Blasted Numidia: 570-584
- Suffering from Global Warming -
During the last years of the reign of the great king Masinissa, the king ever felt the smothering heat of his realm more painfully year by year. It was said, and as is often the case in these sort of things, it is not clear who actually
said it, yet everyone knew that it was said by somebody and careful observation supported it, that the country had begun overheating at the end of 572, shortly after the annexation of Carthage.
Some blamed it on the High Priest of Carthage, the preeminent priest of the Carthaginian pantheon, for being a bad loser when the king tossed him into the sacred fires while dedicating his victory to Lord Cool, others blamed global warming.
Whatever may be the case, with the king pushing on his mid-fifties, he became interested in cooler horizons, places where, perhaps, one could live in a reasonable temperature while enjoying a glass of wine without listening to the whining clergy or suffering the heat of blasted Numidia, as he had taken to curse his land.
Say Hispania. A nice piece of real estate just past the sea, overrun, occupied, and colonised by the Republic of Rome over the last many years, the Rome that insisted on their superiority of culture and language who kept going around naming
everything as if anybody had asked their opinion about it.
Sending envoys north to scout the world, he began careful planning on War Plan Olive while building up the army, navy, and infrastructure. In the latter he was greatly helped by the Carthaginian genius Baalhanno Eshbaalid (6/3/11), who was appointed Vizier.
Originally planned for the late 570'ies, the premature demise of his heir Micipsa in a friendly stab incident with his second son Gulussa in 573 caused the king to focus on domestic security for a while leaving Operation Olive on standby. His new heir was Micipsa's first son, a boy four years of age named Djedhor, and Masinissa began working hard on create an environment in which young Djedhor could take the throne with some sort of security should he inherit before he was of age. He assigned his eminent treasurer, Peneus Naravid, to train Djedhor in political matters and stand ready to serve as regent, should the worst happen.
Great Masinissa, conqueror of Carthage, never got to see War Plan Olive unfold. While hunting with the court one day in 581, he accidentally fell from his horse, was trampled and gored by a boar, and shot through the forehead thrice. His oldest living son, Gulussa, who was present at the hunt, ruled it a regrettable accident.
At only 12 years of age, Djedhor Massinisid took the throne and Numidia wept for the loss of Masinissa, who lived for 65 years, gave good government, and, with the exception of a few Carthaginian rebels, was loved by everyone.
In his thirteenth year of age, King Djedhor, ably assisted by his clever regent, sent a fleet of 17 triremes east to “see what's going on over there – I hear that the Seleucids are fighting again!” - and forgot about them. The entire fleet managed to sink in the Eastern Mediterranean, not a single captain being capable of bringing in his ship for repairs or supplies without orders, highlighting certain deficiencies in the naval leadership.
In his fourteenth year of age, he stumbled across the plans for War Plan Olive and began studying hard. The return of barbarian invaders on the southern border caused inconvenience and his popularity plummeted, but nothing that lavish bribes could not handle. Djedhor was paying hand over fist, eagerly awaiting the year he could take a consort for the purpose of raising his nobles' loyalty and his own spirits.
In his fifteenth year of age, he got bored with the intricacies of his Grandfather's War Plan Olive and instigated what would come to be described as “That Incident Past The Sea”.
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Sorry, everybody. It is just too hot to think here. It may not officially be a heatwave in Denmark, but it is very, very, hot where I am sitting. On the positive side, this should mark the last installment on my part without any pictures as I had, by the third session, remembered how to take screenshots in EU:Rome.
