The Black Land: A 30th dynasty timeline

[SunKing105]

So this idea has been bouncing in my head for some time and I finally decided to go through with it. It involves Necatanebo II defeating Artaxerxes III and holding the Achaemenids long enough for Alexander to arrive. So without further ado, let's start the timeline!

Mentor of Rhodes was in an unenviable position. He was sent by the Egyptian pharaoh to assist Sidon. But the rebellion was doomed to fail eventually, for how could a few renegade satraps and cities stand up to the might of the Great King, who, according to some sources, had around 330,000 men. Tennes had surrendered and Achaemenid control of Phonecia was restored. Nevertheless, Mentor escaped with his life[1] and avoided capture, for it was not certain that the Great King would pardon him, although his skills were great. Then he returned to the court of Necatanebo II, who needed Mentor more than ever...

[1]- This is the POD. IOTL Mentor was captured and pardoned by Artaxerxes III, who sent Mentor to assist in the invasion of his former refuge, Egypt.

 

[SunKing105]

After bringing that wretched rebel, Tennes, to heel, Artaxerxes III prepared for a massive invasion of Egypt. It had rebelled around 60 years ago and had eluded Persian attempts at recapture ever since. Now it was time, to do what others before him had failed to do, reconquer Egypt. He gathered a massive army, consisting of 300,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 14,000 Greek mercenaries. With his preparations complete, Artaxerxes launched his invasion. Necatanebo II resisted with 100,000 Egyptians and 20,000 Greek mercenaries. Battle was joined soon after, the battle that would decide the fate of Egypt.

Egypt could very well have fallen, were it not for the efforts of Mentor, who stopped the attempts of the Persians to outflank the Egyptians, and the Persians fell back. Then Mentor launched an assault on the flanks and the rear, which caused the Persian infantry to break and run. Artaxerxes sounded the retreat, but over half his army was dead or missing, while the Egyptian casualties were relatively light. Necatanebo II had successfully fought off another invasion attempt. But the Persian threat remained, and loomed over Egypt like a shadow...

Greek Mercenaries fighting for Egyptians against Persians:

 

[SunKing105]

The year was 342 BCE was a bad one for Artaxerxes III, who found himself with an empty treasury, several rebelling satraps, much of the manpower reserve badly mauled, and instability in the Royal Court.

First order of business for Artaxerxes was to gather the battered remnants of his army and march against Amarsin, a Babylonian rebel who had caused significant trouble for the Persian satrap there[1]. Amarsin dared not fight and was quickly captured and executed. Next he moved against Mithrobuzanes and Arsites, the rebel satraps of Cappadocia and Hellespontine Phrygia respectively. Artaxerxes III went and defeated many renegade satraps who caused great trouble for the empire and tried to establish a modicum of stability. In this he largely succeeded, and was ready to march against Egypt again in 338 BCE, hopefully to fill his treasury more. But he was poisoned by a eunuch named Bagoas, who raised Artaxerxes IV on the throne. Artaxerxes IV was poisoned 2 years after, for he had shown himself to have a will of his own and not to be a mere puppet.All the while, a new threat was slowly looming on the horizon, one which would spell the empire's doom.

Macedonia.

[1]- This character is fictional. I went by the line of thought that faliure in Egypt might cause more revolts. Mithrobuzanes and Arsites are real, however, and might have fought at Granicus in OTL.

 

[SunKing105]

Macedonia. For centuries an irrelevant backwater, Macedonia was catapulted to prominence under Philip II, who made Macedon into a great power. He created a new kind of military formation, the Macedonian phalanx, and managed to bring all of Greece to heel. Truly, the reign of Philip II also started proper relations between Macedonia and Egypt. For Philip II found a natural ally against Persia in the form of Egypt, and in 339 BCE, he proposed an alliance, which Necatanebo II accepted. But Philip was assasinated in 336 BCE by a disgruntled bodyguard named Pausanias, and his young son Alexander seemed a weakling, a bumbling teenager. But this was far, far, from the truth. For Alexander did not merely preserve his father's gains, but would go on to be remembered as one of the greatest people who ever lived, by undertaking the impossible, conquest of the Persian Empire.

Finally in May 334 BCE Alexander had secured his father's kingdom and marched out into Asia, where some say he accepted Asia as a "gift from the gods", and defeated the Persians at the battle of Granicus. But he was not done yet, for Alexander defeated the Persians in two more big battles. After Issus, Alexander came into contact with Necatanebo II, who married off his daughter Tashereniset[1]. A key general in Alexander's campaign against the Persians was Memnon[2], who would become very important in later years...

Tashereniset:

[1]- Another fictional character. The children of Necatanebo II are so obscure that we don't know their names or if they existed. This is what I decided to go with. A real Tashereniset was the mother of Amasis II.

[2]- With Mentor still in Egypt, Memnon, Barsine, and Artabazus stay in exile and Memnon ends up fighting for instead of against Alexander, making the invasion even easier.

 

[SunKing105]

323 BCE
Nebuchadnezzar Palace

In a serene and beautiful room, there lay a dead body. Not just any dead body, but the body of Alexander the Great, the greatest man to have ever lived. He cut the twisted knot at Gordium, endured illness in Cilicia, changed geography when he took Tyre, put the Great King himself to flight, and braved the mountains of Bactria and monsoons of India. He conquered the largest empire the world had ever seen up to that point, and his deeds were indeed legendary. But here he was, his body lying lifeless on his deathbed, while the generals brawled and argued.

One in the palace, however, kept a cool and clear head. That was Tashereniset, daughter of Necatanebo II and wife of Alexander. She was determined to secure the way for her son, 7 year-old Argaeus, and soon afterwards Roxana, Stateira and Parysatis mysteriously disappeared. Some say that Tashereniset arranged their murder. But we will never know for sure.

Meanwhile, some semblance of order had been restored in the room, and Argaeus was proclaimed King, with Perdiccas as regent. The commanders and cavalry swore an oath, but the infantry did not take kindly to this. Meleager, an infantry captain, seized power and forced Perdiccas out of the city. Perdiccas and the cavalry set up a blockade, and Meleager was forced to back down as dissident elements in his army became louder. Knowing his imminent death, Meleager fled to an altar, but the altar was filled with dirt and bricks and Meleager starved to death.

Perdiccas had overcome Meleager and confirmed Argaeus and Philip Arrhidaeus as joint kings, to prevent any further rumblings. The empire was partitioned out at Babylon. Memnon, the old hangover from the Achaemenid days, was given Hyrcania and Parthia. Antipater was confirmed in Macedonia, while Craterus was given Cilicia. Asander was given Caria, Antigonus confirmed in Greater Phyrgia, Menander being given Lycia, Peithon received Greater Media, Eumenes receiving Cappadocia, Peucestas receiving Persia, and Ptolemy received Mesopotamia after pressuring Perdiccas, for he had stayed loyal during the uprising of Meleager. Leonnatus was given Hellespontine Phyrgia, and other figures were given and confirmed satrapies as well, but we need not to go into detail.

323 BCE
Bactria

Almost immediately, cracks began to show in this agreement. In the west, the Greeks had risen in revolt in what is now known as the Lamian war, while in Asia, Greek mercenaries in Bactria had risen in revolt, and the renegade Cappadocian King, Ariarathes I, still held out. Memnon was assigned to deal with the mercenaries, the reasoning being that if Memnon tried to use them, his power play would fail because he was Greek and the other satraps were not keen on supporting his ambitions. Perdiccas also sent orders directly to the sub-commanders within Memnon's army, but Memnon hid and destroyed the orders and promised to pay and return to Greece the mercenaries if they would support him. The mercenaries agreed, and Perdiccas sent orders to Peithon, to deal with Memnon. Peithon had no intention of letting Memnon gain power, but Memnon occupied him in a war in the Upper Satrapies. At the same time, Peithon's attempts to advance his ambitions in the Upper Satrapies earned him the animosity of the other satraps in the region, they refused to help.

323 BCE
Cappadocia

Meanwhile, in the west, Ariarathes was running free in Cappadocia, and Craterus and Antigonus refused to help, and actually entered into secret negotiations with the Cappadocian King. Perdiccas led the royal army and defeated Ariarathes, and Eumenes was installed as satrap. Eumenes would have a big part to play in the unfolding saga.

323 BCE
Egypt

Meanwhile Necatanebo II was biding his time and waiting what would happen. His realm was not a part of the Empire, but his position as ruler of Egypt and grandfather to the king allowed him to interfere with the unfolding conflicts, and to play off the various Diadochi factions against one another to avoid the possibility of an invasion. He had encountered Macedonian phalangites when he sent auxiliaries to aid in Alexander's conquest of the Levant, and Necatanebo II knew he would need to restructure his army. The downfall of the Persians had freed up many resources previously used for fending off Achaemenid invasions, resources he could use to make Egypt a great power once again.

323 BCE
Greece

The Greeks had risen in revolt, and put Antipater under siege at Lamia after defeating him at Thermopylae. The Greeks were still besieging the city when their fleet had been defeated at the Battle of the Amorgos and news arrived that Leonnatus had come to reinforce Antipater. Leonnatus was defeated by Antiphilus, the commander of the Greek forces since Leosthenes had died, and an attempt by Antipater to escape from Lamia was rebuffed, but some of his forces did escape. Craterus linked up with the remnants of Antipater's army and defeated Antiphilus, although Antipater was killed as he and his garrison joined battle outside the fields of Lamia. Craterus made separate peaces with each of the cities, with the Athenians being treated harshly. Only those with 2,000 drachma or more were allowed to remain citizens. The Greeks had been subdued once more.

But this was all preliminary, the calm before the storm. This was only the beginning. The empire was about to be torn apart, and in the chaos some would earn a name for themselves, while others perished in distant battlefields. But in Egypt, a certain particular Pharaoh was biding his time, and watching as the Empire collapsed...

Necatanebo II

[1]- ITTL, Plutarch or any other ATL sources don't get that piece of information detailing the death of Alexander's other wives, hence why I decided to make sound like they "disappeared" when Tashereniset actually arranged their murder.