Rome: Total War AAR
Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:54 pm
The Greek City States
In 270 BCE the Greek City states are fragmented. The legacy of Alexander weighs heavily upon every Greek leader, and fifty years have passed since his death. The empire he crafted - the largest in the world - stretching from the Adriatic to the Indus river would fall quickly into disarray as his generals, the Diodochi began fighting amongst themselves. It would take less then two years for the first cracks to appear in this empire as the elected regent Perdiccas fell into conflict with Ptolemy who was the governor of Egypt at the time. He would die in the attempt to bring Ptolemy back in line and within a matter of years the empire had totally disintegrated.
In Egypt, Ptolemy initially the satrap or "protector of the country" would found his own dynasty. An invasion force by the late Perdiccas would be beaten back and over the next few decade the Egyptian king would endeavor to firstly hold onto his Egyptian possessions and secondly to expand outwards towards Palestine and Cyprus. With the murders of Alexander's only legitimate heirs Ptolemy was left without any real outside threats to his dynasty. Later campaigns would expand the countries influence with troops battling in Greece itself. He would die however at the age of 84 in 283 BCE. His dynasty would continue however with his son - Ptolemy II.
To the north of Egypt the partition of Alexander's empire would continue as well. The catalyst of this would be Seleucis I Nicator. Given the satrap for Babylon he would craft his empire with the help of Ptolemy. By the time of Seleucis's death his empire would encompass most of the Fertile Crescent and much of Anatolia. In Persia too the Seleucids would rule, but their holdings in the Indus valley would be lost within decades.
In Greece the Macedonian empire would continue its domination but within the next few decades much of the cohesiveness of that area would unravel leaving Macedon with little of its former possessions. This left the few remaining Greek City States were we shall conduct our examination.
Considerably weaker then the other Greek states in Egypt and Southwest Asia these free Greek cities were scattered. From Sicalia to Greece and the shores of Anatolia this cities would hold a loose association under the rule of Kleomenes of Sparta. Yet while these city states would have been a powerful force together they were separated by the sea left vulnerable to local strongmen. It was clear something had to be done.
Syracuse was the most untenable of these cities. While it did have a strong defense and a robust economy Kleomenes knew that with the Romans to the north and the Carthaginians to the west the city was due to fall to either of these powers. The garrison of the area was several thousand men strong, needed to increase the local defenses in Greece or the Anatolian areas of the confederacy.
Kleomenes was proven right the next spring in 269 BCE as the Romans attacked and occupied Syracuse, yet the leader of the Greeks had predicted this act of vile treachery and avoided its stinging bite. But now where would the previous garrison of Syracuse go? News from Thermon in the northern part of Greece had alluded to another Roman attack on settlements along the Adriatic. It was here that the garrison would go to scout out any Roman forces and attack them before they could strike at Thermon.
Landing north of Thermon the forces under the command of Kleomenes son - Dionysius would indeed find the Roman forces. Centered around the small settlement of Apollonia they had annexed the area and even now several hundred troops were setting up defenses. Beginning his campaign Dionysius and his men, supported by Cretan archers and Peltasts from Thermon would destroy local crops and pillage the countryside while bottling up the Romans in the settlement itself. The siege would become more serious in the summer of 268 BCE and Dionysius would begin the construction of several battering rams.
Unknown to him a second force of Romans nearly half his size would attack his flank in late September 268. Still outnumbering the Romans but with surprise on their side the Battle of the Siege of Apollonia was about to begin. The fate would Thermon and Greek bid to check the Roman expansion in the Balkans was set to hang in the balance.
In 270 BCE the Greek City states are fragmented. The legacy of Alexander weighs heavily upon every Greek leader, and fifty years have passed since his death. The empire he crafted - the largest in the world - stretching from the Adriatic to the Indus river would fall quickly into disarray as his generals, the Diodochi began fighting amongst themselves. It would take less then two years for the first cracks to appear in this empire as the elected regent Perdiccas fell into conflict with Ptolemy who was the governor of Egypt at the time. He would die in the attempt to bring Ptolemy back in line and within a matter of years the empire had totally disintegrated.
In Egypt, Ptolemy initially the satrap or "protector of the country" would found his own dynasty. An invasion force by the late Perdiccas would be beaten back and over the next few decade the Egyptian king would endeavor to firstly hold onto his Egyptian possessions and secondly to expand outwards towards Palestine and Cyprus. With the murders of Alexander's only legitimate heirs Ptolemy was left without any real outside threats to his dynasty. Later campaigns would expand the countries influence with troops battling in Greece itself. He would die however at the age of 84 in 283 BCE. His dynasty would continue however with his son - Ptolemy II.
To the north of Egypt the partition of Alexander's empire would continue as well. The catalyst of this would be Seleucis I Nicator. Given the satrap for Babylon he would craft his empire with the help of Ptolemy. By the time of Seleucis's death his empire would encompass most of the Fertile Crescent and much of Anatolia. In Persia too the Seleucids would rule, but their holdings in the Indus valley would be lost within decades.
In Greece the Macedonian empire would continue its domination but within the next few decades much of the cohesiveness of that area would unravel leaving Macedon with little of its former possessions. This left the few remaining Greek City States were we shall conduct our examination.
Considerably weaker then the other Greek states in Egypt and Southwest Asia these free Greek cities were scattered. From Sicalia to Greece and the shores of Anatolia this cities would hold a loose association under the rule of Kleomenes of Sparta. Yet while these city states would have been a powerful force together they were separated by the sea left vulnerable to local strongmen. It was clear something had to be done.
Syracuse was the most untenable of these cities. While it did have a strong defense and a robust economy Kleomenes knew that with the Romans to the north and the Carthaginians to the west the city was due to fall to either of these powers. The garrison of the area was several thousand men strong, needed to increase the local defenses in Greece or the Anatolian areas of the confederacy.
Kleomenes was proven right the next spring in 269 BCE as the Romans attacked and occupied Syracuse, yet the leader of the Greeks had predicted this act of vile treachery and avoided its stinging bite. But now where would the previous garrison of Syracuse go? News from Thermon in the northern part of Greece had alluded to another Roman attack on settlements along the Adriatic. It was here that the garrison would go to scout out any Roman forces and attack them before they could strike at Thermon.
Landing north of Thermon the forces under the command of Kleomenes son - Dionysius would indeed find the Roman forces. Centered around the small settlement of Apollonia they had annexed the area and even now several hundred troops were setting up defenses. Beginning his campaign Dionysius and his men, supported by Cretan archers and Peltasts from Thermon would destroy local crops and pillage the countryside while bottling up the Romans in the settlement itself. The siege would become more serious in the summer of 268 BCE and Dionysius would begin the construction of several battering rams.
Unknown to him a second force of Romans nearly half his size would attack his flank in late September 268. Still outnumbering the Romans but with surprise on their side the Battle of the Siege of Apollonia was about to begin. The fate would Thermon and Greek bid to check the Roman expansion in the Balkans was set to hang in the balance.