Alexandretta?

[AqD]

Hi all!

I'm trying to correct a few settlement names, and found the "Alexandretta" (province and city)... uh... non-existing? The only related search is a city of the same name in syria. Anyone know what it should be named exactly??

[fourganger]

For Alexandretta, Aria might be your best bet. I have maps at home that I'll have to look at, but off the top of my head Aria is around that area. It did have a city called Alexandria, but that could be changed to Alexandria Ariana.

[Spartan 666]

Alexandretta is the modern latin name of Iskenderun in south-eastern Turkey. It was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC after the Battle of Issus, and infact the city was called Alexandria at Ipsus. It is very near to ancient Antioch, which now is called Hatay.

There was also a Alexandria in Aria, which is Herat in Afghanistan, but Alexandretta (Iskenderun) is far away from that area, it's in ancient Syria, which was much larger than the modern country called Syria.

A tip: in eastern languages, our "Alexander" becomes "Iskender, Iskandhar" or something like it. A very interesting example is modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, founded in 329 as Alexandria in Arachosia, then it was called Iskandahar, and now the -Is disappeared and it become Kandahar.

[fourganger]

Alexandretta is the modern latin name of Iskenderun in south-eastern Turkey. It was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC after the Battle of Issus, and infact the city was called Alexandria at Ipsus. It is very near to ancient Antioch, which now is called Hatay.

There was also a Alexandria in Aria, which is Herat in Afghanistan, but Alexandretta (Iskenderun) is far away from that area, it's in ancient Syria, which was much larger than the modern country called Syria.

A tip: in eastern languages, our "Alexander" becomes "Iskender, Iskandhar" or something like it. A very interesting example is modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, founded in 329 as Alexandria in Arachosia, then it was called Iskandahar, and now the -Is disappeared and it become Kandahar.

On the RTR map, the province of Alexandretta is in Iran, hence aqd's confusion. From his original post, I'd say he's discovered that the name of Alexandretta only occurs in instances of Iskenderun. The issue is, how did this name end up being on the far side or Iran? I'll check my books when I get home, but I think Aria is the best suggestion for a replacement province name.

[Caligula Caesar]

That Alexandria didn't exist to my knowledge. Issatis and Aspadana were near to it, though.

[fourganger]

Ideally, we need someone who worked on the original map to clarify the source of Alexandretta. Does anyone know who made the map?

[Spartan 666]

Fourganger, I'm sorry, I didn't really understand Aqd's issue. I thought he was planning to place a city called Alexandretta or something like that..you're perfectly right, Aria should be a reasonable choice.

And on a side note, I think the fact the RTR map is FULL of historical\geographic errors isn't a mystery. Problems start after Mesopotamia. West of it, the map is fine and quite correct. From Mesopotamia to India, it's obscene, it's totally wrong.

[fourganger]

Fourganger, I'm sorry, I didn't really understand Aqd's issue. I thought he was planning to place a city called Alexandretta or something like that..you're perfectly right, Aria should be a reasonable choice.

And on a side note, I think the fact the RTR map is FULL of historical\geographic errors isn't a mystery. Problems start after Mesopotamia. West of it, the map is fine and quite correct. From Mesopotamia to India, it's obscene, it's totally wrong.

In fairness to the modders, the mostly Greek and roman sources have a devil-may-care attitude towards their reportage on events in the East. Even details of Alexander's campaigns there are sketchy, which is saying something.

[Caligula Caesar]

However, there are accounts of the east, if not in huge detail. They could have done it much better. The geography (where the mountains are ect) is diabolical as well.

[Spartan 666]

@Fourganger: I know that, I meant to say more what Caligula Caesar says.

@Caligula Caesar: that's what I meant. The geographycal look of the map (mountains, rivers, lakes) is completely wrong, and so the location and names of cities.

[fourganger]

@Caligula Caesar: that's what I meant. The geographycal look of the map (mountains, rivers, lakes) is completely wrong, and so the location and names of cities.

Didn't the original map miss off the Hindu Kush? It's been ages since I played straight up Platinum.

[Caligula Caesar]

Its only very vaguely similar to reality. There are so many things wrong if you look at any map or atlas that there is no point in listing them all. But most mountains and the almost the entire coast are wrong.

[Quinn Inuit]

Hmmm, I don't think I fixed the coastline in the ExRM 3.4 map, but I did fix everything west of Mesopotamia. I won't say it's perfect, but it is a whole lot closer to reality now. Seriously, the mountains in the original map appear to have been placed at random, and if you place the mountains wrong, the city placement makes no sense. Now Alexandria Herat and Merv are actually strategically valuable.

IIRC, I couldn't find a source for what Alexandretta should be, either, so I think I sidestepped the issue by getting rid of the province entirely. I wanted to channel the AI (and the player, to a lesser extent) along the routes armies actually took over the Persian Plateau, so what I did was create some large empty spaces in the center of the plateau that would cause armies to take either the northern route (toward Alexandria Herat) or the coastal route. I'm pretty sure that province got moved to Carmania or something.

[fourganger]

I have a National Geographic map of the Persian Empire which lists the area as Sagartia, after the people that lived there. But I've seen conflicting sources as to where exactly they lived, so I'm not sure how helpful this is.

[Quinn Inuit]

Thanks, fourganger. Turned out I hadn't removed Alexandretta, so I just did that and replaced it with Sagartia, capital Hecatompylos.