Advanced Hellenistic Era NES

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Athenikia :

Yes

Macedonia to Sparta :

We could transport some of your troops to Rome to help fight the Umbrians. We’re sure both you and the Romans would like that. Is that the kind of thing you’re interested in?


6 talents for horses, plows, etc. for peasants who have not yet benefited
6 talents to improve the road and build accommodations near the Athenian border to better facilitate trade.
6 talents to finish improving the port at Appolonia.
10 talents to begin improving the roads that link Appolonia to the rest of the kingdom. After some more money has been invested, Appolonia will be the main trade transit on the Macedonian West Coast, making trade with the Western Mediterranean easier and more profitable.
3 talents to send promising students to the Athenian Academy (obviously not all their costs will be covered, it is a sort of a “grant”) as well as an architect to learn the content of the Academy’s philosophy and the architectural achievements of Athens.

The government will not be directly responsible for the suspected gold mine, but will sell the area (assuming it is not already owned, if it is owned by someone the deal must be negotiated with the owners) for 1 gold talent and 10 percent of the future profits.

Bring the Army of Alexander back to Abydos.

[laurentius]

Roman Republic

Mars XX Idus 329 BC

The mood in the city was waiting, the doors at the Temple of Vesta had been shut once again, as always when Rome was at war. Everyone seemed to be waiting eagerly for eny news from the senate meeting taking place tonight in the Lupercal grotto at the Palatine hill. After recent developments Rome seemed to be once again at danger.


The Meeting

Senators began arriving right after 6 in the evening. Many noticed that the all armys most senior centurions and to be commanders of the legions the Legatus Legionis other commanders were also present were already present. At 7 dictator Laurentius Aelius arrived with his lictors, who were carrying fasces, a special type of axes as a mark of the absolute authority dictator had overeveryone. The dictator could sentence anyone he pleased to death and the lictors were there to execute his orders immediately. Dictators were used only when states whole existance was under a great thread. Usually the dictators term lasted for one year. Of course after dictators term passed and when the state of emergency was over, he stepped down and continued living as a normal citizen. Now he was needed though as the Umbrian army and the Samnians were on the move.

The senate meeting went on till the early hours of the next day. When the meeting was over everyone went home exept the army commanders,Laurentius and the speaker of the senate as well as leading politicians from the both parties. They had a secret meeting to attend to and later something to announce.

Military reform

Every citizen was invited to be at the forum romanum 10 o´clock. The commanders of the army, dictator and the speaker of the senate walked to the rostra and announced that a marshal law had been imposed to the city. A strict military law was now in use and the penalty for most crimes was to be death. Also a new tax to cover the military operations was set, all this until further notice.

The military commanders announced that the number of legions was now to be increased from 2 to 4. A full scale offensive was to be launched against the Umbrians and their land was to be annexed to Rome. In near future roman colonies were to be built there and any voluntaries were adviced to enlist immediately. Their debts were to be nullified and any crimes they had committed in the past were to be pardoned. Every centurion of the army would be retrained and the whole army was to be reorganised.

People listened quietly, but immediately after the announcement were made everyone seemed to be calmer now that it was apparent that the government and the military were dealing with the issues.

The exotic goods from the carthagian, persian, athenian and macedonian vessels made life more comfortable at difficult times like these. The price of wheat had gone down as carthagian wheat was appearing to the market, athenian pottery was now available and people were fascinated by its rich ornamentation and high quality. They started to call it ceramics after the kerameikos district in Athens where it had been made. Persian rugs and Macedonian kitchenware were also to become objects of desire. The state had promised to held a lottery to equally distribute the 150 rugs thus raising the spirit among the people.


Orders

- 40 talents to fully retrain the army to increase the military effectiveness considerably.
- 14 talents to train 1000 fresh swordsmen.
- 2 talents at treasury
- Move the 450 swordsmen to invade the corsican town of Alalia
- Use 25 triemes to transport 436 swordsmen to Alalia and make an amphibious assault on the town by sea.
- Disband both 2 legions.
- From 18 000 swordsmen, 5 929 horsemen and 23 782 foot soldiers form 4 legions.
- Legion I Romana will consist of 5000 swordsmen, 1500 horsemen and 5000 foot soldiers. It will be commanded by dict. Laurentius.
- Legion II Italica will consist of 5000 swordsmen, 2000 horsemen and 6000 foot soldiers. it Will be commanded by Fluvius Camillus, the best strategist in the Army.
- Legion III Latina will consist of 4000 sworsmen, 1000 horsemen and 5000 foot soldiers. It will be commanded by Marcus Aemilius.
- Legion IV Augusta will consist of the rest 4000 swordsmen, 1429 horsemen and 6782 foot soldiers. It will be commanded by the young talent, Publius Cornelius Scipio.
- Legions I and II move to confront the Umbrian army and then move to the Umbrian capital and ultimately conquer it and the rest of the land. Legion III will remain at Fort Latina to secure Romes south border from the increasing raids by the Samnians. Legion IV will help legion I and II in defeating the Umbrian army and further assist them if necessary, but its main objective is to conquer independently the smaller towns and villages of Umbria.
-Send an ultimatum to the Samnians.



Rome to Carthage

Ave! Many thanks for the trade our Carthagian friends. The merchants in Rome would like to ask if theres any particular good Carthagians would be interested in trading? We are still interested in buying that strange indian magic drink.

Rome to Athenikia

We are sorry to hear that. We would gladly send our most promising individuals to your great academy, but the lack of state funds and language barrier prohibit it right now.

Rome to Persia

The rugs have arrived. Many thanks. We look forward to future trading with you.

[Micha]

Carthage to Rome
Unfortunately the crumbled leaves and blossoms the Indians call Thé aren´t available at the Persian markets right now, at least not for export. And since we rely on Persian traders to sell us those goods we cannot access those goods.
However we will ask the Persians to increase the amount of Thé that is to be exported, and then we can trade it to you.

Carthage to Persia
We are interested in an Indian good called Thé. Large amounts of it are demanded by our people and customers all around the Western Mediterranean, thus guaranteeing good profits for both of us. Please increase your export of these goods, it surely won´t hurt your coffers

[bipolarbear]

Persia to Carthage
Of course, but what exactly is The', and what is it used for? We are assuming thta it is a form of spice, but we have been to afraid to actually use it. Our stockpile rooms are filled with The', but we have previoulsy thouyght it to be some sort of rocket fuel for an alien spaceship, or maybe just excriment in disguise.


Persia would liek to spend its talents as listed:
1: 30 talents to improve miltiary effectiveness
2: 20 talents toward increasing trade abilities, routes, and the effectiveness thereof.
3: 10 talents to improve the means of production
4: 10 talents to improve infrastructure

[foolish_icarus]

Macedon to Persia :

Now that we have assured peace, perhaps we could begin trading?

[bipolarbear]

Persia to Macedon\
, of course of course Comrade, providing thta you don't post any troops in Sinope, Amisos, Trapezunt, Phasis, or Haralkleia Pontica. Oh wait, you do have troops in Trapezunt, remove htis obvious threat to Persia and we cna be gin a very successful and mutaully economically beneficial trade.

Persia to Athenika
The GCC will rise(again)!!!!!

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Persia :

How about we limit the number of troops we can have in that region? We will have no more than a combined force of 5000 men in those territories and you will have no more than a combined force of 5000 men in Phrygia, Paphlagonia, and Armenia. Sound good?

[foolish_icarus]

Wise Athenikia,

We see no hostility or dispute here, only caution and a mutual desire for security, to make the peace long lasting, stable, and productive.

(OOC: you probably saw the unedited version of my previous post)

[Micha]

OOC:
If I may remind the mighty Persia of the Egyptians ravaging the southern lands... Tip: Persia has by far the largest military in the world; It´s spread all over the country, but it´s not fixed there with glue

[Micha]

Update will start in about 4 to 5 hours from now. Please get your orders in.
(Bipolar: don´t you want to fight the Egyptians???)

[Micha]

Starting Update

[bipolarbear]

yes I do wish to fight the Egyptians with 3/4 of total miltitary power that will still allow for stability to remain within the country.

OOC: SOrry about the update problem, my mom and I had a fight, and she kicked me off of the computer, so all of my actions will have to be covert.

Persia to Macedon

Macedonia to Persia :

How about we limit the number of troops we can have in that region? We will have no more than a combined force of 5000 men in those territories and you will have no more than a combined force of 5000 men in Phrygia, Paphlagonia, and Armenia. Sound good?

How about we make it so that we can only have 5000 per region? My country is lacking stability, and I need to queel any insurgetns factions for the time being. WHne things settel, I will decrese my numberas, but for now I must keep my country highly militarized.
If you withdraw your troops, I give you the collective word of Persia the pleasurable that we will not invade your hardly macroscopic territories.

[foolish_icarus]

Macedonia to Persia

5000 per region is acceptable. We must maintain force for the sake of our population’s morale.

[Micha]

UPDATE - 325 to 320 b.c.

Middle East
Egypt
After long years of siege, the Persian city of Tanys has finally fallen and was looted. Of course not much gold was stored there, so the losses for the Persian empire were quite low. But the inability of the great king to cope with the Egyptians has led to an overall morale loss. Since the town of Naucratis is a neutral greek colony, it was left unharmed by the Pharao´s troops, thus improving greek-egyptian relations.
The Nile Army marched further north and finally encountered the first of the three Persian armies scattered throughout the Province of Palaestina. The battle evolving has been a bloody one, especially on the Persian side. Lacking cavalry, the Persians were like sitting ducks for the Pharao´s troops; After the death of the Persian commander his army surrendered, completely dissolving itself. Almost 5,000 soldiers have been enslaved, the rest was killed. All of the captured siege equipment had been destroyed in the battle.
However, the Egyptian army has also taken heavy losses, so its advance has stopped for now.

Persia
After the apparent failures in the Egyptian war, the great king of Persia is now concentrating on inner affairs. After demanding a better training of his troops, he ordered the improvement of the empire´s trade capabilities and infrastructure as well as better means of production. Since the empire is heavily decentralized, those projects only effect the Persian mainlands. There it led to an increased inner trade, especially between Babylonia and eastern Persia. This is bringing more wealth to Babylon, which thus will now pay higher tributes.
Tributes payed:
Babylonia sent 850 war chariots and 5 talents, Assyria sent 1,500 horsemen, Armenia 500 horsemen and 1 talent, Phoenicia another 3 talents and the Anatolian provinces have added 5 talens to the Persian coffers.

Greece and Asia Minor
Macedonia
Again a decent amount of talents flows into the peasant help program, allowing for more than 100 horses to be distributed amongst the poor farmers of the Macedonian countryside. The people speak highly of their king, praising his dedication towards the poor. In most places he is called King Antigonus the Generous.
Apollonia, the recently expanded harbour on the wester coast, has now been finished. The new harbour is large enough to handle the whole kingdom´s trade alone, though right now there are only a few ships using it. Most of them are loading kitchenware that is then exported to Rome.
Macedonia´s road network is also receiving massive funding, improving existant links between the larger towns and creating entirely new ones where appropriate. It becomes obvious that the whole infrastructural system is centralizing trade by creating a spiderweb of roads with the capital city of Pella at the center.
This is not only helping the trade in the region, but also improving the tax collection effectiveness.
On the other hand, the permanent peace in the region is causing the Macedonian army to lose discipline and training, thus reducing its effectiveness. Most of Alexander´s generals have died or resigned, and slowly the old glory is fading.
Although the suspected gold mine was quite cheap to be bought, the lack of roads and the unsecure site has scared off potential investors. Also most people think the mineral resources are an affair of the central power, not a private enterprise.
Meanwhile to the north, barbarian tribes are expanding in Moesia. Some of them have been seen south of the Danube river, reclaiming what Alexander took. But no raids have been reported yet, so maybe they are peaceful and want to begin trade...

Athens
The City wall around Athens is growing and becoming a real bulwark against any invaders. The 54 copper-armoured towers provide a good prewarn system as well as excellent archery positions. A long moat has been digged all around the wall, hindering potential enemy´s assaults. However, the city is still opened to the sea, only protected by its fleet. But then, most rivals bow to the naval power of Athens...

Lydia
The Lydian people are craving for war, longing for revenge of the terrible defeats during the first Persian war. Abandoned by its allies, Lydia is undecided what to do. But with each year passing the dissent rises, and Persia grows stronger and stronger.
Occasional raids into Persian territory have been fought back by local garrisons, though no real battle developed. The King of Lydia is preparing his armies for the unevitable war, but the time and place of the initial fight hasn´t been decided yet.

Aegian Sea
Once again the mighty Cretean city of Cnossos has started to expand its power and spread influence over the divided greek. First as pirates, raiding the mostly undefended trade routes in the Aegian Sea, after some time even assaulting islands and coastal towns in the area.
At last they managed to defeat the defences of Delos and Naxos, the two most important islands within the Aegian Sea. Now their harbours are used as pirate bases, and more ships are being produced.
Already most of the islands are under Cretean control, disturbing especially Attic and Lydian trade immensely. Rumours say they Spartans had allied with Cnossos, but the sources are hardly reliable.

Black Sea
Left out of greek policies, the colonies along the Black Sea coast to the north have developed independently from their mother cities. Although the grain grown there is still the most important food source for mainland greece, no other contacts than these trades have been made.
Now the open steppes north of the coast aren´t uninhabited; Scythian nomads patrol the vast grasslands, occassionally trading amber and furs in exchange for mediterranean goods. But some tribes are hostile, and from time to time Greek villages are plundered and the inhabitants slaughtered. In order to face that growing menace, most of these greek colonies have united forming the "Bosporian Greek". Scythians and Crimeans are advancing towards the coast, thus threatening to cut off the vital grain trade routes.

Italian peninsula
Facing a growing menace from the mountain tribes and old enemies, the Republic of Rome has imposed martial law. This means a much stricter handling of crimes as well as the supremacy of warfare over civil needs. Higher taxes were introduced, funding a large military budget.
The army leaders have been retrained intensely, and new recruits will now have to pass a harder training time as well. This is improving the general effectivity of the army greatly, in fact it might now be considered the strongest force in the Western mediterranean.
Bold and daring commanders have taken the lead of the four Roman legions, which marched through Umbria crushing the little resistance they found. Several little villages were taken, before the Roman main force encountered the combined army of the Umbrians.
Up in the hills, in the homelands of Umbria, a terrible battle began.
Hundreds of Umbrian townsmen joined their army to defend their souvereignity, adding up to 25,000 Umbrians facing 24,500 Roman legionnaires. Unable to establish a decent battle order, the Romans had to take serious casualties in the first phase of the battle. However, the better trained, better equipped and more experienced legions soon managed to turn the tide and draw back the Umbrians down the hills to the Eastern coast.
Now the two legions found time to regroup and deploy properly, attacking a routed enemy locked by water from above; This final fighting only lasted two hours; The Umbrians surrendered, their leader was arrested by the Roman troops. More than 5,000 Umbrian warriors have been enslaved and brought back to Rome. After the army had been annihilated, the Umbrian towns of Pisaurum and Ariminum were taken easily. About 11 talents could be plundered.

But there was a second conquest for Rome to do - Corse! Encircling the small town of fishermen from land and sea, the swordsmen ancountered no resistance by the locals. Instead, 2 triremes ran aground and sunk, drowning 65 swordsmen in the cold waters of the sea. However, the coffers of the town contributed another 4 talents for the Roman treasury.

Meanwhile, to the south, Samnite tribes are pressing into Magna Graecia. The greek colony of Neapolis was overrun by the advancing hordes, now craving for help by Rome. A Roman envoy, issuing an ultimatum to the Samnites, has been sent back without hands and eyes; this means the start of the second Samnite war. As it seems, the Samnites and Ethruscians have allied to face the threats of a growing Rome and his potential greek allies. While Ethruria hasn´t started any offensives as of now, they shouldn´t be underestimated.

To calm the citizens, the Romans have raffled 150 Persian rugs amongst the people of the capital. Of course many of the rich took part in the lottery, so the (rather small) sum of 1 talent could be collected. But after the rugs were distributed, a fierce fistfight broke out between the lucky winner and the other 2,000 participants, resulting in 120 injured patricians...

Western Mediterranean
Carthage has finally found the source of the Iberian native´s golden jewelry. The precious metal is extracted from a river nearby, and when the prospectors were searching that area, they have also found abundant iron deposits.
With this discovery, the colony of Carthago Nova became second largest city within the Carthagian Empire. It´s prospering and growing, while the harbour has already became too small. So the Counsil of the hundred-four has decided to grant the funding of a far larger harbour, guarded by a giant statue of the Carthagian deity of wealth.
This project will cost hundreds of talents, but the city seems worth the efforts.

NPC orders
- Rome annexed Umbria
- "Legion I Romana" has lost 612 swordsmen, 449 horsemen and 1,410 foot soldiers
- "Legion II Italica" has lost 221 swordsmen, 376 horsemen and 875 foot soldiers
- "Legion IV Augusta" has lost 7 foot soldiers who were executed by Publius Cornelius Scipio for looting and raping
- "Cales Fleet" lost 2 triremes
- "Corse Army" lost 65 swordsmen
- the "Umbrian Army" has been annihilated
- the "Syrian Army" has been annihilated
- Egypt has trained 3,000 horsemen (42 talents) and 2,500 war chariots (100 talents) and added them to "Pharao´s Army"
- the "Pharao´s Army" has lost 794 war chariots, 2,445 horsemen, 8,966 foot soldiers and siege weaponry worth 5 talents
- Sparta has trained 1,000 horsemen (14 talents) and 1,000 hoplites (9 talents) and added them to "Spartan Elites"
- Lydia has trained 2,000 horsemen (28 talents) and added them to "Lydian Army"
- Magna Graecia is now NPC; 55 talents are invested into fortification of Syracuse, 40 talents into fortification of Elea
- Carthage invested 35 talents into expansion of the harbour of Carthago Nova, and started working on the "Guardian of the West" wonder (25 talents)
- New "Samnite Army" consisting of 3,500 horsemen; 19,600 foot soldiers; 11,000 light infantry has formed in Samnium
- New "Scythian Nomads II" consisting of 8,500 horsemen have formed northeast of Olbia
- New country: Crete
- New country: Bosporian Greek
- New settlement: Ariminum

[foolish_icarus]

To Athens and Lydia :

We can contribute triremes to help fight the pirates, but of course we cannot do it by ourselves.


To Moesian tribes :

We offer 25 gold talents and the protection of the powerful Macedonian State against the encroaching barbarians for you to join our kingdom. If you accept your army could be added into our own or dissolved into civilian life, as you see fit.


2000 Horsemen are to be taken from Trapezunt and added to the Army of Alexander, the whole of which is to be transported into Thrace, in Northeastern Macedon.

Expenditures:

5 talents for 700 light infantrists specially trained to fight at sea/boarding ships, primitive marines. They are to be attached to the Macedonian fleet (after it is done transporting Alexander’s army). The fleet will defend and escort Macedonian transports and trade vessels.

6 Talents peasant aid.

Hold the other talents in reserve for the time being until (if) negotiations with the Moesians are finalized.