Deafening Silence: An Island Called Sparta

[Sonereal]

Part I: The Sea Peoples

Chapter I: Therapnes

Therapnes, the younger sister city of Sparta, rested at the mouth of the Eurotas, which drew the attention of a warlike peoples that would in time wipe away most of civilization in the Eastern Mediterranean: the Sea Peoples. Spartan civilization had never encountered an existential threat like the Sea Peoples in her history, but some would say that the Spartans had prepared for the event all their history.

Sparta was ruled by the powerful Lycurgus dynasty, thrust into power after the bloodletting of a civil conflict that torn Spartan life asunder a decades ago as rival claimants of the tribal council attempted to seize power in the city. Lycurgus the Great prevailed, exiled his enemies, and created a powerful militia with a strong focus on archery. Sparta rested on the Eurotas, but she was a landlocked city-state, and that made all the difference in the development of Sparta, as it meant it took the Sea Peoples longer to target it.

Helping Lycurgus and his descendants maintain legitimacy were the high priests, who used local myths and faith to promote the righteous rule of Lycurgus and the royal family.

When mysterious ships were sighted near Therapnes starting in 748 BC, it was the first king after Lycurgus, Charillos, that ordered troops from Sparta march southeast to reinforce the city. The garrison of Therapnes fought off wave after wave of Sea Peoples, but the First Battle of Therapnes was a Pyrrhic victory. The Spartans would not reach the city before Sea Peoples, who outnumbered the garrison, stormed and sacked the city.

​

The Sea Peoples suffered a Pyrrhic victory that day as well. Their ships heavily damaged by storms, and with no hope of survival, the surviving war bands launched an assault on the Spartan camps northwest of the raider camp. Spartan shortbowmen, equipped and trained to fight in the familiar forests, soundly defeated the raiders and a counterattack destroyed the raider camp.

The Spartans destroyed the raiders, but lost a city in the process. Charillos's reign thereafter focused on expanding the militias and securing the capital, leaving the mission of "retaking" the mouth of the Eurotas to his son upon his death.

​

 

[Sonereal]

Part I: The Sea Peoples

• Chapter I: Therapnes
• Chapter II: Amyklai
• Chapter III: Sparta
• Chapter IV: Archelaos

If you like this AAR, check out End of Athens, a brief Athenian AAR using the same scenario.

 

[Bair_the_Normal]

ok sawnrail

 

[Noyyau]

That went better than Athens

 

[Sonereal]

Chapter II: Amyklai

King Archelaos struggled with the weight of responsibility growing up, but that paled in comparison to the weight of expectations. Lycurgus was a strong ruler who outmaneuvered his political rivals with a brutal grace that Archelaos father would find difficult to repeat. The Sack of Therapnes and the Battle of the Wilderness that followed afterwards caused unrest in Sparta. Families that had been brought to the brink of ruin by Lycurgus found a population fearful of monsters from the seas creeping up the Eurotas to attack the city.

Charillos could not capitalize on the Battle of the Wilderness. The army returned home to quell unrest in Sparta and reassure her people. He spent the rest of his reign maintaining order and building up. On his death bed, he told Archelaos of his goals, of his plans, and of Archelaos's need to succeed where he failed.

A party of engineers, citizens, and soldiers formed a settler party protected by three shortbow units, veteran units of the Battle of the Wilderness. They settled a city at the site of old Therapnes, destroyed twenty years earlier, and called it Amyklai.

The sea raiders arrived four months later. They landed east of the city and from there launched an assault. Amyklai's defenders repelled the assault, and held the line against the sea raiders until a four-unit army of Spartan axewarriors arrived from the north to reinforce the city.

​

After three years of brutal fighting at the city limits, the sea raider force broke, the remnants fleeing eastward to take up residence in a village of an unassociated tribe of Greeks.

​

The successful settlement and defense of Amyklai propelled King Archelaos into the hearts of his subjects. He was at the height of his popularity when a messenger arrived to Sparta informing the court of raiders marching down from the north.

 

[Sonereal]

That went better than Athens

So far so good. It is a combination of me knowing what to expect and Sparta starting away from the coast. Losing Therapnes didn't kill my morale because the first invasion was pretty large. The defenders took out enough enough enemies that the raiders were defeated before coming close to the capital.

 

[Keinpferd]

Subbed.

 

[CaterpillarKing]

Wooo! Two updates!

 

[clanky4]

Do these "seapeople" taste like a certain crustacean and talk like people?

 

[Sonereal]

Chapter III: Sparta

Sparta stood in stark contrast to Therapnes and her daughter, Amyklai. From the city's gold and copper mines came the city's wealth. With great wealth comes inequality, and there was plenty to go around in the overpopulated city. The answer to overpopulated had been Therapnes and Amyklai. King Archelaos felt in his heart that the city's era of great wealth, long the underwriter of stability, would come to an end, for from the north came raiders. Unable to defeat the raiders in the field, Spartans fell inward to the city, their famed archers decimating the raiders with every assault.

Every attack, every assault, repelled, but the fighting strained Archelaos reign. The northern territories became the sole province of the raiders, and as it became clear to successive barbarian hosts that Sparta would not fall easily, they turned on the population in the territory, pillaging gold mining towns and the mines themselves.

​

The siege lasted fifteen years. The invasions lost steam. The surviving remnants of the invading host melted into the countryside to live out their remaining time on the earth as little more than bandits. But even bandits can be a threat to civilization.

The greatest damage came not from outside, but within. Refugees packed into public squares, the homes of friends and family, and public buildings. Behind closed doors, the some high priests met with members of political rivals seeking the throne.

Two years before his death, Archealaos gave a speech in a refugee camp. Soaring and full of hope, Archealaos promised that the spirit of Lycurgus would guide the people through these trying times, and that the northern territories will be regained.

In March of the next year, a band of refugees, escorted by Spartan shortbowmen, marked a territory between the end of the Eurotas and a mountain. The city was named Helos after the popular commander in charge Helios.

Amyklai remained the target of her own attacks, but nothing so serious. Raiders destroyed the city's copper mine. In Sparta, the flow of copper and gold ended.

​

Archelaos died at the height of an economic crisis, setting the stage for the Second Spartan Civil War.

​

 

[Sonereal]

Wooo! Two updates!

I'm beating the spread by one update.

Do these "seapeople" taste like a certain crustacean and talk like people?

[YOUTUBE=10]tV5wmDhzgY8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[CaterpillarKing]

I couldn't tell what this was from until I heard "I knew gay people wouldn't do this to their own kind!" . Yup, South Park

 

[Sonereal]

Chapter IV: Archelaos

Archelaos, First of His Name, King of Sparta, was dying. Disease took up residence in his body, and even though people think he can't hear, he knows the rumors. He will be dead soon. Is this the punishment of the Gods? Has he been poisoned? Blood leaked from his pores, soaking his deathbed. Even his blood abandons him now.

The doors to his bedroom opened gently. A guard poked his bald head inside. "Are you well enough to take visitors, my king?"

"Who visits me?" The only visitors he received any more were those seeking his official approval or signature of matters only the king can sign off on. He didn't know whether his approvals or rejections were being carried out.

"Your son, Perseus."

Perseus. The hot-headed only son of his second wife and his only other child but a bastard daughter who has since left Sparta to find success south. "Let him in."

Perseus took after his mother. His face was the portrait of quiet, feminine, intensity. He had his father's green eyes and his mother's dark hair. When he spoke, his voice would only reach the ears of those who he intended to hear his words, and no more. Perseus entered the room, patted the guard on the shoulder, "Leave us be, dear Pericles."

Pericles bowed and closed the door. Perseus walked over to the bed and sat at the foot of it, avoiding the bloodsoaked sheets closer to the king's torso. "Your doctor says you have send him away."

"Yes. I do not believe I have much time left. I don't want to prolong this any more."

Perseus's face filled with sadness. "They're moving against you, against me, even as we speak."

"They've been moving against us for three generations. You are merely the fourth."

"Lycurgus took power during great upheaval. My grandfather had the military and high priests. The officers grow restless, and the high priests are seeking alternatives."

"The high priests live in a world of alternatives, son. Don't look too deeply into it." Archelaos laughed dryly.

"I can see it now," Perseus started, and his voice drifted. His eyes were fixated on the wall as he spoke. "The moment I hear the news will be the moment soldiers burst into my home and massacre my family."

"Then move against them!" Archealaos barked. "We're a dynasty of movers and shakers! We have never been passive to the demands placed upon us. We do what it takes to come out on top."

"To come out on top..." A tear streaked down Persues's face. He stood up and dried his face with a clean towel. He turned and gently kissed his father on the forehead. "I love you father," he said.

"I love you too, son."

Perseus moved fast and covered the king's face with the towel, pressing down on both ends. The king struggled feebly, but his body had surrendered long ago. Perseus pulled back the towel after the body stopped thrashing: bloody. He laid it neatly at the foot of the bed, strolled over to the door, and knocked.

"Pericles! The king is dead!"

"Do we move now, your majesty?"

"Move now. Move quickly. Let nobody escape."

 

[GreekAnalyzer]

Subbed

 

[TheNoob]

Subbed.

 

[Sonereal]

Sorry for the totally planned two months off. I ran into a snag with the game that isn't technical, but, well, gameplay.

I have yet to meet a neighbor. You can only make an AAR so interesting when there's literally no interaction with anybody. At last check, there are only four civilizations left globally down from the 11-15 at start thanks to sea peoples.

Thank you Sea Peoples.

 

[CaterpillarKing]

All hail the Sea Peoples!

 

[Pliped]

Interested to see how this develops.

As a side note why are the sea peoples so strong?

 

[Sonereal]

Interested to see how this develops.

As a side note why are the sea peoples so strong?

Late answer, and I can only guess as to why.

Sparta starts far from the sea, so it avoided the blunt of the Sea Peoples attacks. Sea Peoples spawn in one to three ships full of fairly powerful units which can wear down anything but the most heavily defended cities. I was also playing on a low speed, so maybe spawns aren't tweaked well enough or something? I don't know.

Only regret is that PAEV doesn't have something like Revolution where barbs can form their own civilizations.