20. Hellas and Sicily
The Hypereidian War
‘’Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true.’’
- Demosthenes
When Alexander crossed the Adriatic in September 320 BCE he must have thought that the situation in the Hellenic mainland was, although not perfect, at least manageable. Fear of the Macedonian army, so he must have argued, was more than enough to keep the Greek cities in line. And in this he was mostly right. Despite anger over the Decree of the Exiles most of the Greek cities did not revolt against Macedonian rule, knowing that they stood little chance against the Macedonian army.
Off course there were exceptions. In December 320 at Thebes the Macedonian garrison had to put down an uprising, during which a large part of the city burned down. It was however, unsurprisingly, at Athens, that the largest and most successful of the revolts took place. Chief instigator was Hypereides, but other orators like Agnonides and Lykourgos also incited the flames of sedition among the Athenian population. Constantly they reminded the Athenians of the greatness of their city’s past, it’s heroic efforts against the Achaemenids, the glories of Marathon, Salamis and Plataia. Why should they now linger under a man who claimed to be the successor of Darius and Xerxes and who himself was but a half-barbarian Macedonian? For months unrest simmered in the city, but things came ahead in February 319 when a Macedonian soldier was accused of stealing by an Athenian vendor at the agora. The soldier and some of his comrades promptly ransacked the vendor’s stall, but were soon confronted by an angry mob led by Hypereides, who was in the vicinity. The soldiers were overwhelmed and killed, their bodies paraded through the city while in the meantime Hypereides had his men occupy strategic positions in the city. Not long afterwards Hypereides addressed the Athenian Assembly, proclaiming Athens independent and autonomous.
While the oratory of Hypereides was enthralling the members of the Assembly the streets of Athens were running red with blood. Supporters of the pro-Macedonian faction were killed in their houses or in public as were many of the recently returned exiles. Phocion, who had long led the conservative faction, was dragged before the Assembly and unanimously condemned to death. Before his execution Phocion taunted Hypereides, saying that in their anger the people had lost their head, but when they’ll regain it they’ll come for his (Hypereides, that is). For now however Hypereides seemed to be secure in his power, the Assembly unanimously voted to give him and a prominent anti-Macedonian soldier named Leosthenes the command of the war against the Macedonians. The garrisons on the Acropolis and at Piraios were put under siege, with the Acropolis falling after several days probably due to treachery. The garrison at Piraios however managed to hold, it could be resupplied by sea, and so denied the Athenians access to their fleet and the sea.
Hypereides however was undeterred by this, and his forces fanned out over the Attican countryside, taking control over it except for the fortress at Rhamnous. Despite failing to capture Piraios Hypereides had managed to reinforce his position, by confiscating the possessions of the pro-Macedonian citizens, who were mostly found among the richer part of the population. There were quite a lot of workless mercenaries since the end of Alexander’s campaign in the east and some of them were quite willing to fight for the Athenians, paid for by the confiscated gold and silver of Athens’ upper class. Hoping to inspire revolt in the rest of Hellas Hypereides and Leosthenes marched forth from Athens, their army consisting of Athenian levies and mercenaries was in total 20000 strong. First they managed to defeat a small Macedonian force near Megara. Hypereides touted it as a great victory, nothing less than a second Marathon. The ‘army’ the Athenians had managed to defeat was more like a scouting party than an actual invasion force, and mostly consisted of mercenaries. After Megara Leosthenes crossed the isthmus and approached Corinth, but after it became apparent that the cities of the Peloponnese would not join the Athenians in their uprising he relented and returned to Attica.
Despite the success of the Athenian revolt it was not replicated in any other Greek city, with exception of the unrest in Thebes which preceded the revolt in Athens. The threat of the Macedonian army appeared to be enough to keep the other Greeks in line. Thus the logical course of action for Hypereides and Leosthenes was to confront the Macedonians in battle and defeat them, shattering their image of invincibility. It was thus in April 319 that, despite the failure of the invasion of the Peloponnese and the ongoing siege of Piraios, the Athenian marched out again, northwards to confront the Macedonians. The regent Hephaistion had not been idle and had already prepared the army, although it consisted largely of fresh troops reinforced by mercenaries and soldiers send by the Anatolian satraps. When the Athenian army left their city he was already in Thessaly, where his presence made sure that the Thessalian nobility would not change sides in the coming conflict. Early May 319 the Macedonian army passed through the pass of Thermopylai and then must have heard the news that the Athenian army had bypassed Thebes and had taken up a defensive position at the plains of Chaironeia.
The Battle of Chaironeia
When the Athenians reached Thebes late in April they were unable to take the city, the Macedonian garrison had already squashed a rebellion and the city’s elite were unwilling to support Hypereides’ cause. Thus Hypereides and Leosthenes gambled everything on a decisive battle with Hephaistion, who was now coming south. If they could defeat him, so they believed, their example of Hellenic martial prowess would inspire rebellion against Alexander, after which liberation would soon follow. On the 15th of May 319 BCE the armies clashed at Chaironeia, a place which would host several large battles throughout the ages and thus became known as the ‘dancing ground of Ares’. Despite being outnumbered at least initially it seemed that the Athenians would carry the day, after repelling the initial Macedonian advance they managed to push the inexperienced phalangites back. The Athenian advance however caused a gap to form in their line, probably because of less than optimal coordination between the various detachments of the phalanx. Hephaistion, seeing his chance, launched a charge with his cavalry, smashing through a meagre Athenian screen of light infantry and then through the gap, shattering the Athenian centre. What appeared to be the start of an Athenian victory turned into a rout when they were flanked by the Macedonian cavalry. Leosthenes died on the field, Hypereides managed to return to Athens but with only 500 men in tow.
Hephaistion followed close behind and started his siege of Athens in June 319. Despite their desperate situation the Athenians still decided to resist. Siege engines were constructed and Athens was cut off entirely, with hunger and disease quickly ravaging the city. Despite all this several Macedonian assaults were repelled, and it was only in November 319 that the walls were breached and Athenian resistance broken. What followed was a bloodbath, a general massacre of all those who had supported Hypereides and his revolt. The orator himself was dragged before the regent and unceremoniously beheaded, his head packed and send off to Alexander as proof that Athens was his again. It was only after several days of looting, rape, murder and arson that Hephaistion pulled back his men. Aware of the history of Athens and its role in the Hellenic world he would spare the living out of respect for the dead. The Athenian democracy was severely curtailed and practically abolished, participation in the Assembly was now restricted to the wealthy, who had by and large supported Macedonia against Hypereides. The garrison on the Acropolis was enlarged and fortified, making it easier to support a large occupying force in the city. Hephaistion returned to Pella in January 318, having secured Hellas at least for the foreseeable future. In Pella Hephaistion would be reunited with his wife Cynane and his two sons, the three-year-old Amyntor and the newborn Alexander.
Start of the Seventh Sicilian War
While in Taras Alexander received news of the battle of Chaironeia and the defeat of the Athenians. He lamented the foolish actions of the once-great city, and derided their war effort; stating that Chaironeia had been a ‘battle of mice’.
- Excerpt from Ptolemaios’
The Wars of Megas Alexandros
Upon his return to Syracuse late in 320 Agathokles, who still had a sizeable mercenary force and treasury worth many talents, was confronted with a city in chaos. The aristocratic faction, opposed to both democracy and the rule of a tyrant like Agathokles, had attempted a coup but had been opposed by a large part of the population who supported the tyrant. As tyrants go Agathokles had been relatively benign, and many Syracusans might have feared a return to the factional stasis so endemic to many Greek cities. Once safely back in the city Agathokles launched a ruthless purge of the aristocracy, not unlike the one Hypereides would perform in Athens, and seized their estates and wealth and doled it out to his close friends and supporters. Despite the failed Italian expedition and the defeat against Alexander Agathokles was still seen by the city’s lower classes as their champion, and not without reason. Having secured his powerbase Agathokles opened up negotiations with Alexander, who for now however rebuked the tyrants attempts at making peace, although in practice hostilities were over and trade between Syracuse and the rest of the Hellenic world resumed.
Agathokles must have known that his political situation was far from secure, having already seen off one coup. To secure his position, and to unite the Syracusans against a hated foe, he marched north in July 319 and put the city of Messana under siege under the pretext of stopping banditry. A rather curious accusation considering it came from Agathokles. The siege was maintainedvfor several months and in the end the Messanians gave up, opening the gates to the tyrant of Syracuse in October 319. Already however a call for aid had been send, not to Alexander but to the Carthaginians, who were in charge of the western side of the island. There the greatest of Phoenician colonies had established a protectorate over various cities, many of them also Phoenician in origin, but some of them were also Greek or native Sicilian. Over the centuries there had been clashes with the Greeks of the eastern part of the island, most notably with the Syracusans. Still in living memory was their defeat at hand of Timoleon at the river Krimisos, and when Messana’s call for aid arrived at Carthage it did not take long for the Assembly and the Adirim[1] to heed their call for help. A fleet was send to Sicily and a large army was raised, consisting mostly of levied Libyans and a diverse array of mercenary contingents, featuring among others Celtic swordsmen, heavily-armed Campanian infantry and cavalry, Hellenic hoplites, expert slingers from the Balearic Isles and infantry from Carthage’s Iberian dependencies. As general for this endeavour the Carthaginians elected Abdmelqart, son of Gersakun [2].
This was off course exactly what Agathokles wanted, he could now pose as defender of the Sicilian Greeks against Phoenician perfidy. At the same time Agathokles finally managed to sign a treaty with Alexander, in which he nominally submitted himself to the Great King and in return would be named as his satrap of Sicily. Ships, money and men now arrived in Syracuse, send by Alexander to secure the island for his empire. Alexander himself had temporarily returned to Pella, but had left Ptolemaios behind in Taras with a sizeable force. Before his departure to Macedonia, in May 319, Alexander had summoned envoys from the city-states of Megale Hellas to Taras. They would now all join the new Italiote League, more or less a copy of the Hellenic League based in Corinth, of which Alexander would be
strategos autokrator (commander-in-chief). He hoped that by combining the various city-states into a League combined with the nominal subjugation of the various Italian peoples he would leave Megale Hellas a pacified land.
Carthaginian cavalry trampling fleeing Syracusans
While Megale Hellas was pacified the flames of war were consuming Sicily. Wasting no time Agathokles send out his raiding parties to the west of Sicily, who burned and pillaged their way across the countryside, not discriminating whether the village they ransacked was Phoenician, Greek or Sicilian. Abdmelqart in the meantime marched forth from the Carthaginian stronghold at Lilybaion, and launched his offensive in January 318, quickly capturing Akragas after a short siege. Akragas had been occupied by the Syracusans shortly after Agathokles initial coup in 321, and thus Abdmelqart, not entirely without reason, posed as the city’s liberator. Continuing his advance eastwards it was in April 318 that Abdmelqart came across Agathokles’ army near Gela. On the 10th of April 318 the opposing armies clashed, and for some time it seems things were quite even, with no side managing to best the other. Disaster struck for the Syracusans when Agathokles, who lead his cavalry in a flanking manoeuvre, was hit a well-aimed javelin from a Numidian cavalryman. He fell of his horse, stunned, and was finished off by a Celtic longsword. Panic gripped the Syracusan ranks, and Abdmelqart noticed this, the Carthaginians rallied and drove them off the field. Upon hearing the news panic spread through Syracuse, and the Assembly voted to ask Alexander to come west, to save his ‘satrapy’ from the Carthaginian barbarians.
Footnotes
- Adirim means ‘the great ones’ and refers to the Carthaginian Senate
- Hamilcar son of Gisgo, who OTL also featured during the war against Agathokles
