting now, not next week.”
The hypaspists blushed, bowed once more and left.