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Introduction

HistoryDude

Emperor of Greece and Rome and Holy Roman Emperor
39 Badges
Mar 19, 2018
7.235
6.855
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Rome Gold
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Divine Wind
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Imperator: Rome
  • Stellaris: Apocalypse
  • Crusader Kings II: Holy Fury
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Stellaris
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet
  • Crusader Kings II: Reapers Due
  • Stellaris: Leviathans Story Pack
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory
  • Stellaris - Path to Destruction bundle
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Death or Dishonor
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Expansion Pass
  • Hearts of Iron IV: Expansion Pass
  • Victoria 2
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Europa Universalis III
  • Hearts of Iron IV: La Resistance
  • Crusader Kings III
  • Crusader Kings III: Royal Edition
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Rome: Vae Victis
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
OOC: Well, this forum is very quiet. I abandoned my old attempted mega campaign here, but that was because the tag-switching got too annoying. I've also bemoaned the lack of AARs here, so it's time to put my money where my mouth is. As such, this is the spiritual successor to The Complete History of Terra, focusing on Epirus.


Epirus was originally simply one of various states in the area of Old Hellas. However, from this area, an empire would arise. This empire would be the earliest state to cover the area of the modern day nation of Epirus.

Epirus was originally a kingdom located between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea. At first, it was merely a collection of tribes that gradually became their own states. The Molossians would gradually unite these tribes to form the basis of the first Epirote state.

This state would ally with Macedon. This alliance would be sealed by the marriage between Princess Olympias of Epirus and King Philip II of Macedon. The great conqueror Alexander III of Macedon would be born of this union.

The Kings of Epirus would maintain their alliance with Macedon during Alexander the Great's conquest of the mighty Persian Empire. However, the king of Epirus at this time - who was also the uncle of Alexander the Great - would begin his own campaign in Italy. This campaign was to support the cities of Magna Graecia against their enemies. While it was initially very successful, Alexander the Molossian would be killed at the Battle of Pandosia, and Epirus would withdraw from Italia.

However, this experience overseas is often cited as the beginning of the Epirote Empire. Despite this, Epirus didn't expand much until 450 AUC (of Roma) - or, as you might know it, 19 HE (Hellenistic Era). The Epirote Calendar was used by absolutely no one at this point, and it hadn't even been invented yet.

Despite the lack of territorial expansion, Epirus did attempt to intervene in the Wars of the Diadochi. They were unsuccessful in protecting Olympias from Cassander, though, and their successes against Alexander's successors were generally small. This is probably the reason why the Epirotes ultimately decided to ignore the Wars of the Diadochi.
 
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Good for you for giving Imperator another go! I’m hoping to get the game and maybe try an AAR here one day, after I finish my EU:Rome AAR. One distant day! I shall follow.
 
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Good for you for giving Imperator another go! I’m hoping to get the game and maybe try an AAR here one day, after I finish my EU:Rome AAR. One distant day! I shall follow.
I will follow !

Nice to have you aboard...

Yeah, Imperator's a good game. Really a shame there aren't more Imperator AARs...
 
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Reign of Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus ruled Epirus at this time. His rule was relatively peaceful after Epirus’s failure in the Diadochi Wars. Despite that, he harbored ambitions - he knew that Epirus’s previous attempts at empire-building had failed, but he still wished to rule an “Epirote Empire”, so to speak.

This was aided by an ally of Epirus wishing to expand. The Kingdom of Taulantia - an Illyrian nation - famously told Neoptolemus that Epirote blood would infuse Illyrian soil. Neoptolemus knew that the Illyrians wanted to provoke him, so he didn’t respond to this insult. However, he did begin preparing the Epirotes for war.

In May 451 AUC/20 HE, King Neoptolemus sent a letter to the Taulantians. It justly declared their alliance dissolved due to “provocative actions of your esteemed kingdom”.

In June of that year, the people of Korkyra offered Neoptolemus an alliance. This is likely because they felt threatened by Epirus and wished to get on their good side. Neoptolemus, not wishing to have to fight a war on two fronts in the future, accepted. Of course, this alliance was agreed to for other reasons as well. Korkyra was an island, and Neoptolemus likely thought that their fleet would be useful in his future wars.

Neoptolemus was a big fan of the idea of “empire by peace and war” policy that many subsequent Epirote kings would adopt. This policy advocated spreading Epirote influence not just through military expansion, but also through alliances and tributaries.

This policy would work so well with the Epirotes because their diplomatic influence ensured that they could rule large portions of the world indirectly.
 
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Off to a careful start. Wise, no doubt.
 
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Off to a careful start. Wise, no doubt.

Indeed, Neoptolemus is very careful...

Whether or not that's a good thing is yet to be seen...
 
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After @Bullfilter s recommendation in the FotW thread I thought I would give this a look. It is good to see someone breathing some life into Imperator, so the least I can do is support you and follow along. I wish you, and Epirus, luck with your ambitious plans. :)
 
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Okay, I'm interested.
 
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Okay, first of all, sorry about the delay. The next update will be up either today or tomorrow.

After @Bullfilter s recommendation in the FotW thread I thought I would give this a look. It is good to see someone breathing some life into Imperator, so the least I can do is support you and follow along. I wish you, and Epirus, luck with your ambitious plans. :)

I like Imperator! Also, Epirus might do well, or it might fail miserably. History will see...
Okay, I'm interested.
Nice to have you aboard!
 
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Reign of Pyrrhus, Part 1
Short update today...


Sometime in July 451 AUC/20 HE, Pyrrhus seized control of Epirus. He allowed his father to live in peace, and, in return, his father didn’t oppose - indeed, he supported - his son’s new rule.

Reasons for this move vary. Some men say that there was no coup at all, and Neoptolemus simply abdicated his throne. This is… unlikely, although stranger things have happened before. A popular explanation is that King Neoptolemus was a tyrant who brutally oppressed his subjects. In this version, Pyrrhus launched the coup in support of the people, and Neoptolemus didn’t oppose him because opposing him would only lead to his outright death - Neoptolemus had no support.

While that version is one of the most retold tales of this time, it is almost certainly an ahistorical legend. There is only one report of King Neoptolemus being a tyrant, and that most likely refers to a different Neoptolemus.

This tale occurs after the coup, for one thing, and, for another, the Neoptolemus mentioned here is actively serving King Pyrrhus in his court. This man allegedly abused his power to be extremely… indecent. Pyrrhus’s response to this act was to kick the man off his council.

All reports of King Neoptolemus - other than this one, of course - have him retired in his home. These reports declare that the old King simply retired from governmental affairs completely.

He most likely did that out of spite. It is extremely unlikely that he actually stepped down from his throne, so the coup was the act of a son who was tired of waiting for his father to die.
 
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Pyrrhus is more likely to get things done, at least. Are you going to be doing any images, or will it be a text-only AAR? Which is fine of course, just curious. :)
 
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It is interesting to see a history book AAR which admits to uncertainty. I like the idea that the people writing it know what happened (mostly) but are speculating on reasons because they were not recorded.
 
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Pyrrhus is more likely to get things done, at least. Are you going to be doing any images, or will it be a text-only AAR? Which is fine of course, just curious. :)

Yeah, he is. Maps, at least, and probably portraits, are coming.

It is interesting to see a history book AAR which admits to uncertainty. I like the idea that the people writing it know what happened (mostly) but are speculating on reasons because they were not recorded.

I like using unreliability. It doesn't really make sense that a history would know all of the "why?" details. Still, historians would want to know that information, so it would be included in their books.

I should have another update soon. Next weekend, at the absolute latest.
 
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Reign of Pyrrhus, Part 2
Ultimately, the trial of Neoptolemus was fair - many apparently feared that King Pyrrhus would pardon his relative, but no such event occurred. This was likely a pragmatic move - Neoptolemus, regardless of whether or not he was the previous king, which is doubtful - was certainly guilty of the crimes that he was accused of. Pardoning him would harm King Pyrrhus’s reputation, which was already rather precarious. If the King had pardoned him, it would look like familial favoritism.

Of course, there are some who believe that Neoptolemus wasn’t pardoned because he would pose a threat to Pyrrhus’s kingship. The men that advocated this theory also tend to believe that Neoptolemus was deposed by Pyrrhus for his tyranny and indecency, although there are a few proponents of the theory that King Pyrrhus was afraid for his crown and his father had retired by this point.

This theory is often opposed by the fact that King Pyrrhus accepted Nikandros Agesipolid into the Aiakid family that same month. However, the Aiakid family was the current royal family of Epirus, but it had begun running low on members by that point. Detractors of King Pyrrhus blame that on him, but he was likely being a just ruler in doing that. Still, accepting Agesipolid as an Aiakid - effectively adopting him - secured the succession.

The conspiracy theorists who believe that Pyrrhus deposed his father hold that Agesipolid must have helped him do that in exchange for this reward. There is likely little truth in such claims.

Despite that, adopting Nikandros did serve to recover some of the internal reputation of the Aiakids within Epirus. This was probably intentional - the Aiakid succession didn’t really need to be secured, but King Pyrrhus definitely needed to recover his own reputation. Many within the country had apparently feared that he would pardon Neoptolemus. The tradeoff of this was that it harmed Epirus’s - more specifically, Pyrrhus’s - international standing.

King Pyrrhus didn’t need to be concerned with how the world viewed him. He could easily prove that his family should still be respected through conquest. He couldn’t conquer his own subjects without harsh reprisals, though. He needed to recover his internal reputation - even if it cost him international standing.




Right, so next update and all updates after that should be longer. The next update should be out around Halloween.
 
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Pyhrrus will no doubt be drawn to grand plans of foreign conquest. Is this character the same as his historical counterpart in having boss military ability?
 
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Pyhrrus will no doubt be drawn to grand plans of foreign conquest. Is this character the same as his historical counterpart in having boss military ability?

I think? I need to check that. I’ll get back to you on that.
 
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The historian behind this book is perhaps trying to put the best spin on things I think. Maybe it is too much expose to the gameplaying tactics of this forum, but my first instincts would be that the 'conspiracy theorist' are closer to the truth than the official line. But of course at this distance, we will never know the truth. ;)
 
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The historian behind this book is perhaps trying to put the best spin on things I think. Maybe it is too much expose to the gameplaying tactics of this forum, but my first instincts would be that the 'conspiracy theorist' are closer to the truth than the official line. But of course at this distance, we will never know the truth. ;)

That's intentional. It's meant to be unclear, but this author is definitely playing favorites with historical figures - the text will also reflect the author's views, because I'm of the opinion that no one is truly unbiased...
 
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That's intentional. It's meant to be unclear, but this author is definitely playing favorites with historical figures - the text will also reflect the author's views, because I'm of the opinion that no one is truly unbiased...
Good to see some self-aware historiography from our HistoryDude! :D
 
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