Well he does have a more or less stronger Athens to work with this time around. But not all the important Athenians are on his side...yet...or maybe they never will be. Who knows?
The Eternal Flame Dies Out: Rome Loses The Siege of Veii
- Thread starter SlyDessertFox
- Start date
Well he does have a more or less stronger Athens to work with this time around. But not all the important Athenians are on his side...yet...or maybe they never will be. Who knows?
Either way it's time to look eastwards!Well he does have a more or less stronger Athens to work with this time around. But not all the important Athenians are on his side...yet...or maybe they never will be. Who knows?
Chapter III: The Age of The Hellenes
Part XV: Jason Heads North
Following his establishment of hegemony over Hellas, Jason turned his attention to securing his northern flank. The northern kings of Paionia and Illyria had joined together in an alliance against Jason, in order to block his ambitions. Nobody had seriously held any expectations that the 10 year truce between Bardyllis and Jason would actually last, and so this build up of hostilities came as no surprise. They were joined by Byzantion, who were also being pressed by the Odrysian King Kotys and guessed they too were on Jason's chopping block. Together they presented a troublesome opponent.
Their banding together in alliance presented Jason with a ready excuse to campaign in the north. Joining Parmenion in Pella in 415 [361 BCE], he immediately made overtures to the Odyrsian King Kotys for an alliance through the Athenian Iphikrates. Being married to Kotys' daughter and a close confidant of the king, Iphikrates had also been on excellent terms with the previous Makedonian King Amyntas, and so made the perfect middle man. The terms of the alliance, passed down to us by Alketas ceded the Chersonesse to Cotys (a small concession given Athenai had already lost control of the region in the Third Sacred War), and allowed Jason free reign to take Byzantion for himself. In addition (though this was likely a later amendment), Cotys agreed to supply Jason with soldiers for his future Persian expedition.
The alliance now agreed upon, Jason delved full bore into his northern campaign. Given free reign, Cotys encouraged local tribes under his rule to raid into Illyrian and Paionian territory for most of 415. Although a nuisance, the Illyrian and Paionian kings brushed them aside, focusing instead on their south. When no invasion from Makedonia was forthcoming, it was assumed it would not come until the following spring. Their guard let down, they would be caught completely by surprise in the winter of 415-416, when Jason invaded from three separate points with three separate armies. The result was devastating.
Initially retreating into their fortified cities, where grain was already stockpiled from the harvest, these places were soon under assault from Jason's forces. The brunt of the assault was bared by the Paionians, who found their main strongholds of Stoboi, Astibos, and Bylazora stormed in quick succession. In Illyria, his strategos Athanas Sosigenes[1] went head to head with the elderly but still nimble Bardyllis. Aware of Bardyllis' tricks, he moved cautiously, believing that even a winter campaign may have been expected by someone of his grasp of strategy. Yet Bardyllis had indeed been caught off guard. He was battling sickness when he received news of the incursion, and was unable to respond personally until he recovered a week later.
Even then, he was clearly feeling the effects of his age. A poorly planned ambush was snuffed out and completely turned on him, annihilating his personal retinue and nearly leading to his own death. He again made peace overtures from the refuge of his citadel as it became apparent the Thessalian-Makedonian force would remain in his territory into the spring if necessary, preventing many farms from being attended to. Peace was once more agreed, with a more crippling tribute imposed.
Direct annexation was the order of the day for many of the Paionian territories, the three major fortresses previously mentioned being garrisoned, Bylazora being the most coveted prize[2]. In the spring a naval campaign was launched by Mentor along the coast (with its main aim being harassing Byzantion) and resulted in the capture of the vital mining town of Crenides, subsequently renamed Jasonia[3]. With cooperation from Odrysian forces once more led by the Athenian mercenary Iphikrates, Byzantion was put under siege in May from both land and sea. Their navy woefully outnumbered, they were confined to port. Unsuccessful sallies at both land and sea left them exhausted of options and by the end of the month they were ready to deal.
If Jason's preceding record had shown anything, it was his willingness to negotiate with, and offer favorable terms to his enemies in the attempt to turn them into trusted allies. Byzantion was no exception to this rule. The terms were tough to swallow-a permanent garrison and an opening of their port to Thessalian war ships tacked on to a modest tribute, but the Byzantions recognized their city was bound to fall to assault eventually. Of more importance however was the one man who emerged from the city and arrived at Jason's court. That man was the Persian renegade Datames, a talented general who had been leading a rebellion against the Persian King in Asia Minor for years before he was finally worn down. His arrival was not a moment too soon.
[1] To be referred to simply as Sosigenes from here on out for the most part.
[2] I'm stretching here and assuming that Bylazora was the more important of the cities in the region, given it was large enough to be included in Rome Total War. Weak justification, I know.
[3] OTL Philippi, site of the Roman civil war battle
Part XV: Jason Heads North
Following his establishment of hegemony over Hellas, Jason turned his attention to securing his northern flank. The northern kings of Paionia and Illyria had joined together in an alliance against Jason, in order to block his ambitions. Nobody had seriously held any expectations that the 10 year truce between Bardyllis and Jason would actually last, and so this build up of hostilities came as no surprise. They were joined by Byzantion, who were also being pressed by the Odrysian King Kotys and guessed they too were on Jason's chopping block. Together they presented a troublesome opponent.
Their banding together in alliance presented Jason with a ready excuse to campaign in the north. Joining Parmenion in Pella in 415 [361 BCE], he immediately made overtures to the Odyrsian King Kotys for an alliance through the Athenian Iphikrates. Being married to Kotys' daughter and a close confidant of the king, Iphikrates had also been on excellent terms with the previous Makedonian King Amyntas, and so made the perfect middle man. The terms of the alliance, passed down to us by Alketas ceded the Chersonesse to Cotys (a small concession given Athenai had already lost control of the region in the Third Sacred War), and allowed Jason free reign to take Byzantion for himself. In addition (though this was likely a later amendment), Cotys agreed to supply Jason with soldiers for his future Persian expedition.
The alliance now agreed upon, Jason delved full bore into his northern campaign. Given free reign, Cotys encouraged local tribes under his rule to raid into Illyrian and Paionian territory for most of 415. Although a nuisance, the Illyrian and Paionian kings brushed them aside, focusing instead on their south. When no invasion from Makedonia was forthcoming, it was assumed it would not come until the following spring. Their guard let down, they would be caught completely by surprise in the winter of 415-416, when Jason invaded from three separate points with three separate armies. The result was devastating.
Initially retreating into their fortified cities, where grain was already stockpiled from the harvest, these places were soon under assault from Jason's forces. The brunt of the assault was bared by the Paionians, who found their main strongholds of Stoboi, Astibos, and Bylazora stormed in quick succession. In Illyria, his strategos Athanas Sosigenes[1] went head to head with the elderly but still nimble Bardyllis. Aware of Bardyllis' tricks, he moved cautiously, believing that even a winter campaign may have been expected by someone of his grasp of strategy. Yet Bardyllis had indeed been caught off guard. He was battling sickness when he received news of the incursion, and was unable to respond personally until he recovered a week later.
Even then, he was clearly feeling the effects of his age. A poorly planned ambush was snuffed out and completely turned on him, annihilating his personal retinue and nearly leading to his own death. He again made peace overtures from the refuge of his citadel as it became apparent the Thessalian-Makedonian force would remain in his territory into the spring if necessary, preventing many farms from being attended to. Peace was once more agreed, with a more crippling tribute imposed.
Direct annexation was the order of the day for many of the Paionian territories, the three major fortresses previously mentioned being garrisoned, Bylazora being the most coveted prize[2]. In the spring a naval campaign was launched by Mentor along the coast (with its main aim being harassing Byzantion) and resulted in the capture of the vital mining town of Crenides, subsequently renamed Jasonia[3]. With cooperation from Odrysian forces once more led by the Athenian mercenary Iphikrates, Byzantion was put under siege in May from both land and sea. Their navy woefully outnumbered, they were confined to port. Unsuccessful sallies at both land and sea left them exhausted of options and by the end of the month they were ready to deal.
If Jason's preceding record had shown anything, it was his willingness to negotiate with, and offer favorable terms to his enemies in the attempt to turn them into trusted allies. Byzantion was no exception to this rule. The terms were tough to swallow-a permanent garrison and an opening of their port to Thessalian war ships tacked on to a modest tribute, but the Byzantions recognized their city was bound to fall to assault eventually. Of more importance however was the one man who emerged from the city and arrived at Jason's court. That man was the Persian renegade Datames, a talented general who had been leading a rebellion against the Persian King in Asia Minor for years before he was finally worn down. His arrival was not a moment too soon.
[1] To be referred to simply as Sosigenes from here on out for the most part.
[2] I'm stretching here and assuming that Bylazora was the more important of the cities in the region, given it was large enough to be included in Rome Total War. Weak justification, I know.
[3] OTL Philippi, site of the Roman civil war battle
[FONT=Algerian, fantasy]The Eternal Flame Dies Out[/FONT]
Chapter IV: Look East For Your Freedom
Part I: The Troubles of the Achaemenids
Towards the end of the long reign of Artaxerxes II, the mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire was facing serious unrest spread throughout the empire. Aigyptos, lost in the same year he came to power in 372[404 BCE], would remain out of his grasp for the rest of his reign-and indeed would never be recovered-and served as a reminder to those who wished to break free that successful revolt from Persia was possible, if difficult. Yet by far the most damaging revolt to Persian prestige was the Revolt of The Satraps in Asia Minor, which was led by the highly talented and previously favored Datames.
The “Satraps Revolt” had its origins in court intrigue and a failed coup attempt. During the Cadusian War, Datames had first risen to prominence with his spectacular performance in that campaign. This was followed up with further successes in Paphlagonia, where Datames once more displayed military brilliance and managed to capture the rebellious Paphlagonian dynast Thucys. By the time of the failure of the 403[373 BCE] invasion of Aigyptos, he had already built up an impressive military reputation. As satrap of Kappadokia, he was also well placed to gather levies from the region for a new Aigyptian expedition under preparation, and so was singled out to head the preparations jointly with its current head Pharnabazos in 404. Upon Pharnabazos' retirement in 371, Datames assumed sole command of the operation alongside his right hand man, the Hellene Mandrokles of Magnesia.
Events in Hellas however would delay the invasion indefinitely. Artaxerxes' strategy relied on attacking at multiple points, after the failed expedition in 403 proved that concentrating on one spot would be easily repulsed by the Aigyptians. This itself required far more troops than the previous attempt, many of which would be sought out from Hellas. The internecine warfare in the region kept hoplite mercenaries employed and a large part of the rationale for pouring money and resources into the Theban side by Artaxerxes was to bring the conflict to a hasty conclusion to make the mercenaries available for his uses. Until the campaign could get the necessary manpower, Datames was stuck in Akre with the force already gathered, managing both the army under his command and his duties as satrap of Kappadokia simultaneously (often returning to the satrapy in person when needed). So it was that he was able to both be commanding the expeditionary force and find time to campaign and successfully detain the Cataonian[1] dynast Aspis, who had been attacking caravans.
Subsequent events would make sure the invasion never materialized. After appointing his now middle aged eldest son Darius as co-king, the main problem facing Artaxerxes' court was that he refused to die. Darius and the faction at court loyal to him began plotting to murder Artaxerxes, and the plot began to materialize around 407. In addition to the murder of Artaxerxes, it required the removal of Datames from the picture. Being command of the largest force in the western half of the empire and having the strong favor of the king, it was a safe bet for the conspirators to assume that Datames would remain loyal to Artaxerxes and pose a threat to the whole success of the enterprise.
The following year, 405, Datames was warned of the plot by the court official Padantes, and,leaving Mandrokles in command at Akre, immediately made his way back to Kappadokia to raise his flag in rebellion. The plot itself, carried out that year, backfired spectacularly, as Artaxerxes was able to escape his palace after being warned at the last second, and subsequently rounded up and executed all the conspirators, including Darius and his sons. Yet the damage had been done, and Datames remained at large in open revolt. He expanded his control into Pisidia, Paphlagonia, and along the cost of the Pontos Euxinos[2], and his territory now threatened to completely cut off Persian communications into Anatolia. After a lightning raid across the Euphrates illustrated Datames' threat to Artaxerxes, the king appointed Autophradates to divert the Aigyptian expeditionary force in Phoenicia to move north and crush Datames in Anatolia.
The result was a complete fiasco, as Datames used the familiar mountainous terrain and the unwieldy nature of such a large force to his full advantage. Repeatedly enabling Datames to choose the time and location of battle sites, Autophradates was humiliated and eventually forced to withdrawal.
Although a truce was patched together allowing Datames to further entrench himself in Anatolia's rugged interior, a further revolt soon broke out with Ariobarzanes in Hellespontine-Phrygia. The catalyst was his attempted replacement by the young and inexperienced Artabazos, leading him to fortify his position and wait for the inevitable assault against him. Autophrates unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge him from his fortifications, and was forced to once more turn his attention into eastern Anatolia, where the son in law of Artaxerxes and satrap of Armenia Orontes also turned to open revolt. Against Orontes, Autophradates once more failed to achieve anything decisive at an encounter in Kyme, before once more abruptly breaking off operations to turn towards western anatolia again. His actions aroused suspicion-he would not be in his position if he was a poor general, and so it is likely that he never really had the desire to crush the rebels, and was instead hedging his bets for any outcome, in case he needed to join the rebels in the future.
It was not long before Autophradates was forced to disband his force due to complications paying and feeding them, and a new force took the field under command of Artabazos in 411. He too achieved minimal successes. Ariobarzanes suffered a few reverses, but his revolt would not be snuffed out until he was betrayed by his son Mithradates two years later. Datames too stifled all of Artabazos' attempts at taking him down. Only when Orontes reached a deal with Artaxerxes and turned on Datames was the wily Kappadokian renegade aware that his days were now numbered. Following a failed assassination attempt on his person, he fled to Byzantion. It was from here that he would later meet Jason, providing the Thessalian with a valuable asset.
[1] In between Cilicia and Cappadocia. Full disclosure: I am borrowing heavily for this update from “Trouble In The West:Egypt and The Persian Emprire 525-332 BC” by Stephen Ruzicka.
[2] Black Sea
Chapter IV: Look East For Your Freedom
Part I: The Troubles of the Achaemenids
Towards the end of the long reign of Artaxerxes II, the mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire was facing serious unrest spread throughout the empire. Aigyptos, lost in the same year he came to power in 372[404 BCE], would remain out of his grasp for the rest of his reign-and indeed would never be recovered-and served as a reminder to those who wished to break free that successful revolt from Persia was possible, if difficult. Yet by far the most damaging revolt to Persian prestige was the Revolt of The Satraps in Asia Minor, which was led by the highly talented and previously favored Datames.
The “Satraps Revolt” had its origins in court intrigue and a failed coup attempt. During the Cadusian War, Datames had first risen to prominence with his spectacular performance in that campaign. This was followed up with further successes in Paphlagonia, where Datames once more displayed military brilliance and managed to capture the rebellious Paphlagonian dynast Thucys. By the time of the failure of the 403[373 BCE] invasion of Aigyptos, he had already built up an impressive military reputation. As satrap of Kappadokia, he was also well placed to gather levies from the region for a new Aigyptian expedition under preparation, and so was singled out to head the preparations jointly with its current head Pharnabazos in 404. Upon Pharnabazos' retirement in 371, Datames assumed sole command of the operation alongside his right hand man, the Hellene Mandrokles of Magnesia.
Events in Hellas however would delay the invasion indefinitely. Artaxerxes' strategy relied on attacking at multiple points, after the failed expedition in 403 proved that concentrating on one spot would be easily repulsed by the Aigyptians. This itself required far more troops than the previous attempt, many of which would be sought out from Hellas. The internecine warfare in the region kept hoplite mercenaries employed and a large part of the rationale for pouring money and resources into the Theban side by Artaxerxes was to bring the conflict to a hasty conclusion to make the mercenaries available for his uses. Until the campaign could get the necessary manpower, Datames was stuck in Akre with the force already gathered, managing both the army under his command and his duties as satrap of Kappadokia simultaneously (often returning to the satrapy in person when needed). So it was that he was able to both be commanding the expeditionary force and find time to campaign and successfully detain the Cataonian[1] dynast Aspis, who had been attacking caravans.
Subsequent events would make sure the invasion never materialized. After appointing his now middle aged eldest son Darius as co-king, the main problem facing Artaxerxes' court was that he refused to die. Darius and the faction at court loyal to him began plotting to murder Artaxerxes, and the plot began to materialize around 407. In addition to the murder of Artaxerxes, it required the removal of Datames from the picture. Being command of the largest force in the western half of the empire and having the strong favor of the king, it was a safe bet for the conspirators to assume that Datames would remain loyal to Artaxerxes and pose a threat to the whole success of the enterprise.
The following year, 405, Datames was warned of the plot by the court official Padantes, and,leaving Mandrokles in command at Akre, immediately made his way back to Kappadokia to raise his flag in rebellion. The plot itself, carried out that year, backfired spectacularly, as Artaxerxes was able to escape his palace after being warned at the last second, and subsequently rounded up and executed all the conspirators, including Darius and his sons. Yet the damage had been done, and Datames remained at large in open revolt. He expanded his control into Pisidia, Paphlagonia, and along the cost of the Pontos Euxinos[2], and his territory now threatened to completely cut off Persian communications into Anatolia. After a lightning raid across the Euphrates illustrated Datames' threat to Artaxerxes, the king appointed Autophradates to divert the Aigyptian expeditionary force in Phoenicia to move north and crush Datames in Anatolia.
The result was a complete fiasco, as Datames used the familiar mountainous terrain and the unwieldy nature of such a large force to his full advantage. Repeatedly enabling Datames to choose the time and location of battle sites, Autophradates was humiliated and eventually forced to withdrawal.
Although a truce was patched together allowing Datames to further entrench himself in Anatolia's rugged interior, a further revolt soon broke out with Ariobarzanes in Hellespontine-Phrygia. The catalyst was his attempted replacement by the young and inexperienced Artabazos, leading him to fortify his position and wait for the inevitable assault against him. Autophrates unsuccessfully attempted to dislodge him from his fortifications, and was forced to once more turn his attention into eastern Anatolia, where the son in law of Artaxerxes and satrap of Armenia Orontes also turned to open revolt. Against Orontes, Autophradates once more failed to achieve anything decisive at an encounter in Kyme, before once more abruptly breaking off operations to turn towards western anatolia again. His actions aroused suspicion-he would not be in his position if he was a poor general, and so it is likely that he never really had the desire to crush the rebels, and was instead hedging his bets for any outcome, in case he needed to join the rebels in the future.
It was not long before Autophradates was forced to disband his force due to complications paying and feeding them, and a new force took the field under command of Artabazos in 411. He too achieved minimal successes. Ariobarzanes suffered a few reverses, but his revolt would not be snuffed out until he was betrayed by his son Mithradates two years later. Datames too stifled all of Artabazos' attempts at taking him down. Only when Orontes reached a deal with Artaxerxes and turned on Datames was the wily Kappadokian renegade aware that his days were now numbered. Following a failed assassination attempt on his person, he fled to Byzantion. It was from here that he would later meet Jason, providing the Thessalian with a valuable asset.
[1] In between Cilicia and Cappadocia. Full disclosure: I am borrowing heavily for this update from “Trouble In The West:Egypt and The Persian Emprire 525-332 BC” by Stephen Ruzicka.
[2] Black Sea
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Chapter IV: Look East For Your Freedom[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Part II: The Storm Arrives
[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Following his string of successes in the north,[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Jason [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]settled down in Pherae and made preparations for his eastern campaign. He had great use for [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Datames[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif], who could use his connections in Anatolia to stir up discontent and possibly achieve defections when the invasion came. This was part of a larger diplomatic offensive to try and obtain allies from wherever he could for his invasion. Jason was particularly interested in securing the good will of the new Aigyptian Pharoah [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Tachos[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][1], who for his part was all too happy to cooperate. Along with his father [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Nekhtnebef[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][2], he had already been attempting to court disaffected subjects of Persia in Phoenicia and Ionia to raise the flag in rebellion, and had been a strong supporter of Datames and the other satraps in revolt in Asia Minor. Furthermore, he had become accustomed to Hellenes being a common presence in his and his father's court, and was not adverse to using Hellenic mercenaries in his army and placing Hellenes in top military posts. The two rulers had every reason to collaborate on taking on Persia. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Both rulers agreed on coordinating their campaigns to occur around the same time, so the Persian King would be faced with two simultaneous invasions. They also continued their charm offensive on the Ionian Hellenes, particularly those who had recently been occupied by Persia. With the promise of support of two major powers, many of the Ionian cities were receptive to the calls for revolt, but held off until a time when Jason would be prepared to send a force to assist them. The Phoenicians were also continually pressured by Tachos to revolt, and the Aigyptian Pharaoh was delighted to receive a positive reaction from the Sidonian King Tennes, who also refrained from making overt moves towards open revolt until he could be promised an army would come to his aid. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] On the domestic front, Jason spent time and money applying his new phalangite experiment that worked with great success with the Makedonians, on his native Thessalians. Although the Makedonians were the finest troops in Hellas, Jason knew their first loyalty was to Makedon, and that they were only loyal to him because of his position as their king. Jason rightly feared that their loyalty could become suspect when Philippos came of age if he tried to make a move for independent power himself. Using his newly won profits from the wealthy mining town of Jasonia, he began training and equipping Thessalian phalangites and hypaspists to fight side by side the Makedonians. His name for his native phalangite units, Myrmidones, was the name of the unit that fought with the famed Homeric hero Achilles in the Trojan War. A native of Thessalia himself, Achilles was making ever more prominent appearances in Jasonian propaganda, including Jason's claim he was a direct descendent of his. Jason's patriotic renaming of units did not stop there, and continued with his referring to the Thessalian cavalry as “Heteroi”-companions of the Tagos. By referring to the cavalry-made up of the same nobles that were originally opposed to Jason's reign-as his companions, it made him seem like one of them, rather than their overlord. Subtle changes such as these went a long way to winning the nobles over. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Training and equipping his new troops was a lengthy process and Jason intended on biding his time meticulously planning and preparing everything. In the meantime, Philippos was married to the Molossian princess Olympia in a great ceremony that also witnessed Jason's second daughter, named Boetianike-”Victory in Boeotia”-after his victory at Koronea, born the same day(June 14th, 416) to his second wife, Philippos' mother, the 46 year old Eurydike. Remarkably for her age, there were no problems with the pregnancy or the birth. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]During the ceremony, an assassination attempt was made on Jason's life. The previous day, one of the nobles in the conspiracy lost his nerve and spilled the details of the conspiracy to Jason. Perhaps most surprisingly to Jason, he implicated Jason's brother, Alexandros, in the plot[3]. The conspirators had planned to greet Jason as he entered the marriage ceremony, pulling out their daggers and striking him down at that point. Rather than not attend (which he had legitimate reason not to since his child had just been born earlier in the day), Jason dispersed concealed guards around the area and wore body armor and a dagger of his own concealed under his clothing. When the conspirators (including his brother) approached him, he kept his distance and only allowed Alexandros near him. He himself was not entirely convinced of Alexandros being in on the plot, but when he saw him place his hand by his side, Jason moved quicker, pulling out his dagger and lunging at his brother, striking him in the chest. Their cue given, the concealed guards rapidly closed in on the rest of the conspirators, restraining those who didn't resist and easily dispatching the few who did. Jason turned away as his brother lay dying, and would later order the execution of those conspirators detained, sending a powerful message to those that wished to plot against him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]The next two years passed without incident, as Jason and Tachos prepared for their respective expeditions. Then in November 418, Artaxerxes II finally died in Susa at the remarkable age of 87. His last years were marred by the death of his sons in court intrigue. Artaxerxes' fourth son, Ochus, seemed to have been involved in both his siblings deaths. His supporters managed to convince the new heir Ariaspes that Artaxerxes favored the third son Arsames for succession, and managed to drive him to suicide. Later, in early 418, a supporter of Ochus slew Arsames with a sword, and although he was quickly apprehended and executed, Artaxerxes never managed to connect the murder to Ochus despite his suspicions. So it was that Ochus took the name Artaxerxes III and was proclaimed King of Kings in Susa shortly after his father's death. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Artaxerxes' succession did not go unchallenged. His scheming had not won him many friends, and he still had numerous illegitimate siblings and other relatives at large. The new king of kings attempted to murder no less than 80 of his closest relatives[4]. In this he was largely successful, but one person, his half-brother Tiribazos[5], was warned ahead of time and managed to slip away, heading east along the Royal Road at full speed, the officials along its path having not received word that he was now a renegade. He made his way to Baktria, where he was welcomed by the disaffected satrap Arsames[6] who supported Tiribazos' claim to the throne. By January of 419[357 BCE], the Persian Empire was once more in civil war. When word reached Jason a month later, he was delighted to see the empire descend into chaos on the eve of his invasion. The time to finally place it in motion had arrived. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][1] Also known as Teos, or Djedhor in Egyptian. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][2] More well known as Nectanabo I[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][3] Michael Scott seems to believe Alexander was behind the assassination of Jason in 370 BCE OTL and paints a picture of him as...well a person that didn't really engender much loyalty or likability. i.e. canniving and power hungry. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][4] Depending on what you read, that may be an understatement. OTL he was successful. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][5]Fictional person though he's based on one of the 80 anonymous relatives of Artaxerxes[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][6] Father of OTL Darius III. This is speculation of mine, feel free to correct me. I am basing this off of Wikipedia (which sources “Who's Who In The Age of Alexander The Great”) which says Darius was Bessus' predecessor as satrap of Baktria. Considering many Persian satraps were de facto hereditary, I conjectured that Arsames might be Darius' predecessor. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Part II: The Storm Arrives
[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Following his string of successes in the north,[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Jason [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]settled down in Pherae and made preparations for his eastern campaign. He had great use for [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Datames[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif], who could use his connections in Anatolia to stir up discontent and possibly achieve defections when the invasion came. This was part of a larger diplomatic offensive to try and obtain allies from wherever he could for his invasion. Jason was particularly interested in securing the good will of the new Aigyptian Pharoah [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Tachos[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][1], who for his part was all too happy to cooperate. Along with his father [/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Nekhtnebef[/FONT][FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][2], he had already been attempting to court disaffected subjects of Persia in Phoenicia and Ionia to raise the flag in rebellion, and had been a strong supporter of Datames and the other satraps in revolt in Asia Minor. Furthermore, he had become accustomed to Hellenes being a common presence in his and his father's court, and was not adverse to using Hellenic mercenaries in his army and placing Hellenes in top military posts. The two rulers had every reason to collaborate on taking on Persia. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Both rulers agreed on coordinating their campaigns to occur around the same time, so the Persian King would be faced with two simultaneous invasions. They also continued their charm offensive on the Ionian Hellenes, particularly those who had recently been occupied by Persia. With the promise of support of two major powers, many of the Ionian cities were receptive to the calls for revolt, but held off until a time when Jason would be prepared to send a force to assist them. The Phoenicians were also continually pressured by Tachos to revolt, and the Aigyptian Pharaoh was delighted to receive a positive reaction from the Sidonian King Tennes, who also refrained from making overt moves towards open revolt until he could be promised an army would come to his aid. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] On the domestic front, Jason spent time and money applying his new phalangite experiment that worked with great success with the Makedonians, on his native Thessalians. Although the Makedonians were the finest troops in Hellas, Jason knew their first loyalty was to Makedon, and that they were only loyal to him because of his position as their king. Jason rightly feared that their loyalty could become suspect when Philippos came of age if he tried to make a move for independent power himself. Using his newly won profits from the wealthy mining town of Jasonia, he began training and equipping Thessalian phalangites and hypaspists to fight side by side the Makedonians. His name for his native phalangite units, Myrmidones, was the name of the unit that fought with the famed Homeric hero Achilles in the Trojan War. A native of Thessalia himself, Achilles was making ever more prominent appearances in Jasonian propaganda, including Jason's claim he was a direct descendent of his. Jason's patriotic renaming of units did not stop there, and continued with his referring to the Thessalian cavalry as “Heteroi”-companions of the Tagos. By referring to the cavalry-made up of the same nobles that were originally opposed to Jason's reign-as his companions, it made him seem like one of them, rather than their overlord. Subtle changes such as these went a long way to winning the nobles over. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Training and equipping his new troops was a lengthy process and Jason intended on biding his time meticulously planning and preparing everything. In the meantime, Philippos was married to the Molossian princess Olympia in a great ceremony that also witnessed Jason's second daughter, named Boetianike-”Victory in Boeotia”-after his victory at Koronea, born the same day(June 14th, 416) to his second wife, Philippos' mother, the 46 year old Eurydike. Remarkably for her age, there were no problems with the pregnancy or the birth. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]During the ceremony, an assassination attempt was made on Jason's life. The previous day, one of the nobles in the conspiracy lost his nerve and spilled the details of the conspiracy to Jason. Perhaps most surprisingly to Jason, he implicated Jason's brother, Alexandros, in the plot[3]. The conspirators had planned to greet Jason as he entered the marriage ceremony, pulling out their daggers and striking him down at that point. Rather than not attend (which he had legitimate reason not to since his child had just been born earlier in the day), Jason dispersed concealed guards around the area and wore body armor and a dagger of his own concealed under his clothing. When the conspirators (including his brother) approached him, he kept his distance and only allowed Alexandros near him. He himself was not entirely convinced of Alexandros being in on the plot, but when he saw him place his hand by his side, Jason moved quicker, pulling out his dagger and lunging at his brother, striking him in the chest. Their cue given, the concealed guards rapidly closed in on the rest of the conspirators, restraining those who didn't resist and easily dispatching the few who did. Jason turned away as his brother lay dying, and would later order the execution of those conspirators detained, sending a powerful message to those that wished to plot against him. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]The next two years passed without incident, as Jason and Tachos prepared for their respective expeditions. Then in November 418, Artaxerxes II finally died in Susa at the remarkable age of 87. His last years were marred by the death of his sons in court intrigue. Artaxerxes' fourth son, Ochus, seemed to have been involved in both his siblings deaths. His supporters managed to convince the new heir Ariaspes that Artaxerxes favored the third son Arsames for succession, and managed to drive him to suicide. Later, in early 418, a supporter of Ochus slew Arsames with a sword, and although he was quickly apprehended and executed, Artaxerxes never managed to connect the murder to Ochus despite his suspicions. So it was that Ochus took the name Artaxerxes III and was proclaimed King of Kings in Susa shortly after his father's death. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Artaxerxes' succession did not go unchallenged. His scheming had not won him many friends, and he still had numerous illegitimate siblings and other relatives at large. The new king of kings attempted to murder no less than 80 of his closest relatives[4]. In this he was largely successful, but one person, his half-brother Tiribazos[5], was warned ahead of time and managed to slip away, heading east along the Royal Road at full speed, the officials along its path having not received word that he was now a renegade. He made his way to Baktria, where he was welcomed by the disaffected satrap Arsames[6] who supported Tiribazos' claim to the throne. By January of 419[357 BCE], the Persian Empire was once more in civil war. When word reached Jason a month later, he was delighted to see the empire descend into chaos on the eve of his invasion. The time to finally place it in motion had arrived. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][1] Also known as Teos, or Djedhor in Egyptian. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][2] More well known as Nectanabo I[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][3] Michael Scott seems to believe Alexander was behind the assassination of Jason in 370 BCE OTL and paints a picture of him as...well a person that didn't really engender much loyalty or likability. i.e. canniving and power hungry. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][4] Depending on what you read, that may be an understatement. OTL he was successful. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][5]Fictional person though he's based on one of the 80 anonymous relatives of Artaxerxes[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif][6] Father of OTL Darius III. This is speculation of mine, feel free to correct me. I am basing this off of Wikipedia (which sources “Who's Who In The Age of Alexander The Great”) which says Darius was Bessus' predecessor as satrap of Baktria. Considering many Persian satraps were de facto hereditary, I conjectured that Arsames might be Darius' predecessor. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Chapter IV: Look East For Your Freedom[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Part III: For Now We Have Reached the Point of No Return[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Do not look back men. For now we have reached the point of no return.[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] ~Jason of Pharae to his men after crossing the Hellespont
[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] In December of 418[358 BCE] a number of Ionian cities, receiving word of Artaxerxes II's death, threw off the yoke of Persian domination once more and entered into full revolt. Among the initial leaders of the revolt were Miletos, Ephesos, Kyzikos, Abydos, and Chalkedon. The Karian King and satrap ruling in Hallikarnassos maintained his half hearted loyalty to the Persian King and refrained from revolting, wishing instead to see which way the wind was blowing. Another boone to the revolt was the reaction of Autophradates, now satrap of Lydia. Like during the Satraps Revolt, he did not oppose the rebellion with gusto. Having befriended the murdered Arsemes towards the end of Artaxerxes II's reign, he feared he was a prime target for elimination by Artaxerxes III. Once more hedging his bets, he cooperated with Artabazos in Hellespontine-Phrygia as minimally as possible. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] So it was that Artabazos had little help in dealing with the rebellion. Mausolos acted eratically, claiming he could not send his ships out into the Aegean during the winter and breaking sieges soon after starting them for apparently no reason. A fleet was being gathered to deal with the Ionian cities, but when Tennes led Sidon into revolt in January, the Sidonian ships mutinied and Tyre refused to send her ships, taking a strictly neutral stance on the conflict, likely to wait and see who would gain the upper hand. These revolts occurred before news of the civil war had even reached that far west, and so when the news did reach them, morale skyrocketed. 3 months into his reign, Artaxerxes was dealing with open revolt in three different locations, and simmering unrest elsewhere. Much to his chagrin, this would not even be the worst of the challenges he would face. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Jason mobilized quickly, first unleashing Datames and 3,000 mercenaries to advise and assist the Ionians in revolt. By March an advance force of 20,000 led by his childhood friend Kleitos Redbeard and the senior Makedonian strategos Parmenion (this division of command was done to placate the Makedonians in the expeditionary force) crossed the Hellespont. Unexpectedly, they were met by limited resistance from Autophradates, who was still unwilling to fully commit himself. Artabazos, for his part, was attempting to besiege Chalkedon-a futile measure without the cooperation of Mausolos' fleet-but quickly broke it off to move to join Autophradates in confronting the new invasion. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Kleitos and Parmenion finally encountered resistance when moving towards Kyme, attempting to establish themselves for Jason to follow. Artabazos and Autophradates shadowed and skirmished with them, but Autophradates kept Artabazos from directly engaging. Finally, they blocked off Kleitos and Parmenion from reaching Kyme, directly challenging them. Wishing to wait until Jason arrived to engage, the duo pulled back. Jason arrived on April 3rd, and quickly met up the advance force. The total combined force was 49,000 and was composed thusly:[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Infantry (43,000)[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Makedonian pikemen[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Thessalian Myrmidones [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]3,000 Thessalian Hypastpists[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]7,000 Hellenic mercenaries[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]6,000 Hellenic soldiers from Delphic League[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Thrakian Light Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]7,000 Illyrian Light Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,500 Kretan Archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 Thessalian archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]500 Makedonian archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 Agrianes[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Cavalry (6,100)[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,800 Makedonian Cavalry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,800 Thessalian Companion Cavalry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]600 Hellenic cavalry from the Delphic League[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]900 Thrakian and Illyrian cavalry [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 mercenaries [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Total Force: 49,100[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Jason attempted a different strategy and instead of marching along the coast of Ionia, he sought to take pressure off of the Ionians and march straight at the heart of Lydia, aiming for the provincial capital Sardis. Leaving Artabazos to block the land route, Autophradates was able to force Jason to have to make an attempted crossing of the Hermos River. His goal in guarding the river was not to force Jason to battle, but instead to deter him in another direction. Following a similar strategy he used in the Satraps Revolt, he wanted to avoid a decisive encounter at all costs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Jason however refused to play by Autophradates rules, and instead marched a picked force under the cover of darkness to another, lightly guarded, crossing, taking it by force and allowing the rest of his men to cross the following morning. He now offered battle, but again Autophradates refused, instead retreating back to Sardis, reluctantly employing scorched earth tactics. Jason hesitated to follow, and instead moved on Smyrna, where he attempted to support Mentor of Rhodes in taking the city. It was here that Mausolos had docked his fleet, and Jason wished to hem it in and destroy it. Phokaea, which surrendered at the approach of Mentor's fleet, was used as his base. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Meanwhile, Artabazos was becoming frustrated with Autophradates' caution. He practically demanded Autophradates join him to relieve the Smyrnan commander Megakles, and a reluctant Autophradates obliged. On April 24th, they reached Smyrna but Autophradates refused to initially engage, and Jason held his position on a hill overlooking the city. Finally, action was taken at sea as Mausolos sailed out to meet Mentor. The battle occurred on April 30th, alongside an island set in between Phokaea and Klazomenae. 220 Persian ships lined up against the 175 ships of Mentor. Mentor used the confined space on the right side of the island to anchor his right flank with a satisfactory 30 ships, focusing the bulk of his attention on the opposite side. The trick up Mentor's sleeve was his correspondence with the Phoenician ships still in Persian service. He correctly judged that after hearing of the Phoenician revolt, they would be more open to defecting. Making up 80 ships of Mausolos' 220, they anchored the center of his fleet. Their defection would be a death blow to his fleet. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]As Mentor's ships approached, the Phoenicians defected on cue. Splitting left and right, they turned on their stunned allies, throwing the Persian line into chaos. Now Mentor's ships stormed in, and the battle was almost over before it started. Mausolos realized immediately the tactical situation would render victory impossible, and attempted to pull back into port, causing many ships to be beached onto the shore and captured or destroyed in the process. The fleet that returned to port in Smyrna was only 75 ships strong, having lost 80 to defection and an astounding 65 during the battle. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Mausolos, who had up until now been attempting to hedge his bets, now openly entered negotiations with Mentor and Jason on surrendering the port. Meanwhile, Autophradates argued that with the fleet destroyed, holding Smyrna was a losing battle. Instead they should retreat inland and gather more forces while Jason was tied up along the coast. Artabazos reluctantly agreed, and Megakles was forced to hold out on his own. Then on May 4th Mentor's fleet sailed into Smyrna's port unmolested, and Megakles retreated into the citadel, offering to surrender if Jason would allow him to retain his position. Jason accepted, and with Smyrna now in his hands and Hallikarnassos joining his cause (due to Mausolos' defection), Jason had removed the threats along the Ionian coast. He now drove full bore at Sardis. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Part III: For Now We Have Reached the Point of No Return[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Do not look back men. For now we have reached the point of no return.[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] ~Jason of Pharae to his men after crossing the Hellespont
[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] In December of 418[358 BCE] a number of Ionian cities, receiving word of Artaxerxes II's death, threw off the yoke of Persian domination once more and entered into full revolt. Among the initial leaders of the revolt were Miletos, Ephesos, Kyzikos, Abydos, and Chalkedon. The Karian King and satrap ruling in Hallikarnassos maintained his half hearted loyalty to the Persian King and refrained from revolting, wishing instead to see which way the wind was blowing. Another boone to the revolt was the reaction of Autophradates, now satrap of Lydia. Like during the Satraps Revolt, he did not oppose the rebellion with gusto. Having befriended the murdered Arsemes towards the end of Artaxerxes II's reign, he feared he was a prime target for elimination by Artaxerxes III. Once more hedging his bets, he cooperated with Artabazos in Hellespontine-Phrygia as minimally as possible. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] So it was that Artabazos had little help in dealing with the rebellion. Mausolos acted eratically, claiming he could not send his ships out into the Aegean during the winter and breaking sieges soon after starting them for apparently no reason. A fleet was being gathered to deal with the Ionian cities, but when Tennes led Sidon into revolt in January, the Sidonian ships mutinied and Tyre refused to send her ships, taking a strictly neutral stance on the conflict, likely to wait and see who would gain the upper hand. These revolts occurred before news of the civil war had even reached that far west, and so when the news did reach them, morale skyrocketed. 3 months into his reign, Artaxerxes was dealing with open revolt in three different locations, and simmering unrest elsewhere. Much to his chagrin, this would not even be the worst of the challenges he would face. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Jason mobilized quickly, first unleashing Datames and 3,000 mercenaries to advise and assist the Ionians in revolt. By March an advance force of 20,000 led by his childhood friend Kleitos Redbeard and the senior Makedonian strategos Parmenion (this division of command was done to placate the Makedonians in the expeditionary force) crossed the Hellespont. Unexpectedly, they were met by limited resistance from Autophradates, who was still unwilling to fully commit himself. Artabazos, for his part, was attempting to besiege Chalkedon-a futile measure without the cooperation of Mausolos' fleet-but quickly broke it off to move to join Autophradates in confronting the new invasion. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif] Kleitos and Parmenion finally encountered resistance when moving towards Kyme, attempting to establish themselves for Jason to follow. Artabazos and Autophradates shadowed and skirmished with them, but Autophradates kept Artabazos from directly engaging. Finally, they blocked off Kleitos and Parmenion from reaching Kyme, directly challenging them. Wishing to wait until Jason arrived to engage, the duo pulled back. Jason arrived on April 3rd, and quickly met up the advance force. The total combined force was 49,000 and was composed thusly:[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Infantry (43,000)[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Makedonian pikemen[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Thessalian Myrmidones [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]3,000 Thessalian Hypastpists[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]7,000 Hellenic mercenaries[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]6,000 Hellenic soldiers from Delphic League[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]5,000 Thrakian Light Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]7,000 Illyrian Light Infantry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,500 Kretan Archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 Thessalian archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]500 Makedonian archers[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 Agrianes[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Cavalry (6,100)[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,800 Makedonian Cavalry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,800 Thessalian Companion Cavalry[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]600 Hellenic cavalry from the Delphic League[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]900 Thrakian and Illyrian cavalry [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]1,000 mercenaries [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Total Force: 49,100[/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Jason attempted a different strategy and instead of marching along the coast of Ionia, he sought to take pressure off of the Ionians and march straight at the heart of Lydia, aiming for the provincial capital Sardis. Leaving Artabazos to block the land route, Autophradates was able to force Jason to have to make an attempted crossing of the Hermos River. His goal in guarding the river was not to force Jason to battle, but instead to deter him in another direction. Following a similar strategy he used in the Satraps Revolt, he wanted to avoid a decisive encounter at all costs. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Jason however refused to play by Autophradates rules, and instead marched a picked force under the cover of darkness to another, lightly guarded, crossing, taking it by force and allowing the rest of his men to cross the following morning. He now offered battle, but again Autophradates refused, instead retreating back to Sardis, reluctantly employing scorched earth tactics. Jason hesitated to follow, and instead moved on Smyrna, where he attempted to support Mentor of Rhodes in taking the city. It was here that Mausolos had docked his fleet, and Jason wished to hem it in and destroy it. Phokaea, which surrendered at the approach of Mentor's fleet, was used as his base. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Meanwhile, Artabazos was becoming frustrated with Autophradates' caution. He practically demanded Autophradates join him to relieve the Smyrnan commander Megakles, and a reluctant Autophradates obliged. On April 24th, they reached Smyrna but Autophradates refused to initially engage, and Jason held his position on a hill overlooking the city. Finally, action was taken at sea as Mausolos sailed out to meet Mentor. The battle occurred on April 30th, alongside an island set in between Phokaea and Klazomenae. 220 Persian ships lined up against the 175 ships of Mentor. Mentor used the confined space on the right side of the island to anchor his right flank with a satisfactory 30 ships, focusing the bulk of his attention on the opposite side. The trick up Mentor's sleeve was his correspondence with the Phoenician ships still in Persian service. He correctly judged that after hearing of the Phoenician revolt, they would be more open to defecting. Making up 80 ships of Mausolos' 220, they anchored the center of his fleet. Their defection would be a death blow to his fleet. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]As Mentor's ships approached, the Phoenicians defected on cue. Splitting left and right, they turned on their stunned allies, throwing the Persian line into chaos. Now Mentor's ships stormed in, and the battle was almost over before it started. Mausolos realized immediately the tactical situation would render victory impossible, and attempted to pull back into port, causing many ships to be beached onto the shore and captured or destroyed in the process. The fleet that returned to port in Smyrna was only 75 ships strong, having lost 80 to defection and an astounding 65 during the battle. [/FONT]
[FONT=Book Antiqua, serif]Mausolos, who had up until now been attempting to hedge his bets, now openly entered negotiations with Mentor and Jason on surrendering the port. Meanwhile, Autophradates argued that with the fleet destroyed, holding Smyrna was a losing battle. Instead they should retreat inland and gather more forces while Jason was tied up along the coast. Artabazos reluctantly agreed, and Megakles was forced to hold out on his own. Then on May 4th Mentor's fleet sailed into Smyrna's port unmolested, and Megakles retreated into the citadel, offering to surrender if Jason would allow him to retain his position. Jason accepted, and with Smyrna now in his hands and Hallikarnassos joining his cause (due to Mausolos' defection), Jason had removed the threats along the Ionian coast. He now drove full bore at Sardis. [/FONT]
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So now we have Hellene-Macedonian invasion of Persian Empire 24 years early and Egypt is still independent, Phoenicia ready to revolt (so its fleet can't be used by Persians to break supply lines of an invader). No siege of Halikarnassos, no resistance of local satraps so Jason can march quicker and not only liberate all Ionian states but also help establish friendly regime in Cappadocia. I doubt he would go all the way to the furthest provinces of empire - The civil war between Ochus and Tiribazos would ensure that the Empire is unable to gather all its strength to repell the invasion and I think that Jason would meet Ochus in Babylon and make him pay incredibly high tribute for peace and return to his own home in glory. Of course Egypt, Phoenicia, and Asia Minor would stay independent. I don't know what about Armenia.
Donald Reaver
Donor
Good updates Slydessertfox, nice to see Jason can plan things out and take his time to do it right. Looks like the Ionian cities will be far better off ittl. Have to agree not sure how far he will go, not the maniac for glory like Alexander the Great was.
Yeah, I was actually shocked when I saw all this ending up converging at once. OTL, Tachos invaded Syria in the 360s and Sidon revolted in the late 350s (and I read somewhere there was unrest and small revolts in the Ionian cities, encouraged by Tachos). The fact that I didn't have to change Autophradates and Mausolos' personality and political calculations (since they both acted the same way in the Satraps Revolt, so there's the precedent) helped immensely too. I just found it remarkable as well that Artaxerxes managed to get away with killing off virtually his whole immediate family without any revolt-I didn't think lightning was going to strike twice for him.
Yes, he's far more calculating than Alexander the Great.
Thanks!Excellent updates sly! Exciting to see Jason's invasion underway.
Btw, Jason's invasion isn't going to be a complete cakewalk. You'll see what I mean in either the next update or the following one.
Thanks. Depending on how much time I have available, a new update should be up tonight or tomorrow.
Chapter IV: Look East For Your Freedom
Part IV: Enter Tachos
Aigyptian Pharoah Tachos
While Jason was busy in Asia Minor battling Artabazos and Autophradates, the Aigyptian Pharaoh Tachos was ready to launch an offensive of his own into the Levant and Syria. Leading the charge were a pair of Athenian heavyweights he had courted, the talented Chabrias and the less notable exile, the son of Konon, Timotheos. Both arrived in Tachos' court for differing reasons, Timotheos for redemption and Chabrias to Any bad blood that may have existed between them from their naval debacle that led to the former's exile was quickly buried as the two threw themselves into undertaking the new campaign.
One of the major obstacles for Tachos in the preceding years for invading the Persian Empire had been raising money. It had been this that had prevented him from launching an invasion in 411[365 BCE][1], and years of trying out various methods of increasing revenue still left him in difficult straits. He resorted to the imposition of new taxes on the Aigyptian people, but did not dare go further, for fear he could turn the priestly class against him. This combined with a slight shrinking of the size of his invasion force was enough to satisfactorily address his monetary difficulties for the time being.
Finally in March 419 [357 BCE] the invasion was underway. An advance force of 4,000 Hellenic mercenaries led by Chabrias quickly made their way to Sidon, assisting Tennes in fighting off a spirited attempt to retake the city by the Kilikian satrap Mazaeos[2]. They prepared for the full force of the Persian King to arrive soon, but it never came. Artaxerxes decided the more immediate threat to his rule was in the east, where Tiribazos was gathering his forces. Instead he diverted a force of 25,000 to rendezvouz with Mazaeos and himself led 35,000 men east. The result was a critical deficiency of forces in the west as the empire's resources were stretched on 3 fronts. With 35,000 men (he possessed 10,000 before being reinforced), Mazaeos had roughly equal numbers to the original Aigyptian invasion, but faced the prospect of losing Phoenicia before he could effectively respond.
Tachos and Timotheos reached Akko[3] by the end of March, encountering virtually no resistance on the way. The few Persian garrisons left in the region either surrendered or fled, and in one fell swoop, Phoenicia was in the hands of the Aigyptians. Further bad news befell Mazaeos. Rather than acquiesce to demands to activate his fleet, the Kypriot King of Salamis Nikokles[4] instead raised his flag in revolt and offered his services to Tachos. With the defection of Salamis (and similar defections from the rest of Kypros), the Persians had lost complete control of the sea. Rhodes was the only active sea power in the region not loyal to the anti-Persian coalition, yet they too soon shut their ships in port and watched the war unfold from a distance. Mazaeos was forced to fight a war alongside the coast now both outnumbered on land and without a fleet at sea.
The two armies converged near the Phoenician city of Arados[5] on April 18th. Command of the Hellenic mercenaries which made up a sizable portion of the Aigyptian army, was left to Timotheos and Chabrias, leaving himself in command of his native forces. In this battle, the two opposing military styles of the Athenian strategoi complimented each other perfectly. While Timotheos held back and kept the Persians on his flank at bay, Chabrias exploited a gap in Mazaeos' lines, sending the Persians into disarray and effectively winning the battle for Tachos. In the wake of his greatest triumph, Tachos smartly decided against pushing further into Syria, instead consolidating control of his recent conquests before heading back to Memphis to deal with discontent in his homeland. Tyre was allowed to maintain its independence, only requiring a modest tribute payment up front in order to help alleviate Tachos' financial troubles and the lending of their fleet for his uses.
Back in Asia Minor, Autophradates was caught off guard by Jason's direct strike at Sardis. He had underestimated the Thessalian, expecting him to only be interested in taking back control of Ionia. His politicking only went as far as delaying tactics, and now that his capital was under direct assault, he abandoned them for actually putting effort into stopping Jason. The siege would go on for 3 weeks, from May 8th-June 2nd, would be the first serious test Jason would face in his invasion.
To stymie the relief efforts of Artabazos, Kleitos Redbeard was diverted with a detachment occupy his attention. Early on in the siege Jason was hampered by a successful midnight sally that saw the siege engines his engineers had hastily constructed on the spot, burned. An attempt at taking the city by treachery nearly ended in disaster a few days later. Autophradates planted moles in Jason's camp, who, pretending to be deserters, informed him of their willingness to open the western gate the following night to let his army in. The small force that Jason led personally through the gates was caught in a planned ambush, and it was only due to his quick thinking on the spot that he was able to extract himself with his force intact. Eventually, his engineers came through. Tunneling under the walls, they manged to collapse a section of the walls in two separate locations, opening up gaping holes for Jason's men to pull through. Realizing that once the walls were breached his numerically inferior force would be doomed, Autophradates extracted whomever he could from the back of the city and retreated into Kappadokia.
In his haste, Autophrdates was unable to bring along the Sardis treasury along with him. Its capture by Jason was of immense importance, filling his much depleted coffers and allowing him to properly pay his troops. He proceeded to Gordion, where he famously untied the Gordion knot by pulling the pin out from which the knot was tied, and then pulling out the yoke from there. This supposedly foretold he would rule over Asia. From Gordion, he moved back along to Hallikarnassos to finalize his agreement with Mausolos. While there, it is said he fell in love with the strong willed 23 year old daughter (20 years his younger) of Mausolos, Artemisia, soon marrying her. More likely, the marriage was political in nature, designed to strengthen the loyalty of Mausolos to him. Either way, by the time Jason left Hallikarnassos, Artemisia would be pregnant, unable to follow him for the duration of the pregnancy and so left behind in the city.
Artemisia of Karia
His brief dalliance in Hallikarnassos finished, Jason split his forces, sending 10,000 men under another of his trusted strategoi, Nikias, to pursue Artabazos into Pontos while he himself bypassed Kappadokia and moved straight at Kilikia. Before he reached the Kilikian Gates however, a revolt was brewing back home. Yet a new front would be opened in the war.
[1] Now, OTL Tachos invaded in 365. He attempted to raise money quickly by imposing various new taxes and seizing temple property. This made him unpopular and allowed his uncle Nectanebo to launch a coup with the help of the Spartan King Agesilaus.
[2] The same Mazaeus who would be made satrap of Mesopotamia under Darius III, fight at Gaugamela, and eventually surrender Babylon to Alexander The Great.
[3] Acre
[4] OTL involved in the satrap revolt and killed in 360. Here he defected early enough to receive the same treatment as his father, and remain in power as a Persian vassal.
[5] Seleucid Antiochia-Pieria and modern Arwad.
Part IV: Enter Tachos
Aigyptian Pharoah Tachos
While Jason was busy in Asia Minor battling Artabazos and Autophradates, the Aigyptian Pharaoh Tachos was ready to launch an offensive of his own into the Levant and Syria. Leading the charge were a pair of Athenian heavyweights he had courted, the talented Chabrias and the less notable exile, the son of Konon, Timotheos. Both arrived in Tachos' court for differing reasons, Timotheos for redemption and Chabrias to Any bad blood that may have existed between them from their naval debacle that led to the former's exile was quickly buried as the two threw themselves into undertaking the new campaign.
One of the major obstacles for Tachos in the preceding years for invading the Persian Empire had been raising money. It had been this that had prevented him from launching an invasion in 411[365 BCE][1], and years of trying out various methods of increasing revenue still left him in difficult straits. He resorted to the imposition of new taxes on the Aigyptian people, but did not dare go further, for fear he could turn the priestly class against him. This combined with a slight shrinking of the size of his invasion force was enough to satisfactorily address his monetary difficulties for the time being.
Finally in March 419 [357 BCE] the invasion was underway. An advance force of 4,000 Hellenic mercenaries led by Chabrias quickly made their way to Sidon, assisting Tennes in fighting off a spirited attempt to retake the city by the Kilikian satrap Mazaeos[2]. They prepared for the full force of the Persian King to arrive soon, but it never came. Artaxerxes decided the more immediate threat to his rule was in the east, where Tiribazos was gathering his forces. Instead he diverted a force of 25,000 to rendezvouz with Mazaeos and himself led 35,000 men east. The result was a critical deficiency of forces in the west as the empire's resources were stretched on 3 fronts. With 35,000 men (he possessed 10,000 before being reinforced), Mazaeos had roughly equal numbers to the original Aigyptian invasion, but faced the prospect of losing Phoenicia before he could effectively respond.
Tachos and Timotheos reached Akko[3] by the end of March, encountering virtually no resistance on the way. The few Persian garrisons left in the region either surrendered or fled, and in one fell swoop, Phoenicia was in the hands of the Aigyptians. Further bad news befell Mazaeos. Rather than acquiesce to demands to activate his fleet, the Kypriot King of Salamis Nikokles[4] instead raised his flag in revolt and offered his services to Tachos. With the defection of Salamis (and similar defections from the rest of Kypros), the Persians had lost complete control of the sea. Rhodes was the only active sea power in the region not loyal to the anti-Persian coalition, yet they too soon shut their ships in port and watched the war unfold from a distance. Mazaeos was forced to fight a war alongside the coast now both outnumbered on land and without a fleet at sea.
The two armies converged near the Phoenician city of Arados[5] on April 18th. Command of the Hellenic mercenaries which made up a sizable portion of the Aigyptian army, was left to Timotheos and Chabrias, leaving himself in command of his native forces. In this battle, the two opposing military styles of the Athenian strategoi complimented each other perfectly. While Timotheos held back and kept the Persians on his flank at bay, Chabrias exploited a gap in Mazaeos' lines, sending the Persians into disarray and effectively winning the battle for Tachos. In the wake of his greatest triumph, Tachos smartly decided against pushing further into Syria, instead consolidating control of his recent conquests before heading back to Memphis to deal with discontent in his homeland. Tyre was allowed to maintain its independence, only requiring a modest tribute payment up front in order to help alleviate Tachos' financial troubles and the lending of their fleet for his uses.
Back in Asia Minor, Autophradates was caught off guard by Jason's direct strike at Sardis. He had underestimated the Thessalian, expecting him to only be interested in taking back control of Ionia. His politicking only went as far as delaying tactics, and now that his capital was under direct assault, he abandoned them for actually putting effort into stopping Jason. The siege would go on for 3 weeks, from May 8th-June 2nd, would be the first serious test Jason would face in his invasion.
To stymie the relief efforts of Artabazos, Kleitos Redbeard was diverted with a detachment occupy his attention. Early on in the siege Jason was hampered by a successful midnight sally that saw the siege engines his engineers had hastily constructed on the spot, burned. An attempt at taking the city by treachery nearly ended in disaster a few days later. Autophradates planted moles in Jason's camp, who, pretending to be deserters, informed him of their willingness to open the western gate the following night to let his army in. The small force that Jason led personally through the gates was caught in a planned ambush, and it was only due to his quick thinking on the spot that he was able to extract himself with his force intact. Eventually, his engineers came through. Tunneling under the walls, they manged to collapse a section of the walls in two separate locations, opening up gaping holes for Jason's men to pull through. Realizing that once the walls were breached his numerically inferior force would be doomed, Autophradates extracted whomever he could from the back of the city and retreated into Kappadokia.
In his haste, Autophrdates was unable to bring along the Sardis treasury along with him. Its capture by Jason was of immense importance, filling his much depleted coffers and allowing him to properly pay his troops. He proceeded to Gordion, where he famously untied the Gordion knot by pulling the pin out from which the knot was tied, and then pulling out the yoke from there. This supposedly foretold he would rule over Asia. From Gordion, he moved back along to Hallikarnassos to finalize his agreement with Mausolos. While there, it is said he fell in love with the strong willed 23 year old daughter (20 years his younger) of Mausolos, Artemisia, soon marrying her. More likely, the marriage was political in nature, designed to strengthen the loyalty of Mausolos to him. Either way, by the time Jason left Hallikarnassos, Artemisia would be pregnant, unable to follow him for the duration of the pregnancy and so left behind in the city.
Artemisia of Karia
His brief dalliance in Hallikarnassos finished, Jason split his forces, sending 10,000 men under another of his trusted strategoi, Nikias, to pursue Artabazos into Pontos while he himself bypassed Kappadokia and moved straight at Kilikia. Before he reached the Kilikian Gates however, a revolt was brewing back home. Yet a new front would be opened in the war.
[1] Now, OTL Tachos invaded in 365. He attempted to raise money quickly by imposing various new taxes and seizing temple property. This made him unpopular and allowed his uncle Nectanebo to launch a coup with the help of the Spartan King Agesilaus.
[2] The same Mazaeus who would be made satrap of Mesopotamia under Darius III, fight at Gaugamela, and eventually surrender Babylon to Alexander The Great.
[3] Acre
[4] OTL involved in the satrap revolt and killed in 360. Here he defected early enough to receive the same treatment as his father, and remain in power as a Persian vassal.
[5] Seleucid Antiochia-Pieria and modern Arwad.
Jason is really Alexander-esque in his ability to escape death, isn't he?
Interesting to see how you brought up Jason solving the Gordian Knot, and how that obviously contrasts with Alexander. I imagine that was very significant. As you warned, Jason definitely has some challenges ahead, with Greece in revolt, and I am looking forward to seeing how he deals with that. Keep it up!
Interesting to see how you brought up Jason solving the Gordian Knot, and how that obviously contrasts with Alexander. I imagine that was very significant. As you warned, Jason definitely has some challenges ahead, with Greece in revolt, and I am looking forward to seeing how he deals with that. Keep it up!
For now.Jason is really Alexander-esque in his ability to escape death, isn't he?
Interesting to see how you brought up Jason solving the Gordian Knot, and how that obviously contrasts with Alexander. I imagine that was very significant. As you warned, Jason definitely has some challenges ahead, with Greece in revolt, and I am looking forward to seeing how he deals with that. Keep it up!
Yes, I did that to allude to their contrasting personalities and way of fighting. Though I believe that in actuality, this makes far more sense as to what Alexander did than slashing the knot in half.
Jason does indeed have some challenges-though I feel Artaxerxes might have a little bit more.
One of these challenges is Artaxerxes III Ochus - a man of incredible perseverance. Alexander only had to spar with Darius III - who was probably quite good administrator but poor general.
And Alexander set to conquer the world after he had made an example of Thebes - and Jason left Demosthenes behind. Though the treasury from Sardis will help Jason immensely.
I wanted to ask about Artemisia of Caria. In wikipedia the first Artemisia was an admiral in fleet of Xerxes who fought at Salamis. The second one was a sister and wife of Mausolos. Am I to understand that your Artemisia is the third one, the daughter of Mausolos or you mean that the second Artemisia is not a wife/sister of his but his daughter?
(Well, the family of Hecatomnids was really egyptian in their ways as described in wiki - of five children of Hecatomnus two pairs formed and they ruled one after another. It seems unbelievable but it's telling that they had no children on their own. Drastically diminished fertility? But I don't know how much wikipedia is to be trusted.)
And Alexander set to conquer the world after he had made an example of Thebes - and Jason left Demosthenes behind. Though the treasury from Sardis will help Jason immensely.
I wanted to ask about Artemisia of Caria. In wikipedia the first Artemisia was an admiral in fleet of Xerxes who fought at Salamis. The second one was a sister and wife of Mausolos. Am I to understand that your Artemisia is the third one, the daughter of Mausolos or you mean that the second Artemisia is not a wife/sister of his but his daughter?
(Well, the family of Hecatomnids was really egyptian in their ways as described in wiki - of five children of Hecatomnus two pairs formed and they ruled one after another. It seems unbelievable but it's telling that they had no children on their own. Drastically diminished fertility? But I don't know how much wikipedia is to be trusted.)
Yeah, if there's one person who can rise to the challenge it's Artaxerxes III...
This one is the third one, daughter of Mausolos, born in 380. Interestingly enough, I can't find her wikipedia page anymore...though I was reading it yesterday...
That's interesting, I did not know that.
Terribly sorry folks. It's been a chaotic couple of weeks. I'll try to get an update out by this weekend and after that I should be back to a normal schedule for awhile before I have to worry about my Senior Research Paper.
Yeah. Incidentally, it actually hasn't been school that's been keeping things chaotic but just personal matters. Thanks, I'll need it.