Chapter 1 - Calm before the Storm
Part 6 - Fear The Seas Like You Fear Me
Background
The Ambrones were the first people to settle along the coast of the North-Western Italiot peninsula after the last ice age, they were a disorganized group of Pirates who spoke similar languages and were experienced sailers. Later on there was several migrations of Keltoi people, who integrated into Ambrone society and began to mix in their own culture into that of the native people. Still however the Ambrones remained distinct from the Keltoi, and they would remain that way for centuries to come.
As Ushiluna began to expand its power in the more southern areas of the Italiot peninsula the Ambrones began to raid the ships moving through the ports and they became quite good at it too. Eventually they were noticed by Qart-Hadast who felt threatened by the success of Ushiluna and was willing to go to great lengths to try to keep down this emerging power. This lead Qart-Hadast to make a strategic alliance with these pirates which transformed them almost into mercenaries, and also saw them change into a more modern fleet.
In less than a decade the Ambrones were able to build fleets of pirate ships that could rival most of the vessels travelling through the Tyrrhenian Sea, moving even along the coast became a dangerous game for smaller operations. Instead vessels began moving in groups, new technologies such as the lupumarish came into use, and mega-projects such as large roads were started. Together it began to offer relief to Ushiluna and made the process of trade safer for anybody travelling through the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Response
When once again Qart-Hadast noticed the city of Ushiluna expanding its influence, it started financing a new plan to defeat the city once and for all. This event would happen during a major festival for the Rasna, all of the rulers of Campania would be gathered in Ushiluna for the event. Qart-Hadast began to encourage rebellion among the Latins, especially farmers who were fed up with the treatment they received. The farmers were instructed by Qart-Hadast to enter Ushiluna for the festival and during the event when the rulers were all together they would hit them with all they had, rocks, arrows, and whatever they could get.
An illustration for a children's retelling of the story.
That night, the Ambrones would hit them with all they had. Hopefully catching them off guard and unable to respond fast enough, and with one fatal blow they could be crippled until the entire network of cities collapsed.
That was the plan but when it was put into action it did not go so smoothly. The Latins were able to get in but when it came time to strike they were unable to do much damage, the king of Parthenope would go on to die from the wound he received but other than that it was a total failure. And in the mean time the city prepared for the revolution they were concerned that this might be the start of, including the preparation of the navy in case of attack. The Ambrone attack was a complete failure, and the Ambrones were essentially crippled by [450 BC] from the response.
The Consequences
The consequences were far-ranging and altogether it seems to be almost a complete victory for Ushiluna. The Ambrones were defeated and along with those ships, we also saw several experienced crews go down, and that is something that the Ambrones could not replace. However the area had started the process of urbanizing and in the coming years they would transform into a more united society, with consequences for the wider Mediterranean, for now however they were devastated.
Ushiluna came out of it relatively unscathed, and it soon became much safer to travel by ship, piracy was almost eliminated with one failed raid. This initiated a short period of growth for Ushiluna, the navy was expanded and they would gain more experience during small skirmishes with Carthage who in the absence of their pirate proxies were fighting directly with Ushiluna. Ushiluna however also came out of it with paranoia towards the foreign, including the Oscans that lived inland, one group in particular, the Safineis [1] bore significant persecution. An important city of the Pentri tribe known as Bovianum [2] was completely destroyed during a heated period. This bloated military costed the city too much and harmed Ushiluna in the long run.
Qart-Hadast faced a foe that had up to this point thwarted its efforts to crush it, and finally their psyche began to adapt to this basic fact, they still invested in raids but now there was less urgency to it as they faced trouble in their Iberian colonies and with Syracuse. They still were the most powerful regime in the Western Mediterranean but they faced significant challenges that they would have to face in order to continue on.
[1] Samnites. Yep, those Samnites.
[2] Modern Bojano.