Hannibal ante portas again! A hellenistic era ATL.

Not sure about Hannibal "same old way". He was an interesting General and if you look at the three great victories against Rome all were done differently. The only commonality was his use of cav.
Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of antiquity. No doubt about that. I am just not sure if he is going to be inspired from the units of the Seleucid army.
Never the less his mission will be even more difficult this time.

If at Zama he had the quality of cav available i think things would have had a very different outcome.

I believe the same.
 

trajen777

Banned
Well the Sec army had trained "2 legions" in roman warfare -- so if you have these as part of 10 k (or 5k) -- then some hc and some horse archers you have some interesting units --- then you have lots of $$. His key forces that were most effective were the Libyan spear men and the Numidian horse. So in that form you have some interesting forces to array
 
Well the Sec army had trained "2 legions" in roman warfare -- so if you have these as part of 10 k (or 5k)

As you already mention:
Notes -- on Rominized infantry :
in 166 BC, at the Daphne Parade under Antiochus IV, the Argyraspides corps is only seen to be 5,000 strong. However 5,000 troops armed in the Roman fashion are present and they are described as being in the prime of their life, perhaps denoting their elite nature.

This is the first reference of romanised troops in Seleucid army. So no romanised troops in 193 BC for Hannibal.

So i tend to agree with this:
Romanized infantry are something of an anchronistic misnomer. I'd argue they owed more to the Celts and other foes the Hellenic armies faced than the Romans.

then you have lots of $$.

I think this is key for Hannibal at the moment.
 
Chapter VI Joining up
Chapter: VI Joining up

March 11th, 193 BC.

The garrison officer on the north gate, told the three men to take the sacred road leading to the temple of Artemis and continue northwest to where the camp was and report to Polyxenos, who was in charge of the Greek mercenaries. Within an hour of leaving the north gate of Ephesus, Aetios saw the first stockades of the army, containing hundreds of horses and their forage and after that countless military tents.
Iollas asked the first officer he saw, where he might find the officer Polyxenos. He directed them toward the centre of the camp and the general headquarters. Finally after 10 minutes passing through the narrow alleys of numerous tents they reached the heart of the camp. There they were stopped by two huge Nubian guards, with skin deep black, huge heads shaved bald and skin full of pattern tattoos. They carried enormous round shields and Macedonian type spears. Iollas noticed that they also carried a type of sword that he had never seen before, with a curved blade heavy at the point like a giant sickle (1). The two guards pointed out a row of tents nearby, where the Greek officers were.

Shortly after the two cousins joined the army of Hannibal as phalangites. Young Eurotas made quite an impression with his sling skills and also joined the army as a slinger.



(1)The falcata is a type of sword typical of pre-Roman Iberia. The falcata was used to great effect by the armies of Carthage in their wars against Rome.
 
Chapter VII Agents’ reports.
Chapter:VII Agents’ reports.


Rome, March 11th,193 BC.


“Well, Flamininus, so Carthage is now just a vassal of Rome. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that Hannibal is still a threat, I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful brother,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you—sit down and tell me all the news.”

It was a rainy afternoon in Rome and the speaker was the well-known Scipio Africanus, champion of Rome and favourite of the Senate. With these words he greeted Flamininus, a man of high rank and importance and the "liberator of Greece",

“Jupiter! what a virulent attack!" replied Flamininus, not in the least disconcerted by this reception. He had just entered the room with a serene expression on his flat face. He spoke with the gentle, patronising intonation natural to a man of importance who had grown up as a true patrician, well educated and confident.

“First of all, dear friend, tell me how you are. Set your friend's mind at rest," said Flamininus without altering his tone, beneath the politeness and affected sympathy of which indifference and even irony could be discerned.

“Can one be well while suffering morally? Can one be calm in times like these if one has any feeling?" said Scipio with a flourish.

“What can one say about it?" replied Flamininus in a cold tone. "Our agents in Ephesus were indeed well informed. Hannibal is now a general of Basileus Antiochus and he is actually ready to lead, on behalf of Antiochus, an army to Thrace."

"I was right to worry Flamininus! Antiochus has not only capitalized on our victory against Macedonia and interfered in Greek politics but now has taken Hannibal under his wing."

"It seems that the worst possible scenario has happened." Flamininus replied.

"Consul Thermus has arrived Master Scipio" said one of the Greek house slaves.
 
Chapter: VIII The bet
Chapter: VIII The bet

Ephesus, March 15th, 193 BC.


I don’t think I fancy the odds on the short one” whispered Aetios.

“Why so?”

“Look at him Iollas! This man is really weak, just skin and bones. Won’t last long against his opponent.”

Aetios nodded to the other side of the makeshift pankration(1) arena where a taller and stronger athlete had entered.

Iollas looked at the short thin man, naked except for a small leather loin guard.

“I’ll bet on the short one” he decided.

Aetios laughed “ha, are you crazy? Look at him.”

“I have looked and I’ll back my judgement with money.” replied Iollas.

Aetios’ eyebrows rose. ”Have it your own way then, it’s like stealing from a baby”

Aetios shook his head and settled down to wait for the fight to begin.

It was one of the last fights of the day’s games laid on by officer, Orestes, in the middle of the Greek camp to entertain the troops before the departure. The long awaited Hannibal was back with 2000 more troops, most of them Galatians (2). With Hannibal back in Ephesus and the army reaching 8000 soldiers everything was ready. In two days they would finally embark on the ships and start the expedition.
The Greek mercenaries’ banner-bearer was acting as master of ceremonies and strode out to the centre of the arena, waving for silence. The banner-bearer’s assistants rushed to take final bets and Iollas sat back down beside Aetios, having got odds of six to one. Not bad, if the short man won, Iollas would make a tidy sum. Aetios had bet just a couple of coins on the taller fighter.

“Silence! Silence!” The banner bearer shouted. Despite the holiday atmosphere over two thousand shouting soldiers stilled their tongues, waiting for the last set of fights to start. The banner-bearer introduced the athletes and the fights begin. The crowd started to cheer again even louder.

“Get up you worthless bastard” Aetios shouted.

Iollas smiled, he had won the bet! The small fellow was actually really fast in his moves and prevailed quite easily against his opponent.

“Let’s see if anyone’s got any decent wine to sell” Iollas suggested to Aetios. Besides the wine Iollas spent most of the money on a fancy new Falcata sword.


(1)Pankration, as practiced in historical antiquity, was an athletic event that combined techniques of both boxing (pygmē/pygmachia – πυγμή/πυγμαχία) and wrestling (palē – πάλη), as well as additional elements, such as the use of strikes with the legs, to create a broad fighting sport very similar to today's mixed martial arts competitions. There is evidence that, although knockouts were common, most pankration competitions were probably decided on the ground where both striking and submission techniques would freely come into play. Pankratiasts were highly skilled grapplers and were extremely effective in applying a variety of takedowns, chokes and joint locks . In extreme cases a pankration competition could even result in the death of one of the opponents, which was considered a win.

(2)The Galatians were a Celtic people that dwelt mainly in the north central regions of Asia minor or Anatolia in what was known as Galatia, in today's Turkey. In their origin they were a part of the great Celtic migration which invaded Macedon, led by Brennus. The original Celts who settled in Galatia came through Thrace under the leadership of Leotarios 278 BC. These Celts consisted mainly of three tribes, the Tectosages, the Trocmii, and the Tolistobogii, but they were also other minor tribes. They spoke a Celtic language, the Galatian language, which is sparsely attested.
 
IX Expedition Thrace?
IX Expedition Thrace?


A bright morning sun sparkled off seawater in the great harbour at Ephesus. The massive fleet was ready to sail. The shouts of the numerous sailors and troops could be heard all the way to the temple of Artemis.

“Let’s get moving, Melas.” Hannibal commanded.

“Right you are, my general.” The oar-master held up a big bronze square and a mallet with which to strike it. He raised his voice till it carried all the way to the bow: “Get ready"

The rowers set their hands at their oars, waiting for the word of command. He smote the square, at the same time calling out the oarsman’s shout, “Rup-pa-pai!” (1)

The rowers all pulled. Melas clanged the square again, and also used his voice to give the stroke. “ῥυππαπαῖ!”(rip-pa-pai) At the last syllable, the men pulled. “ῥυππαπαῖ!”. The monstrous flagship slid forward, a step farther, a step faster this time as it began to gain momentum. “ῥυππαπαῖ! ῥυππαπαῖ !”.

Shortly after, trumpets blared one after another from the other ships announcing their departure.

Hannibal strode to the bow of his flagship, a huge heptares, the largest of his fleet and scanned the horizon. He had much to ponder since he had staked everything on this expedition.

It took more than an hour for all the fleet to leave the port for the open sea. Iollas and Aetios’ ship was one of the last to leave Ephesus. That allowed Iollas to notice something rather quickly.

"Aren't we supposed to go North" He asked Aetios.

"Bless Poseidon! I was thinking the same! Yes your right, it seems we are going south." Aetios agreed.

"Yes exactly, hmmm that's strange." said Iollas.


(1) a cry of the Athenian rowers.
 
X True goal
X True goal



The first major stop of the fleet was in Crete where Hannibal recruited 300 Cretan archers. While there, the troops heard rumours that Hannibal's true goal was to conquer Carthage and for this, they (mostly the Greek mercenaries) said, they had not been hired. Mutiny was at hand and leaders had arisen among the disaffected men. The thought of facing enormous forces/powerful armies hundreds of miles from their houses homes, across burning desert sands and among strange gods was incomprehensible to a large part of the army.
To settle the issue Hannibal decided to speak to the troops. The next morning with all the army assembled, Hannibal climbed up on a rock and looked out over the men, with his shoulders thrown back and his great bearlike chest thrust out, his armour shining under the Cretan sun. Hannibal cleared his throat as the men began quieting themselves to hear him. He was a man of authority, a famed general after all. When he finished his speech the troops broke out in a lusty cheer. It was an eloquent appeal to their dignity and honour, perfectly ted and paced, the stirring and charismatic oratory of a man truly born to lead men. Nevertheless to sweeten up the situation he also offered every man a half month salary bonus...
By now all the fleet and army knew their true destination: Carthage. The plan was simple. They were going to land at Aspis (clupea) meet with Hannibal’s allies and march to Carthage.
That night, unable to sleep amidst the sounds of singing and celebration surrounding them, Iollas had tried to wake Aetios for company but in vain. Approaching a fire that had been built high and was particularly well attended, Iollas was hailed by the men, who invited him to join them and have a swig or two from their wineskin. They seemed to have already spent the extra silver Hannibal had promised them.

Lysander the Boeotian, one of Hannibal's sergeants, had been laughing so hard at a joke that Iollas thought he would burst his gut be sick. When he saw Iollas approach, he regained control, clapped Iollas on the shoulder and ceremoniously dusted off a space on a log for him to sit down.

"What a pleasure you’re able to join us, Iollas,” he drawled, overcompensating in formality to offset his lack of concentration, and passing him the dripping skin. Iollas looked around the fire and saw twenty faces in various states of inebriation grinning at him, and he wondered if he might have better spent his time that night continuing to try to sleep. They were just singing a few old songs and discussing the glorious future awaiting them in Carthage. Epicrates a young trumpeter, clearly offended by some comments about his profession told a small story of Aesop:


A Trumpeter during a battle ventured too near the enemy and was captured by them. They were about to proceed to put him to death when he begged them to hear his plea for mercy.
"I do not fight," said he, "and indeed carry no weapon; I only blow this trumpet, and surely that cannot harm you; then why should you kill me?"

"You may not fight yourself," said the others, "but you encourage and guide your men to the fight."

So they killed him.


The men laughed. "good point Epicrates" said Lysander.

"Words may be deeds" Iollas replied added smiling.

After some small talk with Lysander about sword fighting technics, their common passion, Iollas went back to his tent. Few hours later the first yellow rays of dawn began arching across the eastern sky. Aetios gazed at the vast extent of the camp. The thousands of tents were laid out in neat rows almost to the horizon, like a city sprung from nowhere. Men were beginning to emerge, scratching and yawning, stirring down their fires from the night before and getting ready for the ships.
Since their hurried departure from Crete to Cyrenaica, the fleet had been buffeted by foul weather, scattering the boats. Hannibal brought up the rear, simultaneously scouring for land and for warships or transports blown astray. A few, perhaps as many as five or six ships, had been lost during the night, an inauspicious beginning to such an ambitious expedition. With most of the fleet regrouped west of the, now deserted, old town of Euesperides, Hannibal continued the trip to Carthage.
 
Very good. A bit too short and some grammar errors but nothing major. Although I'm more of a fan of the "history book" approach to althistory, narrative is also good to read and get a sense of the thoughts of the protagonists. COntinue the good work, commenting is unnecessary, the likes speak for it IMO.
 
XI Leptis Magna
XI Leptis Magna


Their next stop was in Leptis Magna a Carthaginian town, now semi independent. The massive fleet arrival caused a serious alarm in the town. The local council decided to welcome Hannibal with open arms and pledge their allegiance to him.


In the port Hannibal found several Phoenician vessels, some bound for Carthage. Because he was now afraid that some of these might carry the news, he ordered all ships in the harbour to surrender their sails and nobody to leave town before his departure.

"Have you eaten?"

Iollas shrugged. "Some bread and honey when I got up."

"Me too. That was hours ago though."

Aetios grinned and patted his belly. ‘Best get a few supplies from the town."

"Good idea." Iollas replied.

After a barley roll dipped in olive oil and a cup of watered wine, Aetios said, “Now shall we find the brothels and check out the girls?”

“Sounds good to me.” Iollas tilted his head back and emptied his cup. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Let’s go.”

They walked down the gangplank and down the quay. As they passed a local Phoenician, Aetios asked him where the brothel was. The old man might have been stricken with an advanced case of idiocy. He scratched his head, pulled at his lower lip, frowned, and generally gave the impression of a man who had a hard time remembering his own name, let alone anything harder. Aetios didn’t need to have read Hippokrates to know how to cure that disease. He gave the man an obolos. Sure enough, silver proved the proper cure. Intelligence blossomed on the old man face. He pointed towards the north west part of the polis and gave quick, confident directions, finishing, “You can’t miss it.”

“I hope not,” Iollas muttered.

“Up this street here, did he say?” Aetios asked.

“That’s right,” Iollas answered. He could see the shape of the city in his head, and see which way they should go. He’d needed years to realize most people couldn’t do that. Despite this the two cousins had to spend another obolos and a half, to finally find the place in this maze called Leptis magna.

“Welcome, welcome, three times welcome, most noble ones!” The lady of the house exclaimed. She was about forty, with red hair. She'd probably been a striking girl but now she had a double chin and the beginnings of a pot belly...

Iollas looked around the courtyard. “Handsome place you have here,” he said. Bees buzzed above flowers and herbs in the garden. A fountain splashed gently. A bronze Aphrodite, half life size, stood on a column tying her sandal.

“You’re too kind, noble lord ,” the lady of the house said. As she spoke with Iollas , a half naked woman came out of the house and picked some herbs from the garden.

Aetios smiled at her. He would love to spear her.


Iollas didn’t seem to notice the woman. With so many troops in the town the prices had soared and he was trying to negotiate a better price.
 
XII Taurus mountains
XII Taurus mountains

Taurus mountains, borders Pisidia -Lycia,
March 22th, 193 BC.


The Taurus mountains north of Lykia made Amyntas think of mount Olympus and his hometown in Macedonia. Since the time he joined the ranks of Antiochus III army 5 years ago, he never went back to mainland Greece. Shortly after the small "memory trip" he turned to his companion, a blond youngster from Pella named Laomedon.

"Nothing so far. Let’s ride on a little farther.”
laomedon made a face. “Only if you say so, sir. I don’t think the barbarians are anywhere around. Couldn’t we just head back to camp? I could use a skin of wine."

"We’ll go on another 2 miles. Then, if we still haven’t found anything, we’ll call it a day and turn around." said Amyntas.

Few minutes later Amyntas and Laomedon come across a small stream. There were horse imprints in the mud on the far bank. "Looks like about half a dozen stopped here,” Laomedon said.

"Probably their own scouting party,” Amyntas judged. “The main body of them can’t be far behind.”

Let’s go back,” Laomedon said nervously.

"Now I won’t argue with you,” Amyntas said. “We’ve found what we came for.” The two Seleucid scouts wheeled their mounts and trotted back the way they had come. The army’s hypostrategos(lieutenant-general) Parmenides grunted as he listened to Amyntas report. He looked sour, but then he always did. "Fair enough,” he said when the scout commander was through.

"A good beating should teach these goat thieves to keep their loyalty to Antiochus . Dismissed"

Amyntas saluted and left the lieutenant-general’s tent. A few minutes later, a series of trumpet calls rang out, summoning the army to alert.
 
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