alternatehistory.com
Stories of Western Colonisation
EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM THE STORY OF JUROPA
HELLENIC ROOTS
Of course, when the Illenic refugees departed their homeland for the shores of Italia, it was not to a land solely of their fellow civilized Illenes that they went. The Italiotes had already had dealings with a multitude of other peoples in the rest of the Iperik peninsula, treating or contending with them across innumerable generations, and of them we should discuss for a moment, but there are certain characteristics common to the entirety of non-Illenic Iperika. These peoples were all, to a man, tribal and savage in nature, barbarian chiefdoms content (as with all tribes) simply to go from passion to passion, organising solely in contention over bodily needs. Those with the greatest potential for civilization were those who proved most accepting to the Illenism on offer- the archaic Tinians, and the Iapogs, and even they were just as likely to descend upon Illenes with fire and sword as to study civilization in this period. The Tinians attempted, as best they could, to crudely imitate the acts and politics of the Illenes, with colonies and a loose notion of a federal league- but this league was not of poleis but of hill-forts, gaudily bedecked with trappings of nobler arts that were not fully understood by their owners. Everywhere else there was only local bullies with their strong armed retainers and their citadels, gathering in fear of their fellow brigand-kings and tribal war parties. But, as with all tribes, they had their virtues, and chief among them was freedom. This and the natural division of the country by valleys, rivers, and mountain ranges meant that an atmosphere prevailed not unlike that of primitive Ilas. The basis of all ordered civilization is in a period of disordered but directed competition, harnessed and alloyed into a competitive state or brotherhood. The Illenes had sought to harness the competition among them, creating individual sovereign communities which remained free and in rivalry with one another, but which also were ordered communities. Whether under the Paersins, or their own mastery, the Hellenes progressed themselves, along with hose others keen enough to listen to what they had to say, via this paradigm.
So who, then, was there to be taught in this partially tamed peninsula that the new arrivals found themselves in? We find the aforementioned Iapogs, the most familiar of all of them with a Hellenic presence. Prior to this era, they were also so skilled in arms as to be a near match even for the warriors of Taras, in particular the race of the Messapi. But there were reasons that this was so- the Messapi were themselves descended from Illenes, a long lost tribe of Kretans who would later claim descent from Lakedaimonia. The wandering ancestors of the Messapi became trapped in what was later known as Kalavria, and there mixed with more barbarous stock. Their slight degeneration under the influence of tribal savages and wayward whores was not enough to entirely suppress their natural qualities, but enough to render them inferior to their Hellenic cousins. However, they did also cause an improvement to the stock of their newly adopted kinsmen- an increased potency among all of the Iapog tribes, a certain talent for war and arts so to speak, was clearly grafted on by the addition of Illenic blood. It was this that would later lead to their greatness. In addition, we find that even by this date petty-settlements operated as faux city-states, in imitation of their superior neighbours. The Iapogs were also well regarded at the art of improvisation, a positive harnessing of the momentary and ferocious passion of the tribal individual. Insofar as this does not lead to societal progress, this was of no real use to the Iapogs. But in terms of day-to-day survival, the raw stuff that such things as civilization are moulded from, it stood them in good stead. It also loaned to that otherwise barbaric race a keen wit and perceptive senses, both of these would enable the hard-chested Iapogs to adjust to the Illenic presence and benefit from it.
We also find the Tinians in their spring days, a people almost unrecognisable than those that would reshape the lands of Juropa. Called at this time the Tyrsenoi or Tyrrhenoi by the Illenes, they were a people un-awoken to their promise and talents. They must, alas, be properly classed as barbaric along with all of the other non-Illenes of the peninsula, at least in this period. Illas and its arts was, to them, as a necklace from a distant lover, closely clutched to the bosom and fawned over restlessly. They certainly understood the value of what it is that they imitated- they injected literate behaviour into the heart of Juropa, they imitated the cream of Illenic arts, both literary and visual, they understood the significance of the Illenic myths that they illustrated in their own primitive style. Yet even that primitive style is not unlovely to the civilized eye, raw talent could eventually be burnished and sharpened into incisive engagement. The glimmerings of greatness glittered in the gloomy depths. The Tinians in these days were politically divided, again in imitation of the Illene- they were fiercely pious, but also opportunistic, a trait no doubt learned from the Cardastini to their South who they were often allied to in this period, the ‘Tyrsenoi’ were infamous to the Illenes as pirates as much as merchants of fortune. The Tinians were, in the early part of this period, a perennial menace to the Illenes of the peninsula, launching several expeditions or attacks during the time of Perikles and beyond. It is perhaps a wonder to men of our days that these folk, these tamers of thunder and mounters of mountains, are so rustic in such a formative period. But it is true, even by the admission of the great Tinian authors, that their long summer was not yet upon them in this period. One need not turn far to find other scholarly material, rich in the telling, that deal with the tale of the golden age of the Tinians, and I refer the interested reader to those fine works.
We then come to the ruder masses of the peninsula, its brutes, bullies, and brigands. Foremost, and most numerous, among this disreputable category in this period are the collection of peoples known as the Iperikines, Ausones to the Illenes- among this set are classified the Laetines, the innumerable branches of the Savieni, the Oinotrioi, the Sikels, and the Sikanoi. They were numerous and warlike, especially the Savieni, and were an increasingly constant threat to the Illenes of Iperika. In this, their pre-civilized era of barbarism, it is not particularly expedient nor necessary to recall, by rote, the many tribes by which the Iperikines grouped themselves, for in doing so one would soon fall asleep on the work desk, one’s head fully flattened amid the pages of a weighty tome. Rather, we shall concern ourselves with several principal actors among these peoples. The Sikels were the eponymous inhabitants of the great isle Sikelie, and engaged in beneficial congress with the Illenes from ancient times on that fertile, sun-blessed island. Their story, as we shall see, is thus one of hope- of a civilizing process, of hilltop reivers turning into political individuals and contributing towards the progress of the human species. The Rhomaioi were the greatest of the minor powers among the Laetines, and later events would see them further promoted at the hands of Paersine potentates. They were not without a glimmer of civilization, having absorbed much from the archaic Tinians and from the Illenes- they conducted themselves with assemblies and magistrates, not with chieftains. But theirs is a story forgotten, and merely a long abandoned foothill in the great peaks of historical knowledge. But, as we shall see, they serve to indicate what the Iperikines would later become at the hands of more educated peoples. And, chief among the Savieni, we find the tribe called Saunitai by the Illenes. These inveterate bandits and reivers were a scourge even among their fellow Iperikines, and frequently the instigator of drama and crisis, both political and military. The taming of Iperika depended upon the the destruction and assimilation of these wild men.
But none were so wild as the people known to the Illenes as the Keltoi, the Varvarines as they are known to our own history. They feature little in the early years of Illenic dominance of Italia and Iperika, save as a name of terror and brutality passed, by hurried lips, down through the hilltops, valleys, and dales of the peninsula. They are more of an interest to the scholar of the Tinaic than of the Hellenic in this period. But, as the Tinaic and the Illenic heritage of our civilization are inseparable from one another, so too are their histories intertwined, for the adventures and misadventures of the archaic Tinians against the Varvarines often had repercussions for the Illenes of Italia in some form or another. And, later on, the early Varvarines would indeed make incursions into Italia of various kinds. The grandmother of Juropa, Massalia, being located next to the heartland of the Keltoi according to Herodotos, was the first of the Illenic communities to feel the raw anger of the Varvarines in this era of our elaboration, and yet continued to resist every Varvarine attempt to subjugate Massalia. So what is there to say about the Varvarines of this era? One cannot doubt that they were skilled as war, acting as a seemingly insurmountable barrier to Tinaic power for the longest time, and much prized as mercenaries by any desirous of becoming a petty tyrant, or by any poor souls desperate to achieve victory by arms alone. But they were head takers, worshipping ruinous Gods who were mendicant for human sacrifice, and so divorced from any kind of settled life that they were prone to simply wander the wilds in order to find new grazing grounds for rape and pillage. The chronicles of the Antique are filled with the doings of this savage era of Varvarine marauders, and thus they enter into this history of the Illenes of Italia as well.
It matters not that the Old Iranian Empire did not conquer all of the Hellenes, we can still accept without question that the Hellenes were of fundamentally Asiatic culture and heritage, and that by conquering the heart of the Hellenic world the ancient Iranian kings restored a rightful connection between Hellas and the rest of Asia. Their fundamentally civilized, Asian character was irrepressible, even where they were not under the control of a Great King- the Hellenic exiles, rather than becoming barbarous, simply accelerated the great work of progress that their existing communities had begun,. And nowhere is that more closely, demonstrably evident than in the Hesperian peninsula, which also saw the greatest intake of Hellenic refugees. The backbone of Hesperia would become the spinal column of Europa’s civilization, the vigour of progress rushing through it as a great artery of knowledge. No matter that many of the Hellenes were still themselves teetering on the precipice of katakhresis on the matter of civil conduct and peaceful intentions, this was not enough to sour the milk that the infantile cultures of Europa suckled upon. The notion of a cultured lifestyle, in which peace was attainable, good governnance was plausible, and men lived in cities with streets rather than shacks, was firmly inculcated.
And what savages they had to contend with! Is it not natural that Hellenes and Iranians would achieve so much in partnership, when we witness what wonders each could achieve on their own! Here we see almost friendly rivalry, such as when a sculptor produces a magnificent marble piece, brings it in front of his competitor, and says ‘surpass this if you can’. If the conquest of Hellas was the Old Iranian offering in the wager, then the taming of Hesperia was the response that the Hellenes provided, and what a masterwork that was. These are the savages that they had to contend with- the hundredform tribes of the Sabinoi, the petty chieftainships of the Latinoi, the Tinianiotes in their elder and primitive days playing at being mock-Hellenes, and the wild and wandering warbands of the Keltoi. They did, at times, have cause to contest with civilized powers as well. Their primary opponents were those other great Asiatic emigres, the Karkhedoniotes, usually over the island of Sikelia. But at times, the Old Iranians did manage to intrude into the life of the Italiote Greeks, peering in at their rival’s masterpiece whilst it was under construction. And, ironically enough, the civilizing of the Tinianiotes would continue to increase the amount of pressure those grandchildren of Asia could bring to bear on their adoptive parents. Yet, nonetheless, against all that could be thrown against them, the Hellenes remained, and thrived. What the Great Kings of Old Iran cursed and rued we, the beneficiaries of both legacies, can celebrate gleefully, for even in opposition they planted the seeds of a brighter, more civilized world.
So, how was it that Hesperia was, at length, tamed? Even in those whose memory of their ancestral Asian heritage was slim, they nonetheless contained a spark which recognised the fruits of Babylon and Xume when they were brought into their presence. The Hellenes, without pause or hesitation, flung themselves into the task of bringing these splendid things into the presence of those of a more savage nature. Great stone buildings, animate and lovely sculpture, the production of cunning artifices, culture, the notion of ordered government, and above all the art of writing- these were the gifts that the Hellenes had already begun to introduce to Hesperia before their exodos accelerated the process. Twas the Latinoi and Tinianiotes who first proved receptive to the message, fashioning for themselves crude models of the spectacular original. But a good teacher is a patient teacher, ignoring the earliest clumsy productions and instead continuing to reinforce the correct message. They would prove the first non-Hellenic outposts of real civilization in Hesperia, and became a signal that a better life was possible. Even some among the Sabinoi would eventually see the light. But it was not through kindness alone that civilization was introduced into Europe- as the Old Iranians had discovered, even the most barbarous of the Hellenes had a real skill for the art of war, and it was Hesperia who was to witness what a full gathering of Hellenes could accomplish in unison. The Sabinoi who could not be tamed were cleansed, and those who would threaten the growth of Hellenic power were beaten back time and time again. They were not invincible, as proven when the Amavadatid splinter state was required to intervene in order to save Taras and the Rhomaioi from a horde of Keltoi, and indeed by the original Iranian conquest of Hellas. But they were certainly redoutable, particularly when sufficiently collected and motivated, even more so when led by a cunning and decisive general.
Key milestones in the Asianising of Hesperia include the following- the inducement of the remaining Iapygoi in Italia to fully accomodate to an urban, Asiatic mode of life (which would eventually cause them to become indistinguishable from Hellenes), the final ruination of the dread Saunitai (the most warlike and savage of all the Sabinoi tribes), the successful defence of Massalia against the Ouolkai (which acted as a bastion against the Keltoi attacking via the sea), the first construction of a theatre in a Tinianiote city, the Amavadatid defence of Roma, the first time that Tinianiote actors were considered eligible to perform in Hellenic drama, the eventual unification of all the Tinianiotes following the Miracle of Felsine, and the foundation of the Second Italiote League. When this was all completed, Italia was a peaceful and powerful state of fundamentally Asiatic character, the Tinianiotes had created the earliest incarnation of their Empire and had become capable of creating their own variation of the song of Asia, and the stage was set for this process to repeat itself in the rest of Europa. Though Europa would never be part of Asia itself, it was now firmly established that congress between the two was not only possible but fruitful, that the Hellenes had been the custodians of Asian progress into Europa, and that Europa too could join the world of civilized states, albeit in a way that lagged behind the immense might and majesty of Asia.
There was a certain Ateknate the son of Ambiorix, who was called Diodoros as well by the citizens of Massalia. He had become a steward of Avenion, and was awarded proxenia in Massalia. He came to lead Cauaretai allies and the citizens of Massalia to victory against the Trikestinai in the year of Polemaios as timoukhos. He had two sons by his wife Phoibe, Nikagoras and Diodoros the younger, and a daughter Aella. After Ateknate died, Nikagoras inherited his arms, and became a steward himself. He gained victory against the Ligyes in the year of Zeuxias as timoukhos, and was awarded citizenship of Massalia due to the actions of himself and his deceased father. He was inducted into the eastern genos.
The Ateknatids were named for Ateknate, their eponymous ancestor. They had been a force in Massliote politics for some generations, repeatedly winning key military victories against aggressors. It was now, however, that they began to reach the highest rank of political and popular power within the Massliotes; Phoxinos, Ateknatid, was head of an armed expedition of Massliotes and Keltoi allies when an army of Ligyes attacked the fortress at Avenion. They were besieged by some 100,000 Ligyes with Iberian and Keltoi allies of their own. Immediately, Phoxinos rode with the army to meet this invasion in battle, and to rescue to polis at Avenion. The ire between those Keltoi on the side of the Massaliotes and those on the side of the Ligyes was fierce and lengthy, and accordingly they were eager to battle one another. So eager, in fact, that they charged at one another before the rest of either army could engage. However, Phoxinos was faster in improvising to this adverse change in circumstances than his opponent, the king of the Ligyes, and came crashing down with Massaliote hoplitai on the right flank of the enemy army. The discipline of the Ligyes being poor, the greater part of their army was forced to flight or rout, and their Keltoi allies were either dead on the field, induced to surrender, or executed. The Iberian allies of the enemy were content simply to be paid to leave. Phoxinos became determined to expand the power of the Massaliotes, great as it already had become, because he believed correctly that the Ligyes were a threat that needed to be ended. A large part of the Ligyes had survived their battle against the Massliotes, and so when the two armies met at the Rhodanos river it was once again a match of large armies, rather than simply mopping up the Ligyes and their warriors. The battle was fierce and hotly contested, until the king of the Ligyes was killed by a spear through the chest, at which point the Ligyes fully routed, and were driven off the field with great slaughter. Phoxinos then set about, each year, to occupy and garrison more and more of the strong places of Ligystike, which often involved garrisons of Keltoi loyal to the Massliotes by deed, treaty, or payment. The Massliotes were thus carried into dominance, over several years of campaigning, throughout most of the district of Ligystike. This was not without cost, for here lay the cause of both the War of the Allies and also the Great Ligye Revolt, which cost Massaliotes so much in blood and treasure. But Phoxinos had nonetheless done much to advance the cause of the Massaliotes and to carry it to new heights, and was duly honoured with the position of timoukhos. Struggles between the Ateknatids and the other great gene of Massalia were inevitable, due both to the success of Phoxinos and his habit of carrying out positive military actions that were nonetheless further than the desires expressed by the boule.
Μηδίζω! THE WORLD OF ACHAEMENID HELLAS
CHAPTER 2:EIMI! or VARTAIYAIY!
EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM THE STORY OF JUROPA
HELLENIC ROOTS
Of course, when the Illenic refugees departed their homeland for the shores of Italia, it was not to a land solely of their fellow civilized Illenes that they went. The Italiotes had already had dealings with a multitude of other peoples in the rest of the Iperik peninsula, treating or contending with them across innumerable generations, and of them we should discuss for a moment, but there are certain characteristics common to the entirety of non-Illenic Iperika. These peoples were all, to a man, tribal and savage in nature, barbarian chiefdoms content (as with all tribes) simply to go from passion to passion, organising solely in contention over bodily needs. Those with the greatest potential for civilization were those who proved most accepting to the Illenism on offer- the archaic Tinians, and the Iapogs, and even they were just as likely to descend upon Illenes with fire and sword as to study civilization in this period. The Tinians attempted, as best they could, to crudely imitate the acts and politics of the Illenes, with colonies and a loose notion of a federal league- but this league was not of poleis but of hill-forts, gaudily bedecked with trappings of nobler arts that were not fully understood by their owners. Everywhere else there was only local bullies with their strong armed retainers and their citadels, gathering in fear of their fellow brigand-kings and tribal war parties. But, as with all tribes, they had their virtues, and chief among them was freedom. This and the natural division of the country by valleys, rivers, and mountain ranges meant that an atmosphere prevailed not unlike that of primitive Ilas. The basis of all ordered civilization is in a period of disordered but directed competition, harnessed and alloyed into a competitive state or brotherhood. The Illenes had sought to harness the competition among them, creating individual sovereign communities which remained free and in rivalry with one another, but which also were ordered communities. Whether under the Paersins, or their own mastery, the Hellenes progressed themselves, along with hose others keen enough to listen to what they had to say, via this paradigm.
So who, then, was there to be taught in this partially tamed peninsula that the new arrivals found themselves in? We find the aforementioned Iapogs, the most familiar of all of them with a Hellenic presence. Prior to this era, they were also so skilled in arms as to be a near match even for the warriors of Taras, in particular the race of the Messapi. But there were reasons that this was so- the Messapi were themselves descended from Illenes, a long lost tribe of Kretans who would later claim descent from Lakedaimonia. The wandering ancestors of the Messapi became trapped in what was later known as Kalavria, and there mixed with more barbarous stock. Their slight degeneration under the influence of tribal savages and wayward whores was not enough to entirely suppress their natural qualities, but enough to render them inferior to their Hellenic cousins. However, they did also cause an improvement to the stock of their newly adopted kinsmen- an increased potency among all of the Iapog tribes, a certain talent for war and arts so to speak, was clearly grafted on by the addition of Illenic blood. It was this that would later lead to their greatness. In addition, we find that even by this date petty-settlements operated as faux city-states, in imitation of their superior neighbours. The Iapogs were also well regarded at the art of improvisation, a positive harnessing of the momentary and ferocious passion of the tribal individual. Insofar as this does not lead to societal progress, this was of no real use to the Iapogs. But in terms of day-to-day survival, the raw stuff that such things as civilization are moulded from, it stood them in good stead. It also loaned to that otherwise barbaric race a keen wit and perceptive senses, both of these would enable the hard-chested Iapogs to adjust to the Illenic presence and benefit from it.
We also find the Tinians in their spring days, a people almost unrecognisable than those that would reshape the lands of Juropa. Called at this time the Tyrsenoi or Tyrrhenoi by the Illenes, they were a people un-awoken to their promise and talents. They must, alas, be properly classed as barbaric along with all of the other non-Illenes of the peninsula, at least in this period. Illas and its arts was, to them, as a necklace from a distant lover, closely clutched to the bosom and fawned over restlessly. They certainly understood the value of what it is that they imitated- they injected literate behaviour into the heart of Juropa, they imitated the cream of Illenic arts, both literary and visual, they understood the significance of the Illenic myths that they illustrated in their own primitive style. Yet even that primitive style is not unlovely to the civilized eye, raw talent could eventually be burnished and sharpened into incisive engagement. The glimmerings of greatness glittered in the gloomy depths. The Tinians in these days were politically divided, again in imitation of the Illene- they were fiercely pious, but also opportunistic, a trait no doubt learned from the Cardastini to their South who they were often allied to in this period, the ‘Tyrsenoi’ were infamous to the Illenes as pirates as much as merchants of fortune. The Tinians were, in the early part of this period, a perennial menace to the Illenes of the peninsula, launching several expeditions or attacks during the time of Perikles and beyond. It is perhaps a wonder to men of our days that these folk, these tamers of thunder and mounters of mountains, are so rustic in such a formative period. But it is true, even by the admission of the great Tinian authors, that their long summer was not yet upon them in this period. One need not turn far to find other scholarly material, rich in the telling, that deal with the tale of the golden age of the Tinians, and I refer the interested reader to those fine works.
We then come to the ruder masses of the peninsula, its brutes, bullies, and brigands. Foremost, and most numerous, among this disreputable category in this period are the collection of peoples known as the Iperikines, Ausones to the Illenes- among this set are classified the Laetines, the innumerable branches of the Savieni, the Oinotrioi, the Sikels, and the Sikanoi. They were numerous and warlike, especially the Savieni, and were an increasingly constant threat to the Illenes of Iperika. In this, their pre-civilized era of barbarism, it is not particularly expedient nor necessary to recall, by rote, the many tribes by which the Iperikines grouped themselves, for in doing so one would soon fall asleep on the work desk, one’s head fully flattened amid the pages of a weighty tome. Rather, we shall concern ourselves with several principal actors among these peoples. The Sikels were the eponymous inhabitants of the great isle Sikelie, and engaged in beneficial congress with the Illenes from ancient times on that fertile, sun-blessed island. Their story, as we shall see, is thus one of hope- of a civilizing process, of hilltop reivers turning into political individuals and contributing towards the progress of the human species. The Rhomaioi were the greatest of the minor powers among the Laetines, and later events would see them further promoted at the hands of Paersine potentates. They were not without a glimmer of civilization, having absorbed much from the archaic Tinians and from the Illenes- they conducted themselves with assemblies and magistrates, not with chieftains. But theirs is a story forgotten, and merely a long abandoned foothill in the great peaks of historical knowledge. But, as we shall see, they serve to indicate what the Iperikines would later become at the hands of more educated peoples. And, chief among the Savieni, we find the tribe called Saunitai by the Illenes. These inveterate bandits and reivers were a scourge even among their fellow Iperikines, and frequently the instigator of drama and crisis, both political and military. The taming of Iperika depended upon the the destruction and assimilation of these wild men.
But none were so wild as the people known to the Illenes as the Keltoi, the Varvarines as they are known to our own history. They feature little in the early years of Illenic dominance of Italia and Iperika, save as a name of terror and brutality passed, by hurried lips, down through the hilltops, valleys, and dales of the peninsula. They are more of an interest to the scholar of the Tinaic than of the Hellenic in this period. But, as the Tinaic and the Illenic heritage of our civilization are inseparable from one another, so too are their histories intertwined, for the adventures and misadventures of the archaic Tinians against the Varvarines often had repercussions for the Illenes of Italia in some form or another. And, later on, the early Varvarines would indeed make incursions into Italia of various kinds. The grandmother of Juropa, Massalia, being located next to the heartland of the Keltoi according to Herodotos, was the first of the Illenic communities to feel the raw anger of the Varvarines in this era of our elaboration, and yet continued to resist every Varvarine attempt to subjugate Massalia. So what is there to say about the Varvarines of this era? One cannot doubt that they were skilled as war, acting as a seemingly insurmountable barrier to Tinaic power for the longest time, and much prized as mercenaries by any desirous of becoming a petty tyrant, or by any poor souls desperate to achieve victory by arms alone. But they were head takers, worshipping ruinous Gods who were mendicant for human sacrifice, and so divorced from any kind of settled life that they were prone to simply wander the wilds in order to find new grazing grounds for rape and pillage. The chronicles of the Antique are filled with the doings of this savage era of Varvarine marauders, and thus they enter into this history of the Illenes of Italia as well.
EXTRACT FROM TARTAN’S ON THE HELLENES
TRANSLATED BY ERMENRIH ADALBERTSUN
ON THE CIVILIZATION OF HESPERIA
TRANSLATED BY ERMENRIH ADALBERTSUN
ON THE CIVILIZATION OF HESPERIA
It matters not that the Old Iranian Empire did not conquer all of the Hellenes, we can still accept without question that the Hellenes were of fundamentally Asiatic culture and heritage, and that by conquering the heart of the Hellenic world the ancient Iranian kings restored a rightful connection between Hellas and the rest of Asia. Their fundamentally civilized, Asian character was irrepressible, even where they were not under the control of a Great King- the Hellenic exiles, rather than becoming barbarous, simply accelerated the great work of progress that their existing communities had begun,. And nowhere is that more closely, demonstrably evident than in the Hesperian peninsula, which also saw the greatest intake of Hellenic refugees. The backbone of Hesperia would become the spinal column of Europa’s civilization, the vigour of progress rushing through it as a great artery of knowledge. No matter that many of the Hellenes were still themselves teetering on the precipice of katakhresis on the matter of civil conduct and peaceful intentions, this was not enough to sour the milk that the infantile cultures of Europa suckled upon. The notion of a cultured lifestyle, in which peace was attainable, good governnance was plausible, and men lived in cities with streets rather than shacks, was firmly inculcated.
And what savages they had to contend with! Is it not natural that Hellenes and Iranians would achieve so much in partnership, when we witness what wonders each could achieve on their own! Here we see almost friendly rivalry, such as when a sculptor produces a magnificent marble piece, brings it in front of his competitor, and says ‘surpass this if you can’. If the conquest of Hellas was the Old Iranian offering in the wager, then the taming of Hesperia was the response that the Hellenes provided, and what a masterwork that was. These are the savages that they had to contend with- the hundredform tribes of the Sabinoi, the petty chieftainships of the Latinoi, the Tinianiotes in their elder and primitive days playing at being mock-Hellenes, and the wild and wandering warbands of the Keltoi. They did, at times, have cause to contest with civilized powers as well. Their primary opponents were those other great Asiatic emigres, the Karkhedoniotes, usually over the island of Sikelia. But at times, the Old Iranians did manage to intrude into the life of the Italiote Greeks, peering in at their rival’s masterpiece whilst it was under construction. And, ironically enough, the civilizing of the Tinianiotes would continue to increase the amount of pressure those grandchildren of Asia could bring to bear on their adoptive parents. Yet, nonetheless, against all that could be thrown against them, the Hellenes remained, and thrived. What the Great Kings of Old Iran cursed and rued we, the beneficiaries of both legacies, can celebrate gleefully, for even in opposition they planted the seeds of a brighter, more civilized world.
So, how was it that Hesperia was, at length, tamed? Even in those whose memory of their ancestral Asian heritage was slim, they nonetheless contained a spark which recognised the fruits of Babylon and Xume when they were brought into their presence. The Hellenes, without pause or hesitation, flung themselves into the task of bringing these splendid things into the presence of those of a more savage nature. Great stone buildings, animate and lovely sculpture, the production of cunning artifices, culture, the notion of ordered government, and above all the art of writing- these were the gifts that the Hellenes had already begun to introduce to Hesperia before their exodos accelerated the process. Twas the Latinoi and Tinianiotes who first proved receptive to the message, fashioning for themselves crude models of the spectacular original. But a good teacher is a patient teacher, ignoring the earliest clumsy productions and instead continuing to reinforce the correct message. They would prove the first non-Hellenic outposts of real civilization in Hesperia, and became a signal that a better life was possible. Even some among the Sabinoi would eventually see the light. But it was not through kindness alone that civilization was introduced into Europe- as the Old Iranians had discovered, even the most barbarous of the Hellenes had a real skill for the art of war, and it was Hesperia who was to witness what a full gathering of Hellenes could accomplish in unison. The Sabinoi who could not be tamed were cleansed, and those who would threaten the growth of Hellenic power were beaten back time and time again. They were not invincible, as proven when the Amavadatid splinter state was required to intervene in order to save Taras and the Rhomaioi from a horde of Keltoi, and indeed by the original Iranian conquest of Hellas. But they were certainly redoutable, particularly when sufficiently collected and motivated, even more so when led by a cunning and decisive general.
Key milestones in the Asianising of Hesperia include the following- the inducement of the remaining Iapygoi in Italia to fully accomodate to an urban, Asiatic mode of life (which would eventually cause them to become indistinguishable from Hellenes), the final ruination of the dread Saunitai (the most warlike and savage of all the Sabinoi tribes), the successful defence of Massalia against the Ouolkai (which acted as a bastion against the Keltoi attacking via the sea), the first construction of a theatre in a Tinianiote city, the Amavadatid defence of Roma, the first time that Tinianiote actors were considered eligible to perform in Hellenic drama, the eventual unification of all the Tinianiotes following the Miracle of Felsine, and the foundation of the Second Italiote League. When this was all completed, Italia was a peaceful and powerful state of fundamentally Asiatic character, the Tinianiotes had created the earliest incarnation of their Empire and had become capable of creating their own variation of the song of Asia, and the stage was set for this process to repeat itself in the rest of Europa. Though Europa would never be part of Asia itself, it was now firmly established that congress between the two was not only possible but fruitful, that the Hellenes had been the custodians of Asian progress into Europa, and that Europa too could join the world of civilized states, albeit in a way that lagged behind the immense might and majesty of Asia.
THE ATEKNATIDS OF MASSALIA
EXTRACT FROM THE ETEKHRONIKOS OF MASSALIA
There was a certain Ateknate the son of Ambiorix, who was called Diodoros as well by the citizens of Massalia. He had become a steward of Avenion, and was awarded proxenia in Massalia. He came to lead Cauaretai allies and the citizens of Massalia to victory against the Trikestinai in the year of Polemaios as timoukhos. He had two sons by his wife Phoibe, Nikagoras and Diodoros the younger, and a daughter Aella. After Ateknate died, Nikagoras inherited his arms, and became a steward himself. He gained victory against the Ligyes in the year of Zeuxias as timoukhos, and was awarded citizenship of Massalia due to the actions of himself and his deceased father. He was inducted into the eastern genos.
AN EXTRACT FROM ON LIGYSTIKE BY DIEUKHIDAS OF MASSALIA
ON THE ATEKNATIDS
ON THE ATEKNATIDS
The Ateknatids were named for Ateknate, their eponymous ancestor. They had been a force in Massliote politics for some generations, repeatedly winning key military victories against aggressors. It was now, however, that they began to reach the highest rank of political and popular power within the Massliotes; Phoxinos, Ateknatid, was head of an armed expedition of Massliotes and Keltoi allies when an army of Ligyes attacked the fortress at Avenion. They were besieged by some 100,000 Ligyes with Iberian and Keltoi allies of their own. Immediately, Phoxinos rode with the army to meet this invasion in battle, and to rescue to polis at Avenion. The ire between those Keltoi on the side of the Massaliotes and those on the side of the Ligyes was fierce and lengthy, and accordingly they were eager to battle one another. So eager, in fact, that they charged at one another before the rest of either army could engage. However, Phoxinos was faster in improvising to this adverse change in circumstances than his opponent, the king of the Ligyes, and came crashing down with Massaliote hoplitai on the right flank of the enemy army. The discipline of the Ligyes being poor, the greater part of their army was forced to flight or rout, and their Keltoi allies were either dead on the field, induced to surrender, or executed. The Iberian allies of the enemy were content simply to be paid to leave. Phoxinos became determined to expand the power of the Massaliotes, great as it already had become, because he believed correctly that the Ligyes were a threat that needed to be ended. A large part of the Ligyes had survived their battle against the Massliotes, and so when the two armies met at the Rhodanos river it was once again a match of large armies, rather than simply mopping up the Ligyes and their warriors. The battle was fierce and hotly contested, until the king of the Ligyes was killed by a spear through the chest, at which point the Ligyes fully routed, and were driven off the field with great slaughter. Phoxinos then set about, each year, to occupy and garrison more and more of the strong places of Ligystike, which often involved garrisons of Keltoi loyal to the Massliotes by deed, treaty, or payment. The Massliotes were thus carried into dominance, over several years of campaigning, throughout most of the district of Ligystike. This was not without cost, for here lay the cause of both the War of the Allies and also the Great Ligye Revolt, which cost Massaliotes so much in blood and treasure. But Phoxinos had nonetheless done much to advance the cause of the Massaliotes and to carry it to new heights, and was duly honoured with the position of timoukhos. Struggles between the Ateknatids and the other great gene of Massalia were inevitable, due both to the success of Phoxinos and his habit of carrying out positive military actions that were nonetheless further than the desires expressed by the boule.
- Daeres
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