Hounds of Ares: A Thracian Empire Timeline

Askelion

In another attempt to introduce a little-known contender to the ancient world scene, King Cersobeptes of Odrysia, I've started this timeline. This Thracian warlord was bent on uniting the myriad Thracian and Dacian tribes into a single state, and hoped to create a small empire on the black sea. He planned to modernize his army, and seize Byzantium. His mistake, however, was to call upon his enemy Phillip II of Macedon to help settle the end of a long conflict between the tribes. He chose not to engage Phillip whilst their forces were equal, but after he was weakened by years of war. The Macedonian would end up subjugating Cersobeptes and and other Thracian warlords, paving the stage for a lineage of Thracian Princes ruling only in name.

Here's a timeline where things happen a little differently.
 
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Askelion

Prologue

March 30, 352: The royal chambers of King Cersobleptes of Odrysia. Approximately 20:00 hours.

The King sat nervously upon his humble seat in his humble palace, waiting for a less-than-humble guest. His guards snapped to attention as a grizzly, yet polished, man walked through the entrance gate. A laurel wreath sat upon the head of the Greek Hegemon, and his beard was trimmed cleanly. One eye was deformed and burned shut, and he was large and toned, although smaller than the Thracians around him. The man spoke in a loud grumble, and his voice was marked equally by pride and embarrassment. The king’s heart beat faster, and he straightened his back in anticipation. He knew that this was a pivotal moment in history. The Macedonian spoke:

“Great King, brother, warrior; I come before you that we may talk as equals. I was wrong to support your kin over you, and know that you and I will make powerful allies. Together, we can change the world! Let us talk thus of peace and united war, and let our foes tremble before the underdogs of history! They call us barbarians and savages, but we know that they are overeducated fools. Let our sons inherit the successes we forge today, and let our victories be endless. Will you join me brother?”

The King stared from beneath his helmet wryly, leaning forward in thought and deliberation. His warriors had made an ally of an enemy, and he had the opportunity to raise his people from obscurity to triumph. He began to sweat as he stood up. He looked into the Macedonian’s eyes for a moment, and placed his helmet upon the table beside him, and slowly walked towards the Macedonian. He grabbed his sica and threw it beside him as the other king dispensed of his sword. The two men embraced heartily, and grasped their forearms together. The King smiled as the promise of empire burned in his eyes.

“Yes my friend.” The Thracian spoke, “I gladly will!”
 

Askelion

January 14, 352 BC: Phillip II, King of Macedon, launches a minor expedition into Thrace against Cersobleptes, King of the Odrysians in support of Athens.
January 15, 352-March 22, 352: Phillip’s campaign in Thrace is miserable and disasterous, reaching a climactic at the Battle of Odrysia Major, where the Macedonian forces are routed completely.
March 30, 352: Phillip II and Cersobleptes renegotiate a peace and alliance between Macedon and Odrysia, renewing an ancient pact between the two states. Cersobleptes begins the process of Hellenizing his military to a minor degree, introducing the Macedonian Phalanx and heavy armor into his army.
April 3, 352: Cersobleptes finds himself unable to diplomatically unite Thrace, with his brother Amadocus II and the sons of his brother Berisades in control of other fiefs in the region. Unsatisfied with allowing Thrace to remain divided amongst his family and wary of growing foreign threats, the King moves against his kin to reunite his late father’s domain.
April 10, 352: An agent of Amadocus attempts to spear King Cersobleptes in his sleep, but misses and is killed by the king’s bodyguards. Historians will debate for centuries the significance of this situation.
April 20, 352-January 5, 350: The so-called Thracian Wars of Unification continue for two years, and end with the successful unification of the region under the Odrysian State. Amadocus II does not survive the conflict, but Berisades’ oldest son Cetriporis survives after agreeing to be adopted by his uncle Cersobleptes. The King Cersobleptes was then declared High King of All Thrace, with Phillip and the Hellenic League in observance.
January 6, 350: High King Cersobleptes begins the construction of a new capitol city dubbed ‘Germebria’: literally ‘the warm city’. On the same day, Thracian troops march on Byzantion on the Dardanelles.
May 12, 350: Byzantine forces surrender to the Thracian invaders after a five-month siege, having exhausted food reserves and being hit by a plague.
May 15, 350: Thracian armies begin to march north on a campaign of conquest through eastern Dacia.
May 16, 350-September 2, 347: After three years and many deaths, the Dacian tribes are pacified and assimilated into the Thracian Empire, and are granted full citizenship as Thracians, being of the same linguistic and cultural group. In order to manage the varying interests of the various tribes of both Thrace and Dacia are each given representation in the Imperial Council, and organ created by the High King to help him manage the realm.
September 10, 347: Germebria is completed, and dedicated to the Thracoian supreme deity Sabazios.
October 4, 347-February 13, 346: The armies and warbands of the defeated Dacian tribes are assimilated into the Thracian military. The lgiven extra training in preparation for an upcoming campaign into Sarmatia.
February 14, 346: In a move to establish a united Imperial culture, a new order of warrior priests is established, known as the Bathektistai (literally ‘bathing monks’) in dedication to the war goddess Kotys. Those monks not suited to battle serve as a dedicated caste of public servants, while the warrior monks defend important leaders in the Empire and serve as elite shock troops.
March 23, 346: A large Thracian army embarks against the Sarmatian hearthlands. The Sarmatians resist fiercely and the Thracian advance is slow and perilous.
March 24, 346-October 8, 336: The Thracian war in Sarmatia goes well for the High King, and in ten years, nearly half of the Sarmatian territory is owned by Thrace. On October 8th, King Phillip II of Macedon and High King Cersobleptes are assassinated as they celebrated the wedding of Phillip’s relative Alexander 1 of Epiros. The Hellenic world waits in shock as the two greatest major powers of the region found themselves without leaders.
October 9, 336: At a joint ceremony in Pella, Alexander III of Macedon and Cetriporis I of Thrace ascend the thrones of the Macedonian and Thracian Empires respectively. The two Princes agree to a renewed alliance against Persia, the assumed mastermind of their fathers’ assassinations.
October 10, 336-July 13, 335: Alexander III, with auxiliaries provided by his Thracian allies, embarks on a campaign to consolidate his power in the Balkans. The campaign lasts for just under a year, and results in the security of Macedon’s northern border, having crushed the opposing poleis and tribes in the area.
July 14, 335-February 1, 334: The so-called ‘Twin Princes’ of Thrace and Macedonia (being Alexander III and Cetriporis I, respectively) plan and prepare to accomplish the long-held Hellenic dream of conquering the Persian Empire. The plan is to be a primarily Macedonian affair, relying on the Thracian navy for supplies and hoping to rendezvous with the Thracian armies to the north of Asia Minor following their conquest of Sarmatia.
February 2, 334-December 20, 334: As Alexander leads his deadly Macedonian army into Asia Minor, Cetriporis’ northern armies launch a blistering assault against the last elements of opposition in Sarmatia, being composed of Scythian tribes and Greek poleis. Alexander finds great success at the Battle of Granicus and Siege of Halicarnassis, whilst his Thracian allies capture the final Sarmatian stronghold of Chorasima. By the fall of 334, the armies of Macedon are being supplied by Thracian naval power in the Black Sea.
December 21, 334: Alexander III undoes the Royal Knot at Gordium, prophesized long before to be undone only by the next King of Asia. Macedonian forces meet with a small Thracian expeditionary force which arrives by sea.
December 22, 334-January 18, 333: Cetriporis works to expand upon the efforts of his uncle to unify religion in the Thracian Empire, and subtly merges the Thracian supreme deity of Sabazios with the Dacian Monotheistic deity of Zalmoxis/Gebelesis and Sarmatian supreme deity of Huycau. This leads to an increased sense of cohesion amongst the three ethnicities of the Empire.
January 19, 333: The Sarmatian tribes are given representation in the Imperial Council, namely the Alans, Roxolani, Sudini, Tigri, Ossi, Cimmerians, and Bastarnae.
February 5, 333: After crossing the Gates of Cillicia, Alexander III engages Darius III of Persia at the battle of Issus. The Shahanshah attempts to flee the battlefield when his main line crumbles, but is struck by a javelin thrown by a Thracian cavalryman.
April 7, 333-March 12, 332: Alexander and his army establishes control of Syria and the Levant, and concludes the campaign with the capture of the island city of Tyre.
September 20, 332: After advancing towards Egypt mostly unopposed, Thraco-Macedonian forces besiege the loyal fortress of Gaza, which falls on September 20.
October 1, 332: After being greeted in Egypt as liberators, Alexander and his allies found Alexandria-by-Egypt, and Alexander himself is proclaimed the son of Ammon by the priests of Egypt.
October 6, 332-April 18, 331: Not to be eclipsed by the works of his Macedonian ally, Cetriporis works with his vast silver reserves to urbanize and fortify much of his land, as well as preparing his coastlines to accept trade between the Black and Mediterranean seas. During this period, Byzantion becomes known as the ‘second capitol’ of the Thracian Empire because of the vast amounts of trade wealth pouring through its ports.
 

Legosim

Very nice. As a dedicated Macedon lover, I guess I'll be sad for the inevitable fall due to Thrace, but either way I like this.
 

False Dmitri

Nicely begun!

As the Thracian Empire comes to be, to what extent is it Hellenizing? Greece was a massive culture that strongly pulled in its neighbors - with Alexander himself determined to out-Greek the Greeks themselves. I noticed that Cetriporis identifies the Thracian gods with those of Sarmatia, but not of Greece, so I assume that means Greek religion is not diffusing up into Thrace, but you mention that military tactics are. What about philosophy? Language? Material culture?
 

Askelion

Benkarnell said:
Nicely begun!

As the Thracian Empire comes to be, to what extent is it Hellenizing? Greece was a massive culture that strongly pulled in its neighbors - with Alexander himself determined to out-Greek the Greeks themselves. I noticed that Cetriporis identifies the Thracian gods with those of Sarmatia, but not of Greece, so I assume that means Greek religion is not diffusing up into Thrace, but you mention that military tactics are. What about philosophy? Language? Material culture?
Click to expand...

The biggest 'hellenization' of sorts, other than the introduction of greek style armor and the sarissa, occurs in the fields of Philosophy and materiel. For example, Greek-style clothing will cover the urban elite, and socratic and platonic thought will be taught in future Thracian academies.

As far as religion goes, the Thracians have always kept to their own faith, even going so far as to disguise their idols of Sabazios (their supreme diety often portrayed as fighting a beast on horseback) as Saint George once Christianity attained dominance. In short, they're not likely to convert, although influence will definitly permeate from both Greece and Sarmatia.

Hope this answered your question, and the update will come later today!
 

Askelion

UPDATE TIME!

April 20, 331: With Egypt firmly in his possession, Alexander moves east towards the Persian heartland. With the Shah dead, there is little resistance.
April 30, 331: Alexander arrives in Babylon.
June 2, 331: Alexander arrives in Susa, and sacks the royal Persian treasury with little effort.
August 10, 331: Alexander and his army move towards the Persian capitol of Persepolis, but are confronted at the Persian Gates by an army lead by the new Shahanshah, Artaxerxes V (formally a general known as Bessus). Alexander routs the Persian king soundly, and kills Artaxerxes.
August 16, 331: Alexander arrives at Persepolis, and is officially crowned Shahanshah by the Persian court.
August 20, 331-December 3, 331: Alexander works to consolidate his gains, building cities and raising armies for his future conquests. His soldiers are given a chance to see their families in Greece, and Alexander makes his Capitol at Babylon, and marries Stateira II of Persia.
February 26, 330: After raising a massive military force from amongst the citizens of his new empire, Alexander asks for a force from his Thracian allies. Thrace concedes, and sends an expeditionary force to act under his command.
March 5, 330-April 7, 328: Alexander’s Thraco-Macedonian force moves on a rapid and tremendously successful campaign to the east, establishing control over Parthia, Sogdia, and Bactria before invading India. Whilst in India, Alexander crushes several tribes who had refused to acknowledge his legitimacy as High King of Persia. This conquest is aided tremendously by one Chandragupta Maurya, who wished for Alexander to overthrow the Nanda Empire. During the Siege of Aornos, Maurya is killed. Alexander, upset over the loss of such a useful ally, marries Chandragupta’s former consort Durdhara, making her the second princess of Macedon. Greeks and Macedonians begin to question Alexander’s judgment, concerned over the fact that he has not yet chosen a Macedonian wife. In the spring of 329, High King Cetriporis dies of disease in Thrace, and Berisades II, son of Cersobleptes, becomes High King of Thrace. On April 7, 328, Stateira gives birth to Alexander’s son. The child is soon dubbed Heracles I of Macedon.
May 11, 328: Alexander’s wife Durdhara gives birth to his twins, a son and daughter, whilst in Babylon. The two children, dubbed Alexander IV and Olympias become heirs to the Macedonian throne. Many of Alexander’s generals, save for Ptolmaios, Satrap of Egypt and Bolinthos, commander of the Thracian forces with Alexander and cousin of Berisades II, are sickened at his use of Greek names on ‘half-breed’ children.
May 12, 328-July 6, 324: Alexander embarks on a second campaign in India against the Nanda Empire, and soon conquers it in its entirety. During the war, however, Alexander’s bodyguard Cassander is killed by a Nandian cavalryman. On July 6, Alexander returns with Cassander’s body to Babylon.
August 10, 324-October 3, 324: Cassander is buried in Macedon, along with his father Antipater who had died of ‘natural causes’ on the fifth of August. While in Greece attending the funeral, Alexander marries Germetitha, daughter of Prince Bolinthos of Thrace. This further enrages the conservatives among Alexander’s host and court, who feel that marrying three barbarians before a Macedonian is improper and insulting to Macedonia. Alexander finally relents to pressure and marries Clytia, brother of his dear friend Hephaestion and a Macedonian noble.
October 5, 324-October 20, 324: Alexander launches a small expedition into Arabia, and subjugates the Saba kingdom.
November 5, 324: Germetitha gives birth to a son, named Phillip III.
November 10, 324-February 18, 323: Alexander’s close friend Hepaestion succumbs to disease. The heartbroken Alexander promises to build a grand monument to him, and becomes increasingly unstable.
April 4, 323: Clytia gives birth to Alexander’s forth son, names Hephaestion in honor of the King’s late companion.
April 22, 323-September 2, 321: Alexander undertakes another expedition into India, and extends his power far into the Deccan pleateu. The Shahanshah soon falls ill, however, and is returned to Babylon.
September 2, 321-October 5, 321: Alexander spends his last days in Babylon before he passes away quietly in the night at the age of thirty-five. The struggle for succession occurs immediately as rival factions vie for control in the name of Alexander’s various sons. In time, five factions arise from the ashes of Alexander’s Empire: Those who support Hephaestion (located primarily in Greece and Asia Minor), Those who support Ptolemy as regent (in Egypt and Arabia), those who support Phillip III (namely the Thracian Empire), those who support Heracles (in Iran and Bactria), and those who support Alexander IV (in India). Thrace occupies areas in the western Balkans and northern Asia Minor to support their claim.
October 17, 321: Seleucus I, satrap of Bactria, declares that he is the rightful regent of Alexander’s kingdom, and secedes from the Heraclitian Empire. He declares his state the Kingdom of Bactria.

*As an aside*
I apologize for this little Alexandrian Interlude. There will be much more Thrace in the near future, I promise ;)
 
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Askelion

Map: Alexander's Empire

A glimpse of the world under Alexander:

Alex's Empire.png
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

I worry a bit about the amount of territory Thrace has in the Ukraine.

When was the first 'civilized' nation able to control steppe land in the face of horse nomads, and doesn't it require new agricultural techniques to get dense enough populations? OTL, the Byzantines never held more than a thin strip along the coast and Crimea, easily supportable from the sea. No?
 

Askelion

Dathi THorfinnsson said:
I worry a bit about the amount of territory Thrace has in the Ukraine.

When was the first 'civilized' nation able to control steppe land in the face of horse nomads, and doesn't it require new agricultural techniques to get dense enough populations? OTL, the Byzantines never held more than a thin strip along the coast and Crimea, easily supportable from the sea. No?
Click to expand...

You, good sah, do overestimate Thracian civility! ;)

But I suppose it is my fault for not being more clear on the organization of the Thracian state. Basically, the 'Kingdom' of Thrace is a tribal federation. The tribes are united by one army, one basic imperial culture family and one High King...

But not much else :D In short, the Sarumatae do pretty much what they always have, except for manning the odd Imperial fort or sending delegates to the Imperial council.

So suffice it to say that you won't be seeing Greco-Macedonian Manor-farms in the steppes of Sarmatia anytime soon. Perhaps in the future ;)

Thanks for the skeptic's eye. I honestly find it helps the writing process :)
 

DuQuense

I see the Alexandrian Empire Reaches the Caspian Sea. I think your Thracian Empire would have moved Up the Don and Down the Volga to reach the Caspian also.
[even if they control less of the Caucuses, below the upside V]
This will allow the Thracian's to trade with Bactria, which reaches out to Cathay, giving Thrace a share of the Silk Road.
 
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