547 B.C.

BC 547
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"The Word."

Invasion of Troas

Part One

Even as dissent continued to flourish in Troas, encouraged by agitators from the Western Empire, the Royal Carian Army, numbering some 53,000 men under the personal leadership of the noble King Mursili, left Halicarnassus in early spring and marched north. Travelers passed on rumors that Jason of Mysia, returned last year from his trip to visit the Oracle, had also mustered a force of 42,500 of his fellow Anatolian Greeks. Joined by over 20,000 Ionian warriors, Jason had mustered his large army and also turned his sights north. The Carians had farther to travel, but the Mysians were forced to wait for the Ionians, and the army swung east and north to avoid the Troan defenses at Ilium. Jason led his forces towards the Troan settlement at Abydus, which controls the Hellespont (the narrow stretch of water that marks the easiest place to cross from Asia into Europe). The Carians, on the other hand, marched through the territory of their allies in Anatolia and marched straight for the Troan capital in Ilium.

The Mysians, despite the delays, approached Abydus first. The Troan King, afraid of the rapidly approaching Carian army and exceedingly loath to leave his capital with the prospect of riots and chaos looming, stayed put and left it to the Abydus garrison to defend the territory from the Mysians. The Hellespont was a critical piece of territory. The man who controlled the Hellespont controlled the only reliable way to move a land army between Thrace and Anatolia. The Troan commander, an unassuming man named Phennox, was known for his skills as a strategist, but he knew his forces were vastly outmatched. He had, perhaps, a fourth of his enemies’ numbers, with something over 15,000 soldiers at his command. Phennox knew, however, that an open battle before the rudimentary walls of Abydus would be strategic suicide. As such, he rode out to meet the invaders, hoping to make a stand on more hospitable terrain where his enemies’ numbers could be neutralized.

While no great Strategist himself, Jason of Mysia had an uncanny ability to spot the correct overall move in battle. While Phennox was certainly more refined in his actions, Jason was eager to get to grips with his opponent. While Phennox was anticipating a certain amount of maneuvering between the two armies before they settled on a mutually agreeable piece of territory, he was surprised by Jason’s audacity. The Mysian army and their Ionian allies came straight at him, using their superior numbers to hem him in. The two armies met on a rocky field west of the River Granicus, which offered no real benefit to either side. Still, Phennox was not out of tricks. The two armies assembled rapidly, Jason ordering his men to assume their positions immediately despite the fact that it was well past noon and the customary hour to begin a battle. Jason did not want to give his rival time to plan, certainly a wise move, but as Phennox watched his numerically superior foe assemble his forces, he began to formulate a strategem.

The Mysians lined up in a somewhat strange formation that reflected the fractious nature of the armies assembled on the field. Instead of one army, as the Troans had, the Mysians had come with three separate, smaller armies. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mysian armies were present, as well as the Ionian Ephesus Army which was acting in place of the Mysian reserves freeing up more Mysian soldiers for the coming fight. Jason, for reasons that were unclear to Phennox, had kept his armies divided for the purposes of the battle. On the Mysian right was the force Phennox regarded as the strongest: the 1st Mysian Army of some 13,000 men commanded by Jason himself. The 9,500 man 3rd Mysian army, commanded by the grim Kandaules of Lydia, occupied the center. The left, however, was manned by the newly raised 20,000 men strong 2nd Army. These soldiers were green and had not even been placed under the command of any notable warrior or officer. They represented the single largest component of the Mysian army, but Phennox thought he saw a weak spot.

The strange nature of the Mysian deployment created a confusing scenario. There were five armies on the field: the Troans, the three Mysian groups, and the Ionians who were positioned well to the rear. Phennox tried to explain his plan to his commanders and finally managed to get them to understand what he wanted to do. The entire Troan army set up slightly askew, leaning a little towards the Mysian left. The Troan hoplites, numbering some 5,000 men were stacked slightly deeper on the Troan left to meet the charge of Jason and Kandaules while the bulk of the Troan lighter infantry and lancers were placed on the Troan right where Phennox himself was commanding. The slower Troan heavy infantry was positioned to resist the advance of the Mysian 1st and 3rd Armies while the Troans had lined up their cavalry behind most of their lighter infantry to advance on the very green soldiers of the Mysian 2nd Army.

The traditional prayers and songs were sung and the soldiers fully prepared to fight by mid-afternoon. Any later and the two armies would risk fighting in the dark, so both commanders hurried to get their soldiers in motion. The lighter infantry and cavalry began to skirmish immediately, with the occasional volley of arrows exchanged. As is customary in Greek warfare, the small numbers of archers had relatively little effect on the main body of hoplites, which is considered the corner stone of the army. Both sides’ cavalry lancers were used sparingly, poised to make a critical charge at the right moment. The armies closed in, with the Mysian right quickly overlapping the smaller group of Troan hoplites. Jason was eager to bring his men to bear, believing that his opponent had made a critical error. On the Mysian left, the green Mysian soldiers saw the advancing ranks of the light infantry and archers and, seeing the negligible effect that such light weapons had on the more disciplined phalanxes elsewhere on the battlefield, were exceedingly impatient to close to grips with their lighter armed foes. The line began to stretch out as the braver or more athletic men strode forward faster than their more cowardly or less physically developed compatriots did. This is customary phenomena in any Greek army formation and one which commanders attempt to weed out as much as possible in training.

The strength of a phalanx formation, anchored on the heavily armored Greek hoplite, is its cohesion. This is why training for the constantly warring Greek people is considered so critically important. As the 2nd Army winged out, and the 1st and 3rd Mysian armies were left to deal with the reinforced hoplites on the Troan left, Phennox set his plan in motion. His army slowed even as the green Mysians sped up their charge and the archers came to the forefront in front of the regular infantry. Drawing their bows in unison, they launched a volley of thousands of arrows into the strung out Mysian line. While a phalanx can resist the effects of archery in most circumstances, this is not simply because of the armor worn by every hoplite. It is mostly an effect of the interlocking shields that guard each man in the line. When this line is ragged or broken, or flanked, a hoplite is still remarkably vulnerable to the shafts of arrows. That is what happened in the Mysian 2nd, as several rows of Mysian hoplites were felled almost immediately. The Mysian commanders panicked, trying to bring up their own archers to return fire even as the Troan bowmen continued to barrage the now stalled Mysian line. The rest of the Troan army advanced around their still firing bowmen and now the sky began to be filled with javelins as well. The Mysians were not taking heavy casualties, but the symbolic effect of the well-executed attack was highly demoralizing. Phennox then led the charge of his lancers, swinging around slightly to the right and coming in on the thinning Mysian line from an angle. As the Mysians turned to adjust, their army broke apart in the middle, as those further away from the charge had no wish to shift forward and take the brunt of the Troan arrow fire. The formation disintegrated.

Even as the Troans gave out a mighty roar, the Mysian 1st Army crashed into the Troan hoplite formation. There Jason rapidly began to prove his reputation. Pushing forward with the hoplites against his Troan opponents, while his lighter infantry and cavalry rapidly overlapped the outnumbered Troans, the battle was slow going but seemingly inevitable. Jason himself led the hoplite charge that punched through the front ranks of the Troan right and killed the officer commanding the front rankers with a single thrust of his long spear. The Mysian right was overlapping the Troan left even as the Troans were overlapping the Mysian left. The two armies, as a whole, began to turn in a slow circle. Jason was aware that things were not going well on the left, but a combination of distance, the commotion of battle, and the fact that the Mysians were split into three forces meant that there was little he could do until his part of the battle was resolved. Thus it was left to the small force of the 3rd Mysian Army, under the command of the Lydian hero Kandaules to respond to the growing crisis.

The fighting in the center had been light due to the strange nature of the maneuvering going on. Kandaules did his job with his customary cold efficiency, ably rallying and leading the Mysian troops he been introduced to only a few days before. He saw the left rapidly beginning to fall apart and had no easy way to assume command of the fractured force due to the nature of the Mysian deployment. He made a snap decision, concluding that the large Troan force would quickly be on his flank if he didn’t act to stop them. He sent word to Histiaeus of Ionia, who was commanding the Ionan army acting as the Mysian reserve and cordially requested his assistance in revolving the situation on the left. Histiaeus responded reasonably and agreed to do so, immediately moving his forces forward to hold just to the rear of the disintegrating Mysian left. Kandaules left half of his own infantry in place to hold the Troan center, which was too worried about the advancing Jason to take advantage of the fact, and then shifted most of his forces left to link up with the Ionian line. Kandaules concluded that the Troan charge could not be stopped by the Mysians, and that the chain of command on the left had broken down entirely. He decided to write off the 2nd Army entirely and brought his own archers and those of the Ionians forward immediately.

His stone-like face betraying no emotion, Kandaules ordered the archers to fire. Histiaeus, generally considered a more jolly fellow than Kandaules, was dismayed, but had willingly placed his men under Kandaules’ command without knowing what he sought to accomplish. As such, he had little ability to stop the assault even if he had desired to. The Mysians and Ionians were initially reluctant, but as they did not personally known most of the men involved in the fighting and the title ‘Greek’ or ‘Mysian’ is more of a label of convenience than any actual symbol of nationhood yhe archers responded to the voice of authority and launched their arrows.

The Mysian left broke immediately and the field immediately began to clear as the tenuous resistance to the Troan advance disintegrated as arrow shafts claimed Mysian lives alongside the attacking Troans. Hundreds of Mysian men, many of them the lighter armored infantry who usually kept to the rear of the force, were cut down by the arrows of the compatriots. Still, the continuing volleys of arrows wreaked havoc on the battle Troan lancers and pulled the force up short, stalling the overlap. As soon as the Mysian force in his way was gone and retreating towards the southwest, Kandaules ordered his men forward, supported by the Ionians. The combined army, advancing in good order, rapidly closed the distance with the over-extended Troans and began to push them back almost immediately. As the charge slowed, Jason’s push on the other side of the field abruptly took on a more desperate urgency as the Troan line began to be forced back in on itself instead of simply swinging around in a wide circle. The momentum had shifted and the Troans, seeing the brutality the Mysians and Ionians had used in order to rescue their left flank, were entraxordinarily demoralized. The line began to fray and break and soon the entire Troan army was in rapid retreat. The scattering forces, including the missing Phennox, was no longer a threat.

Shortly after, Jason received a formal offer of surrender from the civic leaders of Abydus and assumed control of the entire province wholesale. In exchange for him sparing the lives of the former Troan officials, and not ravaging the conquered city, the entire polis and its environs, including the valuable Hellespont, were now under Mysian control. Still, all told, including the ravaged 2nd Army, the Mysians had taken at least 5,000 casualties and many other members of the 2nd Army had deserted and vanished into the countryside before their officers had regained control of the scattered soldiers. Still, the remaining men now had the single most valuable commodity a warrior can have: experience.

Athenians Refurbishing City

Athens is going under something of a renaissance, as its people took the streets in spontaneous celebration when they learned that Strategos Drakko had taken complete control of the Corinthian Isthmus. The Athenian government sponsored a series of military parades to further the feelings of accomplishment and joy, while unveiling the construction of the new, and huge, Grand Harbor of Poseidon. Shortly afterwards, the parades made their way out of the docks district and towards the center of the city where the following crowds were formally presented with a massive new building for the Electoral Magistrates. Brilliantly designed and with stunning architecture and beautiful decorations in the Greek style, the building promised to dominate the center of the district, second only to the ancient and mighty Acropolis itself. Excitement in Athens itself is high and the fickle mob appears to be well sated.

Invasion of Troas

Part Two

To the south, the Royal Carian Army, some 53,000 men strong, advanced steadily on the Troan capital of Ilium. Word had not made it back to Ilium yet about the fate of the Abydus garrison, but given the numbers involved the people were shaken and believed that defeat was inevitable there, and if they were surrounded on all sides by their enemies they would be doomed. To make matters worse, the rumor was that the Carian Army was being led by the famous King Mursili himself, who was widely regarded as a military genius and one of the finest generals the world over. On top of all of that, the famous and well-regarded Hipponax, another hero from the great state of Lydia, had apparently joined up with the Carians and was going with them into battle. In such times of absolute distress, it is necessary for a hero to step forward and rescue their people from dark depression and re-ignite the fire needed to do great things. Unfortunately, the Troan King did not appear to be up to it.

King Anon of Troas was better known for his skills in accounting than leadership. He was widely regarded as a master of logistics, balancing gold pieces exchanged for wheat and the like in the place of wielding a spear. This was not the moment for a money counter. In all fairness to Anon, of course, his position was dire. He had some 20,000 men in Ilium behind walls that while impressive were nowhere near as formidable as the famous fortifications of ancient Troy. His city was already wracked by riots and their were rumors that many members of his court were actively plotting against him. The much larger Carian army was advancing in good order through his land. His options were limited. He had originally planned to go out and meet the Carians in the field far from the city so, in the event of a defeat, he could at least thin out their numbers and then rally his troops behind the walls of Ilium itself. Unfortunately, it now appeared that any attempt to sit and ‘defend’ the walls of Ilium would simply result in the demoralized Troans concluding that victory was impossible and deserting wholesale.

King Anon morosely concluded that there was nothing he could do but make a stand and hope for the best. He couldn’t even move away from the city, as the minute he was gone he feared his enemies would seize control of his court. Anon knew he had no head for great strategy, but he could see absolutely no good course out of this mess. Still, he assembled his 20,000 outside of Ilium to meet the Carian advance. It was the only thing for a king to do.

The Royal Carian Army arrived outside of Ilium after an unopposed march into Troan territory. They assembled their camp a few miles away and made their preparations. Hipponax circled amongst the men, using his characteristic wit to lighten their spirits. Thanks in large part to his effort, the camp took on an almost jovial air as Carians went about their business with confidence and good cheer. While the camp was kept in good order by these efforts, King Mursili confidently retired to his tent to work out the details of the coming battle with his closest advisers.

The next day dawned gray and wet, but the rain was light enough to allow an advance and fighting. Mursili concluded, however, that the poor visibility and miserable conditions would benefit his opponent more than himself, so he simply waited, giving his soldiers the day for rest and relaxation in their warm tents. Coupled with the good cheer inspired by Hipponax, the entire affair took on the feeling of a party. Conversely, the attitude in the Troan camp was very different. Anon knew his soldiers didn’t want to fight. The Carians had made no secret of their superiority in numbers. Also, rumors were filtering in of a great defeat in Abydus. Anon had kept a lid on the news so far, but he knew it wouldn’t last much longer. King Anon had kept his camp well provisioned and supplied, so his soldiers were certainly comfortable, but the problem in this instance was mental more than physical. The disease the Greeks call ‘phobos’ (fear) had already begun to spread throughout the camp. King Anon wanted to force an engagement but he didn’t know if his soldiers would obey him. By the time the rain lightened enough that he thought he could convince them to assemble, it was already late afternoon and there didn’t seem to be enough time for a battle to take place.

The next day dawned bright and warm. The Carians made a great show of checking the ground to make sure the mud would not disrupt a cavalry charge. These calm acts of preparation unnerved the assembling Troans to no end, in large part due to their already present nervousness. The prayers and songs were completed in good time. The Carian army then let out a great cheer, inspired on by the jocular antics of Hipponax, who strode out in front of the hoplites and made mocking gestures to the rest of the soldiers as if to say they had been as quiet as mice a minute before. The Troan response was notably lacking in vigor.

The Carians assembled in standard formation, keeping the hoplites in the center under the command of the popular Hipponax while Mursili took command of the whole army from his position on the right with his household Lancers. While the two armies had roughly equal numbers of hoplites, the Carians had a massive cavalry advantage along with twice as many archers. Mursili dispatched his light cavalry to swing around the flanks. While they could not get in between the Troans and the city, as the Troans were quite literally backed up against it, they did force the Troans to dispatch stronger guards for their rear and the city gates. This kept the Troans off guard and aided in disrupting their tenuous formation. As the Carian archers opened fire on their outnumbered enemies, the Troan camp was already in disorder.

It soon became apparent that Mursili was perfectly happy to sit there pounding the Troans with arrows and thinning their lines until the soldiers broke and ran for cover. Swearing at his misery and the cruel fortune dealt to him by fate, King Anon ordered the charge. Eager to be doing something other than sitting, the Troan army advanced quickly, although their ranks were already disrupted and disorderly. The Carian hoplites, led by Hipponax, advanced forward to meet them while Mursili kept good control of his lancers and skirmishers. The lancers remained unmolested thanks to the efforts of the Carian archers and light cavalry, although the lack of any lighter infantry or javelin throwers caused them some difficulty. As the two groups of hoplites closed, Mursili calmly ordered his lancers forward with impeccable timing. As the two armies came towards their meeting place halfway across the field, the Carian lancers angled inwards against their overmatched foes. Just as the hoplites crashed together, the Carians slammed into both flanks scattered the Troans and driving a deep wedge in on both ends. The lighter infantry and cavalry on the flanks were routed almost immediately, and without support the hoplite formation in the middle almost immediately began to collapse.

As they finished up the rout, Mursili received word from his light cavalry, who were picketing Ilium’s gates, that there were sounds of fighting from within the walls. Shortly after, the gates opened. Dissidents within the city, funded by the able King Mursili, had overcome the demoralized guards within and the last obstacle to victory had now been removed. With the army defeated and King Anon missing, it seemed that the city was now open to plunder and destruction. Instead, however, Mursili rode into the city at the head of his brilliantly clothed household lancers and marched straight for the King’s palace. Throughout the rest of the city, some fighting had broken out between pro-Western Empire rebels and what remained of the old order. However, as the Carians assumed control of the city, doing their level best to reign in their excited soldiers and prevent the wholesale destruction of the city from pillaging, it soon became apparent that Ilium had fallen completely and totally. Mursili installed himself in the Troan throne room and immediately set about the governing of his new lands.

Phoenicians Captured in Babylon Provinces

The High King has, apparently, captured several Phoenician agents operating in Syria and Judah. The Phoenician agents, who appeared to have crossed the border only this year, were generally looking around in a good-natured manner. They had the poor fate of wandering over the border during a massive Babylonian crackdown, aimed at seeking out any foreign agents they could. Several of the Phoenicians escaped back over the border, but most of the men the King of Tyre had hired were captured and then brutally interrogated. The outraged Phoenicians complained bitterly over these Babylonian tactics. The Babylonians reported that the Phoenicians they captured eventually told them they had been sent over the border to spy out Babylonian fortifications and spy out Judah. The King of Tyre has not yet replied himself, but several Phoenician officials angrily replied that they weren’t aware that it was no longer customary for kingdoms to look around and make sure their neighbors weren’t planning an invasion. And as the idea of Phoenicia invading Babylon was ridiculous, what were the High King of Babylon’s intentions exactly? Further responses have not been forthcoming.

Battle at Sea!

In the spring, King Thrasyboulos of Ionia dispatched his newly built navy to the seas surrounding Ionia to hunt for pirates and protect his injured merchant shipping. His new fleet was divided into four groups, each responsible for a different part of the coast and composed of five galleys and three triremes each. They hunted without incident for much of the year, and the still green crews of the respective ships quietly concluded to themselves that the pirates had truly been scared away and that the ocean was theirs again. There was a general consensus that it was about time that Ionia had a quiet year after all of the troubles that had befallen them in recent times.

With the arrival of summer, however, travelers and merchants in the Aegean had begun to pass on strange rumors to the Ionians. There was a fleet massing to the south of unknown composition and size. The commander of the Smyrna Naval Group, dispatched to search the islands off the Ionian coast, decided to take the initiative. He dispatched two of his galleys to the south, with orders to look around but not engage in any fighting. After several days of careful travel, these galleys rounded the coast of Crete and stumbled upon a remarkable sight. A huge fleet was assembling there. It appeared that several of the ships had received some light damage and were being repaired, but beyond that the fleet appeared ready to sail to whatever their destination was. Well aware that the actual identities of the pirates had never been discovered the galley Captains took quick stock of the situation and fled before they could be intercepted. They had counted a large number of triremes, as well as Egyptian warships and what could even have been Phoenician war galleys.

At Crete, Admiral Tyet of the Second Egyptian Fleet received reports of what appeared to be Greek galleys off the coast of Crete that had immediately turned tail and fled. He elected not to pursue them, although he adjusted his plans to account for the possibility that surprise had been lost. At Crete he now had 45 Egyptian warships and 20 triremes in the Egyptian fleet alone. He had been reinforced by the Glorious 1st Fleet of Phoenicia, which consisted of 20 war galleys, 10 triremes, and 5 heavy transports for what the drunken King of Tyre had called ‘looting purposes’. To complete the picture, the Tyrrhenians to the far west had dispatched their own fleet of 14 triremes to aid the God-Queen’s appointed mission. All told, Admiral Tyet had at least nominal command of over 100 ships of war. If the somber Admiral was aware that this was by far the largest fleet assembled in modern times, he made no sign of it. The Tyrrhenians had sailed through a pair of notable storms on their lengthy, season-long voyage from Italia. They were making some repairs to the damaged ships, but they were nearing completion.

A few days later, while the Ionian naval commanders rapidly brought together their forces in an attempt to confer and decide what to do, Admiral Tyet dispatched his forces. The massive fleet rounded the eastern tip of Crete and headed due north. By now, the Ionians had been closely watching Crete for any signs of the approaching fleet. Now their worst fears were confirmed. They immediately landed and sent runners towards Miletus to inform their King of the incoming fleet and, knowing that word would not get back to them in time for it to be of much use, made their own plans. The Ionians onboard their new vessels were untested and green, and heavily outnumbered. The intention of the approaching fleet was unknown, but they had to assume the worst. It was common knowledge that the God-Queen of Egypt had singled out the Western Empire for her personal attentions. They had to assume that she had gathered allies to smash their own forces. The last thing they wanted to do, the Ionians concluded, was to meet the enemy in a grand fleet battle. What they could do, however, was harass their enemies and keep them off balance in the hope of at least delaying them until their masters in Miletus could come up with a solution.

The Egyptians and Tyrrhenians appeared to be actively seeking battle, whereas the mysterious Phoenicians, under the command of the former corsair Admiral Hiram had separated from the rest of the fleet and were proving to be exceedingly elusive. Eventually the Ionians had to resort to following his movements by the reports of vanished merchant vessels and lost cargoes. It soon became apparent, as the Egyptian and Tyrrhenian fleets began to sweep up merchants vessels and attack shipping in the Aegean that either the Ionians would have to give battle or surrender the seas entirely. Admiral Tyet was simply not making any mistakes egregious enough for the novice Ionian sailors to take advantage of. The problem being, of course, that with the Egyptian warship and the threat of the Phoenician war galleys, combined with the roughly four times as many triremes available to the allied kingdoms, there was not really any strategy that placed the Ionian fleet at an advantage.

As the Ionian fleet struggled to find an upper hand, the attacks on merchant shipping picked up in intensity. The Egyptians, Tyrrhenians, and the ever-elusive Phoenicians appeared to be targeting Lydian, Mysian, and Ionian shipping in particular. Interestingly enough, while the Phoenician pirate-admiral would occasionally board and seize a Carian vessel, for the most part the vessels hailing from King Mursili’s land were left unmolested. Still, aware that their allies within the Western Empire were being attacked, and orders were still several days away, the green Ionian commanders made the fateful decision to try and confront the Egyptian and Tyrrhenian navies while the Phoenicians were busy elsewhere. It was hoped that the Phoenicians, who were proving far more able at merchant raiding and general theft and plunder than the Egyptian-Tyrrhenian forces, would be too busy to react to an attack on the combined fleets of Admiral Tyet.

On the other side of things, Tyet was somewhat frustrated with the Phoenicians. He was in technical command of the grand fleet, but the Phoenician commander seemed not to know it. Even so, when word came that the Ionians were organizing for a fight and sailing out to meet them, Tyet believed he could still win decisively. He sent out his orders, brought the fleet together and sailed east for the Ionians, sending word via a single Egyptian warship to Hiram to muster his fleet and sail immediately.

The Ionian fleet, somewhat more fractious than their opponents due to their inexperience, tried several times to draw the enemy fleet into narrow bays and inlets, but always Tyet outmaneuvered them. Tyet had made a name for himself as an able commander who was able to come to grips with even the slipperiest of foes, and the Ionians were not particularly adept at the subterfuge that comes with command experience. The two fleets, with still no sign of the Phoenicians, came together a couple of miles off the coast outside of the inlet leading to the harbor of Miletus. Even as both commanders maneuvered their respective ships in their formations, a cry went out from a Tyrrhenian trireme to the north. Hiram had returned! The Glorious 1st Fleet of Phoenicia had not forsaken the fleet after all; they had merely been a little delayed.

The Ionians were flanked now as well as vastly outnumbered. Yet even the option of retreat was a dubious one. To the south lay Halicarnassus, and at least some measure of safety, but with the reports of the enemy fleet sparing Carian shipping it wasn’t clear that their fleet wouldn’t be attacked again if they tried to retreat to that Carian-held harbor. To the east was Miletus, and definite safety, but the approaching Egyptian-Tyrrhenian fleet and their Phoenician allies were already cutting that route off. Finally, several of the Ionian captains made their own decision and broke for Miletus, setting off a general withdrawal. However, by now the Egyptians and Tyrrhenian ships were close enough to make this very difficult, particularly due to the superior speed of the Egyptian warships and Phoenician war galleys. To make matters worse, the retreat was hampered by the superior speed achieved by the practiced rowers of the enemy fleets as opposed to the green and somewhat irregular rowers on the Ionian ships. The Egyptian, Tyrrhenian, and Phoenician ships fell on the fleeing Ionians and forced them into battle.

Amidst the whiz of arrow fire, and the concentrated volleys of projectiles coming from the speedy Egyptian vessels, the ships twisted and turned in an attempt to bring their rams to bear. It soon became very apparent that the Ionians were outmatched. The allied triremes worked in teams of two against each single Ionian trireme while the Phoenician war galleys and Egyptian warships herded the Ionian galleys closer towards the main fleet of Triremes. In two instances, Egyptian war galleys flanked an Ionian trireme and disgorged some of the feared Egyptian marines onto the enemy vessel. While every ship of war carries soldiers skilled in ship-to-ship combat, the Egyptian marine is well known for a reason. The Egyptians captured two triremes in this manner and, in further combat, the allies disabled several Ionian vessels, capturing their crews and scuttling the useless craft. As the combat ground on back towards the coast as the Ionians struggled to disengage, several vessels were set alight by boarders and others sunk by the bronze rams common on the trireme design. Finally, as they neared the mouth of the Miletus Harbor inlet, Ionian archers from the local garrison began to fire upon the ships from the shore.

The allied fleet pulled back at this point, moving out of range, their mission accomplished. With all opposition in the Aegean now vanquished, they sailed quietly away from the shore, pulling up to rescue allied soldiers and imprison any living Ionians they could find. As the night fell, the allied navy set sail further out to sea to continue their pillage of ships belonging to the component kingdoms of the Western Empire. The Ionian fleet had been reduced to 1/3 of its former size, with the Ephesus Naval Group being the only fleet to escape with all of its component vessels intact due to the simple fact that the captains in that group had fled first. The other fleets were largely destroyed, the vessels burning or sunk and the crews enslaved by the Egyptian God-Queen. In exchange, the Ionians had sunk one Tyrrhenian trireme, an Egyptian trireme, and two Egyptian warships. There would have been several more, except that the winner in a naval battle is typically able to tow away any vessels still afloat, and several of the allied ships were rescued in this manner, being towed back towards Crete for repairs. Once again, undefended merchantmen fled the Aegean in every direction, seeking safe harbor and devastating the ship-borne trade of the Western Empire.

Shortly after the battle a rumor began to circulate that the Egyptian navy, while scouting along the Mysian coast, had found a bedraggled group of men, women, and children wildly waving on the shore. According to those spreading the tale, the dozen or so people there were King Anon of Troas, his wife, his two children, and their most loyal retainers. The Egyptians have not confirmed or denied these rumors.

Fighting in Epirus

Polynikes of Thebes quietly left the territory of Boetia last year with 100 warriors and several of his close friends and allies. They marched north through Phokis and Lokris, crossing through the mountains and through more mostly wild lands until they reached the land of Epirus, searching for an answer to the mysteries created by Polynikes’ strange vision. There, the group discovered the Epirote King’s daughter had been taken hostage by a marauding band of Illyrians who had then fled back towards the border.

Tracking down the Illyrians, the group soon discovered evidence that the Illyrians had fought a battle with the Epirote royal cavalry and sustained heavy casualties, but retreated in good order, with the King’s daughter still in tow. The barbarous Illyrians, led by the warlord Grigery, had vanished, by all accounts, and there was no telling where they might be. Using his vision as inspiration, Polynikes took his followers straight to the one place the Epirote would never seek to look for their enemies: the Oracle of the Dead in eastern Epirus. There they discovered the Illyrians encamped. This mystical blessing, argued by less religious men to be a simple case of exagerrated deductive reasoning by men not sharing the superstitions of the Epirote, filled Polynikes with greater certainty.

Polynikes’ friend and companion Thorakides laid out his plan for the assault. Distracting the Illyrians with a feint and drawing away many of the defenders to hunt for half of the Theban men hiding in the woods, the Thebans came around behind the Oracle. There they quickly entered the compound over a place where the ground came up near the top of the wall. On horseback, the 50 men, led ably by mighty Polynikes, Thorakides, and Agrippas, along with Agrippas’ manservant Rhesus, they fell upon the 100 or so Illyrians remaining at the camp. Caught off guard, the Thebans initially laid out at least a dozen or so of the surprised Illyrians, but soon the men rallied and the battle became more in doubt.

Polynikes, however, was single minded to the extreme and fought his way towards the Illyrian warlord Grigery, clubbing other men out of his way in an attempt to come to grips with the imposing barbarian. With a mighty roar the other man charged at Polynikes, who had dismounted in the fighting. Polynikes, his spear shattered in the melee, seized a pair of javelins off of a nearby, and very dead, Illyrian and heaved both into the body of the screaming barbarian leader. The man, with two javelins protruding from his chest, continued his charge, wielding the broken shaft of a spear as a bludgeon. Polynikes spun out of the way, stabbing the barbarian through the side with his sword, but was immediately clubbed along the side of the head by the somehow unhindered barbarian. Polynikes was winded and wheeled backwards.

The Illyrians had cleared the space around the two combatants to give them room. However, in a show of what makes civilization so superior to barbarism, the famous cavalry commander Agrippas, who had somehow managed to stay on his horse during the whole affair, wheeled forward and charged the Illyrian warlord. Even as the Illyrians let out an angry roar, Agrippas sliced a deep gash in Grigery’s back. As the Illyrian turned to fight back against this new challenger, Polynikes regained his footing and stepped promptly up, driving his stabbing blade through the back of his opponent’s head. The man finally dropped. The Greeks, greatly encouraged fell upon the confused and disheartened Illyrians and, before long, the remaining men had fled into the countryside, heading east towards Macedonia.

The exact nature of the following events is still unclear. As the rumors of battle were spread by all involved but the personal nature of the vision was privy only to Polynikes himself this is to be expected, but it is hoped that the story will continue to spread and that Polynikes can be convinced to share his story. It is known that Polynikes, his companions, and the reduced company of soldiers he had with him successfully returned to Boetia this spring. Furthermore, as a point of interest, travelers along the rudimentary road leading from Epirus to Macedonia noted that at least two dozen newly staked heads had been placed along the Macedonian border. It seems that enigmatic Macedonians had finished the job Polynikes started.

Babylonian Revival

The city of Babylon experienced a cultural revival this year, as the High King commissioned project after project. These new improvements, including expanded irrigation works and a Royal Observatory, have shown anew why Babylon is considered the finest and most cultured city in the entire world. Along with these new improvements, the Babylonians are rumored to have created a brand new military order to bolster the Empire’s already large army. With all of these developments, alongside the new treaty signed between Babylon and mighty Persia, many of Babylon’s other neighbors are eyeing their borders with unease. With such success, they’re unsure how long Babylon will resolve to keep its armies at home.

Great Road Progresses

The God-Queen’s minions, as well as the noble laborers of King Mago the Kind, pushed on with their construction of the Great Road of Africa. The Carthaginians pushed down the coast outside of their city while the Egyptians laid stone at a feverish pace as they neared the Greek colony of Cyrene. There is still a very long way to go, but already local merchants are using the completed portions of the road to move their goods to the benefit of both Carthage and Memphis.

Revolt in Ionia (again)

In another sign that either the gods have cursed the poor, abused people of Ionia or else Ionia is being conspired against by capable enemies, open revolt has broken out in Ionia. With the departure of 20,000 Ionian soldiers to the north, followed by King Thrasyboulos controversial decision to completely eliminate any happiness or law and order spending this year, the Ionian people were already growing restive again. With little security being afforded within Miletus, Ephesus, or Smyrna, the job of securing Ionia against its enemies fell to the able and expanding Ionian ‘intelligence’ agents directed to rounding up agitators within the kingdom. While they received ample funding this year, it was not enough to make up for the complete lack of any normal constabulary or happiness-improving bread and circuses. Furthermore, the defeat of the Ionian navy in the summer pushed the people further towards rebellion.

The first word that the Ionian agents received that something was really wrong was when an angry crowd burst onto the streets of Miletus, setting fire to several shops. Letting the local garrison put down the riots, which further increased the anger of the locals but at least calmed the violence, the group immediately began investigating. What they discovered, in the home of a suspected agitator was stunning. They discovered an entire chest of gold coins, looking to have been minted in Egypt. Something huge was afoot, for that much money to be thrown around to incite a riot and the Ionians rushed to tell the King. But by then the situation had already escalated out of control. Discontent priests, who had stayed quiet last year during the Ionian round up of dissenters, whipped their followers into a frenzy. While the mob simmered in anger, the priests’ supporters circulated amongst the local military garrison, arguing that Ionia had clearly lost the favor of the gods and was doomed if they allowed the Western Empire “heretics” to take over Ionian temples. Simultaneously, even as Ionian soldiers patched up wounds of sailors injured in the fighting with the fleet in the Aegean, rebellious Ionian nobles declared their opposition to King Thrasyboulos. The stupider ones stayed in the city, trying to rally the people and even launching a bungled assassination attempt against the King, while the more intelligent members of the nobility left the city for the countryside and began to rally their supporters.

From a combination of ordinary citizens, deserting Ionian soldiers, and mercenaries from eastern Anatolia and Thrace, the Ionian rebels were able to gather an army several thousand strong and growing daily. Even as Miletus exploded in rebellion, the King’s main opponents had fled to Smyrna. Their makeshift army assaulted the city, aided by agitators and dissidents within the city itself. The ‘Smyrna Army’ was stationed in Miletus, leaving the city almost completely undefended. A few diehard loyalists resisted, but within a few days the city was firmly in rebel hands.

With Miletus in the grip of rioters and traitors, Smyrna fallen, and Ephesus simmering on the edge of revolt, King Thrasyboulos resolved to act decisively. He sent messengers out to the returning army that had fought in Mysia. The army, relatively uninformed as to what was going on, was actually only a couple of days away. These fresh soldiers, untainted by foreign gold or rebellious sentiment were rushed back to Miletus. The King had decided to take Miletus first and then worry about the rest of the situation. Thousands of soldiers entered into Miletus, restoring order block by block and dispersing or killing any dissidents they encountered. Several nobles and angry priests were rounded up and their followers eliminated. Many others fled the city, some seeking sanctuary in Smyrna while others ran for the fertile grounds of Ephesus.

With order gradually begin restored to the streets of Miletus, Thrasyboulos’ agents undertook the task of figuring out what had happened. After some strenuous interrogations, they uncovered two dead men, also with Egyptian gold, who they believed to be emissaries of the God-Queen. To make matters worse, they found another man, who had apparently committed suicide before they had arrived, who had Egyptian gold and a religious talisman celebrating the worship of Zoroaster. This religion has not spread far outside of Persia, signaling that perhaps the conspiracy might be wider than originally thought. The size of the conspiracy appears to have been vast, although the Ionians are only beginning to realize the size of it. It appears that several different groups had been operating in Ionia, maintaining contacts and encouraging dissent and that this year a truly massive amount of gold was smuggled in to the country in order to fund a revolution against the King and his supporters. This same movement, whose main unifying belief seems to be opposition to the Western Empire, now occupied Smyrna and its surrounding territory, had almost burned Miletus down to the ground, and was threatening further rebellion in Ephesus.

The situation in Ionia was truly critical. At least half of the nobles who normally attending upon King Thrasyboulos were counted amongst the enemy and the religious orders were in complete disarray. Thankfully, while there were a truly disconcerting number of desertions, the military had stayed loyal and its commanders had made no move against their King. The situation was still salvageable, although the army gathering in Smyrna, coupled with the blockade enacted by the Egyptians, Tyrrhenians, and Phoenicians, was already large enough to cut off Ionia entirely from Mysia to the north. If Ephesus fell, as seemed likely without military intervention, the pro-Western Empire King Thrasyboulos would be entirely isolated in Miletus.

Developments in Persia

Losing patience with his son Cambyses, Cyrus the Great announced the elevation of his nephew, Darius. Darius, already given the titles of Hammer of the Barbarians and Lord of Southern Margiana, is now styled as ‘Prince’ and has been granted the military governorship of South Margiana in addition to Parthia. Also honored this year, in addition to the victorious General Darius was General Xeramikses. Granted the titles of “Shield of the Empire” and “Scourge of Armenia”, Xeramikses has been granted a place at the Imperial Court as well. There has been word from or about Cambyses yet, although these developments are sure to cause some discord in the Imperial Court.

The Persians further announced the construction of a grand “Hall of Heroes” to celebrate the successes of the Persian Empire. As construction continues, more information about this splendid structure will become available. However, the announcement, coupled with a sustained effort by Emperor Cyrus’ servants, and the spread of the religion of Zoroaster in the Persian territories has helped push several of Persia’s more recalcitrant territories towards a closer relationship with the government in Susa. This effect has been most notable in Parthia, which feels especially honored by the success of Darius. Furthermore, Margiana appears to be seeing an influx of Persian immigrants, inspired and directed to settle in abandoned barbarian villages by Cyrus himself. The new population seems likely to give Margiana a dramatic, one-time boost to productivity.

Athenians Repair and Fortify Isthmus

With a general agreement to both respect the Olympic Truce and let the Athenians keep the Isthmus over Corinth’s objections in effect, the Attikan army positioned at the Isthmus fortified their position and set about the repair and restoration of the Corinthian Isthmus. There has been any real increase in merchant traffic yet, as many merchant captains are still avoiding the area for fear of an outbreak of fighting, but if the region remains peaceful for another year it seems likely that the Isthmus will see a dramatic jump in productivity as the most valuable land in Greece is restored to its former role.

Egyptians Continue Military Build Up

As the construction of the Great Wall of Egypt continues, the God-Queen declared her intent to bring another 100,000 more soldiers into the swelling Egyptian military. It is unclear how many men the God-Queen really intends to train up and arm, but travelers and merchants are already calling it “the God-Queen’s horde.” The Egyptians have never, as far as historians can confirm, ever fielded an army as large as the one they have training and assembling throughout the kingdom.

Islands Join Ionia

In some very needed good news for the Anatolian kingdom, the small islands of Ikaria, Agathonisi, Lipsi, Patmos, Fourni, Psara, and Lesbos agreed to join Ionia. All parties hastily denied rumors of payoffs to local magistrates and rulers. It is hoped that the new blood these islands bring will help make up the difference of the lost ground in Smyrna, although the fate of these islands, when the seas are so dramatically controlled by Ionia’s enemies, is unknown.

Persians Apprehend Babylonians at Indus

Despite the recent treaty of friendship between the two powers, travelers report that a group of Persian warriors may have ambushed a group of Babylonian emissaries somewhere along the Indus. Tipped off by the northern Indian Princes, it is believed that the Persians recovered a portion of what is believed to be a series of very generous subsidies being sent to the Princedoms along the southern Indus River. These emissaries were not harmed, and it is believed that only a very small portion of the gold being sent to the Indians was actually recovered by the Persians, and the Babylonians have been treated with great respect and dignity. The war beyond the Indus has rumored to have increased to new levels of intensity, giving some credence to the theory that the Babylonians were deliberately fanning the flames by supporting the southern Princes.

Spartans Happiest People in the World

Citing high taxes, stale bread, frequent beatings, and constant backbreaking exercise, the Spartan people report that they are the happiest in the world. One helot told foreign merchants “I really think it’s the police state mentality that gets me up in the morning. I think ‘everything I do today will benefit the military and not a drop of it will ever actually improve my situation’ and somehow it just gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling.” Truly it is puzzling to many outsiders how the Spartans could be experiencing such a boom of high spirits when the foundation of Sparta itself is laconic wit and stoically endured misery. King Anaxandridas II, when tracked down for a rare interview admitted his own puzzlement. “I gave the order that beatings would continue until morale improved. And then… it did. I’ve never seen it happen before.”

Olympics in Greece!

In mid-Spring, the Olympic Truce began in Greece. Lasting for seven days prior to the great games that honor Zeus at Olympia in Elis till seven days afterwards, the act prohibits the execution of any Greek or the raising of arms. All of is this is designed to honor Zeus, who is well known for his love of travelers, as well as facilitate the safe arrival of the Olympic athletes to the place of competition. Athletes from as far away as Magna Graeca, Cyrene, and even some of the war-embroiled Anatolian-Greek states attended. The favorites going into the competition were the horsemen of Thessaly, the well-prepared Athletes of Thebes, and the ever-active men of Sparta. The Athenians were expected to make a good show of themselves, along with the other Greek city-states, but these three poleis were widely regarded as the best prepared.

As the athletes arrived from all over the world, the final training times were allotted, the ceremonies started, and the games officially began. The participants, from all walks of life and all regions of Greece, prostrated themselves before Zeus all mighty and warmly reacquainted themselves with distant friends they had not seen in several years. Then the games themselves began. There were many hotly contested competitions this year, although the majority of spectators only watched the most exciting.

The discus competition, which is a seemingly simple but surprisingly difficult sport, was won handily by the Spartan Idotychides, which came as little surprise. The Pentathlon favorite was Polydorus of Sparta, but thanks to an unexpected injury he had received while hunting he fell back in the rankings to fourth, the main event being taken by a Theban by the name of Bynos and second place by the Athenian athletic legend Cenicke. The chariot races were won easily by the Thessalonian horseback rider Arkadios. Arkadios delighted many of the other Greeks present by leaping from his still moving chariot after the race and immediately sprinting over to the boxing ring, where he proceeded to triumph over all of his opponents and took the prize there as well. This particular feat had never been accomplished by a single participant before, and it was determined that the gods had blessed Arkadios so he would shine at the Olympiad. Arkadios was honored for his achievements, all in the name of Zeus, and given much attention by the spectators and other participants.

The final two events, judged to be the most exciting beyond the Pentathlon, were the hoplon race (sprinting in full hoplite armor) and the pankration (full-contact fighting). The pankration’s field of competition was remarkably limited. Often great warriors from around the world would use the pankration to test their skills against one another, but with the fighting in Anatolia (which prevented many Greek-descendants from returning to Greece itself) it was not entirely surprising. A Theban by the name of Gordion took the closely fought event. The hoplon race remained and the spectators were eager.

Polynikes of Thebes was considered the man to beat, but he was growing older and some of his war injuries were said to have become aggravated by his adventuring in Epirus. There were many younger challengers in the race, and the competition was expected to be fierce. The signal was given and the men, all clad in roughly 60 pounds worth of hoplite armor, sprinted down the track. Polynikes fell quickly to second place, lagging behind Terum of Athens with the surprise addition of young Leonidas of Sparta coming up in third place. As the race continued, Polynikes seemed unable to close the few inches of distance Terum had on him, although they were running almost neck and neck. Leonidas was continuing steadily along, but it was clear that he was not the match for either Polynikes or Terum. Then, as the end of the race neared, Terum’s stride broke and he tripped over himself, spilling himself and his gear onto the pathway. With one mighty leap, Polynikes was over the Athenian and sprinting all out for the finish line. Behind him, Leonidas calmly side stepped the still rolling and swearing Terum, forgoing the heroic athleticism shown by Polynikes, and put on his own extra burst of speed. Polynikes finished in first place, taking the victory for the Boetian League and his polis of Thebes, while Leonidas proved to be a surprisingly speedy second.

The Thebans had a remarkably strong showing, better than ever before, which represented a combination of the great prowess of their athletes as well as the great amount of time, and admittedly money, they had spent over the past few years developing their athletes and sponsoring elaborate training. The honors of the games were given to the Thebans for their numerous victories and the Boetian League gained a substantial amount of prestige amongst the Greek people as a result.

Boetian Roadway Inspires Phokis

The small territory called ‘Phokis’, on the northwestern boundary of the Boetian League that is dominated by Thebes, is apparently considering membership within the Boetian League. The city of Elatea, which dominates the territory of Phokis, is reportedly worried by the Attikan expansionism against Corinth as well as interested in being a part of the new Boetian Roadway system being implemented by the order of Polynikes. Still, it is a very rare thing that a Greek polis would consider surrendering any of its sovereignty to any other power without a fight, and while there is a large pro-Boetian movement in Phokis it appears that those who desire independence are still in a stronger position.

Cyrus the Great and God-Queen Crack Down on Dissent

With numerous arrests and armies of new government servants, the Persians and Egyptians have both finally cracked down on the long simmering disorder throughout both of their lands. Low funding for law and order was blamed for a variety of problems throughout Persia as well as Egypt. The God-Queen’s enforcers have been granted new funding and more powers and Persia has equipped a veritable horde of new constables to tackle the problems of corruption and crime throughout the Empire. It appears both Cyrus and the God-Queen may have taken some very needed steps towards maintaining the stability of both of their vast kingdoms.

The Great Candle of Rome?

In rumors almost too terrible to believe, travelers report that the Prince of Veii, styled the Savior of Rome, has decided to put a grim finale on his suppression of the Roman not-quite-a-rebellion. The Romans were forbidden, at the point of a spear, from gathering and burying their dead. The dead, along with a copious number of slaves and useless prisoners who were killed immediately after, were gathered together. The details are as of yet unknown, but it appears that the noble Prince of Veii is attempting to construct a giant candle from the rendered fat of the Roman dead. It is unclear if this candle would actually serve to be lit, but the Prince of Veii seems to be dead set on trying. The Roman outcry has been muted, largely thanks to the large numbers of people streaming down the roads south, hoping to avoid the Tyrrhenian army and reach the city-states of Magna Graeca.

Military Build Up Accompanies Social Change in Persia

It appears that Cyrus the Great of Persia has approved the establishment of a new military order in Susa entitled the Blades of Mazda. The intention is for them to serve as ‘the elites of the elite’, being drawn almost exclusively from the ranks of former Immortals. With the vast expansion of the ranks of the Immortals, however, it appears that Cyrus has, quite simply, recreated the original Immortals under a new name. The Immortals, these days, have lost most of their mystique and prestige and serve as ordinary line infantry, albeit better armed and better trained. Persian Generals, however, are hopeful that these new soldiers will be able to recapture some of the fear-inspiring aura that the Immortals originally held.

Battle of Aegium

Waiting the traditional amount of time after the end of the Olympic Truce, the Spartan 1st Mora marched north again, cutting through Arcadia into Achaea. 34,000 of Sparta’s finest marched through the countryside, aiming for Aegium. Aegium is the most powerful of the poleis that makes up the loose confederation of Achaea and the Spartans made clear that that city was their singular and only goal. They left Cerynea unmolested and did not even send scouts towards Pellene. They knew that Aegium was the military power in the region and thus the only opponent of merit. Led by King Anaxandridas II, the Spartans approached Aegium unopposed, in large part due to the relaxed state of affairs following the Olympic Truce. There have been many wars after the Olympic Truce in years past, but there is always a sense of festival after the great games are completed. The Spartans did not seek to capitalize on this scenario, however, as their main goal was to get in a full campaign before the weather made travel impossible. They advanced openly and in good order through the countryside and made no effort to disrupt the Aegium militia call up. Several Achaean spies, however, were discovered by the Spartans and dealt with as a matter of course. The Spartans did not want to give any unnecessary information to their enemy even though they advanced with full honor after the Olympic Truce had ended.

The army of Aegium numbered approximately 15,000 men, heavily reliant on light infantry anchored on a corps of experienced hoplites. The disaster that had befallen Argos last year had only grown in the telling, and the men of Aegium were already shivering when the crimson-clad men of Lakedaemonia crested the hills outside of their polis. The Spartans let their opponents choose the field, which was as flat and well kept as anyone could expect. Arriving at the battlefield at mid-morning, the Spartans were already partially dressed for battle. As their opponents dressed and nervously prepared across the field, the Spartans went through their pre-battle ritual. Doing up their long hair and giving their shields a final polish, the Spartans were heartened as their King circled amongst them, telling jokes and giving claps on the back where needed. The ritual sacrifices were made on both sides of the field, the Spartans lagging slightly behind the men of Aegium. The veteran troopers of the 1st Spartan Mora had done this ritual dozens of time against a wide variety of opponents. Their simple motions made this depressingly apparent to the Achaeans.

The Achaeans, assembled in battle formation, let out a mighty roar to shake the spirits of evil away from their hearts and began to march forward. The Spartans, still behind in their rituals, were waiting for Anaxandridas to finish his customary pre-battle words and let the goat’s blood out onto the ground to seek the omen of the Gods. These actions finally complete, the Spartans immediately turned to the advancing Achaeans and began to march forward. The expected Paean was forgone, meaning that the Spartans advanced in complete silence against their roaring opposite numbers. The effect was somewhat eerie as the silent Spartans, their long spears pointing straight up, advanced in their line as the roaring army of the Achaeans came straight down upon them.

Now it became clear, however, that Anaxandridas’ mind had not been idle in the past few minutes. By setting back the Spartan rituals, they had out waited the anxious Achaeans and with their charge bringing them closer and closer to the original Spartan line, they were outdistancing their own skirmishers who were locked in battle with the Spartan light infantry on the wings. Now that his enemies had exposed their flanks, the Spartan cavalry was let loose. Taking advantage of the relative lack of horsemen on the Achaean side, the cavalry charged in from behind the advancing wings of the Spartan army on the right and left, angling in to hit the Achaean phalanx from both flanks simultaneously.

A phalanx can withstand a cavalry charge if they are organized enough, and surprisingly the Achaeans were. Their flanks turned out in decent order to meet the coming cavalry and the horsemen swerved off, circling the sides of the slowing army like wolves around a wounded but still strong buck deer. However, the act of turning to meet the charge of the horse helped break the Achaean line and reduced the number of back rankers who could support the hoplite push. The two front lines of hoplites crashed together with a loud crash, with the Spartan cavalry continuing to harass the sides and rear of the Achaeans even as the skirmishers dueled further up the field. Into this maelstrom leaped the javelin throwers, popping up behind their heavily armored counterparts and throwing javelins into the faces of the opposing soldiers.

The field was soon consumed with dust, but the battle was never very much in doubt. Showing remarkable courage given how badly they were outmatched, the Achaeans struggled on, but the Spartans were relentless and had much more weight and momentum behind their charge. With significantly more hoplites and enough cavalry to keep the Achaeans divided, the grinding battle advanced steadily down the field towards Aegium as the Achaean soldiers were pushed back yard by bloody yard.

As the Achaean line had returned back to where the light infantry were still dueling each other, the soldiers finally broke. Aegium had no walls and little prospect of protection for the warriors, so they split up and sprinted off in every direction. The Spartans, making good use of their cavalry began to chase them down. The retreat predictably turned into a rout and the Spartan forces set about the slaughter, not pulling back as they had done in Argos but resolutely finishing the job at hand.

An hour or so later, when the stricken city populace came to ransom back their dead and collect the shields which the Spartans had once again courteously left unmolested, the Spartans offered the council of elders a choice. The Tyrant of Aegium had fled, taking many of his supporters with them. King Anaxandridas II told the elders of Aegium that their city was being brought into the sphere of influence of Sparta for the foreseeable future. They could either participate in this willingly or be removed and replaced by others who go along with the plan. This same offer would go out to the cities of Pellene and Cerynea, although if Aegium refused Anaxandridas hinted that the Spartans would enter the city themselves first to set an example for the others. The charismatic Anaxandridas took the men aside and explained his plan. If Aegium, and the rest of the Achaeans, capitulated, Anaxandridas was prepared to offer them a deal. The King offered to sponsor them to become part of the periokoi, like the Arcadians. This means that they would be allowed to conduct business and trade for the whole, but that they would not be allowed to serve as Peers in the army. Not slaves, but a middle class. The Achaean cities would give Sparta its support, and in exchange Sparta would protect them from rival cities, preserving the cities and their customs. In short, Anaxandridas pledged not to destroy the poleis themselves, allowing the Achaeans the knowledge that some time in the future they would certainly rise again as the tides of fate in Greece changed as they are wont to do. Furthermore, the “not citizens” part of the deal offered to the elders meant that their youths could not be drafted away to spend their childhood in the brutal Spartan military academies. The Spartans seemed to think they were denying the Achaeans a privilege, but to the fathers and mothers left in the city it seemed more like a gift.

Seeing little choice beyond the sack, Aegium agreed and, over the course of the next couple of weeks as word came in from the rest of the cities of Achaea, the entire region fell in line behind the Spartans. The presence of the 34,000 men of the 1st Mora, and the ever-popular King himself, helped matters along significantly. While they were waiting, the Spartans treated their wounded and prepared their few dead, burying them in places of honor at the field where the Battle of Aegium had taken place alongside a similar grave for the dead Achaeans. The award for valor was given to Polydorus who, after his failure to carry the day at the Olympiad Pentathlon due to his still healing knee injury, had fought with extraordinary vigor and skill. The Achaeans were particularly impressed with his prowess after he had taken down two of Aegium’s finest champions during the thick of the fighting. Polydorus humbly accepted the honors.

Tariff Report:

(state: target of tariff / amount)

Athens (Attika): Only tariffed NPCs; Babylon: Persia / 3% Carthage / 1%; Caria: Persia / 2%; Carthage: Babylonia / 2.5% Mysia / 1.3%; Egypt: Attika / 5% Lakedemonia / 5% Caria / 5% Ionia / 5% Mysia / 5% Cyrene / 5% Thessaly / 5% Boeotia / 5%; Ionia: Persia / 2.6%; Lydia: Persia / 3.15%; Mysia: Persia / 1.37%; Persia: Babylon / 3% Lydia / 5% Ionia / 5% Mysia / 5%; Phoenicia: Tariff Free; Sparta (Lakedaemonia): Attika / 2.5%; Thebes (Boeotia): Lakedaemonia / 1.5% Attika / 5%; Thessaly: Persia / 1.2%; Tyrrhenia: Ionia / 5% Caria / 5% Lydia / 5%

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