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Heirs of Antigonus (Antigonid Kingdom Timeline)

This is an alternative timeline, asking how the Antigonid kingdom in Asia could've survived and what would've happened next. There will be more updates.

A battle decided by one man. Not a general, not a soldier, even, just a messenger. What had happened? 301 B.C, the battle of Ipsus.

Demetrius sweated as he watched the horsemen in the distance ride off. It was a warm day. He had halted temporarily, surrounded by officers and roaring horsemen, proclaiming their victory in primal sounds. Antiochus had been routed, Demetrius thought with a triumphal smile. The day was theirs! Who knew what would happen next? ‘’Forward!” Demetrius commanded with a grand gesture, ordering his soldiers to rout Antiochus and his fleeing cavalry. If they could perhaps capture Antiochus himself, who knew what could happen? They couldn’t pursue for too long, though. Nonetheless, Demetrius urged his men forward and was about to push his feet into the flanks of his horse, before he heard a man crying out his name. Not with a tone of triumph or praise, but rather a tone which belonged to a desperate man. The Besieger paused and frowned, looking up. A poorly dressed man came closer, riding his horse with great speed. Demetrius gestured for his officers to make place for the man and he panted as his horse finally stopped. It took him a few seconds to regain his breath, until the man could speak. He didn’t look like a soldier or an officer, Demetrius noted. Nonetheless, he could catch Antiochus a few seconds later.

‘’Demetrius Poliorcetes..’’ the man began, addressing Demetrius with his full name, not sure how to address him otherwise. The man spoke heavily accented Greek, a bit strange for a man who was most likely a subject of his father. ‘’Your father sent me, my lord! The.. left flank, my lord, it’s being overrun. He urges you to return immediately!’’ the man proclaimed. Demetrius paused and stared at him. His father had other people to send, not just men like these. Still, it was grave news, if it was true. ‘’Do not abandon your father, my lord.’’ the man continued, which earned him an angry glare of Demetrius.

‘’My lord, we can’t take the risk.’’ an officer suddenly said, with a loud voice. Some other officers loudly voiced their disagreement and soon the whole group was yelling. An argument began between the officers. Many wanted to chase Antiochus, not believing the man’s story. The few that wanted to return, pleaded with great fervor, though.

Demetrius nodded, finally, though it was not sure to whom he nodded.

Uncharactererstically, Demetrius decided to play it safe. ‘’Rally! Follow me!’’ he shouted, a shout which was quickly taken up by many officers. The men roared once more and the cavalry galloped away, towards the enemy unprotected flank. He left an officer by the name of Menander of Ephesus in charge of the remaining elephants and then galloped off. The Besieger looked back with hesitation. His father had once told him he was too bold, he thought as he the battling armies in the distance became larger. Perhaps he had been right.

The Antigonid cavalry proceeded to charge the left flank of the Allied forces. With great fervor, Demetrius led and fought, like he had before when he had routed the enemy cavalry. After some heavy resistance, he managed to rout the Allied forces’ left flank and proceeded to roll up the enemy line. A huge amount of morale resurged through the Antigonid forces, even after the defection of some of the heavy infantry and the constant harassment by Seleucus’ horse archers. Furthermore, rumour spread that Lysimachus had been killed in action. The Antigonid phalanx pushed on with renewed fury, while the Allied phalanx was pushed back and was beginning to flee en masse.

At that moment, it was when the elephants finally came into play. Though Demetrius had thought to have driven off the elephants, he would be proven wrong, so wrong. There were far more elephants than he had encountered. Suddenly, as victory had seemed to be in the hands of the Antigonids, around 400 elephants were suddenly released. It was a desperate measure, but it was very effective. The elephants were led forward and wreaked havoc among the Antigonid forces, which were breaking through and smelling the air of victory. The cavalry of Demetrius, which was fighting on, was scared off and scattered by the smell of the elephants, after desperate attempts by Demetrius to calm them, though Demetrius was rumoured to have dismounted and have fought like a lion in the chaos, the chaos which was caused by the elephants. Both lines were wrecked, though the Allied line far less so, since they had prepared for this possibility. After the elephants had come into the play, Seleucus himself joined the fray and directed the battle from the front. It were his elephants after all, and he was not eager to lose them or to lose this battle. He reforged the phalanx somewhat, even with the rampaging elephants, and pushed forward. The Antigonids were thrown back by the great shock of the great mass of elephants and the resurgent enemy. However, where previously Seleucus and Lysimachus would have left some space for defections, there was none left. At this point, it was simply about victory or defeat. All forces were thrown into the fray.



The large amount of elephants meant that it had been somewhat hard to utilize them completely, though they did their job. The elephants, though large in number, lost their effect gradually as the battle continued. The great shock-and-awe attack had worked, though it had not been enough to drive the Antigonid forces back completely, especially after a large part of the Allied flank had been mopped up by Demetrius. Even so, the Antigonid line broke several times due to the great pressure, saved only from destruction by the many appearances of Demetrius, who rallied the troops. Ultimately, the battle became a slaughter which lasted for hours for both sides and as night fell, both sides retreated to their camps to fight tomorrow.

Casualties were heavy for both sides and morale was down, though Demetrius was greatly praised by the soldiers and his father.

POD: Seleucus uses his cavalry earlier to attack Antigonus' left flank and Demetrius doesn't pursue Antiochus.

OTL: Demetrius was cut off by the 400 elephants or so, which ensured he was unable to return. The Antigonid line broke as parts of it defected and Seleucus relentless harassed them. Antigonus died while trying to rally his troops and Demetrius escaped with 9,000 men to Ephesus.

Feel free to criticize.
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