Yeah, I read through this timeline once a few months ago (probably in September), and I skim read through it again yesterday to remind myself what was going on. I found it interesting - and somewhat fitting - that Hannibal and Rome would work together to fight against this empire that arose out of nowhere. I also have to say that I liked the Agiads on the Egyptian throne; and that I'm rooting for Bactria! Anyways, can't stress it enough, but this is one of the most original and one of the best timelines I've read on here. Great work.
Suebi Superpower
- Thread starter Lysandros Aikiedes
- Start date
I do wonder to this day, though, that I may have made the Sweboz/Suebi expand a little too quickly. I'm kind of in the habit of giving each year in the TL some background detail. And as one result of that, the story moves on ever slowly. Also, I may have began this TL with more enthusiasm than understanding. I mean originally, I intended to expand Suebi empire across the Balkans as well, but then I thought of the likes of the Scordisci, and thought I was in a unique position to raise their profile. And those guys expanded at a pretty good time as well, due to Macedonia and Hellas having been through decades of war, conquests by Epirus under Pyrrhus and the Gallic invasions of the 280's BCE.
TTL's Bactria will be an amalgamation of both Hellenistic and Kushan culture, except it will be more on the terms of the Graeco-Bactrians rather than the Tocharians. Also, any continuous relations between Han Chinese and Hellenistic civilization could bring forth some fascinating developments on either side (early introduction of paper to the west).
Starting from the next decade in TTL, certain religious texts will begin to appear, authored by a number of high-placed Ansutoni priests that will serve to define the Ansulagam faith and its ideology. The beliefs of the Sweboz Federation have thus far consisted of the universal worship and belief in a few syncretic gods (Wodan-Lugos) and various local deities and spirits and common folk-legends, hymns, creation myths, religious laws and the retroactive chronicling of legendary rulers of the past. The Biturige ruler Ambicatus, who was depicted by the OTL Roman writer Livius as living in the Sixth Century BCE, becomes a noteworthy character in Ansulagam scripture (think of a Celtic King Solomon).
Interesting... so these writings are going to make the Ansulagam faith more unified across the empire? Awesome.
Will the Ansulagam faith survive as a long term and organized religion then?
When can we expect the next update, Lysandros? Soon, I hope?
Interesting... so these writings are going to make the Ansulagam faith more unified across the empire? Awesome.
Will the Ansulagam faith survive as a long term and organized religion then?
When can we expect the next update, Lysandros? Soon, I hope?
These canonical books will form the core of the Ansulagam belief system. From its Pagan beginnings, this religion will prevail as the common cultural ideology of the Celto-Swebos societies for centuries to come. I'm thinking of letting Ansulagam scripture develop in a vaguely similar way as Jewish or Christian scripture had done. Conceived by mostly anonymous authors, and presented as being divinely inspired or as ancient by contemporary religious grandees, whom may have been the true authors (gospels Paul's epistles et al).
I hope I can give a proper update in the next couple of days, but I've got a lot on, so fingers crossed
.Excellent...These canonical books will form the core of the Ansulagam belief system. From its Pagan beginnings, this religion will prevail as the common cultural ideology of the Celto-Swebos societies for centuries to come. I'm thinking of letting Ansulagam scripture develop in a vaguely similar way as Jewish or Christian scripture had done. Conceived by mostly anonymous authors, and presented as being divinely inspired or as ancient by contemporary religious grandees, whom may have been the true authors (gospels Paul's epistles et al).
I hope I can give a proper update in the next couple of days, but I've got a lot on, so fingers crossed
I know I've been putting it off for too long (well, I always do anyway), but I fully intend to have an update tomorrow. War between Helvetis-Bonnlandam and the Swebos, the growth of the Bitunemeton (Ansulagam church) and its new theological texts. And the rise of the status of "Ambactos", an ATL Celto-Sweboz analogy to the Roman title of "Comes" (count) and its institutional specializations.
The Year 251 HSF/39 BCE.
Emissaries from the Pritanni tribes of the Vacomagi, the Cornavi, the Taexali, the Otadini, the Novantae, and the Caledonos appear in the Belgae capital city of Ganda (Ghent). They come bearing tribute to the Druhtinas Brochvalos. They also present the children of their respective rulers as peace hostages to the Swebos royal court. As part of the agreement with the Swebos Druhtinas, many more Ansutoni priests are permitted into their realms, where they are present in the courts of the Pritanni kings.
The Judean countryside is layed waste by the Megale Syrian forces and that of their Samaritan-Galilean allies under the Tetrarch Herod. Herod's 30,000 strong force is prepared to avenge the death of Phaesal at the hands of the Troco-Egyptian forces and their Judean allies. Battles during that year are foughtat Basheba, Gaza (Megale Syrian victories), Askelon, Ashdod and Lachish (Troco-Egyptian victories).
The Chiliarchos Euclideas Nalandaios, on behalf of the young King Pantaleon
III of Gandhara, arranges his marriage to the nine year old Megale Syrian Princess Roxanne, the eldest daughter of the Basileus Perdiccas and granddaugher of the Emperor Cassander II.
The Bactrian Basileus Timon I makes a pact of co-operation with the Han Empire. Here begins a formal long-term trading agreement that results in exchanges of military technology. The Chinese Cho Ku Nu (repeating crossbow) is thought to have been adopted by the Bactrians during this time, as have the Chinese have obtained the Polybolos.
The King Totilios of Bonnlandam reportedly sends agents to the court of the Norican Thulis Vocionos moc Rennodotoros with the intention of trying to gain his formal friendship. As the Thulis Vocionos is a regent of the Swebos Brochvalos, word of this activity reaches the Druhtinas, who sends an angry letter to Helvet-Bonnai ruler Totilios, expressing his concern. The Thulis of Norica shrewdly spurns the Bonnai overtures.
Their is a growing distinction in the upper-levels of society in the Marurigion Swebaheimat (Greater Kingdom of the Swebos) between those nobles whom personally owe their status to the Druhtinas and the descendents of the old tribal nobility. The title of "Ambactos", originally a term for a retainer or liegeman of a higher lord, has obtained far more importance in the last century, especially those that serve the person of the Druhtinas. In the Kelta (Gaulish) western provinces of Swebaheimat, "Arjos" is still a common term denoting a lord, while in the Thuida (Germanic) east of Swebaheimat, "Thegnoz" has become the common title for lower nobility. Ambacti (plural) are men of various backgrounds, having served the Druhtinas as guards, stewards, secretaries, advisors, pages and officers. They could have been the younger sons of the old tribal nobility, or began their service to the king as merchant's sons, peasants and slaves. This signal honour, in time, will develop into a hereditary aristocratic title.
The Year 252 HSF/ 38 BCE.
Swebaheimat's close ties with the kingdoms of Getiaheimat (Germanic Getai) and Bastaheimat (Bastarnae) allows for the spread of the new Bitunemeton creed beyond its own realm. As a founder of the doctrine and a perpetual patron of the Ansutonion (Ansuz priesthood), Brochvalos wishes to solidify his position as the prime earthly representative of the Gods and the spiritual leader of his allies. But Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam and Ermanerix of Aquita-Sunthwalha comprehend Brochvalos' machinations and refuse for his religious reformation to influence their kingdoms.
King Heraclios I of Meghada allows sanctuary to the thousands of exiled Tocharians and Saka, having fled from the Xiongnu and the Bactrians, that have sought refuge in his realm and recruits many of their number into his forces.
The Megales Syrians sign a peace treaty with the Trocmians at Joppa. The Trocmians still have 40,000 troops in Egypt, although they support the position of King Aegogeos III. Cilicia remains a province of Trocmia. The Megale Syrian Perdiccas makes Herod the Ethnarch of the lands of Galilee and Samaria.
King Totilios of Bonnlandam invades the realm of Norica with a force of 12,000, entering into the land of Histria, which has been part of the realm of Norica since the days of Odovacar and Marobod. Totilios' army is supplied by a fleet of 120 liburnes. In response, the Druhtinas Brochvalos raises an army of 16,000 from the sub-kingdoms of Arvernotorg and Markomannoheim, and leads them to Histria to counter the Helvet-Bonnai invasion.
The King Ermanrix of Aquita-Sunthwalha founds the city of Sunildurum (OTL Recopolis), which he named after his only daughter, the nine year old Princess Sunhilda. The new city is located west of the city of Toleton (Toledo), the capital of Sunthwalha and the seat of the Vergobretos, whom administrates the kingdom of Sunthwalha in the name of Ermanerix, who normally holds court in Tolosa (Toulouse).
The Year 253 HSF/37 BCE.
King Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam, with the assistance of his High Priest of Lugos, Brinno of Veii, authors the "Edicts of the Bonnai", a revised legal code derived from Boii, Etruscan and Roman laws. Meanwhile, the Bonnai forces in Histria, under the command of the Harjanas Camulodonos moc Neamha, captures the city of Tergeste (Trieste) from the Noricans. The Swebos soon follow up with a siege of their own.
King Abeacus, overlord of the Siraces tribal confederation in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, musters some 50,000 warriors in retaliation against the raids by the Aorsi from the north. King Bagradates of Hayasdan sends emissaries to bothAbeacus of the Siraces and his father-in-law, King Kuluk of the Aursa/Aorsi to mediate a peace settlement.
The aging Megale Syrian Emperor Cassander II sends his youngest son, the nineteen year old Prince Demetrios, to Hellas, which he himself had conquered more than twenty years before. He bestowed upon his son the title of "Strategos Autokrator of Hellas". Prince Demetrios set sail from the port of Antiocheia with a force of 700 soldiers, where they landed in Corinth, where Demetrios would govern the country. The old and sickly Cassander II had doubted the practicality of governing the distant country of Hellas from Basilikon Seleukeia, so permitted Hellas a limited degree of autonomy.
The Year 254 HSF/ 36 BCE.
The Druhtinas Brochvalos appoints his son, the nineteen year old Prince Segovesos as his co-regent. Bearing the title of "Theudarix" (King of the People), and with his father's approval, leads the Druhtaed (the legions) on an invasion of the Kingdom of Helvetis.
Aristobulus III, the seventeen year old King of Samaria and Galilee, drowns in his swimming pool during a night of celebration. Many nobles at court believe that the Ethnarch regent Herod had orchestrated the young king's death, and Herod goes about arresting these dissenters and ordering their executions. Herod then travels to Royal Seleukeia in Mesopotamia to request that the old Megas Basileus Cassander II to permit him the throne of Samaria, which Cassander duly approves, and sends Herod back to Judea under the escort of 6000 troops to back Herod's claim against the objections of the Saducee nobility.
The Siraces confederation is losing against the Aorsi. Their King Abeacus is even slain in battle at an undisclosed location, and hundreds of Sarmatian Siraces are arriving in droves in the Kingdom of Hayasdan as clans affiliated with the Aorsi take over their homelands on the Steppe.
The Basileus Pantaleon III of Gandhara is joined in marriage to the Syrian Princess Roxanne (both bride and groom are twelve years old). The position of the Chiliarch-Epitropos Euclideas Nalandaios within the government of Gandhara is now unassailable. Under his guidance, the creed of Mayahana would become endorsed as the official state religion of Gandhara.
Carvilios of Avaricon begins his written compilation of common sacred lore. This project is considered the beginning of Ansuteodic scripture, although many believers to this day assume that it was Aedhos the Aeduien, as some of the books are named for him.
Tergeste is retaken by Swebo-Norican forces under the leadership of Vocionos moc Rennodotoros.
The Year 255 HSF/35 BCE.
The election of forty-three year old Carvilios of Avaricon as Ardo Lugotonos (High Priest of Wodan-Lugos) in the city of Genabum, making him the foremost authority on the Ansulagam faith in the world. Carvilios is a renowned religious scholar, jurist and political strategist who has been documenting the ancient lore of the Swebaheimat. He is now officially one of the most powerful figures within the empire. He will begin giving formal administrative structure to the Swebos priesthood, and will be be the first Ansutoni priest to be addressed as "Uremo Atar" (Supreme Father).
After the capture of a number of important fortresses in the passes of Helvetis, the city of Lausodunon (OTL Lausanne) is captured after a seven week siege by the Theudarix Segevesos. The following month, the city of Brenoduro (Bern) is also taken by Swebos forces. The inhabitants of both cities are put to the sword. The Helvetan Thulis (chancellor) Orgetorix is taken prisoner after the siege of Brenoduro, and the Royal Seal of Helvetis was taken as well.
The Samarian King Herod persues war with the Nabatean Kingdom. The city of Nitzana was sacked by Samarian forces.
The Illyrian Prince Bato of the Ardiaei tribe seizes control of the city of Risan and begins his ascent above the other Illyrian tribes, which until then have livedin the shadows of the great Swebos, Bonnai and Scordisi empires.
The Aorsi have asserted their military dominance over the Siraces, whom have fled variously to Hayasdan or Bastaheimat. The Siraces homelands on the Pontic-Caspian steppe are being resettled by the Aorsi.
King Heraclios I unleashes his Saka horsemen in a campaign of terror against his rebellious Hindu client-princes and their peoples.
King Totilios of Bonnlandam raises another 79,000 to combat the invasion of Helvetis, and pulls out his 8000 strong army from the campaign in Histria, officially withdrawing from the country.
King Mandubragos of the Trinovatis dies. He is succeeded by his son, the nineteen year old Addedomaros rises to the kingship of the Trinovantis. Addedomaros travels to the court of the Swebos Brochvalos in Bibracte to pay homage to him.
The Year 256 HSF/34 BCE.
Euclideas Nalandaios, the regent for King Pantaleon III of Gandhara, strenghens diplomatic relations with the Basileus Timon I of Bactria, where Mahayana is being embraced by the Helleno-Bactrians.
After losing a number of battles to the Samarians under King Herod I, the elderly King Malichus I of the Arabian Kingdom of Nabatea sends a delegation to the court of the Megale Syrian Basileus Perdiccas in Damascus, offering to become a vassal of Megale Syria in return that Perdiccas calls off the armies of King Herod from his country. Perdiccas accepts, and orders an angry and disappointed Herod to withdraw his forces from Nabatea.
The book "Birth of the World" is finally written by a High Priestess of Epona known as Euda of Bibracte. Her verses are accepted by the yearly Ansutonion synod in Genabum as divinely inspired. The tale begins with a statement that prior to the creation of the world, the Ansuz were at war with destructive rival gods known as the "Etunaz". The Etunaz were defeated by the Ansuz and cast into oblivion. Afterwards, Lugos wins a series of competitions among his brother and sister Gods before they choose him as their leader. After that, Lugos returns to the original homeland of the Gods to endure a series of trials that test him Lugos to his limits, where he sacrifices his life to gain supreme knowledge and is reborn as the omniscient, omnipotent "All-Father" Wodanos. Together with the Gods, created the stars, the sun and the moon, before making the earth, the trees and the beasts, before fashioning the first man and woman from felled trees.
The Theudarix Segovesos has finally captured the Helveti capital of Aventicon (Avenches). The Verrix Totilios arranges a truce with the Swebos. An ailing and tired Totilios is forced to pay an indemnity of three million Silucattos to the Swebos in return for the cities of Aventicon, Brenoduro and Lausodunon. Totilios agrees to keep his troops out of Histria.
The Year 257 HSF/33 BCE.
The Druhtinas Brochvalos creates new office for the respective governance and administration of the sub-kingdoms of Samanoheimat and Markomannoheim. Called "Kintu-Ambactos" (prime companion), those appointed to this position are meant to govern these Swebos constituent-states in the absence of the Druhtinas. This is part of Brochvalos' policy of centralization, as he has no wish for the Marurigion to become contested after his death by his offspring. Lord Glasobrin of Matisco (Macon, Burgoyne) is apointed to the governorship of Samanoheimat, while one Casticus moc Catamantaloedes of Luxovenon (Luxeuil-les-Bains) is appointed the Kintu-ambactos of Markomannoheim. The Kintu-ambactai, in addition to their civil administration responsibilities, are also authorized to command armies as well. They are assisted in their posts by the Thulis of each sub-kingdom.
For years, repeated uprisings amongst the clans in Lusitana and Calleaca (Galicia) has compelled King Ermanarix to send over companies of Ambactai and their own retainers to settle the poorly controlled western provinces. These independent vassals have established a number of semi-autonomous domains in Lusitana and Calleaca, where they have built themselves fortresses or had otherwise captured or commandeered abandoned ones. These marcher-lords, many of them either Aquitan or Cantabri, have in some cases made common cause with the remaining Lusitannon or Calleaci chiefs, and their are two occasion when they had outright defied the Verrix's authority, only to be punished by their peers. Ermanerix has also forced many Numidian and Mauri clans to re-settle in Iberia, mostly in the southern provinces of Bastetania and Turditana, which still hosts thousands of Phoenicians.
It becomes clear to the Verrix Totilios that his Thulis in Helvetis, the Lord Orgetorix, has become sympathetic to the powerful Swebos Marurigion in the north. The King takes steps to have the Thulis forcibly removed from office. Upon learning this, and commanding a great number of the Helveti nobility, Orgetorix musters the Cintusos (youth levy) and the professional Druhtiz of Helvetis in defiance of his sovereign overlord. Orgetorix also sends a delegation to the Swebos Druhtinaz for his support and protection, offering to give fealty in return. The Swebos Druhtinas accepts the offer, and Orgetorix sends his two young sons as a token of his commitment. The Theudarix Segovesos leads three Druhtead (plural: Druhtiz) into Helvetis.
The Ardiaein King Bato of Risan pledges his subordination to the Trocmian-Scordisi King Toncommios, in return from reprisals from the Bonnai of King Totilios, as he has recently committed acts of piracy against the cities and villages on the coasts of Epeiros, Umbria and Apulia.
The Year 258 HSF/32 BCE.
Death of the Megale Syrian Emperor Cassander II at the age of sixty-three. Now the Megas Basileus, the thirty-five year old Perdiccas I organizes a military campaign against the Kingdom of Hayasdan to make up for his past failures in Egypt and Judea seven years earlier.
Meanwhile, the twenty-seven year old King Bagradates I of Hayasdan is assassinated by members of his court. He is succeeded by his twenty-three year old younger brother, Prince Hidarnes, whom instigated the coup with the support of his late brother's wife, Queen Rhodogune. The new King Hidarnes IV marries his late brother's queen, and will prove to be a weak and ineffective ruler, much to the good fortune of the ruthless Syrian Emperor Perdiccas I.
In the autumn of that year, the Kingdom of Atropatene is reconquered by the Megale Syrian forces of Perdiccas I. The Hayasdani ally and former Syrian client-ruler King Artavasdes is captured and executed for his earlier betrayal. Perdiccas chooses a leading nobleman from the exiled Median loyalists serving in his army and installs him on the throne of Media Atropatene as King Artabazanes II.
The Swebo-Helveti armies, commanded by the Theudarix Segovesos and the Thulis Orgetorix, crush the Bonnai expeditionary force of 34,000 which tries to reconquer the realm of Helvetis for the King Totilios. The deciding battle was at the upper portion of the Ticinus River in March.
After assisting with combatting a number of revolts against the Swebos among the Pritanni kingdoms, the Trinovatis King Addedomaros is rewarded by his overlord, the Druhtinas Brochvalos, whom permits him to cede annex the territories of the defeated Catuvellauni and the Atrebates, making the Trinovatis the most powerful state in the south-east of Albaha. Addedomaros also marries the Druhtinas' daughter, the sixteen year old Princess Rufena of Silevenecton (Senlis, Oise).
The Year 259 HSF/ 31 BCE.
The Ascension of Rabbel Ishak on the death of his father, Malik Rabbel III of of Sabaea. The nineteen year old Prince Ishak was educated by Hellene scholars from Egypt and by exiled Pharisees from Judaea. His maternal Hebrew heritage will have an enormous impact on his domestic policy in the years to come.
The death of the Trocmian King Toncommios at the age of sixty-five. He is succeeded to the throne by his twenty-six year old son Prince Amyntas. "Amyntarix" now rules an empire that consists of much of Anatolia and Megale Scordesia.
The Syrian Megas Basileus Perdiccas I conquers the land of Corduene (Gordion), and the lands between Lake Van and Lake Urmia. The Hayasdani King Hidarnes IV concedes defeat.
King Totilios declares a truce with the Swebos, and tries to negotiate with Segovesos over the Kingdom of Helvetis.
Further uprisings in the Kingdom of Belgalandam (Belgae lands), instigated by the Caddones (Holy Ones/ non-Ansutonion druids), and further supported by some of the tribal Vollorices (sub-kings) of the Belgae. The Druhtinas Brochvalos orders a purging among the Caddones clerics while he arranges the arrests of the vollorices of the Viromandui, the Atuataci, the Suessiones, the Veliocasse and the Morini. Even though vollorix is related to the Druhtinas, they have been trusted rule their tribal subjects and to support the Swebos monarchy, but now Brochvalos views them as a liability. The Belgae vollorices are transported to Armorica. They are spared from execution, as Brochvalos expects to retain the loyalty of the Belgae people.
The Year 260 HSF/ 30 BCE.
The Ardo-Lugotonos Carvilios standardizes the clerical hierarchy of the Swebos realm. The office of "Ver-Senios" (superior elder), which was a term of address for high priests, is now re-defined as an administrative position for the high priests in various cities across Swebaheimat. Versenead (plural) are usually high priests of Woden-Lugus (like Carvilios), but the high priest of a cities patron deity can be elected or appointed to that office as well. Being the Ardo-Lugotonos of Genabum, Carvilios is by default the Versenios of that city.
The young Sabaean King Rabbel Ishak travels with a large entourage to Judaea to give donations to the Temple and to visit the King Hyrcanus II. After two month in Jerusalem, Rabbel Ishak returns to Sabaea with a number of Pharisee scribes and Kohanim to help him remake Sabaea into a Jewish state. While in Jerusalem, Rabbel Ishak manages to arrange a political marriage with Hyrcanus' seventeen year old daughter, Princess Miriamme. Rabbel Ishak was a Hebrew on his mother's side, but was still part Goy. He also allowed a number of priestly families to settle in Sabaea to offset the remaining Sabaean nobility whom hated him.
The native nobles of Kartli (Georgia) rise against the Lutarid Hayasdani and successfully seced from the Kingdom of Hayasdan. They were led by the nobleman Mirian of Mtskheta.
The Syrian Megas Basileus Perdiccas I grants a degree of self-rule to the ancient and prestigious city of Babylon, with the chief priest of Marduk, Esarhaddon, appointed as "Episkopos Basilikon Polias" (Royal Overseer of the City). This was intended to restore the city from the neglect it was suffering since the time of Seleukos I Nikator. Through the enactment of subsequent laws, and with the approval of Perdiccas, Esarhaddon's Episkopate and his position as Satammu (high priest) of Marduk, becomes hereditary. This is the first instance of Syrian Emperors creating autonomous city-based Episkopates within the administrative framework of the Megale Syrian Empire.
After a year-long truce, hostilities again breakout between the Bonnai and the Swebos.
Emissaries from the Pritanni tribes of the Vacomagi, the Cornavi, the Taexali, the Otadini, the Novantae, and the Caledonos appear in the Belgae capital city of Ganda (Ghent). They come bearing tribute to the Druhtinas Brochvalos. They also present the children of their respective rulers as peace hostages to the Swebos royal court. As part of the agreement with the Swebos Druhtinas, many more Ansutoni priests are permitted into their realms, where they are present in the courts of the Pritanni kings.
The Judean countryside is layed waste by the Megale Syrian forces and that of their Samaritan-Galilean allies under the Tetrarch Herod. Herod's 30,000 strong force is prepared to avenge the death of Phaesal at the hands of the Troco-Egyptian forces and their Judean allies. Battles during that year are foughtat Basheba, Gaza (Megale Syrian victories), Askelon, Ashdod and Lachish (Troco-Egyptian victories).
The Chiliarchos Euclideas Nalandaios, on behalf of the young King Pantaleon
III of Gandhara, arranges his marriage to the nine year old Megale Syrian Princess Roxanne, the eldest daughter of the Basileus Perdiccas and granddaugher of the Emperor Cassander II.
The Bactrian Basileus Timon I makes a pact of co-operation with the Han Empire. Here begins a formal long-term trading agreement that results in exchanges of military technology. The Chinese Cho Ku Nu (repeating crossbow) is thought to have been adopted by the Bactrians during this time, as have the Chinese have obtained the Polybolos.
The King Totilios of Bonnlandam reportedly sends agents to the court of the Norican Thulis Vocionos moc Rennodotoros with the intention of trying to gain his formal friendship. As the Thulis Vocionos is a regent of the Swebos Brochvalos, word of this activity reaches the Druhtinas, who sends an angry letter to Helvet-Bonnai ruler Totilios, expressing his concern. The Thulis of Norica shrewdly spurns the Bonnai overtures.
Their is a growing distinction in the upper-levels of society in the Marurigion Swebaheimat (Greater Kingdom of the Swebos) between those nobles whom personally owe their status to the Druhtinas and the descendents of the old tribal nobility. The title of "Ambactos", originally a term for a retainer or liegeman of a higher lord, has obtained far more importance in the last century, especially those that serve the person of the Druhtinas. In the Kelta (Gaulish) western provinces of Swebaheimat, "Arjos" is still a common term denoting a lord, while in the Thuida (Germanic) east of Swebaheimat, "Thegnoz" has become the common title for lower nobility. Ambacti (plural) are men of various backgrounds, having served the Druhtinas as guards, stewards, secretaries, advisors, pages and officers. They could have been the younger sons of the old tribal nobility, or began their service to the king as merchant's sons, peasants and slaves. This signal honour, in time, will develop into a hereditary aristocratic title.
The Year 252 HSF/ 38 BCE.
Swebaheimat's close ties with the kingdoms of Getiaheimat (Germanic Getai) and Bastaheimat (Bastarnae) allows for the spread of the new Bitunemeton creed beyond its own realm. As a founder of the doctrine and a perpetual patron of the Ansutonion (Ansuz priesthood), Brochvalos wishes to solidify his position as the prime earthly representative of the Gods and the spiritual leader of his allies. But Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam and Ermanerix of Aquita-Sunthwalha comprehend Brochvalos' machinations and refuse for his religious reformation to influence their kingdoms.
King Heraclios I of Meghada allows sanctuary to the thousands of exiled Tocharians and Saka, having fled from the Xiongnu and the Bactrians, that have sought refuge in his realm and recruits many of their number into his forces.
The Megales Syrians sign a peace treaty with the Trocmians at Joppa. The Trocmians still have 40,000 troops in Egypt, although they support the position of King Aegogeos III. Cilicia remains a province of Trocmia. The Megale Syrian Perdiccas makes Herod the Ethnarch of the lands of Galilee and Samaria.
King Totilios of Bonnlandam invades the realm of Norica with a force of 12,000, entering into the land of Histria, which has been part of the realm of Norica since the days of Odovacar and Marobod. Totilios' army is supplied by a fleet of 120 liburnes. In response, the Druhtinas Brochvalos raises an army of 16,000 from the sub-kingdoms of Arvernotorg and Markomannoheim, and leads them to Histria to counter the Helvet-Bonnai invasion.
The King Ermanrix of Aquita-Sunthwalha founds the city of Sunildurum (OTL Recopolis), which he named after his only daughter, the nine year old Princess Sunhilda. The new city is located west of the city of Toleton (Toledo), the capital of Sunthwalha and the seat of the Vergobretos, whom administrates the kingdom of Sunthwalha in the name of Ermanerix, who normally holds court in Tolosa (Toulouse).
The Year 253 HSF/37 BCE.
King Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam, with the assistance of his High Priest of Lugos, Brinno of Veii, authors the "Edicts of the Bonnai", a revised legal code derived from Boii, Etruscan and Roman laws. Meanwhile, the Bonnai forces in Histria, under the command of the Harjanas Camulodonos moc Neamha, captures the city of Tergeste (Trieste) from the Noricans. The Swebos soon follow up with a siege of their own.
King Abeacus, overlord of the Siraces tribal confederation in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, musters some 50,000 warriors in retaliation against the raids by the Aorsi from the north. King Bagradates of Hayasdan sends emissaries to bothAbeacus of the Siraces and his father-in-law, King Kuluk of the Aursa/Aorsi to mediate a peace settlement.
The aging Megale Syrian Emperor Cassander II sends his youngest son, the nineteen year old Prince Demetrios, to Hellas, which he himself had conquered more than twenty years before. He bestowed upon his son the title of "Strategos Autokrator of Hellas". Prince Demetrios set sail from the port of Antiocheia with a force of 700 soldiers, where they landed in Corinth, where Demetrios would govern the country. The old and sickly Cassander II had doubted the practicality of governing the distant country of Hellas from Basilikon Seleukeia, so permitted Hellas a limited degree of autonomy.
The Year 254 HSF/ 36 BCE.
The Druhtinas Brochvalos appoints his son, the nineteen year old Prince Segovesos as his co-regent. Bearing the title of "Theudarix" (King of the People), and with his father's approval, leads the Druhtaed (the legions) on an invasion of the Kingdom of Helvetis.
Aristobulus III, the seventeen year old King of Samaria and Galilee, drowns in his swimming pool during a night of celebration. Many nobles at court believe that the Ethnarch regent Herod had orchestrated the young king's death, and Herod goes about arresting these dissenters and ordering their executions. Herod then travels to Royal Seleukeia in Mesopotamia to request that the old Megas Basileus Cassander II to permit him the throne of Samaria, which Cassander duly approves, and sends Herod back to Judea under the escort of 6000 troops to back Herod's claim against the objections of the Saducee nobility.
The Siraces confederation is losing against the Aorsi. Their King Abeacus is even slain in battle at an undisclosed location, and hundreds of Sarmatian Siraces are arriving in droves in the Kingdom of Hayasdan as clans affiliated with the Aorsi take over their homelands on the Steppe.
The Basileus Pantaleon III of Gandhara is joined in marriage to the Syrian Princess Roxanne (both bride and groom are twelve years old). The position of the Chiliarch-Epitropos Euclideas Nalandaios within the government of Gandhara is now unassailable. Under his guidance, the creed of Mayahana would become endorsed as the official state religion of Gandhara.
Carvilios of Avaricon begins his written compilation of common sacred lore. This project is considered the beginning of Ansuteodic scripture, although many believers to this day assume that it was Aedhos the Aeduien, as some of the books are named for him.
Tergeste is retaken by Swebo-Norican forces under the leadership of Vocionos moc Rennodotoros.
The Year 255 HSF/35 BCE.
The election of forty-three year old Carvilios of Avaricon as Ardo Lugotonos (High Priest of Wodan-Lugos) in the city of Genabum, making him the foremost authority on the Ansulagam faith in the world. Carvilios is a renowned religious scholar, jurist and political strategist who has been documenting the ancient lore of the Swebaheimat. He is now officially one of the most powerful figures within the empire. He will begin giving formal administrative structure to the Swebos priesthood, and will be be the first Ansutoni priest to be addressed as "Uremo Atar" (Supreme Father).
After the capture of a number of important fortresses in the passes of Helvetis, the city of Lausodunon (OTL Lausanne) is captured after a seven week siege by the Theudarix Segevesos. The following month, the city of Brenoduro (Bern) is also taken by Swebos forces. The inhabitants of both cities are put to the sword. The Helvetan Thulis (chancellor) Orgetorix is taken prisoner after the siege of Brenoduro, and the Royal Seal of Helvetis was taken as well.
The Samarian King Herod persues war with the Nabatean Kingdom. The city of Nitzana was sacked by Samarian forces.
The Illyrian Prince Bato of the Ardiaei tribe seizes control of the city of Risan and begins his ascent above the other Illyrian tribes, which until then have livedin the shadows of the great Swebos, Bonnai and Scordisi empires.
The Aorsi have asserted their military dominance over the Siraces, whom have fled variously to Hayasdan or Bastaheimat. The Siraces homelands on the Pontic-Caspian steppe are being resettled by the Aorsi.
King Heraclios I unleashes his Saka horsemen in a campaign of terror against his rebellious Hindu client-princes and their peoples.
King Totilios of Bonnlandam raises another 79,000 to combat the invasion of Helvetis, and pulls out his 8000 strong army from the campaign in Histria, officially withdrawing from the country.
King Mandubragos of the Trinovatis dies. He is succeeded by his son, the nineteen year old Addedomaros rises to the kingship of the Trinovantis. Addedomaros travels to the court of the Swebos Brochvalos in Bibracte to pay homage to him.
The Year 256 HSF/34 BCE.
Euclideas Nalandaios, the regent for King Pantaleon III of Gandhara, strenghens diplomatic relations with the Basileus Timon I of Bactria, where Mahayana is being embraced by the Helleno-Bactrians.
After losing a number of battles to the Samarians under King Herod I, the elderly King Malichus I of the Arabian Kingdom of Nabatea sends a delegation to the court of the Megale Syrian Basileus Perdiccas in Damascus, offering to become a vassal of Megale Syria in return that Perdiccas calls off the armies of King Herod from his country. Perdiccas accepts, and orders an angry and disappointed Herod to withdraw his forces from Nabatea.
The book "Birth of the World" is finally written by a High Priestess of Epona known as Euda of Bibracte. Her verses are accepted by the yearly Ansutonion synod in Genabum as divinely inspired. The tale begins with a statement that prior to the creation of the world, the Ansuz were at war with destructive rival gods known as the "Etunaz". The Etunaz were defeated by the Ansuz and cast into oblivion. Afterwards, Lugos wins a series of competitions among his brother and sister Gods before they choose him as their leader. After that, Lugos returns to the original homeland of the Gods to endure a series of trials that test him Lugos to his limits, where he sacrifices his life to gain supreme knowledge and is reborn as the omniscient, omnipotent "All-Father" Wodanos. Together with the Gods, created the stars, the sun and the moon, before making the earth, the trees and the beasts, before fashioning the first man and woman from felled trees.
The Theudarix Segovesos has finally captured the Helveti capital of Aventicon (Avenches). The Verrix Totilios arranges a truce with the Swebos. An ailing and tired Totilios is forced to pay an indemnity of three million Silucattos to the Swebos in return for the cities of Aventicon, Brenoduro and Lausodunon. Totilios agrees to keep his troops out of Histria.
The Year 257 HSF/33 BCE.
The Druhtinas Brochvalos creates new office for the respective governance and administration of the sub-kingdoms of Samanoheimat and Markomannoheim. Called "Kintu-Ambactos" (prime companion), those appointed to this position are meant to govern these Swebos constituent-states in the absence of the Druhtinas. This is part of Brochvalos' policy of centralization, as he has no wish for the Marurigion to become contested after his death by his offspring. Lord Glasobrin of Matisco (Macon, Burgoyne) is apointed to the governorship of Samanoheimat, while one Casticus moc Catamantaloedes of Luxovenon (Luxeuil-les-Bains) is appointed the Kintu-ambactos of Markomannoheim. The Kintu-ambactai, in addition to their civil administration responsibilities, are also authorized to command armies as well. They are assisted in their posts by the Thulis of each sub-kingdom.
For years, repeated uprisings amongst the clans in Lusitana and Calleaca (Galicia) has compelled King Ermanarix to send over companies of Ambactai and their own retainers to settle the poorly controlled western provinces. These independent vassals have established a number of semi-autonomous domains in Lusitana and Calleaca, where they have built themselves fortresses or had otherwise captured or commandeered abandoned ones. These marcher-lords, many of them either Aquitan or Cantabri, have in some cases made common cause with the remaining Lusitannon or Calleaci chiefs, and their are two occasion when they had outright defied the Verrix's authority, only to be punished by their peers. Ermanerix has also forced many Numidian and Mauri clans to re-settle in Iberia, mostly in the southern provinces of Bastetania and Turditana, which still hosts thousands of Phoenicians.
It becomes clear to the Verrix Totilios that his Thulis in Helvetis, the Lord Orgetorix, has become sympathetic to the powerful Swebos Marurigion in the north. The King takes steps to have the Thulis forcibly removed from office. Upon learning this, and commanding a great number of the Helveti nobility, Orgetorix musters the Cintusos (youth levy) and the professional Druhtiz of Helvetis in defiance of his sovereign overlord. Orgetorix also sends a delegation to the Swebos Druhtinaz for his support and protection, offering to give fealty in return. The Swebos Druhtinas accepts the offer, and Orgetorix sends his two young sons as a token of his commitment. The Theudarix Segovesos leads three Druhtead (plural: Druhtiz) into Helvetis.
The Ardiaein King Bato of Risan pledges his subordination to the Trocmian-Scordisi King Toncommios, in return from reprisals from the Bonnai of King Totilios, as he has recently committed acts of piracy against the cities and villages on the coasts of Epeiros, Umbria and Apulia.
The Year 258 HSF/32 BCE.
Death of the Megale Syrian Emperor Cassander II at the age of sixty-three. Now the Megas Basileus, the thirty-five year old Perdiccas I organizes a military campaign against the Kingdom of Hayasdan to make up for his past failures in Egypt and Judea seven years earlier.
Meanwhile, the twenty-seven year old King Bagradates I of Hayasdan is assassinated by members of his court. He is succeeded by his twenty-three year old younger brother, Prince Hidarnes, whom instigated the coup with the support of his late brother's wife, Queen Rhodogune. The new King Hidarnes IV marries his late brother's queen, and will prove to be a weak and ineffective ruler, much to the good fortune of the ruthless Syrian Emperor Perdiccas I.
In the autumn of that year, the Kingdom of Atropatene is reconquered by the Megale Syrian forces of Perdiccas I. The Hayasdani ally and former Syrian client-ruler King Artavasdes is captured and executed for his earlier betrayal. Perdiccas chooses a leading nobleman from the exiled Median loyalists serving in his army and installs him on the throne of Media Atropatene as King Artabazanes II.
The Swebo-Helveti armies, commanded by the Theudarix Segovesos and the Thulis Orgetorix, crush the Bonnai expeditionary force of 34,000 which tries to reconquer the realm of Helvetis for the King Totilios. The deciding battle was at the upper portion of the Ticinus River in March.
After assisting with combatting a number of revolts against the Swebos among the Pritanni kingdoms, the Trinovatis King Addedomaros is rewarded by his overlord, the Druhtinas Brochvalos, whom permits him to cede annex the territories of the defeated Catuvellauni and the Atrebates, making the Trinovatis the most powerful state in the south-east of Albaha. Addedomaros also marries the Druhtinas' daughter, the sixteen year old Princess Rufena of Silevenecton (Senlis, Oise).
The Year 259 HSF/ 31 BCE.
The Ascension of Rabbel Ishak on the death of his father, Malik Rabbel III of of Sabaea. The nineteen year old Prince Ishak was educated by Hellene scholars from Egypt and by exiled Pharisees from Judaea. His maternal Hebrew heritage will have an enormous impact on his domestic policy in the years to come.
The death of the Trocmian King Toncommios at the age of sixty-five. He is succeeded to the throne by his twenty-six year old son Prince Amyntas. "Amyntarix" now rules an empire that consists of much of Anatolia and Megale Scordesia.
The Syrian Megas Basileus Perdiccas I conquers the land of Corduene (Gordion), and the lands between Lake Van and Lake Urmia. The Hayasdani King Hidarnes IV concedes defeat.
King Totilios declares a truce with the Swebos, and tries to negotiate with Segovesos over the Kingdom of Helvetis.
Further uprisings in the Kingdom of Belgalandam (Belgae lands), instigated by the Caddones (Holy Ones/ non-Ansutonion druids), and further supported by some of the tribal Vollorices (sub-kings) of the Belgae. The Druhtinas Brochvalos orders a purging among the Caddones clerics while he arranges the arrests of the vollorices of the Viromandui, the Atuataci, the Suessiones, the Veliocasse and the Morini. Even though vollorix is related to the Druhtinas, they have been trusted rule their tribal subjects and to support the Swebos monarchy, but now Brochvalos views them as a liability. The Belgae vollorices are transported to Armorica. They are spared from execution, as Brochvalos expects to retain the loyalty of the Belgae people.
The Year 260 HSF/ 30 BCE.
The Ardo-Lugotonos Carvilios standardizes the clerical hierarchy of the Swebos realm. The office of "Ver-Senios" (superior elder), which was a term of address for high priests, is now re-defined as an administrative position for the high priests in various cities across Swebaheimat. Versenead (plural) are usually high priests of Woden-Lugus (like Carvilios), but the high priest of a cities patron deity can be elected or appointed to that office as well. Being the Ardo-Lugotonos of Genabum, Carvilios is by default the Versenios of that city.
The young Sabaean King Rabbel Ishak travels with a large entourage to Judaea to give donations to the Temple and to visit the King Hyrcanus II. After two month in Jerusalem, Rabbel Ishak returns to Sabaea with a number of Pharisee scribes and Kohanim to help him remake Sabaea into a Jewish state. While in Jerusalem, Rabbel Ishak manages to arrange a political marriage with Hyrcanus' seventeen year old daughter, Princess Miriamme. Rabbel Ishak was a Hebrew on his mother's side, but was still part Goy. He also allowed a number of priestly families to settle in Sabaea to offset the remaining Sabaean nobility whom hated him.
The native nobles of Kartli (Georgia) rise against the Lutarid Hayasdani and successfully seced from the Kingdom of Hayasdan. They were led by the nobleman Mirian of Mtskheta.
The Syrian Megas Basileus Perdiccas I grants a degree of self-rule to the ancient and prestigious city of Babylon, with the chief priest of Marduk, Esarhaddon, appointed as "Episkopos Basilikon Polias" (Royal Overseer of the City). This was intended to restore the city from the neglect it was suffering since the time of Seleukos I Nikator. Through the enactment of subsequent laws, and with the approval of Perdiccas, Esarhaddon's Episkopate and his position as Satammu (high priest) of Marduk, becomes hereditary. This is the first instance of Syrian Emperors creating autonomous city-based Episkopates within the administrative framework of the Megale Syrian Empire.
After a year-long truce, hostilities again breakout between the Bonnai and the Swebos.
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Thanks Errnge and Monopolist.
The main language is mostly Gaulish with maybe a couple hundred Proto-Germanic loanwords (Druhtinaz, Kuniz, Thegnoz etc). Most of the population of the Marurigion (Great Kingdom) are Celtic, even with their assumed or imposed Swebos identity. Its a case of the conquerors being absorbed into the dominant culture. At this point in time, Sweboz and Gauls are virtually one and the same.
The main language is mostly Gaulish with maybe a couple hundred Proto-Germanic loanwords (Druhtinaz, Kuniz, Thegnoz etc). Most of the population of the Marurigion (Great Kingdom) are Celtic, even with their assumed or imposed Swebos identity. Its a case of the conquerors being absorbed into the dominant culture. At this point in time, Sweboz and Gauls are virtually one and the same.
Spoiler alert:
By the end of this TL's current century, Ansulagam's equivalent of Gnostic sects will begin to appear from the dispossessed "Cadones" (holy ones) sects within the Sweboz empire. These will later work to counteract the political influence of the increasingly powerful Bitunemeton and their royal patrons, gaining influence amongst the peasantry and urban poor. Over time, these will be the basis for new offshoot denominations of Ansulagam.
By the end of this TL's current century, Ansulagam's equivalent of Gnostic sects will begin to appear from the dispossessed "Cadones" (holy ones) sects within the Sweboz empire. These will later work to counteract the political influence of the increasingly powerful Bitunemeton and their royal patrons, gaining influence amongst the peasantry and urban poor. Over time, these will be the basis for new offshoot denominations of Ansulagam.
In a future update, I've decided that Carthage will make a comeback of sorts. After more than a decade after the fall of the Numidian Kingdom to Sunthwalhan conquest, the cities of Zeugei (ancient Tunisia) are allowed to remain autonomous. While Carthage was conquered by the Numidians over a century before in this TL, the internal civic institutions, such as the individual temple Kohannim (priesthoods) and the Hundred and Four senate (which is largely neutered now) remained intact. The kohannim of Baal Hammon is true governing force in the city of Carthage, and it's high priest also holds the high magistracy of the city, known bey everyone as the "Rab-Shophet". He will organize the neighbouring Punic and Libyan cities of Zeugei into the "B'rit Qarthadasht" or "Covenant of Carthage". Citizenship will be universal in this new league. This reborn Carthaginian state will soon seek out alliances with the rivals of Aquita-Sunthwalha, in order to relieve themselves of paying tribute to the Aquitanni-Iberian-based empire, who also controls the Numidians homelands.
I am also thinking about writing flash-forward sequences of the TL. I've got a lot more ideas about the future than constructing the present, so maybe that could move things along quicker.
The Year 261 HSF/29 BCE.
Essarhaddon, the Satammu (Babylonian high priest) and Episkopos of Babylon, with the support of his sovereign, Perdiccas I and 2000 royal troops in the city, force the other notables of the city of Babylon to accept dynastic control of Essarhaddon's family as the hereditary high priests. Perdiccas' decree the previous year was for the office of the episkopate to remain in the hands of the Satammu of Babylon, so now, Essarhaddon is in effect a prince of the Megale Syrian Empire. The Priesthood of Marduk in Babylon already controls extensive estates beyond the city and commands enormous respect from the subjects of the Empire, whether Hellene, Syrian, Mesopotamian or Persian.
King Hidarnes of Hayasdan (Armenia) signs a peace treaty with the King Mirian I of the newly independent Kingdom of Kartli (Georgia).
The vollirices (sub-kings) of the Belgae Viromandui and the Suessiones both die in captivity, which sparks a revolt by those tribes against the Druhtinos Brochvalos. The rebellions in Belgalandam are brutally supressed through the summer.
The first "Table of Honours and Dignities" is published in the royal Swebos chanceries, revealing new officer ranks within Druhtas (royal army). "Ducatos" (Ducere-"to lead" and Catus-"battle" or "force"). "Ducatrimarchos" (Duca-trimarkos "cavalry commander"), who leads a squadron. "Dunovellaunos" ("Dunum"-fortress and "Vellaunos"-chief), the castellan of a city. And "Ardo-ambactos (arch-companion, captain of the king's own bodyguard). The old general rank of "Harjanaz" has become widespread and is now the commander of provincial-based forces. An infantry Catus is sub-divided into Kantom (hundreds) and are each commanded by a Cintu-gaeso (first spearman).
King Rabbel Shishak of Sabaea and his open endorsement of the Jewish population and the privileges he affords them are causing resentment among the native Sabaean chiefs and the Priesthood of Ahtar. A number of priests and nobles present their concerns to the king, but are executed by public burning for their trouble. This ignites a rebellion among the populace.
The Year 262 HSF/28 BCE.
Death of the Basileus Heraclios I of Meghada at the age of fifty-six. He is succeeded to the throne by his thirty-three year old son and co-regent, Philipos I.
The Druhtinos Brochvalos, at the advice of the Ueremo Ater Carvilios, commissions a grand building project of a new temple-compound just outside Cenabum (Orleans). This grand building is intended to be the administrative headquarters of the Bitunemeton. Named the "Ansutigarn" or the "House of the Ansuz".
King Rabbel Shishak successfully crushes the uprising against his authority by the traditional priesthood of Ahtar. Rebellious clans are enslaved and the priests of Ahtar are massacred, some survivors flee to the city of Ma'rib into the protection of independent ruler of that city-state. The temple precincts of Ahtar in Sabata are commandeered by the loyalists of Rabbel Shishak, who wishes to renovate the site as a new temple to Yahweh. Opinion on his intention divides the scholarly Pharisees in his government. Debates are held at the royal court over the issue of the building a new Temple to Yahweh in Sabata.
Carthage, which has been effectively independent since the fall of the Numidians, forms a new league with the other Kan'ani city-states while formally acknowledging the supremacy of the Sunthwalhans whom occupy the northern Libyan lands between the cities of Ippone to Cirta. Melqartpilles, the Rab-Kohan and Shophet of Carthage, authors a new constitution which involves the union of Carthage with Atiqa, Kerkuane, Adrumeto, Tunes and Thapsos. The Ab-Adyriim and Edamim-Adyriim(Gerousia and Hundred and Four Council) still exists, but is now a feeble organ of state under the influence of the high-priesthood, who also pertually holds one of the two offices of Shophet.
The Year 263 HSF/27 BCE.
Death of King Ralla of Cimbrolandam at the age of seventy-three. He is succeeded by his twenty-oneyear old grand-daughter, the Princess Thosemund. She is already the spouse of the Cimbroz Harjanaz, Hagmar moc Tharkell, now her consort and regent.
Death of the Judean King Hyrcanus. His twenty-two year old son, also named Hyrcanus, ascend the the throne of Judea and is anointed the Kohan Gadol.
King Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam summons the Council of Roma, a synod of the Bonnai Ansutonion clergy to establish their own Bitunemeton hierarchy, distinct from that of the Swebos. The Ardo-Lugotonos (high priest of Lugus) and minister to the King Totilios, by name of Brinno of Veii, is appointed the first Versenios of Roma.
After years of service to the Megas Basileus of Megale Syria against the Bedu raiders from the Najd deserts, the Ethnarch of the Arabs in Syria, Nasru ibn Wolgash, is appointed the Autokrator of Hatra. Establishing a new client-state to act as a barrier to the Satrapeia of Assyria against raiding nomads from the south.
The Year 264 HSF/26 BCE.
With the support of the Megas Basileus Pediccas I, King Herod of Samaria raises an army of 67,000. Aided by the 45,000 strong Syrian force, Herod I leads the conquest of Judea. Lachish, Jericho and Hebron fell during the spring ans summer before Jerusalem was forced to surrender after a two month siege. Hyrcanus is forced to abdicate the throne by Herod I of Samaria, much to the disgust of the Pharisee loyalists. He is however permitted to remain as Kohan Gadol of the Temple. With the approval of his overlord, Perdiccas I of Megale Syria, Herod of Samaria is crowned King of Judea. Hundreds of hardline Pharisees flee to Egypt. Those that remain are arrested and put to death.
King Amyntarix of Trocmia sends a huge army of 92,000 to southern Judea, under the command of his brother, the Prince Hermias of Nikaia. The loyalist Judeans in the south retain the cities of Gaza, Ashkalon and Ashdod. Joppa and Jamnia are recaptured by the rebels with Trocmian assistance before years end.
The Rab-Shophet Melqartpilles of Carthage establishes his alliance with the Kingdom of Bonnlandam. King Ermanarix of Aquita-Sunthwalha views this as a betrayal by the Kha'ani cities, but is cautious of declaring war at this present time. The restored ports of Carthage and her neighbours are willing to build ships to assist their Bonnai allies against the Sunthwalhans. The B'rit Qarthadasht (Covenant of Carthage) is determined to reclaim its former glory.
Meanwhile, King Totilios of Bonnlandam raises a force of 15,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry in an expedition to punish the Illyrian King Bato of the Ardeians of Rhizon for his people's acts of piracy on the coasts of Italia and against merchant crews. King Bato of Rhizon sends missives to the Trocmian King Amyntarix for military aid.
The Year 265 HSF/25 BCE.
The Megas Basileus Perdiccas I musters a further 80,000 troops from Elam, Persis, Susiana and Mesopotamia to reinforce his vassal, King Herod I of Samaria and Judea against the Trocmian invasion in southern Judea. Under the command of both Perdiccas and Herod, Gaza and Ashkelon were retaken, Asdod was laid waste and the battles of Gerar, Maresha, Beit Hanoun and Be'er Sheva, fought between Apellaios (November) to Daisios (May) ended in Syrio-Samarian victories. The major battle of Ekron, in fought in Hyperberataios (September), resulted in the death of Prince Hermias and the virtual destruction of the Trocmian-Judean alliance. The remainder of the Trocmian forces had to withdraw to the client-kingdom of Egypt. The now undisputed King Herod of Judea was able to move into the cities of the south without opposition. Those rebels who did not flee were either executed, or made to work as forced labour on King Herod's new project which was the construction of the port city of Perdikkeia (on the site of OTL Caesarea), a city named after his beloved overlord, Perdiccas. Herod would in later years make Perdikkeia his main residence.
King Totilios and his forces ravage the countryside around Rhizon. Despite the intervention of a 50,000 strong Trocmian relief force, Totilios annihilates them as well at the Battle of Acrivion.
King Rabbel Shishak, with the employment of mercenaries from the Bedouin and from Nubia across the Red Sea. He leads his forces in stamping out rebellion across his realm, but Ma'rib, under the governorship of his cousin, the traditionalist Sheikh Al-Uzza, remains strong against the king's authority. Al-Uzza will later declare his complte independence against the Judaizing King Rabbel Shishak. The King, meanwhile, continues to favour the Jewish minority in his realm. Certain persons, such as the Pharisee scholar Gamaliel ben Joazer is the chief minister of the Sabaean King, while one Zacharias ben Yahanan, a former caravan merchant, is now the chief tax-collector in Sabata. The five Jewish clans in Sabata were simply merchants before the reign of Rabbel III, the current king's late father. Now they are the virtual aristocracy.
The city of Lepki in the east of Libya now joins with the B'rit Qarthadasht (Covenant of Carthage).
The Year 266 HSF/24 BCE.
The first documentation of "Tigernscalos" (Tigernos-Skalk/ House Steward) as an office of state in the Swebos Marurigion. The Druhtinos Brochvalos creates the office to act as an administrator within each of the sub-kingdoms. A Tigernscalos would preside over important judgements, and supervise over the Bretos magistrates in their duties. He would also act as the deputy of the Kintu-Ambactos, but would report personally to the Druhtinos. The old position of Thulis is now largely relegated to court-chamberlain duties (except for the hereditary position in Noricea). The Tigernscalos are often appointed from the freedmen-scribes in service to the royal household.
The Druhtinos Brochvalos orders a kingdom-wide census of the Swebos Marurigion.
After a year and half, with limited support from his Trocmian overlords, King Bato of Rhizon surrenders to Totilios of Bonnlandan and pledges himself to him. Totilios orders that he send both his young sons as hostages to him. For the time-being, Bato switches his allegiances from the Trocmians to the Bonnai.
King Herod I orders the construction of his new palace in Jerusalem and the Herodion fortress.
The Year 267 HSF/23 BCE.
The Reish Galuta Eloenai, the Exilarch of the Jews in Babylonia, is granted the office of Episkopos of the city of Nehardea by the Megas Basileus Perdiccas I, in recognition of his leadership of the Jews in Mesopotamia. Much like his peer, the Satammu of Babylon, the Jewish Exilarch is now an autonomous ruler of his home city.
The Book of Hiram of Mlk of Tyre is the first book in a hagiographical chronology of the common faith of the Kha'ani people is completed by after many years of revisions. Melqartpilles endorses the book as a divinely inspired document. This is the first such document that would codify the religion of the Kha'ani people.
The census's of the Swebos sub-kingdoms of Belgalandam, Armorica and Arvernotorg are completed for the review of the Druhtinos. These are the three best governed and prosperous realms of the Swebos Marurigion.
In an effort to win the rapport of the emergent B'rit Qarthadasht, Ermanarix of Sunthwalha permits the presence of Qarthadashti merchants and Kehinnim (priests) in the predominantly Ponnim (Phoenician) populated cities of Mastia, Qoduba, Gadir and Malaka.
The Year 268 HSF/22 BCE.
The Gadaol Kohan and former king of Judea, Hyrcanus, dies mysteriously. Fearing treachery, his wife Salome flees Judea with her five year old son, also named Hyrcanus, to Egypt. Simon ben Boethus is appointed to the high priesthood with Herod's approval (he was Herod's father-in-law).
The Trocmian King Amyntarix, who has suffered humiliation in his previous conflict with Megale Syria, endeavours to build a new road system through his Anatolian Meridarcheia to better facilitate the movement of his armies. Work begins outside the cities of Gordion and Ikonion.
King Obodas III of Nabatea sends secret messages to the Trocmian Epitropos of Alexandreia in order to build bridges with the King Amytarix, as he fears that he is expendable in the eyes of his overlord, Perdiccas I of Megale Syria. Obodas' rival, King Herod I is twice as powerful in the region with control of Judea.
The city of Lugdunon in Arvernotorg becomes the permanent residence of the Druhtinos Brochvalos, now that the Vindolissa (White Palace) is built on the eastern waterfront of the city. A grand building of lime-washed walls and its vast palace grounds, organized to a grid plan. The walls around the palace cover three-quarters of a mile in circumference, containing a Nemeton-chapel, guardsmen barracks and stables. This, however, is less a defensive structure of past Dunom (Oppida).
The Year 269 HSF/21 BCE.
Death of Fritigern, the King of the Bastanoz, atthe age of sixty-two. His only surviving child, the nineteen year old Princess Fruihilde, ascends to the throne, ruling over the Hellenic lands of Taurike as Bastaheimat. She accepts as a suitor one Prince Palakus, a noble of the Scythian Budini confederacy.
Death of the Rab-Shopet Melqartpilles at the great age of eighty-nine years. He is succeeded in his position by the respected Kehin-scholar and Mo'ets (magistrate), Bomilcar, who is anointed the Rab-Kehin (high priest) of Ba'al Hammon and Ashtart, and the Shphet of Carthage in two seperate ceremonies. Bomilcar will work to intergrate all the Ponni (western Kha'ani/Phoenician) priesthoods into a single political organization. Known as the Gadol Beit HaMiqdasim (High-House of the Temples). He will do this by controlling all the appointments for the various posts of high-priests in all the federate cities of the B'rit Qarthadasht.
King Herod I of Samaria and Judea continues with his project of expanding the Temple in Jerusalem.
Ermanarix of Sunthwalha founds the city of Conimbriga (Coimbra) as the administrative centre of Lusotanna, granting the city special privileges and its own Seniona (senate).
The Swebos Theudarix Segovesos founds the city of Segovedunon (Limoges) close to the border of Aquitanna, and stations a Harjaz as a garrison. It is alleged that Segovsos has plans to expand Swebos rule at the expense of the Aquita-Sunthwalhans in the time to come.
The Year 270 HSF/ 20 BCE.
The King of Bonnlandan, Totilios creates the new high priestly office of Versenios of Mediolanum, to counteract that of the increasingly influential Versenios of Roma. In the post at Mediolanum, he appoints the Ardo'Camulonos (high priest of Camulus), Idumatios moc Sacrovir.
The old Nervi settlement of Bagacos (Bavay) has grown to the status of a city. the chief magistrate of Bagacos is the Versenios Cadwalador moc Dandoloedis of Atuatuca. Cadwalador was responsible for much of the urban growth of the city of Bagacos, as the patron of the tax-farmers and the architects.
The Syrian Basileus ton Basileion Perdiccas I, after signing a permanent peace treaty with King Amytarix of Trocmia, takes as his bride the Princess Thais, the seventeen year old daughter of King Amyntarix.
More Saka tribesmen are reported to have entered the Indo-Hellene Kingdom of Gandhara at the inviatation of the Basileus Pantaleon III. They came as auxiliaries to help suppress the rebellions of the subordinate Hindu Rajas in Gandharan territory.
Essarhaddon, the Satammu (Babylonian high priest) and Episkopos of Babylon, with the support of his sovereign, Perdiccas I and 2000 royal troops in the city, force the other notables of the city of Babylon to accept dynastic control of Essarhaddon's family as the hereditary high priests. Perdiccas' decree the previous year was for the office of the episkopate to remain in the hands of the Satammu of Babylon, so now, Essarhaddon is in effect a prince of the Megale Syrian Empire. The Priesthood of Marduk in Babylon already controls extensive estates beyond the city and commands enormous respect from the subjects of the Empire, whether Hellene, Syrian, Mesopotamian or Persian.
King Hidarnes of Hayasdan (Armenia) signs a peace treaty with the King Mirian I of the newly independent Kingdom of Kartli (Georgia).
The vollirices (sub-kings) of the Belgae Viromandui and the Suessiones both die in captivity, which sparks a revolt by those tribes against the Druhtinos Brochvalos. The rebellions in Belgalandam are brutally supressed through the summer.
The first "Table of Honours and Dignities" is published in the royal Swebos chanceries, revealing new officer ranks within Druhtas (royal army). "Ducatos" (Ducere-"to lead" and Catus-"battle" or "force"). "Ducatrimarchos" (Duca-trimarkos "cavalry commander"), who leads a squadron. "Dunovellaunos" ("Dunum"-fortress and "Vellaunos"-chief), the castellan of a city. And "Ardo-ambactos (arch-companion, captain of the king's own bodyguard). The old general rank of "Harjanaz" has become widespread and is now the commander of provincial-based forces. An infantry Catus is sub-divided into Kantom (hundreds) and are each commanded by a Cintu-gaeso (first spearman).
King Rabbel Shishak of Sabaea and his open endorsement of the Jewish population and the privileges he affords them are causing resentment among the native Sabaean chiefs and the Priesthood of Ahtar. A number of priests and nobles present their concerns to the king, but are executed by public burning for their trouble. This ignites a rebellion among the populace.
The Year 262 HSF/28 BCE.
Death of the Basileus Heraclios I of Meghada at the age of fifty-six. He is succeeded to the throne by his thirty-three year old son and co-regent, Philipos I.
The Druhtinos Brochvalos, at the advice of the Ueremo Ater Carvilios, commissions a grand building project of a new temple-compound just outside Cenabum (Orleans). This grand building is intended to be the administrative headquarters of the Bitunemeton. Named the "Ansutigarn" or the "House of the Ansuz".
King Rabbel Shishak successfully crushes the uprising against his authority by the traditional priesthood of Ahtar. Rebellious clans are enslaved and the priests of Ahtar are massacred, some survivors flee to the city of Ma'rib into the protection of independent ruler of that city-state. The temple precincts of Ahtar in Sabata are commandeered by the loyalists of Rabbel Shishak, who wishes to renovate the site as a new temple to Yahweh. Opinion on his intention divides the scholarly Pharisees in his government. Debates are held at the royal court over the issue of the building a new Temple to Yahweh in Sabata.
Carthage, which has been effectively independent since the fall of the Numidians, forms a new league with the other Kan'ani city-states while formally acknowledging the supremacy of the Sunthwalhans whom occupy the northern Libyan lands between the cities of Ippone to Cirta. Melqartpilles, the Rab-Kohan and Shophet of Carthage, authors a new constitution which involves the union of Carthage with Atiqa, Kerkuane, Adrumeto, Tunes and Thapsos. The Ab-Adyriim and Edamim-Adyriim(Gerousia and Hundred and Four Council) still exists, but is now a feeble organ of state under the influence of the high-priesthood, who also pertually holds one of the two offices of Shophet.
The Year 263 HSF/27 BCE.
Death of King Ralla of Cimbrolandam at the age of seventy-three. He is succeeded by his twenty-oneyear old grand-daughter, the Princess Thosemund. She is already the spouse of the Cimbroz Harjanaz, Hagmar moc Tharkell, now her consort and regent.
Death of the Judean King Hyrcanus. His twenty-two year old son, also named Hyrcanus, ascend the the throne of Judea and is anointed the Kohan Gadol.
King Totilios of Helvetis-Bonnlandam summons the Council of Roma, a synod of the Bonnai Ansutonion clergy to establish their own Bitunemeton hierarchy, distinct from that of the Swebos. The Ardo-Lugotonos (high priest of Lugus) and minister to the King Totilios, by name of Brinno of Veii, is appointed the first Versenios of Roma.
After years of service to the Megas Basileus of Megale Syria against the Bedu raiders from the Najd deserts, the Ethnarch of the Arabs in Syria, Nasru ibn Wolgash, is appointed the Autokrator of Hatra. Establishing a new client-state to act as a barrier to the Satrapeia of Assyria against raiding nomads from the south.
The Year 264 HSF/26 BCE.
With the support of the Megas Basileus Pediccas I, King Herod of Samaria raises an army of 67,000. Aided by the 45,000 strong Syrian force, Herod I leads the conquest of Judea. Lachish, Jericho and Hebron fell during the spring ans summer before Jerusalem was forced to surrender after a two month siege. Hyrcanus is forced to abdicate the throne by Herod I of Samaria, much to the disgust of the Pharisee loyalists. He is however permitted to remain as Kohan Gadol of the Temple. With the approval of his overlord, Perdiccas I of Megale Syria, Herod of Samaria is crowned King of Judea. Hundreds of hardline Pharisees flee to Egypt. Those that remain are arrested and put to death.
King Amyntarix of Trocmia sends a huge army of 92,000 to southern Judea, under the command of his brother, the Prince Hermias of Nikaia. The loyalist Judeans in the south retain the cities of Gaza, Ashkalon and Ashdod. Joppa and Jamnia are recaptured by the rebels with Trocmian assistance before years end.
The Rab-Shophet Melqartpilles of Carthage establishes his alliance with the Kingdom of Bonnlandam. King Ermanarix of Aquita-Sunthwalha views this as a betrayal by the Kha'ani cities, but is cautious of declaring war at this present time. The restored ports of Carthage and her neighbours are willing to build ships to assist their Bonnai allies against the Sunthwalhans. The B'rit Qarthadasht (Covenant of Carthage) is determined to reclaim its former glory.
Meanwhile, King Totilios of Bonnlandam raises a force of 15,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry in an expedition to punish the Illyrian King Bato of the Ardeians of Rhizon for his people's acts of piracy on the coasts of Italia and against merchant crews. King Bato of Rhizon sends missives to the Trocmian King Amyntarix for military aid.
The Year 265 HSF/25 BCE.
The Megas Basileus Perdiccas I musters a further 80,000 troops from Elam, Persis, Susiana and Mesopotamia to reinforce his vassal, King Herod I of Samaria and Judea against the Trocmian invasion in southern Judea. Under the command of both Perdiccas and Herod, Gaza and Ashkelon were retaken, Asdod was laid waste and the battles of Gerar, Maresha, Beit Hanoun and Be'er Sheva, fought between Apellaios (November) to Daisios (May) ended in Syrio-Samarian victories. The major battle of Ekron, in fought in Hyperberataios (September), resulted in the death of Prince Hermias and the virtual destruction of the Trocmian-Judean alliance. The remainder of the Trocmian forces had to withdraw to the client-kingdom of Egypt. The now undisputed King Herod of Judea was able to move into the cities of the south without opposition. Those rebels who did not flee were either executed, or made to work as forced labour on King Herod's new project which was the construction of the port city of Perdikkeia (on the site of OTL Caesarea), a city named after his beloved overlord, Perdiccas. Herod would in later years make Perdikkeia his main residence.
King Totilios and his forces ravage the countryside around Rhizon. Despite the intervention of a 50,000 strong Trocmian relief force, Totilios annihilates them as well at the Battle of Acrivion.
King Rabbel Shishak, with the employment of mercenaries from the Bedouin and from Nubia across the Red Sea. He leads his forces in stamping out rebellion across his realm, but Ma'rib, under the governorship of his cousin, the traditionalist Sheikh Al-Uzza, remains strong against the king's authority. Al-Uzza will later declare his complte independence against the Judaizing King Rabbel Shishak. The King, meanwhile, continues to favour the Jewish minority in his realm. Certain persons, such as the Pharisee scholar Gamaliel ben Joazer is the chief minister of the Sabaean King, while one Zacharias ben Yahanan, a former caravan merchant, is now the chief tax-collector in Sabata. The five Jewish clans in Sabata were simply merchants before the reign of Rabbel III, the current king's late father. Now they are the virtual aristocracy.
The city of Lepki in the east of Libya now joins with the B'rit Qarthadasht (Covenant of Carthage).
The Year 266 HSF/24 BCE.
The first documentation of "Tigernscalos" (Tigernos-Skalk/ House Steward) as an office of state in the Swebos Marurigion. The Druhtinos Brochvalos creates the office to act as an administrator within each of the sub-kingdoms. A Tigernscalos would preside over important judgements, and supervise over the Bretos magistrates in their duties. He would also act as the deputy of the Kintu-Ambactos, but would report personally to the Druhtinos. The old position of Thulis is now largely relegated to court-chamberlain duties (except for the hereditary position in Noricea). The Tigernscalos are often appointed from the freedmen-scribes in service to the royal household.
The Druhtinos Brochvalos orders a kingdom-wide census of the Swebos Marurigion.
After a year and half, with limited support from his Trocmian overlords, King Bato of Rhizon surrenders to Totilios of Bonnlandan and pledges himself to him. Totilios orders that he send both his young sons as hostages to him. For the time-being, Bato switches his allegiances from the Trocmians to the Bonnai.
King Herod I orders the construction of his new palace in Jerusalem and the Herodion fortress.
The Year 267 HSF/23 BCE.
The Reish Galuta Eloenai, the Exilarch of the Jews in Babylonia, is granted the office of Episkopos of the city of Nehardea by the Megas Basileus Perdiccas I, in recognition of his leadership of the Jews in Mesopotamia. Much like his peer, the Satammu of Babylon, the Jewish Exilarch is now an autonomous ruler of his home city.
The Book of Hiram of Mlk of Tyre is the first book in a hagiographical chronology of the common faith of the Kha'ani people is completed by after many years of revisions. Melqartpilles endorses the book as a divinely inspired document. This is the first such document that would codify the religion of the Kha'ani people.
The census's of the Swebos sub-kingdoms of Belgalandam, Armorica and Arvernotorg are completed for the review of the Druhtinos. These are the three best governed and prosperous realms of the Swebos Marurigion.
In an effort to win the rapport of the emergent B'rit Qarthadasht, Ermanarix of Sunthwalha permits the presence of Qarthadashti merchants and Kehinnim (priests) in the predominantly Ponnim (Phoenician) populated cities of Mastia, Qoduba, Gadir and Malaka.
The Year 268 HSF/22 BCE.
The Gadaol Kohan and former king of Judea, Hyrcanus, dies mysteriously. Fearing treachery, his wife Salome flees Judea with her five year old son, also named Hyrcanus, to Egypt. Simon ben Boethus is appointed to the high priesthood with Herod's approval (he was Herod's father-in-law).
The Trocmian King Amyntarix, who has suffered humiliation in his previous conflict with Megale Syria, endeavours to build a new road system through his Anatolian Meridarcheia to better facilitate the movement of his armies. Work begins outside the cities of Gordion and Ikonion.
King Obodas III of Nabatea sends secret messages to the Trocmian Epitropos of Alexandreia in order to build bridges with the King Amytarix, as he fears that he is expendable in the eyes of his overlord, Perdiccas I of Megale Syria. Obodas' rival, King Herod I is twice as powerful in the region with control of Judea.
The city of Lugdunon in Arvernotorg becomes the permanent residence of the Druhtinos Brochvalos, now that the Vindolissa (White Palace) is built on the eastern waterfront of the city. A grand building of lime-washed walls and its vast palace grounds, organized to a grid plan. The walls around the palace cover three-quarters of a mile in circumference, containing a Nemeton-chapel, guardsmen barracks and stables. This, however, is less a defensive structure of past Dunom (Oppida).
The Year 269 HSF/21 BCE.
Death of Fritigern, the King of the Bastanoz, atthe age of sixty-two. His only surviving child, the nineteen year old Princess Fruihilde, ascends to the throne, ruling over the Hellenic lands of Taurike as Bastaheimat. She accepts as a suitor one Prince Palakus, a noble of the Scythian Budini confederacy.
Death of the Rab-Shopet Melqartpilles at the great age of eighty-nine years. He is succeeded in his position by the respected Kehin-scholar and Mo'ets (magistrate), Bomilcar, who is anointed the Rab-Kehin (high priest) of Ba'al Hammon and Ashtart, and the Shphet of Carthage in two seperate ceremonies. Bomilcar will work to intergrate all the Ponni (western Kha'ani/Phoenician) priesthoods into a single political organization. Known as the Gadol Beit HaMiqdasim (High-House of the Temples). He will do this by controlling all the appointments for the various posts of high-priests in all the federate cities of the B'rit Qarthadasht.
King Herod I of Samaria and Judea continues with his project of expanding the Temple in Jerusalem.
Ermanarix of Sunthwalha founds the city of Conimbriga (Coimbra) as the administrative centre of Lusotanna, granting the city special privileges and its own Seniona (senate).
The Swebos Theudarix Segovesos founds the city of Segovedunon (Limoges) close to the border of Aquitanna, and stations a Harjaz as a garrison. It is alleged that Segovsos has plans to expand Swebos rule at the expense of the Aquita-Sunthwalhans in the time to come.
The Year 270 HSF/ 20 BCE.
The King of Bonnlandan, Totilios creates the new high priestly office of Versenios of Mediolanum, to counteract that of the increasingly influential Versenios of Roma. In the post at Mediolanum, he appoints the Ardo'Camulonos (high priest of Camulus), Idumatios moc Sacrovir.
The old Nervi settlement of Bagacos (Bavay) has grown to the status of a city. the chief magistrate of Bagacos is the Versenios Cadwalador moc Dandoloedis of Atuatuca. Cadwalador was responsible for much of the urban growth of the city of Bagacos, as the patron of the tax-farmers and the architects.
The Syrian Basileus ton Basileion Perdiccas I, after signing a permanent peace treaty with King Amytarix of Trocmia, takes as his bride the Princess Thais, the seventeen year old daughter of King Amyntarix.
More Saka tribesmen are reported to have entered the Indo-Hellene Kingdom of Gandhara at the inviatation of the Basileus Pantaleon III. They came as auxiliaries to help suppress the rebellions of the subordinate Hindu Rajas in Gandharan territory.
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Another good update Lysandros, and as to your flash forward question, I personally am fine with it. How far in the future are we talking?
Hooray, you used ab-adyriim! (Though I will nit that if you were using my terms, the 104 was the edamim-adyriim, and the gerousia/council of elders was ab-adyriim.) Nevertheless, looking forward to reading more on a reborn and restructured Carthaginian Empire, as it rises back into preeminence.
Babylon looks to have revived in importance - how has that affected cities like Seleucia? Or is its revival more symbolic than it is an actual revival?
Hooray, you used ab-adyriim!
(Though I will nit that if you were using my terms, the 104 was the edamim-adyriim, and the gerousia/council of elders was ab-adyriim.) Nevertheless, looking forward to reading more on a reborn and restructured Carthaginian Empire, as it rises back into preeminence.Babylon looks to have revived in importance - how has that affected cities like Seleucia? Or is its revival more symbolic than it is an actual revival?
Another good update Lysandros, and as to your flash forward question, I personally am fine with it. How far in the future are we talking?
Hooray, you used ab-adyriim!
Babylon looks to have revived in importance - how has that affected cities like Seleucia? Or is its revival more symbolic than it is an actual revival?
I'm still thinking about what I'll do when it comes to the "flash-forwards". I might just bring the TL as far as the Common Era period before I do the sequences. If or when I do, it could be as far as the OTL 400'S CE. I would like to do something with the Huns. I could bring it as far as the (OTL) 1100's to see what becomes of the Medieval Swebos realm and its neighbouring states. I was thinking something along the lines of maritime city-state republics in Scandinavia and Ireland, with the sites of Dublin and Birka in Sweden. The Ueremo Ater (the Ansulagam pope) position being in effect the second ruler of the Druhtinos, the secular emperor of the Swebos.
This ab-adyriim is really just a puppet of the high-priesthood now. Carthage is now a theocratic republic. But you're right, I'm going to edit the update with another eight years tomorrow, so I'll amend that bit as well.
Carthage won't be quite the same empire it was two hundred years before. The Numidians are a spent and divided force, The Hellenes of Greater Greece and Sicily are subdued, and the Sunthwalhan's of Iberia and the Bonnai of Italy are slowly asserting their dominion into North Africa. I thought I'd put them back in the limelight to challenge the Celtic empires, or play them against one another in order to preserve their civilization. Plus, I can decide how to codify the Punic religion.
Seleucia on the Tigris is still the capital of what was once called the Seleucid Empire, but its size makes it difficult to govern centrally, so minor principalities and client-states are going to pop-up all over the place. The Babylonian Satammu is going to become hereditary lord of a long-revered, if long-neglected, city in the Middle East. The Megas Basileus of Megale Syria (need to come up with a better name sometime) is still the Mardukite high-priests boss, though.
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