543 B.C.

BC 543
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"The Word."

The Empire Strikes Back

Part One

Nobody truly expected the peace between Egypt and Babylon to last. Still, oddsmakers in Tyre had placed bets at a 3:1 ratio that fighting would not resume this year. The Babylonian Empire defied these expectations and did so dramatically. The powerful shift in Babylonian policy came, however, after some equally dramatic events within Babylon itself.

High King Nabonidus, long admired by the Babylonian people, rules Babylon no more. Exact details are sketchy, but while Nabonidus seemed content to marshal his forces and seek foreign help in the amassing of an army to beat the God Queen of Egypt, many of his nobles were not so patient.

Nabonidus has been deposed and banished by a group of nobles furious at his apparent inaction in dealing with the loss of a profitable Babylonian province. Led by the fierce Belshazzar, these nobles took control of the palace quietly and, importantly, with the blessing of the priesthood. The end result was that even Nabonidus’ honor guard abandoned him, as Belshazzar had already gained the loyalties of Nabonidus’ most elite troops. Nabonidus had made the mistake of only accepting the most religiously faithful of men into these corps, and made the belated discovery that such extraordinary levels of loyalty to the temples could mean less loyalty to him personally.

The new High King Belshazzar wasted little time on delivering on his promises to the nobility. Mounted on his horse, bedecked in the finest of armor, Belshazzar was an inspiring sight. The assembled thousands that the Babylonians had painstakingly gathered in Syria were incredibly heartened by the appearance of their new king. Some of the fear that had spread before the Egyptian horde began to subside. The Lydians, present in large numbers in Syria as well, were less enthusiastic, relying more on the sarcasm and dirty humor of their own Hipponax to maintain their high spirits. The Babylonians made much of the presence of these Anatolian Greeks in their midst, as the Lydians had defeated the Egyptians before. The Lydians, again, were more restrained, knowing that the force they had faced hardly represented the total might of the God-Queen. Still, all told, Belshazzar had over 475,000 trained soldiers at his command, including the strange foreign Greeks acting as a mercenary force.

With no declarations but much ceremony, the Babylonian army in Syria began its march south. With bright bronze gleaming in the spring sun, and the fine array of Babylonian nobility, the Babylonian army seemed unbeatable. This was civilization itself, gathered in one place to lay down a challenge to an aggressor who the priests said was the manifestation of evil. It was a bold sight to see.

The gathered host’s supply lines stretched far to the east through the rich lands of Babylon and Sumeria. The pure volume of supplies needed ensured that the army could move only at a crawl. The Babylonians had no master of logistics to aid their march, almost a necessity with any huge army. This might be why the Egyptians knew they were coming.

The God-Queen had been expecting an attack, slow moving or not, and had made preparations. Her efforts were greatly slowed as well, however, thanks to some serious disruptions in her supply lines. Sagbu, a veritable wizard of supplies, had gone south to assist in the war against the Nubians, replaced by the return of Akhu. Yet Akhu, as fierce as he was, had no talent with supply trains and numbers. With Sagbu’s departure, it soon became apparent that the Egyptian army was truly balanced on the edge of the knife, with chaos waiting only a short ways away. The lands of Judah could not supply such a host as the God-Queen commanded; she had to supply herself from the fertile banks of the Nile.

Furthermore, a plague of rats throughout the Lower Nile played havoc with the Egyptian grain shipments. The God-Queen was suspicious of the timing of the strange disruption, but could do little while faced with the assembled might of Babylon. The food shortages for the army were matched by food shortages at home, as more and more arrests were necessary to keep down the peasants and slaves in Egypt who chafed at the abuse they suffered. It did not help that so many of the men who were supposed to be farming the banks of the Nile while not on duty as militia had been sent into Judah to fight for the God-Queen.

Still, God Queen Aneski’s hold on her lands was firm and her servants well armed. A shortage of supplies was not a complete lack, and she quickly made up the difference by seizing more and more from her new subjects in Judah. Coinciding with these seizures, the Egyptians began to arrest all the former citizens of Babylon in Judah who were not native to that land. Houses were emptied and neighborhoods left deserted as full blooded Babylonian men, women, and children- mixed with half-bloods as well and, in a couple of over-enthusiastic cases livestock and pets- were marched off to the east. The Babylonian soldiers captured during the God-Queen’s first campaign were also marched from their prison cells to join the Egyptian hosts.

And what a host it was. While it did not have all of the fripperies of the Babylonian opponent, the Egyptian host was far larger. Aneski had swelled her numbers, perhaps accounting in large part for the growing riots and discontent back home. Almost 800,000 men had assembled at the God-Queen’s command, a number that defied comprehension. These men, however, were more nervous than one might think. The troubles back home had spread through the assembled multitudes on the wings of rumor and caused some dissension in the ranks. Such things were easily dealt with, but Aneski also knew that her force only had some 470,000 trained men in it. The rest were green recruits, drawn from across her kingdom. She outnumbered the Babylonians, and hoped that this belief would grant her soldiers great advantage, but the Egyptian ruler was too intelligent to believe that her new recruits had much of a chance against trained Babylonian warriors.

The Babylonian army crossed into Judah as Aneski finished making her preparations. The force met little resistance at first, although Belshazzar did have to contend with a significant number of dissertions and supply problems. If the Egyptians had managed to deploy any significant harassing force against his supply lines, the campaign likely would have collapsed. Thankfully for the Babylonians, the Egyptians did not seem interested in attacking. All remained quiet as the Babylonians advanced.

Finally, after the army had crept south, keeping a wide margin between themselves and the eastern border of Phoenicia, they found their first sign of the Egyptians. A small horde of men approached up the road from the south, causing Belshazzar to order elements of his army into skirmish formation. Soon, however, it became apparent that such preparations were unnecessary. The men and, the horrified Babylonians saw, women marching slowly up the north road were not Egyptians. They were men of Babylon and Judah, and not a one of them walked without some sort of horrible hurt or maiming. Most of them had only one whole eye, and many lacked even a hand to share between two arms. These scarred and tortured souls came upon the Babylonians with saddened cries, many of them begging to be killed, others speaking in sorrow of the atrocities perpetrated upon them by the sadistic Egyptian Queen.

The men of Babylon quailed, and even the staunch men of Lydia who had seen the burning of Smyrna first hand looked unnerved. The High King took charge, however, and handled the matter as quickly as possible. He moved the maimed and tortured to the side of the road, so the rest of the army could see them as they passed. Belshazzar knew that even if he hid the atrocities from the eyes of his men, the hideousness of them would only grow in the telling. He wanted his soldiers to see he was not afraid and hoped they would follow his example. He left a contingent of trusted men behind so that those victims who were hale and intact enough to return to Babylon would receive directions and supplies as well as a small escort and those who were too wounded in spirit and body to go on could also be… assisted.

Before long, the Babylonians began to see more signs of the God-Queen’s wrath. Posted along the road were the desecrated corpses of slain Babylonian soldiers and civilians alike. Some men, being of a softer nature, grow fearful and uneasy. Every night a handful more would slip away into the countryside to escape back to Syria. Still, a greater number of men hardened their faces and marched grimly on, more convinced now than ever that their priests had spoken true over the necessity of the war they waged. The Babylonian army, while troubled, remained intact.

Finally, Babylonian scouts, hitherto engaged mostly in taking down the hideously maimed bodies posted along the road, began to run into their opposite numbers. Normalcy began to return as the two sides engaged in several small engagements up and down the road. It soon became apparent that the Egyptian horsemen were overmatched by the more versatile Babylonians. The Egyptians retreated south, and the Babylonians began to get a better picture of events unfolding.

The Egyptians had their entire army encamped, no small feat, in the place historically called Megiddo. The area was large enough, overall, to contain the Egyptian horde in its entirety, but also sat firmly athwart the way south. The scouts also began bringing back reports of the enemy numbers, although this had less of an effect on the Babylonians than it might have. The difference between 30,000 men and 60,000 is clear to the eye of the experienced soldier. The difference between 500,000 and 800,000 is hard to even see, let alone rationally comprehend. The Egyptian horde was there, and the Babylonian host approached. As near as either side’s scouts could determine, the numbers were close enough to bring them pause.

The Egyptians seemed content to allow the Babylonian army to advance, so Belshazzar did. He had hoped to catch the Egyptians off guard, focusing their efforts in Nubia, but once faced with the stark reality that this estimation had been incorrect, he remained undeterred.

Marshall Ergamel, the master strategist of Babylon, had made the transition from one High King to the other with relative ease. His was the finest mind the Babylonian nobility had produced from its war academies in decades, and he was well aware of his own indispensability. He had been placed in overall command of the Babylonian Army, and High King Belshazzar elected to allow him complete freedom in preparing his battle plan.

Ergamel knew, at a glance, that his own army had a glaring weakness. The Egyptians had at least five times the number of archers that he had. Victory or defeat, to his mind, consisted of how quickly he could close with his opponents. His own infantry were more versatile, well armed, and well trained and his cavalry forces clearly out shone the Egyptians.

This battle between mammoth armies would have to take place in waves, particularly in the relatively confined territory that Judea offered. Both armies had assembled around Megiddo, but they simply could not send all of their numbers at one another without the danger of destroying their own formations. In this way, the Egyptian disadvantage in training was at least partially neutralized, with the God-Queen keeping her greenest troops to the rear to act as reserves. However, it also provided an advantage to the Babylonians, as they had the heavier infantry at their disposal.

The two armies assembled, the Babylonians flying colored pennants and blaring assembly music across the field. On the Egyptian side, however, it soon became apparent that the God-Queen’s wrath had not been completely spent with her offering of maimed and murdered prisoners.

The Egyptians rolled out two large towers. Standing 30 feet tall, these two towers were festooned with a multitude of spears, upon which Babylonian citizens and prisoners had been impaled and grossly displayed. These Corpse Totems were pushed out onto the field in clear view of the assembled Babylonian host. As the towers grew closer, the Babylonians and Greeks saw that the second totem was not the same as the first. While there were desecrated bodies hanging up and down the length of the large structure, many of them were still alive, chained to the gruesome construction. All of a sudden, the tower was alight, Egyptian soldiers having set fire to the carefully prepared structure.

As the pitiful screams of the tower’s occupants drifted across the battlefield, an Egyptian herald, clad in rich armor, rode out onto the field bearing a large scroll. He paused within shouting distance of the Babylonians, even as the Babylonian sub-commanders rode down the line screaming at their men to hold their fire and allow the herald to make his announcement.

The man spoke in a booming voice, loud but not drowning at the gradually faltering screams behind him. He offered the Babylonian force a chance to surrender with honor before they faced the wrath of a God incarnate, and warned that the God Queen Aneski would not be merciful to those who opposed her. Yet still they could be saved from the fate of their countrymen, if only they returned home or accepted the God-Queen’s offer of service with Egypt, populating the God-Queen’s new lands along the Nile.

Ergamel was aware that Egyptian agents, despite his best efforts, had circulated amongst some of his troops already, encouraging dissertions and offering gold to those who would abandon Belshazzar’s cause for an estate on the fertile banks of the Nile. These losses had remained well within what he had expected with such a large force and he knew that the Egyptians were similarily inconvenienced and troubled by their supply situation, which was significantly worse than his own. Still, this was a dramatic moment, and he thought it best for his king to answer.

Finally, Belshazzar sent his own emissary forward. Riding up past the mounted Egyptian, and the smouldering corpse totem, he reached the center of the field and called out to the assembled Egyptians. The Babylonian answered with scorn and told the assembled horde that no God sacrificed her subjects as did Aneski. Carrying the words of Belshazzar, he told the assembled horde that if they offered up the Demon they had set upon their golden throne, they would be allowed to depart this field alive. If not, the Babylonian Army would kill every last man there.

Threats exchanged, the two emissaries retired and the armies prepared themselves for battle. The Egyptians had heavily favored their right flank, a fact which did not go unnoticed by Ergamel. His original battle plan had called for a push by the heavily armored Lydians and the Babylonian warrior elite, who could hope to advance through the hail of arrows and reach their opponents. Seeing that Aneski had aligned her own holy warriors on the flank, Ergamel quicked dispatched the Dragons of Marduk under mighty Nabu to hold his left flank, still determined to advance up the middle of the enemy formation where the Egyptian infantry seemed weakest.

At last, the mighty behemoths began to move. On the Egyptian left and in the Egyptian center, the forces of the God-Queen were content to allow the Babylonians to advance. As one, the Egyptian front rankers stepped forward, drawing their bows taut and released 100,000 arrows into the sky. The Babylonian Archers were better trained and equpped, but they were massively outnumbered, and even their return volley did less damage than hoped, as the Egyptian shield bearers, explicitly trained for this purpose, advanced before the archers and held aloft giant shields to absorb the counterstrike.

As the archers dueled, Ergamel sent his cavalry out along both flanks, using as much space as he could within the confined environs of Megiddo. For now, he kept mostly to his Light and Regular Cavalry, maintaining a reserve of some 70,000 of the heavily armed Lydian Lancers and the Babylonian’s own Heavy Riders. The Egyptians successfully dueled with this lighter armed cavalry, holding them mostly to a standstill on both the right and left flanks.

On the Egyptian right flank, the Egyptians advanced in good order, rallying around the presence of the Mighty Akhu, chosen favorite of the God-Queen. Standing amidst Egypt’s most elite troops, the Bladesingers, Akhu strode forward confidently as the amassed Egyptian archery kept the Babylonians from disrupting his advance. Nabu, surrounded by a similar corps of elite soldiery, advanced confidently from the Babylonian left to meet his foe.

In the center, Ergamel unleashed his Lydian mercenaries. The Babylonian Court under Nabonidus had done much to try and ape the ways of the Greeks, but they had little result for their efforts beyond angering their generals and disheartening their troops. This would be a test, therefore, to see how well the Graecian Hoplite truly performed on the grand battlefields of the east, outside of the petty border skirmishes of their tiny city-states. Ergamel had tried to learn how best to wield these new troops, aware that the Anatolian Greeks fought differently from their western kin and used their mounted Lancers to great effect in conjunction with their infantry formations. He had decided, at last, that he had best leave the commanding of Greeks to the Greeks themselves, and left Hipponax and Kaundeles, heroes of Lydia, to command their troops as they saw fit.

Thus, the Egyptian infantry watched as the massed phalanx of 22,000 Lydian hoplites advanced onto the field. Shields raised and clad in bronze, they made an impressive sight. What was worse, however, to the Egyptians, was the tight formation their opponents held as they marched forward at the same pace. They stood in stark contrast to the advancing Egyptian right, which was even now fraying in comparison as they charged forward into the fray.

The Egyptians had been prepared for the presence of the Lydians by their commanders, but the God-Queen commanded no man equal to Marshal Ergamel in strategic skill. Perhaps this is why the archers found themselves unable to disrupt the advancing hoplites. Men rushed to the front to meet to the Greeks, who were gradually gained speed in a full out charge.

The God-Queen had, however, anticipated the failure of her troops in the center to hold the Lydians at bay. On the Egyptian right, Akhu was rapidly approaching the charging Babylonians with his troops arrayed around him in impressive fashion. Also with him were the latest innovations from the workshops of Memphis and Thebes. Drawing away from the pack charged chariot after chariot alongside a massive contingent of men decked out in the style of Tyrrhenian Equites.

A man on horseback can easily outmanuever a chariot crew, but it is much harder for that man to ably fight from horseback than it is for that same chariot crew to wage war upon their enemies. The Egyptian commanded Equites, as well, presented a unique problem to the cavalry the Babylonians had deployed on their flanks. Unable to find a way around the Babylonian lines, the Equites dismounted and deployed in a line along the flank of Akhu’s charging men and chariotry, grabbing spear and short bow and almost completely stunting the attempted charge by the Babylonian cavalry.

The chariots lead the way into the Babylonian force, and revealed why Aneski had decided to send them in the first way into battle. The Egyptian chariots rode a ways apart, with great blades sticking from each wheel, and tore into the surprised Babylonians. The blades would chip and bend, sometimes being ripped off entirely, but the psychological damage had been done. As Babylonian infantry collapsed, many missing the lower parts of their legs, the Babylonian counter charge slowed and Akhu’s men hit them at full speed.

The Babylonian left began to bend almost immediately under the onslaught. Egyptian Marines sprang forward, surrounding the Bladesingers and Mighty Akhu, throwing themselves gamely into the Babylonian infantry. The Babylonians were out classed at first, losing their momentum as their impressive array of infantrymen turned on the Egyptian chariots, and tore the offending soldiers from their carts and enacting their revenge upon them.

On the Babylonian right, the Egyptians had succeeded in keeping the Babylonian advance at bay. The Egyptians simply had too many archers, most of whom were well trained and disciplined enough to disrupt the Babylonian movements against them. As the Babylonian left bowed inwards from the Egyptian pressure, they were unable to counter with a similar overlap on the other side of the battlefield.

With smaller armies arrayed against one another, the Babylonian situation might have seemed more dire. But Ergamel quite literally had two hundred thousand men in the reserves on hand. He fed them willingly into the fray, stabilizing the Babylonian left. As the Babylonians gradually recovered, they pushed back, led by the massive form of Nabu, chief warrior of the Dragons of Marduk. In similar garb as their opposite numbers in the Egyptian Bladesingers, they had originally been trained to learn the ways of the Greek hoplite. Thankfully, however, they had not taken the lessons entirely too heart, as in a vast brawl such as this one, the Greek hoplite truly had little advantage over another soldier beyond finding it harder to move. Instead, the Dragons of Marduk launched themselves fiercely at their foe. Numbering twice as many in number as the Egyptian Bladesingers, they rallied the Babylonian left. The fight there grew ever fiercer as the horde of man laid into one another with fury and abandon.

Still, while the Babylonians were taking greater hurt in the battle on the flank, the Babylonian forces had successfully stalled the Egyptian push, which had been aimed at folding the line in and disrupting the Lydian hoplite formation in the center. As a result, Hipponax and Kaundeles, who had been nervously eyeing the fighting to their left, were left unmolested to continue their advanced. With a cheerful roar, Hipponax led the way, with grim faced Kaundeles loping forwarding with dark purpose in his eyes.

The Lydian phalanx had maintained their cohesion and slammed into the Egyptian line, backed up by the momentum of the ordinary Babylonian infantry who had lined up behind them to take advantage of the shelter offered by the heavily armored hoplites. They immediately drove a great wedge into the Egyptian center, running over the Egyptian front-rankers and spearing down hundreds of Egyptian warriors in the first few seconds.

The God-Queen herself commanded the center and as she saw her own line bend, she refused to allow even the hint of concern to reach her face. Instead, she calmly ordered forward her own reserves, reasoning that if her warriors could not defeat the Lydian phalanx man to man, she would simply mob the Greeks to death. Here she willingly dispatched many of her green fighters, as she fully expected that even her trained warriors would end up as sacrifices on the bloody spears of her foes.

The Lydians advanced in good order, easily pushing and shoving and spearing their way through the Egyptians who stood against them. But the Egyptians refused to be routed, many madly hurling themselves forward to rip at the Lydians‘ weapons and shields. To make things worse, the Egyptian right’s advance, which had been weighted far heavier than even Ergamel had expected, required that many of the Babylonian infantry supporting the Lydian advance had to be pulled from the assault and head towards the heavy fighting with Akhu’s men in order to stabilize the line. The end result was that the further the Lydians advanced, the more the Egyptian soldiers began to lap at their sides, sapping the momentum of the charge.

But the Anatolians were not so easily cowed. While their hoplites were not, perhaps, as skilled in the grinding warfare of the phalanx as their Greek cousins, they had the added advantage of joint warfare with the Anatolian Lancer. On the Babylonian right, kept at bay by the Egyptian arrows, the waiting Greeks saw that the time for their move was at hand.

The Babylonian Heavy Riders, modeled many said after the Persian cavalry to Babylon’s east, swept down in a great charge against the Egyptian left flank. Before the massed and charging horsemen, the Egyptian line shuddered. They were quickly stabilized by the Egyptian sub-commander Prehirwonnef, who rapidly deployed spear men to the front line while maintaining a barrage of arrow fire. He easily maneuvered his own cavalry forward to blunt the charge, confident that he could contain the Babylonian advance even as the infantry charged behind the advancing cavalry.

While the Egyptian left was able to move quickly to contain this new attack, they were unable to hinder the advance of the Lydian Lancers. Prehirwonnef had not seen the purpose of the Babylonian charge until it was too late, and even then it was doubtful he could have done much about it. The Lancers galloped off cross-wise down the field, heading for their heavily engaged countrymen. They descended in a great wave upon the Egyptian center, driving deep into the Egyptian line and scattering the warriors who had been so intent on mobbing the Lydian phalanx, sweeping the Egyptians clean almost to a man from the right flank of the advancing infantry.

With a great roar, the Lydian infantry pushed forward again, this time angling slightly to the left in order to prevent themselves from being lapped on that side now that their other flank had been cleared. As more Babylonian reserves came up to reinforce them, the center stabilized much as the fighting between Nabu and Akhu had. Both sides had more than enough waves of men to keep the fighting going longer and longer. Yet here, the Lydians having been able to maintain their formation, the Anatolians were bringing a disproportionate slaughter to their Egyptians foes, whereas on the left the advantage was at least slightly to the Egyptians.

Aneski, God Queen of All Egypt, was now aware of three things. The first was that her army was locked with that of the Babylonians in a titanic wrestling match that, while it did not seem to be trending decisively against her, was evenly matched enough that her massive horde was expending its blood in ever increasing numbers. The second was that her attempt to break the Lydians had failed, meaning that her greatest advantage, her archers, were largely neutralized. The third was that, to the south, a man from the Far West would shortly be arriving. A man, by all accounts, who was intimately acquainted not only with hoplite warfare itself, but also with the great intricacies of strategy and tactics which her own commanders lacked.

High King Belshazzar, commanding from the Babylonian right, saw many things as well. The first was that his army was inflicting more casualties upon his enemy, but also that this advantage was far less than he had hoped it might be, given the surprise Egyptian assault upon his opposite flank. He also was becoming grimly aware of how hard it was to truly beat his opposite number in Aneski. She showed little compulsion in hurling fresh waves of troops into the fray, and this grim determination was taking its toll on the Babylonian host. Kandaules of Lydia had been holding the hoplites firm in the face of this resolute refusal to give in, urging his men to similar acts of endurance, but the Lydians still represented only a fraction of his army. Belshazzar was also highly aware that his best position was in the center with the Lydian hoplites, and that Hipponax had warned him before the fighting began that a man in the heavy bronze armor of the hoplite would tire much faster than his lightly armed counterparts.

Both rulers witnessed the great destruction wrought upon both sides, as they sent forward new reserves to take part in a battle that, seemingly, had no end. Both sides greatly feared the complete loss of their grand armies, which represented their only real fighting forces capable of waging large scale warfare. Neither side could afford to lose, but it was becoming very apparent that neither side could win.

It was Aneski who, as the battle wore on into the late afternoon that she could find greater advantage in a withdrawal than she could in continuing the great slaughter. Gradually and messily, the two armies separated, as the Egyptians launched furious countercharges to disabuse the Babylonians of any hope of a rout. Indeed, the Babylonian soldiers were only too glad to see them go, and many of the Lydian hoplites collapsed in the dirt, headless of the human excrement and filth which had made the ground muddy beneath them. The Egyptian rear guard handily kept the Babylonian skirmishers at bay, and withdrew successfully to the south, down the valley and towards Jerusalem.

In the wide open space which the battle had taken place, clearly the largest and grandest example of warfare in the history of man, the Babylonians were left to deal with the horror remaining. It became apparent to Ergamel as he waded through the bodies of the dead and critically wounded that, perhaps, in this sort of warfare, there were no true victors. When two titans fought, they both lost. The Egyptians had left the ground littered with their dead, but they were met by a heaps of fallen Babylonians and Lydians. The populations of entire cities had died on this field.

Without counting desertions, which were frequent and troublesome on both sides, the Egyptians had lost some 110,000 men. The Babylonians, who had fewer men to lose, had had their numbers reduced by half as much. And the year’s campaigning had only begun.

Olympic Surprises

In mid-Spring, the Olympic Truce began once again in Greece. The Spartans stood back and allowed their besieged Corinthian foes the chance to depart in peace to Olympia. None of the starving Corinthians could honorably claim that they truly sought glory at the Olympics and the offer was refused, but the offer was well made regardless. Atheletes from around the Greek world attended. The competition this year appeared to be varied and extremely volatile. The best prepared were clearly the Spartans, but the men of Boeotia clearly had the benefit of experience on their side. The Athenians had actually spent a tidy sum of the treasury on Olympic preparation, and the Thessalonians benefited greatly from their hard fought position on the border of mother Greece.

The ceremonies began and the offerings were made to Zeus. Great amphorae of wine were set aside for the coming feasts and competition times were finalized as old friends from all over the region greeted one another in true pleasure. The talk was all of the great events of the previous Olympiad and the chance for glory in Elis this year.

Yet the Olympics unfolded quicker than anyone could have anticipated. During the opening festivities, Greeks from all over the world drank deep and ate their fill, although the more serious athletes limited their consumption for the following day. The great feast was meant as a show of unity before Zeus, although most men still sat near their fellows from their own polis as opposed to truly mingling with all of their neighbors.

The following morning, however, the men were not as jolly. With the exception of a small handful of competitors from both great poleis, the competitors from Attika and Lakedaemonia had fallen ill. Idotychides of Sparta remained hale alongside a somewhat queasy Leonidas, but their companions had, almost to a man, been taken by sickness and nauseau. Cenicke of Attika, who had retired early from the festitives, remained the only well known Athenian competitor who remained even remotely healthy.

The Boeotians and Thessalonians seemed largely unaffected. Arkadios, Polynikes, Mighty Gordion and other famous champions stood proudly to represent their poleis. Even as men screamed foul play, the shaken men of Elis ordered the games forward, perhaps hoping that the physical exertions would distract the fierce Greek warriors and stop the spread of unfounded rumors and accusations.

With such reduced competition, there were few closely competitive matches.

The discus competition was taken early by Idotychides of Sparta, who bested his own records from the previous Olympiad. The Pentathlon was taken by the Athenian running champion Cenicke, who was largely judged to have had an easy time of it thanks to the incapacitation of Polydurus of Sparta. Idotychides continued his success and took second in this competition. The news after this went steadily downhill for the men of Sparta and Athens.

Arkadios of Thessaly easily took the day in the chariot racing, although he was unable to attempt a repeat of his performance of the last Olympiad due to the lack of a single other competitor in the Boxing competition who could still stand. The judges refused to declare a default victory, however, and declared that the particular event would be postponed until the next Olympiad.

The most exciting events, the hoplon race (where the participants spring down a track wearing full hoplite armor) and the pankration (fighting where the only forbidden moves are biting and eye gouging) loomed ahead and the grim spectactors lined the stands to witness the final moments.

Mighty Gordion of Boeotia bested all his competitors until Leonidas of Sparta faced off against him in the final match. The two men tumbled and grabbed, jabbing and twisting in a desperate bid to gain advantage. To the watching spectators, the fighting seemed somewhat fiercer than usual. The reason for this seemed easy enough, as many of the men were openly speculating about the possible Theban or Thessalonian origins of whatever malady had laid low so many Spartan and Athenian Olympic champions. Finally, Gordion landed a mighty blow on Leonidas’ stomach and the Spartan warrior collapsed to the ground in a sudden fit, vomiting the pitiful remains of the last night’s feast onto the field. The fight was declared over and Gordion the champion. Leonidas, who had withstood the effects of the strange sickness far longer than any of the other stricken competitors was taken from the field writhing in pain as he finally succumbed alongside his brethren.

The result of this misadventure was that Leonidas was unable to rise to the occasion of the hoplon race, and the Athenian favorite was likewise incapacitated. Polynikes of Thebes easily took the last competition, bringing an anti-climatic finish to the whole affair.

Thebes had once again taken a majority of the events, but the entire festival had been shrouded in dark rumor and suspicion. The decision by the judges to crown Idotychides of Sparta as the finest overall athlete at the event did little to assuage the accusations that had begun to fly throughout the encampment. The athletes who had been struck down were all rapidly recovering, which led many men to shout of poison or some strange curse.

Finally, the Spartans under the still sickly but intimidatingly powerful Polydorus sized several of the amphorae which they had drunk so deeply of the night before, after testimony from Idotychides that he had elected to forgo the festivities the night before and had, miraculously, been spared from the malady which had struck so many of the competitors. With hands on sword hilts, the Spartans moved out of the encampment, finally confronted by a small contingent of guards from Elis reinforced by men of Thebes and Thessaly. A grim scene unfolded as Polynikes confronted Polydorus, blocking the path back to the Spartan polis. He ordered the Spartans to stand down and return the Elisian amphorae and depart in peace before they violated the Olympic Peace.

Polydorus, reportedly, looked Polynikes in the eye and spat once on the ground answering, “It seems to my mind, Theban, that the truce has already been broken.” When the Spartans pushed forward down the path, their opponents did not draw their weapons, just barely maintaining the traditional truce which called for all Greeks to refrain from raising arms against one another before, during, and after the Olympiad.

The Empire Strikes Back

Part Two As the Egyptian horde retreated south, drinking dry the last streams and plundering the last food from the countryside, the Babylonian’s supply situation became worse and worse. Eventually, the army was forced to slow its advance even further to allow the long stream of supply carts from Babylon to catch up. Even while this happened, of course, new military recruitment in Babylon meant that greater and greater stress was being put on the farms necessary to support the Babylonian host.

As the Babylonian lines lengthened, the Egyptian’s supply situation improved, albeit only slightly. Many of the internal problems back home had been, at least temporarily, dealt with. And Aneski had one last trick up her sleeve. The Queen, gifting extensive lands and influence along the banks of the Southern Nile, had appointed a new Nomarch. This man, traveled from far away Magna Graeca, had arrived in Thebes to hear the first reports of the disastrous campaign in Judah. General Antgone, given training duties with newly raised soldiers using Tyrrhenian hoplite gear, promptly discarded his orders and marched north east with all possible speed.

In Judah, Aneski was continuing her retreat in poor humor. They were outpacing the Babylonians, but the High King simply refused to give up the chase. They had traveled down the eastern side of the mountains towards Jerusalem, and Aneski knew that if she did not turn and give battle again, she might be forced all the way back to the Great Gates. A stand had to be made, and the logical place was Jerusalem, where the Babylonian-built heavy fortress would at least provide an anchoring point for her host.

To Marshal Ergamel of Babylon, Aneski’s choice was an obvious one, and he advised the High King accordingly. The Babylonian siege train was very well equipped, and it was obvious to even the most poorly educated of strategists that the Egyptian army would benefit little from the fortress when such massive numbers of soldiery were involved. There was simply no way for the army to fit inside the building complex, even excusing every other factor.

The Egyptian army drew up between the Babylonian Army and Jerusalem. Aneski was, by all accounts, still obsessed with the problem posed by the well-disciplined Lydian phalanx, yet could not think of a way to overcome her army’s inability to properly disrupt the enemy formation. Concluding that her old plan was sound in principle, she once again deployed her army in a similar, formation, this time heavily weighting her left flank in order to enacting a sweeping move to disrupt the Babylonian advance.

Ergamel’s mounted scouts reported this fact quickly to the advancing host and Ergamel recommended to the High King that a similar formation as in the Battle of Megiddo would serve them well, as the Egyptians had not seen fit to alter their plan. The Dragons of Marduk had proven able to hold the fiercest Egyptian warriors at bay, and Ergamel was confident that the Egyptians could be stalled, attacked, and driven back towards Egypt.

One single fact, very small yet amazingly important, missed Ergamel’s attention. One late summer night, as the Babylonian army approached Jerusalem, General Antgone arrived in the Egyptian camp. He arrived with no herald, display of military pomp, or even celebratory music. He arrived quietly and immediately vanished into the vast palace of tents occupied by Aneski.

The morning dawned and, to a casual observer, things were exactly as they had been before Antgone’s arrival. The Egyptian army had lined up, armor of bronze and longer spears clearly displayed on the left. The battlefield looked much as it had at Megiddo. The Babylonians lined up in opposition, using quite similar tactics as well, although they deftly reinforced their own right in order to counter the charge of the Egyptian elite, which they had already grown to fear. The majority of the Babylonian casualties at Megiddo had occurred in the bloodbath between the Egyptian Bladesingers and the Dragons of Marduk, each of them wreaking a terrible toll on the lesser-armored attendants of their opposite numbers.

Ergamel and his King watched as the battle lines drew up in impressive array again. The Babylonian soldiers were nervous, as would be expected, but showed less fear. Aneski had not bothered with any further corpse totems, although Ergamel quietly thought that this was only because she had run out of non-Egyptian bodies. Neither side bothered with formalities or speeches this time. The Lydians, many who had still been struggling the night before to clean bloodstains from their kit, lined up in the center. Both sides looked exceedingly grim. They were all, Egyptian and Babylonian alike, aware that Aneski would probably choose to wreck her army before she suffered another retreat.

Horns and pipes sounded and the armies began to move. The Egyptian archers seemed to have been reduced rather more than the Babylonians had thought in the last battle, and the archers’ duels lasted far longer this time, although the Egyptians were still clearly dominant. Ergamel, aware of this oddity, made sure his scouts were deployed all along his army’s flanks, to ensure that no trickery was afoot.

As anticipated, the Egyptian left moved forward to attack, although this time they moved slower and with more caution. The Babylonian sub-commander, eyeing the eager Dragons of Marduk and their champion in Mighty Nabu, signaled the attack. The Egyptian elite showed trepidation and fear. Now was the time to strike.

On the other side of the battle field, the other Egyptian flank, once again, concentrated merely on keeping the Babylonians at bay, launching volley after volley of arrows and skirmishing across the field. In the center, Kandaules and Hipponax signaled the attack, and the Lydian hoplites marched forward into battle once again.

As the two armies met, it soon became apparent that the Babylonians had the advantage. Even on the left where the Egyptians had concentrated most of their apparent strength, they were forced to give ground before the Babylonian assault. The Egyptians strengthened their line with fresh bodies, but the Babylonians had already begun to wreak a terrible slaughter there.

On their left, the Babylonians were largely content to allow the Egyptians their space and merely worked to keep the enemy busy. All eyes turned to the center as the bronze shields and spears of the Lydians flashed in the sun.

With a mighty crash, the Lydians surged into the waiting Egyptians. The Egyptian soldiers fell back in disarray almost at once. As Ergamel watched, it became apparent that Aneski was clearly running out of trained soldiers and had resorted to stacking her line with her greenest troops in the hopes of stalling the Lydians. He signaled his own men forward after the Lydians as Kandaules ordered the Anatolians to slaughter as many of the foe as they could. The Lydians pushed forward deep into the Egyptian formation, drawing ever closer to the towering throne of the God-Queen Aneski, sitting silently at the rear of the line.

As the tattered middle caved in and the Lydians pushed ever forward, followed by a surge of Babylonian regulars, the Egyptian left, so heavily weighted with bronze armor, held their ground, but only barely. The Egyptians did not even bother to attempt a cavalry duel, instead they kept their archers firing steadily at any advancing horsemen and scattering any charge before it could happen. The Egyptians seemed reduced to hoping that their enemies would tire before the God-Queen ran out of warm bodies.

Then, in an action that went completely unseen by any of the Babylonians, a small figure standing at the foot of Aneski’s golden throne thrust a bronze spear into the air four quick times. Another horn blare sounded and a great shout went up from the Egyptians. Sometimes spearing the retreating green soldiers out of their way, the Egyptian soldiers surged forward around the Lydian hoplites from almost every direction. As if on cue, a great reserve of Egypt’s finest archers let fly into the lightly armored Babylonian soldiers supported the hoplite push. The slaughter was immediate and a line of fallen bodies soon cut the Babylonian contingent half.

As the Egyptians fought ferociously all around the increasingly desperate Lydians, Hipponax came to a startling conclusion. The men he was facing were well armed, though many carried no bronze shield or armor. Hipponax had not reached the position of prestige he occupied by being slow on the uptake. Here were the Egyptian Bladesingers, all other appearances had to be false. His enemy had performed a ruse, armoring other men in some of the gear of their most feared warrior elite and drawn his own men into a trap.

A roar of righteous fury confirmed his fear. Here was Mighty Akhu, striding forward with grim purpose, battering friend and foe alike in his determination to break the Lydian line. The Lydians were deep into the Egyptian line, beset forwards and to both sides, with the ring gradually creeping to their rear as the Babylonians fell back beneath a hail of arrows or were ruthlessly set upon by Egypt’s fiercest warriors.

Ergamel let out a startled oath as he saw the center’s advance falter. Aneski seemed perfectly willing to throw her soldiers forward in never ending numbers in order to keep him from advancing on the right, and on his left the Egyptian archers had demonstrated their extreme usefulness as they kept his own men at bay. The assault was stalling across the entire battlefield, as the Babylonians fearfully watched the Lydians halt their advance, beset on all sides. The common Babylonian peasant-soldier’s opinion of the crude, bronze-clad Greeks was greatly exaggerated, a concern which the Babylonian commanders had tried hard to address. The attempts to squash this enthusiasm, however, had completely collapsed after the Lydians’ performance on the fields of Megiddo. Now, as the worst seemed to have happened, a collective shudder went through the Babylonian Army.

In the midst of this brawl, however, the Lydians were more concerned with their own survival. Their Babylonian entourage had fallen in cruel ambush and while they were wreaking a terrible toll on their attackers, more and more of the Anatolian Greeks were falling dead or wounded. The phalanx had not collapsed, but it was trembling.

Kandaules fought on at the forefront, refusing to give ground before the Bladesinger thrust led by the formidable Akhu. Kandaules could not, of course, hope to stand against the infamous Egyptian in single combat, but the tightly interlocked shields and unified thrusts of the Lydians meant that they were, just barely, holding the Egyptians back.

Hipponax realized his friend Kandaules, who was a surprisingly jolly fellow when drunk on fine Greek wine, would not order a retreat. It was not in his nature. Hipponax reasoned that either he could either find some way to get his friend drunk, or attempt to rally the Lydians himself and enact a fighting retreat.

As the Babylonians watched the Lydians professionally and coolly begin to retreat back across the field, counter charging and shifting their shields in order to beat back Egyptian attacks, it was hard to believe that the Lydians could hope to last much longer. The Egyptian horde had never seemed bigger, even though it had been greatly reduced in numbers.

Ergamel eyed his sovereign, who was mutely watching the unfolding scene. High King Belshazzar finally broke the silence, and turned to his head Marshal. “The filthy bitch has her prize. Recover my army.”

As his sovereign rode away Ergamel sent out a steady stream of orders.

As the Lydians, quickly tiring under the heavy weight of their gear, had retreated a third of the way back towards their own line, but they were still beset by the roiling mob of Egyptian soldiers. Even as men began to stumble and the phalanx grew looser in its formation, Akhu leapt forward and broke the phalanx’s front line. In front of thousands of men, he ripped the throat from Kandaules’ lieutenant with his teeth and flailed about him in a great rage.

The Lydians, miraculously, did not flee in a rout. Men did not run blindly backwards, meaning that the retreat was not quite a disaster. But as even Kandaules, roundly considered the fiercest and most resolved of the Lydians, fell back in a panic, it was clear the Lydians had lost.

Finally, with a mighty roar, the assembled mighty of the Babylonian and Anatolian cavalry swept down the center of the field. The Egyptian archers were ill prepared to meet this charge, as they had been concentrating on the flanks and the still struggling Babylonians fighting alongside their Lydian comrades. Still, they rallied and fired their arrows deep into the assembled horsemen.

This great charge was probably the single most stunning event of the day. With the light of the sun glinting bravely from spear, sword, and helm, the Babylonian Heavy Rider rode intermingled with Lydian Lancer. This great host of cavalry swept down upon the Egyptians, overcoming even the fierce Bladesingers and driving the attackers away from the battered Lydian phalanx. A great cheer went up throughout the Babylonian host.

These heroics aside, however, it was clear the Egyptians had not been cowed. The archers assembled in great number and began to pepper the cavalry. Soon they were all once again in a fighting retreat. This time, however, the Lydians and Babylonians together managed to keep the Egyptians at a comfortable distance as they moved swiftly back towards their own camp and reserves.

Finally, on the Egyptian left, Aneski gave her final order. The assembled archers there launched a full volley. Arrows fell in a great wall into the midst of the fiercely embattled Babylonian Dragons and their Egyptian foes. Egyptian fell, landing on his similarly pierced Babylonian foe, and men cried out in all languages for succor and deliverance.

The horns called again, and this time the Babylonians were the ones retreating in good order, beating back Egyptian pursuers with fierce cavalry charges. Aneski did not wish to test her luck. Her army had suffered greatly in this last battle and she held Jerusalem. The Babylonians’ confidence had been bruised and, with the timely help of Antgone, her horde had defeated a Greek phalanx. Antgone had assured her that once they had broken a phalanx once, it became easier every successive time. There would be time for further revenge next campaign season, after she had nursed her wounds and dealt finally with the ridiculous logistics problems that had plagued her entire campaign. The Babylonians held the poorer half of a territory rapidly becoming devoid of all sustenance and even its populace. Time was on her side.

The Acrocorinth Falls

In late summer this year, despite all the other happenings in Greece, the inevitable finally occurred. The Acrocorinth, widely considered the most imposing and valuable fortification in Greece, finally succumbed to the waiting Spartan army that had been besieging them for an entire year. The Corinthian defenders, the last remnants of the army which had once protected the rich polis of Corinth, finally admitted defeated and filed out of the fortress, brave Cyteus marching at their head. The defenders were clearly shaken men, but they had not the starved and diseased look of most men who had waited out true sieges. In this instance, Cyteus had simply obeyed the forms of tradition and waited until his food supplies had run out. Instead of the normal scrounging for scraps and hunting of rats which occurs in these situations, Cyteus decided to spare his men the privations of continuing to fight a war he knew was already lost. No matter what else was happening in Greece, no liberating army was marching for Corinth. There was no help a couple more months away to wait for.

The Corinthian soldiers were placed under polite guard and given food and shelter while elements of the Spartan Mora marched into the massive fortress to take possession, as well as deal with the few rudimentary traps that some of the more ambitious Corinthian soldiers had left behind. There were a few minor casualties, but nothing serious as Cyteus had not organized any such efforts himself, meaning that the Corinthian effort was lacking in lethality. The Corinthian prisoners were immediately offered very generous terms by the Spartans, but to a man they declined. Instead, the soldiers all surrendered their weapons to the Spartans, exchanged dirty stories and macabre advice, before setting out to rejoin their families in the Corinthian poleis, leaving Sparta in control of the massive and imposing fortifications of the Acrocorinth.

Domestic Disturbances in Egypt

The riots and food shortages that so damaged the God Queen’s campaign in Judah also caused significant problems domestically this year. The plague of rats was not helped along by a revival of mysticism amongst many in Egypt, calling the plague a sign of disfavor from the One True God or, depending on which crazed and unhygienic lay about you listened to, Gods. The God Queen’s enforcers were characteristically quick to crack down on the problem and arrest a wide array of malcontents, but it is rapidly becoming apparent that there is trouble afoot in Egypt. From the discontent at home, what is surely foreign meddling, and from the unheard of number of men taken by the God Queen on her campaign against the Babylonians, the ever stable foundation of the ancient Egyptian society is shifting.

Trouble in Cyprus

Early this year, Egyptian agents in Cyprus, who had been specifically ordered to a state of alertness based on information provided by the God Queen, began to notice many strange events amongst the Cypriots. “Hunting” expeditions increased, and reports came in from all over the island that the talk in the local taverns had turned decidedly sour. Having been warned to specifically root out a group of foreign agents who were supposed to be arriving in Cyprus this year, the overly large Egyptian garrison took the task with a will.

Uncharacteristically for the Egyptians, the garrison had been given the command to suppress the rebellion, if possible, gently. In this manner, the Egyptians broke up the occasional meetings and made several arrests. But the Cypriots, apparently expecting a crackdown in turn, gave little away as to what was actually going on. No large army formed, nor did any man rise up to declare himself a rival King to Aneski. The Egyptians were well aware that arms were finding their way into Cyprus, but could not find a central destination. Ebana, the Egyptian commander, reluctantly concluded that his methods were not working against a foe who moved as patiently and methodically as the Cypriots and their mysterious benefactors.

Ebana ordered his men, some 30,000 strong, out into the countryside proper, using far harsher methods than before, but still maintaining discipline and moving only deliberately and with foresight. Even so, Ebana found he was engendering even more dislike amongst the population of the small island through his actions. He pulled his forces back and rethought his strategy. One of the factors that was making his job so difficult was that the amount of weaponry and resources flowing into Cyprus was very small. Whoever was responsible was trying to stir up trouble, not create an army that the Egyptians could crush. Ebana fell back on the God Queen’s enforcers to handle the job, reluctantly keeping his soldiers behind as a reserve force, only sending out small bands of them to patrol the island and, using the more intelligent of his man, as special investigators.

Despite all his efforts, Ebana knew that weaponry and money had gotten through. If a foreign foe did assault Cyprus, they would enjoy the support of a sizeable band of native Cypriots, who had been easily inspired to resistance despite his own relatively light hand on the reins. Still, Ebana had made several arrests and taken a handful of useful prisoners. He just hoped the God Queen would have the patience to allow his to continue his job. The alternative, for what could arguably be called a failure on his part this year, would probably be his execution.

Karkana on the Rise

In what appears to be a systematic plan, King Larce Karkana of Clusium- Lucumo of the Etruscans- proceeded to strip landowners in Rome, Campeva, and Apulia of their rights and bestowed these new lands on loyal Etruscan nobles. This shuffling meant that a significant amount of new power came into the hands of powerful Etruscan men, loyal to King Karkana, while many of the men who had opposed him most fiercely were much diminished. The other result was that King Karkana gained a significant number of votes to support his base in Clusium and Veii. In what was supposed to be an ordinary election, Karkana seized the initiative and successfully pushed forward a measure amongst the gathered nobility which made him Lucomo for Life, a status which more or less undermines the system which has governed the Tyrrhenian Confederacy for so long. Karkana calmed many of his detractors afterwards, citing his commitment to the traditions which made the Confederacy strong, citing the rise of an aggressive alliance in Magna Graeca as a need for these temporary measures of stability. Whether or not anyone truly believed his words appears to be moot, however, as nobody seemed particularly eager to stand against him.

Phoenicians Crack Down

In a dramatic departure from the normal state of affairs in Phoenicia, King Hanniel of Tyre initiated a series of vicious crackdowns through the rich ports which given Phoenicia its power and influence. Reacting to the rise in organized crime within his territory as of late, King Hanniel reacted with surprising efficiency and viciousness, rounding up dozens of men at a time and having them interrogated and tortured. By the end of the year, the criminals who had caused the disturbances in the first place had either been rounded up or gone into hiding. Whatever information they might have been privy too was now certainly in the hands of King Hanniel and his advisors.

An unintended side effect of these acts, however, was that the Phoenician people, despite these measures supposedly being in their direct interest, showed a rising amount of discontent with King Hanniel. Normally elated by the strange yet benevolent leadership qualities of their king, many men in Tyre actively took to the street to protest the apparent shift in King Hanniel’s priorities. Instead of the luxuries, orgies, and other gifts the people had become used to, they had been subjected to searches and gangs of enforcers rounding up miscreants in the streets. Grown, perhaps, a little dependent on the King’s largesse, the Phoenician people reacted most negatively when it was all taken away.

Egypt Settles the Nile

Relieving a certain amount of the rising pressure in Egypt, the God Queen ordered incentives for people to settle in the new, largely empty lands along the southern Nile which Egyptian soldiers seized control of last year. Using a newly constructed series of fortifications as a focal point, much as the Persians did in their own newly conquered barbarian lands, the God Queen enjoyed significant success in encouraging Egyptians, and others, to settle in these new lands. It is unclear exactly how effective of a release for the rising tensions in Egypt this shall prove, but the local economy in the region is already seeing benefits. It seems that the God Queen is not simply intent on acquiring new lands, but is resolute in her desire to spread the culture and people of Egypt to new lands, building a true Empire. To make matters even more interesting, rumors are circulating that Aneski has sent emissaries to many of the barbarian tribes in nearby lands, offering them new homes along the Nile. Information, given the insular nature of Aneski’s Egypt, remains sparse.

Blockade of Spartan Coast

Close to 20 triremes from Boeotia and Thessaly, under the command of the exiled Corinthians Hypaneos and Leneus, seized control of the Spartan coastline, and blockaded the major Spartan ports. The blockade was, of course, not entirely effective, given that the Spartans now control ports ranging from north of the Corinthian Isthmus around the entire Peloponnese to a port just south of the Isthmus. It was a lot of territory, with at least half a dozen sizeable ports, to control with only a few triremes. To make matters worse for the allied fleet, the Spartans relied very little on outside trade, meaning that the blockade did not cause an overreaction on the part of the Spartan leadership, which so often helps make a blockade even worse than it might otherwise have been.

Still, the blockade was not entirely without merit. The Spartans had, for quite unrelated reasons, finally consented to lowering their taxes this year and allowed their new subject poleis freedom to conduct trade. The measures had originally been the cause of significant celebration through the occupied Peloponnese, but this attitude turned immediately sour as the Boeotian and Thessalonian fleet began preying on shipping up and down the coast. The Spartans successfully maintained order and, through a series of very generous programs, managed to keep the grumbling down to a minimum, but a great amount of good will, which might have helped bind the newly conquered poleis tightly in alliance with the Spartan homeland, had been lost.

Western Empire Builds Palace

King Mursili of Caria sent out a great call across the civilized world for architects and masons to come to Troas to take part in a great undertaking. Many of the world’s most notable men answered the call and traveled to Anatolia and the lands collectively called the “Western Empire”. Mursili, in his position of Imperial Castellan, received these men and set before them a series of tests.

The finest architect would be decided by who could build, using only common castings from a crude builder's site, with no mortar or other tools, a tower so strong it could withstand a blow from the Terarch's spear butt. The finest mason would be he who could hew a crude block, chosen by the King from castings from the same site, into a top so fine it could be balanced on the end of that same spear, while still heavy enough that the top's point could pierce stone.

Marneid of Sumeria and Jarne of Thessaly were selected as head architect and mason, respectively. They were given the task of finishing the grand, and very expensive palace, within the year. Moving feverishly, with great hordes of workers both drawn from the local men and imported from around the world, the palace grew up from the ground with blinding speed.

The giant palace, surely a true wonder of the modern world, houses apartments for the four Kings of the Western Empire along with space for their servants, alongside a barracks for the Imperial Guard. Throughout the year, the construction grew larger and larger, and always more grand. All of this progressed under the watchful eye of Imperial guardsmen, always vigilant to prevent any further foreign disruptions on Anatolian soil. No attacks came, and the palace mounted towards the heavens in ever increasing grandeur, with marble edifices and beautiful statues making ordinary men look about them in awe.

As the palace neared completion, as winter began to set in, a grand ceremony was unveiled where all of the Kings of the Western Empire gathered together to hold the first Imperial court. The new building, still undergoing a handful of finishing touches, played host to a grand array of courtiers and other Imperial subjects who approached the Emperor and his officers to have their grievances heard and, quite frequently, simply to say they had been there. With the completion of the grand construction, and the opening of the Imperial Court, is readily becoming apparent that the Western Empire is here to stay, and not some fantasy that can be swept away or ignored.

Social Unrest in Babylon

Much as in Egypt, and running in a similar vein with the discontent in Phoenicia, there has been much grumbling in the city of Babylon this year. The people there, accustomed to great displays of culture and generosity from their King were greatly dismayed by the new militaristic bent of the High King Belshazzar. The vast numbers of new inductees into the Babylonian army placed a great strain on the local economy and caused great discontent amongst the city’s wives, an often overlooked but very powerful group especially within the merchant classes and the minor nobility. Finally, the cutting of funding to many popular events and programs caused a great uproar amongst the privileged city dwellers. When the news of the stalling of the High King’s advance into Judah reached the Babylonian mob, there were several small riots that had to be firmly dispersed by the Babylonian Guard. With so many of Babylon’s farmers now under arms, it remains to be seen whether or not Babylon will be able to feed her own citizen’s, let alone the massive army they have fielded in the west.

Tyrrhenians Tariff

In an apparent effort to demonstrate the power and dominance of the Etruscan city-states over those Greek cities in southern Italia, Lucomo Karkana launched a near embargo on goods coming from Magna Graeca into Tyrrhenia. This move seemed particularly aimed at the nascent coalition that appears to be forming around the Spartan-descendant polis of Tarentum, which has been asserting itself the past couple years in Magna Graeca. Magna Graecan merchants were often rebuffed by Tyrrhenian trade authorities, while Karkana’s coffers greatly benefited from the new laws. In either coincidence or retaliation, Tarentum herself leveled steep tariffs against one of the component poleis of the Confederacy, hitting the city-state of Veii with new restrictions. Whether this effort will serve to create a rift in Tyrrhenia is unknown, but tensions are certainly building in the Italian penisula.

Athenians Complete Grand Harbor

After many years of slow construction the city-state of Athens, often called Attika, finally completed construction of their new port facilities. The Grand Harbor of Poseidon firmly reestablished Athens as one of the finest ports in the world, all the better to project her naval dominance over the region. It appears this construction was finished not a moment to soon, as the coalition which has faced off against Athens appears, at least for this moment, to have the upper hand. The new harbor facilities mean that Athens is even less vulnerable to a sea borne attack than they were previously, and that the Athenian fleet can sail forth and retreat back to their berths with relative impunity. This advantage looks to be of critical importance in the months ahead.

Egypt Seeks Own Contest of Champions

In an apparent attempt to seek out the finest warriors amongst both the Bedouins of Northern Africa and the Beja people of Eastern Africa, the God Queen Aneski dispatched emissaries to sponsor contests of Champions amongst the two peoples, apparently modeled on the recent events in Gaul. No formal contests were held this year, however, due to the distant and disparate natures of both peoples. Having to skirt the battles along the southern Nile, Aneski’s emissaries took a long time to find the Beja, while the Bedouins were, as always, more than difficult to track down in any real numbers. Both people, reportedly, responded with wary interest to the God-Queen’s proposals and, by all accounts, pocketed the prize money which Aneski’s emissaries wisely, and very quickly, converted into gifts demonstrating Aneski’s largesse. If nothing else, Egypt may have some new potential allies on its borders, although the fate of the planned contests seems uncertain unless Aneski were to continue focusing her efforts along that path in the coming year.

Greece at War!

This year, following the conclusion of the somewhat disheartening Olympics, a great mustering occurred outside the city of Thebes. This was not only a great gathering of soldiery, but also of notable men. Some 70,000 soldiers were gathered together in a host massive by any Greek’s standards, composed of men from throughout the extensive Boeotian League as well as Thessaly and even, it was rumored, barbarian mercenaries from abroad. Beyond this, it was said that such a gathering of heroic men of exceptional stretch and uncommon wit had not been seen since the Great War with Troy. Ilarches Diokles, Arkadios, and even King Demetrius himself were seen representing the polis of Thessaly. Polynikes the Olympian, his boon companion Thorakides, Agrippas the Horse Master, and others stood tall for Mighty Thebes. It was truly an impressive gathering of personalities.

Most of the men arrived to join the host without knowing, for sure, exactly what they were to be doing. The Boeotian and Thessalonian commanders soon cleared this up. With the invasion of Corinth last year by the combined forces of Athens and Sparta, the time had come to act in order to restore the balance of power in Greece. Many of the men were disheartened slightly to learn of their intended target. Tales had grown of both the might and rising power of Sparta, and only fools would speak deridingly of Strategos Drakko of Attika.

Yet the plan of attack restored much of the confidence of the battle seasoned army. They would not be marching down to Corinth, straight into the jaws of the lion. Instead, they would be assaulting an altogether different place, catching their enemies off guard and attacking only their closest opponent. They were not marching on Sparta, just Athens. The two of them together gave the men pause. Either one alone? This bothered the men much less.

The host sallied forth with little delay, heading straight south down the peninsula towards Athens herself.

In Athens, the mood was decidedly different. The Thebans had done an excellent job of shielding their initial movements with their own scouts and the Thessalonian horse archers. The movement of 70,000 men in any capacity was, however, impossible to hide. Their destination was not, in itself, difficult to guess. Yet in order to free up money for some other necessary projects, the Athenian army, both the contingent under Drakko in Corinth, and the forces left to defend their home polis, had been placed in reserve. Only the Northern Army, currently undergoing strenuous training exercises down the coast, was immediately available. The Athenians immediately set about calling in their men, well aware that the assembled enemy would find little difficulty in firmly cutting the army in two before they could join forces.

Drakko, stationed in Corinth with some 60,000 men, assembled faster. His own men had much smaller distances to go, still technically being on campaign despite their reserve status. Even so, by the time he had his men in good order and prepared to move east across the Isthmus, the assembled Boeotians and Thessalonians were poised to make their strike.

Poised along the coast one fine summer morning, Polynikes of Thebes looked over his army and saw that it was good. They were only a few hours march from his objective, and he fully expected to join battle with the Athenians. The time had come for a rallying speech, which has been printed here in full.

“It's a lovely day for a battle, isn't it lads!?

“I can see that you think so, Leneus: you wore the same grin on that ugly face of yours just before we broke the Lokran line at Crisa. And you, Diocles... we have not stood alongside each other before, but my father fought with yours against the Athenians at Mantinea many years ago, and I have no doubt that you will honour his noble memory here today.

“It is, of course, the men of Attika that we face once more upon the field of battle, and I would not wish to be too unfair in my judgement of them, for the Athenians are well renowned for their bravery and honour. Why, they are so 'honourable', that upon swearing to the Gods that they harboured no ambitions upon Corinth, they have marched into that fine city and imprisoned her people in that subtle prison which men refer to as democracy! And they are so 'brave', that when sixty-five thousand of them faced less than half that number of Corinthians, they had to invite the Spartans along to help them out!

“Do we have anything to fear of such men, my brothers? I say not!

“My friends, all I have ever wanted is to stand in ranks with you, to contend for glory at your side! So hold fast to the man alongside you, trust to the strength of your spear arm and you will taste victory before this day is through!

“Onward! For Thebes and for glory!”

And with this, the men did swarm forwards with great vigor and descended upon the rich Athenian province of Megara.

Yet, the Athenians’ ill preparedness served them well in this particular instance. Instead of dividing the army and smashing one half of it, as he had hoped to do, Polynikes instead took possession of a territory largely empty of any enemy troops. He had seized land, and a very rich province wherewithal, but the Athenian army remained free to maneuver to both his west and east. Drakko had his men assembled now, prepared to move in from the west. To Polynikes’ south and east, the Athenian army, including the recalled Northern Army, stood in large numbers as well, firmly athwart his way into Athens herself. and he knew full well that Drakko had the strategic skill and man power to bring his force up immediately to his rear if he so much as feinted in the direction of the city. He had scored a bloodless victory, and the Athenians were obviously less than eager to attend to his invasion, as Drakko did not want to fight his way across the narrow Isthmus. Furthermore, the Athenian garrison had other problems to deal with, as trouble loomed at sea.

And so, in one of the stranger campaigns in Greek history, the Thebans and Thessalonians seized control of Megara, to be met with nothing but a tense stalemate throughout the rest of the campaign season into the muds of winter.

The Aforementioned Trouble at Sea!

In mid summer, at approximately the same time as the Theban and Thessalonian army were marching south to war, the Athenians received word that there had been several confirmed sightings of what could very well be the notorious pirate fleet of the Eastern Mediterranean close off the Athenian coast. Rumors from several sailors had it that a fairly large fleet, significantly larger than the five seasoned trireme crews Athens had available to sail out, had passed by Greece heading east a couple of weeks before. Yet the first warning that Athens had of the hostile intention of the fleet they had first assumed were Carthaginian reinforcements heading for the Anatolian Islands, was the seizure of the Isle of Ceos. The tiny island was not, in itself, incredibly valuable. But by all accounts, a small contingent of the pirate fleet had landed brazenly, and openly, on the island and begun raiding the villages there. To make matters worse, a squadron of galleys had begun raiding Athenian shipping, causing the rich merchant families of Attika to put intense pressure on the government to resolve the matter quickly.

The task of dealing with this small fleet of pirate vessels fell to Navarkhos Arikles, a noted sailor and citizen within Athens who commanded respect amongst the city notables and citizens alike. Commanding a force of five battle-hardened triremes and another four newly constructed vessels, Arikles was decidedly conservative in his movements. It was unclear what the result of the Theban and Thessalonian invasion to the north would be, but Arikles knew that a mistake on his part could be disastrous. He was especially worried that this would prove to be a trap set by the fleet which had sailed west to blockade the Spartan ports only a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, this same deployment had caused him to recall all of his men from their homes where they had been in reserve, which served as a somewhat ironic aid now.

So, Arikles moved slowly and deliberately. They encountered the “pirate” ships soon enough, but the Navarkhos refused to be drawn in to any reckless pursuit, keeping his green crews firmly and safely to the rear. As they approached the island of Ceos, Arikles moved even more carefully. He was a skilled naval commander, and he knew it. He also knew that only a fool recklessly approached combat close in to shore on an island. With the war galleys disappeared around the island, Arikles declined to follow them in close order.

Instead, the Athenian sent out his ships in a wide sweep further east, to come around the island with extra room as well as to enhance visibility. The rumours surrounding the pirate fleet all pointed to a single force, not one that would foolishly split their forces and arouse local forces. This seemed out of place. But it was not until Arikles’ flagship rounded the island, a ways out to sea that he fully realised the extent of the situation he was in.

A fully arrayed battle fleet lay in wait for him along the coast. Only the patience and caution imbued in him by his many years in the Athenian fleet had saved his ships from a brutal ambush. He counted 9 Triremes, 12 War Galleys of special Phoenician design, and 6 Galleys, not to mention a large group of what looked like transport ships. He was clearly outmatched, and the enemy fleet was already moving forward in a perfect screening attack in order to sweep up his own smaller fleet.

Arikles wasted no time, signaling the immediate retreat of all the forces under his command. Keeping his ships together in a tight defensive formation, Arikles withdrew with all haste towards home, with the enemy fleet continuing their pursuit. When one of his green rowing crews fumbled and the trireme became ensnared, Arikles did not hesitate for even a moment. He signaled the ship’s captain to sink the vessel and make for one of the small islands off Greece’s coast, and continued on. As the trireme was lit ablaze, and water poured into the craft through man-made breaches in its hull, the Athenian fleet continued their flight.

The enemy fleet could do little, it seemed, beyond harass them. The enemy was using ordinary triremes that were slightly, but significantly, slower than the Athenian designs. The result was that the numerous galleys would occasionally angle in for an attack and ply a trireme or two with arrows in an attempt to draw them off. But Arikles would not be deterred and punched straight through the handful of attempts these galleys made to interpose themselves in his path. Normally, Arikles would have turned and fought, making an attempt to keep the Athenian ports open and damage his pursuer. But with the deadly situation on land, he knew he could not chance a confrontation at sea. His fleet was far more valuable battered but whole than nobly sunk at the bottom of the sea.

The Attikan fleet was saved by the army’s lack of preparation. As they were forced to react so slowly to the invading army of Boeotia and Thessaly, the Athens garrison remained firmly within the bounds of the city itself. As the fleet came into sight, and the signals went up, a large contingent of Athenian soldiers was dispatched at a trot down to the new, waiting Grand Harbor of Poseidon. There, they reinforced the naval crews at work building the latest round of Athenian ships. As the Athenian fleet came to bay in the fortified harbor, the pursuing fleet made only one, brief attempt to land and attack the harbor itself before they pulled back under a barrage of arrows and a fierce counterattack by Arikles’ fleet.

But once outside the range of arrows, the enemy fleet set about their other mission with unhurried efficiency. Attacking merchant ships and sailed up and down the coast, the Athenian Grand Harbor was quietly and effectively sealed off, and merchant traffic either accosted or redirected. Athens was under siege both on land and at sea.

It was not until another month passed by that the Athenians received word of King Mago of Carthage’s declaration of war, reprinted here in its entirety.

“Since ascending to the Throne seven years ago, I have sought to execute my duty as King to the best of my abilities so that the people of Carthage could live a free and good life in a world that is otherwise beset by a level barbarism and violence that is more befitting of wild beasts than fellow men. In the pursuit of that goal, Carthage has strived to forge friendships and alliances with all peoples of the Known World to uplift our condition and escape the difficulties that work to the detriment of all humanity. However, it is said that only a fool will rely on ideals alone to secure a higher status in the world. Though it is impossible to argue that Might makes Right, there are none who can argue that in the real world, removed of the philosophies that tell us what ‘aught’ to be, Might most often shapes the reality in which we live. Thus, though Carthage has always sought peace with the civilized nations of the world, I have made sure that Carthage is always prepared to defend herself or her allies when they are set upon by other peoples who would seek to loot our wealth to increase their own coffers, and trample upon the ideals for which Carthage and her allies stand for. And sadly, in this year we have been called upon to make good on our oath to defend our friends and restore the balance that has been violently disrupted to the detriment of all peoples who believe in the ideals of goodness, righteousness, and justice.

For many years, the Kingdoms of Thessaly and Carthage have coexisted side-by-side in peace, and have engaged in diplomatic exchange in the hopes of establishing harmony in the Near Shores, Greece, and the Far East. Carthage has, indeed, found a kindred spirit in Thessaly, for they too value the learning and knowledge produced by all other nations of the world, and they are committed, as we are, to the tenants of peaceful trade and negotiation over conquest and belligerency against fellow civilized nations of the world. Thus, when our great ally is threatened with conquest by two of the most belligerent nations of the world, it is only natural that Carthage would respond to our ally’s calls for aid.

In the past several years, Athens has proven to be a state governed by tyrants who have whipped their people into a violent frenzy to support the expansionistic dreams of those who govern her. Their so-called democracy has degenerated into nothing better than mob-rule, allowing for strong-armed politicians to gain power and engage in great wars of conquest that stand diametrically opposed to the tenets that Athens supposedly enshrines. First they targeted Corinth, and took the Isthmus that the Corinthian people relied upon for their trade and livelihood. And then, in spite of promises to leave Corinth in peace, Athens abrogated its treaty obligations, conquered the mighty and honorable polis of Corinth, and showed its leopard spots for the entire world to see. That the equally deceitful polis of Sparta spurned its allies and joined Athens is most disappointing, but hardly surprising given its warrior ethos and expansionistic actions. That these two powers are untrustworthy is plain for all to see. They could no more live in peace than a lion could sustain itself by eating the grass in the plains. Thus, it is little wonder that their alarming actions and growth in power have prompted Thessaly, and her ally Thebes to embark on the paths that they have chosen. Thus it is little wonder that, while difficult, I made the choice to heed the call to arms before the balance of power in Greece shifted in such a way as to guarantee the destruction of Thebes, and our most esteemed ally Thessaly.

Carthage has entered into a state of war with Sparta and Athens not for conquest or for profit, but to uphold the standards of justice and righteousness. We seek not to gain territory; only to help our allies restore the balance of power so that all the peoples of Greece may live in an environment free from the fear of invasion and the oppression of poleis who lack respect for their sovereignty and ways of governance. It is my hope that this war will be short, and that Athens and Sparta shall listen to reason and abandon their desire for hegemony in the region. Only through peace and cooperation can Greece reach its true potential; and anyone who threatens that development and those most esteemed poleis that desire to follow such a path shall need to be reminded that while peaceful, these poleis are not weak and are certainly not bereft of friends who would gladly fight beside them to ensure their security and independence.

And thus, Carthage marches to war with a somber heart but high spirits, and we shall not surrender until our allies are victorious or we lie vanquished in honorable death. May Ba’al Hammon smile upon our people and our allies in the battle against those who would oppress us.”

Thessaly Builds

Thessaly continued its construction projects and new developments this year with a two fold effort. To begin with, King Demetrius fulfilled his promise and funded the construction of a beautiful and large port at Iolkos, greatly enhancing local trade and winning him many allies amongst the local notables. Alongside this most generous of projects, the King, before making ready to ride off to war, ordered his architects and masons to begun construction of a mighty set of land and sea walls around Larissa. Rumor has it that the wise King, widely regarded as one of the most intelligent men in Greece, has commissioned a set of strange new devices to supplement his walls’ protective function. What, exactly, these projects might be remains unknown.

Western Empire Expands

In high summer, King Thrasyboulos of Ionia perished. Taken away quietly in the night by what rumor claims was a wasting fever, but those more excitable have named poison, the often-brutal King left behind, surprisingly enough, a stable and well restored Throne. The fate of Ionia itself was announced shortly after by the assembled Princes of the Western Empire.

King Thrasyboulos of Ionia, having restored his Kingdom to stability and reigned for three years as the Emperor of the Western Empire, the only Empire of the Greeks, passed away in his sleep this year. He was 56 years old and had no child or sibling to inherit his throne. According to the ancient laws of the Grecian people, and the law codexes of the Western Empire, a Lord who cannot pass on his patrimony yields it on his death to his immediate overlord. As an independent King and sovereign Prince, the late Thrasyboulos knew only one overlord, the Emperor of the Western Empire, currently an office held by Jason of Mysia.

In his wisdom and to provide for the wellbeing and stability of his subjects, Emperor Jason, who could if he so wished retain all of the lands of Ionia for himself, has chosen instead to distribute them among the sovereign Princes of the Empire, to better retain their equality and sovereignty and in the interests of none of the sovereign territories of the Empire becoming greatly larger than any other.

And so:

King Croesus of Lydia will become Lord of Smyrna
Emperor King Jason of Mysia will become Lord of Miletus
King Mursili of Caria will become Lord of Ephesus

Yet his passing did not come in time to prevent King Thrasyboulos from attempting one last gift to his allies. Ionia, in early spring, marched off to war. Sending a force of some 20,000 men north to invade Bithynia, Thrasyboulos had originally intended to follow the force north himself before he was convinced to remain behind by his advisors, worried for his deteriorating health. The men marched north for quite a ways before reaching their distant destination, crossing over territory held by their allies within the Western Empire and taking on new supplies and news. It was here, at one of these stops a mere half-day away from the waiting territory of Bithynia, that they learned of the death of their own king.

The Generals, unsure of what would happen in Ionia, concluded that they were well enough removed events that they could have little hope of arriving home in time to influence the outcome. Furthermore, wise men advised that the Western Empire would likely have a rather… dim view of anyone who attempted to usurp their authority over Ionia. They decided, then, to continue doing their job and obey their King’s final orders. They turned their eyes north once again and set the city of Heraclea, capital of Bithynia, as their goal.

Their advance did not last long, however, as the scared citizenry of Heraclea sent emissaries out immediately requesting terms for surrender and incorporation into the Western Empire. While the Heraclean army could certainly have made a decent fight of it, the reputation of the Western Empire’s forces seems to have spread far and wide throughout Anatolia, at least. The men of Bithynia had concluded that their eventual defeat was inevitable and concluded that they should join the Empire on their own terms.

While negotiations were ongoing in Bithynia, however, a rather different scene was taking place to the west. Jason of Mysia had led a combined force of some 50,000 Mysians north to do battle with the forces of Byzantion in Chalcedon. But the men of Byzantion had, apparently, decided that attempting to stand against such an arrayed foe would be pointless. Apparently on alert for any suspicious activity already, the armies of Byzantion withdrew completely over the strait into Byzantion proper, taking quite a bit of valuable property with them, along with several thousand fleeing citizens. Shortly after this withdrawal, the Mysian fleet arrived to block off the straits, halting the further flight of the majority of Chalcedon’s population.

The Mysians occupied Chalcedon without any real opposition, but were then left with the proposition of crossing into Byzantion itself. The men of Byzantion, claiming descent from settlers from Megara, were not overly numerous in number. Their own army numbered approximately 20,000 men and they had none of the fine ships Mysia was using to block off the straits. Yet they could also set in relative comfort within their city, well aware that there were a limited number of places where their opponents could cross the water to reach them. The enemy had no transports, meaning they relied exclusively on crude rafts and similar ferries to bring their troops across the water.

And so, Jason of Mysia was faced with the aggravating prospect of attempting feint after feint in order to gain a firm landing on the other side. Whenever he attempted this in force, however, the Byzantions were able to quickly respond and move against him. Again and again it proved to be a fruitless enterprise. Once they almost were able to gain the opposite shore thanks to clever action by a Mysian agent who had infiltrated the Byzantion forces and provided them with false information, but after brief skirmishing that attack, too, was repulsed.

Jason was left grinding his teeth. The Mysian navy controlled the straits while Jason himself controlled Chalcedon. His army was over twice the size of his opponent’s. Yet this narrow strip of water defied him. If he had been crossing unopposed, his army could have been across in the matter of a day. But so long as the Byzantions remained firmly entrenched on their side of the strait, apparently in good enough spirits to continue their vigil indefinitely, Jason could not see a way across without enough transport vessels to enable him to attempt a flanking maneuver.

Celebration of the Steed in Persia

News from the East tells of a contest amongst the greatest horsemen from both the civilized lands of Persia and their barbarous neighbors. Information remains limited, but stories have come back telling of great parade grounds prepared outside of Persepolis and overseen by Prince Darius. Mock cavalry battles were performed as well as individual skills tested. Men attracted by the truly astonishing amount of prize money arrived from far away Scythia and embattled Armenia.

In an astounding display, the chief prizes of the tournament were taken by Xarn of Scythia and his tribesmen, all from a smaller subset of the overarching Scythian “people” in the far north. The mighty Xarn, who apparently astounded and frightened many of the Persian spectators, accepted Prince Darius’ offer of future employment (in what all considered to be a very polite ceremony, considering that the man was still a barbarian). The Persian Emperor spared no expense to send great wagons rolling northwards to enable Xarn to move his entire tribe and extended family south to Persia.

Tarentum Continues Tours

The Magna Graecan state of Tarentum seems intent on pushing forward with its efforts to unite the people of Magna Graeca and Italia against the Etruscans in the north. This year, Nikomedes sent emissaries to Samnia, in central southern Italy offering gestures of friendship to that exceedingly tough and semi-barbarous people. By all accounts, these gestures, well funded from the Taras treasury, were well received, although the Samnians notably refused direct incorporation into the Tarentum confederacy. All the way, Tarentum forces conducted maneuvers and offered food and shelter to the displaced Romans who had fled south before the Etruscans cut off the way south by interposing their army under the infamous Prince of Veii.

Nikomedes himself continued his Silver Shield Tour, journeying to the larger city-state of Croton. There, the rulers seemed somewhat less impressed than the men of Sybaris and Lucania had been last year, although they were certainly appreciative of what the King had to say. Despite this initial obstacle, Nikomedes was resolved. What followed next took place almost entirely behind closed doors, but after nearly a month of negotiation, feasting, and maneuvering, Nikomedes had secured a generous marriage treaty, binding Croton in alliance with Tarentum in any defensive war, as well as providing a new tie of kinship between the two states.

Coming from this massive success in Croton, Nikomedes looked forward eagerly to Rhegium. Yet here, at last, he experienced his first true rebuffing. The men of Rhegium were not concerned with the Tyrrhenians, their eyes normally fastened more on their Carthaginian neighbors to the west, and they were unmoved by Nikomedes’ speeches and flattery. They hosted the men of Taras politely enough but, in the end, could not be budged from their position of neutrality. The alliance Nikomedes sought in Magna Graeca would have to do without the forces of Rhegium, at least for the time being.

Kush Campaign Continues

With the replacement of Akhu by Sagbu, and the reinforcement of the Egyptian army by use of the Nile as well as ground supply routes, the Egyptians were poised to renew their campaign in Nubia. With Egyptian warships patrolling up and down the river, a proper siege train joining the army, and the addition of some 10,000 cavalrymen, Sagbu was ideally placed to finally bring Egypt’s enemies to bear.

King Nastesen seemed to agree with Sagbu’s assessment. He immediately set his men to a great burning all along the banks of the Nile, forcing what few villagers remained between the Egyptian army and Napata to retreat. Napata itself was the ceremonial capital and burial place of the royal family of Kush, but it was also the poorer of the two main Kushite cities thanks to the ancient sacking and burning of the city by other marauding invaders from the north. Nastesen was not a terribly traditionally minded man, so he set about the destruction of the croplands that supported Napata with impunity.

Sagbu advanced slowly and methodically, well supplied albeit slowly by his careful organization and stores of food and other items of necessity. He moved with deliberate purpose, although he eyed the great destruction being wrought around him with great concern. Food from home was becoming scarcer thanks to the riots and food shortages further north, and the available food stuffs from the newly conquered southern Nile were needed in their entirety by all the settlers making new homes there. Nastesen could not, surely, know of his predicament, but it made his task all the more difficult.

Sagbu’s preparations had been excellent, however, and he was able to close the final hundred miles to Napata without great incident. The Kushite army, some 25,000 men strong, faded away into the desert once again. Here reports become confused. The Kush claim that the Egyptians, upon reaching the outskirts of Napata, set alight a great blaze and proceeded to sack and destroy the city. Many Egyptians claim, conversely, that the great inferno had begun before their arrival, and that while they did begin to loot the stricken city, the palace’s treasury and other important civic buildings had already been cleared out.

Regardless of the truth, Napata was burned to cinders, its people scattered and fled and its wealth almost entirely lost except for the cart loads of valuables Sagbu ordered back north to swell the God Queen’s coffers. Nastesen had escaped, fleeing towards the distant city of Meroe, continuing to show no interest in coming into direct confrontation with his Egyptian foes, seemingly content to cause as much destruction as possible to hinder the Egyptian advance.

Sagbu paused here, unwilling to attempt the move on Meroe. His supplies were dwindling, despite his best efforts. A push to Meroe could be successful… it could also be a disastrous failure. And Sagbu knew that Egypt could not afford the loss of even one of its fine armies during wartime. He would have to wait on the resolution of the continuing food shortages in Egypt before he could even think of continuing through this blighted and destroyed landscape.

Tariff Report:

(state: target of tariff / amount)

Athens (Attika): Persia / 1%;
Babylon: Egypt / 5% Phoenicia / 5% Tyrrhenia / 5% Carthage / 1% Lakedaemonia / 1% Attika / 1% Tarentum / 0.3%;
Caria: Egypt / 2.5%;
Carthage: Magna Graeca / 4.46%* Attika / 5% Lakedaemonia / 5% Western Empire States / 1%*;
Egypt: Ionia / 5% Lydia / 5% Mysia / 5% Caria / 5% Croton / 5%;
Ionia: Tyrrhenia / 4.55%;
Lydia: Egypt / 3 %;
Mysia: Egypt / 1.92%;
Persia: Egypt / 5% Lakedaemonia / 5% Magna Graeca* /5% Macedona / 5%;
Phoenicia: TARIFF FREE;
Sparta (Lakedaemonia): Persia / 2.2%;
Tarentum: Babylon / 0.7% Veii* / 5%
Thebes (Boeotia): Lakedaemonia / 5% Attika / 3%;
Thessaly: Lakedaemonia / 3.3% Attika / 2.1%
Tyrrhenia: Tarentum /5% Carthage / 2%

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