Rome Total History: Action Reports

[Philadelphos]

In this thread you can post your campaigns and other gaming experiences in Rome Total History.

I start with a campaign I played still under version 1.3. Many of the experiences made during this campaign have been useful for improvements in version 1.4 and 1.5.

The latest version RTH_1.5 is ready for download here: http://dfiles.eu/files/lnua4l1zg

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter I
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1. Will Macedon rise from the ashes?

I play the Macedonians in the version RTH 1.3. My strategy plan is to consolidate my position in Greece and then redo the Alexander campaign until reaching India. Consolidation means that I don't want to exterminate the other Greek factions, but either make them allies or corner them until they cannot harm me anymore.

My game started with two obvious conquest: Bylazora and Thebes. Bylazora is easy, but Thebes is a bit tricky. Unfortunately (or fortunately), since I'm the designer of the game, I know all the traps and how to avoid them. This is an advantage lacking a newbie player and therefore he should be aware that Macedon is in the middle of a crisis with Gauls, Aetolians and Boiotians lurking all around in the woods.

After the conquest of Thebes the Macedonians consolidated their position in Hellas training their armies in the Acrocorinth, where they got better armour and weapons. For some time I rotated all my troops from Bylazora to Corinth and back. I also took a number of diplomatic initiatives, concluding peace treaties with all my former enemies except the Seleucids. Surprisingly even the Egyptians agreed to a ceasefire and granted trade rights.

The situation in Greece remained quiet and only the Spartans made some progress conquering Megalopolis in Arcadia. They had to bleed however and I guess they will need some time to recover before their next move. I hope the tyrant of Argos will resist them, because my own armies are too weak to take his town.

The Ionian Sea is infested with pirates and my fleet is blocked in the gulf of Corinth. There is not much I can do in the West and that's why I concentrate on purging my kingdom from Celtic invaders and Aetolian raiders.

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This is the Macedonian position in 280 BC:



Macedon starts in the middle of a civil war. This is the historic event message:

- Civil War in Macedonia -
The struggle for the throne of Macedon has thrown the country into turmoil. Three pretenders are fighting for the throne: Antigonos Gonatas of the Antigonids, Ptolemy Keraunos of the Ptolemies, and Antipater Etesias of the Antipatrids. According to the old tradition, the army wants to have a word, too, proclaiming their commander Sosthenes, who has distinguished himself against the Galatian invaders. Finally, some parts of the kingdom are trying to break away, especially the city of Cassandreia ruled by the cruel tyrant Apollodoros and his counselor Calliphon the Sicel.

At the beginning the Antigonids hold six regions/cities: Macedonia/Pella, Chalcidice/Thessalonice, Thessalia/Larissa, Euboea/Chalcis, Corinthia/Corinth and Pamphylia/Side. The old dynasts Antigonos Monophtalmos and Demetrius Poliorcetes are trapped in Pamphylia and Phrygia. First objectives are Bylazora in Paeonia and Thebes in Boeotia.
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2. Demetrius Poliorcetes in Asia

In the meantime the action was going on in Asia Minor where Demetrius Poliorcetes united with his father Antigonos the One-Eyed. Together they confronted Seleucus in the plains of Phrygia. In the battle near Ipsos Seleucus was slain, but Antigonos sacrificed himself too, while facing the Seleucid elephants. Now Demetrius was king and his son Antigonus II Gonatas became regent in Pella.

Having left his second son Alexander to guard the town of Side in Pamphylia, Demetrius Poliorcetes now headed north to the Hellespontus. On his way the king saw that Pessinus was under attack from Pergamum. Realizing that the remainders of his army would have been too weak for an assault of the Phrygian capital, Demetrius drove on to Cyzicus. From there he hoped to cross the sea and face Lysimachus in his new capital Lysimacheia on the European side of the Hellespontus. The Lysimacheian fort at Abydos was an obstacle to this plan, but Gonatas sent a fleet to the Propontis Sea which embarked the Macedonian force near Lampsacus where Demetrius crossed the strait.

In the meantime Demetrius' brother Philipos had marched through Thracia bringing reinforcements. Together the brothers attacked Lysimachus and conquered Lysimacheia. In the battle Philipos and Lysimachus were killed. Now the last companion of Alexander the Great was out of the way. Maybe Ptolemy I Soter is still around in Alexandria, but I guess he will soon die from old age in his bed.
Demetrius had now to decide where to move next. Phrygia would have been a perfect addition to the realm. So he conquered the fort at Abydos and then moved back east to Pessinus. When he arrived he saw that the town was under siege from the Galatians. So he had to wait for his chance, but as soon as the Galatians retreated from their unsuccessful assault, the Bithynian king arrived with a strong army to lay siege on the city. Demetrus should have blocked their path, but he didn't expect their sneaky night march. Since the Bithynians arrived with huge power, the outlook for Pessinus is not good and it is expected that Phrygia will fall to the Independent Kingdoms.

In the meantime a minor defeat against a rebel force led to a critical situation in Pamphylia. Demetrius was forced to face the Seleucids and the next obvious choice for his army was Sardes. But while the king laid siege on the Lydian citadel, the regent in Pella had spotted an opportunity in the Aegean Sea.

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Antigonos and Demetrius preparing to face Seleucus near Ipsus in Phrygia:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is from the campaign, but there is also a custom battle of Ipsus (301 BC) with much bigger armies.

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3. The Battle of Mytilene

Sending his explorers from Abydos to Troy, Antigonos II Gonatas had learned that Mytilene on Lesbos was only defended by four units. Probably they were weakened by continous Pergamese attacks, but for the moment the Attalids were quiet. Making his plans Antigonos assembled an army in Chalcis on Euboea. Since the endeavour didn't seem to present particular risks, it was decided that the leader of the expedition should be the young prince Philip V. He took to the sea with five units: Pikemen, Levy Pikemen, Militia Hoplites, Lycian Hillmen, Agrianian Javelineers. Only the levy and the militia were at full ranks, the others were at about 80% of effectives.

Arriving at Lesbos Philip drove his ships into the large southern inlet which allowed to land his army right in the middle of the island. The island of Lesbos is very beautiful and the center is all covered with light forest. The town of Mytilene was defended by Polycrates of Argos, a former mercenary of the Ptolemies. He is also the father of three daughters who became famous as female athletes participating in the Panathenaic Games. Polycrates had divided his troops. The main force, consisting of 80 hoplites and his bodyguards, defended the city and a minor force consisting of 80 peltasts and 5(!) hoplites was encamped just outside the walls.

Encouraged by the news Philip V decided to spare his men the fatigue of a regulare siege and attacked the peltasts. Polycrates left the shelter of his walls and rushed to their help. All seemed to go as predicted and Philip decided to make his first move against the peltasts in his back and then face the main force. He destroyed them with his horse, 25 bodyguards against 80 peltasts and 5 hoplites, but the Lesbians took advantage of the bush and before running away they killed nine of his companions.

Reaching his infantry with the survivors Philip came just in time to witness how Polycrates rushed his hoplites at full speed against the pikemen on the right flank of the Macedonian phalanx. This appeared to be no serious threat since pikemen are superior to hoplites. The militia in the center turned to help their companions, as well as the levy pikemen to their left. Philip gave order to the Lycian hillmen to advance on the left and outflank the Lesbians.

His bodyguards had already taken position on the right together with the Agrianians. But now he learned to his big surprise that Polycrates had assembled a force of 46 (!) bodyguards, while he himself was left with 16 companions. In a classic move Polycrates led his men to outflank the Macedonian phalanx on their right flank. Seeing their superior number, Philip dared not face them and ordered his javelineers to seek shelter behind the line. In a quite unsusual move both armies now rotated clockwise.

When the Lesbian riders charged, they completely destroyed the pikemen on the Macedonian right and continued against the militia hoplites in the center. Soon both units turned to flee and only the levy pikemen on the left held their ground. At this point the Lycian hillmen had finally reached their position ready to attack the Lesbian hoplites in the open flank. But as if he had expected nothing else Polycrates retreated his companions from the battle against the levy pikemen, took a short run-up and charged the Lycians.

Realizing that his hillmen were facing annihilation too, Philip decided that the moment for his own move had arrived. He lost four more companions and very nearly faced death himself, but his intervention served to drive back the attackers and save about half of his hillmen.

Left alone against superior numbers, the Lesbian phalanx now gave way to the pressure of the levy pikemen and Polycrates started to run out of resources. After another cavalry duel he fled the field with two surviving companions.

Polycrates was not killed in the battle, but the remainders of his army dispersed and thus Mytilene was conquered the same evening. Philip V could call himself lucky that he had survived the battle and conquered his first wall. Polycrates of Argos disappeared from history, but the next winter when the lady Olympias bore her husband Demetrius the Fair a son he was named in his honour.

[bruno13]

I like the way you describe the campaign historically , I will update my game to 1.3 and give a shot on my Parthian Campaign.

[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter II
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4. The War with Athens

The next turn Demetrius the Besieger of Cities conquered the citadel of Sardes which had only a small garrison. The Seleucids were still holding out with their main force in Ephesus. But before preparations for an assault were complete a declaration of war by the Greek Cities brought new concerns. The safety of Corinth, the most important citadel in Hellas was threatened by the Achaeans. The Achean strategos Margos of Ceryneia and his cavalry commander Aratos of Sicyon had assembled a strong army in Aegion, but they were checked by the Spartans in Arcadia and the Aetolians in the north and thus they never combined anything outside their region.

Learning that Athens was only guarded by a small garrison, Antigonos Gonatas decided to assault the citadel of Munychia in the Piraeus to punish the Greeks for their insolence. The surprise attack, led by Alexander of Corinth, was successful and the Greek City League lost their wealthiest city.

Minor battles were fought on the Hellespontus, where Nicanor the Elephant fenced off the Byzantines. After these events the war with the Achaean League came to a momentary halt due to the lack of offensive action.

5. The War in Asia Minor

In Asia Minor the cities of Sardes and Side were cut off from supplies by the strong presence of the Seleucids in Ionia, where the city of Ephesus was presided by a huge army. Lacking manpower for an assault, Demetrius Poliorcetes decided to send his son Alexander to take the city of Halicarnassus which was defended by the Rebel leader Olympicus of Caria. Alexander fulfilled his task and took the town.

With the reinforcements from Halicarnassus Demetrius Poliorcetes hoped to assemble an army strong enough to take Ephesus. However, before he could carry out his plan, the king died in his bed in Sardes, probably from too much drinking. His death weakened the Macedonian position in Lydia to a point that the attack on Ephesus had to be postponed.

Things got even worse when the Seleucids finally started to take the war seriously, sending one army after the other against Sardes and Side. The new king Antigonos Gonatas sent a number of young commanders into Asia who brought enough fresh forces to fence the invaders off. Most of the battles in this war took place in Pisidia and Cibyria, where the Seleucids found themselves trapped between the Macedonian troops from Lydia and those from Pamphylia. Strange enough, the Seleucids never tried any direct attack on Side in Pamphylia.

After several victories in Pisidia the Macedonians felt finally strong enough for an assault on Ephesus. Gonatas ordered Philip V to cross over from Lesbos and take command of the Macedonians in Asia. Philip called Alexander from Halicarnassus and Nicanor the Elephant to join him and together they marched on the city of the goddess Artemis. Using the machines of Demetrius the siege was brief, but the ensuing battle was fierce. The Seleucids had massed about 1300 men in the city, and the Macedonians had only a hundred more. There was some serious confusion at the gate and namely the Illyrians ran away. The Agrianians however fought bravely, as well as most other units, and the outcome was beyond doubt. The Macedonian forces suffered a loss of less than 400 men thanks to the good work of the surgeons.

Together with Ephesus fell the port of Miletus and thus Macedonia had finally gained a safe haven on the Ionian coast for an easier connection between the two sides of the Aegean. Now everything seemed ready for the great campaign into Asia. The first battles would have to take place in Pamphylia where the Seleucids had used the Macedonian distraction to approach the city of Side with two armies from different sides.


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[ahowl11]

You need to provide screenshots

[Philadelphos]

Here they come.

This is Philip V of Macedonia ready to conquer Ephesus from the Seleucids:

[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter III
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6. The Succession in Cyrene

The wise rebel king Magas of Cyrene had a beautiful daughter called Berenice. In his plans she was to become an instrument of peace by marrying a prince of Egypt in order to end the old conflict with the Ptolemies. But his wife, queen Apama of Cyrene, had other priorities and thought it fit for Berenice to marry a prince of Macedon. So she offered her hand to the youngest son of Demetrius Poliorcetes. Demetrius Kalos, also called the Fair or the Handsome due to his famed beauty, was a half-brother of king Antigonus II Gonatas and his sister Stratonice of Syria.

Apama asked Demetrius to come to Cyrene and meet his bride, but when he arrived and the queen saw the beauty of his youth, she fell in love herself and secretly planned to make him her lover. However her husband Magas, suspicious of his wife's enthusiasm, wouldn't allow the marriage and asked the Macedonian prince to leave.

As a consequence, Demetrius was held outside the city where he encamped with a small troop of loyal followers, waiting for a chance to overthrow Magas and make himself king of Cyrene. When a first attempt was thwarted by the guards of the king, Demetrius was forced to retreat into the Libyan desert.

He wandered for many years among the Marmaridae and Nasamones tribes, until he finally put together a force of mercenaries strong enough to challenge the king. The same year when the Macedonians captured Ephesus, Demetrius attacked Cyrene again and this time he was successful. After a hot fight Magas of Cyrene was slain and Demetrius, by marrying his daughter, became the new king of Cyrene.

7. The Conflict with Egypt

The Egyptians had plans on Cyrene, too, and on the death of king Magas they grew hopes to take back the breakaway province. Ptolemy had sent a young prince named Magas, a relative of the former king, to conquer the city, but the Egyptians arrived just a few days late. When the news arrived that Demetrius had already crowned himself king of Cyrene, the pharaoh of Egypt didn't take it lightly and declared war on Macedon.

The orders for Magas were to avenge the death of the former king and attack before the Macedonian forces could recover from the previous fight.

Outnumbered, Demetrius was blocked in the city. Realizing that his reign might turn a very short-lived experience, he seeked consolation in the arms of his young wife, and soon also in those of her mother.

Demetrius now appealed for help from his brother Antigonos Gonatas, but the king in Pella was not pleased with the Egyptian war and refused to risk his ships in a salvation attempt.

8. The Battle of Cyrene

After completing his siege works Magas attacked with superior forces, but Demetrius closed the main road into town with his spearmen and hoplites, all together less than 70 men. The Egyptian attack arrived somehow uncoordinated and Magas broke the wheel of his chariot against the Macedonian spears. The death of their commander was the turning point of the battle and the Egyptian attackers turned to flight.

Safe for the moment, Demetrius was still in a very precarious situation, with his forces decimated and the next Egyptian army already on the way. In the meantime his wife had found out about his love interest for her mother. Learning of the betrayal, Berenice became determined to follow through with her father's original will and marry an Egyptian prince, even if that meant killing her husband and her mother. During the siege and the battle with Magas she had already hired a band of thugs, but when her husband turned home victorious she found it wiser to postpone her plans.

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Demetrius the Handsome with the remainders of his army after the battle of Cyrene:



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[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter IV
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9. The War in the Aegean

The obvious action in the war against Egypt would have been an attack on Naxos, to rob the enemy of his position as hegemon of the Nesiote League in the Cyclades. But Antigonos Gonatas was a very cautious king and so he started a timid kind of island hopping. First he sent Nicanor the Elephant to conquer the Egyptian fort on Andros and then he gave order to occupy Samos and fortify it with another citadel. At least, in this way the Macedonians secured a land connection from Euboea to Ionia. (Thanks to the land bridges between the islands, although that voyage resulted very slow and was better done by ship from Eretria to Miletus.)

The king was however right with his cautious approach, because Agathocles of Egypt, the governor of Naxos, had prepared a trap for him, showing only a part of his forces in the Cyclades. When the Macedonian spy Oenomaus of Ionia returned two weeks later from the island, he reported that there was a second army, under the command of Lysimachos of Egypt, kept hiding in the bushy hills south of Naxos.

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Oenomaus of Ionia discovering the Egyptian army on Naxos:



This terrian configuration is typical for the Rome Total History map and there are hundreds of strategic hideouts in the light forests of Greece, Italy, Thrace, Gaul, Germany, Spain, etc.

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10. At the Cilician Gate

Then Antigonos Gonatas turned his eye again on the situation in Asia Minor and this time he moved out personally to follow the footsteps of Alexander the Great. He reached the army of his half-brother Alexander in Pisida and together they advanced into Lycaonia to attack the town of Iconium. Here the heavy onagers built by the late king Demetrius were put to good use, and the place was taken without a siege. In the streets of Iconium the Macedonians faced for the first time a unit of Bactrian cavalry. There were also Galatian mercenaries defending the city, but no Seleucid general.

Antigonos Gonatas used the winter to let his men rest in Iconium. In spring he appointed a new governor for the city, and then he continued his march into Cilicia. Near the border he learned from his spies that Tarsus was defended by three large Seleucid armies. Thinking that his own forces were not sufficient to stem such a difficult task, he encamped at the Cilician gate and waited for reinforcements from Sardes.

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Antigonos Gonatas ready to invade Cilicia:



You can see that there are at least three Seleucid armies ready to defend Tarsus.
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11. The Diplomatic Game

At the eve at the great campaign in the East, Macedon was allied with Epirus, Illyria and Gaul, and at war with the Seleucids, the Ptoelemies and the Greek Cities (Achaeans and Byzantines). The Seleucids were allied with the Greek Cities, the Hellenic Kingdom and Pontus.

The Macedonian hold on Hellas was beyond doubt, although the Peloponnese was still divided between Achaeans, Spartans and the tyrant of Argos. Epirus kept its position well, but the Illyrian allies appeared even to weak to deal with the Dardanian rebels. In Thrace they pressed for a common action against the Celts from Tylis, but for the moment Antigonos Gonatas had refused this idea.

Spies from the west reported that the Romans were making good progress in Italy and the Alpes, where they have reached Vesontio and made contact with some German tribes. Due to the Roman wedge, the Gauls of Gallia Cisaplina were now completely isolated from their brothers beyond the Alpes.

In Southern Italy the Romans had taken Brundisium, Rhegium, Croton and Messana, but the Epirots were still resisting in Tarentum and Syracuse. They had even tried to retake Messana, but the Romans were intelligent enough to negotiate a ceasefire. Since the Romans had also concluded an alliance with the Gauls, the doors of the temple of Janus on the Capitoline Hill had been closed for a brief moment, but soon the war with Epirus broke out again.

The latest news from Sicily said that the Roman consul Quintus Fabius Maximus suffered a major defeat and lost Messana. While he advanced on the road to Syracuse, a Syracusan army passed beyond the Roman lines on an unguarded road. The surprise succeeded thanks to the sophisticated war machines invented by Archimedes, allowing the Syracusans to take Messana without a long siege.

Fabius Maximus was cut off near Catane and for a brief moment the Greeks grew some hope for revival in Sicily. Many expected indeed that the Romans would evacuate their army by ship. Fabius however returned immediately to Messana and reconquered the city for Rome.

In Africa the Carthaginians were making good progress in all directions, getting even stronger than the Romans. In Spain they were holding three regions, in Sicily they had taken Panormus and in Africa they had conquered four more regions. Still not satisfied, they had recently gone to war with their Numidian neighbors.

The Egyptians were keeping the defensive, at least in the beginning. They had taken Jerusalem and now they were waging war in Nubia where they took Napata.

The Hellenic Kingdoms (Pergamon) were at war with the Eastern Kingdoms (Bithynia) which resulted in weakening the position of both on the Hellespontus and in Phrygia. More to the east they were clashing in the Paropamisos area (Bactria vs. Mauryan Empire), and even here they paid the price, as the region was conquered by the Scythians, only a year after the first conquest by the Bactrians.

Pontus and Armenia appeared quiet, but Pontus showed a certain vicinity to the Seleucids. Fearing that they might enter the war at the side of the Seleucids, Antigonos sent his diplomats to Armenia to conclude an alliance.

[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter V
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12. The Fort of Serdica

With Antigonos Gonatas far away in Cilicia, the crown prince Demetrius II Aetolicus in Thessalonica grew more independent. When the northern vassal Leon of Paeonia asked him to take action against the rebels of Serdica, the regent agreed.

The citadel of Serdica had initially been fortified by the Gauls of Brennus and Acicorius, but after their defeat Dardanian and Paeonian rebels had taken over. The fort lay in a strategic position at the only road from Thrace into Paeonia and Dardania. The Illyrian chief Scerdilaidas had brought a strong army to open the passage, but since the fort was defended by two strong armies he dared not attack and remained immobile.

Finally Leon of Paeonia brought help leading the Macedonian army on the eastern route trough the valley of the Strymon. A small detachment of Agrianians, coming from Bylazora, meanwhile approached the fort from the west. These men, led by their captain Chabrias, were the first to spark the hostilities. In the impervious mountains they stumbled upon the second rebel army, but they were lucky as Scerdilaidas was in the vicinity with his main force, winning the battle for the allies.

Having his siege equipment ready, Leon of Paeonia made the next move attacking the fort. Since Scerdilaidas and his Illyrians entered the battle too, there was never any doubt about the outcome. But as the Bastarnian mercenaries in the service of the Illyrians stormed forward, there was a great rush at the gate. Everybody wanted to be the first upon the enemy and in the crowd the Macedonian phalanx lost their formation. Soon the battle was in complete chaos with soldiers from every nation running round, while javelins and arrows blackened the sky. Since all three armies had similar mercenaries (Dardanians, Thracians, Illyrians, Bastarnae), in the melee nobody knew his friend from ally or foe.

The Barbarian rebels fought with extreme courage inside the fort, until they were reduced to a small number. Up to this point the two generals had kept their bodyguards in reserve, but now they entered the battle to finish the enemy off. But just when only very few of the rebels were standing, Scerdilaidas was hit by a javelin and fell, to the general dismay of his soldiers.

The battle was a great bloodshed and the Dardanians were massacred to the last man standing, but in the end the fort was conquered and Leon sent a message to Thessalonica saying, that the Macedonian domains reached now from the sands of Cyrene to the black forests of the Haemimontus.

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Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Battle of Serdica:

The Battle of Serdica:



The Rush at the Gate:



An Illyrian Pirate Bride:



Battle Results:



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13. The Assassins' War

While this was happening in the north, the Egyptians prefered to wage war by other means. The first victim on the Macedonian side was the governor of Halicarnassus, Neoptolemus of Naupactus, who was murdered by an assassin from the Cyclades. After this alarming event the Macedonian spies opened their ears and reported that there were at least three Egyptian and two Greek thugs at work in the southern Aegean between Attica and Caria. As a consequence Philip V started feeling quite uncomfortable in Ephesus, especially since he had sent his son Perseus to replace Neoptolemus in Halicarnassus. He therefore ordered to hire some specialists able to hunt down the murderers.

As soon as the men had finished their training they took up their mission. Oenomaus reported that there were currently two assassins operating between Halicarnassus and Ephesus. The Greek assassin in Caria was immediately eliminated, but the Egyptian thug in Ionia escaped the attempt.

The next turn one of the Egyptian assassins was eliminated near Halicarnassus, but another one escaped two attempts, and one of the Macedonian agents was killed by the bodyguards of his presumed victim. The following turn the Macedonian hunters got another one, but according to the information of the spies there were still two assassins lurking in the area, one Egyptian and one Greek.

14. The War on the Cyclades

Meanwhile the Egyptian commanders were besieging the fort of Andros. Philip V sent a relieve force which landed on Mykonos, while the besiegers were encamped on Tenos. The battle went well and the Egyptians were routed, but the enemy commander escaped, not without almost completely annihilating the Illyrian mercenaries in the garrison of Andros.

After these events Philip had finally enough of the Egyptian presence in the Aegean and so he asked his uncle Antigonos Doson in Athens to assemble an army strong enough to take the citadel of Naxos. The two commanders met on the island of Delos, where they lost precious time due to the delay of the catapults. As a consequence it was almost winter before they reached Naxos. They had just given orders to prepare the siege works, when an alarming news arrived from Cyrene.

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[Philadelphos]

---------------------------------------------------------
THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter VI
---------------------------------------------------------

15. The Carthaginian Attack

In Cyrene Demetrius the Handsome had sent his explorers east to Marmarica, hoping to detect the next Egyptian invasion long before their arrival. To his amazement, however, the spies continued reporting that the Libyan sands were deserted.

Just when the king started to feel a bit more secure on his precarious throne, the unexpected danger arrived from the opposite direction, in the guise of a Carthaginian mercenary general. Xanthippos the Spartan had been hired by the Punics to fight the Romans, but now his march led him east, from Tripolitana into Cyrenaica, and when he saw the weakness of the Macedonian garrison in Cyrene, he couldn't resist the opportunity and attacked.

Thus the Carthaginians went to war with Macedon and almost the same day the Bithynians were attacked by the Gauls. And since several partners didn't respect the treaties, many alliances were broken.

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The Carthaginian attack on fort Thirdis and the diplomatic consequences:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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16. Distractions and Delays

Facing the huge superiority of the attackers, Demetrius the Handsome now started considering to abandon his kingdom as long as he was in time. Fortunately Xanthippos had attacked the old fort of Thirdis in the hills above Cyrene and not the city itself. Demetrius ordered to build a bireme in Ptolemais, the port of Cyrene. Since Xanthippos was occupied with the siege of Thirdis, Demetrius believed to be still in time and spent his days in the arms of a new mistress, a beautiful young girl he had found among the ladies of the court.

Demetrius had everything ready to leave for his ship, as soon as it was afloat in the harbor. But just when the awaited news arrived, Xanthippos suddenly lifted the siege of Thirdis and closed him inside the walls of Cyrene.

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Demetrius with his new mistress trapped in Cyrene:



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17. A Salvation Attempt

Such was the state of affairs in Cyrene, when the message of the Carthaginian attack arrived at Naxos. With the striking argument that their army was the only one strong enough to face the Carthaginians, Antigonos Doson, who was a son of Demetrius from his first wife Olympias, convinced Philip V to break off the siege and set sails for the Libyan coast. Reaching Crete they received further news and it became clear that their desperate salvation attempt depended all on the fact that Xanthippos delayed his final assault until they arrived.

In the besieged city the defenders lacked all resources. There was a new forge, which had been finished the previous season, but without the necessary ore the weapon smiths weren't even able to improve the blades and missiles.

Despairing of his good fortune, Demetrius would have fled the city, taking only his new mistress with him on the waiting ship in Ptolemais. He even prepared a declaration to the people of Cyrene, announcing his abdication, which was later found among his papers. But the Carthaginian besiegers were on their guard and left him no chance to secretly sneak out of the city. (Well, that would be an appreciated option in RTW III, I guess!)

His wife and mother-in-law meanwhile tried to make contact to the Carthaginian commander, to see if they were able to combine a Punic marriage instead of their previous plans. Apama gained new heart when she heard that Xanthippos was no brute and arguably even good looking, at least for a Spartan!

18. The Fall of Cyrene

Maybe Xanthippos somehow got wind of the rescue attempt, in any case, he ordered the assault on the walls while the Macedonian fleet was still at large. His men had prepared four rams, and the defenders never stood a chance. Demetrius fought bravely at the gate and completely annihilated a Round Shield Cavalry. His men killed over 300 enemies, but in the end his militia hoplites were routed at the palisade and the Carthaginians entered the town. Demetrius then rallied his troops for a last stand at the entrance of the plaza and there he was slain.

Thus ended the adventurous life of Demetrius the Handsome, who had won and lost the crown of Cyrene. Rumour wants that his beauty was vanishing towards the end, due to the many concerns that had turned his hair grey. His mistress was sold into slavery, but his queen Berenice was a survivor to be certainly heard of again.

When Antigonos Doson learned what had happened, he would have liked to take revenge. But he knew that his army was needed in the Aegean and thus he ordered his fleet to return to Naxos and lay siege to the Egyptian stronghold there. He only sent one ship to the Libyan coast to collect the survivors of the Macedonian adventure and beg the corpse of his father from the victor Xanthippos.

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The Carthaginian assault:


Demetrius' last stand:


Demetrius is buried under his horse:


A hero's death:


Battle results:

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The protagonists of the Cyrenean adventure are all historic. In real history however Demetrius the Handsome was killed by the thugs of his wife Berenice II, who went on to marry the next pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes. She gave him six children and became one of the most respected queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty, giving her name to the town of Benghazi, to a constellation of stars and to an asteroid. But, of course, in the RTH universe history may take another path.

[ahowl11]

This is a great way to expose your mod, great job!

[Philadelphos]

Thanks for your comment. Everything in my account is based on real game action with just a little fantasy for the details. I hope you enjoy reading, despite my mistakes. Since I'm not an English mothertongue, I'm afraid there are a few bugs in my writing, but hopefully you'll be lenient.

Here comes the next chapter:

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter VII
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19. The Road into Cilicia

With his fifty-ninth birthday nearing, Antigonos Gonatas felt in a bit of a hurry regarding his quest for glory. So he decided to attack Tarsus despite the great concentration of Seleucid armies around the Cilician capital. Encamped at the gates of the city was a large army commanded only by a captain. Hiring some more Cilician pirates, Antigonos attacked and completely routed them. The governor of Tarsus, Andromachus, hurried to help his comrades and was slain in a personal duel with Gonatas. Only two units of Arab cavalry and Eastern mercenaries made their return to Tarsus.

Thanks to the good work of the surgeons Gonatas had lost only 100 men and so he felt strong enough to attack the city, although there was a second army under the command of Ariarathes of Cappadocia, who had encamped his men at the ford of the river Sarus. The Macedonians were lucky that one of their spies opened the gates, and so the battle in the streets was over before Ariarathes arrived.

The city offered great resources for the training and recruitment of new levies, but there were few temples. To convince the population of his good rule, Antigonos lowered the tax rate and then he ordered his men to take a rest.

The next season Ariarathes of Cappadocia encamped his army just outside Tarsus, and Antigonos moved out to challenge him in the open field. The enemy had three generals, Ariarathes, his son Eusebes and Xenon, as well as huge cavalry, mostly camel mounted arabs.

Despite a light numeric superiority the battle was not easy for the Macedonians, and while Antigonos and Alexander confronted the enemy riders, some lighter infantry in the center got in serious trouble against the Syrian phalangites. But when Antigonos took them in the side, the battle was won. The Seleucids escaped with 200 men, but none of their generals survived. Thanks to the surgeons the Macedonians had only 120 casualties.

20. Hegemon of the Nesiote League

While Gonatas and Alexander made good progress in Cilicia, Doson and Philip were determined to end the Egyptian hegemony over the Aegean islands in Naxos. As soon as their siege works were ready they ordered the assault. The wooden wall was no problem, but the fight in the narrow street was to the last blood. The Cretan archers and the chariots of Lysimachus blackened the sky with their arrows, decimating the lighter units among the assailants. The Kestros and Rhodian slingers fighting for Macedon were of little use, but fortunately there were two units of Achaean mercenaries who did the hardest work, eventually killing Lysimachus on his chariot.

The numbers show how hard the battle really was, as the Achaeans alone had less than 20 survivors. In total the Macedonians had over 300 casualties, and without the surgeons it would have been even worse.

After the battle Doson and Philip very much admired the Egyptian architecture in the town of Naxos. Then they hurried to inform the king in Tarsus that the Nesiote League of the Aegean islands accepted him as their new hegemon. Gonatas sent his congratulations.

With the capture of Naxos the Ptolemaic intrusion in Hellas suffered a decisive blow, and now of the Egyptian overseas domains in the Mediterranean remained only Lycia and Cyprus.

[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter VIII
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21. From Issus to Antioch

After the conquest of Tarsus and Naxos the Macedonians lived a period of safe prosperity. There were a few brigands in the periphery, namely in Paeonia and in Pamphylia, but the local governors were able to resolve the problem with their own forces.

In Cilicia Antigonos Gonatas defeated another Seleucid army under Antiochos Epiphanes who was killed in the battle. Then he took the larger part of the army and crossed the Sarus, while his half-brother Alexander remained to wait for the arrival of a new governor in Tarsus.

At Issus, where Alexander had first defeated Darius, Antigonos Gonatas offered his sacrifice to the Olympic Gods, begging their assistance in the forthcoming campaign. Then he moved forward on the coastal road into Syria. Reaching the port of Seleucia on the Orontes, he found a number of mercenaries ready to join his army, and with these reinforcements he finally came to Antiochia. His spies had already informed him, that the city had only a small garrison, and so he hoped to resolve the necessary siege before the Seleucid reinforcements arrived from the east.

22. A Massacre on the Orontes

Antigonos had just started to prepare his siege equipment, when Alexander reached him with reinforcements, namely cavalry. But they hadn't even the time to discuss their plans for the assault, when the Seleucids sallied to attack them in large number. The Macedonian camp was on the western bank of the Orontes, with the city of Antiochia in near sight, beyond a wooden bridge, and it was there that the battle was fought.



Achaeus of Phrygia, the governor of Antiochia, had collected every soldier available, and the enemy arrived with two considerable armies plus the garrison from the city. The question was who dared to cross the bridge first. Considering that the enemy had only one of his armies ready in defense of the other side, Antigonos was ready to run the risk and sent forth his Aetolian mercenaries. But as soon as they entered the bridge the enemy did the same with his peasants and chariots.



In the battle on the bridge the Aetolians took many wounds and although none of them was killed, they were scared by the chariots and ran away. In the meantime however Antigonos had put two militia hoplites in position to defend the bridgehead. The peasants and chariots rushed into their spears and while they fell everybody else in the enemy army just followed.



The Macedonian skirmishers and archers meanwhile did their work from the sidelines.



Soon the planks became slippery from the blood, while the dead bodies piled up before the Macedonian line, ...



... and many soldiers pushing from behind fell off the bridge into the water.



After the first Seleucid army had been sent to the Styx, the second stormed forward in the same manner ...



... with exactly the same result.



When the militias couldn't stand it anymore, Antigonos replaced them with a unit of levy pikemen who left the enemy even less of a chance.



The last to end his life against the Macedonian sarissas ...



... was Achaeus of Phrygia with his bodyguards.



Finally only a group of archers was left on the opposite bank of the river, ...



... where they became an easy prey of the Paeonian cavalry.



The enemy was slain to the last man and the levy pikemen alone killed some 720 men on the bridgehead in little more than an hour!



Without defenders, the city of Antioch, visible in the background, surrendered without siege.



The massacre happened, because the Seleucid commanders were either in a rush or completely incompetent. It would have been enough to wait on their side, because the Macedonians were ready to cross the bridge by themselves, and in this case the battle would have been a completely different affair with a most uncertain outcome.

[BroskiDerpman]

It has been quite awhile since I have browsed around for mods here, been playing too much TW multiplayer recently. As this mod seems to be progressing well I'll give it a whirl and will probably record some footage of me messing around.

[Philadelphos]

That's great, I'd love to see it!

[Philadelphos]

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THE RISE OF MACEDON chapter IX
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23. Anarchy in Antioch

When the Macedonian commanders entered the city gates they found a town in complete anarchy. Antigonos tried to appeal to Zeus to placate the raging crowd, but it appeared as if the citizens of Antioch had long lost any notion of the Gods. Indeed, the Macedonians couldn't find a single temple or priest inside the walls. The dirty streets, filled with rubbish and excrements, echoed with the screams of the plunderers and there was no way to stop them.



While rape and murder were committed in every corner, a Stoic philosopher in the council of the king came up with the theory that the public morale of the Antiochians had been ruined by the lustful nights in the paradise of Daphne. Confronted with the awful state of disorder, his Epicurean colleague appeared short of arguments and just mumbled a few incomprehensible words in his beard.

However, a decision had to be made and since nothing useful could be done to maintain the peace, the king ordered his army to evacuate the conquered city before nightfall.

In the disorders following the retreat more than 4000 citizens were killed. The Macedonian soldiers were shocked at the sight of the atrocities and the general degrade of a city which had often been described to them as the "Pearl of the Orient". Antigonos swore that he would exact revenge on the Seleucids for the innocent victims of Antiochia.

The rogues of Antioch revolted for an entire year before they were finally pacified, and in the process the huge city lost more than 8000 inhabitants. One of the king's friends said, that it would have been better to enslave the worst elements of the populace right from the start. Antigonos agreed but replied that he could have used this advice earlier.

(The absence of religious buildings in Tarsus and Antiochia is a problem owed to the character of the Seleucid computer player (balanced Stalin). Now it has been recognized and in the latest installment 1.5 there are many temples in the Seleucid Empire right from the start.)

24. The Romans in Sicily

While Antigonos invaded Syria came the news from Italy that the Epirote garrison in Tarentum had surrendered to the Romans. The Tarentines had been holding out for 19 years! (Eleven years more than in real history!)

The diplomat who brought the news from Tarentum also reported that one of the Roman generals, a certain Gaius Julius Caesar, was laying siege on Syracuse and that the outlook for the Sicilian Greeks were not good.
Indeed, the Romans didn't lose time and the following year the mighty city was conquered despite the innovative war machines of Archimedes.

The Romans now controlled all of Italy with the exception of the Gallic territories in the north, and they appeared determined to conquer even the rest of Sicily. In fact, as soon as Syracuse was in their hands, they declared war on the Carthaginians, laying siege on Panormus. (Compared to real history timeline the outbreak of the First Punic War came four years late.)

A year earlier the Carthaginians had sued for a ceasefire with Macedon, but Antigonos Gonatas was still resentful for the death of his brother, and when he asked at least a symbolic reparation for the sneak attack on Cyrene the Carthaginians refused and nothing was concluded.

The new war in Sicily might have appeared as an interesting occasion for a joint operation against the Romans, but the Macedonian council didn't give the Carthaginians much of a chance outside Africa. So Antigonos decided to follow through with his original programme and conquer the East.

[Philadelphos]

With other duties on my time table, I'm forced to reduce my playing. This is why the Macedonian scenario is making little progress. I will retake it later, but for the moment I want to post my report on another scenario which I started two months ago, still under version RTH 1.3.

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THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE chapter I
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In this scenario of Rome Total History I play the Greek Cities, or more precisely the Achaean League. Other independent poleis are attached, namely Athens and Rhodes in the Aegean area, Byzantium and Chersonesus on the Black Sea, Agrigentum in Sicily and Massilia in Gaul. Since these scattered places present huge distances, there will be little interaction between the different theatres of war. My goal is not to conquer a huge empire, but to consolidate my possessions so that the Greek influence in each area may survive. This will require some minor conquest, but most of the time I will be observing what my neighbors do. I'm playing campaign and battles both on the highest level.

1. The Liberation of Sicyon

The Achaean League was founded 281 BC in the north of the Peloponnese with the assembly meeting at Aegion. The ancient city of Sicyon was originally not a part of Achaea and on the map it is indeed the port of Corinthia. In former years Sicyon had been governed by the magistrate Clinias, but then the democratic constitution was overthrown by Abantidas, his brother-in-law, who killed him in his house, making himself tyrant of the city. Clinias' 7 year old son Aratos was a witness of the assassination and narrowly escaped to Argos, where he was raised by relatives of his father.

When Aratos reached the age of 20 he decided to liberate his hometown from the tyranny. To this purpose he recruited a small task force and led them to enter Sicyon at night.

This is where the scenario starts, with Aratos attacking Abantidas in Sicyon. Seeing the superiority of the assailants the tyrant however found it wise to avoid battle and fled to Argos seeking shelter with the Argive tyrant Aristomachos.

The liberation of Sicyon was the starting point of Aratos' career that would lead him to become the greatest statesman of Hellas in the 3rd century BC.

2. The Capture of Arcadia

The greatest fear of the Achaeans on their narrow strip of coast was to be pushed into the sea by their aggressive neighbors. Such a fate had actually occurred to one of their cities. In the winter of 373 BC the ancient town of Helike was hit by a massive landslide and in one night the entire place with all its inhabitants had vanished into the sea.

The Achaean quest for security therefore includes the annexation of a larger portion of land on their southern border and the logical completion would be with the conquest of Arcadia in the center of the Peloponnese.

By this time the once powerful Arcadian League was divided. The citadel of Tegea was under Spartan rule, but the capital Megalopolis was ruled by an illuminated tyrant called Aristodemos the Good.

Fearing that the Spartans might precede him, the Achaean strategos Margos of Ceryneia wasted no time to prepare his action against Megalopolis, but first he had to liberate Achaea from an Aetolian raiding party pillaging near Patras. When the Achaean main force arrived, the Aetolian commander took flight and returned to Thermon.

With all of Achaea secured, Margos finally marched to Megalopolis laying siege to the city. Although the Arcadian capital was well defended, the Achaean victory was never in doubt and Aristodemos was killed during the assault.

King Ptolemy of Egypt was so impressed by the victory that he agreed to enter an alliance with the Achaeans. Another alliance was formed with the Sarmatians in the North.

The Achaean League after the capture of Megalopolis:

[Philadelphos]

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THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE chapter II
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3. The Liberation of Argos

After occupying the fort of Elis, which had been abandoned by the Aetolians, the entire north-east and center of the Peloponnese was safe in the hands of the Achaeans. The next goal was now the inclusion of Argos into the League, in order to make contact with Athens. Although land access to Attica was still blocked by the Macedonian presence in Corinth, a fleet in the Saronic Gulf would offer the possibility to exchange forces between Athens and Argos.

The Argive tyrant Aristomachos was well defended inside the walls of his city and moreover he had received reinforcements from Abantidas, the former tyrant of Sicyon. Apparently Abantidas didn't enjoy the company of his luckier comrade and thus he had placed his army outside the walls in the Argive port of Lerna. Counting on the support of the forces inside, he probably thought that he was safe, but Aratos of Sicyon spotted the occasion to destroy the enemy armies one after the other.

Leading Margos' army from Megalopolis to Lerna, Aratos attacked Abantidas on the coast. Using the superiority of his cavalry and Cretan archers he managed to destroy the tyrants hoplites before reinforcements arrived from Argos. Afterwards he did the same with the Argive forces.

When the battle of Lerna was over, two tyrants lay dead on the ground and thus the death of Aratos' father Clinias was finally avenged. With the remnants of both armies dispersed, the citizens of Argos opened their gates to Aratos who was hailed as their liberator.

4. The Spartan Moves

Argolis was not completely free because Aristomachos' son Aristippos was still around with a strong army near Epidaurus, but it was decided to leave him there for the moment, hoping that he might one day be convinced to join the Achaean League. Another tyrant, Lydiadas of Megalopolis, is still sitting in Messenia and in his case the same line of conduct was adopted.

Due to the Achaean expansion the Spartans were now confined to Laconia, but their king Archidamos wouldn't suffer such a fate and led his army north, passing the Isthmos into Boeotia. His uncle Cleonymos, who had been in Acarnania, has however returned to the Peloponnese, bringing with him even some elephants from Epirus. All these moves affecting the Achaean territory grew some concern in Aegion, but for the moment the Spartans were keeping the peace.

[Philadelphos]

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THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE chapter III
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5. A Stepping Stone in the Aegean

While Margos and Aratos conquered the Peloponnese, the Athenian Chremonides used the Rhodian fleet to coordinate an expedition against the rebel city of Mytilene on Lesbos. He therefore asked the Athenian commander Calippus to lead a force from Attica to the island while he himself would reach him with hoplites and slingers from Rhodes.

When the two commanders arrived on the island they found however that the main city was under siege from the Pergamese dynast Philetaeros. Observing that the siege was dragging on, they decided to lead both armies back to Athens where the men could receive additional training. The next year was used to rotate all Achaean forces between Argos and Athens so that they would receive the best equipment and training available.

Two years later they sent a penteconter back to Lesbos and when they saw that the siege was over and the rebel Polycrates of Argos still in charge, they led a second expedition to Mytilene. The following siege was a short affair, but during the assault Polycrates put up some serious resistance and the conquest was paid with considerable casualties for the Athenians. Fortunately the chirurgeon accompanying Chremonides was able to safe many of the wounded, otherwise it would have been worse.

The siege of Mytilene:


The island of Lesbos is probably the most beautiful of the entire Aegean and I always enjoy campaigning there. That it was worth the price became clear when the port of Methymna was completed, a perfect stepping stone for any fleet moving from Piraeus to Byzantium. How useful and necessary this harbour is was evidenced when the exploring penteconter was attacked by pirates and almost annihilated. With only seven men the boat fled to Crete and from there made a lucky return to Rhodes.

6. The Circumnavigation of Albion

The pirates near Lesbos were the first I met in this game. I had already been wondering whether they had completely disappeared, especially because Pytheas during his travels in the north never met any. But maybe he was only lucky.

At the start of the game the famous Massaliote explorer had reached the southern coast of the great island of Albion in a place where the tribes of the Cornubii and Dumnonii dwell. From there Pytheas travelled eastward to the strait where the island is almost in touch with the continent. Reaching the easternmost angle called Cantium he turned north, where the sea got much rougher and the climate colder. Sometimes he would touch land and visit the tribes of the Icenii and Brigantii.

When he came to the territory of the Picts he learned that there was another island five days travel to the east, and so he decided to visit it. After a perilous journey he touched the coast in a small spot surrounded by high mountains. The inhabitants, apparently speaking a primitive German dialect, told him that the land was called Scandiae or Thule and its capital was placed in the mountains above one of the long inlets which are characteristic for the coast. With the help of a local guide Pytheas visited the capital of Thule where he wondered about the inventions necessary to survive in such a harsh climate.

Pytheas exploring the Ice Sea:



Then he travelled back to the island of Albion to complete his circumnavigation. He reached the northern tip, where a number of other islands are placed, many of which are almost uninhabited, and then he followed the western coast south to the land of the Caledonii. About halfway he visited the great and mostly flat island of the Hibernians, which is ruled by king Conaire on the gentle hill of Tara. Opposite, on the eastern coast of Albion, lies the mountainous land of the Silurii, which is also rich of tin and other precious metals.

Finally Pytheas came back to his starting point in the land of the Cornubii. From there he crossed into Gaul, deciding that he wanted to reach Massilia by land, while the captain of his ship, the famous explorer Euthymenes, faced the dangerous voyage home around the Iberian peninsula.

From his travels Pytheas learned that Albion has the form of a triangle of which the southwestern tip points towards Spain, the southeastern tip towards Gaul, and the northern tip towards Thule and other scarcely inhabited islands in the Cronian Sea.

[Philadelphos]

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THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE chapter IV
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7. The Battle of Narbo

The city of Massilia was founded around 600 BC by settlers from Phocaea. For centuries it has been the trading hub for products from Gaul to the Mediterrean. Though the Greek presence has brought prosperity and culture to the Gauls, relations with the Celtic and Ligurian neighbors have not always been peaceful. Surviving in such a hostile neighborhood is a hard task, especially since the Romans and Carthaginians are showing increased interest in the area. Therefore it would be of great importance to keep good relations with both neighbors, but if a choice has to be made, the Massaliotes would choose the Roman Republic as the preferable ally.

To consolidate the Greek position in Gaul it would be necessary to add a second town or outpost. The best choice would have been Arausio, but the lack of adequate troops and commanders forced the Massaliote leader Protis to postpone his expedition. When a young commander, Gelon of Alexandria, joined his family by marriage, the Massaliotes finally felt ready for expansion. Unfortunately at this point the Romans, moving from Liguria, had preceeded them in Arausio, and thus it was decided to take the rebel city of Narbo instead.

Protis sent his son-in-law to lead the expedition. Gelon unshipped his soldiers a bit east of the city and took a march along the coast to cover the last miles. The town of Narbo was defended by an equal force of Volcae rebels under the Salluvian king Teutomalus, who had already distinguished himself in a number of assaults by the Gauls.

After completing his siege equipment Gelon attacked the city with 80 peltasts, 80 Ligurian slingers and two hoplite militias at full ranks. In a first moment things were going very well and a Volcae horde of peasants was crushed by the militias and completely annihilated near the gate.

But as the Massaliote forces worked their way up the little slope, Teutomalus attacked the first militia with his bodyguards. Knowing that the militia lacked experience and decent equipment, Gelon tried to assist them opposing the enemy with his own bodyguards. But despite numerical parity, in the following melee the enemy proved clearly superior and the Massaliote riders were forced to retreat. Left alone, the militia was decimated and turned to flee. Meanwhile the second militia had got in place, but their fate was no better.

Teutomalus was now free to turn against the peltasts and slingers and Gelon was forced to enter the battle again in order to protect them. His bodyguards were further decimated and when only three men were left the Massaliote general resolved to take flight.

His attack had however saved the skirmishers from complete annihilation and bought the time for the remnants of the first militia to recover. Fulfilling their duty in a memorable way, the militia attacked the Salluvian bodyguards again, buying more time for the second militia to recover. When the second militia arrived they finally managed to kill the enemy king and annihilate his bodyguards.

At this point Gelon had already abandoned the battlefield, but his officers resolved to continue the fight without him. The enemy had still a warband at half ranks and some light cavalry.

After recovering their breath, the Massaliotes faced the enemy to drive him from the plaza. They had two militias with 40 and 24 men left, 40 peltasts out of ammo and less than half of the Ligurian slingers.

The two militias now formed a phalanx protected on the right flank by the peltasts and on the left by a fence, while the Ligurians were doing their work with the stones from behind. Suffering the fire of the Ligurians, the enemy warband tried twice to attack the militias who gallantly resisted. When the light cavalry entered the fight they were quickly decimated and the surviving enemies surrendered.

When the battle smoke cleared, it became evident that the battle alone was not enough to pacify the town. Lacking personality and ancillaries, Gelon was not able to influence the local population und unrest remained above the critical level, mostly due to the large distance from the Achaean capital Aegion. Even the shrines and temples erected in quick succession were not enough, and the Massaliote governor had to crush the revolts by force. The city of Narbo lost almost a quarter of its population, before it was finally pacified.

[Philadelphos]

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THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE chapter V
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8. Pyrrhus' War in Italy

So far two theatres have not been touched by my account: the Black Sea and Sicily. Due to the lack of leaders and military, the Greek colonies in these areas didn't take any action, but at least in Sicily others did. Since the Carthaginians and Romans made little progress, the Syracusans had the necessary time to launch repeated attacks on Panormus and Messana. After a while they had the brilliant idea to use Archimedes' war machines in the siege of Messana and this broke the Mamertines back.

In Italy, as expected, the Republic of Rome had quickly taken control of Brundisium and Genua, a little later even of Taurasia and Arausio in the Alpes, but they were unable to crush the Mamertine rebels in Bruttium. Maybe the Romans are right to call the bloodthirsty renegade Decius Vibelius a madman, but this officer surely knew how to organize the defense of his city.

When the Romans failed at Rhegium, Pyrrhus finally took advantage and conquered the town. It appeared that the war in Southern Italy was going particularly well for the king and with Scylla and Charybdis both united in his hands things could only go better. Our spies reported indeed that the Romans suffered a number of defeats in Bruttium, while general Milon was still defending Tarentum.

A year after the fall of Rhegium however the news arrived that Milon had been killed and Tarentum was now a Roman town. But the Syracusans soon made up for the loss, when one of their armies occupied Panormus. With Syracuse, Panormus, Messana, Rhegium and Croton Pyrrhus of Epirus controls now a decent block of cities, and most important he is also in a very strong defensive position in Bruttium. The king has established his headquarter in Rhegium where he controls any move of the Romans and is even ready to defend the Sicilian cities against an eventual Carthaginian attack.

9. The Diplomatic Game

While this happened in Italy, the Macedonians took advantage and declared war on Epirus. They had been the first allies of the Roman Republic. As a response, the Achaean League concluded an alliance with Epirus, for the moment without declaring war on Macedon. A bit earlier the Achaeans had already stipulated an alliance with the Illyrians and thus the Macedonians are now completely surrounded. They haven't yet made any progress, neither in Paeonia, nor in Boeotia, and since their war on Epirus doesn't show any concrete results, they do not appear as a big threat for their neighbors.

But they might be joined by Sparta and Pergamum. The Kingdom of Pergamum has made some decent progress conquering Phrygia. As already reported, the Spartans have moved a huge army to Boeotia, where they might unite their forces with the Macedonian commander Nicanor the Elephant coming from Chalcis. In the meantime an Egyptian army has landed in Attica to oppose them and things are heating up. The Egyptians are still at war with Macedon and the three armies are facing each other on the Boeotian border.

This was the situation when Demosthenes the Orator passed away in Athens at the age of 95 (the news of his death fourty years earlier were probably false). His successor Demochares was to follow only a year later, and now the Athenian state is in the hands of the competent general Chremonides.

Unfortunately the political instinct of this man often leads him to choose the wrong side, as soon was to be seen. When the Carthaginians offered an alliance in the year after Demochares' passing, the Massaliote leader Protis firmly opposed, but the Sicilian tyrant Phintias of Acragas was favorable and together with Chremonides he convinced the Achaean council to accept.