Support your Local Satrap!

The Ubbergeek · Nov 25, 2012

Daeres said:
The word 'satrap' is originally Persian, in its original rendition it's been reconstructed to mean (in Old Persian) something like 'Protector of the Province'. As I recall, whilst the realities of the position remained the same the actual Seleucid/Hellenistic term for these sorts of officials was strategos, but the majority of scholars continue to refer to them as satraps well into the Seleucid era because much of how they behaved and interacted with royal administration was unchanged.

The term 'satrap' is a transliteration, but it has also become something like a technical term in the terms used to describe elements of Empires. It's like the fact that 'Sheikh' is actually used as a technical term for certain figures well before the societies that actually used the term, particularly in Assyriology.

Ahh, thank for those details, never got a clear picture in the head.

Bavarian Raven · Nov 25, 2012

Great Tl! Keep it coming

Oracle of Sobek 𓆋 · Nov 25, 2012

Finally caught up! Glad to see this back, and here's hoping it lasts a good long while!

Errnge · Nov 25, 2012

nice update

I'm curious to see how things develop as we approach the Germanic and Scytho-Sarmatian migrations.

also, hows Dacia doing? same as OTL?

Daeres · Nov 25, 2012

Dacia is mostly experiencing things as OTL in this period; nothing has really changed from their experience of OTL 323-160 BC, but given that the state of play in Macedon, Greece and Epirus is quite different from this period OTL things will obviously not remain the same forever. I do have plans for Dacia in the future.

With regards to the Germanic invasions, imagining that they will be relevant in the future is a wise move.

With regards to the Scythians, things are working a little differently. We've already entered their period of moving into the Iranian plateau, except they're already much further into these territories than OTL (unless you count the Parthian ruling class OTL as a semi-Scythian group). The states forming in the wake of the Scythian occupation of Parthia-Bactria-Arachosia are going to be a little different to OTL. But this is indeed not the last movement the Scytho-Sarmatians will be making.

Berserker · Nov 26, 2012

With regards to the Scythians, things are working a little differently. We've already entered their period of moving into the Iranian plateau, except they're already much further into these territories than OTL (unless you count the Parthian ruling class OTL as a semi-Scythian group). The states forming in the wake of the Scythian occupation of Parthia-Bactria-Arachosia are going to be a little different to OTL. But this is indeed not the last movement the Scytho-Sarmatians will be making.

very curious to see this work out

also, interesting update

TaylorS · Nov 27, 2012

Interesting happenings in Rome!

Daeres · Nov 30, 2012

Lucius Horatius Lanatus’ Annals

In the year 186 BC I became direct witness to several political events as I, Lucius Horatius Lanatus, was elected Quaestor. As the year began, there had been some hope that the situation might resolve itself; the Senate’s anti-reformists had seemingly run out of sensible legal options to take against the reformists and the more moderate of them were prepared to concede ground. However, a new figure emerged among the anti-reformists; one Spurius Verginius Tricostus Caeliomonatus Scaevola. As you might imagine with a list of cognomen long as your arm he was of ancient patrician blood, but from a line long out of the political scene and with only one patrician branch left. Due to the misfortunes of his family, he was anxious to re-establish them as a force to be feared. Upon becoming a senator, he thus decisively joined the anti-reformists despite his great admiration for Corvus and Scipio both. His admiration quickly turned to intense rivalry. His debates, fueled by fiery rhetoric, rekindled the vitriol of the anti-reformist cause and thus no compromise was to be found.

We must also turn to the great Corvus. By this stage, he was 57 years old. His wits had not been dulled by his long years of service, but the wily and energetic man who had helped defeat Hannibal Barca and repair the damaged Republic was now a wise and calm elder. Nonetheless, the actions of the younger Scaelova roused his ire, and in both attitude and actions it was clear he was re-arming himself for political battle. Though he had remained a key part of the movement he had started, Corvus had remained out of public debate for some years. He returned to the debate floor with all of the energy he had possessed as a war hero with the piercing insight of his aged wisdom. Witnessing both Corvus and Scipio on stage, they acted in complete concert with one another and were indomitable to behold. By force of personality several moderator senators were detached from the anti-reformist cause. It was the first major breakthrough in the deadlock for the past three years. But counter-reaction inevitably followed, and it was a severe reaction at that; the anti-reformists moved to abolish Corvus’ land assignment committee. Despite the committee’s wide scale public support among plebs and Rome’s allies the anti-reformists held fast and would not back down. This was the point at which events began to inevitably slide towards violence. The tribunes, who remained under the control of the reformists, used their veto to prevent the anti-reformists actions. The response was that almost all of the tribunes were assaulted by groups of people within the same week. Many expressed confusion that plebs would assault a man supporting a cause dear to them, and there were strong accusations that the men had been paid criminals. It was at this point that news of a revolt of Ligurians reached the city of Rome. It was hoped that this would stymie the political infighting in the city as its great and good concentrated on dealing with a more pressing matter. To my great shame, this did not happen and instead the problems were only magnified. The anti-reformists accused Corvus of wanting to march to Liguria only to hire the Ligurians as mercenaries and march with them onto Rome and burn it to the ground, and then accused both Consuls of being his cronies. The consuls, at a stroke, cleverly avoided this issue by instead ordering the praetor Lars Herminius Aquilinus Aculeo to assemble a consular army and to head north. The office of praetor possessed imperium making it perfectly legal for Aculeo to do so. The alleged Etruscan origins of the Herminia gens were raised by the anti-reformists as an objection, but Aculeo completely ignored this. He was a deeply unfriendly man to most, but he was upright, calm and reliable. None could touch his impervious reputation. A ‘consular’ army then departed under Aculeo to defeat the Ligurians, and it was thought that perhaps now the hot-blooded men of both sides would be calm enough to properly negotiate.

However, seeing their chance to make an impact, the Petition of 500 was once again brought into the debating arena by the allies. Now that so many of their soldiers were fighting alongside Romans in the ongoing Ligurian War, they correctly viewed that it was impossible to ignore their ongoing contribution to the Republic. Since the Second Punic War, the cause of the allies had always found strong support among the plebs, but there had remained a great number of plebs opposed to the idea even throughout the preceding years. Corvus aimed to change this, and began a campaign of public speaking. This came to an abrupt end as a speech given in the port of Ostia was interrupted by the younger Augurinus. A disgraced and now minor figure among the anti-reformists, his act was outrageous but represented no-one among the senior anti-reformists. But the public hybris, as those in Greece would call it, was too great and the younger Augurinus was beaten to death by the crowd Corvus had been speaking to. The situation now deteriorated extremely quickly, with rioting once again breaking out in Rome. For a change, both reformists and anti-reformists agreed on an issue; a dictator had to be appointed to finally break the deadlock and restore order to the city, a dictator rei gerundae causa. However, the candidate chosen was Gaius Julius Iulus Malleolus and this did not pass without comment; he had not earned his agnomen of ‘hammer’ for nothing. He also held a reputation for acquiring wealth by any means possible. But it is worth balancing this opinion by remembering that his patrician line was extremely prestigious, that he was an incredibly senior statesman, and that neither side had a reason to suspect his intentions.

What swiftly emerged was that Malleolus had an extreme dislike for Scipio, which had allegedly arisen from Scipio seducing the former’s wife. In more genial times this would have been nothing more than good natured muck raking, but it was to prove disastrous. It became apparent that Malleolus had decided that Scipio was the stumbling block to achieving a peaceful settlement, which was interpreted as being grossly unfair. Then Scipio and Corvus heard rumours that Malleolus was intending to proscribe Scipio. There were two options for both men; either stand and fight, and likely be imprisoned or worse, or leave and be open outlaws of the state. For any virtuous Roman this would not be an easy decision to take, resting in particular on one question; can one save the Roman state whilst being outlawed by it? After wrestling with the issue, their answer to the question was yes. Corvus, Scipio, and many of their supporters fled the city for Neapolis. Now we come to the great stasis of the century, the civil war known as the Social War, for with this act the reformists declared war on the legally appointed dictator of Rome and the Senate of Rome. They did not stand alone; Campania was one of the regions that Corvus had ensured gained Roman citizenship and he was received with delight by the citizens of Neapolis. He was soon joined by the Italiote League, one of the major signatories of the Petition of 500 and the source of almost all Rome’s navy. But no military action was taken at first by the reformists; whether this is due to Roman virtue or a more cynical approach of wishing Malleolus to strike first is really up to the reader to decide.

The immediate response of Malleolus was to recall Aculeo and his ‘consular’ army back from Liguria, but Aculeo absolutely refused to move his army through the bitter northern winter and said he would be free to move in spring. Instead, Malleolus ordered the two Consuls to assemble armies and march south; the two Consuls were not disposed towards this action but unlike Aculeo they were directly within Malleolus’ reach. The Veneti, Italian Gauls, Sicilians, Umbrians, Picenes and Samnites all refused to provide allied contingents for these armies, but Roman manpower had recovered in the past decade to a certain extent and this did not denude the manpower of the consular armies. Upon this news filtering through Roman territories and provinces, Sicilia, Sardinia, Corsica, the Adriatic garrisons and Cumae’s garrison all declared for Corvus and only caution prevented many other regions of Italy itself from doing so. As the reformists were in control of the majority of Rome’s navy, they had a free hand to move reinforcements from these overseas territories. Their initial disadvantage was that Malleolus and the Senate’s manpower exceeded their own in terms of trained cohorts.

With the die now cast, Corvus and Scipio mustered their forces to defend themselves; the army that they assembled contained several Roman cohorts from Campania and elsewhere, the famous Tarantine cavalry, hardened Italiote soldiers who had fought as socii in the Roman army for some time, and hoplitai from many of the Greek poleis that had sided with them. Having assembled their combined forces at Capua Corvus and Scipio separated, with Corvus marching towards Sinuessa and Scipio taking a defensive position at Sessa Aurunca. A battle would be fought at each of those places, even in the midst of Italy’s winter, and both would prove to be decisive.

Errnge · Nov 30, 2012

Roman civil war!

This will indeed be interesting to see play out

Berserker · Nov 30, 2012

war has come to italy, at long last

TaylorS · Nov 30, 2012

I hope the reformers win! Go Scipio and Corvus, crush that Jullii SOB!

Daeres · Dec 24, 2012

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Lucius Horatius Lanatus’ Annals

At Sinuessa, two armies approached one another; the one led by Corvus, the other led by the plebeian consul Gaius Marcius Censorius. Once the armies grew near to one another, however, many recognised friends and comrades. Rather than marching to battle, the two armies embraced one another in respect and friendship. Corvus remained enormously popular with common Romans and those serving in the army, and many of the soldiers on both sides had served with one another in many foreign fields. What had potentially been a massacre became a jubilant celebration. But the initial delight gave way to concern; Censorius and Corvus needed to come to an accommodation. Legally, Corvus was a renegade from the state and as dictator Malleolus not only had complete authority to punish Corvus but Malleolus’ actions were unable to be disputed or punished in a court of law. After conferring for a full day and night, the two armies gathered for an announcement from Censorius and Corvus. A completely unprecedented decision had been taken, that would send shock waves throughout the Republic. The pair announced the formation of an Anti-Senate, along with various other assemblies, in opposition to those in Rome. They declared that the anti-reformists in Rome had sold out the Republic by appointing such a man as Malleolus as dictator, and had committed treason against Rome by being Malleolus’ patsies. It must be said, in the interest of fairness, that this as said despite the fact that Malleolus had originally been considered the correct choice. The Anti-Senate was to be formed of those reformist senators who had absconded with Corvus, Censorius, and several of the most prominent of the Socii were also to now be directly represented. Censorius would serve out a consular term with Aculeo as his partner, though Aculeo had not yet been approached regarding this matter as he was still up north in Liguria.

On the same day that the battle at Sinuessa was aborted, a battle in earnest did however occur at Sessa Aurunca. The consul of this second army, Lucius Furius Camillus, was approached for terms, but was unwilling to hear terms and insisted that Scipio and his rebels surrender or be fought in open battle. Given that Camillus was sympathetic to the reformist cause, this might be considered to be unusual and by the time that I write this document many scathing remarks have been made of Camillus. But what was not known until later was that Malleolus had made Camillus’ son a hostage. With this additional knowledge, whilst Camillus was a traitor to his principles any father that has had to take radical action to safeguard his child will at least allow him a measure of sympathy. Battle was thus joined, with much regret on all sides. The morale of Scipio’s troops was far greater than that of Camillus’, who had no real attachment to their cause. In the event, many dead Italians carpeted the battlefield afterwards but Scipio had decisively won. The defeated soldiers were treated with honour and respect, as was Camillus. Despite the questionable actions of Senate and Malleolus alike, it was recognised that these soldiers were not at fault. The news of the Anti-Senate’s formation reached Scipio not long afterwards, and in its wake he offered complete amnesty for those who recognised the Anti-Senate’s legitimacy and wished to serve Censorius and Aculeo as their Consuls. Many accepted, though not all did; those that did not were escorted to Tarentum as prisoners.

With the formation of the Anti-Senate, the war was fundamentally altered. Many of the allies who had remained neutral during the initial outbreak of the civil war now actively declared for the reformists, though their price was to be afforded senatorial seats alongside those who had already been granted them. In Rome, this caused incredible alarm, and seemed to be evidence that Corvus and Scipio really were going to march on the city at the head of an army of barbarous Italians. Thus many gathered around Malleolus out of concern for their safety and that of the city of Rome. Malleolus’ response to the news of two defeats and the formation of the anti-Senate was to immediate gather every single legionnaire he could lay his hands upon. He declared that what Corvus and Scipio sought was nothing less than the destruction of Rome, its Senate, and the power that Rome had cultivated with such strife since its founding. He claimed the war as no longer a case of hunting down fugitives, but of defending the greatest threat to the city since Hannibal Barca.

As the Anti-Senate consolidated its forces, contact was established with Aculeo. He made it extremely clear that he would not march on Rome under any circumstances, as this was illegal. However, he made absolutely no mention of marching against the Anti-Senate’s forces either. The only major armed force that stood between the Anti-Senate and victory, therefore, was that commanded directly by Malleolus. But Corvus and Scipio were both reluctant to march directly on Rome as well, as any loyal Roman would have been. The allies in the Anti-Senate, despite being unRoman, recognised too that this was folly. It was agreed by all that the solution would have to be to tempt Malleolus to lead his forces outside of Latium. Some recommended that a blockade be set up at Ostia, but most objected on the grounds that this would cause virtuous Romans unaffiliated with the dictator to go hungry.

However, all of these plans were thrown into disarray in the final month of 186 BC, when Malleolus was assassinated. His continued action against Corvus and Scipio, champions of the plebeians of Rome, had caused a great discontent in the city. His litter and lictors were overcome by an angry mob, and Malleolus was killed as a direct consequence. Despite all of his many gross actions, he had been appointed by the Senate of Rome and therefore the city was thrown into utter panic. Corvus and Scipio’s response to this was to ride with a number of other Romans straight to the city. The fact that this was not at the back of an army of semi-barbarous Italians calmed many fears immediately, but nonetheless the Constitution had been breached. The sacred officials of the Republic had either become legal fugitives or had been warred against. What was to settle all of this? How could things be set back to normal? In addition, the Anti-Senate had not been dissolved yet. And it is with these issues yet to be resolved that 186 BC finally ended.

Daeres · Dec 29, 2012

Major Greek Cultures of the First Hellenistic Period

Italiotes and Sicilians

Initially, the Italiotes and Sicilian Greeks were quite distinctly different from one another; Sicilia, dominated for so long by Syrakuse, was a meeting ground of Greek culture and Sicilian, whereas the Italiotes of the mainland had more close ties to the Italic peoples and the Adriatic. Initially, both regions were hostile to the Romans, but they were forced to work together with the Romans in the First and Second Punic Wars. The desire for unity among many Italiotes began to grow, and thus they sought out a true rapprochement with the Roman state to act as their guarantor. The Sicilians, however, greatly resented the Romans, particularly since the Romans had grown to control the vast majority of Sicily itself. The majority of the remaining independent Sicilian polities were integrated into the Roman state following a relatively brief war, and it is at this point that Sicilians and Italiotes began to blur. This was partially due to their integration into first the Roman Republic and then the Italian Federation, but it was also because the nature of Greek identity began to radically alter elsewhere. During the tumultuous years of the latter 2nd century BC and 1st century BC, the Sicilians and Italiotes were distinguished by their continued maintenance of older models of Hellenic religion, the influence of Punic culture, and the increased influence of Roman culture among social elites.

Epirotes

The Epirotes had long been part of the Argead alliance system in the Mediterranean. Whilst retaining close ties to both the Hellenes and Macedonians, the Epirotes were properly neither. Their military organisation was very similar to that of Macedon, but their state was organised more like an explicit federation with a unifying monarchy. Their culture also began to alter in the wake of expansion into Illyria and Dalmatia; whilst Hellenistic culture continued to dominate, Dalmati, Pannoni, Veneti and other Illyrian peoples began to influence ordinary material culture. The Epirotes also had close ties to the Roman Republic, through a long-term period of mutual co-operation. Indeed, the Epirote model was considered to be one of the bases of the Italian Federation’s constitution. These ties were retained throughout a period in which the ties between the Argead Empire and the Roman Republic were allowed to decay. The Epirotes, like the Italiotes and Sicilians, retained a more traditional model of Hellenic religion.

Hellenes

For a time, the definition of a Hellene had become inclusive; if one was Greek in thought and language, that was enough. However, over a long period of independence the Hellenic League began to alter perceptions. The Greeks of mainland Hellas began to see themselves in explicit opposition to many of the newly emerging Greek identities in the east. This was partially bound up with politics; the Hellenic League essentially existed as a Western outpost of the Argead Empire, and its foreign policy often danced to the same tune. Thus an active attempt at cultural independence was considered an integral part of retaining political independence. By contrast to the Alexander cult of the Eastern Greek cultures, they emphasised the traditional Gods of the Greek pantheon. This then itself began to change as Neoplatonism became popular and politically expedient. Neoplatonic philosophy became heavily involved in the attempts to move the Hellenic League away from a barely functioning confederation into something more resembling the Epirote model. Neoplatonic Greek thought, however, contained a few substantive breaks with the past. In particular, the notion that Gods were anything other than good or just became dominant, and thus most older mythology that involved the God’s cruelty, malice or other fallibilities began to fall out of favour. Interpretations of the Homeric epics in this period thus verged towards an explicit understanding of the texts as part-legend, part-fiction, rather than a true past. The other new, relatively radical notion was that above the pantheon of fourteen Olympians (the number being expanded to include Cybele) was a single entity that was of a higher order than they, usually referred to as ‘Nous’, the Good, the Infinite. The Neoplatonic Greek religion also fundamentally asserted that salvation did not require the afterlife.

Breaks in material culture are also seen in this period; the Argeads had introduced ‘traditional’ Greek architecture to so many parts of Asia that it was felt that the older orders of architecture were now too Argead to retain their sense of meaning. In this period we then find increasing adoption of contemporary Egyptian architecture instead, and prestige goods in this period were often Egyptian imports or affectations of Egyptian styles. Egyptian style banks became common in this period as well, reflecting different attitudes towards functions of state.

Anatolian Greeks

This era marks the period in which Anatolia became almost fully Hellenised. Anatolian languages disappear from the epigraphic and papyrological record completely, though traces of distinctly non-Hellenic material culture remain. Unlike Hellas, Anatolia was an integral part of the Argead Empire for a long duration, and was considered part of the Eastern Greek world as the Alexander cult was practised openly. However, Anatolian Greek culture is distinguished from many of the other Eastern Greek cultures by the relative lack of cultural fusion. Anatolian Greek culture, despite the presence of the Alexander Cult, more resembled older Hellenic culture than any other Greek culture east of Epirus. The vernacular culture of Anatolia was marked by an increasing appreciation of more abstract artistic forms, by contrast to the general Hellenistic trend towards naturalistic, realistic art.

Graeco-Persians

The emergence of this culture represented the apogee of the cultural fusion deliberately encouraged by the Argead Empire. Graeco-Persians were, generally speaking, the most prestigious culture in the entire Empire. The Graeco-Persians and their related branches formed the ruling administration in much of the Empire, and were also directly tied to the Argead royal family with its explicitly multicultural heritage. In general, the Graeco-Persians could be distinguished in the following manner; they were Alexander worshippers, but their interpretation of the Cultic practice had more obvious holdovers from Iranian practices, they spoke Koine Greek as a first language but Old Persian was considered a prestigious language (alongside Elamite), they mostly retained Greek names but Hellenised Iranian names were also fairly common. It was often assumed, though not always correctly, that any high official of the Argead Empire was likely to be Graeco-Persian.

Graeco-Armenians

The Graeco-Armenians were closely related to the Graeco-Persians, but with the additional element of Armenian cultural heritage. The Graeco-Armenians were slightly infamous for their tendency to use a particular version of the Greek alphabet. Despite it initially being a laughing stock the Armenian alphabet actually became a popular literary script; whilst retaining all of the characters of the Greek alphabet it also included a few characters for non-Greek sounds which made it popular with non-Greek authors. Graeco-Armenian culture also became influential in the northernmost Caucasian outposts of the Argead Empire, such as Colchis, Albania and Iberia. The Alexander cult in Graeco-Armenia, above perhaps all other Eastern Greek cultures, emphasised the benevolent nature of Alexander. He was treated as the incarnation of a sun god, and in Graeco-Armenia is often associated with a solar disc.

Scytho-Greeks

Following the eventual conquest of the Hellenistic Far East by Scythians, a new cultural elite began to emerge. The Scythian Greeks were those Greeks who became valuable and important enough to the Scythian Kings to be cultivated as important middle-men. Intermarriage did occur, and it is from this class that many of the military elites of the Scythian states in Central Asia were drawn from. One of the major regions to distinguish the Scytho-Greeks from the Graeco-Bactrians was their initial abandonment of the Alexander Cult in favour of more traditional Iranian religion. This would begin to alter as the years drew on, but at first proved to be an easy way of distinguishing them from the other Greeks of Central Asia.

Graeco-Bactrians

Graeco-Bactrians were the elite of Central Asia during the days of Argead control. This group was formed of a fusion between the Bactrians of the eponymous region and Greek colonists. Over time, they grew to influence many of the other Greek populations of Central Asia and nearby regions. At first a Greek-Iranian-Mesopotamian fusion religion was popular with the Graeco-Bactrians, but Buddhism was then introduced into the region and it became enormously popular. After the Alexander cult was officialized in the Empire, the interpretation of Buddhism among Graeco-Bactrians altered in order to fit with Imperial doctrine. After Scythians eventually gained control over Bactria and many other regions, Graeco-Bactrians were often no longer the cultural elite, and those that retained their elite status often abandoned Buddhism and became ‘Scytho-Greeks’. However, their influence in the vernacular culture of Central Asia remained strong, and it is Graeco-Bactrian material culture that caused the widest distribution of Hellenic culture in Asia. It is this interpretation of Greek culture that formed the initial basis for Greek culture in the Indo-Greek Empire. Like the Graeco-Persians, Hellenised Iranian names were commonly found in Graeco-Bactrian populations. They are also associated with reinterpretations of traditional Bactrian mud-brick structures rather than more traditional Greek stone structures, mostly due to the lack of suitable hard stone in Bactria itself.

Egyptians

Egyptian Greeks initially only exercised direct power in military affairs and in the Nile Delta. The Ptolemaic dynasty deliberately adopted Egyptian affectations and customs in order to appeal to the native population. Importantly, Egyptian Greeks were the first to adopt the Alexander cult in an official capacity. Egyptians already revered Alexander as the son of Zeus-Ammon, and it was only a small stretch to refer to him as an incarnation of Zeus-Ammon. Egypt was thus the birthing ground of the entire religious movement. During the long detente with the Argead Empire, the Egyptian Greeks came to dominate all sea traffic passing between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Above all of the Greek cultures Egyptian Greeks were worldly, and merchants highly prized; even crown princes and members of the royal family were known to lead trading expeditions to the Indian subcontinent. Products from all over the African east coast were brought into the markets of Egypt. Ironically, within the Greek family of cultures the Egyptian Greeks were perhaps the most insular; despite their adoption of Egyptian affectations and the Alexander Cult the Egyptians bore the most resemblance to the Greeks of the early 3rd century BC out of any of the Greeks east of Massalia. It is in this place that the Alexander Cult most directly resembled a continuation of ancient Hellenic religion, with added Egyptian elements.

Graeco-Arabs

The Graeco-Arabs emerged from two sources; Ptolemaic Egypt and the Argead Empire. They are given the same name because of the close ties that linked Ptolemaic and Argead Arabs, particularly with the Arabian desert remaining a mostly unpoliced region in which caravans were mostly free to move at will. The Graeco-Arabs quickly distinguished themselves from other Eastern Greeks by their zeal for the Alexander Cult. It is from the Arabian peninsula that the incarnation vs apotheosis debate emerged within the Cult; was Alexander the incarnation of a God or was he himself a man who ascended to Godhood? The Arabs, and Graeco-Arabs, firmly believed the latter. Despite this relative zeal, Graeco-Arabs were eager to adopt prestigious elements of foreign cultures. Alexandria in Arabia, the capital of Ptolemaic Arabia, was a bustling cosmopolitan market to compare with any in mainland Egypt. Elements of Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Greek culture all coalesced into a rather unique mixture in Hellenistic Arabia. Given the widespread introduction of the Greek alphabet across the peninsula, the material record can often be misleading; many ‘Arabic’ populations in this period utilised clearly Hellenic artifacts, and many ‘Greek’ populations adopted similar lifestyles to the native Arabs. A common complaint of chroniclers in the First Hellenistic Era is that the Greeks of Arabia were often indistinguishable from Arabs. Whilst this can be seen as a clear comparative to other examples of cultural fusion in the Hellenistic world, we should bear in mind that we are also told that the Greek populations that adopted Arabian lifestyles competed fiercely with the pre-existing Arabic camel drivers and merchants, to the point of open conflict.

TaylorS · Dec 30, 2012

Cool update!

Berserker · Dec 30, 2012

very interesting stuff!!

willbell · Dec 31, 2012

This is really good. I especially like that last update.

Errnge · Jan 3, 2013

Nice. I'm glad to see another update! Especially a cultural one. It's always a pleasure.

So, what about Greeks in Thrace and Macedonia who are "non-Hellene"? Are they in a similar boat as the Hellene's and the Epirotes?

Daeres · Jan 3, 2013

The Thracians and Macedonians are going to be getting their own update, which is why I didn't give them entries.

Errnge · Jan 3, 2013

Daeres said:
The Thracians and Macedonians are going to be getting their own update, which is why I didn't give them entries.

Well, now my interest is certainly peeked

Daeres · Jan 5, 2013

Apologies for anyone that's expecting an update and finds instead this tease of a post!

But I just wanted to say that I'm making a post here with a list of contents, sorted by state, of all the updates of both this thread and Paint Your Chariot with Pride.

I would have edited the initial post of this thread but alas, I am no longer able to!

CONTENTS