Antiochus II Theos (Part I)
Seleucia, September 486 AVC
I’ve received word that my father has passed onto the other plane to join his father and Alexander. He had spent much of his youth campaigning and subjecting his body to rigorous trials, so it came as a surprise to me that he was unable to recover from his illness. Nevertheless, I give orders to prepare a royal funeral for him, worthy of the grandest Shah. Although I do not have an heir at this moment, my marriage to Thessaloniki will soon bear fruit. Sophocles himself has agreed to act as my advisor in these troubling times. I cannot see why he thinks so, our empire is stronger than ever!Antioch, December 486 AVC
Word of my father’s death travels, and before his body even spends a month in his new tomb his enemies seek to profit from his death. Already the garrisons at Lydia and Armenia have revolted against my rule with backing from the Egyptian Pharoah, thinking that a boy king such as myself is too rash and incompetent for battle. I will show them the folly of their mistake. Taking my army and my father’s army, I combine them and send them straight to the west. The rebels are massacred before they can even take root.
Seleucia, September 488 AVC
Praise to Zeus! My wife has given birth to our first child, a daughter whom we have named Cleopatra. She is beautiful and healthy and though she is not a son I can pass my kingdom to, I am nevertheless grateful to the gods for this precious gift. I am still young after all.
Seleucia, March 489 AVC
My wife is in great distress. After seeing my beloved daughter grow day after day for a year, she is suddenly struck by a serious illness. I dispatch my couriers to bring all the best physicians from all the corners of the empire to tend to her. It is nothing serious, but the physicians say it could affect her well being for the rest of her life.Sophene, October 489 AVC
Apparently rebels are not enough, I’ve received word from my Eastern governors that a great horde of barbarians have invaded Iberia and are now seeking to make their way into Parthia via the province of Atropatene. With my main army in the West, I dispatch orders to the horse lords of Persia to prepare their mounts. The barbarian warlord goes by the name of Artaxias of the Sacae tribe, and my scouts report that he invades us with an army of fifteen thousand men. I mobilize over thirty thousand troops to meet him.
Cappadocia, December 489 AVC
Making the march from Anatolia to our far eastern provinces is no easy task. I give instructions for depots and roads to be prepared along the way. Sophocles advises me that perhaps I am bringing too much of my troops to deal with this incursion, but I digress, I must show the barbarians once and for all, the power of the empire they have dared to invade! It is also this winter where Artaxias has entered our province of Atropatene from the Caucus mountains. I will give him a welcome he shall not forget!Gelae, April 490 AVC
I curse myself for my blindness in organizing this expedition, but Sophocles merely reminds me that we are near the enemy now, and it would be folly to turn the men back, especially without a fight.
As we both observe our exhausted men marching past us, Sophocles turns to me.
“I see you are trying to emulate the great deeds of your father, while that is admirable, it is not what he wished for you to do.” The old general said with a gentle reprove.
I try to hide my indignation, knowing full well he was lecturing me. “I cannot see why not, our kingdom was forged through war, and it is my duty as a king to keep my skills honed in its art, otherwise we would end up like the Ptolemys in Egypt. Lavishing in wealth and forgetting our noble aspects.”
“There is a slight difference my king. A king must certainly know how to fight a war, but he must also learn how to settle. Have you ever heard of the story of Alexander Megas and Porus, the difference between the sea and the storm?”
I must confess, of all the stories my father had told me, this one eludes me.
“Porus offered our great Alexander to study under him as a king, because he saw that Alexander Megas was like a storm. Terrifying and brilliant, wrecking destruction and conquering all in its wake, yet passing after a moment’s notice. The sea on the other hand, is eternal, calm and tranquil. That was what Porus described himself, described a king as. The sea.”
“He must have pissed Alexander off.” I said lightly.
“That he did, the great king simply walked out of the negotiations and defeated Porus at the next battle.” Sophocles continued.
“Then why are you telling me this?” I wonder.
“Because even though our kingdom was forged through the storm of war, even though your father and his father were both men of action and brilliant in war, they both seeked to become like the sea. The storm itself is terrifying and brilliant but it lasts only for a short time. Your father seeked to become like the sea, and to his credit, he left you a stable kingdom to rule at his death. I do not beseech you to give up war, for that is a skill that every king must know, but you must understand sire, the difference between the sea and the storm. You must not desire to become the storm, for it will bring only ruin to you and our people.”
I thank Sophocles for the advice, and we both march on with the army. Already I see the smoke from the siege ahead of us. I waste no time in galloping to the head of the column to take charge.
Atropatene, May 490 AVC
We meet Artaxias on the desert fields of Atropatene. Though I have lost twelve thousand men on my march to the East, I still outnumber him more than two to one. Another advantage to me is that he has brought with him a mixture of barbarian tribes, all working independently with separate commands and languages. While ours is a unified professional force.The result was never a doubt in my mind, we scatter Atraxias and his band to the four winds with little loss. Two battles were fought and thousands of barbarians slain. Our losses amounted to less than 150 men.
The defeat of Atraxias settles any threat of a barbarian incursion in the East for years to come. With that, I retire the army towards Babylon.
Babylon, May 493 AVC
My engineers advise me that they have discovered new techniques of irrigation to help improve the efficiency and production of our crops. I eagerly jump at this project, and order half a dozen of these new irrigation systems to be constructed. From Antioch to Seleucia. This will provide much wealth to my people, and will hopefully give them more cause to remember me when I am gone.
Antioch, March 494 AVC
A courier meets me in my Antechamber, bearing a message of great importance from my Syrian army. It appears that Egypt and Carthage, the two greatest trading powers in the Mediteranean, have declared war over each other. Whether it is over a trade dispute or for some land and tribute does not matter to me. Our greatest enemy, Egypt, is fighting a war to the West! This presents a glittering opportunity to me, and I immediately dispatch orders to my army to mobilize. I also ask Sophocles for his counsel in this matter.“From what our couriers tell us, Ptolemy and the main part of his army are hundreds of miles away from his capital, fighting Carthage in the deserts of Africa. His fleet as well, is no longer in Alexandria, but battling Carthage’s fleet off Cyrene.” One of my Strategos points out to the formations we drew on a map of the Mediteranean.
“If our army attacks, we’ll have no trouble breaking into Alexandria within a month or two.” The officer concludes.
I turn to Sophocles to see his reaction. “I see the many opportunities in this sire, but take into account that your father has already achieved all that he wanted against Ptolemy all those years ago. Not to mention the fact that our settlements are almost devoid of troops. We have yet to fully recover from the last war as it is.”
I nod my head, knowing full well I have already considered these. “Do not worry my dear Sophocles, I shall address all your concerns. My father had conquered Syria to stop any further Egyptian incursions, but since his reign we have colonized the province of Arabia. This gives the Ptolemys two borders through which to march and attack our main base in Tyre. The situation has changed since my father’s time, and we must seek to rectify it so that Syria is rendered secure for the indefinite future.”
“Secondly, I realize that our manpower is low at this point, but consider that Ptolemy’s fleet and army are in the West. There will be no opposition and no major battles to fight with him. Our only concern will be to supply our men through the sieges to come, and if we succeed there, then our losses will be minimal. There will be no repeat of Atropatene, I can promise you.”
I finish this last sentence with iron resolve in my voice, I look into Sophocles eyes for his reaction.
The old general nods his head. “Very well sire, if you shall order the attack, I shall be the first one to lead it.”
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