THE LIFE AND DEEDS OF ANTIMACHUS:
EPISODE III: REVENGE OF _________
It is said that when Gods are at play, Man suffers.
Thus it was, that in the year 1155 of the Common Era, a vast and terrifying host started its long Anabasis from Antiocheia towards Seleukeia on the Tigris, and as it approached its ultimate goal, great contingents from the realms of the Great Basileus Antimachus joined it along the way, swelling its numbers:
Hellenes, Nabateans, Palmyrenes, Ammanites and even Bedouin tribesmen answered the call of the Great Basileus of Syria as his magnificent host marched inexorably into the East, following in the never forgotten footsteps of another Conqueror, now long lost to the world of Man.
Antimachus, Trueblood of Seleukos, Great Basileus of the Eastern Kingdoms, Hegemon of the Hellenes lead his great army in person, as his Hetairoi followed in his wake.
And so it came to be that on the Ides of July, as Roman historians have noted, at a place the Bedouins call Ain Al-Tamur, the great army of Antimachus finally met its Eastern foe.
The great host of the Hellenes arrayed itself in battle formation, the Argyraspidai under Amyntas in their place of honor on the right, Neophytos commanding the Nabateans on the left, while the Basileus himself took command of the center.
The Arab army arrayed against them across the field waited for the Hellenes to make their move.
Antimachus rode forward on his great black warhorse and inspected his battle line, as he saluted his men.
"My proud warriors, my true brothers! This is not a time for talking!" the Basileus shouted, his powerful voice carrying over the host. "This is a time for killing! This a time for blood! This is the time of Death! This is the time of Our victory!"
"This is the time our enemy dies and we triumph!"
"Seleukos is with us!" Antimachus shouts.
"And Megas Alexandros watches from on high!" he cries as he points his sword towards the Heavens.
And it said that in that very moment a sword of Fire was seen in the sky, and that Apollo Helios himself thundered across the firmament answering the Basileus below.
And as the glorious rays of the Sun embraced the army of the Hellenes, the sacred standard of the ancient Makedonian kings answered in kind. The Sun of the Argeadai was raised in the very center of the battleline as the army watched the Sacred banner of Alexandros issue its reply to the Heavens.
"Seleukos Akatanikitos! Akatanikitos!" the Basileus shouts.
The Argyraspidai take up the cry, and as the great phalanx raise their sarissas to salute the Heavens, the Basileus raises his sword once more towards Apollo Helios and Megas Alexandros and the phalanx battleline starts to move forward as one to glory.
As the Seleukid line moved forward something unexpected happened. The lines of pikemen parted and the great mass of Syrian cavalry spearheaded by the Hetairoi and lead in person by Antimachus shifted to the left. The Seleukid horse archers galloped away ahead of the cavalry as they opened up on the enemy flank. Followed by the rapidly advancing phalanx, the mass of Syrian cavalry shift further away from the infantry, following the horse archers to the left. The Arab light cavalry shift to meet this threat, yet the Syrians do not charge. The Hetairoi had stopped and reformed in a wedge, while the Seleukid horse archers fire on the Arab cavalry.
Antimachus rides forward in the very center of the wedge, as the Sun banner of the Argeadai is brought to him. He looks towards the advancing phalanx, then towards the cloudless sky above.
"Alexandros with us!" he shouts as his Companions cheer and at a signal follow him into battle.
The great mass of Syrian cavalry charged as one, the Hetairoi breaking through the Arab cavalry just as the pikemen battleline met the enemy head on. The Basileus Antimachus, resplendant on his black warhorse rides through the Arab battle line, his Hetairoi dealing death in his wake, while on the right his Argyraspides break the enemy light infantry and push its remnants towards the center into the oncoming hammer of the Hetairoi.
"Alexandros!" Antimachus cries as the enemy battleline twists and fractures before the onslaught makes it collapse entirely.
Then as the sky above reddens, the sands turn red with slaughter, and as cruel gods watch on, a great cry rises towards the heavens, as the victorious Hellenes honor their Basileus:
"Megas! Megas! Megas Antimachus!"
And as if Apollo Helios himself answered their triumph, the Sun shone brighter than ever before as the victorious ranks of the Argyraspidai knelt before their Basileus, and the Sacred Sun Banner of Alexandros.
Many expected this to be just the beginning, when in fact it was the herald of the end. Following a short, decisive cavalry action outside Baghdad, the enemy Emir was captured by the Nabatean cavalry and brought in chains before Antimachus. The Great Basileus struck off his chains and received his submission.
And thus it was that on the very dawn of the next day the victorious Hellenes entered Baghdad in triumph only to leave the city the day after to make the short march to Ctesiphon and Seleukeia on the Tigris.
As Apollo Helios rose in the sky and the Light embraced the expectant Earth, the triumphant Argyraspides marched through the Taq-i Kisra, the Arch of Khosrau and raised their sarissas saluting the Sun above.
"Seleukos Akatanikitos! Akatanikitos!" they shout as they aproach the Sacred city of Seleukeia.
Then to a man they fall silent in reverence of their ancestors as they enter the sand swallowed city. Their Basileus leads them through the abandoned streets of the city, to the ruined Temple of Alexandros-Ammon. There he slowly ascends the stairs towards the collapsed statue of Megas Alexandros. As he reaches the broken head of the Conqueror, the Basileus smiles, then turns to his host raising the Sacred Sun Banner towards the Heavens:
"
I come from the west crossing the Earth without touching the ground. I charge the ram in great rage. I shatter the horns of Media and Persia and knock the ram to the ground and trample it." and as he utters the words of the ancient prophecy, the Argyraspidai believe they see their Basileus hover over the ground, his feet not touching it as he is bathed in light.
"Megas! Megas! Megas Antimachus!" the Argyraspidai shout as one, and as Apollo Helios salutes his invincible Champion ilumminating his banner in a veil of glorious light, the Basileus shouts:
"I have returned!"
And the Sun answers him in a glory of Light, as the Banners of the Sacred Empire are raised once more towards the Heavens.