Horus Triumphant - an Alternate Antiquity timeline

[phoenix101]

16.Egypt during the late 320’s

I, Usermontu, iry-pat, Royal Companion, Fan-bearer on the Right Side of the King, Admiral of the Fleet of Upper Egypt, priest of Horus at his temple at Djeba, was alongside the younger god when he waged war against vile Kush. His Majesty praised me for my valour and strength, and awarded me with estates in Nubia and made me Overseer of the Lands of Kush. He ordered me to restore the fortress at Semna and the shrines located therein. This I did for His Majesty, I reinforced the walls and towers, and I renamed the fortress ‘Khakaura-smites-the-Kushites’.

- Inscription of Usermontu found at Semna

Nakhtnebef’s second campaign against the Nubians was a great victory for the Lord of the Two Lands. His and his father’s earlier campaigns to the south had prepared the way for the eventual annexation of large tracts of land. The pharaoh’s motivation for annexing the lands up to the Fourth Cataract were not much different from his distant predecessors, controlling the trade and the gold mines plus eliminating a potential threat was more than enough reason for an ambitious ruler. The king returned to Memphis in April 324 and seems to have spend the rest of the year in Lower Egypt. Construction projects around this time were concentrated in the Delta, at the Iseion [1] at Hebyt he ordered extensive expansions, a new pylon and courtyard were to be constructed, which would include shrines to Isis herself, her husband Osiris and two forms of the god Horus. These were Hor-pa-Khered (Horus-the-Child), a child form of the falcon deity which was associated with healing, and a new form of the god, Hor-Nakht (Horus the Victor), associated with military victory. Probably a theological invention of the king himself or one of his close advisors, Hor-Nakht associated the king even more explicitly with martial glory, and is often portrayed holding either a mace or spear, striking at Egypt’s enemies. He was closely associated with the Thirtieth Dynasty, but later on would become more or less the patron of the army, together with Montu and Anhur.

It is around this time, after the Second Nubian Campaign, that the king started his military reforms. Egypt’s military was built on two pillars: the native machimoi and the foreign mercenaries, mostly Greek but substantial amounts of Phoenicians, Judeans and Arabs also served, in addition to the Nubians and Libyans. The sometimes strained relationship between the Delta nobility, who commanded the machimoi, and the monarchy, had caused clashes in the past and had notably led to the end of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty and the Achaemenid conquest of Egypt. The recent capture of the gold mines of Nubia, and the plunder from his campaigns, were a significant addition to the pharaonic treasury. Now in addition to his mercenary forces Nakhtnebef raised several regiments of Egyptian professional troops, who would serve directly beneath the king. They were named the senenu, ‘companions’, which betrays where the king got his idea from. Philip II had used the gold of Pangaion to forge the Macedonians into an world-conquering army, now Nakhtnebef II would use the gold of Nubia to establish an professional army of his own. Despite this inspiration they were not armed like the Macedonians, the Egyptians would for now not adapt the pike phalanx. Like the machimoi the senenu were a versatile force, often armed with a large shield, a spear, polearm or axe, their armour consisting of leather, linen or in some cases bronze or iron scales. In contrast to the machimoi however most of the senenu were equipped with bronze helmets. The Macedonian influence is more apparent with the cavalry, part of which the king had reorganised as Macedonian-style lancers, and employed both Egyptians and foreigners among their ranks. They were already in place before the Nubian campaign, and played an important part in the decisive battle at Kawa. Bakenanhur, close confidante and friend of the king, was given the title ‘commander of the horsemen’ and was thus in charge of the cavalry regiments of the senenu.

In this era, despite Nakhtnebef’s investments, the senenu would never compose more than a fifth of the Egyptian army, still outnumbered by the machimoi and the mercenaries. It did however provide the king with a loyal force, and a counterbalance to the Delta nobility and their machimoi. Unsurprisingly the most of the senenu were stationed at Memphis, from where they could move quickly either into the Delta, into Asia or upriver to Upper Egypt and beyond. Some were also garrisoned in Sidon, Damascus or Gaza, and others in the Nubian fortresses or at the kingdom’s new southern border at Napata. They would be supplied from royal granaries, and their families would be provided for by the state. Most of the senenu were drawn from the machimoi, who gave up their plot of land in the Delta and decided to fully dedicate themselves to warfare.

Egyptian soldier attacking a Libyan tribesman​

Despite the prominence of this military project the years between 324 and 320 were mostly peaceful for Egypt. The king’s focus during these years was on his building projects, most notably his additions to his father’s festival complex just north of Memphis [2]. The already existing shrines of Amun and Ra were enlarged, two obelisks were erected on the riverside, proclaiming the piety of Nakhtnebef as king and his dedication to his father. The festival hall, where his father had celebrated the Sed-festival, was also expanded with a forecourt which included a sacred lake dedicated to Osiris. Near the end of Nakhtnebef’s reign a start was also made on the enclosure wall which eventually surrounded the temple complex, but it would only be completed under his successor. On one of the obelisks on the riverside the king gives his reasoning for the building project: ‘Here I made a home for my father Amun-Ra, King of the Gods, a northern sanctuary for the Royal Ka’. It was this name, Northern Sanctuary, or Ipet-Mehu, which would become the name under which the complex was known.

Outside of his construction works at Hebyt and Ipet-Mehu it was mostly at Waset that Nakhtnebef focussed his efforts. Major reconstruction work was done at Ipet-Resyt [3], where Nakhtnebef restored the works of his distant predecessors but also made sure that his own name was recorded among the inscriptions. At Ipetsut he unceremoniously had the barque-shrine [4] of Hakor, which was located just outside the First Pylon, dismantled and a new one constructed. The respect that Nakhtnebef showed to his distant predecessors of the New Kingdom he did not grant to the Twenty-Ninth Dynasty ruler. His most remarkable construction was the processional road he ordered, which led from the left bank of the Nile to the Djeser-Djeseru [5] in the hills west of Waset, and the small mortuary chapel he constructed near the west bank of the Nile.

The Thirtieth Dynasty had reinvigorated many traditions from the distant past, eager as they were to portray themselves as the rightful heirs of the now legendary kings of the New Kingdom, and Nakhtnebef II was no exception. For the first time in centuries a pharaonic funerary monument would arise on the western bank near Waset. While its size did not compare to the vast edifices constructed by the Ramessides the mortuary chapel of Nakhtnebef II was intricately decorated, both on the inside and the outside. On the outside Nakhtnebef is portrayed as the very image of a warrior-king, showing him in battle and crushing his enemies. On the inside of the temple the scenes are more private, Nakhtnebef is portrayed in leisure among his family, seated besides his wife while the royal children are playing. Remarkably intimate scenes, showing that besides a warrior the king was also a family man. In the temple’s inner sanctum, where the king’s cult statue would be kept, he is portrayed among the gods, who clasp him by the shoulder as if greeting a long lost friend. The chapel was located near the edge of the floodplain and near a quay, which gave it a unique position in another tradition which Nakhtnebef reinvigorated. During the Beautiful Festival of the Valley the cult statues of Amun-Ra, Mut and Khonsu would be taken out of Ipetsut and would visit the mortuary temples in the west of Waset. The height of the Festival’s splendour had been during the New Kingdom, but it had somewhat diminished during later periods, now however with a royal sponsor interested in the traditions of Waset and an abundance of Nubian gold the festival was once again one of the most important of the land [6]. With his mortuary temple located on the riverbank it was the first one to be visited by the gods during their journey to the Djeser-Djeseru, a great honour for the king, but also quite fitting for a man who had done so much to restore the prominence of the southern city.

The political situation of the Egyptian Kingdom was, thanks to increased prosperity, manageable for the king. Aided by his capable vizier Ankhefenkhonsu Nakhtnebef was generally seen as a capable, if somewhat military-centric ruler. The increased income from trade and the Nubian gold mines even allowed the ruler to alleviate the taxes on both the commoners and the temple estates, enhancing the popularity of the king. Nubia was ruled harshly in those days, and required a constant military presence. In contrast the Near Eastern ‘empire’ was more or less autonomous, safeguarded by several garrisons Egyptian rule more or less amounted to benign neglect. As long as tribute and trade flowed from the Levant into Egypt there was no reason for intervention. On the diplomatic front the most important event was the visit of Hieronymos of Cardia, envoy of Alexander, to Nakhtnebef. The pharaoh met him at the fortress of Pelusium. With the impressive battlements of the great fortress as background, Nakhtnebef hoped to make an impression on the foreigners who now visited Egypt. Stories of Alexander’s great eastern conquest had off course reached the land of the Nile, and Nakhtnebef, though a proud ruler who fancied himself a great warrior, must have thought it better not to provoke the conqueror. Thankfully for Nakhtnebef Alexander was, at least for now, not in a warlike mood. He had an empire to run, and needed at least several years to consolidate his gains. Egypt, with its control over valuable trade routes and bountiful natural resources, must have been an alluring target for the Great King, but for now its conquest was not on his agenda. The alliance between the Argeads and Egypt, once settled by Nakhthorheb and Philip, was now renewed by their sons, and gifts were exchanged. To a lesser ruler the king of Egypt would have sent gold, but since Alexander was one of the few who could say he was richer than the pharaoh that wasn’t an option. Indeed, Hieronymos gave Nakhtnebef precious lapis-lazuli and other exotic goods (apparently even an Indian brahman), and in return received something that Egyptian kings were always loathe to part with. Hieronymos returned to Babylon with a daughter of the pharaoh, although not by his primary wife, a 20-year old named Nitiqret (‘Neith is excellent’) whom the Macedonians would name Nitokris. For the pharaoh parting with one of his daughters was a rare humiliation, but a necessary one if he wished to keep relations with his much more powerful neighbour peaceful. In that way the marriage of Nitokris to Alexander could certainly be seen as a victory.

Footnotes

1. Temple of Isis at Hebyt
2. See update 9, it’s the complex where Nakhthorheb celebrated the Sed-festival
3. ‘the Southern Sanctuary’ i.e. Luxor Temple
4. A barque shrine is a shrine where a sacred barque, a boat which carried a statue of a god, is kept. Karnak had multiple barque shrines, and during processions the barque would visit the shrines and rest there for some time, thus serving as waystation.
5. ‘Holy of Holies’, better known as the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir al-Bahri
6. OTL there isn’t much known about the Beautiful Festival of the Valley after the New Kingdom, but it is mentioned as late as the rule of emperor Augustus.

 

[phoenix101]

17. Matters of Empire

A beardless king

In the third year of the 114th Olympiad, when Archippos was Archon at Athens and when Alexander, son of Philip, had been Great King of Asia for eight years, the King married Nitokris, daughter of the King of Egypt, and afterwards ventured forth from Babylon during the month of Gamelion and with his army waged war on the Cossaeans. They had never been submitted and would not accept a foreign ruler, and they were reviled among the Medes and Persians for their banditry. Eager to prove himself to his subjects and to be the first to subjugate an unconquered people the King left the city for the mountains of Susiana, despite warnings from the Chaldeans that ill omens had been observed.

- Excerpt from The lives of the Great Kings of Asia by Hermocles of Brentesion

Alexander married his new Egyptian wife in November 322, after the return of Hieronymos and his embassy to Babylon. Nitokris was settled together with some courtiers who had travelled with her from Egypt in a wing of the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Alexander seems to have regarded the marriage as purely political, a sign that the King of Egypt recognized that Alexander was his superior, and it seems that he and Nitokris were never very affectionate. His marriage with Artakama too had been a political ploy, but it seems they at least grew fond of each other. For Nitokris it must have been hard, she spoke barely any Greek and no Persian or Aramaic, and was rather isolated outside of her small circle of Egyptian courtiers. Arrangements were made however to make her feel at home, including the construction of a small shrine to Isis at the palace.

For Alexander’s subjects, both Persian and Macedonian, his second marriage was another affirmation of his traditional kingship, for both peoples were used to their rulers being polygamous. This was important, for in many ways Alexander was an atypical king, for both the Macedonians and the Persians. Starting with his very appearance; on all his portraits he appears beardless, with long flowing hair and an upwards gaze and always youthful, a far cry from the stern bearded rulers that preceded him in both Persia and Macedon. The men of his generation, like Ptolemaios, Seleukos and Lysimachos, followed their king’s example and also were clean shaven. It mostly spread among the Macedonian nobility, the Persians and other easterners seemed to have mostly kept their beards. He also attempted to somewhat syncretize the outward image of both monarchies. Alexander adopted the white robes of the Persian monarchy, but rejected the tiara, instead of which he wore the Hellenic diadem, a broad purple silk ribbon ending in a knot which surrounded the king’s head. Among the Hellenes it was also used to crown victorious athletes, giving Alexander an explicit connection to Hellenic traditions and victory itself.

Victory too was what Alexander hoped to achieve when he left Babylon in January 321, leading 20000 men against the Cossaeans, a people who lived north of Susiana and were never subjugated by the Achaemenids. Like the Uxians they controlled mountain passes and started raiding trade caravans when the Macedonians decided not to pay them off. It was supposed to be a short and victorious campaign but it turned out to be quite hazardous. Marching up the Eulaios it was near the upper reaches of that river that the army’s vanguard was ambushed. Alexander, who led the vanguard, rallied his bodyguard and charged into the Cossaean lines, forcing them back and allowing the rest of his troops to regroup. This they did, but during the charge Alexander was hit in his shoulder by a javelin, after which he fell from his horse. The bodyguard fell back and defended their king, and when the Macedonian main force arrived the Cossaeans were decisively routed. Alexander, despite his wounds, continued leading the campaign. The Cossaeans were granted no mercy, and after three months of campaigning Alexander had decimated them, destroying their strongholds and forcing them out of the mountains. Alexander returned to Babylon in April 321, after another brutal campaign.

Bust of Alexander, with his usual youthful appearance​

Despite the relative unimportance of the campaign it had big consequences for Alexander himself, who for the rest of his life suffered from pain in his right shoulder, where he was hit by the javelin. It did not impair him at first, but later on in his life he would no longer fight in the front lines due to the pain and stiffness of his shoulder. For now however Alexander could still lead his armies and soon after returning to Babylon he already readied his forces for the next campaign. In June 321 Alexander was in Herakleia-on-the-Tigris (OTL Charax) where under the supervision of his admiral Nearchos a fleet had been constructed, consisting of 30 quadriremes and 90 triremes, meant for the subjugation of the lands on the Arabian coasts of the Persian Gulf. Gerrha, located on the south coast of the gulf and an important centre of trade with India overseas and Southern Arabia via the caravan routes, was the King’s first target. The Gerrhaeans must have been aware of who they were dealing with, and wisely did not resist and offered their submission when the royal fleet appeared, the city’s rulers accepted a garrison and agreed to pay tribute to Alexander. Afterwards the fleet went onwards to Tylos (Bahrain), an island in the gulf that was the centre of the pearl trade. A small show of force was all what was needed to convince the Tylians that resistance was futile, and Alexander, seeing the potential of the isle as a centre of trade, founded a city on the island which he named Alexandria-on-Tylos, but which came to be known just as Tylos.

The Great King stayed on the island for two months, receiving envoys from nearby communities and overseeing the arrival of the first Greek settlers. After personally marking the boundaries of his new city the King left Tylos and sailed east alongside the coast with his fleet, not encountering any large settlements until he reached a city on the coast in the region that was the former Achaemenid satrapy of Maka, he disembarked with his army and quickly accepted the surrender of the locals. What they named their hometown is unknown, but Alexander renamed it to Apollonia [1]. The city was an important trade centre for a city further inland, known to the Hellenes as Mileia [2] and not long after Alexander’s conquest a messenger arrived from the ruler of Mileia demanding that the invaders leave. This off course only aggravated the Great King of Asia, who send the Mileian ruler, a man named Melichos in the Greek sources, an ultimatum: either submit and be spared or resist and be destroyed. No reply came, and thus Alexander marched inland with a picked force, 12000 strong, a relatively small force were he campaigning in India but here in Arabia it was a vast army, which no local ruler could hope to match.

The march to Mileia was gruelling, but Alexander was well-prepared, aware as he was of the desert conditions of the area camels were brought along from Persia for transport of supplies and water. Most of the locals also turned out to be quite willing to supply Alexander’s army with water and food. Around the end of September 321 he reached the vicinity of Mileia, where he was confronted by Melichos, who decided to gamble everything on a clash on the open field instead of a siege. Sadly for him his troops were no match for Alexander’s crack troops, who easily routed the Arabs. Mileia fell after a short siege, Melichos was captured and crucified for his attempt at resisting the Argeads. Alexander left behind a small garrison, consisting of his most recalcitrant troops, in Mileia and returned to Apollonia. There he made offerings to Zeus and had a shrine constructed to him. Maka would be an independent satrapy with Apollonia as its capital, but Argead control never reached far beyond the walls of that city, with the more inland communities practically independent and only occasionally sending tribute to the city. Laomedon of Mytilene, a personal friend of the King and brother of the satrap of Ariana Erigyius, was made satrap of Maka. It does not appear to have been a demanding job, for despite staying satrap of Maka for the rest of his life we often find Laomedon at the court in Babylon, indicating that most of the work was done by his deputies.

Leaving Apollonia behind Alexander and the fleet proceeded onward towards the city of Omana (Sohar in Oman), also located on the coast east of Mileia and a centre of copper production. Perhaps they had heard of the grim fate of Melichos and his compatriots, or they were aware of the reputation of the Great King, but as soon as the fleet appeared before the city envoys were send by the rulers of the city who offered their subjugation to Alexander. He accepted, and Omana and its environs would also become part of the satrapy of Maka, giving the Argeads at least nominally the control over the entire Persian Gulf. Harmozeia (Hormuz) in Carmania was Alexander’s next port of call. Carmania had been a somewhat troubled satrapy, Philip had left it’s satrap Aspastes in place and so did Alexander, but during Alexander’s Indian campaign Aspastes had tried to launch a rebellion, but his attempt was crushed by Philotas. Philotas had, probably after consulting with Alexander, appointed Kleandros, brother of Koinos, as satrap of Carmania. While in Harmozeia however Alexander received several local delegations, all of whom derided Kleandros as a cruel and merciless tyrant. He had been corrupt and even sacrilegious, forbidding the Iranians from exposing their dead to the elements as is usual in the Zoroastrian tradition. Alexander had Kleandros removed from his post and executed, probably more for his corruption than anything else, but to the Iranians it must have seemed as if the Great King was willing to protect them too. There were some murmurs of discontent among the Macedonian nobility, but no open hostility, they too knew that corruption and cruelty could not be abided by their king. Koinos, who had been so crucial during the campaigns in Sogdiana and India, was appointed as his brother’s replacement in Carmania, a slightly puzzling choice, but perhaps Alexander wanted to give Koinos a chance to redeem the family name.

Alexander returned to Babylon via Persepolis in December 321. His campaign had been a great success, he had managed to consolidate his control over the Persian Gulf and the maritime route to India, increasing trade and prosperity in the region. For several months he remained in the city, receiving envoys, settling disputes, presiding over festivals and other kingly duties. The more tedious tasks of government he left to the chiliarch Antigonos and to Eumenes. For now it seemed the empire Alexander and his father had built was doing well, their far-reaching conquests had united various peoples and their lands, opening up new trade routes and opportunities. The treasury of the empire was healthy, despite a tendency by Alexander to grant lavish gifts of gold and silver to those he favoured. Taxing the population and trade, plunder from campaigns and the revenue from the mines and forests of the empire, who stood under direct state control, all ensured that Alexander was the world’s richest man by a fair margin. The government of the empire however was a delicate balancing act on Alexander’s part. On one hand he had to placate the Macedonians, who still formed the professional core of his army and who expected their king, who was after all first and foremost the king of Macedonia, to treat them preferentially. On the other hand were the Asian inhabitants of the empire, primarily the Persians and Medes, but the Babylonians, Syrians, Sogdians and Indians were important too. For them Alexander tried, and mostly succeeded, to play the role of rightful Great King of Asia and heir to the Achaemenid dynasty.

The gargantuan resources that were at his disposal enabled Alexander to embark upon several building and infrastructural projects. The Palace of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon was renovated, adding a distinct Hellenic flair to the building. Babylon’s Hellenic district, known as the Philippeion, also saw the construction of a large theatre and a temple to Artemis, both sponsored by the Great King himself. The city’s harbour on the Euphrates was also expanded, making it possible to accommodate larger ships and thus making trade via the river more convenient. These were however small projects in comparison with the wholesale construction of cities elsewhere in Mesopotamia, Syria and the Upper Satrapies [3]. These cities, planned in a grid pattern and mostly settled by Alexander’s veterans and immigrants from the Aegean, would be the backbone of Argead rule in the Near East.

Alexander did not stay in Babylon for very long, restless as he often was. Already he was planning new military campaigns, first he would subjugate the south coast of the Black Sea and then he would launch a pincer attack on the Caucasus, he himself would march in from the west while Krateros and Philotas would charge in from Media and Armenia respectively. Just before the start of the campaign Peukestas was send east to Arachosia with 15000 men, including a large force of Persian phalangites, to help supressing a revolt there. Peukestas was a natural fit to lead a mixed force, being one of the few Macedonians who were genuinely interested in Persian culture he even learned to speak their language. Alexander himself set off in March 320, marching up the Euphrates and through Syria, where he inspected the new city of Nikatoris-on-the-Orontes. The construction works in Nikatoris had not gone well, and the person who was in charge of it, a childhood friend of the King named Harpalos, had seemingly vanished into thin air with funds meant for construction of the city not long before the King’s arrival. While in Nikatoris a delegation arrived from Epiros, send by his mother; requesting aid from the Great King. For a short while it seems the King hesitated, but in the end he relented. News had also reached him of unrest in Macedon and Greece, and perhaps he was eager to see Hephaistion again after many years. Whatever the case the Caucasus campaign was abandoned for now, instead the Great King of Asia would march west.

Western affairs

Were we to consider what was the greatest city of the Hellenes at the time of Alexander than we can safely ignore Sparta, defeated and dejected, or Athens, proud but subjugated. Neither are it the brave Boeotians, the men of Thebes, or the Corinthians, powerless before Alexander’s men on the Acrocorinth. No, it is to Sicily, to they who drink the waters of Arethusa, majestic Syracuse, greatest polis of the Hellenes, that we must look.

- Excerpt from Antikles of Massalia’s History of the Hellenes vol. 3: from Philippos Nikator to the Polemarcheia

When Alexander of Epiros left the Italian peninsula in 331 BCE he left behind a garrison in the city of Taras, to safeguard it against the encroaching Saunitai (Samnites). When he died several years later his widow Cleopatra became regent for the boy king Neoptolemos II and was backed up by a Macedonian army under Leonnatos and the authority of her own mother Olympias. With Epiros now more or less a Macedonian vassal Taras became the most western outpost of an empire stretching to the foothills of the Himalaya. While the Saunitai were still a threat the Tarentines remained docile, and on one occasion Leonnatos himself crossed the Adriatic with a combined Macedonian-Epirote force and defeated Saunitai raiders who threatened the city. By the late 320’s however the situation had changed. The city of Rome, the greatest power of the middle of the peninsula and chief city of the Latins, expanded it sphere of influence southwards, to the fertile plains of Campania, which were also coveted by the Saunitai. Conflict broke out between the two, and for several years the hills of southern Italia were drenched with blood. It was a merciless conflict, exemplified by the fact that that one point the Saunitai managed to trap a Roman army in the valley of Caudine Forks and massacred them completely. The war dragged on, and the pressure that the Saunitai exerted on the Greek cities of Megale Hellas, including Taras, diminished.

Thus the Tarentines in 321, eager to finally be rid of the Epirotes and their Macedonian masters, evicted the garrison. While they were entrenched in a fortress either by treachery or bribery it fell, and the soldiers were either massacred or sold into slavery. The Tarentines calculated that the Epirotes might have had something better to do, and in this they were partially right for the Illyrians were once again becoming a problem, raiding coastlines and terrorizing traders in the Adriatic. Yet Tarentine treachery would not be forgiven nor forgotten by Olympias and Cleopatra, who requested aid from Hephaistion, who complied and send them some forces. The Epirote army, trained in the Macedonian way of war, complemented with Hephaistion’s forces, was a potent force. When the Tarantines noticed that the Epirotes would not relent and that they would be up against the might of Macedonia itself they attempted to form a defensive league with the other cities of Megale Hellas, as they had done in the past to see off threats. Now however the other cities of Megale Hellas, such as Kroton, Rhegion and Herakleia decided to ignore Taras’ pleas for help. Desperate for allies, Taras thus turned to the western Hellenes’ greatest city for aid, hoping that its new and unpredictable ruler would be willing to help them.

Agathokles​

Syracuse’s history in the preceding century had been one of ups and downs. Under Dionysius I, a ruthless tyrant whose professional mercenary army and state apparatus might be seen as a precursor to Alexander and Philip, it had reached the zenith of its power. It had almost driven the Carthaginians [4] of the island and had expanded its sphere of influence in Megale Hellas. Dionysius I was seen as cruel and vindictive, yet also a patron of artists and philosophers. His son Dionysius II however was less than capable and ousted in a coup, although later on he would regain his throne only to be overthrown once again. In 343 Timoleon, originally from Syracuse’s mother city of Corinth, managed to take control of the city and installed a democratic government. His most famous act was the defeat of the Carthaginians at the river Crimissus in 339. After Timoleon’s death Syracuse once again fell into bloody civil strife and factionalism. An oligarchy was established, but Syracuse was still rather unstable. The situation came ahead in 322 BC, when Agathokles [5], a military man with a knack for populism gathered a mercenary force and managed to overthrow the oligarchic regime. He announced the formal restoration of democracy, but by merit of his sizeable army he practically was the new tyrant. Making use of his army he captured Akragas and Gela, making Syracuse once again the preeminent power on the island.

In 321 Agathokles received a guest in Syracuse, who had travelled quite far. This guest was no other than a personal friend of the Great King Alexander himself, a man named Harpalos. He had brought with him the enormous sum of 8000 talents of silver. He had tried seeking refuge in Athens, but was rebuffed by the government of Phokion. Harpalos had managed to escape and now sought refuge with Syracuse’s new tyrant. It turned out to be a good gamble, at least for Agathokles, for the ruler of Syracuse was spending money faster than he gained it and with Harpalos’ funds there were no reasons to raise taxes and endanger his popularity. Harpalos was welcomed into the city and shortly afterwards assassinated, his silver seized and his head send east to Alexander, together with a message that the silver was nowhere to be found. Agathokles did not expect Alexander to come west to seek his silver, and by now he started expanding his army even further. Celts, Libyans, Iberians and Italians were all hired, forming a vast mercenary force that should have been capable of finally sweeping the Carthaginians of the island. Plans however changed late in 321, when an envoy from Taras arrived, offering submission to Agathokles if he was able to defend them against the Epirotes. Agathokles, perhaps hoping to prevent another back-and-forth war in Sicily and risk damaging Syracuse itself, decided to take his chance to conquer an Italian empire.

Campaigns of Victory

Year 8, fourth month of the Season of the Inundation, day 20 under the Majesty of the Horus who makes the Two Lands prosperous, He of the Two Ladies who does what the gods desire, the Golden Horus strong-of-arm, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Khakaura, the Son of Ra, Nakhtnebef, ever-living, Beloved by Amun-Ra. His Majesty resided at the fortress at Pelusium when an envoy from Alexander, ruler of the Greeks and the Asiatics came forth from Asia to gaze upon the splendour of His Majesty. The precious goods of Asia were to be exchanged for all the good produce of Egypt, as His Majesty and Alexander desired peace between the Two Lands and Asia. After concluding the negotiations His Majesty went to Iunu and made lavish offerings to his father Ra.

- Egyptian record of the negotiations with Hieronymos of Cardia

The position of Nakhtnebef in 321 was more secure than it had ever been. The alliance with the Argeads had been renewed, albeit through a for the Egyptians unconventional foreign marriage. The pharaoh appeared content for now, having grown his realm and having retained its prosperity. The best recorded event of this year is his participation in the Opet festival at Waset. This was another tradition of the New Kingdom that Nakhtnebef had reinvigorated. It took place just after the start of the Inundation Season, often in July or August. Centred around the temple of Ipet-Resyt (Luxor) it started with a procession of the cult statues of Amun-Ra, Khonsu and Mut from Ipetsut (Karnak) over the processional road to Ipet-Resyt. There ceremonies took place, and at the height of the festival the king communed in private with the supreme god, renewing the Royal Ka and legitimizing his rule. Afterwards both the king and the divine statues proceeded to the riverbank and returned to Ipetsut by boat, while the riverbanks were filled with people hoping to catch a glimpse of either their ruler or the divine statues. During the New Kingdom the festival could take up to 24 days to be completed, but it seems Nakhtnebef’s new version was significantly shorter, perhaps only 2 or 3 days. Besides the official religious ceremonies there was off course also a public festival which attracted a lot of people from all over Egypt. Shortly after the conclusion of the Opet festival however grim news reached the king, Nubia had risen up once again, gold shipments were intercepted and the garrison at Napata was cut off.

Nakhtnebef quickly sailed up the Nile, stopping only in Iunu-Montu to make offerings to the southern war god and in Djeba to make offerings to Horus, and he reached Semna in October 321. At Semna he did not wait for reinforcements to arrive from Egypt but instead marched further south almost immediately, knowing that speed was of the essence and that it still might be possible to catch the enemy off guard. His army was much smaller than the one that conquered Nubia 4 years before, perhaps only 20000 strong, yet these were his elite mercenaries and the regiments of the senenu. The rebels had fortified the isle of Saï in the Nile and hoped to block Nakhtnebef’s advance there, but a daring midnight amphibious assault on the island headed by the king himself managed to capture the island. There are no records of the leaders of the rebellion, and the vassal king of Kush remained loyal, so it seems it was more a spontaneous act against oppression by the Egyptians than a well planned independence struggle. Sadly for the Nubians it was not to be, Nakhtnebef forced his way further south, torching and plundering every village that resisted. At Tabo, just north of Kawa where another Egyptian garrison was entrenched but besieged, the rebels made their stand. Nakhtnebef send half of his forces by ship and landed them behind enemy lines, catching them in a pincer and then had his cavalry, led by Bakenanhur, charge in. The Nubian lines collapsed, Nakhtnebef’s victory was complete. Supposedly up to 50000 men were enslaved, send to the eastern desert to toil in the gold mines, while in the meantime Nakhtnebef marched south to end the war. All resistance melted away and Nakhtnebef reached Napata in March 320, and there erected a stela commemorating his victory. He returned to Egypt in May 320, content knowing that Nubian resistance had been crushed decisively.

Egyptian soldiers​

Returning to Memphis it was not long before the king needed to plan for another campaign. Despite having fortified and garrisoned the various oases in the Western Desert Libyan raiders still managed to bypass the defences, emboldened by the reports of Egyptian prosperity. The damage that was done was minor, and other rulers might have just ignored such a negligible threat. Yet Nakhtnebef, ambitious and warlike, did not. Now that he possessed a sizeable professional force he was determined to use it. But he would not chase after nomads in the desert, at least not personally. His deputy and son-in-law Bakenanhur had managed to corner a group of Libyan raiders near the king’s new coastal settlement at Ineb-Amenti [6] and defeated them, capturing many of them and deporting them to Egypt. Egyptian sources mention that many of the Libyan tribesmen claimed to act not on their own behalf, no they had been bribed to attack Egypt by the Greeks of Cyrene, who were jealous of Egypt’s prosperity. Whether true or not, it looks like just an excuse to attack Cyrene, Nakhtnebef departed Egypt once again in September 320, supported by a fleet of 80 triremes. Cyrene had been independent since Egyptians evicted the Achaemenids, but not much is known about the region during this time. It seems the cities minded their own business, quiet but prosperous.

When confronted with the Egyptian threat the Cyrenians appealed to Alexander, who by this time however was busy with other matters and could not help them. Perhaps he did not want jeopardise his relationship the Egyptians, or perhaps he simply did not care for Cyrene. Desperate, the Cyrenians then applied for help to the sole state on the Hellenic mainland which remained independent, Sparta. It’s independence though was only due to the fact that it no longer could pose a threat to the established Macedonian hegemony. Despite Sparta’s decline it’s Eurypontid king, Eudamidas, decided that it was time for Sparta to once again show its strength and thus departed the city with 500 hoplites, a significant force for the diminished Lacedaemonian state.

Nakhtnebef’s march through the Libyan coastlands went well, all things considered, the various chiefs of the region came to him to offer tribute and men and in return received gold and other luxurious goods. He entered Cyrenaica in October 320, and was confronted by a combined Cyrenian-Spartan force at the promontory at Nausthathmos (OTL modern Ras al-Hillal). Their forces were 8000 strong, and outnumbered by the larger Egyptian force, which numbered 20000. The Spartans and Cretan mercenaries fought well, but the Cyrenians themselves turned out to be inadequate fighters. Eudamidas, who was in command, managed to push back the Egyptian advance with his Spartans but exposed his flank and was assaulted by the Egyptian cavalry. Remarkably he rallied his troops and still managed to stage a retreat, and inflicted substantial casualties on the Egyptian army, which had grown somewhat overconfident thanks to recent victories. Despite that the battle was still an Egyptian victory, and not long afterwards Nakhtnebef received envoys from the cities of Cyrenaica, offering their submission. Not much would change for them, they would stay practically autonomous and would regularly send tribute to Memphis. Nakhtnebef left a small garrison consisting of Greek mercenaries at the region’s most important port at Apollonia-in-Cyrenaica. The pharaoh returned to Egypt in triumph, setting up a victory stela at the Great Temple of Ptah at Memphis and had copies send to be set up at the Temple of Anhur-Shu at Tjebnetjer and at Ipetsut in Waset.

Nakhtnebef could not bask in the glory of his victory for very long, because another rebellion broke out, this time in Philistia, where the cities of Akko and Ashkelon rebelled against the king. Thus in January 319 the king was on the march again, reaching the fortress of Gaza which would function as his base of operations. The reasons behind the rebellion of Akko and Ashkelon are unclear, but according to later sources it had to do with animosity between the Phoenicians and the Philistines over trade routes. Their dispute was to be settled by the pharaoh, who did so in favour of the Phoenicians, thus angering the Philistines. Thankfully for Nakhtnebef no other cities joined in on the rebellion, and his vassals send aid to suppress it. Ashkelon was quickly recaptured and Akko was put under siege in March 319, overland by the Egyptians and their local allies and overseas by the Phoenician fleet. Dwindling supplies and hunger set in quickly, indicating that the rebellion was not particularly well planned or prepared for, and in June 319 the city fell when a traitor opened the gates to the Egyptians. Akko was treated relatively mild, its riches were carted off but the population was not slaughtered wholesale nor sold into slavery. The city’s elite was publicly executed and a garrison was installed in the city, which would be governed by an Egyptian overseer instead of a native oligarchy.

Nakhtnebef enters Akko in triumph​

When Nakhtnebef returned to Egypt in 319 he was 39 years old and had been on the throne for almost 10 years, and his reign had been an extraordinary success. Bold and aggressive he seized every opportunity that he saw for expansion, while at home he emphasized ancient traditions, reviving customs from Egypt’s past golden ages and often giving them a new twist. On the back of Egypt’s flourishing economy and influx of gold from the Nubian desert he reformed the army, hoping to establish a professional force loyal only to the crown. On returning from Philistia one of his first visits was to the Temple of Anhur-Shu at Tjebnetjer, where the dynastic tombs were located. His own tomb was already well underway, and Nakhtnebef now commissioned the royal artisans to include a lengthy description of his recent ‘campaigns of victory’, as they were called on the tomb walls. He also ordered them to keep some free space on the walls, where his future accomplishments could be commemorated, he was after all still rather young and could reign on for decades to come. Off course at that moment he could not have known that within a year he would already pass on to the realm of Osiris.

Footnotes

1. The OTL archaeological site of Ed-Dur in the UAE.
2. The archaeological site of Mleiha in the UAE which flourished around this time, it is not known what its name was, so I more or less Hellenised its current name, I hope that isn’t too much of a problem.
3. TTL, as in OTL, this refers to the satrapies east of the Zagros.
4. I know it is not very consistent, but I’ll refer to Carthage as Carthage and not as Karkhedon or Qart-Hadasht and its inhabitants as the Carthaginians.
5. OTL he managed to come to power in 317, but he was exiled before because he tried overthrowing the government, he just succeeds earlier here.
6. See update 11, OTL site of Paraetonium

 

[phoenix101]

Map of the political situation in 320 BCE. Epiros and the Hellenic League are Argead vassals, Cyrene, Meroë and the various Levantine city-states like Sidon, Tyre and Jerusalem are Egyptian vassals.

 

[phoenix101]

18. Into the West

The Great King in Hellas

Who has destroyed the freedom of the Hellenes and subjected them to a shameful peace? The Macedonians!

Who have plundered their way across Asia and placed themselves in charge of the empire of the Persians? The Macedonians!

Who forces us to take back our exiles and worship their King as a god? The Macedonians!

And who now demands us to hand over ships so that their King can play conqueror in Italy? The Macedonians!

- Anti-Macedonian speech by Hypereides

In June 320 BCE Alexander and his army, 25000 veterans of his eastern campaigns, were ferried across the Hellespont, marking his return to Europe after almost 8 years of absence. Hephaistion had been appointed regent, effectively satrap of Macedon, and had been in charge during those years and turned out to be capable in that role. Alexander’s most important reason for the choice of Hephaistion was his loyalty, there was no one closer to Alexander than Hephaistion and the two were most likely lovers. The past decade and a half Macedon had been the recipient of vast quantities of gold and silver, plunder from Achaemenid treasuries and tribute levied all over Asia. Hephaistion had made good use of the resources he had at his disposal, improving infrastructure, beautifying cities and temples and bribing anti-Macedonian agitators in the Greek cities. Pella itself had profited the most of Hephaistion’s building spree, so much that supposedly Alexander did not recognize the city when he returned in July 320.

While in Pella he was met by envoys send by Agathokles, who expected to meet with Hephaistion and were shocked to see the Great King himself present at Pella. They left again without reaching an agreement, Alexander supposedly demanded Agathokles both evacuate Taras and join the Hellenic League, effectively becoming a Macedonian vassal. Agathokles himself had in the meantime sailed with his forces from Syracuse to Taras. On his way there he sailed his fleet into the port of the city of Kroton, launching a surprise attack and sacking the city. After reaching Taras he posed as the city’s saviour for some time, allowing local magistrates to remain in place. Agathokles captured some nearby cities, including Brentesion, Metapontum and Herakleia, before returning to Taras and suddenly launching a coup. He brutally purged the ruling oligarchy, like he had done in Syracuse, and restored a ‘democracy’ to Taras. In theory the Tarentine people were now sovereign, but whenever the Assembly needed to make an important decision they were sure to consult Agathokles on his opinion on the matter, and the grim-faced mercenaries who stood outside the Assembly made sure that even the most anti-Agathokles members would think twice about voting against his wishes. After securing the city Agathokles launched a campaign against the Messapians, who inhabited the countryside around Taras and who refused to submit to him, ending with him storming the city of Hydrunton. Around September 320 Agathokles had thus solidified his grip on the region around Taras.

Alexander had in the meantime not been idle. His army from Asia, consisting of his most experienced veterans from the Arabian and Indian campaigns, had been supplemented by fresh Macedonian recruits. The 25000 strong Asian army was unlike the force that had left Macedon 8 years ago, it of course retained it’s core of veteran Macedonian phalangites, the Argyraspidai (serving both as phalangites and hypaspistai) and the hetairoi but they were supplemented by Persian archers, Median cavalry and Indian elephants and other detachments of light troops from all over Asia. To the average Macedonian or Greek seeing such a large and diverse army must have been a powerful reminder of their King’s power and reach. They were joined by 10000 Macedonian troops, levied by Hephaistion and trained under his auspices in the previous year, they were however not entirely without experience. In the previous year they had served during a punitive campaign against the Taulantians, who were subjugated by Philip but had revolted and had called in aid from other Illyrian tribes. Hephaistion however beat them soundly, often deploying the same brutal tactics his lover employed in India. A final addition to the expeditionary force were 5000 Thracian mercenaries, who fought as cavalry or as light infantry.

The Athenian Assembly​

Preparing for his Italian campaign was not Alexander’s sole activity while back in his homeland. He received envoys from the various states of the Hellenic League and mediated disputes. The situation in Hellas proper was worrying to him, anti-Macedonian sentiment ran high in several places, most notably in Athens. There Demosthenes, who had been allowed to return from exile after Philip's death, had long been the fiercest opponent of Macedonian rule. He had however been accused of accepting bribes from Harpalos during his short stay in Athens. Phocion, leader of the city's pro-Macedonian faction and effective leader of the city because of the presence of the garrison, accused Demosthenes of treason and manged to get him convicted, leading to another exile. Shortly after arriving on Rhodes, his chosen place of exile, Demosthenes passed away of natural causes. Leadership of the Athenian patriotic faction thus passed onto another orator, Hypereides, who was more proactive in his resistance than Demosthenes had been. He had argued that the Athenians should have accepted Harpalos’ money and should have used it to rebuild the army and the fleet, to overthrow Macedonian rule over Hellas. He also prosecuted a certain Philippides of Paiania, an Athenian who proposed the granting of honorary Athenian citizenship to Alexander, stating that if they would grant it to Alexander they might as well grant it posthumously to Xerxes. Needless to say, Hypereides’ opposition to both the Macedonians themselves and the pro-Macedonian party in his own city was relentless, and support for him only grew in aftermath of one of Alexander’s more unpopular decisions. At the start of the 320 Olympic Games a herald was ordered to read a decree from the king to the gathered crowd, largely consisting of exiles from different cities who had gathered specifically for this event, which went as follows:

From King Alexander, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, to the exiles from the Greek cities. We were not the cause of your exile, but we shall be responsible for bringing about your return to your native cities, except for those of you who are under a curse. Compulsion will be applied to all those cities who refuse to reinstate their exiles.

The crowd was ecstatic at the news, but it was received less favourably in the rest of Greece. Many of the exiles were so because of political reasons, they had opposed their government or had lost a local power struggle. There were few city who did not have any exiles, but the issue was most pressing in Athens, where exiling political opponents was a centuries-old tradition by now. The Athenians had also exiled the entire population of the isle of Samos, which they colonized afterwards. Thus Alexander’s decree, while doubtlessly good news for the exiles, was destabilizing at best and outright threatening at its worst for the cities of Hellas. Just before leaving for Taras many envoys visited him, pleading with the Great King to give them an exemption from the decree. But Alexander, who saw a chance to gain the undying loyalty of the exiled populations and thus a core of supporters in practically every Greek city, relented and refused to give exemptions to the decree.

Another decree by Alexander was also upsetting, although to a lesser degree. For Alexander declared his father, Philip, to have been a hḗrōs, a hero worthy of veneration and with a cult of his own and encouraged the Greek cities to honour him as such. Philip was quite a unusual hero, not a direct descendant of a god (although still a descendant of Herakles) nor would his cult be limited to Macedonia itself. Already temples and shrines to Philip had been built in Babylon and further east, where incense was burned and animal sacrificed to his name, now those same practices were brought back to the west. While Alexander did not go as far as proclaiming Philip a god, which eventually did happen under a later Argead ruler, this event is more or less seen as the start of what would become the Royal Cult.

In September 320 all preparations were complete. A fleet had been put together, consisting of ships send by the Ionian cities, the Hellenic League and the Epirotes, and now awaited the King and his army at Epidamnos. Many of the ships had been requisitioned from Athens, only further straining the relations with that city. Alexander had left Pella halfway through August and reached Epidamnos in September. In Pella he had left behind his lover Hephaistion, but also his son Philip. The future Philip III had been raised for the first 6 years of his life in Babylon, raised by his mother Artakama and her courtiers in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar. Now however the heir to the Argead throne was to complete his upbringing in his dynasty’s ancestral homeland, where he would enjoy an upbringing not unlike the one his father had. Alexander’s army, 40000 strong, thus crossed the Adriatic late in September 320, leaving Greece not necessarily a more stable place than as he had found it. Accompanying Alexander on his Italian campaign were most notably Ptolemaios, Krateros, Philotas and also Poros [1]. The Macedonian army landed near the city of Brentesion, which quickly surrendered when the size of Alexander’s host became apparent.

The campaign in Megale Hellas

Alexander returned to Macedonia after his conquest of the East, and received envoys from Syracuse and the Italiotes, hoping to parlay with the King. True to his nature he demanded their submission, but the arrogant tyrant of Syracuse, who thought the King would never venture west, refused. Alexander, as always desiring both blood and glory, thus set his eyes on Italy and Sicily, bringing war and destruction to those once prosperous lands. All of that off course was but the prelude to the war he waged on our City, whose splendour was, and remains, the envy of the Macedonians and the Hellenes.

- Excerpt from History of the Kan'anim by Abdashtart, son of Hanno

Alexander’s landing in Italia had been an unwelcome surprise for Agathokles, who did expect a reaction, but not the Great King of Asia himself showing up with 40000 men. Even when his envoys told him that Alexander was in Macedonia he thought the task would be left up to a subordinate with a smaller army. Agathokles thus faced a stark choice; staying in Taras and attempt to oppose Alexander, or return to Syracuse and lose his newfound territories. Against all advisors, and probably against his own instincts as well, Agathokles marched his army, by now 30000 strong, east towards Brentesion. He probably hoped to surprise Alexander with this move, but the king had shortly after the landing send out his light cavalry to scout the terrain, and one of his patrols stumbled across Agathokles’ army.

It was at Hyria, halfway Taras and Brentesion, that the two armies faced off. Agathokles gamble would not pay off, his Syracusan troops managed to hold out against the phalanx for some time, but when Alexander’s Median cavalry routed Agathokles’ hired Oscan horsemen the way was clear for the hetairoi to charge home, shattering Agathokles’ formation. Luckily for Agathokles a change in the weather, the sudden onset off a thunderstorm, gave his army enough cover to retreat. Agathokles quickly returned to Taras, seized the city’s treasury and sailed back to Syracuse, leaving most of his mercenaries behind in Taras. Alexander reached the city a couple days later, and once again the gates were opened without any resistance. Alexander kept the ‘democracy’ that Agathokles had installed in place, who were by now used to complying with military despots. Officially the city was not a vassal of Alexander but of Epiros, whose regent, Alexander’s sister Cleopatra, had after all requested her brother for aid.

Coins of the city of Taras​

The news of the Great King’s arrival quickly spread through the Italian peninsula, and the powers of the region quickly send their envoys to Taras to find out his intentions for the region. The Italiote city-states of Megale Hellas, the Saunitai, the Romans and even the Carthaginians send their diplomats and were granted audiences. Alexander told them that he was not here to conquer their land, merely to right a wrong, returning Taras to its rightful rulers. The Saunitai were most suspicious of Alexander’s intentions, in whom they saw just another eastern adventurer supporting their enemies, the cities of Megale Hellas. That was also the exact role which the Italiote Hellenes themselves hoped the Great King would play, like Archidamos of Sparta and Alexander of Epiros before him, albeit one with an enormous empire and resources beyond comprehension. The war between the Romans and the Saunitai had reached an impasse, with a truce being signed but both sides suspicious of the other it was not unlikely that fighting would break out again. Alexander was thus encouraged by the local Hellenes to ally himself with the Romans, which would safeguard them against the Saunitai who would not dare to confront such a mighty alliance.

Alexander decided to heed their advice, and thus send his envoy Hieronymos of Cardia to Rome, where he negotiated an alliance with the Roman Senate, who while suspicious of Alexander also decided to agree. The savage war in Campania and the hills of Saunitis (Samnium) had drained Rome’s resources, and an alliance with the world’s most powerful ruler was a hard to turn down offer even for a city as proud as Rome. The Saunitai thus kept quiet for the time, not willing to get caught between the Macedonians and the Romans, and this gave Alexander a chance to look further. At the start of 319 he embarked upon a particularly brutal campaign against the Lucanians and the Bruttians. Many of his veterans had fought in the mountains of Bactria and Sogdia, but even for them the fierce hillmen of Calabria were a daunting foe. Near Thourioi (Thurii) Alexander defeated a combined Bruttian-Lucanian force, where a fierce assault by the Agrianians forced the Bruttians from the hills, after which they were massacred by Alexander’s cavalry in the open field. The victory at Thourioi however was enough, the Lucanians and Bruttians offered their nominal submission, which Alexander accepted. In contrast to his campaigns in the East Alexander could not rely on a tradition of empire in Italia, there he was not seen as a semi-divine ruler, heir to previous dynasties, but as simply the guy with the largest army. Alexander must have known this, and was aware that if things went awry for him it was quite possible that he would suddenly find himself without friends or allies.

After Thourioi Alexander pushed down the Calabrian peninsula, visiting cities such as Terina, Hipponion and Rhegion. It was at that last place that he received news that war had broken out on Sicily. Agathokles, who had to fend off a coup on his return to Syracuse, decided to rally his people by launching a war against Syracuse’s greatest enemy. With Sicily about to be set aflame Alexander pondered his options, and decided to wait, knowing that now was not yet the time to intervene. He returned to Taras in April 319, where he received news of the events in Hellas itself.

Footnotes

1. Not the Indian ruler but his son of the same name.

 

[phoenix101]

19. Death on the Nile

Year 10, third month of the Season of Harvest, day 25 under the Majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Khakaura, the son of Ra, Nakhtnebef - may he live forever! – His Majesty appeared in splendour at Ipetsut and made offerings of incense and libations of wine for the greatness of the god who resides in the Southern City, Amun-Ra, King of the Gods, the Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands.

It was he who raised His Majesty above millions and appointed him ruler of the Two Lands, he placed the uraeus upon his head and captured for him the hearts of the nobility, for him he made subservient the hearts of the people and for him he destroyed the enemies of Egypt.

The valiant King, successful in deeds, who guards Egypt, a potent monarch who smites the Nubian and the Asiatic, fiery-hearted at seeing his foes, heart-gouger of the treason-hearted. Powerful one with active arm, who hesitates not to strike the foreign lands.

He does good to those who are loyal, they can slumber until daylight, their hearts full of his good nature, and they stray not from their paths. He makes green the land when he rises, like Ra on the horizon. All eyes are dazzled by him, who acts according to that which the Gods desire.

Good god of many wonders, served by the sun-disk’s rays, whom mountains tell their inmost, whom oceans offer their flood, whom foreign lands bring their bounty, ever-victorious, the Living Horus who makes the Two Lands prosper, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Khakaura, the Son of Ra Nakhtnebef, may he have all life, stability and dominion, and may he arise on the Throne of Horus like Ra for eternity!

- Inscription on a stela of Nakhtnebef II at Ipetsut

Nakhtnebef’s rule after his return from the campaign against Akko was rather uneventful. The most important actions being him ordering the construction of a new fortress on the island of Saï in the Nile in Nubia, to further consolidate Egyptian rule over the region. The king did not personally travel to Nubia but left the administration of the lands between the first and fourth cataracts of the Nile to Usermontu, who was given the title of Overseer of the Lands of Kush. The king’s presence is also attested at Ipetsut, where he dedicated a stela to his recent campaigns and achievements.

For the rest of the year Nakhtnebef appears to not have done anything out of the usual, he took part in several important festivals and rituals, he visited and gave gifts to various temples and he oversaw the governing of his nation from Memphis. It is only at the end of the year, in December, that the king makes another appearance in the record. He was at the palace at Hebyt when he went hunting with several high noblemen at a nearby estate. The precise details of what transpired are unknown, but at a certain moment the hunting party was crossing the river in several small boats when a hippopotamus, probably protecting a calf, charged out of the reeds and struck the boat of the king, who fell out and was then gored by the hippopotamus.

Nakhtnebef was carried, barely alive, to the palace at Hebyt where he managed to cling unto life for several days, but in the end the wounds were too severe for him to survive. It was thus that suddenly and at the height of his success Egypt lost it’s pharaoh, now to be succeeded by his four-year old son. Nakhtnebef II was mummified and interred at his tomb at the temple of Anhur-Shu in Tjebnetjer, the royal artisans must have rushed to complete the decorations. The young Usermaatra, son of Nakhtnebef II and his principal wife Neferura would now ascend to the Throne of Horus under the name of Nakhtnebef III. Because of the new monarch’s tender age he was not yet coronated in a grand ceremony at Memphis or Waset, but he was at least in theory the Lord of the Two Lands. He would of course require a regent, a role which in the past was often bestowed upon the pharaoh’s mother, but in this case it seems Neferura was not Nakhtnebef’s sole steward. The general Bakenanhur, close confidante of Nakhtnebef II, commander of the cavalry and husband to the late king’s daughter Mutnefret shared authority with her. One of the reasons for this was probably that in the wake of Nakhtnebef II’s sudden demise the future of the dynasty looked uncertain, and the Delta nobility who had long resented the dynasty’s centralizing tendencies might have been tempted to try and put a more amenable monarch on the throne. Bakenanhur, who himself was a nobleman from Sau in the Western Delta, was as commander of the cavalry and close relative of the royal family uniquely situated to consolidate his power and serve as co-regent alongside Neferura.

At the start of 318 BCE Bakenanhur left the Delta and went south, where he visited first Henen-nesu (Herakleopolis) where he made offerings to the local god Heryshaf in name of the king. He did the same at Waset, where at Ipetsut he ordered offerings to be made to Amun-Ra in name of Nakhtnebef III. Bakenanhur’s visit was probably also meant to make sure that the Cult of Amun-Ra, which owned vast tracts of lands in Upper Egypt and Nubia, remained aligned with the ruling dynasty. The final part of Bakenanhur southern trip was another short campaign in Lower Nubia and the Eastern Desert, to teach the rebellious locals that despite the recent power transfer Egyptian might still was something to be feared.

Bakenanhur returned to Memphis in April 318 and was by now effectively the ruler of Egypt, through his command of the senenu, Egypt’s professional forces, and his newfound alliances with the country’s most important cults he had managed to present himself as the foremost regent. Despite Bakenanhur’s personal success Egypt itself was doing less well, a less than adequate inundation the year before meant that the price of food had risen considerably, causing rising tensions among the Egyptian population. This combined with a steadfast refusal to lower taxes caused a great deal of unrest. The situation was urgent in Upper Egypt, where the pressure on the food supply was alleviated by the Cult of Amun-Ra opening up some of its granaries and by the shipments of food from Nubia send by its governor Usermontu, who probably caused food shortages in the newly-conquered territories by shipping food to Waset and its environs. Despite this there was unrest in the countryside, with a increase in banditry and even some attacks on temple estates as consequence.

In Lower Egypt the situation also had worsened considerably, although the food situation was less bad than in the south. The vast storages of grain at Memphis managed to keep most of Lower Egypt adequately fed. The most pressing issue in Lower Egypt were several small uprisings, mostly in the Western Delta, of dynasts who saw their chance to overthrow the ruling dynasty. For now however most of the dynasts remained loyal, and a quick campaign by Bakenanhur was enough to pacify the Western Delta, at least for now. It was however in August 318 that news came in from Phoenicia which turned out to be the largest crisis of the moment.

The City of Tyre​

Phoenicia’s most important cities were Sidon and Tyre, both of whom were in practice independent, with only Sidon boasting a small Egyptian garrison. They were also bitter rivals, with Sidon having the upper hand in recent years because they were more or less favoured by the Egyptians because of their role in the war against the Achaemenids. Both cities had large merchant and war fleets and their traders operated far and wide all over the Mediterranean. The Tyrians had sided with Egypt during Nakhthorheb’s reign because they could see which power was ascendant in the region. Now, with Egypt in chaos in the aftermath of Nakhtnebef II’s death Tyre could perhaps find a better arrangement with another power, and in the meantime manage to curb the power of Sidon.

The Tyrians, through their trade contacts, managed to relay this message to Antigonos, chiliarch of the Argead Empire in Alexander’s absence. Antigonos probably did pass this massage on to Alexander and did not entirely act on his own initiative, and in the end he decided to support the Tyrians, hoping to secure the Levant for the empire. In August 318 Tyre renounced Egyptian protection, followed by several other Phoenician cities such as Aradus and Byblos. Their combined fleet proceeded to Sidon where they blockaded the port, halting a trade with the city. Bakenanhur, upon hearing this, acted decisively. He called up the senenu and the mercenaries and departed Egypt in September 318, arriving at the fortress at Gaza later that month. There he rendezvoused with various contingents, Arab, Judean, Philistian and others, and his army grew to around 30000 strong. He proceeded northwards shortly after but when his army was just past Akko, and thus nearing Tyre, he received troubling news. The Argead army under the chiliarch Antigonos had crossed the border to support the Tyrians in their rebellion, and they had by now already managed to lay siege to Sidon.

The news seems to have paralyzed Bakenanhur, for he did not advance further upon hearing it. He send envoys to Antigonos, demanding that the Macedonians withdraw, but to no avail. It was in early October that another message reached the regent’s camp, and this time the news was even worse. Aided by the recent hunger, a disease had swept through much of the Delta, where it had also reached the royal palace at Hebyt. There both the young Nakhtnebef III, not even a year into his rule, and his mother Neferura had passed away, another blow to a dynasty that had risen far but now seemed to come crashing down. With the succession now entirely unclear much of Egypt was in chaos, and in the Western Delta a dynast named Horsaiset [1] had risen up and managed to seize control of that region, gaining the loyalty of many of the dynasts, eager to place one of their own on the Throne of Horus. Bakenanhur now could no longer risk fighting the Macedonians with Egypt itself in civil war, thus he contacted Antigonos and a compromise was reached. The Argead Empire would gain Phoenicia and Damascus and would allow the Egyptian garrisons to return unharmed, Philistia and Judea would remain under Egyptian control. The various Cypriot kings too did now change their allegiance from Egypt to the Argeads, who by now had managed to become the strongest power in the Eastern Mediterranean, with both the Cypriot and Phoenician fleets supporting them. Shortly after the peace treaty Sidon was stormed and sacked, although the Egyptian garrison was allowed to leave. Antigonos had thus managed to secure and expand the Argead position in the Levant, and thereby also strengthened the position and prestige of himself and his family, most notably his son Demetrios who served well during the campaign.

Bakenanhur, now with a enlarged army, thus marched back to Egypt in December 318. He had been a close confidante of Nakhtnebef II and, more importantly, his son-in-law, and it was through this connection with the ruling dynasty that he now claimed the throne. Horsaiset had managed to seize Memphis and even Tjebnetjer, but the royal family had retreated to Pelusium which was under the command of Bakenanhur’s brother, a man named Saneith [2]. From Pelusium Bakenanhur launched his offensive, first aiming at Memphis itself, which would provide the prestige of owning the capital and a crucial link to Upper Egypt. The details of the campaign are scarce, but it seems that Bakenanhur’s more experienced troops managed to trounce the machimoi of Horsaiset, who retreated back to the Western Delta. With Memphis under his control and communications with Upper Egypt restored he received gold and soldiers from Usermontu, governor of Nubia, which was sorely needed to pay his mercenaries. Bakenanhur’s final offensive started in June, when the Nile was at it’s lowest, and he spend the following months storming several Delta towns to subdue the supporters of Horsaiset. It was in November 317 that Bakenanhur and his army cornered Horsaiset at Imou [3] and defeated him decisively, securing the kingship of the Two Lands for himself. Bakenanhur made a second, much more triumphant, entrance into Memphis and was coronated at the Ipet-Mehu. He faced a daunting challenge, ruling a country ravaged by civil war and disease. In the end he would effectively be the last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty.

Footnotes

1. Which translates to ‘Horus son of Isis’
2. ‘Son of Neith’
3. Modern day Kom el-Hisn

 

[phoenix101]

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

1. Adirim means ‘the great ones’ and refers to the Carthaginian Senate
2. Hamilcar son of Gisgo, who OTL also featured during the war against Agathokles

 

[phoenix101]

21. The Argead-Carthaginian War, part 1

Year 10 of Alexander, month 4: the King of the World, Alexander, sailed from Macedonia to the island of Sicily, to wage war upon the Phoenicians who dwell upon the coast of Libya.

- Excerpt from the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries

Alexander was in Pella when the news of Agathokles’ death reached him in May 318, and was probably making preparations to return to Babylon later that year. He would have send money and supplies to Agathokles to let him pursue his war with Carthage, but Alexander was content with leaving Megale Hellas and Sicily as vassals. Now however the situation was different, with Carthage seemingly ascendant over Syracuse it was unwise to let them run rampant across Sicily, and allowing them to continue doing so would endanger Alexander’s image as protector of the Hellenes of the West. Alexander set sail for Sicily in June 318, having gathered an elite force 30000 strong, he made a stop at Taras where he picked up 5000 troops and then sailed onward to Sicily, where he made landfall at the city of Katane, north of Syracuse, in July 318.

After Agathokles’ death it was his elder brother Antander who was selected by the Syracusan Assembly to rule the city, and it was Antander who met with Alexander shortly after the Great King’s arrival on the island. The Carthaginian victory at Gela had dire consequences for the Syracusan war effort, Abdmelqart had managed to capture the Syracusan camp and with it a large part of Agathokles’ treasury. Many of the mercenary troops now went over to the Carthaginians, who were able to pay them better and more consistently. Despite this Abdmelqart had not yet advanced upon Syracuse itself, instead he had send several envoys with proposals for peace, which the Syracusans might have accepted had they not known that help was on the way.

Alexander entered Syracuse later that month to adulation of the Syracusan population, although not everyone was as enthusiastic as it might have seemed. Those who were opposed to the tyranny of Agathokles were also not eager to prostrate themselves to some foreign king, no matter how Hellenic he might seem. Some even had joined up with Abdmelqart’s army, which was still located at Gela. Alexander made ostentatious offerings at various temples in the city, and more ominously for the local population, ordered his engineers to fortify the island of Ortygia. This island had been the original settled core of Syracuse, and had later been used as a fortified headquarter by various tyrants throughout Syracuse’s history.

For now however the Syracusans were willing to give Alexander the benefit of the doubt. His army, including Persian archers, Median horsemen and even some Indian elephants, must have been an exotic sight for the inhabitants of the city, but the sheer size of Alexander’s domain also must have made them quite nervous. He was no Timoleon, a minor nobleman from Corinth who came over with a handful of mercenaries, but the Great King of Asia, who commanded all the lands between the Adriatic and the Indus and the teeming masses that dwelt there. While Syracuse was doubtlessly a beautiful and prosperous city for a man like Alexander it must not been anything out of the ordinary. However they now had put their fate in his hands, and hoped for the best. Supplies from further east now started to arrive in the great harbour of Syracuse, large quantities of grain, fodder and wood for shipbuilding. For several months the dockyards of Syracuse were busy day and night, expanding the fleet of the Great King. By that time however Alexander had already left Syracuse behind, and was on the march to confront the Carthaginians in battle, his army 40000 strong. A second force, 15000 strong, mostly mercenaries and men of Syracuse but including a small Macedonian core, was sent north to Messana under Krateros. From Messana they could strike towards Panormos [1], one of the most important Phoenician settlements on the island.

Abdmelqart must have been aware of Alexander’s advance, for he ordered the city of Gela to be evacuated, the population was send westwards to Akragas and Lilybaion [2]. Subsequently he had his engineers reinforce the city, strengthening walls and towers and setting up siege engines, and left behind a 5000 strong garrison in the city while he himself and his army also retreated to the west. Gela was located on the coast, so the still dominant Carthaginian navy could resupply the city at will. While Abdmelqart was retreating west his Numidian light cavalry fanned out over the countryside towards the east, harassing Alexander’s advance and terrorizing villages all the way to Syracuse itself, using Gela as their base. Alexander used his own light cavalry to chase away the Numidians, and he reached the walls of Gela late in September 318. Once it became apparent that the Carthaginian army had already left Alexander marched on, leaving behind a small army under Philotas to continue the siege of Gela.

One of the qualities of the Macedonian army during this period was its speed, and especially Alexander turned out to be able to inspire his men on their long marches through Asia. In comparison to the inhospitable terrains they had already encountered the Sicilian landscape was downright pleasant, and by leaving behind the less experienced Syracusans and only taking along his veterans Alexander greatly enhanced the marching speed of his army. Alexander thus caught up with the Carthaginian army near the Himera River [3], forcing them to make a stand. Abdmelqart, son of Gersakun, however was a capable commander who, to his credit, did not panic at the prospect of fighting an army hitherto undefeated. When it became clear that Alexander would catch up with him he once again ordered his light cavalry to harass the Argead army. By cycling in and out his light cavalry he kept the Macedonians under constant harassment, although the timely arrival of a detachment of cavalry from Taras, also famous for its light cavalry, helped Alexander to repel the threat. A night-time raid by a group of Iberian mercenary infantry managed to torch a part of Alexander’s camp, but was easily repelled when the Macedonians regrouped. Abdmelqart hoped to buy himself time in order to allow his army to cross the Himera and escape to one of the Phoenician strongholds on the island’s west side. On the 12th of October 318 BCE, much to Abdmelqart’s dismay, Alexander was finally ready to launch his assault, he marched out of his camp and confronted the Carthaginian army near the banks of the Himera River, which the Carthaginians were preparing to ford.

Numidian cavalry employed by Carthage​

Alexander was outnumbered, his army 30000 strong while Abdmelqart had approximately 50000 men under his command, but the Macedonian forces were veterans of many campaigns and highly motivated. The bulk of the Carthaginian forces consisted of the levied Libyans, who formed the centre of the formation, with the various mercenary contingents occupying the flanks. A small corps of Carthaginian citizen infantry was kept in reserve, together with most of the cavalry. Abdmelqart did however deploy most of his light cavalry, provided by the Libyans and Numidians, to harass the Macedonians and to guard the flanks. Alexander deployed his army in the usual formation, with the phalanx in the centre, the hypaspistai on their right and allied troops on the left. He himself would lead the hetairoi while Nikanor would command the phalanx and Neoptolemos was in charge of the cavalry on the left, a mix of Thessalians and Medians. Large parts of the phalanx and the hypaspistai were elite regiments of the argyraspidai, instantly recognizable by their trademark silver shield, for the Carthaginians it must have been an imposing sight. The detachments of the phalanx that now advanced against the Carthaginians were deep but not very wide, Alexander hoped that the enemy would break quickly under the advance of his infantry, allowing him to strike with the cavalry. The phalanx did manage to push back the Libyans, but a ferocious assault by the Campanian mercenaries on the Macedonian left outflanked the phalangites there, which slowed the Macedonian advance considerably. The Argead troops were also constantly harassed by Abdmelqart’s elite Balearic slingers and by the Numidian and Libyan cavalry. However, victory for Alexander was assured when on the right flank the hypaspistai managed to overwhelm the Hellenic mercenaries employed by the Carthaginians, and afterwards outflanked the Libyans. It was then that a gap opened up in the Libyan lines, which Alexander expertly exploited, shattering their formation. Abdmelqart now send in his remaining cavalry, covering his retreat, and at the end of the day he managed to cross the Himera with 30000 troops. Despite defeating the Carthaginians Alexander was not content with his victory, for the enemy managed to escape with most of his elite forces intact. Not in a mood for clemency he sold all captured enemy soldiers into slavery, except those of Greek descent, whether Hellenic ally of Carthage or mercenary, those he had crucified as a warning.

Akragas opened its gates to the conqueror when he approached and was treated relatively mildly, the most prominent (and wealthy) pro-Carthaginian citizens were publicly executed and their assets seized. The same happened at Herakleia Minoa, which also opened its gates upon the Great King’s approach. Alexander then quickly marched further west, defeating a smaller Carthaginian force near the ruins of the city of Selinous and afterwards laid siege to Lilybaion, the heavily fortified Carthaginian base on Sicily in January 317.

On other parts of the island the war was going less well. Krateros had occupied Messana in September 318, but was faced with underpaid mercenaries left behind by Agathokles and a hostile citizenry. From Carthage, where the Adirim was probably concerned about facing the Macedonians, another general was elected and send to Sicily to deal with the threat. This was an older general named Abdmelqart, son of Yadomilk [4], who with a force mostly consisting of Sardinian and Italian mercenaries landed at Panormos and marched on Messana in October 318. He was joined by a group of Messanian exiles, who had left the city when Agathokles took over. Krateros became aware of the Carthaginian advance and marched out of the city, but in what probably was a coordinated action it was then that a Carthaginian flotilla sailed into the harbour of Messana, disembarking Messanian exiles and mercenaries. The Macedonian garrison was expelled and the city switched sides again. Krateros attempted to recapture Messana but was repulsed, and fearful of getting trapped between the advancing Carthaginians and the walls of Messana he retreated to the city of Tauromenion in November 318, blocking the route to Syracuse.

Krateros however was undeterred, and after leaving behind a garrison in Tauromenion he marched his forces through the Sicilian interior. Instead of being slowed down by a large baggage train Krateros decided to seize whatever he needed along the way, which did not make the Macedonians popular among the inhabitants of the Sicilian highlands. Although very Hellenised many of the inland communities still prided themselves on their autonomy, and several of them refused to aid Krateros. Agyrion, one of the cities that resisted, was brutally sacked in January 317 and its population sold into slavery. He was also opposed by the inhabitants of the city of Enna, but was unable to quickly capture it, and thus bypassed it and continued his march to Panormos. He reached the northern coast in February 317, he defeated a small Phoenician army near Solous and captured the city and afterwards advanced on Panormos itself. Krateros was lucky, because of his sudden appearance the governing council of Panormos panicked, and instead of manning the walls they entered negotiations with Krateros. They assumed that Abdmelqart, son of Yadomilk’s army was destroyed and thus surrendered to the Macedonians, who marched into the city unopposed. The Carthaginian garrison was massacred, but the population was spared. It was thus through sheer luck that one of the most important ports of the island fell into Argead hands.

When news of the fall of Panormos reaches Abdmelqart, son of Yadomilk, he immediately sailed back to the city. Krateros had expected this and had fortified the harbour. By then the Panormian leaders must have realized their mistake, but with the Macedonians entrenched in the city they were now unable to aid their compatriot. Abdmelqart tried to capture the harbour in an amphibious action, but this ended in a disaster. In the end he relented, and he sailed his remaining forces to Lilybaion, to reinforce the garrison there. The son of Yadomilk himself was recalled to Carthage shortly afterwards, and he was dragged in front of the powerful Court of 104, who sentenced the unlucky general to be crucified for his incompetence.

Siege of Lilybaion​

In the meantime Alexander continued his siege of Lilybaion, which despite Macedonian prowess in siegecraft was not going too well. The Carthaginians had reinforced the walls and had set up catapults and other siege engines to bombard the Macedonians. Abdmelqart, son of Gersakun, had pulled back Carthaginian troops from all over Sicily in order to defend Lilybaion, which could easily be supplied by sea. The Macedonians were also harassed by troops from the mountaintop stronghold at Eryx, which they had not captured yet due to Alexander insisting on the capture of Lilybaion. Supplies were requisitioned from nearby cities, who at first hailed Alexander as a liberator but now started to have doubts about that. The cities of Segesta and Entella, Elymian [5] in origin and sympathetic to Carthage, even refused to aid the Macedonians in their war effort. With supplies dwindling due to the protracted siege it was in June 317 that Alexander and a part of his army marched out against them. Segesta managed to hold out for some time, but in the end it fell due to treachery. Another Sicilian city was reduced to ashes, its population shipped of to the slave markets. Entella gave up its resistance and was treated somewhat mildly, although Alexander had several hundred pro-Carthaginian citizens deported to Baktria.

Sadly for Alexander his brutal campaign did nothing to speed up the fall of Lilybaion. Still defiant and well supplied, the only way Alexander could strangle it was by defeating the Carthaginian navy and cutting the city off and starving it. This was easier said than done, with the Carthaginian navy still supreme he could only wait until his own navy was large enough to confront them. In the meantime there still were attempts to break into Lilybaion. Diades of Pella, a siege engineer employed by both Alexander and Philip, was given an almost inexhaustible budget to build siege towers, rams, ramps and giant catapults. Despite all this the city held out, and the Macedonian army camped underneath its walls started to suffer. Lack of supplies and several outbreaks of disease weakened the men both physically and mentally, as did frequent Carthaginian raids. And more bad news was to come. Philotas had perished in an attempt to finally conquer Gela, and most of his army was destroyed too. From Gela the Numidian cavalry once again rode out over the plains of eastern Sicily, burning and pillaging the villages in their wake. Gela was also used as a naval base, and just outside the harbour of Syracuse a supply convoy from Greece had been intercepted by a Carthaginian patrol, who escorted them to Gela and then to Carthage itself, where its capture was celebrated as a great victory. By the end of 317 discontent was widespread among the Sicilian Greeks, who now started to see Alexander as just another haughty oppressor. Alexander himself however was, despite everything, still hopeful. With his fleet nearing completion he could either finally bring Lilybaion to heel or bring the war to Carthage itself.

Footnotes

1. OTL modern day Palermo
2. This might seem somewhat extreme, but large scale deportations are disturbingly common on Sicily in this part of history.
3. Not to be confused with the city of Himera, located on the island’s northern shore and location of a famous battle in 480 BCE, which was destroyed completely by the Carthaginians in 409 BCE.
4. OTL two Hamilcars feature during Agathokles’ war, Hamilcar son of Gisco and another one, this the other one.
5. The native population of Western Sicily, although by this point heavily Hellenized.

 

[phoenix101]

21. The Argead-Carthaginian War, part 2

Alexander had learned the painful lesson that despite the size of his kingdom and army, the entire world could not be his. While he probably already knew this on the banks of the Ganges, he must truly have realized it while on Sicily.

- Excerpt from The lives of the Great Kings of Asia by Hermocles of Brentesion

Abdmelqart, son of Gersakun, elected by the Assembly of Carthage to lead its armies against Agathokles and Alexander, was a man whose family’s reputation was mixed to say the least. He was the grandson of Hanno, who during his lifetime was called ‘the Great’ for his exploits. In the 370’s BCE Carthage had been weakened by the outbreak of a severe epidemic, which was used by the Libyans [1] as an opportunity to rebel. It was Hanno who was then elected general to deal with the uprising, and was very successful, he not only managed to suppress the rebels he also expanded Carthage’s domain further into Libya. In 368 he was again elected general, to deal with the war against the aging Dionysios I, the greatest of Syracusan tyrants. Once again he was successful, bringing the war to an end in 365 when he completely surprised the Greek fleet at Drepana, towing away a large part of it back to Carthage in victory. Peace was signed not long after. His success was not limited to the battlefield but also spread to the political arena, where he became one of the foremost citizens of the Republic. His fiercest rival was Eshmunyaton, whose reputation and renown was based not on his performance on the battlefield but on his wealth and many connections among the Carthaginian aristocracy. In the aftermath of the war against Dionysios Hanno revealed to the shocked Adirim and the Carthaginian people that Eshmunyaton, foremost citizen of the Republic, was in fact nothing but a traitor. Letters had been intercepted that proved that Eshmunyaton had been conspiring with Dionysios to bring Carthage to ruin. Eshmunyaton was quickly brought to justice, crucified at the city’s agora as a grim warning to all would-be tyrants. In their panic the Adirim even banned the study and use of the Greek language, although this ban was quickly rescinded due to it being impractical.

Hanno thus stood at the peak of Carthaginian society and dominated its politics. His success however attracted jealousy, and his arrogance made many among the Adirim turn against him, especially after he and his supporters attempted to monopolise the suffeteship [2] and other high offices. Several of his political opponents were, like Eshmunyaton, suddenly persecuted and convicted. Later Greek sources mention that Hanno had a pet lion which he paraded around the city and that he trained some birds to chant: ‘Hanno is a god’, although much to his chagrin when they were set free they resumed chirping. Doubtlessly exaggerated as these stories are, they do show what the man’s reputation was. His fame even spread to Greece itself, where Aristotle mentions him as ‘a great man with the capacity to be still greater’. Hanno however was not content with just being the most prominent citizen of Carthage, and in 350 he plotted to make himself tyrant. The Adirim would attend a banquet in honour of his daughter’s marriage, but word spread that Hanno planned to poison them and then seize power. Due to his prominence and power he could not be prosecuted, but the Adirim bypassed this by temporarily banning public feasts, and thus cancelling the banquet. Undeterred in his quest for power, he incited a slave revolt, but this largely failed. He fortified his country villa with his supporters and some slaves but they were quickly defeated, Hanno was brought to Carthage, publicly mutilated and crucified. His son Gersakun was send into exile.

In the wake of Hanno’s death no figure arose to dominate Carthaginian politics like he and Eshmunyaton had done. Several years later internal conflict wrecked several of the Sicilian Greek states, and the new Carthaginian government intervened, seeking to expand its dominion over the island. Hanno’s victorious opponents perhaps needed a military victory in order to solidify their position, and they saw an opportunity on Sicily. One of them, Mago, was elected general and send to Sicily, but suffered a crushing defeat. Unable to face the judgement of the Council of 104 he committed suicide, after which his vengeful compatriots crucified his corpse. His successors were even less successful. The catastrophic defeat at the river Krimisos at the hands of Timoleon in 341, where 3000 citizen troops were killed, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Unrest broke out, and the people called out for a new strong leader to save the city. Despite Hanno’s disgrace and execution those who had supported him had not been purged, by no means had his faction been uprooted. Utilising the crisis, they called for Gersakun to be recalled from his exile, which eventually happened. Upon his return to the city Gersakun was presented with his family’s enemies in chains, and in an almost pharaonic gesture he had them lie on the ground while he put his feet on their necks, but afterwards he pardoned them all, showing that his purpose in Carthage was not fighting old feuds. With his citizenship restored he was elected both suffete and general, and in Spring 340 he sailed to Sicily, where he joined up with the survivors of the disaster at Krimisos. Timoleon had returned to Syracuse to fight a civil war against the would-be tyrant Hiketas, and thus was eager for peace. The Greek cities were declared to be free, which meant that Carthage would lose direct control over Herakleia Minoa and Selinous, but those were the only losses they would suffer. Gersakun restored order and confirmed the division of Sicily in a Greek east and a Phoenician west, and the treaty he signed was not broken until Agathokles’ seizure of Messana. Gersakun spend the rest of his life as one of Carthage’s leading citizens, who through his moderation and graciousness had prevented the city descending the city into civil strife, who had made peace abroad and restored his family to prominence. It is telling that his descendants are known as the Gersakunids and not the Hannonids.

Abdmelqart thus had a significant legacy to live up to, and successfully defending Carthage against Alexander would perhaps be enough to wipe away the shame of his grandfather’s coup attempt. For several months Alexander had tried to best the imposing walls of Lilybaion, but it all amounted to nothing. Attack after attack was launched, but despite their martial prowess the Macedonians could not crack the defences. The defeat at Gela also meant that the countryside was once again terrorized by marauding Numidians, who also intercepted several supply convoys who were underway from Syracuse to the siege lines around Lilybaion. In response Alexander dispatched his cavalry back to Syracuse, to counter the threat of the Numidians. In July 317 Alexander himself also departed Lilybaion, with his elite forces he now assaulted the mountaintop fortress at Eryx, just north of Lilybaion. From Eryx the Carthaginians had harassed the Argead forces at Lilybaion continuously, something Alexander was now determined to end. With his trademark speed Alexander surprised the garrison at Eryx, which was undermanned because many of the troops were foraging or raiding the Macedonians at Lilybaion. Seeing that his enemy was scrambling to organise a defence Alexander immediately had his siege ladders brought to the front and quickly placed them at the walls. Alexander was impatient with his soldiers, who were not eager to scale the walls. Alexander scolded them, dismounted his horse and quickly scaled the ladder himself. Not many Carthaginians had manned the wall yet, but Alexander still stood alone against several of them. Ashamed that they had shown cowardice in front of their king now the royal bodyguard came scrambling up the ladders. Alexander had faced off against several Carthaginians, but apart from some superficial slash wounds he was not hurt. The Macedonians now quickly overwhelmed the soldiers on the wall and opened up the nearby gate, allowing the rest of the army to enter the fortress.

Alexander on the walls of Eryx​

The thorough sack of Eryx and the subsequent defeat of the still operating Carthaginian forces in Western Sicily was a welcome victory for Alexander, who resented being bogged down at Lilybaion. With the fall of Eryx now he also quickly captured the city of Drepana, reducing the Carthaginian presence to just Lilybaion, Gela and Messana. The Carthaginians that had survived his assaults were brought to the siege lines near Lilybaion, where they were crucified in full view of the defenders. And more good news arrived in July 317, when Ptolemaios and a 10000 strong reinforcement force arrived at Syracuse. Ptolemaios then proceeded to do what Philotas had failed at and managed to both evict the Numidian raiders and afterwards captured Gela. Afterwards he joined up with Alexander at Lilybaion, which still was defiant. The fleet that was under construction at Syracuse was now complete, and in addition to the ships Alexander already had the fleet was now 230 ships strong. It consisted primarily of triremes and quadriremes, with only several quinqueremes present who acted as flagships. Alexander quickly had his fleet gathered near Lilybaion, eager to finally cut the city off. Nearchos was once again his admiral, and quickly started the blockade of the city. The Carthaginians immediately dispatched a fleet to break the blockade, under command of Hanno of Tharros [3]. It was halfway August 317 that the two fleets, the Carthaginian one somewhat smaller but more experienced, faced off near the Aigatian Isles, just west of Lilybaion.

It turned into a disaster for the Argead navy, which was outclassed and outmanoeuvred by its Phoenician opponents. Many of the rowers on the Argead were levies from the various Sicilian cities, who were increasingly wary of Alexander and the Macedonians. Alexander’s eagerness to deal with Lilybaion also meant that were wasn’t much time to train the rowers. Most disastrous was probably that at the start of the battle an Athenian squadron defected to the Carthaginians, in revenge for the sack of their city. All of this led to the defeat, with the Carthaginians managing to break the Argead line early in battle and sinking all the flagships. Nearchos managed to escape by swimming to a nearby trireme. A part of the fleet, around 50 ships, was cut off and captured by the Carthaginians, who towed them to the harbour of Lilybaion to acclaim of its defenders. Of the Argead fleet around 100 ships survived, who escaped to the recently captured harbour of Drepana. The Carthaginians, in retaliation for the killing of the prisoners of Eryx, now crucified captured Macedonians on the walls of Lilybaion, their cries of agony carried by the wind to the Argead army camped nearby. Yet despite all this, Alexander was still undeterred. Several futile assaults on the walls of Lilybaion were undertaken, during which Alexander himself often was in the line of battle, and it is only due to sheer luck that he suffered no physical injuries. When rumours reached the camp that the Syracusans were secretly in negotiation with the Carthaginians he send Antigenes, commander of the Argyraspidai, back to the city to occupy the citadel on Ortygia. Many of the Sicilian communities became unwilling to help the man who they increasingly saw as a tyrant instead of a liberator. Alexander, with his supplies dwindling and in an increasingly precarious position, decided to make a final attempt to defeat the Carthaginians.

Battle of the Aigatian Isles​

It was October 317 when the Argead fleet, 80 ships strong, set sail from Drepana with Carthage’s Libyan hinterland as destination. The small army on the ships was however not commanded by the Great King himself, but by Nikanor, son of Parmenion and one of Alexander’s generals. An outbreak of disease, most likely smallpox, ravaged the Macedonian army and Alexander himself was now also bedridden. Luck was not on the Macedonians’ side, despite the Carthaginians being surprised and unable to quickly counter the fleet, a autumn storm laid waste to the fleet. The fleet was scattered, picked apart by the Carthaginian navy, but still around 40 ships managed to reach the African shore near the city of Aspis, which fell to a quick assault. His army only 12000 strong, Nikanor quickly marshalled his forces and first marched south, sacking the city of Neapolis [4] in November 317. Aside from some local militia there was little resistance to Nikanor’s advance, and his army plundered the rich Libyan countryside without much opposition.

After sacking Neapolis Nikanor quickly struck west, crossing the Catadas River [5] and occupying Tunes, not far from Carthage itself. In the great city panic broke out, unnecessary perhaps since its walls were thick and well-defended and the enemy force too small to effectively sustain a siege, never mind assaulting the city itself. The supporters of Abdmelqart in the Adirim managed to recall their general from Lilybaion and now granted him the generalship in Africa, to evict Nikanor. The general returned with several thousand men and started training a force at Carthage itself. In the meantime at Tunes there had been unrest among the Argead troops, mostly between the Macedonians and the others about the division of the plunder. Another Carthaginian general, Adherbal son of Baalyaton, had raised an army among the Libyans and had hired Numidians, and now made sure that the Macedonians would not advance further inland. An attempt by Nikanor to incite revolt among the Libyan subjects of Carthage ended in failure, and soon afterwards it seems Nikanor’s army broke apart entirely. Archagathus, son of Agathokles and commander of the Syracusan troops, broke of with his troops and tried to march back to Aspis. He was ambushed and killed while en route, leaving Nikanor even more isolated and his army understrength. In February 316 Abdmelqart marched out of Carthage and utterly destroyed what was left of the Macedonian army at Tunes, with Nikanor perishing on the field. Abdmelqart was now praised as the saviour of his country, and returned to Carthage in triumph. Not long afterwards an envoy was send to Alexander, to finally settle a peace agreement.

Alexander, having recovered from the smallpox, decided to agree. Reports had reached him of incursions into Thrace from across the Danube, of unrest in Babylon and agitators in Persia, of uprisings alongside the Indus. Staying on Sicily could mean gambling away the rest of his Empire. While none of those would turn out to be serious threats Alexander could not know that, and by now he was probably sick of the island and its fickle inhabitants, who once greeted him as their saviour and now were seemingly sharpening their knives for him. The entirety of Sicily, with exception of Lilybaion, would become ‘free’. Macedonian garrisons at Syracuse, Akragas, Panormos and eventually Messana would however keep a close watch on the locals. Syracuse and several other cities also joined the Italiote League, and thus recognised Alexander as their commander and protector. Alexander marched back to Syracuse in March 316, which was not entirely uneventful. The city of Akragas had been rather uncooperative during the war, and now Alexander would have his revenge. Its economy largely dependent on its olive orchards, Alexander had all the olive trees cut down while passing by, condemning the locals to poverty. Before returning to the east he waged a small war against a group of mercenaries left behind by the Carthaginians in Messana, but he defeated them on the slopes of Mount Etna, and soon afterwards Messana fell too, making his dominion over Sicily more or less complete. In Syracuse he was publicly booed, but Alexander had the last laugh when he seized the city’s treasury before sailing away to Greece. While the island disappeared beyond the horizon Alexander supposedly said that he would never aid its ungrateful inhabitants again.

Footnotes

1. In antiquity North Africa outside of Egypt was known as Libya to the Greeks.
2. A suffete was the chief magistrate of the Carthaginian Republic who, like the Roman consuls, served a term of one year and by the era of this timeline always alongside a colleague. Although Greek and Roman sources, especially for the earlier periods of Carthaginian history, often mention a king this most probably refers to the elected suffetes. Together with the Adirim (Senate) they run the affairs of the Republic and sometimes appear as judge in civil lawsuits. Unlike their Roman equivalents they did not have a military function, which was beholden to the elected generals. In practice though there are several instances of someone being elected to both offices, which led to Greek writers commenting that the Carthaginian armies on Sicily were led by a king.
3. Carthaginian inscriptions often offer lengthy genealogies, but since their pool of names was rather constricted and they didn’t have surnames it will become confusing pretty quickly. Since Carthage will be pretty important in the TL I decided to, in case of important Carthaginian characters, give them a family name so they are easier to remember. In this case ‘of Tharros’ refers to Tharros on Sardinia, implying that this Hanno has his origin there. There was a Hanno who commanded an army during the war against Agathokles OTL, and this is meant to be him, although the Sardinian origin is entirely my own invention, I hope it doesn’t bother anyone too much.
4. Not the city in Italy but the modern-day city of Nabeul in Tunisia.
5. Modern-day Oued Miliane in Tunisia.

 

[phoenix101]

23. Alexander and his Empire: 316-310 BCE

After the war on Sicily Alexander returned to Pella as a changed man, no longer certain that his empire would expand indefinitely. To his credit, while he was disappointed and somewhat bitter his primary concern was the stability of his realm, which he attempted to ensure by leaving behind garrisons under commanders who he personally trusted. I was left behind in Taras to oversee the Italiote states, and my brother in Syracuse to guard Sicily.

- Excerpt from Ptolemaios’ The Wars of Megas Alexandros

Despite expanding his domain and reducing the Carthaginians to their stronghold in Lilybaion the war on Sicily had been a disappointment for Alexander. The Carthaginians’ effective control of the sea and the general unwillingness of the Sicilians to aid the Macedonians had hampered Alexander’s campaign greatly. Perhaps the Syracusans and other Sicilian Greeks should have known better, but it seems they expected the Great King of Asia to act as a simple mercenary captain rather than a ruler bent on expanding his domain.

But all of that was now behind Alexander, after 2 miserable years of war on Sicily he was on his way home again. Instead of sailing to Macedon he landed at Corinth, where he addressed the Assembly of the Hellenic League and commended them for their loyalty. At Delphi Alexander ordered the construction of a small temple, where some of the spoils of the war against the Carthaginians would be stored in dedication to Apollo. He also visited the recently-sacked Athens, where he paid for the expenses of the reconstruction of the city’s public buildings. While this is unlikely to have convinced the most anti-Macedonian among the populace, it at least showed that the King was not vengeful and considered that Athens had been sufficiently punished. Alexander’s last stop before returning to Pella was a visit to the Olympic Games in July 316, where he made a speech to the assembled crowd and gave gifts to the Temple of Zeus.

Alexander did not remain in Pella for long, but he did make some important administrative changes for Macedon. Hephaistion was replaced by Krateros as regent of Macedon. Hephaistion and his family would join Alexander on his journey back to Babylon, and he was granted the command of the hetairoi, which was vacant after the death of Philotas on Sicily. Krateros was thus left in charge of Macedon, which was something he was more suited to than ruling a satrapy in the east, conservative as he was. Despite the vast Asian territories Macedon was still an important country, it provided the vast majority of the heavy infantry and a good part of the cavalry, and was prestigious as the Argead dynasty’s homeland. Another thing that Alexander did while in Macedon was overseeing the start of the construction of his tomb at Aigai, the traditional burial ground of the Macedonian kings, near the one belonging to his father.

Alexander and his entourage, consisting of his close companions and several elite units of the army, crossed the Aegean in September 316 and landed at Ephesos. The cities of Ionia had greatly profited from the founding of the Argead Empire, as their traders dominated trade between the Aegean and the ports of Syria and Phoenicia. During the Achaemenid period the coast of Anatolia had often been a theatre of war, but during the early Argead period it finally enjoyed some peace. The most famous of those cities was Ephesos, but others like Smyrna and Miletos also attained a high level of prosperity during this era. It is not unsurprising then that the Great King was greeted with divine honours in Ionia, several cities introduced cults in his name, or in some cases in name of his father and/or mother. Alexander reciprocated by donating to various temples, most famously to the temple of Artemis at Ephesos.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesos​

Alexander departed Ionia in October 316, sailing to Syria from Ephesos and thus bypassing the Anatolian interior, which had changed considerably in the preceding years. During Philip’s campaign of conquest much of Anatolia had been bypassed, most notably it’s northern territories near the Black Sea. Alexander had originally planned to campaign there until he was forced to intervene in Italy. The chiliarch Antigonos, the second-in-command of the Empire, had during several campaigns in 318 and 317 systematically subjugated the still independent Anatolian states. Antigonos knew the area well, he had been satrap of Phrygia for many years, and was respected by many among the various Anatolian elites, which aided considerably during his campaigns. Much of the local aristocracy was of Persian descent, and by now they more or less acquiesced to Argead rule, perhaps arguing that they were the rightful heirs of the Achaemenids. No large-scale battles are mentioned, and it seems Antigonos’ campaign was as much an diplomatic one as it was a military one. Cities such as Amaseia, Herakleia Pontika and Sinope offered their subjugation relatively quickly. The satrapy of Cappadocia was expanded and a new satrapy, Paphlagonia, was added to the Empire.

Alexander thus returned to Babylon in November 316 and he once again entered the city in a great triumphal procession, displaying some of the captured wealth of the Carthaginians. Unlike after his return from India however it seems the King desired, and took, some rest. He settled himself in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar and from there he oversaw the bureaucracy and handled matters of state. Many days were filled with hunting trips, now always accompanied by Hephaistion, and long drinking sessions. Alexander still took part in various ceremonies and regularly visited important building sites near the city, but for quite some time he seemed eager to put the battlefield behind him. While he would of course return to the army for now the Great King was content to let his satraps handle military matters. While it shows that Alexander had taken his mind off large-scale expansion, at least for now, it also shows that he trusted his satraps to guard the empire.

It was thus that for several years the Argead Empire was not involved in large scale military operations, and Alexander spent most of that time in and around his capital at Babylon. This was a remarkable period in the Great King’s life, which so often seems full of restlessness and eagerness to outdo his father. This period, from 316 to 310, also saw several developments in Alexander’s family. In 314 both of his wives’, Artakama and Nitokris, gave birth to sons. Nitokris’ son was named Alexander, but sadly he did not live long and died several weeks after his birth. Artakama’s son was named Karanos, after the Argead Dynasty’s first ruler. In 312 Nitokris was pregnant again, and gave birth to a daughter that was named Olympias, after her paternal grandmother. It was also during this period that the elder Olympias, Alexander’s mother, moved to Babylon and thus resided at her son’s court. She had spend many years in her homeland Epiros supporting her daughter Cleopatra who was regent, in 312 however Neoptolemos II had come of age and thus no longer required a regent to rule for him. Cleopatra still remained in Epiros, and so did a Macedonian garrison under Leonnatos, which more or less confirmed that Epiros was an Macedonian vassal.

For the administration of his Empire during these years Alexander still depended on Eumenes and Antigonos, both of whom had shown time and time again that they were capable and loyal. Antigonos especially had impressed Alexander, first by successfully pacifying Anatolia and afterwards by exploiting the situation in Egypt by adding Phoenicia to the empire without spilling any Macedonian blood. This greatly enhanced his position and that of his family, and especially of his son Demetrios who had served admirably under his father. Another important man was Perdikkas, who as satrap of Baktria and Sogdiana was responsible for a large part of the east, but he too had shown that he was capable, through negotiations, diplomacy and calculated use of brute force he had managed to keep control of his sometimes restless province. These men, whom Alexander had known for most of his life, formed an elite among the elite and were known as the royal companions. They had personal access to the king and thus great influence and wealth. Besides Antigonos and Perdikkas they included Krateros, Hephaistion, Lysimachos and Ptolemaios. Under later kings this small circle would expand and include illustrious men from all over the empire, but under Alexander it consisted of his closest friends and advisors.

While Alexander himself did not go to war during this period, it is incorrect to state that peace reigned uninterrupted in the Argead Empire. As Alexander had heard on Sicily, there were some uprisings on the banks of the Indus, but when he returned to Babylon they had already been suppressed by Lysimachos, who indiscriminately slaughtered the rebels and the Brahmins who inspired their revolt. Several small incursions by the Saka were also dealt with by Perdikkas, who drove them back across the Jaxartes. Probably the most serious threat during this period came from the Lower Danube, where several groups of Getai [1] started raiding across the river, into Thrace. In 311 the Macedonians had had enough, and Krateros responded with overwhelming force, destroying the severely outnumbered Getai and afterwards crossing the Danube and torching several of their settlements. Some of the local Getai tribes offered their subjugation and tribute, which Krateros accepted. Another expansions of Macedonian rule was the formal vassalization of the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporos [2], whose rulers reckoned that the Argead Empire could be a powerful benefactor and a potential ally against the Scythian tribes.

Yet all these conflicts were peripheral to the Empire. Vast and cosmopolitan, it now had spread its wings from Sicily to the foothills of the Himalaya and from the waters of the Danube to the Arabian desert. Trade flourished now that the Empire was established and stable, and revenues filled the already well-filled coffers of the Great King. Goods, services and ideas were now exchanged once again under the watchful eye of the new dynasty that held sway over Asia. Eager to show himself a true cosmopolitan ruler Alexander ordered a rock inscription near the one of Darius at Behistun. There he presented himself as a Persian monarch, naming his accomplishments and his territories. He also named his vassals, among which he named the Egyptians, Carthaginians and even the Romans and Saunitai. Exaggerated as it was, there still could be no doubt that despite some setbacks on Sicily the Argead Empire was by far the world’s strongest state. The period of royal inactivity came to an end in 310 BCE, when Alexander once again had to march to India.

Footnotes

1. A tribe that lived in OTL modern-day Romania
2. A Greek Kingdom on the Crimea

 

[phoenix101]

24. The early reign of Bakenanhur

Year 2, second month of the season of Harvest, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepkara [1], the Son of Ra Bakenanhur, ever-living, His Majesty spoke thus:

‘Hear what I did, exceeding the ancestors, I the King, living likeness of Horus, fashioned by Khnum, whom the foreign lands fear more than any other, the good god, beloved by the Two Lands, whom Amun-Ra has granted the beneficent kingship over Upper and Lower Egypt: when I ascended the Throne the land was in turmoil, the fields were barren, the flood did not come and the temples were but heaps of rubble, like that which has never come into being. Words of treason were spoken against me, and isfet had spread throughout the land, the common people were desperate and cried out in anguish. I was with the army in Asia, and all agreed that the kingship should pass to me. I hurried to Egypt and overcame the wrongdoers, on the battlefield I was like a hunting lion, the enemy casualties innumerable. I reinstated the worship of the gods and ordered all the temples of the land renovated, it was I who restored ma’at and it was I who smote isfet. The Two Lands rejoiced in my presence. ’

- Inscription of Bakenanhur at the Horus-shrine at Ipet-Mehu

Bakenanhur’s victory at Imou in November 317 cemented his claim to the Throne of Horus, and he was coronated at the Ipet-Mehu not long after in a magnificent ceremony. Unlike his predecessor, and more in line with other monarchs since the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, he preferred the Delta and the north over the south, which he visited rarely. He seems to have divided his time between the administrative capital at Memphis and the dynastic capital at Tjebnetjer, with visits to his own ancestral home of Sau or to Waset mentioned in the records. It seems he quickly gained the allegiance of the rest of the country, and already during his first year donations in his name are mentioned at Ipetsut.

However, despite his victory over Horsaiset there still remained some simmering unrest, mostly concentrated in the Western Delta. Already during his first year several expeditions into the Western Delta are mentioned, to supress revolting dynasts who still refused to submit. The exact reason for their intransigence is unknown, but it probably was the same as the reason for their rebellion’s during Nakhthorheb’s rule; dissatisfaction with the increasingly centralized rule combined with Bakenanhur’s seemingly shaky claim to the throne. Various princes of the Delta continued to resist Bakenanhur, they withheld taxes and even launched raids on royal estates, and like many of his predecessors he was greatly hindered by them. Unlike those earlier kings however Bakenanhur was determined to break them, and he had the means to do so. Not much is known about these campaigns, as Egyptian kings did not like to focus on internal unrest in their records, but foreign sources attest that not long after his coronation Bakenanhur started his campaign.

In 316 the pharaoh was present at the siege of Per-Wadjet, an ancient Delta town, where several dynasts were holed up. Siege towers were constructed, the walls seized and the town fell. The dynasts were dragged before the pharaoh and executed, in what must have been a significant blow to their cause. Many of them now surrendered and were pardoned, but some continued their resistance. It was in early 315 when the conflict reached its height, when an army under Bakenanhur confronted a coalition of Delta princes supported by Libyan mercenaries near Mareia in the Western Delta. Located on the shores of Lake Mareotis it is mostly known from Greek sources, who report on it because Bakenanhur deployed many Hellenic mercenaries during the campaign. Once again the sources are scarce, but the outcome of the battle could leave no doubt; once again the new king of Egypt was victorious. Estates were seized and added to the royal domains or donated to one of the major cults. Those dynasts who had remained loyal or had changed sides were allowed to keep their lands and machimoi, but in hindsight it is clear that this was the beginning of the end for the Delta aristocracy. Throughout the centuries they had held sway over Egypt’s richest lands, they had brought forth several pharaonic dynasties and had been the driving force behind the almost continual rebellions against Achaemenid rule. Now however, after successive defeats against the ruling dynasty, which itself had origins among the Delta aristocracy, their military power was broken. The pharaoh’s professional senenu and mercenary forces bested the machimoi, many of whom now took up direct service in the army in exchange for keeping their plot of land. Off course many of the Delta dynasts were kept in place, but they were now just landholders without much military strength.

It is only after this campaign that Bakenanhur turned his attention to other matters, foremost the legitimization of his rule. In August 315 he travelled to Waset, where he was once again coronated at Ipetsut, which coincided with the Opet-festival [2]. Once in Waset he made a tour of southern Egypt, visiting Iunu-Montu, Djeba and Swenet. He made lavish offerings to the temples of the south and made sure that the Cult of Amun-Ra would be loyal by granting them several recently seized Delta estates. At Ipetsut itself he ordered the construction of a new shrine to Amun-Ra, lavishly decorated and with on the walls a rather embellished version of the story of his ascent to the throne and his supposedly predestined kingship. The Temple of Osiris-Heqadjet, part of the complex of Ipetsut, was somewhat dilapidated and Bakenanhur had it restored, ensuring that it would be his name that would be inscribed upon its walls. At the dynastic capital at Tjebnetjer work was already underway on the tomb of Bakenanhur at the inner court of the Temple of Anhur-Shu, besides the tombs of Nakhthorheb and Nakhtnebef II, showing that he was to be regarded as their rightful successor and a true member of the dynasty.

A temple near the riverbank​

More important were the works of Bakenanhur at the Ipet-Mehu [3]. There he had several shrines constructed and he expanded the Festival Hall, where Nakhthorheb had celebrated the Sed-festival and where Bakenanhur had held his coronation. The enclosure wall was completed under his rule and he also attested as having ordered the construction of extensive living quarters for the priests, including workshops and storerooms. His most impressive addition was the temple of Amun, which with its marble columns shows a remarkable Greek influence that doesn’t show up in southern Egypt. Another striking monument was a colossal statue of the king himself, which stood on an artificial mound in the floodplain just outside the entrance of the temple complex. Carved from red granite from Swenet it shows the king seated as a majestic figure, gazing towards the Ipet-Mehu. While his predecessor depicted himself often as a valiant king, muscular and ready to strike the enemy, the image of Bakenanhur is one not of royal militarism but of eternal youth, which put the emphasis on his divinity. During the season of the flood, when the waters rose, the statue stood amidst the waters of the floodplain. For the Egyptians it was an striking image, for the statue of the king arising from the waters was meant to imitate that of the creator himself, Atum-Ra, who stood upon the benben mount which arose from the primordial waters of Nun. Implicitly connecting himself with the act of creation, Bakenanhur thus promoted himself not just as a normal monarch but as a true divine ruler.

But even a divine ruler could not rule the Two Lands all by himself. Bakenanhur made some important administrative reforms, most notably the splitting of the vizierate. The vizier Ankhefenkhonsu had been appointed by Nakhtnebef II, but Bakenanhur perhaps feared that allowing one man such responsibilities could undermine his own position. Ankhefenkhonsu, himself originally from Upper Egypt, was thus send to Waset, to function as the vizier of Upper Egypt. A high-rank nobleman named Sennedjemibranakht [4] was named as Vizier of Lower Egypt. Usermontu was kept in place as governor of Nubia. Bakenanhur himself was, despite his military background, more of an administrator than Nakhtnebef II had been, and he is known to have taken interest in and having presided over court cases and other disputes.

While inside Egypt itself Bakenanhur promoted himself as a divine ruler, abroad he had to be more careful. Whenever a request arrived from Babylon, such as when Alexander requested Egyptian architects for one of his monuments, the pharaoh more or less acquiesced, and Alexander naming Egypt as a vassal state in one of his inscriptions is not entirely without merit. Bakenanhur was a realistic man, and he must have known that Egypt stood no chance against the Argeads on their own, despite the frustrations this must have caused among his compatriots. Despite this the early years of his rule were prosperous. The end of the civil war and the resumption of trade with the Argead Empire, combined with several excellent inundations and the continued flow of gold from Nubia meant that the Egyptian economy rebounded quickly after the disaster of the succession struggle. In his family life the king was also successful, early in his reign he fathered a son with his Great Royal Wife Mutnefret, who he named Nakhthorheb, who became heir to the kingdom. This was not his first son, for the king, himself around 45 years old when he ascended to the throne, already had been married before marrying Mutnefret, and it was from that marriage that he already had a son named Psamtek and several daughters. With the succession secure and Egypt back on the road to prosperity it must have seemed as if despite his bloody ascent Bakenanhur’s reign would be a fortunate one for Egypt.

Footnotes

1. Bakenanhur’s throne name, which means ‘who pleases the ka of Ra’
2. OTL sometimes pharaohs tried to coincide a coronation ceremony with the Opet-festival, for example Horemheb did so.
3. The temple complex near Memphis, see update 16
4. This name means ‘Sennedjemibra (= Nakhthorheb) is victorious’, such names, containing a royal name appear throughout Egyptian history, and emphasize loyalty to the ruling dynasty.

 

[phoenix101]

25. Alexander’s second Indian campaign

The Great King Alexander, King of the Macedonians, the Persians, the Babylonians and all the peoples of Asia, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Strategos Autokrator of the Italiote League, Son of Philippos Nikator, in the eighteenth year of his reign he marched the armies of the Macedonians and the Persians to India, to remind its inhabitants of their servitude to him and his dynasty.

- Excerpt from the Alexander inscription at Behistun, as commissioned by Philip III

Alexander’s several years of rest after the Sicilian campaign had effects both positive and negative. For the empire as a whole it was positive, the lack of extensive levies of men and goods to support campaigns of conquest allowed things to settle down. Prices of common goods such as barley, wheat and dates had risen sharply following the conquests of Philip II, probably because he and his son were more concerned with establishing their empire and supplying the army than with making sure the price of commodities remained low for the common people. At this point in Alexander’s reign however the prices had fallen considerably, even below those under the Achaemenids, testament to the new empire’s vibrant economy and in particular the flourishing agriculture of Mesopotamia, which was now unhindered by war and royal requisitioning. The new cities of Syria and Mesopotamia, such as Nikatoris, Herakleia-on-the-Tigris and Nikopolis, were growing steadily, every year immigrants from the Aegean arrived to settle in the east. The native Syrians and Babylonians too settled in those cities, as they were centres of economic activity, but they were prohibited from partaking in Hellenic civil culture, they could not sit on the city’s council or take part in its festivals. Despite these discriminatory practices it seems many of the new settled cities were evenly divided between Hellenic and Asian population. Trade, eased up by the enormous amounts of coins that Alexander had minted, seems to have doubled in comparison to Philip’s reign.

The negative effects were more personal in nature. The Great King lived in opulent luxury at either the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon during winter or at Ekbatana or Pella during summer. Alexander thus oversaw various ceremonies and other somewhat dull matters of state, which were nevertheless just as important as triumphing on the battlefield. When not having to attend to long meetings with various advisors or overseeing the solving of disputes or the correct making of offerings to the gods Alexander spend his time in the way that any Macedonian monarch would do, by hunting and excessive drinking. The royal pairidaeza, walled parks with an abundance of flowers, trees and animals, spread throughout Mesopotamia and Western Iran were frequently visited by the Great King and his retinue.

The finest vintage of both Hellas and Persia was available in abundance for the king and his companions. Many among the Greeks looked down upon the Macedonians for their habit of drinking undiluted wine, but the Macedonians themselves saw nothing wrong with it and even seemed to have spread the practice to Persia. Like practically all Macedonian men Alexander drank heavily, but it seems that during this period his intake of alcohol increased even more. Drunken quarrels with his closest companions are not unheard of, and in one infamous example Alexander grabbed a spear of one of his guards and hurled it at Hephaistion, with whom he was arguing about who killed the most boars during a recent hunt. Luckily for both the Great King and his lover he missed. We do not know the aftermath of this incident, but perhaps the realization that he almost killed his dearest friend helped Alexander to break out of the self-destructive spiral he was in.

Another factor was probably an illness that Alexander suffered in 311 BCE, which is mentioned in the royal chronicles. While not certain what exactly afflicted him it seems that for several weeks the king’s life hung in the balance. Neither his Greek or his Babylonian doctors were able to effectively deduce what exactly Alexander suffered from, and in the end it were Egyptian doctors send by Bakenanhur who supposedly managed to cure the king. In the aftermath of his illness Alexander was more moderate in his consumption of wine, and sometimes even refused wine altogether for several weeks. Conspicuous consumption however remained a hallmark of the Argead court, even if its king did not always partake. By 310 Alexander had recovered and was relatively fit, even if we do take in account that by now he was nearing 50 and no longer possessed the eternal youth present in many of his images. Ptolemaios, in one of his more unflattering statements, remarks that by the time of his second Indian campaign Alexander’s hair was becoming thin.

Opulent gardens at the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar​

This period of relative peace, there were some smaller military engagements on the frontier [1], came to an end in 310 BCE, when simultaneously several military crises confronted the nascent empire. The most immediate but also the least dangerous was an uprising in Persia under command of a certain Baryaxes. Harkening back to the glories of the Achaemenids he claimed descent from Darius the Great and openly declared Alexander an usurper. His biggest success was that he managed to occupy Pasargadai, the location of the tomb of Cyrus, for several weeks. From there he published several ‘royal’ edicts, which ranged from lowering the tax on possessing camels to granting the satrapy of Babylon to his father-in-law. His followers seemed to be mostly common bandits, dispossessed farmers and some disgruntled minor nobility. By and large it seems the Persians supported the Argead regime, and the rather sad revolt of Baryaxes is often seen as the last attempt at fomenting some kind of Persian resistance against the Macedonians. Ariobarzanes, the long-serving satrap of Persia quickly crushed Baryaxes, who died together with his troops, trampled underneath the hooves of the Argead cavalry.

The crisis that was most dire, and which would require direct royal intervention, took place on the banks of the Indus. The Indian satrapies had turned out to be both very valuable and rather volatile. Access to exotic goods, high-quality Indian steel, spices and gemstones all ensured that trade flourished, but at the same time there appeared to be a deep distrust between the new Macedonian rulers of the region and the local population. Already several uprisings had been brutally crushed by Lysimachos, satrap over most of the Indus Valley. The Macedonians suspected that the brahmans were behind the resistance, and often targeted them in retaliation for the intransigence of the Indians. The reason for Alexander to march east once again with a large force, and the difference between these and other revolts, was that the Nanda dynasty of Magadha had broken its treaty with Alexander and, possibly in conjunction with an uprising, invaded the Indus Valley.

In the aftermath of the battle of Ahicchatra peace had been signed between Alexander and the Nanda, but despite the successful blunting of the Argead assault it is hard to argue that the conflict had been a Nanda victory. Large parts of the Yamuna and Ganges valley had been devastated by the Macedonian advance and the human cost of the war had also not been insignificant. The prestige of the dynasty too had been afflicted, for Dhana Nanda now had to acquiesce to the Macedonians establishing a satrapy in India itself. Before the war Dhana Nanda had not been a popular ruler, and the war itself did not change that. Still, he managed to cling on for several years, dying in mysterious circumstances in 319 BCE. He was succeeded by his son Pabbata, but power was practically held by the minister and general Shriyaka. It seems that for several years the new administration decided to honour its treaty with the Macedonians, but this ended around 313 BCE. The reason for this change in attitude is much more rooted in the Nanda domestic situation than in any perceived Macedonian weakness. The Nanda were increasingly seen as incapable and corrupt, and it must have seemed as Magadha was headed for a regime change. It was thus that Shriyaka, in order to bolster both his own position as the dynasty’s, started preparations for his campaign to the west, to reclaim all of India and to drive away the mleccha [2].

In this endeavour he was egged on and supported by Chanakya, a teacher and philosopher who had worked at the university at Taxila and who wished for nothing more than for the barbarians to be driven out. A brilliant mind, Chanakya attempted to reform the Nanda state, despite having personally hated Dhana Nanda. He probably was instrumental in coordinating the uprisings along the Indus with the invasion of Shriyaka, because it is quite likely that he still had his contacts among the wise and learned of Taxila and the surrounding lands. Shriyaka thus marched west early in 310 and encountered minimal resistance, for the Macedonians were quite busy with the uprising among the population. Already the garrisons at Alexandria-on-the-Indus, commanded by Lysimachos himself, and at Artakameia were isolated and put under siege by the insurgents. Shriyaka himself, commanding an army supposedly 100000 strong, captured the city of Philippopolis Indike in June 310, destroying the city that Alexander had founded only several years before.

The military governor of Gandhara [3], Attalos son of Andromenes, and Poros, king of the Puru had in the meantime gathered their forces to confront and possibly delay Shriyaka, giving Alexander time to reach and relief his beleaguered forces. Near Bucephala they confronted Shriyaka, and after several days of skirmishing the two armies confronted each other on the battlefield. For the Macedonians and for Poros it was a crushing defeat. Shriyaka, who evidently had learned from his earlier encounter with Alexander, deployed his elephants on the flanks in order to deter the Macedonian cavalry while using his superior numbers and his longbows to grind down the phalanx. Inevitably gaps opened up after several hours of intense combat, which were exploited by Shriyaka’s elite infantry from the sreni guilds. Attalos’ phalangites were relatively inexperienced, most of them had not taken part in any of Alexander’s campaign, and thus broke their ranks relatively quickly. A last ditch attempt to salvage the situation by leading a cavalry charge ended with Attalos’ death and the complete disintegration of the Macedonian army. Poros, who held down one of the flanks with a force of his own, was quickly surrounded and he too died fighting. For Shriyaka the victory had been a vindication and the crowning achievement of all his work as minister and general. Perhaps his would be the honour of driving the barbarians beyond the Hindu Kush.

Now the road to Taxila was open, and it must have appeared as if victory was in his grasp. The king of Taxila, Omphis, had sent envoys to Shriyaka in order to strike a deal and possibly spare his city. Secret negotiations must still have been ongoing when in August 310 Perdikkas arrived with a 20000 strong force, mostly veterans that had been settled in Bactria. He had been ordered to act as vanguard for Alexander’s army, which by now was also on its way. Still, Shriyaka probably could have captured Taxila were it not for the monsoon rains, which started earlier than normal. These delayed supplies and reinforcements and prevented an easy crossing of the Hydaspes, which lay between Shriyaka’s army and Taxila. In the meantime the situation in the south had also changed, reinforcements under joint command of Peukestas and Antigonos’ son Demetrios had arrived via Arachosia and the Bolan Pass and had managed to break the sieges of Alexandria-on-the-Indus and Artakameia. Afterwards they marched north to Taxila, brutally supressing the revolts near the Indus, where they were to join up with Alexander.

Alexander arrived in India in October 310 with a 60000 strong army. Consisting off, among others, the elite regiments of the Argyraspidai (‘Silver shields’), the hetairoi and levied troops from the diverse array of peoples that his empire ruled, it was a fearsome force. One of the more notable regiments present were known in Greek as the Athanatoi, or the Immortals, recruited from the Iranian nobility who fought as heavily armoured cavalry. They also had a foot regiment, which fought not unlike the Macedonian hypaspistai, but with a more Iranian-style equipment, they used an tabar axe instead of a kopis sword. In order to prevent Shriyaka from crossing the Hydaspes Alexander quickly marched his army to the river, but in doing so he must have significantly exhausted it. It was thus in October 310 that Alexander and Shriyaka faced off once again.

Several weeks of manoeuvring followed, with Shriyaka or Alexander attempting to outflank their foe by crossing the river, only to be prevented from doing so by timely arrival of enemy forces. For Shriyaka, who was supported by a crumbling dynasty and for whom victory was of the utmost importance, it was important that he could strike fast. Some of his officers became disgruntled, accusing their commander of cowardice in face of the enemy. Alexander had no such criticism, and despite the great size of his empire he did manage to receive some reinforcements, testament to the logistical system that was put in place by the Achaemenids and which the Macedonians had used and improved upon. In the end it was thus Shriyaka who took the initiative in early November 310. He split his forces and crossed the river at two points, one to the north of the Macedonian camp and another to the south of it. He however deliberately botched the assault, he ordered his troops to cross over and skirmish with the Macedonians, but afterwards they had to retreat in order to convince the Macedonians to give chase.

Shriyaka’s elephants advance​

The following battle was one of the most desperate and bloody of Alexander’s campaigns. He almost fell for Shriyaka’s trap, and while deploying his phalanx on the river’s eastern bank he was suddenly confronted by a overwhelming assault by the Nanda army. Over 200 elephants bore down on Alexander’s position while most of the Macedonian forces still were on the other side of the river. Fighting was fierce, but with his back to the river Alexander had no other option. His were elite forces, some even veterans of Philip’s campaigns in Greece, others had fought at Hyrkanis and Mepsila, and this was not the first time they had faced off against a numerically superior foe. Alexander and his bodyguard fought dismounted, and time and time again the phalanx repelled the Nanda assault. Improvised rafts made sure that reinforcements arrived. The tide of battle definitely turned when Poros the Younger, who had joined Alexander on his campaigns in Italy and Sicily and had remained at his court for several years, led his forces across the river further downstream and outflanked Shriyaka and stormed his camp, torching it. While confusion reigned in Shriyaka’s camp Alexander could finally start his own advance, driving back the Indian infantry and elephants, many of whom ran amok their own troops.

Shriyaka attempted to salvage the situation, he had kept his more elite forces and his chariots in reserve to deliver the finishing blow. Sadly for him however the situation was by now unsalvageable. His elite infantry was harassed by Saka horse-archers and their formation smashed apart by Median and Persian cavalry. The chariots, although an impressive sight, were an antiquated weapon at best and they too were swept aside. Despairing at the sight Shriyaka decided to surrender, and he send an envoy to Alexander to parlay peace. Shriyaka had to release all his prisoners and return the valuables plundered on his campaign, but in return he was allowed to return to Magadha unharassed. As the sun set that day over the blood-swollen Hydaspes Alexander had won a great battle, but at a high cost. The Argead army had lost 5000 men, many of them veterans with invaluable experience. For later generations of Argead rulers the battle would become a legendary one, with Alexander and a few companions holding back a million Indians with contemptuous ease, but for them too it was a reminder of a time when the Great King of Asia could triumph in India.

Shriyaka returned east after the battle, a broken man who could have won it all, had he been more daring early on in his campaign. He did not live long afterwards, supposedly killed by some officers over a petty dispute. The titular Nanda ruler Pabbata also disappears from the record soon after the battle, and with him the Nanda dynasty. Infighting in Magadha ensured that no new conquering dynasty would arise from there for some time, instead the various states of the Ganges would reassert their independence. When, in the end, a ruler united both the Indus and the Ganges in a single empire it was not from Pataliputra that he marched forth but from Taxila. Omphis too was one of the losers of the conflict, his treachery had been found out and he lost his head in return. His territory was granted to Poros the Younger, who now ruled an extensive client kingdom. In hindsight perhaps a bit too extensive, although Alexander himself did not have to deal with that. Alexander remained in India for some time, making sure that order was restored, but he would not for now march east again, despite the dissolution of the Nanda Empire. Limits had been reached, that much Alexander had learned over the preceding years, and trying to exceed that would only invite disaster. It was early in 309 that Alexander went west again, and not long after he must have heard about the situation in Italy.

Footnotes

1. See update 23
2. Sanskrit word roughly meaning ‘barbarian’
3. The region around Taxila

 

[phoenix101]

26. Carthage 315-310

Abdmelqart, son of Gersakun, was honoured in those days as the saviour of the state by many. Yet there were also those who were fearful, who remembered what happened when Abdmelqart’s grandfather had also achieved such popularity, and they wondered if he might follow in his footsteps. It was this tension that was the backdrop of the politics of the City after the war against Alexander.

- Excerpt from History of the Kan'anim by Abdashtart, son of Hanno


Despite losing territory on Sicily, including several long-standing Phoenician settlements and valued allies of the republic, many saw the outcome of the war between the Argead Empire and Carthage as an Carthaginian victory. This is not entirely without merit, Alexander had failed in his intention of ‘liberating’ all of Sicily, the naval battle at the Aiginates was a disaster for the Argeads and both the siege of Lilybaion and the African campaign ended in disappointment for the Great King of Asia. This was certainly the prevalent view among most of the Carthaginians, or at least those who supported the dominant faction of the Gersakunids [1].

In the aftermath of the war however many among the Carthaginian aristocracy, the great landholders and merchants, started to worry about Abdmelqart’s popularity. His victories at Tunes and the heroic resistance at Lilybaion had, in the eyes of many Carthaginians, been the reason that Carthage remained an independent state. After the peace treaty was signed Abdmelqart had entered the city in a triumphant parade, and the Assembly voted him extraordinary honours. Despite his popularity he declined to run for any of the important offices, yet he did make known which candidates he preferred, ensuring that his supporters would be elected. This was concerning to many among the Carthaginian oligarchy, for this seemed to echo the acts of Hanno, Abdmelqarts’ grandfather. Something had to be done to stop his ascent.

In 315 one of the elected suffetes was Hanno of Tharros, the great victor of the battle of the Aiginates. He too had been backed by Abdmelqart and he must have seemed to be a loyal member of the Gersakunid faction. The surprise must have been great then, when in that year the Court of 104 decided to investigate the conduct of Abdmelqart during the recent war. After all, Carthage had lost territory and its sphere of influence on Sicily. Hanno of Tharros presided over the meetings of the Court, which consisted of members of the Adirim, and surprisingly did not veto its proceedings. The Adirim consisted of the wealthiest and most prestigious among the aristocracy, and they were the ones who feared Abdmelqart the most. In the end they declared that Abdmelqart had been negligent during the conflict on Sicily. They knew however that crucifying him would be out of line, he was still popular after all. Abdmelqart was fined instead and barred from running for office.

Overnight Hanno of Tharros became the leading figure of the anti-Gersakunid faction, which was mostly based among the wealthy landholders and merchants. For several years afterwards the suffetes were split, one would belong to the Gersakunid faction and one to the faction of Hanno of Tharros. Abdmelqart, eager to show that he had no autocratic tendencies, gracefully acknowledged the verdict of the 104 and retired from politics and from the City itself, choosing to live in one of his countryside villas. The Assembly, which in Carthage was relatively powerful, was still dominated by the Gersakunids. Political polarization became rife in those days, with plenty of intimidation, frivolous court cases and occasional violence against opponents. If the supporters of the Gersakunids supported something their opponents would naturally oppose it, even if it did benefit the republic, and vice-versa. Still, the Gersakunids had an edge through their domination of the Assembly, which had the deciding vote if a matter could not be decided by the Adirim and the suffetes.

Despite this political paralysis Carthage itself managed to recover relatively quickly from the war. Carthage and its hinterlands had not suffered much during Nikanor’s invasion and still produced an ample agricultural bounty. Trade with the Eastern Mediterranean also picked up again relatively quickly, aided of course by Carthage’s natural position as a nexus of trade between the two halves of the Mediterranean. During the war, while Alexander was on Sicily, the chiliarch Antigonos had managed to negotiate the submission of Phoenicia to the Argead Empire, which now meant that Tyre was part of Alexander’s empire. While probably somewhat awkward for the Carthaginians themselves it also meant that the Tyrians could act as intermediaries between Babylon and Carthage, and the regular embassies that brought gifts to the temple of Melqart in Tyre also functioned as emissaries to the Argead court. Trade with Egypt also became increasingly important, the Egyptians were interested in the Spanish silver the Carthaginians could provide in exchange for Egyptian dyed cloths and incense from Arabia.

The picture that thus emerges from Carthage in the late 4th Century BCE is thus of a state prosperous but politically paralysed. For some time this was not a problem, trade continued apace, Alexander did not appear to preparing for a rematch and the Libyan hinterlands were more or less pacified. Crisis however came in 309 BCE when a military expedition against an uprising in Sardinia ended in disaster, the commanding general, a general named Hannibal, was slain as were many of his troops. Hannibal had neglected to consistently pay his mercenaries, and with his death they decided to take their pay themselves and joined the rebels in plundering the island. Quickly another force was gathered and was placed under the command of Adherbal, son of Baalyaton [2]. Libyan infantry, Celtic warriors, Greek hoplites and Iberian swordsmen were camped near Carthage while awaiting their transport to Sardinia. Political machinations however had considerably slowed down the campaign, Adherbal was, in contrast to Hannibal, a member of the Gersakunid faction, and even before he could command his army he had already been accused by some among the Adirim of embezzling the funds meant for the mercenaries. While Sardinia burned Carthage only send some meagre reinforcements, and the mercenaries received practically no pay at all. It could have been not much of a surprise then when early in 308 the unpaid mercenaries also revolted, which instigated an uprising among the Libyans.

Confronted with such a threat quickly calls arose among the Carthaginians for Abdmelqart to be given the command against the rebels. The Adirim, of course, resisted. When the mercenaries plundered the countryside and blockaded the city itself panic broke out and riots started. Hanno of Tharros relented, and he recommended the recall of Abdmelqart to the Adirim, who decided to agree. Abdmelqart himself, like his father before him, was gracious to his opponents, who he did not prosecute for what they had done to him. During 308 and 307 he campaigned against the revolting mercenaries, who despite their martial prowess were not as threatening as they might have been. There had been no central leadership, no motivation except loot, and the once intimidating mercenary force fell apart rather quickly when Abdmelqart decisively defeated them in several battles. Several groups even rejoined the Carthaginian military, while others were massacred to the man. Knowing that it was necessary to grant his former opponents some glory too Abdmelqart made sure that Hanno of Tharros would be in charge of the expedition to Sardinia, which was finally pacified again in 306. In the subsequent year the two former rivals even shared the suffeteship.

Despite this seeming reconciliation it was now clear for all to see that it was once again Abdmelqart and the Gersakunids that were the dominant faction in Carthage, and for some years his enemies would indeed lay low. While strictly he was never a tyrant or monarch through his prestige and influence Abdmelqart would for several decades be more or less the first citizen of the Carthaginian Republic.

Footnotes

1. See update 21, named for Gersakun (Gisgo), the son of Hanno and father of Abdmelqart
2. He also featured during the Argead-Carthaginian conflict, see update 21

 

[phoenix101]

27. The Saunitai War

The enemy we faced in the hills of Italy was unlike any other we had faced before, brave, cunning and ruthless, even men who had faced off against the elephants of India feared the Saunitai more than any other.

- Excerpt from Ptolemaios’ The Wars of Megas Alexandros

Alexander returned to Babylon in triumph in June 309. Symbolising his victory over India he entered the city in a chariot pulled by an elephant. The spoils of the campaign were of course displayed to the populace, although they were more meagre than those of earlier campaigns. Alexander had after all been on the defence, his campaign to India was one to repel an attack on his own territories. Several days of games and festival followed, and Alexander ordered the construction of a new temple to Dionysos (who, according to Greek legend, had also conquered India). In Alexander’s absence the empire had been ruled by the ever-active chiliarch Antigonos. He was a just and able ruler and no noteworthy problems had arisen during the Indian campaign, at least outside of Italy.

When Alexander had left behind Italy in 316 BCE the Greek cities had nominally been united under the Italiote League while several Italian peoples had offered their submission to Alexander. Ptolemaios, close friend and companion of the Great King, had been left in charge of a 10000 strong garrison at the city of Taras, and thus acted as Alexander’s representative in the region. While probably none of the Hellenic cities of Italy were eager members of the Italiote League it at least provided protection against the native population. These fierce tribes of the Italian hills and highlands had often opposed Hellenic colonization and were regularly successful against them, until Alexander’s arrival in the region. He had forced the Bruttians and Lucanians to accept his sovereignty, and in Alexander’s inscriptions in Persia they are named as one of his subject peoples; their tribute consisting of cattle and horses, testament to their relative poverty. The Saunitai (Samnites) were the mightiest of these confederacies. They menaced both the Hellenic cities of Italy and the various native powers, and when Alexander arrived in Italy they were fighting a war against the rising power of the Roman Republic. Alexander, at insistence of the local Greeks, allied himself with the Romans and thus ‘contained’ the Saunitai, who quickly thereafter signed peace out of fear of fighting on multiple fronts against such powerful opponents.

For a decade peace reigned in southern Italy, a rarity in those days. It was in late 310, when Alexander was campaigning in India, that war flared up again in Italy. The precise reason is unknown, but later sources put the blame on the Lucanians, who supposedly were in conflict with the Saunitai over pasture grounds. Whatever the reason, once again the Saunitai donned their plumed helmets, put on their cuirasses and descended from the hills to plunder the rich lowlands. In Taras the representatives of the Italiote League petitioned Ptolemaios to defend them, and in Alexander’s absence he was named general of the forces of the League. Envoys were also send to Krateros and Antigonos to ask for help. Early in 309 Ptolemaios set out of Taras with 15000 men, near the river Aufidus he confronted a Saunitai force as large as his and managed to defeat it. On the flat plains on the banks of the Aufidus the Saunitai were unable to break through the phalanx, and a force of Thessalian cavalry supplied by Krateros charged into their flank, scattering the Saunitai. For Ptolemaios the war must have seemed to be going well. The Romans, honouring their alliance, restarted the war in Campania, rooting out several Saunitai garrisons and putting them to rout. In this they were supported by 5000 Sicilian Greek troops under command of Ptolemaios’ brother Menelaus, send in by sea from Syracuse. Disaster struck however later that year in June, when an Italiot army under command of Medeios, a deputy of Ptolemaios, marched into Lucania to support the Lucanians against Saunitai raids they were ambushed near Potentia. There in the hills the Macedonian phalanx and shock cavalry were at the mercy of the Saunitai, who with their large shields, short stabbing swords and bundles of javelins were ideally equipped to fight pitched battles in a rough environment.

Potentia was important, for not long afterwards it seemed the Lucanians wavered in their support now that the Argead forces were unable to defend them against the Saunitai. One of Ptolemaios’ largest problems was his lack of manpower, the Italiote Greeks were either incapable or unreliable and his own Macedonian core were too few. Some reinforcements were send over, but most of the elite forces were still in the east. Luckily for Ptolemaios there was another source of reliable manpower nearby. The young king Neoptolemos II of Epiros, nephew of the Great King Alexander and grandson of Philippos Nikator, was an ambitious man, yet he was also just another vassal king in the vast Argead Empire. Eager to prove himself he offered his and his army’s service, and the Epirote king crossed over to Italy in August 309. The Kingdom of Epiros was a dwarf in comparison to the vast Argead Empire, but it did maintain a professional army trained in the Macedonian fashion. Leonnatos, a childhood friend of Ptolemaios and the Great King himself, had long commanded the Macedonian garrison that both guarded and kept watch on the Epirote Aiakid dynasty, and became a close companion and mentor to Neoptolemos and he made sure the kingdom’s army was well-equipped and trained. Epirote soldiers had served under Alexander, for which the kingdom was richly rewarded, and had repelled some raids by Illyrian pirates, but the chance for a victorious campaign in Italy was too good to pass up for the young and ambitious Neoptolemos. The 25000 strong Epirote army joined up with Italiote forces at Taras and started it’s march on Saunitis (Samnium) almost immediately.

Saunitai warriors​

The Italiote-Epirote forces, under joint command of Neoptolemos and Menelaus, quickly engaged and defeated some Saunitai warbands in the coastal plains. Perhaps inspired by the campaigns of his uncle and grandfather Neoptolemos decided to take his chance and strike at the heart of the Saunitai Confederacy. The Saunitai had no real cities, they lived in small towns spread across their hilly homeland were they herded their flocks, and for a king acquainted with the luxuries of the Argead court the pickings were slim. Neoptolemos however did not seek wealth but glory, and in his hurry he rushed to his doom. Despite his assault on Saunitis it seemed the Saunitai were unwilling to face him in open battle, but they did keep harassing his supply lines and his scouting parties. Lulled into a false sense of security Neoptolemos must have been surprised when the Saunitai managed to trap his army in a valley near Aikoulanon [2]. Several attempts were made to break out, none were successful. After several weeks the Saunitai finally launched their assault, and the Epirotes, wrecked by hunger and disease, broke under their onslaught. Neoptolemos lost his life, Menelaus was one of the few who managed to escape and personally relayed the bad news to his brother in Taras.

For the Saunitai victory now followed victory, and after Aikoulanon they shifted their attention to Campania. A battle against the Romans near Nola ended in a victory for the Saunitai and the defeat and destruction of a Roman consular army. Not long after the coastal cities of Campania were put under siege. Cities such as Neapolis however would not fall, they were supplied from sea and the Saunitai lacked the engineers for the construction of siege weapons. Despite the destruction of the Epirote army at Aikoulanon the Saunitai did not seem to have resumed their offensive against Megale Hellas, instead focussing on the Romans. Nonetheless the death of Neoptolemos and his army was a great shock, not just to Epiros but to the whole Hellenic world. It was perhaps what finally convinced Alexander himself to intervene. Commanding 30000 of his most elite troops he left Babylon in December 309, boarding a fleet in Cilicia and crossing over to Macedonia early in 308. He deliberately passed through Epiros on his way to Taras, where he met with his sister Cleopatra. She had already been regent during her son Neoptolemos’ childhood, now she would once again be regent for his successor, the infant Aiakides. In this she was once again aided by Leonnatos. The arrival of the Great King himself once again changed the focus of the Saunitai, who knew that if they would manage to defeat him their supremacy in southern Italy would be unquestioned.

Sadly for them, Alexander was no Neoptolemos. Alexander also knew that just by his very presence the balance of power of the conflict had shifted, for the Saunitai could not ignore his and his army’s presence, despite him not making any aggressive moves for now. Alexander spend several weeks in Taras, where he made donations to local temples and organised games in honour of himself and the gods. This was done both to display his wealth and to improve the morale of the Italiotes and the army. He marched out in March 308, and soon news reached Alexander that a Saunitai force was marching down the Bradanus river, confident and eager to defeat the Great King of Asia. The battle was fought near Herakleia, but was little more than a skirmish. Alexander’s superior cavalry quickly forced the Saunitai to retreat, perhaps somewhat eager to draw Alexander into the hills and crush him there, like they had done with Neoptolemos. It was in April 308 that battle was joined at Forentum, a Saunitai town upstream the Bradanus. Having gathered most of their forces to stop Alexander, for the Saunitai it would be the decisive battle.

But the troops they now faced were not the Epirotes of Neoptolemos, most of whom only occasionally fought against Illyrian raiders, but the elite regiments of the Argyraspidai who had faced off against Shriyaka’s elephants at the Hydaspes. Always flexible, Alexander had many of his troops equipped not with the long sarissa but with the weapons of the peltast; a round shield, sword and a bundle of javelins. The Saunitai, to their credit, fought bravely. They hurled their javelins into the phalanx, and with their large shields and swords attempted to break into the formation by sheer force of their numbers. They were however outmatched, Alexander’s own infantry outflanked them, and his cavalry, especially those recruited among the tribes off the Hindu Kush accustomed to fighting in hills and mountains, managed to shatter their flank. Against the elites of the Great King of Asia, it seemed, there could be no victory. The decisive cavalry charge, consisting of the Median cavalry, was led by the prince Philip, Alexander’s eldest son. He rushed his cavalry through a gap in the Saunitai lines and fell upon their rear. Another cavalry detachment, which played a crucial role by defeating the Saunitai cavalry early in battle, was led by Demetrios, son of the chiliarch Antigonos. Alexander himself could be proud, both of his son Philip and his son-in-law Demetrios, who had married Philip’s twin sister Cleopatra the previous year.

Now the Saunitai offered their submission, the only thing they could do to stave off even greater disaster. Alexander was magnanimous in his victory, although he did levy from them a heavy tribute. The Saunitai and their land were rather poor, so it was in men for the army and cattle that they would pay for the privilege of being considered the Great King’s servants. Curiously Alexander did not order them to evacuate their holdings in Campania, which was now partitioned between Greek cities on the coast, inland Saunitai settlements and a Roman ruled region around Capua. The Romans felt betrayed by this, but could do little against it but complain to Alexander. When their ambassador met the Great King he had already, for the last time in his life, crossed the Adriatic and was in Epidamnos. He waved away the Roman concerns, offered them some monetary compensation and send the ambassador away, hoping that that would settle it.

Footnotes

1. Also known as Paestum.
2. Known in Latin as Aeclanum.

 

[phoenix101]

28. The End of an Era

Alexander, son of Philip, Great King of Asia, King of Kings, was the archetypical Argead ruler. Like many of his successors he both founded and destroyed cities, he often waged war but was not above signing peace, and most importantly he was thoroughly Macedonian but he did not eschew Persian influences and style. Indeed, already under his father Persians had been part of the government of the realm, and their involvement only increased under Alexander. He knew that the cooperation between Persians and Macedonians was to be the bedrock of his new empire, and this he promoted vigorously, encouraging intermarriage and the learning of each other’s languages. His fame was great and widespread, both inside and outside his realm. It could be said that while Philip conquered the realm of Asia it was Alexander who truly founded the Empire of the Argeads, and for this reason it is no wonder that it was Alexander who gained the epithet of ‘Megas’.

- Excerpt from The lives of the Great Kings of Asia by Hermocles of Brentesion

When Alexander returned to Babylon in November 308, after making a circuit of various sites in the western part of his empire, he made another triumphant entrance into his royal capital. The spoils of Italy were a far cry from the captured wealth of earlier campaigns, and so the onlookers expecting a spectacle outdoing earlier triumphs were sorely disappointed. The hoofs of the mounts of the hetairoi, with the crown-prince Philip at their head, clattered on the Processional Way while columns of dishevelled Italian tribesmen were force-marched across, their final destination being distant Bactria. The air heavy with incense and perfumes, the Great King appeared once again on a golden chariot and was acclaimed by the population as their king and saviour. He would probably not have known that the Italian war would be his last major campaign.

The recent campaigns, while successful, had shown that the years of hard living were starting to catch up with the king. And from 308-307 onwards the Great King increasingly ruled not from his campaign tent but from the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar. Aside from accompanying the army on some small expeditions he would not command the armies anymore, and he would no longer fight on the front lines, the pain he suffered from his shoulder wound making that impossible[1]. From this point onwards Alexander would focus more on ruling than on conquering, making sure his realm was stable and prosperous. These were thus the circumstances of the final years of the rule of Alexander, which he spend not as conqueror but as lawgiver and administrator.

He would spend most of his time in Babylon itself, which had over the years grown into a true royal metropolis. Around 300 BCE it must have housed 200000 inhabitants, a gargantuan city for its time. The growth had mostly come from immigrants from the Aegean, those Greeks and Macedonians who decided to settle in the east. In the city of Babylon itself the immigrants were mostly artisans and civil servants, people who were necessary for the day-to-day business of running an empire. Those more interested in agriculture settled somewhere along the Tigris or Euphrates, mostly on estates that were distributed by the Great King in return for hereditary military service. The city’s Greek district, known as the Philippeion after Alexander’s father, was built on a grid plan, with broad avenues and large agora’s. Home to many state-sponsored temples and shrines, various theatres and gymnasia, it was the heart of Hellenic cultural life in Asia.

Outside of Babylon there were the other important settlements of Mesopotamia, such as Nikopolis and Herakleia. During the latter part of his reign Alexander also spent a considerable amount of time and resources on the city of Philippi-in-Susiana, better known under it’s former name of Susa. Perhaps out of residual guilt for his father’s destruction of the place he made sure that no expenses would be spared for it’s reconstruction. The city already had a citadel built under Philip and now Alexander decided to built a palace there. While the structures in Babylon and further west are purely Hellenic the new palace built at Susa shows a remarkable amount of Persian influence. Columns with a double-animal capitol, like those at Persepolis, make their appearance as do Persian-style bas-relief carvings. The palace’s throne room seems to imitate that of the Apadana at Persepolis, although on a smaller scale. Still there are many Hellenic elements present, making the structure somewhat of a chimaera. In hindsight that was perhaps exactly what Alexander intended it to be. Later Argead rulers made vast extensions to the palace, transforming it almost into an city of it’s own, eventually even featuring a mausoleum for the Great Kings of Asia.

Palaces and pleasure-gardens are not the sole legacy of Alexander’s latter years. Since fighting alongside his father during their conquest of the Achaemenid Empire he must have been aware of the importance of logistics, and his own experience during his campaigns must have only heightened his awareness. The Achaemenid system of royal roads had been an important asset during their conquest, enabling reinforcements and supplies to quickly reach the royal army. It was under Alexander that this system was expanded even further. It would extend further east, were it would cross the Zagros, wind its way across the Iranian plateau, from Ecbatana to Rhagai and Hekatompylos, from where it would cross arid landscapes until reaching Alexandria-in-Ariana and then it’s final destination, the city of Bactra. The western extension was less grandiose, but ideologically perhaps even more important, from Sardis the road went up to the Hellespont, bypassing Troy, where it would cross into Europe through Thrace until it eventually reached Pella, the ancestral home of the Argead dynasty. Alexander had thus literally connected his homeland with the heartland of his empire. Other roads were also commissioned, one linked Babylon to the Royal Road and another Persepolis, while the coastal cities of Syria and Phoenicia were also connected to this network. Waystations were set up at regular intervals, where travellers could rest and from where regular patrols could guard the road. It would take quite some time for this entire system to be set up, and Alexander would not see it’s completion, but to his successors it was a useful asset, easing communications and logistics between the far-flung reaches of the empire and making sure that trade could flourish by providing merchants with safe roads.

The Argead court​

Already in the days of the Achaemenids the Royal Road’s most important function was the quick transfer of information, relayed by messengers, from one end of the empire to another. This remained important, for during the later years of his reign Alexander depended increasingly on his satraps to rule in his stead. The most important satraps were men that Alexander had known for most of his life, and in most cases could readily trust. Hephaistion, for example, had been named satrap of Syria and Phoenicia after the death of Kleitos in 305. Perdikkas remained satrap in Bactria and Sogdia till 302, when Antigonos died and Perdikkas was promoted to the rank of chiliarch, second-in-command of the Empire. The chiliarch also functioned as satrap of Babylon, after the passing of Oxyathres, relative of the Achaemenids and father-in-law of Lysimachos. The satrapy of Sogdia and Bactria passed to the crown prince Philip, giving him an opportunity to prove his capabilities as a ruler. Macedonia remained under the regent Krateros and Ptolemaios, who had served well as Alexander’s enforcer in Italy, had been named as one of the Great King’s chief advisors and commander of the Argyraspidai. Lysimachos was still in charge over the satrapy of the Indus. The important satrapies of Media and Persia itself were held by Iranian nobility: Darius, son of Atropates, was satrap of Media and Ariobarzanes was still satrap of Persia. Seleukos, who had for long served as satrap of Parthia and Hyrcania, had commanded a cavalry squadron during the second Indian campaign and did so successfully, he had shown great valour and was rewarded by the Great King with the position of general of the cavalry. He was replaced as satrap by Peithon.

The expansion of the Royal Road was a project by Alexander to physically bound the empire together, other projects were meant to culturally bind the various lands under Argead rule. Cultural syncretism partially happened naturally, the settled Greeks and Macedonians in Syria, Mesopotamia or Bactria quickly adopted various local customs, just like some Hellenic customs were adapted by the various eastern peoples. At the elite level Alexander encouraged, but did not order, intermixing between the Persian and Macedonian nobility. Some of his companions took this advice, others did not. Early on Lysimachos married Amastris, daughter of the Achaemenid prince Oxyathres, but Krateros refused to marry a Persian woman and instead married Phila, Antipater’s daughter. Perdikkas, while in Sogdia, had married Roxana, daughter of the former satrap Spitamenes in a bid to consolidate his power. Seleukos too had married a Persian noblewoman, a certain Apama. Ptolemaios had briefly been married to Artonis, sister of Artakama, but she died suddenly not long after the marriage. Antigonos’ son Demetrios had arguably won the biggest price by marrying Alexander’s daughter Cleopatra. The crown prince Philip had been married to a daughter of Lysimachos named Arsinoë, deliberately strengthening the prince’s bonds with both the Macedonian nobility (through Lysimachos) and the Achaemenids (through Arsinoë’s mother Amastris). In 301 Alexander thus became grandfather twice, his son Philip fathered a son also named Philip and his daughter Cleopatra gave birth to a boy named Antigonos. The future of the dynasty thus seemed secure.

Thankfully for Alexander his satraps were, mostly, capable rulers in their own right. They were largely dependable, partially because many of them had a personal relationship with Alexander himself. This period was then relatively stable, with capable satraps making sure that tribute made its way to Babylon. There were still several small military crises. In 303, after several quiet years, an army marched north from Babylon at request of the Armenian satrap Orontes, who had come into conflict with the nascent Caucasian Iberian state. The Kingdom of Caucasian Iberia, or Kartli, had only recently come into prominence under its first ruler Pharnavaz. Conflict erupted with Armenia, with both sides raiding through the valleys of the Caucasus. Alexander was present, but while in command it seems that during the campaign it was Demetrios, son of Antigonos and son-in-law of the Great King himself who led the army during battle. No large-scale battles occurred, rather it was an campaign of skirmishes, but the Argead army did manage to batter its way to the walls of the Iberian capital of Mtskheta. Pharnavaz then relented and surrendered, and accepted his new status as vassal of the Argead Empire.

The next military crisis took place 3 years later, not in Asia but in Illyria. Celtic tribes had migrated from their homelands to the banks of the Danube and now started to push against the various Illyrian peoples. Some of those, like the Dardanians and the Paeonians, were Argead vassals. In 330 a certain Molistomos invaded Dardanian territory with his warbands, he defeated a Dardanian army and plundered the countryside. Krateros was thus charged with repelling the invasion, and he caught up with the Celts while they were on their way back to the Danube. Encumbered by their loot the Celts were defeated decisively, the Macedonians themselves suffering barely any casualties. For now it seems Macedonia and it’s neighbours would be safe. Around the same time, on the other side of the Empire, Lysimachos too was using force, although he went on the offensive. The collapse of the Nanda Empire had left large parts of the Ganges and Yamuna valley in chaos, and in 301 Lysimachos had received enough reinforcements from Babylon to start raiding the rich lands to his east. Using the recently rebuilt city of Philippopolis Indike as his base he struck east. Once again villages burnt and ancient temples were despoiled, but Lysimachos was less successful than he had hoped. The Yaudheya, a military confederation in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab [2], had risen to prominence in the region. They had more or less filled the local power vacuum after the Nanda collapse, and among others had occupied Hastinapur. No sources mention the exact details of the campaigns, but they seem to have given Lysimachos a good fight for not long after first encountering them he retreated back to Taxila, although still with a substantial amount of loot.

The campaign in the Caucasus would turn out to be Alexander’s last. The only conflicts he would still be part of would be the intrigues at court. While peace reigned at the borders of the empire within the court itself tensions ran high. This mostly had to do with Alexander’s mother Olympias, who attempted to undermine several members of the court that she opposed, among whom the chiliarch Perdikkas and Queen Artakama. Some sources even imply that the only reason Alexander went along with the army to the Caucasus was to evade the palace, but this seems unlikely. It was perhaps fortuitous that not long after Alexander’s return Olympias fell ill and died, her intrigues would no longer menace the court. Despite that it must have been a heavy blow to Alexander himself, who despite everything was still quite close to his mother.

Alexander himself seems to have changed somewhat during his later reign, which is remarked upon by Ptolemaios in his work about the king’s life. The boundless energy which once was his trademark seems to have vanished. The catalyst seems to have been the sudden death of Hephaistion in 301. No expenses were spared for the funeral services of his closest companion, and Alexander supposedly spend over a year in mourning. Afterwards the Great King seemed to veer between lethargically dealing with matters of state and throwing himself into long days of hunting, drinking and debauchery. Perhaps it was the realisation that his health was quickly declining, or perhaps it was depression, but most likely it was because the loss of Hephaistion. Ptolemaios remarks that Alexander did not die but more or less just faded away.

Alexander on his deathbed​

That moment would come in 295, after 5 long years of both mental and physical deterioration. That the empire managed to pass those years in relative peace, that the machinery of state continued uninterrupted and that no major rebellions broke out were all testament to the strength of the empire Alexander and his father had forged. It was in July 295 that the Great King’s health suddenly grew worse. While in the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar nights of fever followed, and eyewitnesses report that he spend nights calling out to Hephaistion. He no longer left his bed, and soon it became apparent that the end was near. Quickly word was send to Bactra, were for several years already Philip had done an admirable job as administrator, and upon hearing the news he immediately set out for Babylon. He would not make it in time, and on July 25th 295 BCE Alexander the Great, King of the Macedonians, Persians and Babylonians, Hegemon of the Hellenic and Italiote Leagues, Great King of Asia, drew his last breath.

Footnotes

1. See update 17
2. A term meaning ‘two waters’

 

[phoenix101]

29. The Fall of the Thirtieth Dynasty

Egypt under the Late Thirtieth Dynasty

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Sehetepkara, the Son of Ra, Bakenanhur, Beloved-of-Amun – may he live forever! – It was during the eighteenth regnal year under his majesty that the King inspected all the districts of Lower Egypt. The bastions set up by his predecessors where in disrepair, the Shasu could freely enter the country, which greatly distressed His Majesty. The Beloved-of-Amun thus ordered the restoration of the fortresses of the North, built by Kheperkara and Senedjemibra to repel the Asiatics and to crush the Shasu. [1]

- Record of the eighth year of the reign of Bakenanhur

Had Bakenanhur died in 310, after legitimizing his rule and restoring the prosperity of Egypt, his reign would have been remembered as a fortuitous one. Saving the country from disaster and despair he would have restored the monarchy, crushed rebellious dynasts and honoured the gods. Sadly for his subsequent reputation, his rule of Egypt was not over.

At least in theory Bakenanhur was the most powerful monarch Egypt had seen since the Twenty-Second Dynasty [2], or perhaps even the kings of the New Kingdom. Having crushed and cajoled the various dynasts of the Delta he was more of an absolute monarch than any of his predecessors of his dynasty had been. Despite this being his greatest victory relatively little attention is given to it on his monuments and in his inscriptions. Most likely because Egyptians liked to gloss over periods of disunity, Bakenanhur did not want to reminisce over the brutal civil war. Although he spends a lot of time legitimizing his rule, he never mentions his internal enemies beyond vague descriptions, only stating that he restored ma’at and drove out isfet. All was once again as it should be, the Two Lands were in order and a dutiful Son of Ra sat upon the Throne of Horus.

Sadly for him and his dynasty things would not stay that way. If Bakenanhur during the later years of his reign had shown the same initiative and drive he had during his ascent perhaps Egypt’s history would have been quite different. But already from his ascent the storm clouds must have been visible, and in hindsight Bakenanhur did little to prepare Egypt for what was to come, and in many ways he even acted to its detriment. The pharaoh appeared to be content in his victory, and despite some minor reforms he was also quite happy with the way the country was run. Many of the profitable Delta estates were doled out to his friends and acquaintances (who made sure they would be exempt from taxation) and to the temple estates (who did pay taxes, although not much). Nepotism is something that every autocrat is used to, but Bakenanhur did it excessively, squandering resources that could have been used to strengthen the defences of Egypt.

On the other hand it is perhaps only in hindsight that the danger is apparent. Egypt and the Argead Empire had after all enjoyed a good relationship. They had fought together against the Achaemenids and the dynasties had intermarried, and despite the crisis over Phoenicia it must have seemed as if the relation between the two powers had been restored. But if Bakenanhur thought the Argead court regarded him as an equal then he was mistaken. By positioning themselves as heirs to the Achaemenids, true Great Kings of Asia, they also partially adopted their worldview, in which Egypt was but a wayward satrapy. This was no problem when Philip and Alexander had been king, for they still fundamentally regarded themselves as Macedonian kings. Problems would only arise when a ruler of both Argead and Achaemenid descent ascended to the throne in Babylon.

Bakenanhur’s reign is marked by, despite his newfound royal absolutism, a kind of benign neglect. Management of the country is largely left up to the heri-tep of the various sepat of Egypt [3]. Some of them were hereditary, like many of the Libyan-descended Delta aristocracy, others were appointed by the pharaoh. The recent civil war had allowed Bakenanhur to appoint many of his own men, many of whom managed to negotiate tax exemptions from the king. Also of great importance were the various temple estates who managed vast tracts of land. The period of peace after the civil war, and a series of good inundations, made sure that the Egyptian economy under Bakenanhur did well. It was, despite what came after, a prosperous period for Egypt.

Bakenanhur ​

As all monarchs of the Nile aspire to, Bakenanhur ordered many construction projects throughout the land. The king spend a lot of time at the palace at Hebyt, which was expanded throughout his reign. At the end of Bakenanhur’s life the palace was three times larger than it had been before. Additional appartements, shrines, reception halls and storage rooms had been built, many of them expensively decorated, as befits a King of Upper and Lower Egypt. An envoy send by Alexander reportedly marvelled at the sights of the palace, which according to him was more beautiful and luxurious than the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Other construction projects of the king were concentrated on the city of Sau, his ancestral home in the Western Delta. It had been the dynastic capital of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, but since then it had received relatively little pharaonic attention. Bakenanhur ordered a large-scale renovation and expansion of the Temple of Neith and drastically expanded the city’s harbour on the Nile, stimulating commerce in the region. The city profited from the royal investments, and due to the proximity of Naukratis and its Greek community it became a centre of trade with the Aegean during the late fourth century BCE.

Despite his military background Bakenanhur was not a very warlike ruler. The many campaigns in Nubia finally appeared to have worked, and throughout his reign Nubia was not as restless as it has been under his predecessors. The sole military campaign he personally took part in was in 305, which was aimed at several Bedouin tribes who harassed the trade routes through the Sinai. Commanding a cavalry detachment, the pharaoh and his son Psamtik cornered and crushed one of the tribes, or at least he commemorated this on the walls of his new and expanded temple of Neith at Sau. Still it would not be surprising, trade with Arabia increased throughout this period, caravans laden with spices and incense had to travel through Egyptian territory before reaching the Mediterranean. This was aided by, during the late fourth century BCE, the consolidation of the Nabatean state, which facilitated and monopolised trade. Goods and coin were not the only thing that flowed between Egypt and the Nabateans, already Egyptian cultural influence shows up in Nabataea. At Per-Sopdu in the eastern delta inscriptions at shrines from this era show that several Nabateans made offerings at them, and not long after Egyptian influenced architecture show up at the Nabatean capital of Rekem [4]. It was the beginning of what would turn out to be a longstanding relationship.

It was only late in his reign, after 300, perhaps at instigation of his more military-minded son Psamtik, that Bakenanhur turned his attention to the defences of his country. The increasing consolidation of the Argead Empire posed a credible threat to Egypt, one which required deterrence. The construction of several bastions in the eastern delta, the expansion of the fortress at Gaza and the construction of a naval base at Tamiat [5], all started during the last years of Bakenanhur’s reign. The last years of his somewhat subpar reign were spent mostly at the palace of Hebyt, according to some sources indulging in expensive imported Greek wines. It was in February 297 that, after a short illness, Bakenanhur passed away after having ruled Egypt for 21 years. Interred at the Temple of Anhur-Shu at Tjebnetjer in a tomb of his own, his reign had stabilised Egypt and left it prosperous but vulnerable. His neglect of the threat that the Argead Empire could pose was one of the largest mistakes of his rule, but it would be overshadowed by a decision he made shortly before his death. Long it had been assumed that it would be his youngest son, Nakhthorheb, son of Mutnefret and grandson of Nakhtnebef II, that would succeed Bakenanhur on the throne. But just before his death Bakenanhur named his elder son Psamtik his co-ruler and heir. Psamtik had spent most of his life with the army and was possibly favoured by them, but he had no relationship to the rest of the Thirtieth Dynasty, being born to an earlier wife of Bakenanhur. Nakhthorheb was send to Nubia to serve as it’s new overseer, replacing the long-serving Usermontu. Nakhthorheb had the reputation of a somewhat spoiled prince, more at home at the royal harem than in the chancelleries or on the battlefield. He was however experienced in the various intrigues of the court, and many of the high-ranking officials and noblemen preferred him over his stern and militaristic elder brother. The priesthood too had preferred the more orthodox choice of Nakhthorheb as new pharaoh.

Bakenanhur however had made his choice, and Psamtik V ascended the Throne of Horus after his death. For two years things went smoothly, the younger brother had seemingly acceded to his new role as governor of Nubia. From the expanded fortress at Saï he governed Nubia and oversaw the shipments of gold that were send to Egypt. Psamtik started his reign by levying a one-time tax on the temple estates, meant for the construction of the defences of the eastern delta. While it was probably necessary, it was not wise to start his reign with such an unpopular measure. This combined with a disappointing inundation and thus rising food prices meant that discontent among the population was growing throughout the years 297 and 296. It was in January 295 that Nakhthorheb, seeing an opportunity to seize the throne that should have been his, made his move. He left Nubia with a small retinue and visited the temple of Ipetsut at Waset, where he made ostentatious offerings to Amun-Ra, outdoing the rather meagre offerings that his brother had send. A small shrine was constructed, on the walls of which Nakhthorheb’s name was inscribed inside the royal cartouche. The message was clear: Nakhthorheb claimed to be the rightful ruler of Egypt.

Nakhthorheb had hired Nubian mercenaries and had stripped the garrisons of the south of most of their troops and then went north. Wahibre, one of his generals, defeated an army loyal to Psamtik near Abdju (Abydos) and then sailed on to Sauty (Asyut), an important town and fortress which marked a contraction in the Nile Valley, a natural breaking point between Upper Egypt and Middle and Lower Egypt. Sauty fell quickly and Wahibre ordered additional fortifications, which enabled him to withstand several attempts at reconquest by Psamtik’s loyalists. The height of summer caused a temporary lull in the fighting, but the after the inundation in Late August fighting restarted. Riverine battles and sieges occurred in late 295, and neither of the brothers seemed to want to give in. Psamtik himself finally sailed south in November 295, after having dealt with unrest in the Delta, he faced off against him brother at Khmun. Psamtik’s more experienced troops carried the day, they broke the siege of Khmun and inflicted heavy casualties on Nakhthorheb’s army, who retreated all the way back to Waset after this defeat. Psamtik was probably preparing to sail to the city of Amun-Ra when the news from Phoenicia arrived in December 295, and he was forced to abort his southern campaign and return north.

Philip’s first year and the Egyptian War

Like Cambyses two centuries prior Philip III saw himself confronted with a world already largely his, and like during Cambyses’ reign there was still one great empire left through the conquest of which he could prove himself.

- Excerpt from The lives of the Great Kings of Asia by Hermocles of Brentesion

Philip III arrived at Babylon in August 295. There the assembled army proclaimed him king in the Macedonian fashion, and not long afterwards many of the satraps visited Babylon to offer their loyalty. Philip’s succession had thus gone rather uneventful, no claimant arose nor did any of the core territories of the empire revolt. Alexander had left an effective bureaucracy and capable satraps in charge, which eased the transition of power. As befits a Great King of Asia he gave gifts to both the Macedonian and Persian nobility and he made lavish donations to the temples of Babylon. Not long afterwards he went west, to Macedonia, bringing his father’s body to his mausoleum at Aigai. Large-scale funeral games took place, as did religious ceremonies, and Alexander was laid to rest at his tomb. Already Philip himself had ordered a tomb of his own to be constructed nearby, although the workers would have quite some time to complete it.

The various city-states of the Hellenic League remained loyal, doubtlessly with the fate of Athens at the back of their mind. The only trouble spot for the moment was Sicily, where a certain Xenodikos had seized power in the city of Akragas and had started an uprising which spread across the island. In order to deal with this Philip send Demetrios, his brother in law, west with a fleet and a small army. Xenodikos’ aim was both to expel the Macedonians and to make Akragas the island’s most prominent city, which meant that he had little support in cities such as Syracuse and Messana. He ended up being little more than a bandit, even using a small fleet for piracy. This drew the ire of Carthage, and during his campaign on Sicily Demetrios’ army was supplied with Carthaginian grain, eager as they were to both show good intentions to the new Great King and to get rid of Xenodikos. After a short campaign in late 295 and early 294 Demetrios had successfully defeated Xenodikos and had captured Akragas, which paid dearly for it’s betrayal. Those who did not die during the siege where carried away in chains to the slave markets. Argead supremacy on Sicily was secure.

Philip returned to the east in November 295, landing at the city of Nikatoris-on-the-Orontes, the largest city of Syria and already home to 50000 predominantly Greek and Macedonian inhabitants. There, or perhaps even earlier, he must have heard of the ongoing civil war in Egypt. Enlarging his domains were a sure way of enhancing his image as king, and once again Egyptian strife seemed to grant this opportunity, as it had done 20 years before. He ordered the Phoenicians and the Cilicians to gather their fleets, and he send an ultimatum to Psamtik: relinquish the territories in the Levant and receive my aid, or risk war. Already armies were gathered, the Macedonians settled in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates picked up their sarrisas and marched of to war. Various eastern contingents were called up, the heavy cavalry from Bactria, Saka horsemen skilled with the bow, Indian elephants and fierce hillmen from northern Iran. All would now answer the call of the Great King of Asia, yet his army was not as large as it could have been. Philip knew that a small elite force, well trained and mobile, could bring down larger foes, as he had learned on the Bactrian frontier, where Macedonians were often harassed by small groups of nomadic horsemen who outmanoeuvred the Macedonians.

Perhaps Philip also expected Psamtik to give in, and indeed it seems strange that he didn’t, but instead of giving up his Philistian and Judean protectorates Psamtik marched his army across the Sinai and encamped at Gaza, calling up his various vassals in the region. The reason for Psamtik’s actions seem to have been the concern over his own legitimacy, many already saw him as an illegitimate monarch and even more would do so if he would kowtow to the Great King of Asia. He made clear to Philip that he would defend his vassals, and thus it came to war between the Argead Empire and Egypt. The Egyptian army consisted of it’s professional forces, the senenu, various mercenary contingents, like the Nubians, Greeks and Nabateans, and the forces send by the vassal rulers of the region. All in all the army was around 50000 strong, slightly outnumbering the army Philip had assembled near Damascus. In March 294 Philip launched his invasion, near the river Jordan he defeated an army under command of Saneith, Psamtik’s uncle, who was send forward to guard against the Macedonian advance. After the battle Philip struck west, reaching the coast near Jaffa, blocking Psamtik, who had advanced northwards from Gaza.

Argead cavalry at the River Jordan​

Philip took a considerable risk, he granted his army little time for rest and supplies were running low, but he could not allow the Egyptians to threaten the Phoenician cities. Psamtik was wary of giving battle, but considering his own position he had little choice, and defeating the Great King of Asia would greatly enhance his stature in the eyes of the Egyptian population. More good news arrived early April, when the Egyptian fleet had managed to defeat the Argead Phoenician-Cilician fleet near Askhelon. They were greatly aided by the fact that the Argead fleet was ravaged by a storm, but it was a victory nonetheless, and temporarily the threat of an amphibious assault on his rear or on Egypt itself was gone. Psamtik thus chose to advance, the two armies met near Ashdod. What followed were several days of skirmishing, the Saka horsemen harassing the Egyptian flanks and rear while Nubians and Libyans dashed forward from the Egyptian lines to pepper their opponents with missiles. Great clouds of dust were thrown up by the whirling cavalry of both sides, but after several days, quite suddenly, Philip disengaged and marched east. Psamtik, probably thinking that his enemy was desperate, gave chase. Constantly harassed by Philip’s light cavalry and with dwindling supplies he caught up with Philip near Gezer. Many of Psamtik’s men were discontent, the mercenaries had not been paid for some time and the constant harassment during the march to Gezer had took its toll, and thus the pharaoh knew that a decisive battle was important. Reinforcements had reached Philip in the meantime, bolstering his ranks, and it was at the plains of Gezer that he decided to give battle.

The fighting started early in the morning of May 7th 294 BCE. Psamtik had his army advance, the Egyptians themselves in the centre with the Greek mercenaries on the flanks. The Egyptians were, like the Macedonians, equipped with long pikes, showing that foreign rulers too could see the phalanx as a war-winning force. All sources mention that the Egyptian phalanx performed well, keeping pressure on the Macedonian centre while the Greeks assaulted their flanks. The Argead left flank was on somewhat uneven terrain, not ideal for a phalanx, and there the Greeks, who still fought as traditional hoplites, started to push the Macedonians back. On the Macedonian right however were located the elite regiments of the Argyraspidai, who at first held back but when the Egyptians were fully engaged they started their advance, quickly putting the Greek and Nubian mercenaries facing them to rout. The Egyptian cavalry had been kept in reserve by Psamtik, but now he ordered them foreward, hoping that they could break the Argyraspidai. His Nabatean troops, some of whom who fought from camelback, were ordered the guard the flanks. Psamtik himself led the charge of the cavalry, and at first it seemed as if the Argyraspidai were falling back and that victory would be in his grasp. Sadly for him and Egypt, and it was not to be. A countercharge by the hetairoi struck the flanks of the Egyptian cavalry, and the pharaoh himself died in the ensuing melee. Egyptian morale collapsed, the infantry started falling back, which was exploited by the Bactrian cavalry that Philip had kept in reserve. The Egyptian line collapsed completely and their positions were overrun. Of the 50000 that had left Gaza only 10000 returned, harassed al the way to the fortress by Philip’s cavalry. Psamtik, who for a brief moment might have thought of victory and of carrying the banners of Amun-Ra all the way to the Euphrates, had died an ignominious death. His body was never recovered, instead of a splendid tomb and a golden sarcophagus he was dumped in an anonymous grave, a sad end for a once glorious dynasty.

And yet there was still one man who kept the dynastic hope alive, who was viewed as a more worthy heir than Psamtik had been. Upon hearing of his brother’s demise Nakhthorheb immediately marched forth from Waset again, reaching Memphis early in June 294. He had send envoys to Philip, whom he offered the lands of the Levant and even a yearly tribute. To Nakhthorheb it was a small price to pay in order to gain what he considered his birth right. Yet Philip refused, having swept aside the Egyptian army he now would not be satisfied with just Judea and Philistia, Egypt itself would be his. Gaza quickly surrendered, as did most other towns. The Egyptian fleet had retreated back to Tamiat and a new Argead one had been send, now mostly from Ionia and Greece itself. Philip quickly resumed his march, supplied by sea he stormed across the Sinai, the local Shasu quickly offered their subjugation. When Nakhthorheb reached Memphis Philip was already at the gates of Pelusium. There simply wasn’t the time for organizing an effective defence, and Pelusium, which had protected Egypt for so long, on which many pharaohs had spent so much to make it an invincible stronghold, fell without a fight. It’s commander gave up when Philip and the Argead army showed up, his garrison was depleted and many had died at Gezer. There was little that Nakthhorheb, who only had some Nubian mercenaries, could do.

The Argead army crossing the Sinai​

From Pelusium the Argead army followed the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, spreading terror in their wake. Egypt was a rich country, and plunder too could be a measure of a campaign’s success. The city of Per-Bast (Bubastis) resisted, and was brutally sacked in response. A counterattack under command of Wahibre, meant to push the Argeads away from Memphis, occurred not long after. This too ended up in disaster, Wahibre’s meagre force of levies and mercenaries stood no chance against the professional Argead forces. Near Iunu, or Heliopolis to the Hellenes, it was swept of the field. The Great Temple of Ra at Iunu was mercilessly sacked after the battle, a horrendous sacrilege to the Egyptians. Nakhthorheb was caught off guard by the speed of the Argead advance, and while holed up in Memphis he decided to retreat to Waset again, hoping to continue resisting the Macedonians from Upper Egypt. He gathered up all the riches he and his army could carry and prepared to leave the city in the middle of the night, but at a certain moment it’s citizens noticed and riots started, blaming their new king for abandoning them. In the chaos of those riots Nakhthorheb was hit on the head by a brick, supposedly thrown by an old woman, and he fell of his horse and died. Nakhthorheb III was the last ruler belonging to the Thirtieth Dynasty, which now came to an end, 86 years after it was established by Nakhtnebef I.

And the new ruling dynasty was already on the doorstep of Memphis. The Egyptians had suffered enough, so judged Philip III. The cost of resistance was now clear to them, and with the country in chaos he was the only one capable of putting it to order. The city of Memphis chose not to resist, and in July 294, only a year after his father’s death, Philip III entered the city not as it’s conqueror but as it’s new pharaoh. Philippos III, Great King of Asia, King of Kings, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, was now also the new Lord of the Two Lands.

Footnotes

1. The Shasu are the Bedouin nomads of the eastern desert, Kheperkara is Nakhtnebef I and Sennedjemibra is Nakhthorheb.
2. The Twenty-Second Dynasty was a dynasty of Libyan descent who ruled a reunified Egypt from Bubastis. It’s first couple rulers were successful, and even campaigned in Canaan, but under later rulers the country fragmented, with various rulers all over Egypt claiming kingship.
3. A sepat is one of the administrative districts in which Egypt was divided, known in Greek as nomes. Heri-tep means ‘Great chief’, their position was known as nomarch to the Greeks.
4. The city of Petra in Jordan.
5. The city of Damietta.

 

[phoenix101]

Interlude

Khmun​

Itamun was tired. He had spend the day inspecting the granaries and herds belonging to the Temple of Thoth at Khmun, capital of the Hare-sepat, the fifteenth sepat of Upper Egypt. It was Epip, the second month of the season of Shemu, the harvest season, and Itamun had made sure that the harvest belonging to the Temple was accounted for: he had tallied the wheat, barley and heads of cattle. The month of Epip was the month that the pharaoh’s tax collectors made their rounds, collecting their dues. Soon they would also visit Khmun and the temple would render unto the pharaoh that which belongs to him.

As his boat moored near the riverside quay Itamun bid farewell to the oarsman, a Nubian who had long since worked for the temple, he gathered up his note-filled papyrus scrolls and went ashore. To a casual observer Khmun might not have appeared much different from other cities or towns of the Valley of the Nile, but those who looked a bit closer might have seen the scars of recent conflict. During the Season of Inundation the city had been a warzone, forces belonging to Nakhthorheb had assailed the city from the south. Pharaoh Psamtik came down from the north and evicted Nakhthorheb, but neither side showed much respect for the city or its inhabitants. The Temple was sacrosanct, it survived without being damaged or ransacked and had provided refuge to many. The granaries were not so lucky, much of what was stored from earlier harvests was stolen or requisitioned, and even the herds belonging to the Temple had lost over three quarters of their cattle. In the town itself buildings were destroyed, people had been killed or wounded and many had lost their possessions to theft or fire. In short, the last year had been a disaster for the city.

Itamun made his way towards to the Temple of Thoth, its magnificent limestone pylon towered over the flat-roofed mudbrick townhouses. But in the end even the Temple could not escape the ravages of civil war. Several months ago pharaoh Psamtik was defeated and killed by the Greeks and the Asiatics, and when that happened Nakhthorheb made another attempt at seizing the throne. He had not forgotten the resistance that Khmun had shown to him, he had the heri-tep of the sepat executed and replaced with a sycophant and he had demanded that the Temple hand over it’s gold and silver to him. As far as Itamun and the people of Khmun were concerned Nakhthorheb was nothing but a cruel tyrant.

Now Itamun neared the Temple, he could already faintly hear the screeching of the sacred ibises, when something caught his eye. As he walked past the marketplace he noticed that it was busier than usual, despite the heat of the time of the year. Perhaps there was a brawl that attracted attention in one of the more rowdy beer-houses or a merchant who sold his goods at a discount rate. But when he came closer there almost appeared to be some kind of panic, and many of the people genuinely appeared to be struck with terror. What on earth had happened?

It was then that he heard of the disaster that had befallen Egypt. The Ruler of Foreign Lands had crossed the sands of the Sinai, somehow captured the great fortresses on the edge of the Delta and had viciously sacked Per-Bast and Iunu. That useless tyrant Nakhthorheb had not even attempted to defend the country and was, justly in Itamun’s view, killed in the streets of Men-nefer over this betrayal. He heard of the horrors spread in the wake of the Asiatic army, of temples plundered, priestesses raped and cities burned. Apparently the Apis bull had been viciously butchered and served up to the Ruler of Foreign Lands and his generals. As the implications of what happened became apparent, that Egypt would once again languish under foreign rule, Itamun wondered how it could have come this far.

Somehow however, he already knew. Itamun came from a well-off family, his father was a cavalry officer from Gebtu, just north of Waset and his mother was originally from Khmun. His elder brother had joined the army but died fighting the Asiatics and he himself had, through his family connections, become a scribe and thus ended up in Khmun, his mother’s hometown. He knew the history of his country, as it was taught by the priests at the Temple of Min at Gebtu, where Itamun had been educated. Kheperkara and Senedjemibra had been great kings, who repelled the Asiatics and restored Egypt’s splendour, but afterwards the rulers had been neglectful of their duties. Khakaura had been overly warlike, and was too eager to compare himself to the greatest rulers of old, going as far as constructing himself a funerary monument on the west bank of Waset, when only the greatest of the old rulers had done so. Yet he was better than those who came after him. Sehetepkara had been a neglectful and indulgent ruler, feasting and drinking while the country atrophied and declined, giving away Phoenician cities for crates of wine, so the rumour went. His foolish sons had caused a civil war and opened the country to invasion. Was it really such a wonder then that Egypt was punished with death and destruction, if it’s rulers behaved in such a fashion? Itamun certainly did not think so.

Once the rulers of Egypt had upheld ma’at, the cosmic order, and the nation prospered. Yet the recent rulers had not done so, despite what their inscriptions might proclaim, and isfet, ma’at’s vile opposite, had seeped into Egypt, corrupting everything. To Itamun the new occupation was but a symptom of the disease, although a grave one, and something needed to be done if Egypt was ever to be an independent kingdom again. Now he was but a lowly temple scribe, but he had received praise from his superiors for his diligence and piety. Soon he would inherit his father’s extensive estates and he would be a wealthy man, perhaps then he could do something. As he watched the sun set over the Nile, Ra finishing his journey across the firmament and starting his descent into the Duat, Itamun’s thoughts were firmly on the future.

 

[phoenix101]

30. The Chosen One of Ra

The King of Upper and Lower Egypt Setepenra, the Son of Ra, Philip, Great King of all Foreign Lands, at command of the Gods His Majesty came to Egypt. Through his might he drove out the usurpers and restored ma’at, it was he who pacified the Two Lands. His Majesty proceeded to Memphis, he restored the priests to their temples and went to the House of Ptah South-of-his-Wall. His Majesty was purified and he made an offering of oxen, myrrh and all good things to his father Ptah. Upon hearing of His Majesty’s piety all the districts of Lower Egypt opened their gates to him, as did the districts of Upper Egypt. Amun-Ra, King of the Gods, placed His Majesty on the Throne of Horus to rule the Two Lands forever like Ra.

- Coronation inscription of Philip III at Ipet-Mehu

As he deplored what had happened in the land, he evoked the state of the East, with Asiatics roaming in their strength, frightening those about to harvest and seizing cattle from the plough, he said:

Stir, my heart,
Bewail this land, from which you have sprung!
When there is silence before evil,
And when what should be chided is feared,
Then the great man is overthrown in the land of your birth.
Tire not while this is before you,
Rise against what is before you!
Lo, the great no longer rule the land,
What was made has been unmade,
Ra should begin to recreate!
The land is quite perished, no remnant is left,
Not the black of a nail is spared from its fate.
Yet while the land suffers, none care for it,
None speak, none shed tears: ‘’How fares this land!”
The sun-disk, covered, shines not for people to see,
One cannot live when clouds conceal,
All are numb from lack of it.

- Prophecy of Neferti, lines 17 – 26 [1]

When Philip III and his army crossed the Sinai, seized the great fortresses that guarded the Delta and sacked the city of Per-Bast the shock paralyzed the Egyptians. A desperate attempt at repelling the Argead advance ended in disaster at Iunu, when Philip led his hetairoi into the Egyptian flanks all resistance melted away, after which the Great Temple of Ra was ransacked. The death of Nakhthorheb III in Memphis was the final nail in the coffin for the Thirtieth Dynasty. Had he lived perhaps he could have continued resisting the Argeads from Upper Egypt, but alas it was not to be.

When Philip appeared outside of Memphis he had already triumphed, and with the news of the brutal sack of the Temple of Ra and of Per-Bast in their mind the citizens of Egypt’s capital wisely chose not to resist. The entrance of the ‘Great King of all Foreign Lands’ into the ancient city was a triumphant one, he marched in at the head of his army, although it is doubtful that he was awaited by jubilant crowds. There must have been some curious onlookers though, and he was met by a group of high-ranking officials of the city and it’s temples. The new pharaoh then proceeded to the temple of Ptah, where in the manner of the pharaohs he made offerings to the god of craftsmen. He also paid homage to the Apis-bull, earthly manifestation of Ptah, and contrary to later Egyptian sources the sacred bull did not end up on the royal dinner table. It seems that Philip understood that if he wanted to make Egypt part of his empire he needed to act as a true pharaoh. In some respects this seems to have worked; there certainly wasn’t a shortage of Egyptians who had no qualms about working for the new ruler. Even the vizier of Lower Egypt, Senedjemibranakht, remained in place, although he now would serve underneath a royal-appointed Macedonian satrap.

Philip and the Apis-bull​

As Philip remained in Memphis, preparing for his forthcoming coronation at the Ipet-Mehu, his army fanned out over the Valley of the Nile. Troops went north into the Delta, where the home of the Thirtieth Dynasty, the city of Tjebnetjer, was looted, as was the palace at Hebyt. This was because of their association with the former rulers of the land for other Delta cities did not share it’s fate. The fall of the Thirtieth Dynasty also was the end of relevance for the city of Tjebnetjer, which no longer could profit from dynastic preference, and afterwards it became an unassuming provincial town, although the large temple of Anhur-Shu remained important. The towns and cities of the Delta quickly surrendered, with the Egyptian army mostly destroyed at Gezer or encamped at the fortresses in distant Nubia there was little reason to resist. It perhaps would have been different if Bakenanhur had not waged his campaigns against the Delta aristocracy, who had been pivotal in the resistance against the Achaemenids, but their power had been all but destroyed.

It was thus in Upper Egypt that resistance to the Argead takeover was at its strongest. Philip had sent Amyntor, the son of Hephaistion and Cynane (and thus Philip’s cousin), upstream to subjugate the lands between Memphis and the First Cataract. The regions close to Memphis, with cities such as Shedyt (Crocodilopolis) and Henen-nesut (Herakleopolis) capitulated without a fight, when the army went further upstream however they found cities less willing to comply. The city of Khent-Min for example had barred its gates and manned its walls, and it took Amyntor several weeks to reduce its walls, after which the town was mercilessly sacked. It was not long afterwards that ominous news reached Amyntor from Waset, Upper Egypt’s largest city and home of the Cult of Amun-Ra. The fall of the Thirtieth Dynasty had great repercussions for the Egyptian possessions in Nubia, where many of the garrisons were understrength due to the recent civil war. The Kushite client ruler, Aryamani, took this opportunity to declare his independence and to drive the Egyptians back beyond the cataracts. Napata was quickly reclaimed, and not long afterwards all Egyptian forces retreated from Nubia. At the Temple of Amun at Napata Aryamani set up a victory stela, claiming to have defeated the Egyptians, although the inscription is lacking in detail. It seems Aryamani struck a deal with the remaining Egyptian troops, allowing them to leave unharmed and even seems to have send troops along, as Amyntor mentions the presence of many Nubian mercenaries among the Egyptian army.

The Egyptian forces encamped at Waset, enabling the southern city to resist Amyntor’s advance. Several riverine battles are mentioned, and Amyntor’s advance halted to a crawl. It was one of Nakhthorheb III’s generals, a certain Pahory, who led the Egyptian troops. Pahory was an ambitious man, after defeating Amyntor in September 295 in a battle near Iunet (Dendera) he ordered the construction of a small shrine at Ipetsut, in thanksgiving for the victory over the invaders. There his name inscribed inside a royal cartouche, thus proclaiming Pahory’s kingship. Amyntor temporarily retreated to Sauty, but he had left behind several garrisons in Upper Egypt that Pahory ended up unable to dislodge. The would-be pharaoh was frustrated by this, but he decided to ignore the garrisons for the time being. He gathered his army and sailed north, leaving behind only a small force in Waset, bypassing the Argead garrisons and hoping to confront Amyntor in battle. For Pahory and those who desired to see an independent Egypt it was perhaps their best hope, driving away the Macedonians and Persians before they could settle their regime. It was near Hardai (Cynopolis) that Amyntor gave battle late in October, having received reinforcements from further downriver. While on the river the Egyptians managed to hold their own and even repel an Argead assault on land things went awry. Once again the Egyptian army was outclassed by the Argead cavalry, who wreaked havoc on the Egyptian flanks. Pahory was captured and executed, and with him died the hope of a quick liberation for Egypt.

By the time of the battle of Hardai Philip III had already left Egypt again. He had been crowned at the Ipet-Mehu late in August 295, coinciding with the Egyptian new year. He was crowned with the sekhemty [2] and proclaimed the rightful King of Upper and Lower Egypt, his throne name being Setepenra [3]. Philip did not linger in Egypt for long afterwards, the Great King was a busy man after all. He did tour several sites in the Delta, including the Temple of Neith at Sau, where he made an attempt at looking pious by making offerings and giving gifts. He also visited a site in the northwest where on the shores of the Mediterranean a new city was to arise, acting as a crucial link between the Mediterranean and the land of the Nile. Philip ordered that this new city was to be named after his father, it would be known as Alexandria. While travelling through Lower Egypt part of the Great King’s entourage was a group of scribes, who took account of local estates and reported those to the king. Many lands were confiscated by Philip, who divided them into royal estates and lands that were to be distributed to his veterans. Aiming to prevent further damage to his reputation in Egypt he mostly left the temple estates intact, and he also donated generously for the restoration of the Temple of Ra at Iunu, although the Egyptians would never forgive him for that sacrilege. One of Philip’s final acts in Egypt was finding a city named after his wife Arsinoe on the shores of the Red Sea, near the point where the Canal of the Pharaohs once flowed. Darius’ canal had long since been neglected, it’s restoration had not been a priority of the later Achaemenids or any of the 29th or 30th Dynasty rulers. Philip however saw possibilities for the canal, especially considering the target of his next campaign.

It was thus early in October 295 BCE that Philip III left Egypt. Considering the impact he had on the country it is surprisingly short, Cambyses for example spend much more time in his newly won satrapy. He appointed his father’s old companion Ptolemaios as satrap of Egypt, a job he could only leave up to someone he could trust absolutely. Ptolemaios would indeed end up an able ruler, who managed to avoid offending the population and made sure the country was run well. In January 294 Amyntor had reached Abu (Elephantine), the traditional southern boundary of Egypt, completing the conquest of the land. For now Nubia would be left alone. After the defeat at Hardai the cities of Upper-Egypt, including Waset, gave up their resistance. Amyntor’s troops were disciplined professionals, and it seems the occupation went rather smoothly. Some wealth was confiscated and send north, but no temples or tombs were plundered. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t any large changes to Upper-Egypt, for indeed there were quite some. Garrisons were installed at several cities, sometimes consisting of such distant peoples as Thracians, Medes and Bactrians. Most dramatic was the dismissal of the God’s Wife of Amun, Udjashu, from her post at Waset. She was a daughter of Nakhtnebef II and thus unacceptable to the Macedonians as head of the powerful cult. As one ancient office was removed, another one was revived, for Philip III ordered the reinstatement of the High Priesthood of Amun to serve as the head of the Cult of Amun-Ra. The aptly-named Amunnakht was appointed as High Priest, whose living quarters at Ipetsut were across the road from a newly-built riverside fortress which would house the garrison of Waset, ensuring his and his Cult’s loyalty.

For Egypt the Argead conquest was a great shock, for it’s people it must have seemed as a great disaster. Texts from the era lament the fate of their country, some openly declaring that the gods had abandoned them. To those who had lost everything in the invasion it must have seemed as some kind of divine punishment, temples had been looted and cities had been burned; isfet had seemingly triumphed over ma’at. And yet the new king attempted to appear authentically Egyptian, while at the same time divvying up their land and settling it with Greeks and Macedonians. Egyptian confidence was at a low, for a century they had kept the Asiatics at bay, but it seems by allowing the Greeks to take over Asia they had signed their own death warrant. And perhaps it could have happened, Greeks had settled in Egypt before any of them even thought of living besides the Euphrates, and if Argead rule lasted centuries instead of decades perhaps a truly hybridised culture would have emerged, changing Egypt forever. Yet that is not what happened. Egyptian culture, by virtue of both its antiquity and a sometimes surprising flexibility, managed to endure and prosper. Argead rule, like that of the Hyksos, the Assyrians, the Nubians and the Persians, would turn out to only be temporary.

Footnotes

1. The translation I’ve used can be found in Miriam Lichtheim’s Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms on page 141. The Prophecy of Neferti is a story set during the Fourth Dynasty at the court of Sneferu (father of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid) wherein a wise man named Neferti prophesizes a coming period of disaster and disunity, but also the eventual reunification and new prosperity for Egypt. It was written during the early Twelfth Dynasty, and thus the prophesized chaos represents the First Intermediate Period. Neferti prophesizes that a king from the south named Ameny saves Egypt, likely a reference to Amenemhat I, the pharaoh who established the Twelfth Dynasty. It is thus quite possible that the prophecy is a propaganda piece on part of the ruling dynasty, retroactively legitimizing their rule.
2. ‘The Two Powerful Ones’, the red-white dual crown of the pharaohs, also known as the pschent.
3. Setepenra means ‘Chosen One of Ra’ and OTL it was the throne name of Alexander as pharaoh.

 

[phoenix101]

Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt

Kheperkara Nakhtnebef I: 380-361
Irimaatenra Djedhor: 361-360
Senedjemibra Nakhthorheb I: 360-328
Khakaura Nakhtnebef II: 335-319 (335-328 as co-regent)
Menkhepera Nakhthorheb II: co-regent 328-326
Usermaatra Nakhtnebef III: 319-318
Sehetepkara Bakenanhur: 318-297
Userkara Psamtik V: 297-294
Nakhthorheb III: 294

An overview of the Thirtieth Dynasty, its rulers with their personal and throne names. Nakhthorheb III doesn't have a throne name because he was a short-lived usurper. With 86 years on the Throne of Horus the dynasty is one of the shorter-ruling ones, although of course it's still a lot longer than OTL. An actual update should be sometimes next week, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[phoenix101]

Argead family overview

Philippos II Nikator (382-328) King of Macedonia from 359, Hegemon of the Hellenic League from 336, Great King of Asia from 333.

Spouses and children:
- Audata:
• Cynane: wife of Amyntas IV and Hephaistion, mother of Eurydice (with Amyntas), Amyntor and Alexander (with Hephaistion)
- Phila
- Nicesipolis:
• Thessalonike: married to Ptolemaios, mother of a son named Lagos
- Philinna:
• Arrhidaios: never married, lives at the court of his brother/nephew
- Olympias:
• Cleopatra: married to Alexander of Epirus, regent for her son Neoptolemos (from 330-312) and her grandson Aiakides (from 310), she is thus in practice the ruler of Epiros, together with Leonnatos, commander of the Macedonian forces in Epirus.
• Alexander III
- Eurydice

Alexandros III Megas (356-295) King of Macedonia, Great King of Asia, Hegemon of the Hellenic League from 328.

Spouses and children:
- Artakama:
• Philip III
• Cleopatra: married to Demetrios, son of Antigonos, they have two sons: Antigonos and Demetrios
• Karanos
- Nitokris:
• Olympias

Philippos III Euergetes (326-…) King of Macedonia, Great King of Asia, Hegemon of the Hellenic League from 295.

Spouses and children:
- Arsinoë, daughter of Lysimachos:
• Philip

 

[phoenix101]

31. Hēgemonía

Euergetes

King Philip says: these are the lands which are subject unto me, and by the grace of Zeus-Oromazdes I became king of them: Macedonia, Persia, Media, Babylonia, Elam, Assyria, Egypt, Lydia, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Bactria, Sogdia, Gandhara, India, Arachosia, Maka and Arabia. The Greeks of the Aegean and of Italy accept my leadership, the Illyrians, Thracians, Nubians, Scythians, Italians and Carthaginians bring me tribute. It is by virtue of ruling over all these peoples that I am called the Great King, as my father was before me and his father before him.

- Inscription of Philip III at Behistun

Philip’s Egyptian campaign was a great success, to that every Macedonian and Persian would certainly agree. An enemy that had vexed the Achaemenids for sixty years, and in the end weakened them enough that it enabled the conquests of Philip Nikator, had been subdued with relative ease. Philip crossed the Sinai back to Asia in October 295, but he did not immediately return to Babylon. He settled in the fortress at Gaza for some time, where he summoned the various local rulers of Philistia and Judea and made sure they were loyal. Those who had not been enthusiastic enough in their support of the Egyptian campaign he had replaced, but most of the local potentates had known which way the wind was blowing after the battle of Gezer and they had amply supplied Philip with provisions, horses, camels and men. In order to oversee these lands Philip created the new satrapy of Koile-Syria and Phoenicia, which was ruled from Damascus. This satrapy, which encompassed Koile-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Philistia, he granted to his close companion and brother-in-law Demetrios, who had just returned from his campaign on Sicily.

Among those who offered tribute to Philip were the Nabateans, who were quick to make amends with the new ruler of the Levant. Making sure that the trade between the Arab interior and the Mediterranean ports could continue uninterrupted was their foremost interest, so they were the ones who offered Philip his most impressive gifts. Many talents of silver, large amounts of myrrh and frankincense were gifted to the Great King of Asia, and Philip was impressed by their wealth and affluence. The Nabateans of this era were not ruled over by a king, and although they did have a central capital (Rekem i.e. Petra) most of them were nomadic herdsmen or travelled with the trading caravans. While they were not renowned warriors during the days of Philip III he still enlisted many of them, troops accustomed to the Arabian desert who rode on camelback could be a valuable asset during his next campaign. Philip left Gaza in November 295 and returned to Babylon, which he reached in January 294.

Like his father and grandfather before him Philip made a triumphant entrance into the capital, with large crowds gathered besides the roads and on the rooftops to catch a glimpse of their king. The plundered wealth of Egypt was put on display for the populace, gold, temple treasures and statues that the Egyptians regarded as divine were carried through the streets of Babylon. Several months later the statues of the gods of Babylon were also carried through the city, and were probably treated with more reverence than the Egyptian statues had been. This happened on the occasion of Akitu, an important new-year festival in honour of the god Marduk. Philip duly performed his duties as King of Babylon, and he participated during all the festivities during the ten day-long festival, even the ritual humiliation of the king in front of the statue of Marduk. Well-aware that he was not the ruler of a single people but of a polyglot empire Philip did his best to honour the traditions of his subjects, or at least as much as was possible to him.

Philip was of course the son of Alexander, but also of Artakama, and thus descendant of both the Argeads and the Achaemenids. Having already visited Macedonia, to bury his father, it is perhaps no surprise that shortly after the Akitu he visited Persia itself. There he visited the tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae and the palace complex at Persepolis, where he commissioned the construction of an additional palace. Egypt seems to have made an impression on the king, for the new palace has some notable Egyptian influences, it’s gateway even resembles a pylon and an obelisk complete with hieroglyphic inscription was erected in front of it. Another building constructed at Persepolis during Philip’s reign was a temple to Ahura Mazda, the supreme deity of the Persians. This initial construction was not much more than a fire shrine and an enclosure, although it was richly decorated. Under later rulers it would be expanded and embellished, a truly royal shrine to Zeus-Oromazdes, protector of the dynasty and the realm.

Later sources claim that Philip intended to be crowned in the traditional manner of the Achaemenid rulers during his sojourn in Persia, but that he was deterred from doing so by the likely negative reaction of his Macedonian kinsmen. His Achaemenid heritage ensured that the remnants of the old Persian nobility were willing to support him, and it probably helped that Philip himself spoke Persian and could thus converse and mingle with the Persians without requiring a translator. But this doesn’t mean that the actual power of the Persian nobility would increase during Philip’s reign, while some Persians gained high positions at the court outside of Iran proper all satrapies remained in the hands of Macedonians. Intermarriage did occur, but it was mostly the sons of Macedonian generals marrying the daughters of Persian nobility. Philip did thus pay lip service to his Achaemenid heritage, but during his reign the Iranian nobility were still secondary compared to the Macedonians, and the few who did reach higher positions did so through showing their valour on the battlefield. This probably caused some resentment among the Persians, and if their position had not improved under later rulers perhaps native Iranian resistance against the Argeads could have been successfully revived.

For several years after the Egyptian campaign Philip was content with the state of his Empire, which he ruled from Babylon during those days, aided by the chiliarch Perdikkas. Several new cities were founded during the period such as Alexandria-in-Syria [1], which would serve as port for Nikatoris, and Artakameia-on-the-Euphrates [2], named for his mother. He instated quadrennial royal games, known as the Basileia (literally ‘royal’), which were held at Babylon every four years from 292 onwards. Just like his predecessors he sponsored many construction projects, and temples from the cataracts of the Nile to the banks of the Jaxartes mention his generosity. The royal family also expanded during this period, two more sons were born to Arsinoe, Alexander in 294 and Ptolemaios in 293. The king’s half-sister Olympias, born to his father Alexander and his Egyptian wife Nitokris, had been married of to Antiochos, the son of Seleukos, the general of the cavalry, further strengthening the Great King’s link with the Macedonian nobility. All in all the peace was a fruitful period for the Great King of Asia, but in 291 his thoughts went ,as they almost inevitably do for the ruler of a nascent empire, to the further expansion of his realm.

Philip himself had witnessed the great wealth that the Nabateans earned through the trade of incense and myrrh, and seizing the production of these valuable goods was more than enough motivation for an ambitious king. The prospect of an Arabian expedition was daunting, but certainly not beyond the means of the Great King of Asia. A fleet was constructed in the Persian Gulf which would be used to transport Argead forces down the eastern coast of the Arabian peninsula. At the start of Spring 290 the preparations were complete, and from Herakleia-on-the-Tigris a grand armada departed, including 200 triremes and 20 quinqueremes. It glided past the Arabian coast, past Gerrha and Maka, already subjugated by Alexander and now loyal territories who supplied the Argead army with men accustomed to the desert. The fleet stopped at Tylos (Bahrain), where Philip made offerings at a temple his father had founded there. To those living on the shore the passage of the royal fleet must have been an impressive sight, a reminder that they too were the subjects of a man whose dominion apparently stretched beyond what they could imagine. Afterwards the fleet stopped at Omana (Sohar) and then sailed south past the Arabian coast.

Philip was not in a hurry, and news of his campaign had long since spread among the kingdoms of southern Arabia. Hadhramaut was the first of these kingdoms he reached, the royal fleet sailed into the harbour of Qana in May 290. No resistance was offered, and Philip quickly disembarked his army at the port. A part of the fleet, under command of Lagos, son of the satrap of Egypt Ptolemaios, sailed onwards past the coast, to find the southern cape of Arabia and the passage to the Red Sea. Philip had learned in the meantime that the rulers of the various kingdoms had decided to put aside their quarrels and to oppose the invaders as a united front. Philip hired local guides and gathered his elite forces, 30000 strong, and marched of to the Hadhrami capital at Sabata [3], perhaps hoping that with a quick and decisive strike he could show the Arabs that resistance was futile. The march to Sabata was gruelling, but upon reaching the city the king of Hadhramaut, who was taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of the Argead army, fled the city with his troops. Philip treated the inhabitants of Sabata magnanimously, the city wasn’t plundered and he placed a relative of the former king on the throne to rule as a vassal.

Map of Southern Arabia​

Philip thus requisitioned supplies and marched south-west, marching into Qataban, another kingdom. Here he encountered some resistance, there were some attempted ambushes in mountainous terrain and winding valleys of the region, but these the Argead army managed to repel with relative ease, losing more men to the inhospitable terrain than to its hostile inhabitants. It was upon nearing the city of Timna, capital of Qataban, that an Arab defector told Philip that the kings of Arabia had gathered their armies there to oppose him. The rulers of Saba, Hadhramaut, Qataban and Ma’in had hoped that their combined hosts might overpower the Great King of Asia. Overall command seems to have been in the hands of the King of Saba, a certain Anmar Yuha’man. Upon hearing that Philip was near the armies were gathered, horses, camels and men prepared for fighting while prayers were said to the gods. The Arab kings had positioned themselves just outside the walls of Timna, on several hills, hoping to break the Argead assault. But unknown to Anmar Yuha’man the battle was already decided before the fighting even started, spies of Philip had contacted the other Arab rulers and through promises of gold and clemency they decided to abandon the ruler of Saba. Perhaps they thought if foolish trying to resist a man who ruled most of the world, or perhaps local rivalries were stronger than aversion of the Greeks and Persians. In the end their motivation mattered little. After some skirmishes suddenly the Qatabanians and the Minnaeans retreated from the field, leaving the Sabaeans exposed to the Argead cavalry, which routed them decisively. Anmar Yuha’man did not survive, just like many of his men. Argead supremacy over southern Arabia was now secure.

The next month the Macedonians started their siege of the Sabaean capital at Marib, which did not hold out for long. It was a rich city, for long it had been the centre of the spice and incense trade, and Philip allowed his soldiers to plunder it. Several days of horrific violence followed, the city was gutted, and although later generations would resettle it it would be a long time before it would regain any prominence. Thankfully for the locals Philip did not demolish the large dam, which made sure that agriculture was possible in it’s parched lands. After the siege of Marib Philip went to the coast, where he visited Aden, which he renamed to Alexandria-Eudaimon, capital of the new satrapy of Arabia Eudaimon. Antiochos, son of Seleukos, was named its first satrap. Not long afterwards Philip left again, sailing up the Red Sea and landing in Egypt, where he inspected the ongoing construction of Alexandria-on-the-Nile and afterwards returned to Babylon via Syria, celebrating his triumphant entrance in January 289. Philip thus had made himself master of the rich lands of Arabia Eudaimon, but aside from some coastal garrisons there was no large-scale settlement of Hellenes or Persians. For the vast majority of its people nothing had changed, and many Arabs lived their lives without ever even laying eyes on a Greek or Persian. The change was mostly felt at the levels of the elites, by the local kings and wealthy merchants, who now had to deal with the satraps, envoys and custom agents of the Great King. In the end Saba, Qataban, Ma’in, Himyar and Hadhramaut did not even superficially Hellenise outside of some port cities. To the Great Kings this mattered little, as long as they got their share of the profitable spice and incense trade they were more than willing to let the Arabs do whatever they want.

Philip’s entrance in Babylon in 289 was the beginning of a decade of peace, which in hindsight could be seen as the hight of the early Argead Empire. From Aden to the Jaxartes, from the Danube to the Indus and from Sicily to the Himalayas a single Empire now ruled. Trade seemingly increased year-over-year, large scale construction projects continued across the Empire and immigrants from the Aegean still flocked to the newly-constructed cities of Mesopotamia. Hellenic cultural live flourished: playwrights and actors flocked to the newly-build theatres of the east, philosophers and learned men founded institutes of learning and often attended the satrapal and royal courts, eager as those warlords were to sponsor the more intellectual pursuits of life. The greatest benefactor was of course Philip himself, the Great King’s personal wealth was almost immeasurably large, income from the best farmlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt, of the various mines throughout the empires (which were all owned by the state) and the custom duties levied in ports and other centres of trade made sure of that. He also sponsored many building projects throughout the empire and was generally known for his generosity, which contributed to his epithet of ‘Euergetes’ i.e. benefactor.

Philippos III Euergetes [4]​

Despite his epithet however it seems that the Great King himself was a somewhat awkward figure those days. While an effective ruler and able general he always seemed somewhat distant from others, perhaps not strange if you consider that he was raised with the thought that he would rule most of the world. Simonides of Kos ,a historian from the time who lived in Babylon and wrote a chronicle of the rule of Philip III remarked that while the king had many hetairoi (companions) he had few philoi (friends), it seems he was closest to his brother Karanos and to Amyntor and Demetrios, whom he had known since his youth. Unlike his father and many other Macedonians he was never a heavy drinker, and while he did attend the long drinking sessions (the symposia) he rarely enjoyed it and often excused himself. While the more stoic among the court philosophers admired the king for this many others among the Macedonian nobility thought that it was rather strange and unbecoming of a monarch. The Great King enjoyed travelling, and even throughout the peaceful decade of the 280’s he is mentioned as having visited many parts of his empire, leaving the chiliarch Perdikkas to govern from Babylon in his stead. Perdikkas was one of Alexander’s old companions who ably supported Philip, but according to some historians of the time they also vexed him, sometimes treating the Great King as if he was still a child. Many of them had served under Philip Nikator and all of them under Alexander, they had the affection of the army and so Philip III could not easily dismiss them. Several had intermarried into the royal family and held satrapies, and when they died those often passed to their sons. A stronger-willed ruler might have done something about it, but it seems that Philip was unable or unwilling to redistribute the satrapies, perhaps fearful of the reaction of the Macedonian aristocracy.

Despite this backdrop of royal unease the Argead Empire itself did well. The wealthy lands of Egypt and Arabia Eudaimon were a welcome addition to the Empire. Egypt, under the able rule of its satraps Ptolemaios, and after his death in 283, his son Lagos, recovered quickly from the damage it endured during Philip’s invasion. Despite the fertile soil deposited by the Nile each year which ensured a bountiful harvest it was not agriculture that earned special attention from the country’s new rulers but its mineral wealth. The mines that were owned by the Thirtieth Dynasty or by one of the estates of the major cults of Egypt were all seized in accordance with Argead policy elsewhere. Ptolemaios is also known to have send mining expeditions into Egypt’s eastern desert, where they established permanent mining operations. Precious stones were also found and mined, such as emeralds, turquoise and quartz used for glass-making. Egyptian faience was exported all over the empire, and it’s grain once again fed the cities of Greece and the Aegean. Major construction projects in Egypt were the construction of the city of Alexandria and the reconstruction of Darius’ canal linking the Nile with the Red Sea. The various cults of Egypt were placated with generous gifts, and throughout his reign the land seemed docile despite its traumatic conquest. Perhaps Egypt was governable after all.

The 280’s were a time of peace and increasing prosperity, even if it did not spread far beyond the Macedonian settlers and local elites. The roads and sea lanes were well protected, encouraging trade and commerce, and the empire was governed relatively well. The only crisis that arose during the period occurred after the death of Krateros, who served as regent of Macedonia, in 281. His son with Phila, also named Krateros, claimed the regency over Macedon and requested that the Great King would grant it to him. It was an audacious request, and it certainly showed that the younger Krateros was an ambitious man, but Philip was unwilling to grant it. Macedonia was still the dynastic heartland, source of a large part of its military strength and a foothold in Europe, it would not be granted to an inexperienced young man. Krateros was summoned to Babylon, but upon his arrival he was arrested and accused of misconduct, he had supposedly arranged the theft of many artefacts from the Argead royal graves at Aigai. The charges were almost certainly trumped up, but that mattered little. Krateros was quietly disposed of and the regency of Macedonia was granted to Karanos, the Great King’s younger brother. With the older satraps dying off it granted Philip a chance to deal with a younger generation, perhaps more willing to bend to his will. As the 270’s dawned the future for the Argead Empire looked bright.

Polemarchos

Philip III was a ruler more at ease in the saddle than he was in the palace, and it is for that reason that the later part of his reign was a happier time for him personally, even if it was not so for his realm.

- Excerpt from ‘The Life of Philippos Euergetes’ by Simonides of Kos

The death of Artakama in 279 was an inauspicious start to what would turn out to be an inauspicious decade. The mother of the Great King had held sway over the Argead court for a long time, and her passing was cause for mourning. She had provided the link between the Argead and Achaemenid lines, and as befits someone of her status she was given a magnificent funeral, and in the end she was laid to rest besides her husband at Aigai. It was later that year, in September 279, that after a decade of the peace the Great King marched of to war again. Once again India would be the target of a royal campaign, an attempt at expanding the imperial frontier.

The satrapy of the Indus and the vassal kingdom of Gandhara had been relatively stable ever since Alexander’s second Indian campaign in 310 BCE. The consolidation of Gandhara is in hindsight an enormously important event, but for Alexander it seems to have been an afterthought. Ruling from Taxila Poros II [5], as he was known by the Greeks, was an able and just ruler. He managed to navigate a middle way between the wishes of his Macedonian overlord and those of the local population. He sponsored the university at Taxila and appeared to be on good terms with both the local brahmanic establishment and the nascent Buddhist community. While some Hellenic sources attribute these good qualities to Poros’ time alongside Alexander this seems short-sighted and prejudiced. Philip’s father-in-law and satrap of the Indus Lysimachos died in 282, unmourned by the local population, and he was succeeded by his son Alexander, who died soon after under mysterious circumstances. He was succeeded by a quick succession of less than capable satraps and this had given Poros II a chance to consolidate his power. Poros ruled his realm as a vassal of the Great King and was largely autonomous, but during the late 280’s periodic outbursts of warfare, characterized not by full-scale conflict but by constant raids and plundering, harassed the eastern reaches of his realm, particularly the area of Trigarta. The situation was serious enough that Poros asked Philip for aid, despite his own sizeable forces. The opposing side during this conflict were again the Yaudheya, an aristocratic confederacy which had by this time gained dominion over the lands between the Upper Ganges and the Yamuna. It seems that they made Indraprashta [6] their capital, and on their coins they evoked the ancient Kuru Kingdom, which was based in roughly the same region.

It is more or less impossible to paint a clear picture of the exact political situation in India after the fall of the Nanda Dynasty, but it seems many of the territories once subject to Magadhan rule had claimed independence. South of the Yaudheya the Surasena kingdom arose, centred on the city of Mathura, while straddling the Vindhya hills and the areas southwest towards the Narmada was the home of the Kingdom of Avanti. Further east were states such as Kosala, Vrji and Magadha itself. Some of these were monarchies were local strongmen had seized power and claimed royal titles, others were oligarchical republics. Despite the collapse of the Nanda state trade flourished, and the consolidation of the west under the Argead Empire meant the opening of new markets for Indian merchants. Trade guilds grew rich during the era, showing that political fragmentation did not necessarily mean economic degradation. The many states of the Gangetic plain were also well-populated, and thus had no problem with raising sizeable armies. Philip III and his army appeared on the banks of the Yamuna in December 279, eager to deal a blow to the Yaudheya and perhaps outdo his father.

Argead forces fighting in India​

Despite the size of his force, 80000 men from all over the empire and 30000 supplied by Poros himself, Philip’s campaign was not the success it was meant to be. What was imagined as a victorious march down the Yamuna turned into a campaign of attrition, the Yaudheya rarely engaged Philip directly and instead preferred harassing his supply lines, only giving battle when they were forced to. Once again Macedonian phalangites faced off against well-armed guild warriors and war elephants, and the battles were often bloody affairs, not decided by a glorious cavalry charge but by the discipline and perseverance of the Argead army. Philip’s greatest victory was the capture of Indraprashta after a year of campaigning, which seems to have broken the back of the Yaudheya resistance, even if only temporarily. Afterwards he pushed south into Surasena, perhaps dreaming of marching down the Ganges and spreading his realm towards the eastern ocean, but Mathura turned out to be a bridge too far. An inconclusive battle was fought near that city in February 277 and Philip was stopped by a temporary coalition of Indian rulers, the king of Surasena had received support from Panchala and Avanti to stem the tide of Argead expansion. Badly bloodied the Argead army returned to Taxila, leaving large parts of the Gangetic plain in ruins and the region’s nascent powers crippled. While most of the Indian plunder was carried back to Babylon the greatest prize belonged to Poros, his rivals were in disarray while he had managed to increase his own standing and during the remainder of his reign Gandhara was peaceful and prosperous. His talented son and heir Suracaksas, mentioned in Greek sources as Souraxes, commanded the Gandharan forces during the campaign and had shown himself an able commander and leader. In due time he would put the experience gained serving under the Great King to good use.

After a brief return to Babylon Philip went east again late in 277 and settled in Baktra. Ever since Alexander pushed them out the Saka had been relatively docile, but during the early 270’s raids across the Jaxartes became increasingly common which required countermeasures. Accompanied by his eponymous eldest son and by Amyntor the Great King fought a campaign against the invading Saka, he managed to relieve several isolated garrisons and in the end forced the Saka back over the Jaxartes. He did not pursue them beyond the river, probably judging that there was nothing worth conquering beyond. In order to prevent a repeat his solution was twofold: on the Sogdian frontier he settled many of his veterans, many of whom were not too happy with being settled on the edge of the known world, the other solution was a regular tribute to some of the Scythian tribes in exchange for not raiding the frontier. For some time this worked, but it certainly wasn’t a viable long-term solution. To future Argead rulers guarding the north-eastern frontier and preventing nomads from plundering Bactria or ranging across the Iranian plateau would be one of their primary concerns.

The Great King and his army returned to Babylon early in 275 where he entered in a triumphant procession, rather extravagant if you consider that no great victory had been achieved. Not long after his return Perdikkas passed away, which allowed Philip to install someone of his own choice as the new chiliarch. His choice went, unconventionally, to his own brother Karanos, who had shown himself to be an able administrator in Macedonia and he was someone who Philip could implicitly trust. Karanos was more sociable but less martial than his brother and he had many connections with the Macedonian aristocracy, but was markedly less interested in Persian affairs despite his own Achaemenid heritage. He was also somewhat of a schemer, and the network of informers he had on his payroll supposedly spread from Sicily to the Indus. As regent of Macedonia he was replaced by the crown prince Philip. In contrast to his younger brother the Great King himself did not often stay at the capital, eager as he was to avoid the life at court, and instead often visited his hunting estates or the building sites of his temples and cities. Late in 275 he send Amyntor to Upper Egypt with a force 12000 strong, perhaps in preparation for a campaign against the Kushite Kingdom. Thankfully for the Kushites that would never materialize due to circumstances in Italy.

While in Ekbatana early in 274 the Great King received two envoys from the League of the Rasna (Etruscans). The League had long since been in conflict with the Romans, who after being blocked in their southern advance by the Saunitai now had turned their gaze northwards. Before Alexander’s Italian expedition Rome seemed ascendant, but the hegemony he had enforced over much of the peninsula had left them in an uncomfortable position. After losing control over a large part of Campania during Alexander’s war against the Saunitai Rome was resentful, while officially it was an ally of the Argead Empire in practice it had become a vassal. In the 290’s they fought a conflict against the Rasna, who allied themselves with the Senones, a Celtic tribe who settled on Italy’s north eastern shore in Umbria. It was an inconclusive war, the Romans besieged the city of Tarchna (Tarquinii) for some years but did not manage to capture it, and when a Roman army was defeated near Velzna (Volsinii) in 289 by the Rasna-Senones coalition the war ended in a stalemate. The Romans however did not relent, and during the 280’s several wars were waged against the Picentines, which ended with them forced into an alliance with Rome and with the Romans establishing a colony at Ancona.

The Rasna marching off to war​

In 276 the Romans resumed their war against the Rasna, citing as reason a mistreatment of some of their merchants. Once again the Senones were called in by the Rasna, but this time it seems luck was not on their side. Near Cosa their alliance was decisively defeated by the Romans under their consul Tiberius Coruncanius, and a year later Tarchna fell to a Roman assault. The Rasna were faltering, their only hope being the intervention of a power greater than Rome. It was thus that the envoys travelled to Ekbatana, offering earth and water to the Great King in exchange for his protection, which he was eager to give. Philip thus dispatched envoys to Rome, commanding the Romans to cease their aggression against his vassals. Many among Rome’s senators were willing to acquiesce, powerful as their city was it could not hope to stand against the Great King of Asia. But there were also others who argued that Philip was far away, that his promise of protection wasn't worth the papyrus it is written upon. Resentment against the Macedonians ran high, had they not denied Rome its rightful possessions in Campania? In a moment of patriotic fervour the Romans thus refused to relent, and knowing what would come next the Roman Assembly declared war on the Argead Empire.

Almost immediately another legion was called up, and under command of the consul Publius Valerius Laevinus it marched into Campania, catching the local Hellenes and Saunitai off-guard. They prevailed in a series of battles, which emboldened the Romans. Neapolis was captured by treachery and sacked brutally, the news of which startled the Argead court. They had not expected the Romans to refuse to stop their war against the Rasna, let alone launch an offensive against the Italiote League. The Roman victory had great repercussions, the Saunitai Confederacy was split, some of its members saw a chance to throw off the Argead yoke, while others prefered a distant overlord over the possibility of Roman domination. The Lucanians and Bruttians too wavered in their loyalty. The Romans also tried to find other, more powerful, allies. The recent regime change in Carthage [7] had brought to power a government that was willing to act aggressively against the Argeads, and an alliance between the two republics was signed halfway through 274. Some Roman raids into Megale Hellas later that year were repelled, but for now the war appeared to be a great success and a Roman dominated Italy seemed all but assured. Maybe the Roman Senate hoped that the Great King would be willing to sign away some of his peripheral territories in exchange for peace, but if they hoped this than they were sorely mistaken. Perhaps rumours had already reached Rome that fall, that the king had left Babylon and was heading west, that he had boarded a fleet and landed in Macedonia, where he joined up with even more reinforcements. Slowly this information trickled west, until there could be no doubt for the Romans and Carthaginians: the Great King was coming.

Footnotes

1. OTL Seleucia Pieria
2. OTL Dura-Europos
3. Modern day Shabwa in Yemen
4. OTL Antiochus Epiphanes
5. This was not his personal name, rather it most likely refers to the clan/tribe he ruled, the Puru.
6. Near modern day Delhi
7. This will be addressed in the next update.