Scenes From Elsewhere (Ptolemies III)

As previously stated, Two-eighty for the Ptolemies had been a year of civil war and intrigue. The course of the War had conspired to completely fracture the Ptolemaic Realm after two years of brutal back-and-forth battles. The First Brother's War had consisted of four combatants and had raged on for two years. It had left the armies of all involved depleted, and only one of the four different combatants could claim to be able to call upon an outside ally to aid them in rebuilding.

As Two-Seventy-Nine Dawned, the situation in the former realm of Ptolemy I Soter was as follows. Ptolemy Keraunos became Pharaoh and Basileus of Upper Egypt and Nubia, with his capital at Thebes. At the same time, Ptolemy Philadelphos remained Pharaoh and Basileus of Lower Egypt with his capital at Alexandria. Meanwhile, Meleager, the twin Ptolemies' half-brother, effectively broke away from Egypt to become the Great King of Phoenecia under the protection of the Seleucids. Finally, the Cyrenaican Pentolpolis under former Governor Magas had become independent of Egypt through a deal made with Ptolemy Philadelphos in exchange for an alliance.

Of course, no side truly wished to see this state of affairs continue indefinitely. Every side wanted to rebuild and either reconquer lost territories or expand their newly independent realms further. Rebuilding, however, would be easier for some than it would be for others. Ptolemy Keraunos, for example, had the vast wealth of Nubia, with its gold mines and handle on the trade of Ivory, Incense, and Sandalwood coming out of the various smaller successor Kingdoms of Damot on the Erythraean Sea. Meanwhile, Meleager's lands had barely been touched and he could depend on his overlord in Antiokos I Asianos of the Seleucids. Neither would find rebuilding their forces quite as difficult as the others.

Magas, meanwhile, had lost men in the Battle of Thebes. Not nearly as many as Ptolemy Philadelphos had, but enough to have to fund a decent number of replacements. Unfortunately, of the Cyrenaican Pentopolis' major exports, grain, linen, and fish were low-value goods, Papyrus was losing favor in scholarly and administrative circles compared to Epirote Rag Paper and Pergamese Parchment, pottery was only slightly exported, and Horses could not be easily shipped.

Only salt, and the jewel of Cyrenaican trade, Silphium, were high-value enough, produced in bulk quantities, and easily transportable. It would have to be those trade goods that formed the basis of the rebuilding of Magas' Army. Magas placed an export tax on both salt and Silphium to fund the rebuilding, which caused the Pentopolis' Merchants to raise prices to cover the cost of export. In so doing, they found fewer willing to buy at inflated prices, especially with the introduction of medicinal hemp from Epirus. It was slower going accordingly but proceeding apace.

Ptolemy Philadelphos, however, had it the worst off. While he had a massive quantity of agricultural produce he could sell, thanks to the incredibly fertile Nile Delta, a large chunk of that harvest was going toward feeding his war-ravaged people, resulting in an anemic surplus. At the same time, his other major exports, linen, glass, stone, leather, and beer all had varying issues.

There was less demand for Egyptian Basalt than Hellenic Marble, these days, for instance, while Beer was normally exported to the various peoples of the Levant, a territory now hostile to Ptolemy Philadelphos. Glass, leather goods, and linen would still sell, but Epirote Glass had taken market share away from Egyptian Glass recently, and both leather goods and linen were low-value goods. Still, Ptolemy Philadelphos did what he could. In fact, all of the four combatants did what they could to rebuild, and did so in different ways as well.

For Ptolemy Keraunos, trade with Epirus via the Seleucids brought the Stirrup to his forces, while trade with Meleager, who he had no true quarrel with and was content to allow to sit in the Levant as Great King of Phonecia had brought the Bodkin Point via contact with Crete. These two combined with the Longbow of the Nubians to provide an emphasis on Light Cavalry and Archers. In fact, he mandated that every soldier in his army be able to ride a horse, leaning on Nubian gold to purchase the requisite mounts. This would allow his archers and infantry the ability to keep up with the cavalry on the march, even if they would be forced to dismount to fight.

The Army that emerged from Ptolemy Keraunos would be like his epithet, swift and powerful as a thunderbolt, able to move swiftly through open country on their horses and strike at areas that were more vulnerable while their plodding, foot-borne, opponents would still be marching into place. For a territory such as North Africa, it would prove to be quite the effective style of warfare.

Meanwhile, Meleager leaned more heavily on his Phonecian, Jewish, and Seleucid populations and backers to form his army. Meleager's force was a plodding thing, replete with War Elephants, Greek Hoplites, and Judean Heavy Cavalry. This, however, was aided by the Phoenician Fleet he had built, which could carry this more plodding force far more swiftly along the coast and via rivers than they could march on their own. If Ptolemy Keraunos' Force was a Thunderbolt, then Meleager's was like a great tidal wave, slow to arise, but once it was upon you, devastating.

Next was the Army of Magas. Magas, largely, drew upon the same Hellenic Traditions as any Greek Basileus. His army was replete with hoplites, companion cavalry, peltasts, and the thureophoroi and thorakitai that had been pioneered by Pyrrhus of Epirus and that any Greek King with eyes to see and a brain in his head was adopting as part of their own army. In many ways, the Army of the Pentopolis would be considered a rather orthodox Hellenic Force, a Hoplon to shield the Pentopolis alongside a spear to slay their foes, rather than a thunderbolt or great wave.

Ptolemy Philadelphos, meanwhile, struggled to build his new army. His treasury was not quite so up to the task, as previously stated, but he also ran into manpower issues. See, it was the Hellenic Elites who traditionally provided the bulk of the manpower for the Ptolemaic Army. The vast majority of such elites lived in cities founded in Lower Egypt by Alexandros Megas or his successors. They were Ptolemy Philadelphos' problem, and they were refusing to provide men in the quantities that Ptolemy Philadelphos felt he required.

Truthfully, this was something that Ptolemy Philadelphos should have expected, for he made these elites many promises only to throw away the lives of their men with bad generalship. The result was that Egypt was sundered into quarters and many of the Hellenic Elites did not believe Ptolemy Philadelphos would be able to do anything but lose more should a new war erupt. In the summer of two-seventy-eight, when Ptolemy Philadelphos inquired as to why the recruitment quotas for Greeks were not being filled, the Hellenic Military Elite of Egypt gave him their reasons along with an ultimatum.

Ptolemy Philadelphos could either agree to their demands and allow prominent members of the Hellenic Elite to command the Army instead of himself, or he would get no further Hellenic Recruits beyond the minimum numbers to upkeep the current, smaller, post-war force. They also wanted their tax burdens decreased, as Ptolemy Philadelphos had attempted to tax their estates more heavily to make up the shortfall in funding for military rebuilding. The Assembled Delegation from the Hellenic Elites was led by Apollonius, Ptolemy's own Dioketes, or Chief Finance Minister.

They thought that Ptolemy Philadelphos would bow to their demands, as he had with Magas' during the War. They thought that they had Ptolemy Philadelphos at their mercy, with no leverage of their own. However, the Hellenic Elites of Upper Egypt had not counted on just how desperate their Basileus was. If they would not allow the recruitment of Greeks, then their Basileus would begin recruiting Egyptians to fill the ranks. This, it would turn out, would have disastrous results for all involved in the future. For now, however, the Hellenic Elites could do little more than protest, after all, any Civil Conflict would spell disaster, as Ptolemy Keraunos would not hesitate to attack while Upper Egypt was fighting amongst itself.

Speaking of Ptolemy Keraunos, rebuilding his army into a vision of a thunderbolt was not the only preparation he made. He also looked abroad for allies. First, he attempted to send envoys via Meleager to Antiokos I Asianos, though he would be rebuffed. The Seleucids, it seemed, were not interested in getting involved further than propping up their puppet in the Levant. Indeed, they were already looking at other commitments elsewhere, including a potential probing attack across the Caucasus Indicus to see if Amitrochates was still weakened by his Southern Vassals' Revolt enough to potentially reclaim Taxica. There was also the problem of Bolgios, defeated in Istria, yes, but not destroyed, then there was the potential for a conquest of the Nabataeans in the South of Judea, the interior of the Levant, and the Sinai

No, Antiokos could not commit any further than he already had. Instead, Ptolemy Keraunos was directed to send ambassadors to the Court of Pyrrhus of Epirus. The King of Epirus was receptive enough and agreed to send forces, though his price was no less than the Cyrenaican Pentopolis, as Magas would be the most likely opponent of Epirote Forces. Ptolemy Keraunos cared little for Cyrenaica, and like Meleager in the Levant, was content to allow Pyrrhus to claim the rebel Pentopolis for himself if it meant that Upper Egypt, along with the Jewel of his father's realm, Alexandria, would be his. A bargain was struck between the two in late two-seventy-eight. It would not be the last surprising event of the year, however.

No, that would come from Leptis Megale, where the Greeks of the City, fed up with domination by Punics rose up in the dying moments of the Carthaginian Civil War while the majority of the City's Troops were off in Numidia fighting for Hannibal the Bearded and the Assembly against Gisgo. They succeeded in claiming the city, only for the Carthaginian Civil War to end weeks later. This miscalculation forced the Greeks that had taken the City to beg Magas for protection before Carthage could turn its forces eastward to reclaim the city. This occurred as the dying embers of Two-Seventy-Eight flared out, with a Cyrenaican Garrison installed by the turn of the year.

Carthage saw this, but had already endured a punishing series of wars and could not afford further war. They were forced to let the insult pass, though would eventually revisit it down the line. For now, however, it seemed that the Ptolemies were readying themselves for another batch of Civil War. All in Egypt could feel it, and as Two-Seventy-Seven dawned, held their breath, waiting for the other sandal to drop.

They would not have to wait long. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see what's been going on with the Ptolemies since we last saw them. Each of the camps will be spending at least a year licking their wounds and rebuilding. Ptolemy Keraunos is reaching out to his old friend Pyrrhus for help, while Meleager has the Selucids for backing and Magas is pissing off Carthage by nicking Leptis Megale while Carthage is unable to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Ptolemy Philadelphos is proving once again to be making poor decisions in courting the native Egyptians for Military Service, something that the Hellenic Elite hate and mistrust for good reason, but can't do anything about with the vultures circling overhead.

On place names, since it has been asked, I think everyone knows where Alexandria, Thebes, and so on are, and the Cyrenaican Pentopolis gives its name to Cyrenaica in modern-day Libya.

However, in case you guys don't know Upper Egypt refers to the more Southerly half of Egypt, while Lower Egypt refers to the Northerly Half with the Nile Delta. Nubia and Kush, the areas conquered by Ptolemy Keraunos would be in Modern-Day Sudan, while the Kingdoms that succeeded Damot are in Modern-Day Eritrea on the Horn of Africa. Istria refers to Dobruja and is named after the Greek name for the Danube River, the Istros. Meanwhile, the Caucasus Indicus refers to the Hindu Kush while Taxica would be in Modern-Day Northern Pakistan. Finally, Leptis Megale is on the coast near Modern-Day Khoms in Libya.

At any rate, the next chapter will be a look at the Seleucids, then we'll finally be back with Pyrrhus for his look at Two-Seventy-Eight. I'll also have a map with changes from these interludes as well.

Stay tuned. . .