alternatehistory.com

Something I knocked together out of bits and pieces floating through my mind, I basically had three main ideas and I managed ot mash them together. I'll put this out there and if there's interest I'll write more. If it's torn apart though I'll probably go and cry though, so be as mean as you like.


540 BC. The city of Ma’rib, ruled by the priest-king titled Marik conquers its neighbours. It does this by utilising its large population (the completion of the Marib dam allows large amounts of land to be irrigated and therefore a large population increase) and its advanced bronze metallurgy, with bronze shields, bronze spear heads and bronze swords found there. Having united the kingdoms of Yemen the capital of the new Sabean Kingdom is moved to Zegat. This is done because although Ma’rib has extensive irrigation works, there is a certain Malthusian population limit imposed by the nearby desert. Zegat, meanwhile, is in the lowlands which although arid is significantly wetter than Ma’rib. It also lies on the main caravan route north. This route moves huge amounts of frankincense, myrrh and gold. These make the kingdom incredibly rich as the Royal monopoly on frankincense and myrrh fills the treasury.
The northern trade is, however, dependent on the good graces of Nabatea, a kingdom to the north that begins to sour to its southern neighbour. Attempting to seize the riches for himself, the king led 1,000 men south in a war of conquest. He was met by an army of 2,000 headed by the priest-king Marik (the original’s grandson, Marik is a titular name). They were quickly smashed, yet relations were sour and Nabatea imposed a blockade on the kingdom. The kin, seeing his treasury dwindle, decided to take to the seas. By Royal order the port city of Aden was built in the sunken crater of an ancient volcano. The city was greatly expanded by the brisk trade between Sabea and Egypt. The Pharaohs used vast quantities of incense to sacrifice to the Gods and it was therefore with great consternation that they saw the conquest of Egypt by the Persian king Cambyses. The king, worried, sent envoys to the King. They met him in Memphis which he had occupied. Before he met with them, he had them survey his army, tens of thousands of soldiers, charioteers and horsemen from across the earth. The Sabeans, who had hardly ventured outside the Red Sea, were shocked and swore fealty to the King. They took tribute to Cambyses, gold frankincense and myrrh, which he received gratefully. In return, he promised them that their trade would never be interrupted. Furthermore, he gave them permission to build the colony of Su-aeis on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, opposite Peluseum, the place of Egyptian defeat and Persian victory. This gave the Sabean merchants greater access to the empire and also meant that only 100 km from the Mediterranean.
By 500 BC a new office had arisen in the Sabean kingdom. The priest kings had retreated into their semi-mythical status and enclosed themselves in their high palace in Ma’rib away from all political functions, delegating this responsibility to the ‘Chief Messenger’ a title born with pride by whomsoever was picked to hold it. over time the Chief Messenger grew in power until he virtually ran the kingdom, he controlled what the king saw and what he could pass on to the general populace.

In 332 Egypt fell to a thunderstorm from the north. Alexander of Macedon was greeted with trepidation by the Sabean colonists in Su-aeis, sending frantic messages to the king asking him what to do. The king, somewhat delusional as to the situation, ordered 2,000 men be sent north to fight the invader and that the kingdom come to the aid of her patron. The Chief Messenger, a certain Hyspades (in Greek), refused to pass on this information and, with certain members of the dissatisfied nobility, sent envoys to Alexander in name of the King. They promised aid to him, and the 2,000 men sent to fight the Macedonian ended up marching with him to India. The King, for awhile, was duped by news of bogus victories and reverses, until finally it dawned on him after 3 months that there was a conspiracy. He immediately summoned the Temple Guard, the 500 soldiers who guarded his person and the temple of Ma’rib. He ordered them to seize the conspirators, determined to reinstate himself as an absolute monarch. His order was ignored, however, as the Temple Guard was led by one of the conspirators, who responded to the order by stabbing the king to death.
The brief palace coup brought a new power. Hyspades took power under the title King Hemat II, claiming lineage form a line of ancient kings. He married his sisters and daughters to carious noble families ,thereby confirming his position. He was a practically minded man, and sent further envoys to the north. He soon grew quite infatuated with the Macedonian youth, demanding news from his campaigns as soon as it arrived in the kingdom. He began a process of hellenisation, with a theatre completed in 328 and a Greek-style temple to Ba’al in 326. Some practises were greeted eagerly, such as olive groves (which took well in the arid climate) and wine (grapes were grown in the southernmost area near the warm coast). Other, like nude games and the Greek’s sexual practices, were not. Hemat, not seeking to alienate those who had brought him to power, blocked some Hellenic influences yet others proved incredibly popular and soon stolas and tunics were fashionable.

The death of Alexandria in 323 was met with widespread mourning in Sabea. The young king had been popular among merchants (he had given them great trade concessions), craftsmen (new Greek designs were all the rage) and the new royalty, who owed their position to him. The fragmentation of the empire was greeted with less enthusiasm, yet the king immediately sent envoys to Ptolemy, who assumed governorship of Egypt.

The break-up of Alexander’s empire began with the division of lands in satrapies:
Egypt, Judea & Phoenicia- Ptolemy
Babylonia, Mesopotamia- Seleucus
Syria & Asia Minor- Antigonus
Thrace- Lysimachus
Macedon- Antipater
The regent of the young Alexander IV was Perdiccas. His regency broke down in 321 when he attacked Ptolemy, who had stolen the body of Alexander. Perdiccas was defeated in battle and killed. It was then decided that a joint regency would be best, and the successors ruled the empire jointly. However, disaster struck in 319 when the boy king died. The regent Antipater, tired of Queen Olympias’s intrigues and plotting, accused her of regicide and ordered her arrest. In response she kidnapped the king and held him hostage in a tiny room in the palace in Pella. The soldiers sent to arrest her decided to wait her out, hoping that soon she would release the king. After three days they finally entered. The boy was dead, and Olympias was dragged out, accused of double regicide and killed in a most awful way. With no clear royal line, it was soon that the successors declared themselves kings. First, however, they went to war. Antigonus, reminding himself Alexander’s last words (‘To the strongest’ said of his empire), declared war on Seleucus. In response, Seleucus asked Ptolemy and Antipater for help. The three of them went to war against Antigonus, who was killed in battle, just north of Sidon in 315. In the treaty of Syria, the three participants split Syria. Ptolemy took Coele Syria while Seleucus took the rest. Antipater took most of his possessions in Asia Minor. Lysimachus, who had joined the war late, received the Hellespont and Byzantium.
The Sabeans, seeing that the conflict between successors was likely to be long-lasting, sided with Ptolemy. The King Hemat saw that Ptolemy was short of funds, with the upkeep of a massive army (by most counts 100,000 men, mostly veterans) and the construction of Alexandria, and offered him a massive loan of 300 talents of gold. Ptolemy accepted, and the two powers signed an alliance in 314.

In 314 meanwhile, Antipater declared war on Lysimachus. He defeated the king of Thrace in battle and annexed all his possessions. Therefore in 314 there were three successors left standing. For ten years there was an uneasy peace, borders were drawn and soldiers garrisoned. Egypt under the enlightened rule of Ptolemy grew rich and powerful, making its payments in due time to the Sabean kingdom and trade between them flourished. Ptolemy’s museum became reality in 305 and thinkers form all over the Greek world came to learn from each other there.
In 299 BC Seleucus invaded Egyptian Syria. He marched 150,000 men south, through Sidon, Tyre and finally occupying Jerusalem. Ptolemy scrambled his forces together yet it was too late- he was forced to acknowledge the loss of the levant. It is said that he wept when he saw the boatloads of prisoners being returned to Alexandria after their capture in Syria. He vowed revenge- he built his army up yet further, getting a further 10,000 men from Greece and 2,000 from Sabea, whose lightly armed spearmen formed the hinge between the phalanx and cavalry forces. These massive costs were added to by his massive ship-building programme- in 296 he revealed to the world a decare- a behemoth that dwarfed all other ships. He produced yet more enormous vessels until he finally built one with 16 banks or oars. To fund this he took out yet more loans from Sabea. In return, King Hemat demanded that his youngest daughter Sine (b. 304 BC) should marry Ptolemy’s younger son (b. 309 BC). Ptolemy agreed, and the child was welcomed warmly into Alexandria. The two were engaged to be married when Ptolemy turned 15. Until then they grew up in the Royal Quarter under the watchful eye of Queen Berenike.

The Third Syrian War of 288 BC was one of the bloodiest since the splintering of the Macedonian Empire. 170,000 men under the personal command of an ageing Ptolemy in person. At the battle of Gaza he personally led the cavalry charge which rolled the Seleucid phalanx and forced them into a solid mass which he then encircled, forcing a mass surrender. He received their surrender and then occupied all the levantine cities including all of Syria. He then ordered the construction of several border forts along the Euphrates and garrisoned them heavily. Seleucus fled back to Seleucia where he attempted to re-build his powerbase.
He failed, as in 286 the satrap of Bactria declared independence. Seleucus marched an army of 50,000 through Persia to force him back into the empire yet gave up after hearing of his victory over the Scythian tribes and the taking of 20,000 captives. He acknowledged his independence and grudgingly allowed him the title of Basileus. The new King, Lysandros, was King of Bactria and had expansion on his mind. Bactria was huge and arid and it was the former quality he used to greatest effect. He gathered an army of 200,000 men, with 60,00 pikemen and the rest cavalry and marched them south. In 284 BC he crossed into Kashmir and entered Punjab. He then marched down the Ganges, sending envoys ahead to the Mauryan emperor Bindusara. The emperor was little interested in the north, more keen on expanding south. He had already signed trade agreements with the Sabeans and the Egyptians. He therefore sent envoys back, saying that he wished alliance and co-existence with Lysandros, however saying that his empire was great and powerful and that aggression would not be tolerated. Lysandros ignored all peace offerings and made straight for Pataliputra, capital of the Mauryan empire. Lysandros easily conquered Baluchistan and Punjab and the Ganges was poorly defended. Bindusara hurriedly moved his armies north from Mysore where they had been campaigning. He brought 200,000 men to battle, with reinforcements numbering a further 300,000 only a day away. He decided to engage immediately, however, seeing that he outnumbered the Greeks.
The Battle of the Ganges River.
Lysandros formed up with his infantry anchored to the Ganges (on their left) with his cavalry on the right. As he advanced, however, he ordered his infantry move away from the river and turn to the right, exposing their left flank. Bindusara, seeing this, ordered a general assault. He saw that the phalanx was too strong head-on and so attacked their flank. He moved 50,000 men into the gap attacking fiercely. Lysandros, however, had predicted this and ordered his entire line to swivel, trapping the attackers between their sarissas and the Ganges. Bindusara responded by sending his remaining forces into the Macedonian right flank. Lysandros however was too fast and encircled the attacking force with his 100,000 strong cavalry. He then took 20,000 scythians and spun them around to plug the gap. He thus encircled the vast majority of Bindusara’s forces and destroyed them. The emperor himself was killed, fighting to the death. When he saw his body Lysandros is said to have shed a single tear before moving on, shaking his head.

With the death of the Emperor the Mauryan empire slipped away into the annals of history. Lysandros moved west and south, founding the city of Lysanderopolis (OTL Bombay/Mumbai) which was his capital. Built in the Greek style it was a major trading centre, with Sabea and Egypt his main trading partners. He also expanded the city of Pataliputra in Bengal, using it as his second capital where the old Indian ‘uppers’ were concentrated. He began by removing such people from positions of power, giving land and titles so loyal Greeks, however, over time his position softened and soon Indians were finding their way into the bureaucracy and the land-owning classes, although these were almost exclusively high-castes, the untouchables remained at the bottom of the social pile.
The fracturing of India into several smaller states and one large empire did not last long. In 274 BC the state of Pandya grew to dominance. They formed a counter-weight to the Greeks in the north and the two formed a mutual agreement- everything north of Mysore was Greek, everything south Pandyan. Thus the first Greaco-Indian empire was founded.


Feel free to tear apart you hellenophiles (or phobes, whatever I'm not picky and I won't judge you.)
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