Update 3 - March 419 to March 417 - Two Years
-------THE NORTH--------
As spring approached, the Spartans accepted Perdiccas's offer of support for their invasion of Thessaly in return for their support for his invasion of Lyncus, making a treaty with him, and calling him a friend of Sparta. Perdiccas, it might be remembered, had in fact tried exactly the same policy twice before, for the first time five years previously, and the second time four years previously, and on both occasions he had been in alliance with Brasidas. On the first occasion, the two armies had reached the pass into Lyncus, but Brasidas had parleyed with Arrhabaeus and called off the invasion, to Perdiccas's great irriation. On the second occasion, the invasion had taken place and resulted in the Lyncestians being defeated in pitched battle, but Perdiccas had hired a large number of Illyrian mercenaries, and, when they arrived, they suddenly changed sides and joined Arrhabaeus. At this, the commanders had decided on a retreat, but - in an irrational panic - the Macedonians broke into sudden flight during the night and left Brasidas behind, forcing Brasidas to extricate himself from Upper Macedonia with extreme difficulty. After these two events, Perdiccas had been most irritated with the Spartans. However, in the present circumstances, with Athens being increasingly powerful in the north and with Sparta in alliance with Athens, it had seemed possible and preferable for Macedonia to be allied not only to Athens according to their previous agreement, but also to Sparta, and Perdiccas also found Clearidas easier to cooperate with - although some distrust remained between the individual soldiers in the two armies. Such, then, were the previous attempts that had been made to defeat Perdiccas.
However, now, for the third time, the armies of Perdiccas and Clearidas were made ready to invade Lyncus, and then to go on to invade Thessaly. However, the summoning of the Macedonian army took several weeks, despite all possible haste being made, and despite not the whole Macedonian army being called up.
While preparations were being made in Macedonia, King Arrhabaeus invaded Orestis in full force, leading out 3000 infantry and all 1500 of his cavalry. These troops began to raid the territory of the Orestians, hoping that the Orestians would give them battle. However, King Antiochus of Orestis, knowing full well that the Macedonians and Spartans were preparing to invade Lyncus, decided to delay, and send a message to Perdiccas requesting a marriage alliance and pledging his help in the war with the Lyncestians. Antiochus did, however, send out his cavalry to pick off Lyncestian foragers, and was somewhat successful and curtailing their ability to roam too confidently. This also resulted in a few minor cavalry engagements, in which the Lyncestians tended to have the best of it, but losses in these were very minimal. (-50 Lyncestian infantry, -10 Lyncestian cavalry, -30 Orestian cavalry)
Now, King Antiochus hoped that King Perdiccas and the Spartans would do what seemed most practical to him, namely to reinforce Orestis directly, but Perdiccas had a different plan, and when his troops were raised he marched directly into Lyncus. Arrhabaeus's troops were all in Orestis, apart from a small force of 1000 infantry that was detached to harass his rear and disrupt the conveyance of supplies to his troops. However, such a small force with no capacity or mandate to give battle could not stop Perdiccas's army from entering Lyncus, which it promptly did. Several ambushes and raids were attempted by the Lyncestian detachment, but the Macedonians were drawn up in a way that belied their expectation of raids, and the use of the lower-quality infantry in Perdiccas's army to bear the brunt of the fighting and of the cavalry to guard the march ensured that the Lyncestian raids barely touched the Macedonian hoplites. Even considering that, though, the Lyncestians came off remarkably badly, and fled in complete disorder, while the Macedonians marched right into Lyncus and began to ravage the land, driving north while capturing villages on the way. (-10 Macedonian poor-quality infantry; -150 Lyncestian poor-quality infantry)
In Orestis, meanwhile, Antiochus decided to bring his entire army to meet Arrhabaeus's force. Arrhabaeus immediately - unknown to Antiochus - divided his forces and sent 500 infantry northwards and another 500 infantry southwards to attempt a strategic encirclement, while drawing up the rest of the force opposite Arrhabaeus. Arrhabaeus drew up his entire cavalry force, consisting of 1500 horsemen, on his left, opposite half of Antiochus's cavalry. Arrabaeus also drew up all his worst infantry in the middle of line, with better troops being placed on the flanks. Antiochus, meanwhile, drew up his cavalry with half on each wing and with less of a distinction in the quality of his troops in the line - although he too, being eager to defend his flanks, had a relatively weak centre.
Antiochus, when he saw that all the men in the centre of Arrhabaeus's line were shouting insults at his men and calling them women, while the men on the flank were remaining quiet, and being told that King Arrhabaeus was in the middle (which seemed generally a highly unremarkable fact), considered whether it was best to attack the weak centre. He thought it a better opportunity, on the whole, though to attack the right wing of Arrhabaeus's army, seeing as the troops there were entirely without cavalry support and consequently had an exposed flank. He therefore ordered the cavalry on his own right wing (Arrhabaeus's left) to adopt a defensive position, and the cavalry on his left charged along with the infantry against Arrhabaeus's exposed right flank, doing considerable damage there. (-35 Orestian infantry; -15 Orestian cavalry; -150 Lyncestian infantry)
Then the lines drew together and there was battle all along the line, and then the cavalry fought on Antiochus's right, resulting in a clear Lyncestian victory because of the Lyncestians' threefold advantage in numbers, and the Orestian cavalry on the right broke and fled. The battle then continued, but with Antiochus's cavalry attacking Arrhabaeus's right, and Arrhabaeus's cavalry attacking Antiochus's right, the battle tended to twist round clockwise, in a sense, and the two wings saw the greatest casualties. (-350 Orestian infantry; -400 Lyncestian infantry; -90 Orestian cavalry; -75 Lyncestian cavalry)
The parties that Arrhabaeus had sent round by circuitous routes got lost for some time, or marched too slowly, or received the message to march at too late a point, or at any rate, due to bad communications and bad training in the army did not manage to join the battle early on, which is very much a problem inherent with attempting an encirclement with a badly disciplined and trained army. However, the force that Arrhabaeus had sent to march south turned up at this particular moment, but, since the lines of battle had moved during the struggle as lines tend to do when the opposite flank of opposing armies are under heavy pressure, the force in question arrived not directly behind Antiochus's right wing but at an oblique angle, in such a way as to be attacking now more or less in concert with Arrhabaeus's cavalry force. Finding themselves in a different position from where they had expected to be and rather mixed up with the cavalry, they attacked with no remarkable energy. However, the additional pressure nevertheless gave Antiochus's right considerable difficulty, and after some time it broke and was forced to withdraw. (-75 Orestian infantry, -60 Lyncestian infantry, -10 Lyncestian cavalry)
Following this, the battle turned into a fairly clear Orestian defeat. Antiochus gave the signal for the retreat of his left, and began a retreat in a fairly orderly fashion towards his villages, which turned into a less orderly retreat when Arrhabaeus's other detachment turned up on the northern side. The Orestians dispersed in various directions. (-25 Orestian cavalry, -250 Orestian infantry; -50 Lyncestian infantry)
Arrhabaeus then told his troops to impale all dead enemy soldiers, but the Lyncestians refused; on the one hand they did not want to incur the effort of impaling that many bodies, and on the other many of the leading Lyncestians were related to many of the leading Orestians, not to mention the fact that the prevailing opinion was that Arrhabaeus's command was highly sacrilegious. Arrhabaeus could not prevail on this point, and he could also not prevail on his nobility and his troops to keep on plundering and taking over Orestis when the Macedonians were already plundering Lyncus with scarcely anyone to stop them: it is simply not quite possible to persuade an army with so little discipline to abandon its farms. So, disobeying and rebelling against Arrhabaeus's command, the Lyncestians withdrew from Orestis and marched back into Lyncus - to find that there was now an army considerably more powerful than theirs, consisting primarily of a force of over 2000 well-trained hoplites, with Spartiates among them, waiting for them. They could do little except do battle, as they would have difficulty returning to their villages without passing the Macedonian army, and there was little hope of defending their land by any other method, given the unwalled nature of their villages. This battle was scarcely in doubt even before it had begun; battle was joined, but the Lyncestians were outflanked, outnumbered in cavalry and infantry, and far inferior fighters, as well as being bloodied from the previous fight. When, at the first assault, they suffered three times as many casualties as they inflicted, they immediately fled; the battle and the rout, unlike the previous battle, was over in scarcely two hours, and there is really very little else to be said about it. This illustrates the folly that a commander exhibits if he invades somewhere else when he himself fully knows that a large and powerful army is about to attack his lands. Arrhabaeus, with a few loyal retainers, escaped into the interior of the country. (-50 Macedonian poor-quality infantry; -30 Perioeci; -20 Spartiates; -110 Macedonian Greek hoplites; -20 Macedonian cavalry; -360 Lyncestian infantry; -40 Lyncestian cavalry)
Following this, the various Lyncestian remains of Arrhabaeus's army escaped to their villages (since Lyncus is a poor place with no large walled settlements) and waited for the Macedonian onslaught. The Macedonians moved northwards, taking village by village. When each village saw that they could not resist, they each surrendered, having no confidence left in their king at all, and every reason to suppose that Perdiccas would be just as good a lord. Some of them surrendered without even a show of resistance. In some cases, they were not even sure if Arrhabaeus was still alive. In fact, though, Arrhabaeus escaped into Illyria, where he might yet pose a threat to the Macedonians with his claims to power in Lyncus.
Meanwhile, at Heraclea, supplies had been running decidedly low all spring and summer, and there seemed at hand no imminent source of help for them, but they continued to hold out against the Thessalians, encouraged by orders from Sparta to continue the defence. However, as the war in Macedonia unsurprisingly dragged on through the middle of summer, and the situation seemed to them more and more hopeless, and their defences and numbers more and more precarious, they abandoned the fort and scattered to the four winds. The Trachinians in the city were received back into unity with their kinsmen; the other inhabitants were variously killed, captured, or escaped to Doris, Phocis or Boeotia or even back to their original homes in the Peloponnese. (-200 Heraclean hoplites; -50 Trachinian infantry; -30 Aenianian infantry; -10 Paralian infantry; -10 Hieraean infantry; -110 Heraclean hoplites captured by individual Thessalians and sold as slaves; 150 Heraclean hoplites scattered variously; 50 Heraclean hoplites succeed in returning to Sparta; 60 Heraclean hoplites to Corinth)
Consequently, the Spartans abandoned their plan of invading Thessaly in cooperation with the Macedonians, and sailed home by sea. The Macedonians, on their departure, completed the subjugation of Lyncus with ease.
At Olynthus, the siege continued during the early part of the summer, but the Chalcidians, having no support anywhere, offered their signature to the peace treaty. When this offer reached Athens, there was a body of opinion that held that they should be forced to pay more than the tribute as allocated in the day of Aristides - which by all accounts is a rather small sum considering the large size of Chalcidice - or that the city of Olynthus and the League as a whole should be made to disband and the people to return to the villages they inhabited before Olynthus's (fairly recent) foundation. However, the peace party prevailed, not least through the influence of both Nicias and Alcibiades, who convinced the Assembly that the opportunity to recover Chalcidice was one that should not be passed up. Accordingly, the Chalcidian ambassadors added their signatures, and the siege of Olynthus was lifted. The Athenians gave no direct instruction to the Chalcidians to have the war party's leaders executed, much to many in Chalcidice's surprise. These leaders had been more sure than anyone else, in fact, that the Athenians would directly demand their execution, and as soon as the peace was concluded they had immediately left Chalcidice, giving their political enemies no chance whatsoever to do away with them. (+5 talents' revenue per turn)
the Peace of Nicias concerning Chalcidice said:
These cities shall be independent, paying only the tribute of Aristides. And it shall not be lawful for the Athenians or their allies to carry on war against them after the treaty has been concluded, so long as the tribute is paid. The cities referred to are Argilus, Stagirus, Acanthus, Scolus, Olynthus, and Spartolus [i.e. most of the Chalcidian League in Thrace]. These cities shall be neutral, allies neither of the Lacedaemonians nor of the Athenians; but if the cities consent, it shall be lawful for the Athenians to make them their allies, provided always that the cities wish it.
During the whole course of the summer, the Athenians made preparations for the resettlement of Amphipolis. Accordingly, an expedition of cleruchs set out to the city and settled it without difficuly. Some of the original Athenian colonists also began to return who had left under Brasidas. (+4 talents' revenue per turn; 500 hoplites move from Athens to Amphipolis; 50 hoplites and 100 peltasts immigrate from elsewhere)
All that had happened by the end of the year. The next year was much less eventful in all regards. In Lyncus, all was not entirely quiet, however, as the Macedonians found it very difficult to garrison. The troops in the army were unwilling to serve for very long at a stretch, and most people in the army had already served their terms of service by the end of the campaign, not to mention the need to collect in the harvest from the plains of lower Macedonia and the biting cold of winter that followed, and moreover, following the ravaging of the country and the killing of many of its countrymen, there was too little food for much of the army. No real contingencies had been put in place for what to do with Lyncus once it was taken, either; no new lord or deputy had been put in place and no mechanism installed for summoning the Lyncestians under a new levy. No more, in fact, than the southern part could be garrisoned at all, and the northern, poorer, more peripheral, part (known as Pelagonia) was forced to fend for itself when it suffered raids from Illyrians; its villages banded together in small groups and found various different lords, and many of them made deals of one sort or another with neighbouring chieftains. A few clans of the Illyrians and Dassaretae living west and north of Lyncus even moved in to what had formerly been Arrhabaeus's sphere of influence, and pastured their flocks where formerly Lyncestian flocks had browsed. In short, the area under Perdiccas's control dwindled through the winter and the new year, and the Lyncestians desired that he might appoint a new lord to rule them in Arrhabaeus's stead, and that he might send out some settlers to replace some of the Lyncestians' losses. It had become clear that otherwise little could be done to prevent Illyrians from moving into the Lyncestians' farmland and other villages finding themselves having to make provisions for their own independent security. In any case, the Macedonian army was certainly not able to hold Lyncus by force and by garrisoning it for any period of time, and the effort was already having an impact on the economy and stability of Perdiccas's kingdom, as the Macedonian lords found it increasingly inconvenient and difficult to run their estates with many of their tenants and labourers serving in the army.
-------SOUTHERN GREECE-------
Also in the second year, the Athenians under Nicias marched against Megara with 4000 hoplites and 1000 cavalrymen to ravage their territory. This was the first time they had done this since their capture of Nisaea, although it may be remembered that they had pillaged Megara every summer in the early years of the war. The Megarans did not come out to meet them, and the Athenians, once they had plundered the land, withdrew. (-1 Megaran prosperity)
At the same time, the Athenians sent out a small naval expedition to Crete. Crete is a large island, quite well-populated, and quite self-sufficient, with relatively few imports or exports. The islanders sometimes fight among themselves but fairly infrequently, and sometimes engage in piracy, although the latter was suppressed somewhat by the creation of the Athenian empire. When they fight, they are mostly lightly equipped, often as archers, and they are the finest archers in the Greek world, and often prepared to serve as mercenaries. The Athenians' aim was to convince the cities of Crete to join the Delian League. Some bribes were given to prominent citizens, but it generally turned out to be the case that, in oligarchies, bribes would not induce the prominent citizens to sign up to an agreement that would essentially involve them personally giving money back out of the income from the land (which they themselves owned) in even greater quantities in the long term, whereas in democracies even if the prominent citizens took the bribes they could not prevail upon the poorer citizens to agree to something that seemed to have very little in it by way of advantages. All in all, therefore, the expedition achieved nothing, although a few contacts were established in cities of the sort that are sometimes useful for diplomatic purposes or for forming pro-Athenian parties in case the Athenians ever saw the need to intervene on another occasion.
Incidentally, the Athenians found out when they arrived that the Thebans had also sent a smaller expedition to look round Crete, but no-one could determine precisely what the Thebans had been hoping to achieve there. At any rate, no useful prospects had been hit on for direct trade between Boeotia and Crete.
Meanwhile at Corinth, negotiations took place between Cleonae and Corinth, whereby Corinth released Cleonae to be entirely domestically independent and to have a separate seat at the meetings of the Peloponnesian League. The Cleonaeans were surprised and overjoyed at the Corinthians's friendliness, and went from being altogether hostile to Corinth to being rather amicably disposed towards them. (Cleonae goes from Resentful to Sympathetic)
The Spartans, meanwhile, completely withdrew all their troops from all other cities in the Peloponnese except Mantinea, where the oligarchy felt that the presence of Spartan troops was still helpful. All else in the Peloponnese was quiet for the time being.
In Thespiae in Boeotia, a well-funded conspiracy took place to eject the Theban puppet oligarchy and reinstate a democracy. However, as soon as the conspiracy became widely known - as is inevitable in a democratic plot - it was betrayed to the oligarchy, because the general feeling was that an insurrection would be too risky by far. The ringleaders were rounded up and executed, with very few escaping.
-------THE WEST-------
In the first year, the Italiot League held a Synod at Heraclea. The Tarentines advocated large-scale offensive action against the barbarians, but there was little appetite for this: most of the members simply thought it would be needless expenditure of men and resources for very little possible gain. However, the Synod in this year was not entirely without consequences, as trade between the Lucanians and the Tarentines, Metapontines and Heracleans, which had hitherto taken place alongside small-scale warfare, now began to tail off considerably, as Lucanians increasingly preferred to acquire trade goods through Elea and Thurii (and its outpost Laus) rather than through the openly hostile Taras. (-1 Tarentine prosperity; -0.5 Heraclean prosperity; +0.5 Elean prosperity; +0.5 Thurian prosperity)
In the second year, the Lucanians swept down on Heraclea, shutting up the Heracleans in their city, and carried off a substantial quantity of goods. They withdrew before the Tarentines and Metapontines could gather together forces to oppose them. The year also saw various small-scale raids on Tarentine property that were little more than brigandage. (-0.5 Heraclean prosperity)
The Samnites also plundered the territory of Cumae this year, causing substantial fears in Cumae that the city might only temporarily have escaped ruin. (-0.5 Cumaean prosperity)
-------MISCELLANEOUS AND DOMESTIC INFORMATION-------
Amphipolis is expected to recover prominence in the metal trade gradually, bringing about further revenue for Athens and greater wealth and population for the city itself.
After vicious campaigning by Arrhabaeus, Antiochus and Perdiccas, Orestis and Lyncus are both seriously depleted in population. Some of the losses to the wealthier men in the armies will be made up relatively quickly from the poor inhabitants, but only if the areas in question can be adequately preserved from Illyrian raids. Even if adequately defended, though, which they are not at present and probably cannot effectively be through the agency of an army from outside, these lands are still depopulated and will have problems if not specifically resettled.
In southern Thessaly the Pharsalians sponsored the construction of some roads to the neighbouring cities. The preexisting roads were not really inadequate in any case for the purpose of local farming and pasture, but it is possible that these roads may bring benefits in the future for trade and military purposes.
A temple was started in honour of Ares Enyalios outside Sparta in commemmoration of the victory over the Argives. It will likely be completed next turn.
A beautiful temple to Amphitrite, the Queen of the Sea, in a style unique to Corinth, was constructed on Acrocorinth this year. It was described eloquently in prospect by the architect, who said - to paraphrase - that it was built in the Doric order, but departing in some ways from this simplicity. The capitals of its columns were embellished with both flourish and engraving. Above these columns was a frieze depicting strong ships upon the waves facing outwards at each end, and at the centre was the court of Amphitrite, who herself was beautiful, but posed strongly, bearing a trident. She was attended by her son, Triton, and the Nereids. The temple was built with many other beautiful adornments and worked on by the finest craftsmen in Corinth. A temple to Poseidon is also planned to stand alongside it.
The new temple at Corinth has been much visited and talked about, and has even brought some increased prosperity to the city. More important in this regard, however, has been a general revival of trade through the city following the conclusion of the war with Argos, a trend that, while it has its limits given the dominance of Athens, may be expected to continue in the medium-term. (+1 Corinthian prosperity)
At Thebes, a shrine to Amphion and Zethus was constructed, and then the Thebans began to refortify the Cadmea to be a more effective stronghold. Refortification to the strongest possible level will likely be completed next turn.
The Thebans also tried to get the other cities of Boeotia to improve their port facilities, but they were simply irritated by the Thebans' attempts to involve themselves in their allies' domestic affairs and did nothing. At Aulis and Siphae, however, some improvements were made, but since there is relatively little economic need for extra capacity to trade by sea, the improvements achieved little. The Thebans also laid plans for the construction of roads, although they have been too busy on their other projects to put this into practice so far.
In Taras the great temple of Zeus was completed, a fine and grand monument. Also a policy was put into force whereby immigration was invited and poor citizens who wished to establish themselves in Taras would be given arms by the state. This is a fairly unique policy, but in Taras's circumstances is considered very sensible, and meets with little conservative resistance. It is expected to bring not insubstantial benefits on the Tarentine economy. (+1 prosperity)
In Acragas, work was begun on expanding the city's port facilities, in the hope that trade will increase. This work may take several years, but is likely to bring substantial wealth into the city.
Diplomacy:
From Megara
To Sparta and the Peloponnesian League
What are we to do? We cannot sign the treaty, because our harbour is under Athenian control. The treaty surely was not signed by you with the intention that if Athens attacked your allies - such as we are - they should get away with it. If we are given no help, or if Athens is not restrained, know that this will be a mark of shame on you all, and one day we will perforce fall, bringing Athens a step closer to the Peloponnese, and cutting off your easy access to our allies in Boeotia and the north. Do not let such things happen, and rather act according to the justice and virtue for which you are renowned, and give us your help.
To King Perdiccas of Macedonia
From King Antiochus of Orestis
O great King, I asked you for an alliance and a marriage, but you spurned me and did nothing to help me, your loyal kinsman and subject, though you yourself were marching against Lyncus and though our two armies together would have been yet more an invincible force. Through this, my countrymen lie dead, and Lyncus is ravaged by Illyrians and your army confounded by its very strength. O King, abandon this folly and let us be allies firmly and unchangingly, and let us cooperate together to preserve all Macedonia from internal strife and ruin. If we jeopardise all by massacre on massacre of hundreds, or even thousands of men, Macedonia cannot last long, nor can your power. Only together can we succeed and can you rule in prosperity.
To Thessaly
From Doris
Although we are kinsmen and allies of Sparta, we have had no hostile intent against the Thessalian League, nor is it us who have been defending Heraclea against you. We hope you will not attack us, since we are but poor herdsmen in a poor land with no capacity to harm you.
OOC:
Most things that went wrong in people's plans here were the results of inadequate planning or bad campaign orders, but generally I was pleased with the promptness and quality of the orders. If we can repeat it, I am certain that this NES can only go well.
Sorry about the delay.
Stats will probably come in a day or two, but there will be no changes other than the ones noted in the update (i.e. if you're really keen you can probably even calculate your own stats!).
The deadline will be
Sunday 30th, unless you feel that that is really impractically soon. The reason for this is that, soon after that, I'm heading off on holiday for a week and a half, and I will have no internet access, but if I have all orders by the end of Sunday I should be able to update before I go. If you sort out diplomacy and make plans quickly, I expect this ought to be possible.
Map:
