Heirs of the Achaemenids
- Thread starter 9 Fanged Hummingbird
- Start date
Yeah sure, why not. Though maybe if someone wanted to add to it they could run it by me first.
I think it would be pretty awesome.!I don't think I'd have the writing skills to be a full collaborator, but I know a fair bit about the period, and about the Greeks, Macedonians and Persians in particular; If you needed any assistance in those areas, I could help out (albeit sporadically
).Great! I have a few questions.
1. Is it still possible to wipe out the Roman Army at Caudine Forks in 321 BC?
2. Who will Artaxerxes IV marry? Or has he married? What would he name his children?
3. What are your plans for Alexander the Molossian, or for his sucessors? I'm happy to implement them.
4. Has Menmon been granted a satrapy? Will he have his own dynastic line?
5. Have you seen my 4th century recap?
6. Without the battle of Jaxartes having ever took place, the morale of the Nomadic Scythian tribes must be higher ITTL. Will there be more frequent invasions than OTL?
7. How will the Achaemenids deal with Porus and India? Will the Nanda Dynasty continue?
8. How will the rest of the Empire deal with Artaxerxes' military reforms? Would the Satrapies be decreased in size?
9. Around 75,000-200,000 lives have been saved by the death of Alexander at Gaugamela. Plus thousands of Macedonian settlers. How shall this boost Persia's recovery from the war and beyond?
10. Will Eumenes become the future secretary of Persia? Could coinage become introduced?
11. Will Ariarathes become powerful thanks to having kept Cappadocia un-ravaged?
12. How should Alexander the Molossian's campaign play out? Does he have phalangites?
13. Will future Persian kings be founding new cities across the empire? Could Artaxerxes tour his own?
14. When were the first post offices invented? By the Romans? Howabout waystations? For faster communications?
1. Is it still possible to wipe out the Roman Army at Caudine Forks in 321 BC?
I got the idea from this thread.
2. Who will Artaxerxes IV marry? Or has he married? What would he name his children?
3. What are your plans for Alexander the Molossian, or for his sucessors? I'm happy to implement them.
4. Has Menmon been granted a satrapy? Will he have his own dynastic line?
5. Have you seen my 4th century recap?
6. Without the battle of Jaxartes having ever took place, the morale of the Nomadic Scythian tribes must be higher ITTL. Will there be more frequent invasions than OTL?
7. How will the Achaemenids deal with Porus and India? Will the Nanda Dynasty continue?
8. How will the rest of the Empire deal with Artaxerxes' military reforms? Would the Satrapies be decreased in size?
9. Around 75,000-200,000 lives have been saved by the death of Alexander at Gaugamela. Plus thousands of Macedonian settlers. How shall this boost Persia's recovery from the war and beyond?
10. Will Eumenes become the future secretary of Persia? Could coinage become introduced?
11. Will Ariarathes become powerful thanks to having kept Cappadocia un-ravaged?
12. How should Alexander the Molossian's campaign play out? Does he have phalangites?
13. Will future Persian kings be founding new cities across the empire? Could Artaxerxes tour his own?
14. When were the first post offices invented? By the Romans? Howabout waystations? For faster communications?
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It Continues
Part 2
Babylon, early 331 BC
From his new office in Babylon, that happened to be next to the major bank firm of Murashu and Sons, Eumenes woke as he did here every other morning; exhausted from the last night's long hours of work pouring over financial documents, reports of state affairs, and other such items so helpfully provided by his new bosses here in the heart of the Persian Empire. Despite this he found it quite pleasant. He felt in his element as a secretary and this sort of work that others deemed drudgery was of great interest to him, fulfilling a curiosity of the world and letting him apply his talents to their best use. But this morning was more special, as some mail had arrived all the way home from Kardia. It was a message from his old friend Hieronymus, who he had long been out of contact with. He took a swig of fresh water and started pouring over the letter.
'...My dear friend Eumenes, it really has been too long since we last talked, but I did indeed receive your letter to me. I must confess I am quite jealous of you. While I have to remain content assembling the writings of others and compiling what I can to make my own meager histories, you get to be a part of history yourself! Of course it must have been frightening fighting all those battles, but what an adventure! Admittedly, I was rather alarmed when you told me you were now a secretary in the Persian empire, but with the news coming from Makedon such a profession seems quite wise. It's rather dire news, I am sad to say. War is brewing all over Makedon, Hellas, and even here in Thrakia, where I fear Kardia shall find itself caught in the middle. Not one bit of it seems positive and it only gets worse and worse. Where shall I start?
Well, for one thing I'm sure you've already heard that Antipater, hiding behind his puppet Philip Arrhidaeos, has refused to pay the reparations to Persia that were negotiated by Parmenion in his surrender. However it seems less like stubborn pride and more like pragmatism from him, as he needs every bit of coin he can get his hands on now. Alexander of Makedon's uncle, Alexander of Molossia, has just landed in Epirus with a vast army at his back, and word is that he and Olympias have already negotiated an alliance. So Antipater has been pulling soldiers from wherever he can to scramble and army against him. The governor Zopyrion, who was already gathering and army for war against the Skythians of all people, has been recruiting people from Kardia even to march to Antipater's aid. The strange thing though is that Antipater also refuses to relinquish Makedon's hegemony over Hellas. I fear that will not end well for any of us.
But enough about these dreadful stormclouds. I wanted to tell you that lately I've been interested in writing a history of the late King Alexander, and of your new King Artaxerxes. Their stories seem quite fascinating, and it seems that no Hellenic writer has yet written a good history of Persia since Herodotus. So obviously I shall be calling on you, being an eyewitness to all of this. In fact with the situation at home I have been thinking of joining you in Babylon, where it's safe. The weather there I hear is so much more pleasant...'
Eumenes' reading was interrupted by a knock at his door. A messenger from Artashata had come informing him that the king wanted him present at a meeting today. With a sigh, Eumenes put down the scroll and got dressed for a meeting of state, consciously making sure to wear his finest Asian tunic and trousers which he had quickly become accustomed to. Soon he was at the audience chambers of the king's palace in Babylon, where he was warmly received by Artashata and Mazaeus, the latter of whom he was becoming quite friendly with. The King of Kings himself however appeared to be in a much fouler mood, though he still made to at least try to feign politeness. The Kardian secretary could not help but notice that very few people were present here, not even many nobles, so he wondered at the reason for this gathering. It appeared a meeting of only the elite few in Artakhshatra's circle and some of their most trusted confidants, and canny Eumenes could tell that even Artashata seemed not completely sure of the reason, so he could only assume that, quite unusually, the King himself had called them together.
"Greetings, Eumenes," Artashata called out, clearly fitting into his new role as vizier of the whole empire quite comfortably, "I trust you've been settling in well to your new role of secretary, I hope."
"Indeed I have, hazarapati. There's been a lot of work but not too onerous, I assure you. No difficulties at all."
"Good, because we have some new duties for you and I should not wish to overburden you, my friend. With the great temples of this city now complete, the great king has authorized Mazaeus to restore the ancient privileges of the Babylonian people. And in conjunction with these efforts we want to to conduct an examination of this city. We will give you whatever resources you need to perform a census as well as research into how to improve the local economy. Once such affairs are finished we shall do the same for the rest of the empire. I'm sure you are quite aware that many reforms are needed."
"I shall see to it at once, my lords," Eumenes intoned, bowing his head. Artashata raised a hand.
"Do not think you shall go uncompensated for these efforts however. Effective immediately we shall be giving you some new lands of your own. How does Paphlagonia sound?"
"That is most generous, my lords! I am ever your grateful servant." Thusly awarded, Eumenes made his way out at the king's behest to get to work.
"Well he seems to be learning our customs quite quickly" the King said. "I hope you made the right choice in picking that Yauna for this task, Artashata." Artakhshatra stopped feigning politeness now with Eumenes gone. "He was in service to the enemy, mind you."
Mazaeus stood up for him. "Yes, he was a good friend and loyal servant to King Philip, and to his son Alexander, but I know Eumenes and he strikes me as a faithful man of his word. He has sworn to serve us and as he tells me he made no such promises to Antipater or his half-witted puppet."
The King scoffed. "I should hope not! The nerve of that man, not paying us our dues so rightfully owed after what his former master did. And you tell me we can do nothing to punish him but posture, what a disgrace!"
"Nothing for now," Artashata assured him, "but if we just regroup and reform our army we may-"
"Enough of that, it is no matter for now. If you don't mind, vizier, I shall be using the army myself now. It's about time the Saka [1] be taught their place."
"I thought I was to remain in Parsa to help oversee things."
"Yes, Artashata, you will. I shall be leading it myself. Don't think I don't know that you've been taking all the glory for yourself. I know what commoners say, that you and Mazaeus are the great heroes. But I am your king and it's time I have some glory for myself. So even if you counsel me against punishing the Yaunas for this continued impudence, I shall see to it that the Saka are stopped from raiding the frontiers. My mind has been set."
------------------------
-Hieronymus of Cardia-
Following Alexander's arrival back in Epirus, his armies were merged with those of the Makedonian faction belonging to Olympias. They spent that winter drilling, mostly the comparatively raw and greener Epirote troops not as familiar with the tactics of Philip and Alexander of Makedon. And the Molossians sent appeals for allies all across Hellas and to the north, where the Paeonian tribes had strong support for the Epirotes, though some were instead loyal to Antipater. In the south however he found an ally in the newly formed Hellenic League that was declared, an alliance between Sparta and Athens hastily formed to overthrow the Makedonian Hegemony, the League of Corinth that Antipater refused to formally end. The Hellenic League however was still quite shaky, and while they shared the same temporary war goals, the Spartans and Athenians did not wholly cooperate with one another. The Spartan king Agis took to the field with an army of 20,000 raised from all over Lakedaemonia. The Athenian strategos Phokion similarly had a large army poised to reclaim Athenian dominance of Attica.
To combat the resurging Hellenes, Antipater had the Makedonian garrisons in the south aided by loyal locals and led by a general named Corragos. Meanwhile, the governor of Thrace, Zopyrion, was recalled from his attempted invasion eastward to add his 30,000 soldiers to Antipater's growing army in the homeland. Time was on his side since Alexander could not cross the Pindos mountains in the winter with an army that was still trying to assemble. Similarly, all the armies in Hellas could not move against one another while they were wintered and preparing. However, a couple of months after the opposing factions declared war, spring was upon them and the armies could now move against one another.
_________________
[1] Scythians
Part 2
Babylon, early 331 BC
From his new office in Babylon, that happened to be next to the major bank firm of Murashu and Sons, Eumenes woke as he did here every other morning; exhausted from the last night's long hours of work pouring over financial documents, reports of state affairs, and other such items so helpfully provided by his new bosses here in the heart of the Persian Empire. Despite this he found it quite pleasant. He felt in his element as a secretary and this sort of work that others deemed drudgery was of great interest to him, fulfilling a curiosity of the world and letting him apply his talents to their best use. But this morning was more special, as some mail had arrived all the way home from Kardia. It was a message from his old friend Hieronymus, who he had long been out of contact with. He took a swig of fresh water and started pouring over the letter.
'...My dear friend Eumenes, it really has been too long since we last talked, but I did indeed receive your letter to me. I must confess I am quite jealous of you. While I have to remain content assembling the writings of others and compiling what I can to make my own meager histories, you get to be a part of history yourself! Of course it must have been frightening fighting all those battles, but what an adventure! Admittedly, I was rather alarmed when you told me you were now a secretary in the Persian empire, but with the news coming from Makedon such a profession seems quite wise. It's rather dire news, I am sad to say. War is brewing all over Makedon, Hellas, and even here in Thrakia, where I fear Kardia shall find itself caught in the middle. Not one bit of it seems positive and it only gets worse and worse. Where shall I start?
Well, for one thing I'm sure you've already heard that Antipater, hiding behind his puppet Philip Arrhidaeos, has refused to pay the reparations to Persia that were negotiated by Parmenion in his surrender. However it seems less like stubborn pride and more like pragmatism from him, as he needs every bit of coin he can get his hands on now. Alexander of Makedon's uncle, Alexander of Molossia, has just landed in Epirus with a vast army at his back, and word is that he and Olympias have already negotiated an alliance. So Antipater has been pulling soldiers from wherever he can to scramble and army against him. The governor Zopyrion, who was already gathering and army for war against the Skythians of all people, has been recruiting people from Kardia even to march to Antipater's aid. The strange thing though is that Antipater also refuses to relinquish Makedon's hegemony over Hellas. I fear that will not end well for any of us.
But enough about these dreadful stormclouds. I wanted to tell you that lately I've been interested in writing a history of the late King Alexander, and of your new King Artaxerxes. Their stories seem quite fascinating, and it seems that no Hellenic writer has yet written a good history of Persia since Herodotus. So obviously I shall be calling on you, being an eyewitness to all of this. In fact with the situation at home I have been thinking of joining you in Babylon, where it's safe. The weather there I hear is so much more pleasant...'
Eumenes' reading was interrupted by a knock at his door. A messenger from Artashata had come informing him that the king wanted him present at a meeting today. With a sigh, Eumenes put down the scroll and got dressed for a meeting of state, consciously making sure to wear his finest Asian tunic and trousers which he had quickly become accustomed to. Soon he was at the audience chambers of the king's palace in Babylon, where he was warmly received by Artashata and Mazaeus, the latter of whom he was becoming quite friendly with. The King of Kings himself however appeared to be in a much fouler mood, though he still made to at least try to feign politeness. The Kardian secretary could not help but notice that very few people were present here, not even many nobles, so he wondered at the reason for this gathering. It appeared a meeting of only the elite few in Artakhshatra's circle and some of their most trusted confidants, and canny Eumenes could tell that even Artashata seemed not completely sure of the reason, so he could only assume that, quite unusually, the King himself had called them together.
"Greetings, Eumenes," Artashata called out, clearly fitting into his new role as vizier of the whole empire quite comfortably, "I trust you've been settling in well to your new role of secretary, I hope."
"Indeed I have, hazarapati. There's been a lot of work but not too onerous, I assure you. No difficulties at all."
"Good, because we have some new duties for you and I should not wish to overburden you, my friend. With the great temples of this city now complete, the great king has authorized Mazaeus to restore the ancient privileges of the Babylonian people. And in conjunction with these efforts we want to to conduct an examination of this city. We will give you whatever resources you need to perform a census as well as research into how to improve the local economy. Once such affairs are finished we shall do the same for the rest of the empire. I'm sure you are quite aware that many reforms are needed."
"I shall see to it at once, my lords," Eumenes intoned, bowing his head. Artashata raised a hand.
"Do not think you shall go uncompensated for these efforts however. Effective immediately we shall be giving you some new lands of your own. How does Paphlagonia sound?"
"That is most generous, my lords! I am ever your grateful servant." Thusly awarded, Eumenes made his way out at the king's behest to get to work.
"Well he seems to be learning our customs quite quickly" the King said. "I hope you made the right choice in picking that Yauna for this task, Artashata." Artakhshatra stopped feigning politeness now with Eumenes gone. "He was in service to the enemy, mind you."
Mazaeus stood up for him. "Yes, he was a good friend and loyal servant to King Philip, and to his son Alexander, but I know Eumenes and he strikes me as a faithful man of his word. He has sworn to serve us and as he tells me he made no such promises to Antipater or his half-witted puppet."
The King scoffed. "I should hope not! The nerve of that man, not paying us our dues so rightfully owed after what his former master did. And you tell me we can do nothing to punish him but posture, what a disgrace!"
"Nothing for now," Artashata assured him, "but if we just regroup and reform our army we may-"
"Enough of that, it is no matter for now. If you don't mind, vizier, I shall be using the army myself now. It's about time the Saka [1] be taught their place."
"I thought I was to remain in Parsa to help oversee things."
"Yes, Artashata, you will. I shall be leading it myself. Don't think I don't know that you've been taking all the glory for yourself. I know what commoners say, that you and Mazaeus are the great heroes. But I am your king and it's time I have some glory for myself. So even if you counsel me against punishing the Yaunas for this continued impudence, I shall see to it that the Saka are stopped from raiding the frontiers. My mind has been set."
------------------------
-Hieronymus of Cardia-
Following Alexander's arrival back in Epirus, his armies were merged with those of the Makedonian faction belonging to Olympias. They spent that winter drilling, mostly the comparatively raw and greener Epirote troops not as familiar with the tactics of Philip and Alexander of Makedon. And the Molossians sent appeals for allies all across Hellas and to the north, where the Paeonian tribes had strong support for the Epirotes, though some were instead loyal to Antipater. In the south however he found an ally in the newly formed Hellenic League that was declared, an alliance between Sparta and Athens hastily formed to overthrow the Makedonian Hegemony, the League of Corinth that Antipater refused to formally end. The Hellenic League however was still quite shaky, and while they shared the same temporary war goals, the Spartans and Athenians did not wholly cooperate with one another. The Spartan king Agis took to the field with an army of 20,000 raised from all over Lakedaemonia. The Athenian strategos Phokion similarly had a large army poised to reclaim Athenian dominance of Attica.
To combat the resurging Hellenes, Antipater had the Makedonian garrisons in the south aided by loyal locals and led by a general named Corragos. Meanwhile, the governor of Thrace, Zopyrion, was recalled from his attempted invasion eastward to add his 30,000 soldiers to Antipater's growing army in the homeland. Time was on his side since Alexander could not cross the Pindos mountains in the winter with an army that was still trying to assemble. Similarly, all the armies in Hellas could not move against one another while they were wintered and preparing. However, a couple of months after the opposing factions declared war, spring was upon them and the armies could now move against one another.
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[1] Scythians
Hellas in the Makedonian Age, by Sundar Kamboj
"Chapter 2: Athens
After the death of Alexander, King of Makedon and hegemon of all Hellas, Athens found itself in an advantageous position to reclaim its golden years. For the first time since the Persian invasions, their traditional enemy Sparta found itself sharing the same common purpose, defeating their northern neighbor. The Achaemenid Empire itself was also giving support to the rising Hellenic alliance, supplying coin in large numbers to Athenai so that they could support the fleet necessary to shake off the Makedonian yoke, hence the quote from Phokion 'we will uae the archers of Persia to save our city' (the Persian coins were commonly minted with depictions of archers). Adding to their advantages was the nascent civil war between Antipater's faction and the supporters of the Molossian relatives of the late Alexander III. Even more astoundingly, the oft-capricious nature of Athenian democracy was for once subverted by the national will of the people rallying behind their icons, the pro-Makedonian faction in Athens facing much criticism and abuse in the streets. Tellingly, the statesman Demosthenes and the strategos Phokion had at last agreed to the cause, Demosthenes being the biggest leader and firebrand amongst the anti-Makedonian crowd and Phokion normally being the voice of caution. But now he had seen it was in Athenai's best interests to disentangle itself of the often bloody politics of its northern neighbor in Pella.
Our best source for this time is Callisthenes, great-nephew to the preeminent philosopher Aristotle. Both of them were living in Athens during these tumultuous and eventful times, and therefore are first-hand accounts. But Callisthenes lacked the objectivity of Hieronymos of Cardia, as well as his knack for military details, a feature on which Callisthenes has been criticized for by historians both contemporary and modern. Regardless, he has left us many revealing texts on the history of Athens during the Makedonian age and is of great use to modern historians. Interestingly, he had also been posted as the official historian for Alexander's campaign into Asia, although his writing wasn't as detailed as that of Eumenes, the official secretary of Alexander, who later informed Hieronymos, his kinsman. During that expedition, Callisthenes showered great praise upon Alexander, and for that reason along with the fact that his relative Aristotle was Alexander's teacher, made the two of them quite suspect in the eyes of the Athenians when they had rallied against the Makedonians. It is perhaps largely due to the fame and influence of Aristotle that they were allowed to stay in safety.
While the conquest of Hellas by Phillip of Makedon left the power of Athens a hollow shell of its former self, the wealth and cultural life remained as grand as ever. Of particular interest is the religious and philosophical life of the Athenians, who at this time developed many ideas and movements that have persisted to the modern say, particularly Platonism and the teachings of Plato's student Aristotle, and Plato's teacher Socrates, which greatly affected that whole school of thought, joining the ranks of ancient history's great thinkers and teachers such as Gautama, Pythagoras, Zarathustra, Mozi, and Laozi. And it was during the Makedonian War that he penned many of his works. Despite his popularity at this time however, it is known that Aristotle feared for his life at the hands of the more virulent mobs, stirred up by Eurymedon the Hierophant who accused Aristotle of blasphemy. Regardless, the teacher stayed in the city and so did his great-nephew.
On the military front, the situation was far less ideal for Athens. Despite all the apparent advantages for the Athenian's planned war to retake Attica, the Athenian military was in shambles. After their defeat by Makedon, it had changed very little, and it was defeated by Makedon in the first place partially due to their outdated tactics and armaments, in addition to the excellent generalship of Philip. Many decades prior, the Athenian general Iphicrates made reforms to the traditional soldier's panoply, blurring the lines between hoplite and peltast, be lightening the armor of the soldier and giving them a lighter and slightly smaller shield called a pelta in place of the heavy, cumbersome hoplon. In exchange, the soldier now carried a spear much longer than before, at least 12 feet long. With the smaller shield they were able to wield the long spear more efficiently and attack more aggressively. These reforms were successful against the Spartans, and would be adopted by the Persians, and taken to an even greater extent by the Makedonians under Philip.
-Athenian hoplite after the reforms of Iphicrates-
However, in Athens they were not universal and conservative ways of thinking kept the traditional equipment popular as ever. The reason for this is that Athenai still lacked a professional army, relying as ever on the idea of the citizen army. The state was not responsible for the equipment of soldiers, citizens were responsible for their own equipment. That said, the cheaper cost and lightening of restrictions of citizenship and the means to be a hoplite or hippeis led to the Strategoi picked to lead Athens in the war being able to carry the reforms further in an attempt to match the tactical supremacy of Makedon. The organization of the state's military had also changed very little since the times of Pericles. There were ten strategoi, elected annually by a show of hands and each having a different office or command. One commanded the hoplites, one defended Athens, two were in charge of the port of Piraeus, one directed the trierarchy, and the other five were left to what duties needed their attention. The strategoi were in charge of all matters relating to defense and war, including war-taxes and during such times were the most powerful men in Attica, a fact that left them vulnerable to the paranoia of an assembly. Under them were ten taxiarchoi, generals who each represented on of the ten tribes of Athens and each led a taxis of several hundreds of men, and each taxis being divided into a lochos of 100 under a lochagos, and so on so forth. It was a functional method of organization for its time, but not as sophisticated and flexible as that of Makedon or Persia.
It was not forgotten that under Alexander, the Makedonians were able to win multiple amazing victories against superior odds all across Asia being ultimately being narrowly defeated on the plains of Assyria. The citizens of Athens needed both numbers and skill on their side, and neither was in particularly great quantity yet. The Athenians marshalled around 10,000 soldiers for their part, joined by a similar number of Aetolians, Locrians, and Phocians. The Makedonians left to garrison their southern front were few in number thanks to the civil war distracting Antipater, but they were backed by allies from Thessaly and Boeotia. The Athenians hoped for Spartan and Argive support, but they were busy fighting the Makedonian garrison forces left in Lakedaemonia. The war aims as decided by the Assembly, the Strategoi, and all other affiliated officers, were the reclamation of Athenian dominance in Attica at the very least, as well as the securing of their borders by reestablishing the city of Thebes to hold dominance over Boeotia, a prospect which the Boeotians feared. To do this they planned on marching on the port of Lamia, Makedon's gateway into southern Hellas. Opposing Phokion and Leosthenes, the other strategos posted to lead the army, was Antigonos the One-Eyed, a general who had served under both Philip and Alexander, with Cleitus the White leading the navy. Though outnumbered, the Makedonians had many veterans among them and a professional army that had already beat Athens once, along with many fresh allies.
However, with the start of the month of Mounichion signalling the onset of spring, Phokian and Leosthenes set forth with over 20,000 men towards the Boeotian city of Plataea. The Boeotians, lacking Makedonian reinforcements, were defeated by Leosthenes. Athenian progress was swift that spring, with many enemy towns falling to them. The Makedonian reinforcements under Antigonos were suddenly blocked when the Thessalians switched sides and held out against them in the impregnable pass of Thermopylae, made famous by the three-hundred Spartans. Antigonos fell back to Lamia, where he was besieged. However, the luck of the Athenians turned sour when news arrived that an Epirote army under Alexander of Molossia was defeated in the mountain passes of Pindos by an army of veterans and Thracians under Antipater. Athenian strategy relied on Alexander being able to hold the attention of the Makedonians closer to home, but now the Molossian had to fall back to lick his wounds and Antipater could now bring the full weight of his armies on Lamia."
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"No Scythian, although the Scythians are reckoned by their myriads, has ever succeeded in dominating a foreign nation." -Xenophon
330 BC, Scythia, on the banks of the Yakhsha Arta [1]
Artakhshatra, King of Kings of the great Persian empire, surveyed this new territory with distaste. He couldn't help but wonder how much his efforts were worth it. None of his predecessors had ever succeeded in conquering the homeland of all these wild northern nomads or fully subduing them, and after almost two years of warfare against them he couldn't see why anyone would want to. To his eyes it all looked as featureless as the great ocean, a rolling expanse of grass far as the eye could see. When it was hot it was boiling, when when it was cold it took a Heraclean effort not to freeze to death, as so many in his army had already done. The Egyptian contigent had suffered particularly badly and their leader Sematawytefnakht had come to him many times to ask they be given leave to go on garrison duty to recover. Still though, Tefnakht (as Artakhshatra called him, being unable to pronounce his full name like many non-Egyptians), had done admirably in bringing his men this far, leading by example. As a reward, they were due to be sent back to Maracanda soon. In the meantime, the king brought the whole of his army to the banks of the river over which the Saka, Ma-Saka, and the Daha [2] raiders had fled.
And as harsh as the climate was, these raiders were the real problem. Artaxerxes IV cursed his own impetuousness from the last winter, when he thought of this trip as nothing more than an expedition that would earn him glory beyond what his subordinates had achieved. While Artashata sent him memorandums of financial successes back home and reports of censuses and reforms by Mazaeus and Eumenes and his other lackeys, he was riding across the steppes of the north chasing down brutal robbers who had no mercy, and after a few months of this kind of war he gave none in return. His slain soldiers were having their scalps sliced off by the knives of the Saka who would take them as a prize. And they didn't always wait until a foe was dead to give them this sort of treatment. Those taken alive often had more to worry about than their scalps however. Bringing retribution to these nomads was made all the harder by their lack of permanent settlements. There were no towns to burn to intimidate them. No riches to plunder to satisfy his own soldiers. Even when they did catch an entire camp, the women fought just as hard as the men, leaving the taste of victory quite bitter indeed. The current band of raiders he was chasing had, a month past, wiped out an entire supply column, all in an effort to lure in more troops from a local garrison, which were also killed and then the garrison of the fort caught defenseless against their marauding. The rest of the army had moved in to avenge them, leading them on a chase across the desert to the banks of the Yakhsha Arta.
As he examined the dreary landscape, a messenger came to bring the latest scroll from Artashata about some news from the Yaunas. Something about Alexander so-and-so winning some battle, Anti-whatever winning some other battle, Athens paying back loans, Sparta asking for loans, all the same sort of generalities that didn't seem of utmost importance at the moment. And now Artaxerxes felt he needed a bit of privacy. The chase had made him ill, though his doctors were as yet unsure as to the exact cause. Maybe it was worms, he thought. Whatever the cause, he could barely speak without discomfort, and could barely ride a horse. Worse still, he was feeling all the symptoms of an onset of dysentery. For which reason, followed by his faithful servant, he went to the water to relieve himself. It was painful, but once it was done he was feeling a little bit better.
Moments later though he thought he heard a noise, a plant rustling, and before he could act there was a sharp twang, a whistle, and then there was an impact that knocked him off his feet. As time slowed down, he realized that there was a great big arrow going through the armor covering his back, and out so far the arrowhead was coming out of the bronze scales on the front of his cuirass. The last thing he heard was his servant shouting before being silenced by another arrow. The great king fell face first into the river, dead in moments as the current took him away.
The servant's shouts did not go unheard or unheeded. The bodyguards of the great King at once grabbed their bows and rushed to the commotion, where they saw two Saka archers bending their great bows against the ground with their feet to loose large and deadly missiles into the body to the hapless servant. At once the two men started to flee with great speed as the arrows the Persian and Mede guards started to fall upon them. Once was caught in the ankle by an arrow and in seconds grabbed by the guards, as the other one got away despite his pursuers not relenting until days after they had lost his trail. The one who was caught was interrogated most viciously until he confessed that his shot killed the servant, but he didn't believe his arrows dealt the death blow to the king. He died horribly. The body of Artakhshatra was found and retrieved from the river either a day or many hours later, the accounts differ. The matter of the Persians' honor settled for now, they set about preparing the king's body for burial, differing from the Magi's preferred custom of sky burials upon the towers of silence. Instead, the remains of Artaxerxes IV were dressed in his finest regalia, coated in wax, and interred in the Tombs of the Kings with his forebears.
Now the only issue left remaining was that of the succession.
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[1] The Jaxartes River, or the Syr Darya as it is now known.
[2] Scythians, Massagetae (Moon-Saka), and Dahae (meaning "robbers") respectively.
My thanks to NikoZnate for one of these characters, who shall be of some importance later.
"Chapter 2: Athens
After the death of Alexander, King of Makedon and hegemon of all Hellas, Athens found itself in an advantageous position to reclaim its golden years. For the first time since the Persian invasions, their traditional enemy Sparta found itself sharing the same common purpose, defeating their northern neighbor. The Achaemenid Empire itself was also giving support to the rising Hellenic alliance, supplying coin in large numbers to Athenai so that they could support the fleet necessary to shake off the Makedonian yoke, hence the quote from Phokion 'we will uae the archers of Persia to save our city' (the Persian coins were commonly minted with depictions of archers). Adding to their advantages was the nascent civil war between Antipater's faction and the supporters of the Molossian relatives of the late Alexander III. Even more astoundingly, the oft-capricious nature of Athenian democracy was for once subverted by the national will of the people rallying behind their icons, the pro-Makedonian faction in Athens facing much criticism and abuse in the streets. Tellingly, the statesman Demosthenes and the strategos Phokion had at last agreed to the cause, Demosthenes being the biggest leader and firebrand amongst the anti-Makedonian crowd and Phokion normally being the voice of caution. But now he had seen it was in Athenai's best interests to disentangle itself of the often bloody politics of its northern neighbor in Pella.
Our best source for this time is Callisthenes, great-nephew to the preeminent philosopher Aristotle. Both of them were living in Athens during these tumultuous and eventful times, and therefore are first-hand accounts. But Callisthenes lacked the objectivity of Hieronymos of Cardia, as well as his knack for military details, a feature on which Callisthenes has been criticized for by historians both contemporary and modern. Regardless, he has left us many revealing texts on the history of Athens during the Makedonian age and is of great use to modern historians. Interestingly, he had also been posted as the official historian for Alexander's campaign into Asia, although his writing wasn't as detailed as that of Eumenes, the official secretary of Alexander, who later informed Hieronymos, his kinsman. During that expedition, Callisthenes showered great praise upon Alexander, and for that reason along with the fact that his relative Aristotle was Alexander's teacher, made the two of them quite suspect in the eyes of the Athenians when they had rallied against the Makedonians. It is perhaps largely due to the fame and influence of Aristotle that they were allowed to stay in safety.
While the conquest of Hellas by Phillip of Makedon left the power of Athens a hollow shell of its former self, the wealth and cultural life remained as grand as ever. Of particular interest is the religious and philosophical life of the Athenians, who at this time developed many ideas and movements that have persisted to the modern say, particularly Platonism and the teachings of Plato's student Aristotle, and Plato's teacher Socrates, which greatly affected that whole school of thought, joining the ranks of ancient history's great thinkers and teachers such as Gautama, Pythagoras, Zarathustra, Mozi, and Laozi. And it was during the Makedonian War that he penned many of his works. Despite his popularity at this time however, it is known that Aristotle feared for his life at the hands of the more virulent mobs, stirred up by Eurymedon the Hierophant who accused Aristotle of blasphemy. Regardless, the teacher stayed in the city and so did his great-nephew.
On the military front, the situation was far less ideal for Athens. Despite all the apparent advantages for the Athenian's planned war to retake Attica, the Athenian military was in shambles. After their defeat by Makedon, it had changed very little, and it was defeated by Makedon in the first place partially due to their outdated tactics and armaments, in addition to the excellent generalship of Philip. Many decades prior, the Athenian general Iphicrates made reforms to the traditional soldier's panoply, blurring the lines between hoplite and peltast, be lightening the armor of the soldier and giving them a lighter and slightly smaller shield called a pelta in place of the heavy, cumbersome hoplon. In exchange, the soldier now carried a spear much longer than before, at least 12 feet long. With the smaller shield they were able to wield the long spear more efficiently and attack more aggressively. These reforms were successful against the Spartans, and would be adopted by the Persians, and taken to an even greater extent by the Makedonians under Philip.
-Athenian hoplite after the reforms of Iphicrates-
However, in Athens they were not universal and conservative ways of thinking kept the traditional equipment popular as ever. The reason for this is that Athenai still lacked a professional army, relying as ever on the idea of the citizen army. The state was not responsible for the equipment of soldiers, citizens were responsible for their own equipment. That said, the cheaper cost and lightening of restrictions of citizenship and the means to be a hoplite or hippeis led to the Strategoi picked to lead Athens in the war being able to carry the reforms further in an attempt to match the tactical supremacy of Makedon. The organization of the state's military had also changed very little since the times of Pericles. There were ten strategoi, elected annually by a show of hands and each having a different office or command. One commanded the hoplites, one defended Athens, two were in charge of the port of Piraeus, one directed the trierarchy, and the other five were left to what duties needed their attention. The strategoi were in charge of all matters relating to defense and war, including war-taxes and during such times were the most powerful men in Attica, a fact that left them vulnerable to the paranoia of an assembly. Under them were ten taxiarchoi, generals who each represented on of the ten tribes of Athens and each led a taxis of several hundreds of men, and each taxis being divided into a lochos of 100 under a lochagos, and so on so forth. It was a functional method of organization for its time, but not as sophisticated and flexible as that of Makedon or Persia.
It was not forgotten that under Alexander, the Makedonians were able to win multiple amazing victories against superior odds all across Asia being ultimately being narrowly defeated on the plains of Assyria. The citizens of Athens needed both numbers and skill on their side, and neither was in particularly great quantity yet. The Athenians marshalled around 10,000 soldiers for their part, joined by a similar number of Aetolians, Locrians, and Phocians. The Makedonians left to garrison their southern front were few in number thanks to the civil war distracting Antipater, but they were backed by allies from Thessaly and Boeotia. The Athenians hoped for Spartan and Argive support, but they were busy fighting the Makedonian garrison forces left in Lakedaemonia. The war aims as decided by the Assembly, the Strategoi, and all other affiliated officers, were the reclamation of Athenian dominance in Attica at the very least, as well as the securing of their borders by reestablishing the city of Thebes to hold dominance over Boeotia, a prospect which the Boeotians feared. To do this they planned on marching on the port of Lamia, Makedon's gateway into southern Hellas. Opposing Phokion and Leosthenes, the other strategos posted to lead the army, was Antigonos the One-Eyed, a general who had served under both Philip and Alexander, with Cleitus the White leading the navy. Though outnumbered, the Makedonians had many veterans among them and a professional army that had already beat Athens once, along with many fresh allies.
However, with the start of the month of Mounichion signalling the onset of spring, Phokian and Leosthenes set forth with over 20,000 men towards the Boeotian city of Plataea. The Boeotians, lacking Makedonian reinforcements, were defeated by Leosthenes. Athenian progress was swift that spring, with many enemy towns falling to them. The Makedonian reinforcements under Antigonos were suddenly blocked when the Thessalians switched sides and held out against them in the impregnable pass of Thermopylae, made famous by the three-hundred Spartans. Antigonos fell back to Lamia, where he was besieged. However, the luck of the Athenians turned sour when news arrived that an Epirote army under Alexander of Molossia was defeated in the mountain passes of Pindos by an army of veterans and Thracians under Antipater. Athenian strategy relied on Alexander being able to hold the attention of the Makedonians closer to home, but now the Molossian had to fall back to lick his wounds and Antipater could now bring the full weight of his armies on Lamia."
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"No Scythian, although the Scythians are reckoned by their myriads, has ever succeeded in dominating a foreign nation." -Xenophon
330 BC, Scythia, on the banks of the Yakhsha Arta [1]
Artakhshatra, King of Kings of the great Persian empire, surveyed this new territory with distaste. He couldn't help but wonder how much his efforts were worth it. None of his predecessors had ever succeeded in conquering the homeland of all these wild northern nomads or fully subduing them, and after almost two years of warfare against them he couldn't see why anyone would want to. To his eyes it all looked as featureless as the great ocean, a rolling expanse of grass far as the eye could see. When it was hot it was boiling, when when it was cold it took a Heraclean effort not to freeze to death, as so many in his army had already done. The Egyptian contigent had suffered particularly badly and their leader Sematawytefnakht had come to him many times to ask they be given leave to go on garrison duty to recover. Still though, Tefnakht (as Artakhshatra called him, being unable to pronounce his full name like many non-Egyptians), had done admirably in bringing his men this far, leading by example. As a reward, they were due to be sent back to Maracanda soon. In the meantime, the king brought the whole of his army to the banks of the river over which the Saka, Ma-Saka, and the Daha [2] raiders had fled.
And as harsh as the climate was, these raiders were the real problem. Artaxerxes IV cursed his own impetuousness from the last winter, when he thought of this trip as nothing more than an expedition that would earn him glory beyond what his subordinates had achieved. While Artashata sent him memorandums of financial successes back home and reports of censuses and reforms by Mazaeus and Eumenes and his other lackeys, he was riding across the steppes of the north chasing down brutal robbers who had no mercy, and after a few months of this kind of war he gave none in return. His slain soldiers were having their scalps sliced off by the knives of the Saka who would take them as a prize. And they didn't always wait until a foe was dead to give them this sort of treatment. Those taken alive often had more to worry about than their scalps however. Bringing retribution to these nomads was made all the harder by their lack of permanent settlements. There were no towns to burn to intimidate them. No riches to plunder to satisfy his own soldiers. Even when they did catch an entire camp, the women fought just as hard as the men, leaving the taste of victory quite bitter indeed. The current band of raiders he was chasing had, a month past, wiped out an entire supply column, all in an effort to lure in more troops from a local garrison, which were also killed and then the garrison of the fort caught defenseless against their marauding. The rest of the army had moved in to avenge them, leading them on a chase across the desert to the banks of the Yakhsha Arta.
As he examined the dreary landscape, a messenger came to bring the latest scroll from Artashata about some news from the Yaunas. Something about Alexander so-and-so winning some battle, Anti-whatever winning some other battle, Athens paying back loans, Sparta asking for loans, all the same sort of generalities that didn't seem of utmost importance at the moment. And now Artaxerxes felt he needed a bit of privacy. The chase had made him ill, though his doctors were as yet unsure as to the exact cause. Maybe it was worms, he thought. Whatever the cause, he could barely speak without discomfort, and could barely ride a horse. Worse still, he was feeling all the symptoms of an onset of dysentery. For which reason, followed by his faithful servant, he went to the water to relieve himself. It was painful, but once it was done he was feeling a little bit better.
Moments later though he thought he heard a noise, a plant rustling, and before he could act there was a sharp twang, a whistle, and then there was an impact that knocked him off his feet. As time slowed down, he realized that there was a great big arrow going through the armor covering his back, and out so far the arrowhead was coming out of the bronze scales on the front of his cuirass. The last thing he heard was his servant shouting before being silenced by another arrow. The great king fell face first into the river, dead in moments as the current took him away.
The servant's shouts did not go unheard or unheeded. The bodyguards of the great King at once grabbed their bows and rushed to the commotion, where they saw two Saka archers bending their great bows against the ground with their feet to loose large and deadly missiles into the body to the hapless servant. At once the two men started to flee with great speed as the arrows the Persian and Mede guards started to fall upon them. Once was caught in the ankle by an arrow and in seconds grabbed by the guards, as the other one got away despite his pursuers not relenting until days after they had lost his trail. The one who was caught was interrogated most viciously until he confessed that his shot killed the servant, but he didn't believe his arrows dealt the death blow to the king. He died horribly. The body of Artakhshatra was found and retrieved from the river either a day or many hours later, the accounts differ. The matter of the Persians' honor settled for now, they set about preparing the king's body for burial, differing from the Magi's preferred custom of sky burials upon the towers of silence. Instead, the remains of Artaxerxes IV were dressed in his finest regalia, coated in wax, and interred in the Tombs of the Kings with his forebears.
Now the only issue left remaining was that of the succession.
------------------------
[1] The Jaxartes River, or the Syr Darya as it is now known.
[2] Scythians, Massagetae (Moon-Saka), and Dahae (meaning "robbers") respectively.
My thanks to NikoZnate for one of these characters, who shall be of some importance later.
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And down goes Artaxerxes!
Excellent update; really liked the glimpse of Athens immediately post-Alexander. Interesting that Platonism is a relevant philosophy in the future. Antigonus is in a nasty position, although Antipater looks to be coming to help. Good to see this back.
Excellent update; really liked the glimpse of Athens immediately post-Alexander. Interesting that Platonism is a relevant philosophy in the future. Antigonus is in a nasty position, although Antipater looks to be coming to help. Good to see this back.
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The plot thickens! Excellent update
Here's hoping we'll see more of Tefnakht soon, hahah...
Here's hoping we'll see more of Tefnakht soon, hahah...
Great update. Like how the situation in Greece is very complex. It seems it could go either way at this point. And here I thought it might be a renewed Greek threat that would bite Artaxerxesin in the rear, but this end is fitting considering his arrogance. Did he have a direct heir or were succession rites more complex than this in Persia?
IOTL he didn't seem to have a direct heir, and so ITTL I am supposing that even if he did have children (likely considering his reign is four times as long as his IOTL, which was two years so that's not saying much), they'd be very young and politically insignificant compared to a certain individual who already holds a lot of power, curries a lot of favor and influence with the nobility, and is a member of the royal family.