alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
Hmm... if he had died, the Great War could have been won by the Coalition and lost by Luca 
, thus no Byzantine Empire and the partition of Luca...
, thus no Byzantine Empire and the partition of Luca...
ITNESI History Thread
- Thread starter das
- Start date
das
Regeneration In Process
Well, about the Byzantine Empire... the Macedonnians were rather doomed anyway. The Trojan-Thracian forces would have probably still conquered that. The problem would be about surviving the Spartans.
Also, I seem to recall that the Egyptians intended to invade Sparta (in the last update) but failed to send orders apart from withdrawing from Lucan lands.
Also, I seem to recall that the Egyptians intended to invade Sparta (in the last update) but failed to send orders apart from withdrawing from Lucan lands.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
But Egypt barely has a fleet 
they would have never been able to handle the logistics for a cross med invasion of sparta.
What you and cleric say are two different things, but are you sure that the Macedonians were rather doomed? if they had crushed the thracians first before having them unite with the Trojan Forces.. wistful thinking
they would have never been able to handle the logistics for a cross med invasion of sparta. What you and cleric say are two different things, but are you sure that the Macedonians were rather doomed? if they had crushed the thracians first before having them unite with the Trojan Forces.. wistful thinking
das
Regeneration In Process
The Egyptians COULD have built one. Theoretically. They also were supposed not to leave Crete until Sparta falls, so they had a nearby base of sorts (problem is, ofcourse, that the Cypriot fleet was still active). Albeit, the Spartan levies would probably have had no problems repulsing them.
The Macedonnian army was weakened and outnumbered. Not a chance here.
The Macedonnian army was weakened and outnumbered. Not a chance here.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
really? then cleric was blowing hot gas then(no offense meant at expression)when he said he could've crushed the Trojans and Thracians. But saying if Egypt had managed to attack Sparta, and somehow managed to defeat the levies and capture the City... That would have left Egypt as the greatest power in the Eastern Med...
Also, if Aramus died early, there could never have been a successful counterattack into Parhea due to lack of troops, and Mojehno Daro or whatever azale's nation is might not have invaded Parhea either joining on the side of the loser.
Also, if Aramus died early, there could never have been a successful counterattack into Parhea due to lack of troops, and Mojehno Daro or whatever azale's nation is might not have invaded Parhea either joining on the side of the loser.
das
Regeneration In Process
Cleric, you know, was rather IC. 
And Egypt would have - as said before - had to deal with the Cypriots. They have a large fleet, if rather undertrained.
The counteroffensive into Parhae at first wasn't very succesful - an entire army was near-obliterated. The second, post-IT offensive was more succesful, however - the Lucans had simply too many numbers for Parhaens to crush. Mohenjo-daro would probably have invaded anyway... that said, who really knows what Capulet told them?
And Egypt would have - as said before - had to deal with the Cypriots. They have a large fleet, if rather undertrained.The counteroffensive into Parhae at first wasn't very succesful - an entire army was near-obliterated. The second, post-IT offensive was more succesful, however - the Lucans had simply too many numbers for Parhaens to crush. Mohenjo-daro would probably have invaded anyway... that said, who really knows what Capulet told them?
das
Regeneration In Process
BT II - Years 600-270 BC
Americas:
The Olmecs and the Zapotecs are still the only two civilizations of note, albeit the Mayans are becoming somehow more civilized under their dual influence as well. The Olmecs are and were a mercantile civilization first and foremost, in spite of a dynasty and a capital change. The attempts to develop better cannoes brought not much fruit during all this time until recently an island to the east was - barely - reached. Back on the mainland, some rather minor expansion took place through a combination of cultural assimilation and actual fighting. The Zapotecs, meanwhile, expanded greatly, being much more warlike. Still, for now no fighting between Olmecs and Zapotecs took place.
Europe:
Facing the ever-growing Germannic, Portuguese and Ligurian/Kartyrian pressure, some of the Gaelic tribes were united under the rule of Luernios I peacefully, as per the decision of the Council of Gergovia in 598 BC. Others... by a combination of army-backed diplomacy and plain ordinary conquest. Either way, by the time of Atorios I (ruled 524-481), the southern third of Gaul and parts of Central Gaul as well were as good as unified under the enlightened Arvernii rule. However, not all went as well afterwards. An on-and-off war with Portugal filled much of the 6th and 5th centuries, and the Parisii united the northern third of Gaul using this distraction. Finally, some of the Germannic tribes to the east, between Rivers Rhine and Danube, were united as Allemagnia. The Allemagnii culture and nation were an interesting example of a combination of xenophobia and active trade, especially with Ligurians and thus also Kartyrians. Albeit they, after expelling the Danubean Celts, did not in particular harm any other Celtic tribes - not from either of the unions, anyway - the Allemagnii stood and still stand ready to fight. Back in Arvernii Gaul, the Gauls after a lengthy war with Portugal faced rather modest successes, and finally the Garonne river was established as the Portuguese-Gaelic borders. Britanny, which was hard for the Portuguese to control anyway, was thus now a part of Gaul, angering Parisii.
Portugal, for the most part, was doing quite well, apart from the shortcomings in Gaul. Expansion in North Africa brought about another war with Carthage (455-432 BC; a draw; North Africa partitioned), and as a result the past modernization efforts begun to pay fruit at an even faster rate, with a construction of a good fleet (which, however, so far proved unable to reach out far enough to the west to reach the rumored faraway land of Brasil; not that a lot of people believe in it, just king Raus IV, who ruled in late 5th century, seeemed to think that it exists).
The Gauls also - at first separately, but later from the unified Arvernii Gaul - raided Kartyria, Liguria (causing most Ligurians to flee to Kartyria, joining their relatives there, or to Italia, where they caused lots of havoc) and Italia. Italia was until then comparatively peaceful, but the raid devastated the Clusian League, causing it to fall apart and its cities to later join the Roman one for protection. The raids stopped by 270 BC, for the most part. But not before the Arvernii king Luernios III in 281 BC personally lead an army all the way to Rome and looted the city, killing King Valeris II in battle. The instability that followed firstly allowed a more permanent Gaelic occupation of Po Valley and secondly badly damaged the prestige of the Tarquin Dynasty; albeit Rome was rebuilt soon to be even better then before, and a new heir rose to power, this prestige was not to be regained and as of now there were in Rome talks of a revolution to impose a new form of government - a Republic. Ofcourse, different people had different perceptions of it, and many feared that it will end up just like with Syracuse. So perhaps a new dynasty was the way to go? Or maybe the old one could have made a comeback? Still, as Rome stabilizes, things didn't look as bad as they used to just a few years before.
Apart from defending stoically from Gaelic raids, Kartyria somehow expanded in Coastal Liguria, gained a colony in Corsica and turned Kartyr into a great Western Mediterranean trade center. Oddly enough, Kartyrian trade was not often attacked by pirates, who mostly concentrated on Carthaginian trade, greatly distracting trade from the Carthaginian port of Syracuse, albeit Carthage itself was still important. All-in-all, albeit Kartyria failed to expand across Liguria as was often hoped, it did quite well during these three centuries and three decades.
Further east into Europe... Two new nations arise, the comercially-minded Dacia (in early 6th century) and the more militant and also more civilized (some say Latinized/Hellenized/Trojanized) Illyria (in late 4th century). Neither of those so far left any serious mark on history, but as violent and interesting times draw close again, they will see either doom, either glory.
In the wake of Eram's death, a succession crisis nearly tore the Byzantine Empire apart, but finally it was decided that Eram's half-Thracian son should rise to power, confirming the Eramid Dynasty's rule. Trajan I, named so for the abandoned city of Troy, proved a capable ruler; he defeated the Scythians from the north, and the Illyrian raiders from the west; but sadly he died before he could invade Sparta. This would be done much later, by Eram III in 422 BC, when he used the instability in Greece - as the Aetolian polises seceded from Sparta in open rebellion - to crush the rebuilt, but still not fully recovered Spartan army of Mermerus IV. By the end of the century, the final rebellions were stamped down and (the burned-down) Sparta was already rebuilt as a Byzantine city. Byzantium itself became a trade center as well, and despite the defeat of Seuthes II at Scodra in 376 the Byzantines continued to be a great force, which now only needed a leader to awaken its strenght and lead its warriors to glory.
The northernmost Aramid lands up to now were quite easy to maintain and control, albeit apart from the coastlands they were extremelly undevelopped. But recently, with the rise of Sarmatians who pushed Scythians and Iranians out of their old lands, the Lucan situation to the north begins to look as dangerous as it never before was. Far to the south, the Lucans after a century more of intensive naval fighting, already during the rule of Techae II, reconquered Cyprus and massacred the entire population; ofcourse, Techae the Horrible was well-knows for such massacres, much unlike most other Lucan Viziers. This was nasty, but efficient.
Africa:
Portuguese rule expanded far into Northern Africa, across all of the Mauri in the late 5th/early 4th centuries, but the area still was rather under-developed, and was increasingly threatened by the Berbers.
Carthage quite recouped from its losses despite the piracy. Megabal II (ruled 401 BC-342 BC) especialy contributed to this recouping by assembling a grand armade that has wiped out the pirates and allowed much trade to flow towards Carthage and Sabratha. With newfound force on land and sea alike, Carthage was now ready for a new, great war of revenge.
Egypt, meanwhile, was stagnating. The previous dynasty had made many great conquests, but eventually it was overthrown. The current dynasty, reigning since 532 BC, brought some expansion to the south, making contact with the land of Cush and coming into conflict with it; but after that, all it did is lose and rebuild the fleet in the struggles with various pirates. Not very inspiring, especially with the rise of barbaric peoples further south; yet, hope was not yet lost, as the people of Egypt looked forward at the rule of the new Pharaoh.
Middle East:
The behemoth of Aramid Luca still dominated this part of the world in 270 BC. It is hard to say if things were going poorly or not for it. Cypriot pirates brought devastation to the already-desolate land, but Techae II put an end to that - and to the Cypriots themselves - in 505 BC - and since then trade flourished, with Astya and Techea (former Nicosia) as trade centers. The Scythians were eventually assimilated by the Lucans, albeit in 498 the Aramid power was nearly overthrown in the Great Highlander Rising; yet, it was subdued. Hay-Urartu, as time went by, was almost-peacefully integrated into the empire, and the Minoan/Trojan/Babylonian rebel already shut up. But not even Tachae managed to exterminate the Phoeniceans, who started rebellion after rebellion, despite the futility of it all. By 270 BC, however, apart from the Phoenicean problem and the growing nomad threat to the north, Luca seemed to have recovered. Halaban, their religion, spread far, and much expansion into Arabia took place. But this brought Luca into conflict with a new, nascent power to their south.
The Semitic tribes in Arabia were not only the ordinary Arabs. Some of those pther tribes - that at some time lived in Ur, Babylonia and Phoenicea - were with driven out by constant warfare into this desert. They were the Hebrews, the Jews, who eventually settled on the western coast of Arabia; in the land they called "Israel" (nearby tribes called it "Yehudistan"). The Jews had their own language and their own quite unique monotheist religion, as well as something of an urban tradition; they built three cities, Mecca, Yathrib (later called Yir - "The City") and Jiddah. At first, however, they were something of outcasts because of their difference from the other Semitic tribes, and had no plans to change that. Their religion itself was not very widespread even in their own rank and not very developped until a few hundred years ago a man called Abraham started preaching Judaism, a reformed version of that religion. He had many followers, but they were all expelled from Mecca to Yathrib, from where they eventually came back in force, siding with Bedouins who were converted to this faith. And so he united Israel under one rule, and made Mecca his capital. Albeit in circa 410 BC he died, his followers continued his work, converting nearby tribes and expanding the trade network as well. Then came the rule of Judges, shoftim, who lost control over large parts of Israel; however, eventually one particularily militant Judge, Moshe/Moses rose to power. He, too, reformed Judaism; the religion that emerged is often called Mosesism. The new religion was a one of war, war to spread the One True Faith. In 270 BC, the Israelite armies stood ready to begin conquering.
Further east, Cyrusid Parhae, a Mohenjo-daran vassal state, survived despite the occasional rebellion. However, those rebellions were by 270 BC beginning to become less and less rare, as Mohenjo-daro became clearly overstretched...
South (and Central) Asia:
To the north from Mohenjo-daro, a new sinister threat has appeared. Up until now, the Aranian tribes limited their activity to nasty, but ineffective raiding, being disunited as they were. But recently - in 278 BC - a powerful and cunning new warlord of the already-strong Bactra tribe, razh Viyatri, with stick and carrot unified many of those tribes. And promised them glory, glory and greatness. Or so the rumors said, anyway...
Mohenjo-daro, up to then oblivious to this threat, had an eventful time to say the least. The great Aryan rebellion was only put down in 587 BC, albeit smaller ones appeared here and then. Mohenjo-daro was clearly overstretched and would have collapsed if not for Emperor Doriva the Great (ruled 395-361 BC) who - apart from other things - defeated rebel chieftains and centralized the Mohenjo-daran Empire. He also oversaw the development of Sutkagen Dor into a trade center and the Gangetic War. That war arose over an old territorial dispute between Kuru-Pañcala and Kalinga in the northwest of Ganges. After the Magadhan Collapse, Kuru-Pañcala grabbed a small, but rich slice of land on the Ganges, and eventually laid claim to even more nearby lands. King Yakara of Kalinga did not like it at all, and in 378 the war started. Kuru-Pañcala fared unexpectedly well at first, having trained its army for the task for a few decades now, but eventually the Kalingans pushed Kuru-Pañcala back, winning the Battle at Mathura and invading Kuru-Pañcalan heartland. The king of Kuru-Pañcala died in battle, and the succession was unclear; the heir was to be either the future Emperor Viya II, either a local prince. Doriva promised help in exchange for Viya getting the throne, and thus uniting the two nations, and the Kuru-Pañcalans agreed. Even then, Kalingan forces after retreating somewhat won the battle at Vidisha in 371, but the aging Doriva persuaded them to sign peace, restoring status quo and partitioning the southern Dravidian lands. In 361, Doriva died, and Viya II inherited an even greater empire; but it was now even more desperately overstretched. That hardly changed by 270 BC.
Apart from that setback, Kalingans did fairly well. Arts and science flourished, sanitation was improved and trade brought prosperity. The Cholas, a rising power that tried to gain control over the trade routes in the south of the Bengalian Sea [1], were in 348 invaded by Deccania, Kalinga and Sinhala, and partitioned afterwards. This, however, needlessly strenghthened Sinhala, so Kalinga might have to fight that as well.
Religiously, India was also... interesting. Hinduism has fractured into two major branches - Kalingan (known for its more liberal and in the same time more documentary approach), or Vaishnavism, and Deccanian, or Shaivism. Deccanian is dominant in the west and the north; Kalingan, in the south and the east... but in Sinhala, a local religion, Sanghism [2], arose. All three for some reason didn't co-exist in complete agreement.
Ofcourse, that's not all we have in South Asia. There's also Indochina and Indonesian. Here, the Kalingans expanded rather freely, crushing some Mon-Khmer and Malay statelets, and coming into contact with Hong Kee merchants. Albeit the way Kalingans expand is somewhat ruthless, their policies are not in particular cruel, albeit they do destroy native cultures by assimilation. However, not all is well - for instance, the Sinhalese have followed them here, setting up trade posts on Sumatra. Native resistance also strenghthens and becomes much more organized, albeit in some cases it is hardly actual resistance - rather, large states, all of them Kalingan Hinduist, begin to appear. On Malay peninsula, the Tumasek League arose. In Indochina itself, Dvaravati and Funnan appear as well. Further east there, rumors appear of a state called Champa, which, however, is more under Hong Kee influence... speaking of which, the Hong Kees have set up a trade post on Borneo. And another one, too.
Far East:
The Hong Kees developed pink pottery. In response, the Han Chinese copied all the Hong Kee social reforms, ideas and even built a complete copy of the (now-finished) Kowloon Academy in Shanghai. This caused brief but violent border fighting, but when both rulers died in battle their successors got tired of that and stoped the war.
Apart from that, and some other stuff, this was a peaceful time. In Han China, after some rabid expansion at the expense of Sinites who are sent fleeing south, the attention was turned north instead, and the Great Wall was built. Confucius was invoked by yet another Emperor [3], and civil service appeared. A Silk Route was set up towards the great western lands of Mohenjo-daro and Bactrasha, albeit trade with lands further west so far was rather slow to be established. The real problem with that route was that it only existed at the whim of various Xiong-nu tribes in the area. Arts and science were encouraged [4], a fleet is built and sent to go boldly where no Han Chinese went before, but the problem is that most explorers take up to commiting suicide due to the "unexplored lands" they found often being already tightly-packed with Hong Kee merchants.
Speaking of whom, the Hong Kees send out annual expeditions, and despite the occasional storms destroying ships, especially in the east, the Hong Kees do discover some more lands, most interestingly "Ka-ling Ah". Academies are built, army, navy and militia are reformed, flying academicians are used for reconaissance purposes, Chen Dynasty rises to power... Money rolls in. Many lands come under Hong Kee influence, albeit only Annam, Ryukyu, Luzon, North Visayas and some of the Sinites join Hong Kong; Choson, Nagasaki, Dian, Champa and Sulu, how ever much influenced, still form their own nations albeit they agreed to trade agreements with Hong Kong. Dian and Nagasaki, however, recently got new leaders who some say might cancel those agreements. Either way, so far so good for Hong Kong.
OOC:
[1] Bay of Bengal, ofcourse.
[2] Similar to OTL Buddhism.
[3] Yay! I can call them "Emperors" now!
[4] Where did I hear that before?
Status of Drake Rlugia?
Insane Panda, any nations you want to take here?
Those who started new nations this BT - I hope I placed everyone right.
Americas:
The Olmecs and the Zapotecs are still the only two civilizations of note, albeit the Mayans are becoming somehow more civilized under their dual influence as well. The Olmecs are and were a mercantile civilization first and foremost, in spite of a dynasty and a capital change. The attempts to develop better cannoes brought not much fruit during all this time until recently an island to the east was - barely - reached. Back on the mainland, some rather minor expansion took place through a combination of cultural assimilation and actual fighting. The Zapotecs, meanwhile, expanded greatly, being much more warlike. Still, for now no fighting between Olmecs and Zapotecs took place.
Europe:
Facing the ever-growing Germannic, Portuguese and Ligurian/Kartyrian pressure, some of the Gaelic tribes were united under the rule of Luernios I peacefully, as per the decision of the Council of Gergovia in 598 BC. Others... by a combination of army-backed diplomacy and plain ordinary conquest. Either way, by the time of Atorios I (ruled 524-481), the southern third of Gaul and parts of Central Gaul as well were as good as unified under the enlightened Arvernii rule. However, not all went as well afterwards. An on-and-off war with Portugal filled much of the 6th and 5th centuries, and the Parisii united the northern third of Gaul using this distraction. Finally, some of the Germannic tribes to the east, between Rivers Rhine and Danube, were united as Allemagnia. The Allemagnii culture and nation were an interesting example of a combination of xenophobia and active trade, especially with Ligurians and thus also Kartyrians. Albeit they, after expelling the Danubean Celts, did not in particular harm any other Celtic tribes - not from either of the unions, anyway - the Allemagnii stood and still stand ready to fight. Back in Arvernii Gaul, the Gauls after a lengthy war with Portugal faced rather modest successes, and finally the Garonne river was established as the Portuguese-Gaelic borders. Britanny, which was hard for the Portuguese to control anyway, was thus now a part of Gaul, angering Parisii.
Portugal, for the most part, was doing quite well, apart from the shortcomings in Gaul. Expansion in North Africa brought about another war with Carthage (455-432 BC; a draw; North Africa partitioned), and as a result the past modernization efforts begun to pay fruit at an even faster rate, with a construction of a good fleet (which, however, so far proved unable to reach out far enough to the west to reach the rumored faraway land of Brasil; not that a lot of people believe in it, just king Raus IV, who ruled in late 5th century, seeemed to think that it exists).
The Gauls also - at first separately, but later from the unified Arvernii Gaul - raided Kartyria, Liguria (causing most Ligurians to flee to Kartyria, joining their relatives there, or to Italia, where they caused lots of havoc) and Italia. Italia was until then comparatively peaceful, but the raid devastated the Clusian League, causing it to fall apart and its cities to later join the Roman one for protection. The raids stopped by 270 BC, for the most part. But not before the Arvernii king Luernios III in 281 BC personally lead an army all the way to Rome and looted the city, killing King Valeris II in battle. The instability that followed firstly allowed a more permanent Gaelic occupation of Po Valley and secondly badly damaged the prestige of the Tarquin Dynasty; albeit Rome was rebuilt soon to be even better then before, and a new heir rose to power, this prestige was not to be regained and as of now there were in Rome talks of a revolution to impose a new form of government - a Republic. Ofcourse, different people had different perceptions of it, and many feared that it will end up just like with Syracuse. So perhaps a new dynasty was the way to go? Or maybe the old one could have made a comeback? Still, as Rome stabilizes, things didn't look as bad as they used to just a few years before.
Apart from defending stoically from Gaelic raids, Kartyria somehow expanded in Coastal Liguria, gained a colony in Corsica and turned Kartyr into a great Western Mediterranean trade center. Oddly enough, Kartyrian trade was not often attacked by pirates, who mostly concentrated on Carthaginian trade, greatly distracting trade from the Carthaginian port of Syracuse, albeit Carthage itself was still important. All-in-all, albeit Kartyria failed to expand across Liguria as was often hoped, it did quite well during these three centuries and three decades.
Further east into Europe... Two new nations arise, the comercially-minded Dacia (in early 6th century) and the more militant and also more civilized (some say Latinized/Hellenized/Trojanized) Illyria (in late 4th century). Neither of those so far left any serious mark on history, but as violent and interesting times draw close again, they will see either doom, either glory.
In the wake of Eram's death, a succession crisis nearly tore the Byzantine Empire apart, but finally it was decided that Eram's half-Thracian son should rise to power, confirming the Eramid Dynasty's rule. Trajan I, named so for the abandoned city of Troy, proved a capable ruler; he defeated the Scythians from the north, and the Illyrian raiders from the west; but sadly he died before he could invade Sparta. This would be done much later, by Eram III in 422 BC, when he used the instability in Greece - as the Aetolian polises seceded from Sparta in open rebellion - to crush the rebuilt, but still not fully recovered Spartan army of Mermerus IV. By the end of the century, the final rebellions were stamped down and (the burned-down) Sparta was already rebuilt as a Byzantine city. Byzantium itself became a trade center as well, and despite the defeat of Seuthes II at Scodra in 376 the Byzantines continued to be a great force, which now only needed a leader to awaken its strenght and lead its warriors to glory.
The northernmost Aramid lands up to now were quite easy to maintain and control, albeit apart from the coastlands they were extremelly undevelopped. But recently, with the rise of Sarmatians who pushed Scythians and Iranians out of their old lands, the Lucan situation to the north begins to look as dangerous as it never before was. Far to the south, the Lucans after a century more of intensive naval fighting, already during the rule of Techae II, reconquered Cyprus and massacred the entire population; ofcourse, Techae the Horrible was well-knows for such massacres, much unlike most other Lucan Viziers. This was nasty, but efficient.
Africa:
Portuguese rule expanded far into Northern Africa, across all of the Mauri in the late 5th/early 4th centuries, but the area still was rather under-developed, and was increasingly threatened by the Berbers.
Carthage quite recouped from its losses despite the piracy. Megabal II (ruled 401 BC-342 BC) especialy contributed to this recouping by assembling a grand armade that has wiped out the pirates and allowed much trade to flow towards Carthage and Sabratha. With newfound force on land and sea alike, Carthage was now ready for a new, great war of revenge.
Egypt, meanwhile, was stagnating. The previous dynasty had made many great conquests, but eventually it was overthrown. The current dynasty, reigning since 532 BC, brought some expansion to the south, making contact with the land of Cush and coming into conflict with it; but after that, all it did is lose and rebuild the fleet in the struggles with various pirates. Not very inspiring, especially with the rise of barbaric peoples further south; yet, hope was not yet lost, as the people of Egypt looked forward at the rule of the new Pharaoh.
Middle East:
The behemoth of Aramid Luca still dominated this part of the world in 270 BC. It is hard to say if things were going poorly or not for it. Cypriot pirates brought devastation to the already-desolate land, but Techae II put an end to that - and to the Cypriots themselves - in 505 BC - and since then trade flourished, with Astya and Techea (former Nicosia) as trade centers. The Scythians were eventually assimilated by the Lucans, albeit in 498 the Aramid power was nearly overthrown in the Great Highlander Rising; yet, it was subdued. Hay-Urartu, as time went by, was almost-peacefully integrated into the empire, and the Minoan/Trojan/Babylonian rebel already shut up. But not even Tachae managed to exterminate the Phoeniceans, who started rebellion after rebellion, despite the futility of it all. By 270 BC, however, apart from the Phoenicean problem and the growing nomad threat to the north, Luca seemed to have recovered. Halaban, their religion, spread far, and much expansion into Arabia took place. But this brought Luca into conflict with a new, nascent power to their south.
The Semitic tribes in Arabia were not only the ordinary Arabs. Some of those pther tribes - that at some time lived in Ur, Babylonia and Phoenicea - were with driven out by constant warfare into this desert. They were the Hebrews, the Jews, who eventually settled on the western coast of Arabia; in the land they called "Israel" (nearby tribes called it "Yehudistan"). The Jews had their own language and their own quite unique monotheist religion, as well as something of an urban tradition; they built three cities, Mecca, Yathrib (later called Yir - "The City") and Jiddah. At first, however, they were something of outcasts because of their difference from the other Semitic tribes, and had no plans to change that. Their religion itself was not very widespread even in their own rank and not very developped until a few hundred years ago a man called Abraham started preaching Judaism, a reformed version of that religion. He had many followers, but they were all expelled from Mecca to Yathrib, from where they eventually came back in force, siding with Bedouins who were converted to this faith. And so he united Israel under one rule, and made Mecca his capital. Albeit in circa 410 BC he died, his followers continued his work, converting nearby tribes and expanding the trade network as well. Then came the rule of Judges, shoftim, who lost control over large parts of Israel; however, eventually one particularily militant Judge, Moshe/Moses rose to power. He, too, reformed Judaism; the religion that emerged is often called Mosesism. The new religion was a one of war, war to spread the One True Faith. In 270 BC, the Israelite armies stood ready to begin conquering.
Further east, Cyrusid Parhae, a Mohenjo-daran vassal state, survived despite the occasional rebellion. However, those rebellions were by 270 BC beginning to become less and less rare, as Mohenjo-daro became clearly overstretched...
South (and Central) Asia:
To the north from Mohenjo-daro, a new sinister threat has appeared. Up until now, the Aranian tribes limited their activity to nasty, but ineffective raiding, being disunited as they were. But recently - in 278 BC - a powerful and cunning new warlord of the already-strong Bactra tribe, razh Viyatri, with stick and carrot unified many of those tribes. And promised them glory, glory and greatness. Or so the rumors said, anyway...
Mohenjo-daro, up to then oblivious to this threat, had an eventful time to say the least. The great Aryan rebellion was only put down in 587 BC, albeit smaller ones appeared here and then. Mohenjo-daro was clearly overstretched and would have collapsed if not for Emperor Doriva the Great (ruled 395-361 BC) who - apart from other things - defeated rebel chieftains and centralized the Mohenjo-daran Empire. He also oversaw the development of Sutkagen Dor into a trade center and the Gangetic War. That war arose over an old territorial dispute between Kuru-Pañcala and Kalinga in the northwest of Ganges. After the Magadhan Collapse, Kuru-Pañcala grabbed a small, but rich slice of land on the Ganges, and eventually laid claim to even more nearby lands. King Yakara of Kalinga did not like it at all, and in 378 the war started. Kuru-Pañcala fared unexpectedly well at first, having trained its army for the task for a few decades now, but eventually the Kalingans pushed Kuru-Pañcala back, winning the Battle at Mathura and invading Kuru-Pañcalan heartland. The king of Kuru-Pañcala died in battle, and the succession was unclear; the heir was to be either the future Emperor Viya II, either a local prince. Doriva promised help in exchange for Viya getting the throne, and thus uniting the two nations, and the Kuru-Pañcalans agreed. Even then, Kalingan forces after retreating somewhat won the battle at Vidisha in 371, but the aging Doriva persuaded them to sign peace, restoring status quo and partitioning the southern Dravidian lands. In 361, Doriva died, and Viya II inherited an even greater empire; but it was now even more desperately overstretched. That hardly changed by 270 BC.
Apart from that setback, Kalingans did fairly well. Arts and science flourished, sanitation was improved and trade brought prosperity. The Cholas, a rising power that tried to gain control over the trade routes in the south of the Bengalian Sea [1], were in 348 invaded by Deccania, Kalinga and Sinhala, and partitioned afterwards. This, however, needlessly strenghthened Sinhala, so Kalinga might have to fight that as well.
Religiously, India was also... interesting. Hinduism has fractured into two major branches - Kalingan (known for its more liberal and in the same time more documentary approach), or Vaishnavism, and Deccanian, or Shaivism. Deccanian is dominant in the west and the north; Kalingan, in the south and the east... but in Sinhala, a local religion, Sanghism [2], arose. All three for some reason didn't co-exist in complete agreement.
Ofcourse, that's not all we have in South Asia. There's also Indochina and Indonesian. Here, the Kalingans expanded rather freely, crushing some Mon-Khmer and Malay statelets, and coming into contact with Hong Kee merchants. Albeit the way Kalingans expand is somewhat ruthless, their policies are not in particular cruel, albeit they do destroy native cultures by assimilation. However, not all is well - for instance, the Sinhalese have followed them here, setting up trade posts on Sumatra. Native resistance also strenghthens and becomes much more organized, albeit in some cases it is hardly actual resistance - rather, large states, all of them Kalingan Hinduist, begin to appear. On Malay peninsula, the Tumasek League arose. In Indochina itself, Dvaravati and Funnan appear as well. Further east there, rumors appear of a state called Champa, which, however, is more under Hong Kee influence... speaking of which, the Hong Kees have set up a trade post on Borneo. And another one, too.
Far East:
The Hong Kees developed pink pottery. In response, the Han Chinese copied all the Hong Kee social reforms, ideas and even built a complete copy of the (now-finished) Kowloon Academy in Shanghai. This caused brief but violent border fighting, but when both rulers died in battle their successors got tired of that and stoped the war.
Apart from that, and some other stuff, this was a peaceful time. In Han China, after some rabid expansion at the expense of Sinites who are sent fleeing south, the attention was turned north instead, and the Great Wall was built. Confucius was invoked by yet another Emperor [3], and civil service appeared. A Silk Route was set up towards the great western lands of Mohenjo-daro and Bactrasha, albeit trade with lands further west so far was rather slow to be established. The real problem with that route was that it only existed at the whim of various Xiong-nu tribes in the area. Arts and science were encouraged [4], a fleet is built and sent to go boldly where no Han Chinese went before, but the problem is that most explorers take up to commiting suicide due to the "unexplored lands" they found often being already tightly-packed with Hong Kee merchants.
Speaking of whom, the Hong Kees send out annual expeditions, and despite the occasional storms destroying ships, especially in the east, the Hong Kees do discover some more lands, most interestingly "Ka-ling Ah". Academies are built, army, navy and militia are reformed, flying academicians are used for reconaissance purposes, Chen Dynasty rises to power... Money rolls in. Many lands come under Hong Kee influence, albeit only Annam, Ryukyu, Luzon, North Visayas and some of the Sinites join Hong Kong; Choson, Nagasaki, Dian, Champa and Sulu, how ever much influenced, still form their own nations albeit they agreed to trade agreements with Hong Kong. Dian and Nagasaki, however, recently got new leaders who some say might cancel those agreements. Either way, so far so good for Hong Kong.
OOC:
[1] Bay of Bengal, ofcourse.
[2] Similar to OTL Buddhism.
[3] Yay! I can call them "Emperors" now!
[4] Where did I hear that before?
Status of Drake Rlugia?
Insane Panda, any nations you want to take here?
Those who started new nations this BT - I hope I placed everyone right.
das
Regeneration In Process
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
LOL, my poor explorers.
Great BT update das... but wasn't that supposed to go into your other thread?
Great BT update das... but wasn't that supposed to go into your other thread?
das
Regeneration In Process
(See other thread)
das
Regeneration In Process
Watch This Spot. I think I'll write something about Spartan history here.
das
Regeneration In Process
We have to bury our dead properly. Already many nations were crushed under the wheels of progress in ITNES I, but one of them in particular is worth our attention - namely, Sparta, a fallen great empire.
Origins
The first major civilization in Greece, from which Sparta descended, was Mycenea, whose city-states seem to have been in a loose alliance. Mycenea exhausted itself in ancient wars against Troy and Minoa, and this allowed, in circa 1100 BC, the Dorian tribes from the north to overrun Mycenea and destroy many of its cities. However, the Dorians were largely assimilated and eventually rebuilt many Mycenean cities. By 800 BC, city states begun to emerge in Greece - one of them was Sparta.
It is safe to assume that at first Sparta was an average "Greek" - i.e. Mycenified Dorian - polis, possibly ruled by a tribal oligarchy. Some accounts, which seem to be more realistic then the officially-accepted (until the rise of the Rationalist school of history) Mydilos-era documents, specify that a man called Lycurgus devised the original Spartan laws, which envisioned a peace-time Senate, a war-time dyarchy, abolition of currency and extreme militarization of the Spartan society. Lycurgus is believed to have lived in the 9th, if not 10th, century. His laws lasted for long, but eventually Sparta begun to stagnate.
Rise of the Mydilos
The Mydilos dynasty, which ruled Sparta from late 8th century to the end of Sparta as an independant country, rose to end the stagnation. Albeit the actual description of the Mydilid Sparta comes in following sections, it is worth noting the difference of the Mydilids from the previous system. Apart from the political changes - i.e. the establishment of full-time conventional monarchy - the Mydilid Sparta different from its predecessors by reckless expansionism, mercantilism (an odd trait for Sparta), domestic development and generally innovativeness. In other words, the Mydilid Sparta was a rising nation with an appropriate philosophy.
Rule of Mermerus I
The sources that claim that Mermerus I Mydilos ruled Sparta from its foundation, originating as they are in the time of Mermerus, are unlikely to have been truthful, because Sparta was founded in 10th century BC - while Mermerus I died in 659 BC. Nonetheless, it is clear that Mermerus I, evidently of simple birth, was not only the founder of the Mydilos Dynasty but also the founder of the Spartan empire, and unarguably the greatest Spartan king. Mermerus came to power largely thanks to his charisma, which helped him gain the support of the army, making his coup d'etat (if such occured) possible. He rose to power in the late 8th century apparently, introducing reforms to end the stagnation - introducing currency for outside trade and converting Sparta into a conventional monarchy under the Mydilos dynasty.
It is not entirely certain as to how much territory Sparta held at the time of Mermerus' ascendance to power, but it is clear that by 700 BC much of Peloponessus was unified by it. It is thought that Mermerus only finished this process, probably with the use of his diplomatic skill which would yet be useful. Either way, by 700 BC only Corinth and Athens resisted Spartan rule in Greece Proper. It was in 700 BC that the first blow on the Athenian giant - the main rival to Sparta - was landed, a diplomatic one. Mermerus Mydilos negotiated for defense pacts with Macedonnia, Troy and Minoa, isolating Athens diplomatically, and also added secret protocols to the said agreements, redirecting the trade of those three countries to Sparta. Albeit independant merchants continued to trade with Athens, Sparta was anyway becoming a more popular trade center, and the final blow to Athenian trade was delivered with the capture of Corinth in 689 BC. Only two Spartans died in the process due to the exceptionally good planning combined with luck. Ally-less, Athens were the next to fall, albeit their defense was much more efficient. The Attican War of 673-659 BC was won thanks, in part, to the Aetolians rebelling against Athens in exchange for autonomy within Sparta and to the Minoan fleet's help in the naval war, but mostly it was the introduction of the Spartan phalanx that doomed them. It was not the famed Agenorian Phalanx, but still a very efficient formation. Thanks to it, the major sally attempt in 659 BC, when Athens was on the verge of collapse due to starvation caused by the Spartan-Minoan siege, was routed and Athens surrendered on the next day. But by then, Mermerus was dead - just one day before Greece was united under Spartan rule.
Before we move on to the rule of Agenor I, it is important to mention Mermerus' other achievements - namely, the transformation of Sparta into a great center of knowledge, especially philosophy, mathematics and martial sciences, and the construction of "mermerian roads", many of which still exist in acceptable condition. Notably, Mermerus' innovativeness often caused problems with the conservative segments of Spartan population; nonetheless, his charisma and diplomatic skill did not fail him here neither, and his oft-quoted "knowledge is power" speech is one of the first public speeches to enter the annals of history.
Rule of Agenor I
One day after his father's death, Agenor became the king of Sparta and the ruler of an united Greece. Apart from the furthering his father's reforms and domestic development programs, Agenor also started an ambitious reform program. First off, he introduced an efficient light cavalry scout force - horses were bought from the Scythians for this purpose. He also reformed the Phalanx. This Agenorian Phalanx was deeper in rank, more vulnerable to flank attacks but also had greater offensive power. The main phalangites were supported by Spartari swordsmen. The Agenorian Phalanx was first put to use in Macedonnia, in 658. Troy, a Lucan ally, was at the time at war with the Spartan allies in Macedonnia. The Spartan-Macedonnian army faced not much trouble routing the Trojan army, crossing the Bosporus and besieging and taking Troy in 656 with the use of many ingenious siege engines, most famously an enormous horse-shaped siege tower.
As by 655 BC all Trojan resistance seemingly ceased (actually a Trojan army used this opportunity to land in western Macedonnia - this army would become the foundation for the future Byzantine Empire), Agenor I now prepared for the war with the Lucans. Aramid Luca was, in the same time as Sparta, rising rapidly to the status of a great Middle Eastern power. Agenor promised not to attack Luca, but the treaty specified a non-agression pact for five years only, thus by 655 the Spartans were ready to attack. But Agenor did not just invade Luca all by himself, he also allied with his namesake in faraway Kartyr, with anti-Lucan rebels on Cyprus and with Egypt and Parhae, the two other Middle Eastern powers that disliked Lucan hegemony. Finally, he incited Aramu the Scythian, a great warlord of the Scythian tribes just to the north from Lucan Bosporan, to attack the Lucans on that peripherial front.
Himself, moving from the occupied territory in Troy, he started an invasion of the Lucan heartland. The superior tactics and weapons have allowed victory after victory against the Lucans, most significantly at Gordium in 649 BC. This battle fully demonstrated just how obsolete was the Lucan army's main weapon - the chariots. The Spartari swordsmen also had javelins, specially designed to kill chariot horses. Killing just one horse was enough to bring an entire four-horse Lucan chariot down, and albeit the Lucans fought bravely, still they were defeated. They decided to make a last stand at Astya.
The battle at Astya, despite it being a Lucan victory of sorts, was more of a draw in strategic sense. Albeit the Lucan levy flank attack did exploit the Agenorian Phalanx' weakness quite well, most of the Spartan army survived and was ready for another battle, as was proven by the succesful capture of Central Anatolia after the battle. Agenor's plans were hardly frustrated by this - rather, it was the economic situation was grievous, but it was nothing irrepairable in his mind...
On January 9th 640 BC, Agenor died. The official version of the time that claims that he died from a lightning is rather unlikely to be true, but he died anyway, whether struck by lightning, poisoned or ill. On the same day, Aramu the Scythian pronounced his famous toast "For the destinies of me, my people and the Lucans - now merged into one [destiny]!" And on the same day, Egyptian armies begun to march south, back to their lands from those they conquered. This was the beginning of the end.
Fall from Greatness
Demonstrative of Sparta's quick fall from glory was the confusion that came immediately after Agenor's death. He had no clear heir, and throne was suggested to Demetrios, who was scared away by the growing court intrigue - though its rather more likely that he was scared away by responsibility of waging such an epic war, as Agenor shared none of his plans with him. Leonidos Mydilos took power instead, he was a brave warrior according even to his enemies, but in all other regards rather average.
It is unclear if, had Agenor lived longer, he would have really been able to change anything - the Scythians who came to assist the Lucans were way too strong for any Spartan army by its very nature, as the Scythians were at a higher level of military development. However, it is believed that Agenor, unlike Leonidos, had a good understandment of cavalry's importance. So it is plausible enough to hypothize that, by employing a major cavalry force, the Spartans could have prevented the battle at Trapezus from being a total rout, albeit the Scythian numbers probably still would have defeated them tactically. Nonetheless, it is impossible to change history. The Spartan-Kartyrian armies were literallly annihilated by Scythian horse archers, and with a heavy heart Leonidos ordered a retreat to regroup and give a "final battle" at Troy. It never came - the Spartan-Kartyrian armies retreated along hostile terrain, harassed by highlanders, undersupplied and pursued by the Scythians. Finally, Leonidos himself died in battle, and the unhappy reign of Mermerus II begun. Mermerus II was rather more competent at administration (though still a far cry from his namesake), but it was only due to luck that Sparta did not fall during his reign - the Trojans who landed in West Macedonnia and formed the Byzantine Empire in concert with native Thracians were too distracted in the north, and Aramu the Scythian, along with his untrustworthy Egyptian allies, was at first distracted by the war in Parhae and once that was dealt with also was faced with the logistical problems of operations in Greece in the circumstances of insecurity of maritime communication and supply lines - the Cypriot rebels, who now took to piracy, were a horrible pest for Luca and all of its allies.
Much of Mermerus II's rule (632-599 BC) was filled with paranoid military preparations. Helots were conscripted, in spite of the harm to the hardly-recovered economy. New fortifications were built, Sparta was even more militarized then ever and a sharp return to the days of Lycurgus. We could hardly blame Mermerus, though - he lived in the constant and justified fear of invasion. Trade, culture and education declined - the Spartans were preparing for Armaggedon, the final battle.
As no invasion came, Mermerus III soon repealled many of his predecessor's reforms when he came to power. A visionary leader, Mermerus III (613-541) wanted to make Sparta a peaceful nation, prospering from commerce. Trade was re-invigorated, as Cypriot pirates did not attack Spartan trade ships, and Sparta once more became a great center of knowledge. His son, Agenor II, continued Mermerus' work, and it seemed that Sparta was not going to fall after all. Good relations were fostered with Rome, and acceptable ones with Egypt. Demetrios Mydilos (not the one who ran away, but a much latter one) came to power in 492 BC and founded the Stoic school of philosophy, and was a notable patron of arts and sciences. When in 437 BC Mermerus IV came to power, his was a rich and enlightened realm.
But that was merely a standard case of death retreating and preparing for a final assault, whilst its victim believes that he has already recovered...
Last Days
Mermerus IV seems to have realized that Sparta's peace was actually only the quiet before the storm. Aetolia, an autonomous region ever since the Attican War, increasingly felt that Sparta was simply becoming another Athens, and many prominent Aetolians suggested seccession. This was the time of Eram III's reign in Byzantium; the ambitious young ruler wanted to gain the wealthy lands of Sparta, and went into well-managed intrigue, culminating in (albeit this never really was proven) sending assassins to kill off a popular Aetolian separatist, Phemistocles - one of those assassins was killed by the guards, and in his wallet some coins and a letter was found, requesting that all Spartan officials grant the bearer of the letter assistance in his noble undertaking - by the order of Mermerus IV. That, to many, was the last straw. Aetolia rose up in rebellion, and though its armies faced defeat at Thermopylae in 425, Mermerus' army, still in bad shape, was further exhausted by the experience.
Jubilant, Eram III sent forth his legions in 422 BC, just as Aetolian rebels were defeated. The tired, if experienced, Spartan army was defeated easily by the modern, well-trained, fresh Byzantine forces, in the Battle at Naupactus. Mermerus IV, upon hearing of this horrible defeat, took his life, and traitors soon opened the ancient gates of Sparta to Eram III. This was anticlimatic, but Eram did not mind it too much.
Sparta's days have ended, ended in less then two months.
Legacy
What is the legacy of Sparta? Unique society which would fascinate historians and inspire future political philosophers? Advanced system of measurements and the other great scientific achievements? Military triumphs and catastrophies? Great trade network, which survived well beyond Sparta's destruction as a nation?
Whilst all those are important, these achievements could easily have been attained elsewhere, by different nations. But here is what Sparta's true legacy lies in - Greece. One of the richest provinces of the Byzantine Empire, Greece was the way it was thanks to the Spartans, thanks to the Mydiloses. Roads, forts, ports, academies... All those were foundations of Greece as we know. All those would have been impossible if not for the Spartan unification and the benevolent Mydilos rule.
Origins
The first major civilization in Greece, from which Sparta descended, was Mycenea, whose city-states seem to have been in a loose alliance. Mycenea exhausted itself in ancient wars against Troy and Minoa, and this allowed, in circa 1100 BC, the Dorian tribes from the north to overrun Mycenea and destroy many of its cities. However, the Dorians were largely assimilated and eventually rebuilt many Mycenean cities. By 800 BC, city states begun to emerge in Greece - one of them was Sparta.
It is safe to assume that at first Sparta was an average "Greek" - i.e. Mycenified Dorian - polis, possibly ruled by a tribal oligarchy. Some accounts, which seem to be more realistic then the officially-accepted (until the rise of the Rationalist school of history) Mydilos-era documents, specify that a man called Lycurgus devised the original Spartan laws, which envisioned a peace-time Senate, a war-time dyarchy, abolition of currency and extreme militarization of the Spartan society. Lycurgus is believed to have lived in the 9th, if not 10th, century. His laws lasted for long, but eventually Sparta begun to stagnate.
Rise of the Mydilos
The Mydilos dynasty, which ruled Sparta from late 8th century to the end of Sparta as an independant country, rose to end the stagnation. Albeit the actual description of the Mydilid Sparta comes in following sections, it is worth noting the difference of the Mydilids from the previous system. Apart from the political changes - i.e. the establishment of full-time conventional monarchy - the Mydilid Sparta different from its predecessors by reckless expansionism, mercantilism (an odd trait for Sparta), domestic development and generally innovativeness. In other words, the Mydilid Sparta was a rising nation with an appropriate philosophy.
Rule of Mermerus I
The sources that claim that Mermerus I Mydilos ruled Sparta from its foundation, originating as they are in the time of Mermerus, are unlikely to have been truthful, because Sparta was founded in 10th century BC - while Mermerus I died in 659 BC. Nonetheless, it is clear that Mermerus I, evidently of simple birth, was not only the founder of the Mydilos Dynasty but also the founder of the Spartan empire, and unarguably the greatest Spartan king. Mermerus came to power largely thanks to his charisma, which helped him gain the support of the army, making his coup d'etat (if such occured) possible. He rose to power in the late 8th century apparently, introducing reforms to end the stagnation - introducing currency for outside trade and converting Sparta into a conventional monarchy under the Mydilos dynasty.
It is not entirely certain as to how much territory Sparta held at the time of Mermerus' ascendance to power, but it is clear that by 700 BC much of Peloponessus was unified by it. It is thought that Mermerus only finished this process, probably with the use of his diplomatic skill which would yet be useful. Either way, by 700 BC only Corinth and Athens resisted Spartan rule in Greece Proper. It was in 700 BC that the first blow on the Athenian giant - the main rival to Sparta - was landed, a diplomatic one. Mermerus Mydilos negotiated for defense pacts with Macedonnia, Troy and Minoa, isolating Athens diplomatically, and also added secret protocols to the said agreements, redirecting the trade of those three countries to Sparta. Albeit independant merchants continued to trade with Athens, Sparta was anyway becoming a more popular trade center, and the final blow to Athenian trade was delivered with the capture of Corinth in 689 BC. Only two Spartans died in the process due to the exceptionally good planning combined with luck. Ally-less, Athens were the next to fall, albeit their defense was much more efficient. The Attican War of 673-659 BC was won thanks, in part, to the Aetolians rebelling against Athens in exchange for autonomy within Sparta and to the Minoan fleet's help in the naval war, but mostly it was the introduction of the Spartan phalanx that doomed them. It was not the famed Agenorian Phalanx, but still a very efficient formation. Thanks to it, the major sally attempt in 659 BC, when Athens was on the verge of collapse due to starvation caused by the Spartan-Minoan siege, was routed and Athens surrendered on the next day. But by then, Mermerus was dead - just one day before Greece was united under Spartan rule.
Before we move on to the rule of Agenor I, it is important to mention Mermerus' other achievements - namely, the transformation of Sparta into a great center of knowledge, especially philosophy, mathematics and martial sciences, and the construction of "mermerian roads", many of which still exist in acceptable condition. Notably, Mermerus' innovativeness often caused problems with the conservative segments of Spartan population; nonetheless, his charisma and diplomatic skill did not fail him here neither, and his oft-quoted "knowledge is power" speech is one of the first public speeches to enter the annals of history.
Rule of Agenor I
One day after his father's death, Agenor became the king of Sparta and the ruler of an united Greece. Apart from the furthering his father's reforms and domestic development programs, Agenor also started an ambitious reform program. First off, he introduced an efficient light cavalry scout force - horses were bought from the Scythians for this purpose. He also reformed the Phalanx. This Agenorian Phalanx was deeper in rank, more vulnerable to flank attacks but also had greater offensive power. The main phalangites were supported by Spartari swordsmen. The Agenorian Phalanx was first put to use in Macedonnia, in 658. Troy, a Lucan ally, was at the time at war with the Spartan allies in Macedonnia. The Spartan-Macedonnian army faced not much trouble routing the Trojan army, crossing the Bosporus and besieging and taking Troy in 656 with the use of many ingenious siege engines, most famously an enormous horse-shaped siege tower.
As by 655 BC all Trojan resistance seemingly ceased (actually a Trojan army used this opportunity to land in western Macedonnia - this army would become the foundation for the future Byzantine Empire), Agenor I now prepared for the war with the Lucans. Aramid Luca was, in the same time as Sparta, rising rapidly to the status of a great Middle Eastern power. Agenor promised not to attack Luca, but the treaty specified a non-agression pact for five years only, thus by 655 the Spartans were ready to attack. But Agenor did not just invade Luca all by himself, he also allied with his namesake in faraway Kartyr, with anti-Lucan rebels on Cyprus and with Egypt and Parhae, the two other Middle Eastern powers that disliked Lucan hegemony. Finally, he incited Aramu the Scythian, a great warlord of the Scythian tribes just to the north from Lucan Bosporan, to attack the Lucans on that peripherial front.
Himself, moving from the occupied territory in Troy, he started an invasion of the Lucan heartland. The superior tactics and weapons have allowed victory after victory against the Lucans, most significantly at Gordium in 649 BC. This battle fully demonstrated just how obsolete was the Lucan army's main weapon - the chariots. The Spartari swordsmen also had javelins, specially designed to kill chariot horses. Killing just one horse was enough to bring an entire four-horse Lucan chariot down, and albeit the Lucans fought bravely, still they were defeated. They decided to make a last stand at Astya.
The battle at Astya, despite it being a Lucan victory of sorts, was more of a draw in strategic sense. Albeit the Lucan levy flank attack did exploit the Agenorian Phalanx' weakness quite well, most of the Spartan army survived and was ready for another battle, as was proven by the succesful capture of Central Anatolia after the battle. Agenor's plans were hardly frustrated by this - rather, it was the economic situation was grievous, but it was nothing irrepairable in his mind...
On January 9th 640 BC, Agenor died. The official version of the time that claims that he died from a lightning is rather unlikely to be true, but he died anyway, whether struck by lightning, poisoned or ill. On the same day, Aramu the Scythian pronounced his famous toast "For the destinies of me, my people and the Lucans - now merged into one [destiny]!" And on the same day, Egyptian armies begun to march south, back to their lands from those they conquered. This was the beginning of the end.
Fall from Greatness
Demonstrative of Sparta's quick fall from glory was the confusion that came immediately after Agenor's death. He had no clear heir, and throne was suggested to Demetrios, who was scared away by the growing court intrigue - though its rather more likely that he was scared away by responsibility of waging such an epic war, as Agenor shared none of his plans with him. Leonidos Mydilos took power instead, he was a brave warrior according even to his enemies, but in all other regards rather average.
It is unclear if, had Agenor lived longer, he would have really been able to change anything - the Scythians who came to assist the Lucans were way too strong for any Spartan army by its very nature, as the Scythians were at a higher level of military development. However, it is believed that Agenor, unlike Leonidos, had a good understandment of cavalry's importance. So it is plausible enough to hypothize that, by employing a major cavalry force, the Spartans could have prevented the battle at Trapezus from being a total rout, albeit the Scythian numbers probably still would have defeated them tactically. Nonetheless, it is impossible to change history. The Spartan-Kartyrian armies were literallly annihilated by Scythian horse archers, and with a heavy heart Leonidos ordered a retreat to regroup and give a "final battle" at Troy. It never came - the Spartan-Kartyrian armies retreated along hostile terrain, harassed by highlanders, undersupplied and pursued by the Scythians. Finally, Leonidos himself died in battle, and the unhappy reign of Mermerus II begun. Mermerus II was rather more competent at administration (though still a far cry from his namesake), but it was only due to luck that Sparta did not fall during his reign - the Trojans who landed in West Macedonnia and formed the Byzantine Empire in concert with native Thracians were too distracted in the north, and Aramu the Scythian, along with his untrustworthy Egyptian allies, was at first distracted by the war in Parhae and once that was dealt with also was faced with the logistical problems of operations in Greece in the circumstances of insecurity of maritime communication and supply lines - the Cypriot rebels, who now took to piracy, were a horrible pest for Luca and all of its allies.
Much of Mermerus II's rule (632-599 BC) was filled with paranoid military preparations. Helots were conscripted, in spite of the harm to the hardly-recovered economy. New fortifications were built, Sparta was even more militarized then ever and a sharp return to the days of Lycurgus. We could hardly blame Mermerus, though - he lived in the constant and justified fear of invasion. Trade, culture and education declined - the Spartans were preparing for Armaggedon, the final battle.
As no invasion came, Mermerus III soon repealled many of his predecessor's reforms when he came to power. A visionary leader, Mermerus III (613-541) wanted to make Sparta a peaceful nation, prospering from commerce. Trade was re-invigorated, as Cypriot pirates did not attack Spartan trade ships, and Sparta once more became a great center of knowledge. His son, Agenor II, continued Mermerus' work, and it seemed that Sparta was not going to fall after all. Good relations were fostered with Rome, and acceptable ones with Egypt. Demetrios Mydilos (not the one who ran away, but a much latter one) came to power in 492 BC and founded the Stoic school of philosophy, and was a notable patron of arts and sciences. When in 437 BC Mermerus IV came to power, his was a rich and enlightened realm.
But that was merely a standard case of death retreating and preparing for a final assault, whilst its victim believes that he has already recovered...
Last Days
Mermerus IV seems to have realized that Sparta's peace was actually only the quiet before the storm. Aetolia, an autonomous region ever since the Attican War, increasingly felt that Sparta was simply becoming another Athens, and many prominent Aetolians suggested seccession. This was the time of Eram III's reign in Byzantium; the ambitious young ruler wanted to gain the wealthy lands of Sparta, and went into well-managed intrigue, culminating in (albeit this never really was proven) sending assassins to kill off a popular Aetolian separatist, Phemistocles - one of those assassins was killed by the guards, and in his wallet some coins and a letter was found, requesting that all Spartan officials grant the bearer of the letter assistance in his noble undertaking - by the order of Mermerus IV. That, to many, was the last straw. Aetolia rose up in rebellion, and though its armies faced defeat at Thermopylae in 425, Mermerus' army, still in bad shape, was further exhausted by the experience.
Jubilant, Eram III sent forth his legions in 422 BC, just as Aetolian rebels were defeated. The tired, if experienced, Spartan army was defeated easily by the modern, well-trained, fresh Byzantine forces, in the Battle at Naupactus. Mermerus IV, upon hearing of this horrible defeat, took his life, and traitors soon opened the ancient gates of Sparta to Eram III. This was anticlimatic, but Eram did not mind it too much.
Sparta's days have ended, ended in less then two months.
Legacy
What is the legacy of Sparta? Unique society which would fascinate historians and inspire future political philosophers? Advanced system of measurements and the other great scientific achievements? Military triumphs and catastrophies? Great trade network, which survived well beyond Sparta's destruction as a nation?
Whilst all those are important, these achievements could easily have been attained elsewhere, by different nations. But here is what Sparta's true legacy lies in - Greece. One of the richest provinces of the Byzantine Empire, Greece was the way it was thanks to the Spartans, thanks to the Mydiloses. Roads, forts, ports, academies... All those were foundations of Greece as we know. All those would have been impossible if not for the Spartan unification and the benevolent Mydilos rule.
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
excellent work das. i would love to look forward to more work similar to this about other great fallen nations. do not fail me... i even went back to the polar bears. 
das
Regeneration In Process
Thanks. We'll have to wait for either Luca, either Portugal, either Gaul to fall though. Parhae didn't last for long enough to be classified as "great", albeit ofcourse its worth looking into...
alex994
Hail Divine Emperor!
or you could just pick a random country in the world and right about it just how it affected the world. May i suggest the blue pottery stealing hong kee?
just how it affected the world. May i suggest the blue pottery stealing hong kee?
das
Regeneration In Process
Problem - they're still alive. Its like writing a biography about a man who still isn't dead and not even old.
That and I'm busy working on your althist. Am writing about some religious strife in Eastern Europe right now...
That and I'm busy working on your althist. Am writing about some religious strife in Eastern Europe right now...
das
Regeneration In Process
He'll only bring you into this over your dead body... Literally.
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