Suppose that when Athens and Sparta receive Persian ambassadors requesting Earth and Water, they politely refuse instead of killing them. So that after the catastrophe of Marathon Darius decides that only having punished Eretria suffices to scare off the Greeks from causing further trouble.
Then later when Xerxes ascends on the throne and starts looking for a way to prove himself he decides to go after the riches of India, instead of a miserable country filled narrow mountain passes and isthmuses. How far can he go? (Both military and logistically)
(Alternatively if you think hoplites pressed into military service might be of use in India, it could take place after a quick and easy conquest of Greece (if say it were the Greeks who had the bad luck of their fleet being hit twice by a storm and then threw their remainder into an ambush))
I know nearly nothing about India in this time expect it was in the Mahajanapada period, so how would the Persians fare against the Indians?
Also looking at a map there weren't any great realms (not already conquered by Cyrus) to the west of Avanti. So might Xerxes conquer up to Gujarat without meeting resistance of any large realm? But then Xerxes would probably be too ambitious to satisfy himself with such small gains considering, he you know build a canal and a pontoon bridge solely to invade Greece.
Then later when Xerxes ascends on the throne and starts looking for a way to prove himself he decides to go after the riches of India, instead of a miserable country filled narrow mountain passes and isthmuses. How far can he go? (Both military and logistically)
(Alternatively if you think hoplites pressed into military service might be of use in India, it could take place after a quick and easy conquest of Greece (if say it were the Greeks who had the bad luck of their fleet being hit twice by a storm and then threw their remainder into an ambush))
I know nearly nothing about India in this time expect it was in the Mahajanapada period, so how would the Persians fare against the Indians?
Also looking at a map there weren't any great realms (not already conquered by Cyrus) to the west of Avanti. So might Xerxes conquer up to Gujarat without meeting resistance of any large realm? But then Xerxes would probably be too ambitious to satisfy himself with such small gains considering, he you know build a canal and a pontoon bridge solely to invade Greece.
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