The Reign of the Rasna

Here is a map of the approximate areas of control of Carthage and the Etruscans. Not all areas in their colours are under their direct control, some are vassal states. The Samnites are also vassal to the Etruscans, but they have quite a lot of autonomy and they are also quite a large state, therefore I showed them as separate of the Etruscans. Only the Carthaginian and Etruscan empires are shown.

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Is it wrong at this point to view these developments as (thus far) only substituting Etruria for Rome?

Well, Etruria is a kind of Rome-analogue, but Etruria is already at the size where Rome would be a hunderd years later, and there are of course also other differences (culture, religion, political situation, don't forget that Carthage is also stronger ATL)

And Etruria will in the future not be as large as Rome.
 
Well, Etruria is a kind of Rome-analogue, but Etruria is already at the size where Rome would be a hunderd years later, and there are of course also other differences (culture, religion, political situation, don't forget that Carthage is also stronger ATL)

And Etruria will in the future not be as large as Rome.

It is interesting thus far, but some of the parallels to date are striking nonetheless.
 
It is interesting thus far, but some of the parallels to date are striking nonetheless.
Well, the Etruscans and the Romans are approxematly in the same geographical position, so it would be logical to meet the same rivals right.
Oh, and the part below may look like a Punic war analogue, but there will be a lot of differences later on.

The First Carthazan war

The following time was a peaceful time at first. The Rasnans placed their new territories under the control by a governor [1], who was appointed by the lucumo.

But in the year 346 BC, war came to the Rasnans. The Carthazan general Eshmunamash invaded Calabria. He had a large army of 40.000 men, mostly mercenaries, to invade Meχl Rasnal.

The Carthazans captured the largest part of Calabria quite easily. There were still a lot of Ellines in the area, and some of them hoped to profit from the situation, and regain their independence. Many of them also collaborated with the Carthazans.

Without Rasnan soldiers left to fight with, Calabria was easily conquered. Afterwards it decided to attack Apulia. Cities such as Taras [2] where important for the Carthazans, because Taras had a large port and it was an important trade centre. But the Carthazans would never conquer Taras.

And the Carthazans also attacked the Rasnans at sea. Their ships blockaded many Rasnan ports and a large part of the Carthazan fleet went to capture Alalia, in Corsica. The Rasnans also had a fleet, but it was much smaller than the Carthazan fleet, which had hundreds of ships.

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A reconstruction of a Carthazan ship

The Carthazan fleet met the Rasnan in the battle of Alalia (this is a different battle from the battle of Alalia in 550 BC with the same name). The Rasnans, being outnumbered and having less knowledge of naval battles, lost the battle, and Carthazan forces occupied Alalia.

Carthaza quickly besieged Taras. Taras was actually not really Rasnan territory, it was a Rasnan vassal state. So when the ruler of Taras saw the Carthazan army coming, he welcomed the Carthazans, hoping that the lives of the people in the city would be spared, and that Taras could become an Carthazan vassal instead, hopefully with a larger amount of autonomy.

While, the Carthazans were welcomed in Taras, they didn’t see the attack coming. A Rasnan army attacked the Carthazans while they were entering the city and celebrating the fact that they captured it. The Carthazans were unprepared for the attack. Taras did not have very strong walls, and they were quickly breached. Then the Rasnan army invaded the city and after a long battle, the Rasnans were victorious. The leader of Taras was punished for his deeds, as were some other notable citizens from Taras, but the people were spared. Taras was then put under direct command of the governor.

Although the battle of Taras was won by the Rasnans, Carthaza was far from defeated…
[1] A ‘governor’ is an OTL term I use for this, basically because I do not know a better term to use. This ‘governor’ is an ATL term – the Etruscans didn’t have something like this OTL, but they probably would create such a function now because they control a lot of not-Etruscan territory.
These new territories are governed by the governor, and the people have no say in the decisions made. The territory is also not represented in the league, in contrast to a normal city-state (methlum).
[2] Tarento
 
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