[Other: Foreign rule in Egypt]

Egypt has many times in its history endured foreign invasions that ruled the country and changed it. Here we shall examine the three most known foreign rulers: Assyria, Persia, and Macedon.

The Assyrians invaded in 671 B.C. (according to some sources 673, the date is disputed). In the year 671 B.C. the Assyrian king Esar-Haddon invaded Egypt with his battle hardened army. Egypt was at the time under the rule of the thoroughly Egyptianized Cu@#$%e (Nubian) 25th Dynasty. When Esar-Haddon invaded, the current Pharaoh, Taharqa, put up a spirited defense but was ultimately pushed back into Upper Egypt. Taharqa recaptured the capital of Memphis in 669 B.C. but that victory was short lived. In 667 the successor of Esar-Haddon, Ashurbanipal, invaded and drove Taharqa back into Upper Egypt, as far as Thebes. The Assyrians then set about establishing the harsh and brutal rule that was their trade mark. However the Assyrians were not able to keep their usual large garrisons in Egypt and were forced to create powerful princes to rule in Egypt (the most powerful being in the Delta) for them as proxies. In 663 B.C. Tanutamon, son of Taharqa, invaded occupied Egypt and defeated the Delta princes before the walls of Memphis. Ashurbanipal’s reaction was swift and in that same year he drove Tanutamon out of Egypt altogether, sacking Thebes afterwards as a warning. Egypt for the most part was left to its own devices after 663, but Assyrian rule left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Egyptians. In 656 B.C. one of the Delta princes, Psamtik I of Sais, was able to diplomatically subjugate the prince of Thebes to his rule, finishing the work his father Necho I in the gradual increase of Saite authority over Egypt. In 655 Psamtik declared independence from Assyria, ending the brutal Assyrian period.

The Persians were the next foreign rulers. By the time Cambyses II invaded in 526 B.C. the Saite House (as the family descended from Necho I is called) feared Persia. Since the fall of Assyria the Saites had supported Babylon and depended upon them as an ally against others. But with the rise of Cyrus and Persia the Saites lost their ally and feared Egypt would be the next target. The Saites thought that with Cyrus’ death in 529 that their troubles had ended, but it was not to be. In 526 B.C. Cambyses II launched an all-out invasion of Egypt. The Saites were unable to stand against the Persians and by year’s end Cambyses had reached the Nubian border. In 525 Cambyses assumed the title of Pharaoh, and the Egyptians assumed he would either become egyptianized like the Libyan and Cu@#$%e dynasties or he would allow native Egyptians to rule as his proxy like the Assyrians. Cambyses did neither; he treated Egypt like all of his other lands and appointed an ethnic Persian Satrap and city governors to rule them. For the first time in its 2,500 year history Egypt was treated like any other land. The Egyptians resented this treatment, and although some kings were well liked, Darius for example, the Egyptians still resented their treatment. In 490 B.C. Persia suffered defeat at Marathon and the Egyptians saw their chance. In 486 following the death of Darius Egypt revolted from Persian rule, the result of this revolt was that when Xerxes took power and conquered Egypt he reduced the status of Egypt to that of a conquered province and the people hated him for that. When Xerxes was assassinated in 465 B.C. Egypt revolted again, this time under a leader named Inaros. Inaros took control of the Delta with Athenian aid, but his revolt was quashed in 454 by Artaxerxes I. From then on the Persian control of Egypt was heavily disputed by rebels in the Delta. In 404 B.C. upon the death of Darius II the Egyptians launch a successful rebellion that carries Egypt to independence. In 343 B.C. the resurgent Persian Empire under Artaxerxes III reconquers Egypt, ending the last native dynasty. Persian control reasserts itself and maintains a fragile peace until 332 B.C. with the arrival of Alexander the Great, hailed by the weary Egyptians as a savior.

The last dynasty of Egypt was the Macedonian Ptolemaic Dynasty. The Ptolemaic dynasty can be said to have technically began in 304 B.C. when Alexander’s satrap, Ptolemy son of Lagus, declared himself King of Egypt in Memphis. The Egyptians did not fight Ptolemy when he did this however, for he was well loved by the people. They called on him to take the title Pharaoh and all of its regalia, which he did and so established the Ptolemaic Dynasty. For the next three hundred years the Ptolemies took Egypt to the height of glory as Ptolemaic Egypt emerged as the leader amongst the Successor states. The wealth and martial glory of the Ptolemies was greatest amongst the Successors early on and Alexandria soon emerged as capital of the intellectual world. The early Ptolemies were well loved and accepted, when the family started going down hill with Ptolemy IV the rebellions and discontent started. From early on the Ptolemies used native Egyptians in the government and then the army after Sosibus’ (Ptolemy IV’s Prime Minister) reforms; this contributed a lot to the dynasty’s stability. The downfall of the Ptolemaic Dynasty started as the Ptolemaic Pharaohs became steadily more decedent through the years, the inbreeding played a part in this. The final fall started in 41 B.C. with the soap opera like story of Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII. In 30 B.C. Octavian Caesar defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and Antony committed suicide soon after. Cleopatra followed him not long after upon realizing her charm did not work on Octavian and thus ended the Hellenistic period of Egyptian history.

In conclusion the various foreign rules of Egypt were an interesting and in many cases tumultuous time. Ranging from the brutal Assyrians to the benevolent Ptolemies the foreign rule periods are a fascinating period to study.

[Battles: Battle of Raphia]

The Battle of Raphia (or Gaza as it is alternately referred too) was the decisive battle of the fourth Syrian War waged between the Ptolemaic and Seleukid empires for control of Coelo-Syria and its surrounding areas (roughly the modern Middle East).

The lead up to Raphia all started in 219 B.C. In the year 219 B.C. the fourth Syrian War began with an invasion of Ptolemaic lands by Antiochus III Megas (Greek: the Great) upon dealing with a failed rebellion in Asia Minor. Antiochus meant to with this invasion strengthen Seleukid power and avenge the humiliation caused by the peace that ended the Third Syrian War (245-241 B.C.). Before long he held the important ports of Seleucia-in-Piera, Tyre, and Ptolemais. Meanwhile in Egypt there was a crisis as the invasion had caught Ptolemy IV off guard and unable to handle the situation Ptolemy gave control to his trusted minister Sosibus. Sosibus immediately opens negotiations with Antiochus and at the same time reformed the army. But a problem soon arose, there was not enough Macedonian men left eligible for service. So Ptolemy allowed for the first time in the history of the dynasty for native Egyptians to be allowed into the army and trained in the Macedonian fashion. In 218 negotiations broke down and Antiochus resumed his offensive, by the time the campaign season is over the Seleukids had gained control of Coelo-Syria, Phoenicia, and Israel. In the spring of 217 the new Ptolemaic army is finally deemed ready for combat and Ptolemy IV takes command. He leads his new army on a five day march to the city of Raphia near modern Gaza, due to its strategic importance as a stop on the way to Egypt. Meanwhile Antiochus, hearing of this, marches out of winter quarters and makes way to Raphia. The two armies camp with in a thousand yards of each other. About this time an Aetolian man in the service of the Ptolemaic court, named Theodotus, conspired to kill Ptolemy. Whether he acted alone or in conjunction with Antiochus is debated. In any case the plot was foiled by the timely moving of the king’s sleeping quarters by a Jewish court minister names Dositheus and Theodotus was executed. The staring match before the walls of Raphia continued for another five days before Antiochus made the first move.

The two armies that fought at Raphia were typical of their time. The new Ptolemaic army of Ptolemy IV Philopater (Father loving Pharaoh) consisted of 70,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 73 African Elephants. The Seleukid army of Antiochus III Megas consisted of 62,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 102 Indian elephants. The two armies were arrayed virtually identical with both having a solid center of phalangites with the heavy cavalry divided equally between the wings of the army. In front of the cavalry are the elephants with archers and psiloi to support them, and if need be bring them down.

The battle of Raphia would turn out to be a very close battle. Finally done with waiting Antiochus ordered the heavy Indian elephants on his right flank to charge the Ptolemaic’s left. The smaller African elephants of the Ptolemaic army are unable to stand against their larger Indian cousins and soon give way and run amok in the left wing, throwing it into chaos. Antiochus, noticing this, leads a cavalry charge into the left wing and cuts it off from the rest of the Ptolemaic army. The cohesion of the left breaks and Antiochus chases down the stragglers personally with his cavalry. At this moment Ptolemy’s sister Arsinoe comes into the mist of the soldiers hair undone (a major statement in Greek culture) and encourages them to fight for the sake of their wives and children, she also promises 2 minas of gold to every soldier if they win the day. The soldiers regain their spirit and Ptolemy orders his heavy cavalry to bait and lure the remaining Indian elephants out of position. After the cavalry returns Ptolemy sends in his right wing into the enemy left and the Seleukids break and run under the pressure. At this point the battle reaches its most critical moment as both armies left wings are being chased by the right wings; this leaves only the phalangites in the center unengaged in the fighting. Ptolemy then rides out to his center and exhorts the soldiers to attack the enemy, the soldiers, boosted by the presence of their king, charge the Seleukid center and break it utterly. Antiochus, who is still chasing the the remnants of the Ptolemaic left, learns of this too late and rushes back to the battle field with his still intact right wing only to find a broken force. Antiochus orders a retreat and leaves the field to Ptolemy.

In the aftermath of Raphia much happened. In the immediate aftermath of the battle of Raphia the cities of Coelo-Syria and Israel voluntarily hand over their cities to Ptolemy, it is a little while later before the remaining cities surrender to him. Antiochus, upon arriving in Antioch, dispatches his nephew Antipater and Theodotus Hemiolius to Ptolemy to discuss peace. Ptolemy is happy with the return of Coelo-Syria and agrees to a year’s truce. In the long run though the Battle of Raphia would be the start of the Ptolemaic decline, due to the victory being owed to the native Egyptian troops, thus reawakening long dead nationalistic sentiments in Egypt (Upper Egypt would even later rebel). And in 198 B.C. Antiochus would get his revenge and take back Coelo-Syria and Phoenicia permanently.

[Other: Basics of Ancient Sea Combat]

Combat at sea in ancient times was regarded as the water based extension of the land campaign and was viewed as an auxiliary force. Here we will examine the basics of ancient warfare at sea in the context of the game.

Tactics in sea combat reflected the changing times. Sea warfare changed much during this period; originally tactics consisted of great clashes similar to land battles. However something changed and the ram came into play in naval warfare. A ram was usually a piece of wood clothed in iron mounted on the bow of the ship, and it’s primarily usage would be to puncture the weak spots of the enemy ship, such as the sides and back, and not in the front as the popular picture of Hollywood would suggest. A hit from a ram would often times not sink the ship just cripple it, for this reason ships began carrying marines, soldiers specially trained for boarding actions after ramming on ship (ships also began carrying archers and javelinists about this time). Tactics of this period were wide and varied, but the basics of these were: Two lines trying to out flank the other so they would be able to ram the other in the soft spots, then it dissolved into pandemonium as the ships unable to back up out of their targets get messed up and tangled together, transforming the battle into a messy melee. So you could say that sea warfare at this point had in general two stages: maneuver and melee (this was of course not always the case, some battles were entirely maneuver). The most famous of the ‘ram’ ships was the Bireme and Trireme, which both had two tiers of oars with one man to each oar on the former and two men to each oar on the upper tier with one man on each oar on the lower tier on the latter. One of the most famous uses of the Bireme was with Pompey’s fleet against the Cilician Pirates and one of the most famous uses of the Trireme was with the Athenian fleet at Salamis. Besides rams the other main weapon of this time was fire, while Greek fire is out of the time frame of 0 AD ‘fire pots’ were wide spread. These fire pots were usually suspended over the deck on a beam that would fall when it rammed an enemy vessel. Later on in time the Greek colonists of Syracuse under their King Dionysius I would invent a real beast of a ship known as Quinquereme. The Quinquereme had two tiers of oars with three men to each oar on the upper tier and two men to each oar on the lower tier. The primarily usage that the Syracusans had for the ship was for use as a siege ship against coastal fortresses, Alexander the Great used such ships against Tyre in his march through the Achaemenid Empire. Quinqueremes generally were outfitted with a small castle like tower fore and aft that housed either a ballista or a catapult.

With the rise of the Roman Republic tactics changed. When Rome in its rise to power encountered Carthage, which primarily used Biremes in their navy, they needed a ship that could function as a land battlefield at sea. So they used the Quinquereme design of their Greek neighbors and added their own modifications to it. The Roman modifications were grapples, which were used to hook a nearby enemy and bring it close enough to be boarded by the marines; this is where the Romans excelled. The second modification was the Corvus (Latin: Crow) which was a special boarding plank with machinery placed at the bow of the ship. The plank could be swung over to face an enemy vessel then brought down on the vessel and fixed there with the spike on the underside. Marines would then storm across the Corvus in lines of three or four abreast. The Corvus eventually fell into disuse due to the fact it made the Quinquereme top heavy and hard to keep afloat. The Romans would in the golden age of Augustus abandon the Quinquereme as their primarily ship and adopted the Laburnum. The Laburnum was at heart a Bireme mark II, by this time the Romans had become excellent sailors and ship builders and were thus able to create a good and lasting design. The Laburnum was small and far more maneuverable then all other ships in use at the time. The Laburnum was also able to carry an aft tower for the archers to shoot from. And lastly the Laburnum was sturdier than most ships of that period.

Ship combat could only take place in certain conditions. Generally ships in the ancient world were built rather ‘flimsy’ and thus fleets kept close to the shoreline and islands to avoid sudden storms that occurred in deep water. Because of the limited number of rations that ships carried (at most three days with out sails) ancient fleets would often find a friendly stretch of shore and beach the ships there for the night, this would provide an excellent opportunity for foraging expeditions and field repairs. The enemy could also use this as an opportunity to launch a sneak attack, the most famous example being the Battle of Aegospotomi. As with all things there are exceptions to these, in this case being the Carthaginians and Celts. The Carthaginian ships were sturdier than most, in fact they were able to sail out onto the Atlantic Ocean and come back more or less intact (The Carthaginians explored the coast of Africa and even reached Britain). Celtic trading ships were also sturdier than most, due to the Oak wood used in construction and the iron straps added to reinforce the hull.

In conclusion ancient sea combat was a bloody, often messy, affair. Seen as a secondary force by many (the exceptions being Athens and Carthage) the navies of ancient world received little credit for their contributions to warfare.

[History vs. Gameplay]

Excellent work Paul!

A very good insight into process of "History vs Gameplay"

[Battles: The Iberian Wars]

The Iberian Wars between Rome and the native Iberians and Celtiberians were fiery revolts against Roman rule. Though Rome always won in the end the guerilla warfare of the Celtiberians never made it easy.

The first Iberian war occurred during the Second Punic War. In 206 B.C. Scipio Africanus had conquered Carthaginian Spain, with the help of some friendly tribes, and he was preparing to leave when the Iberian Ilergeti tribe revolted under a man called Indibil. Scipio met and defeated Indibil in battle before he could cause much havoc and after fining him a penalty left. In 205 Indibil and Ilergeti rose in revolt again and marched into Roman territory. The Roman commanders (their names are unrecorded) managed to defeat Indibil in a series of battles and kill him. So ended the First Spanish War, as a result of Indibil’s revolt Rome began sending praetors to Spain to help keep the peace.

The peace lasted seven years before revolt broke out again. In 197 B.C. a southeastern Iberian tribe known as the Turdetani rebelled and tribe and northeastern areas followed suite. At first the rebels enjoyed great success as they defeated three consecutive Roman commanders: Tuditanus, Helvius, and Minucius. In 195 B.C. the Senate dispatched Consul Marcus Porcius Cato to Spain, he soon proved to be a far different opponent then the four previous commanders. Cato first put down the rebellion in the northeast and lower Ebro valley, then he went south and defeated the Turdetani and their Celtiberian allies. Following this victory Cato defeated the rebels again at Emporiae and in a brilliant move managed to trick all of the rebel tribes along the Ebro to demolish their walls at the exact same time. Cato returned to Rome in triumph and rewarded his soldiers handsomely (1,610 bronze coins to each cavalryman, 270 bronze coins to each infantryman). So ended the Second Spanish War and peace was restored.

Peace would reign for thirteen years before another rebellion broke out. In 181 B.C. the Celtiberians rebelled with their main city at Complega, and they were able to defeat all local Roman attempts to quash them. In 180 B.C. the Senate sent one of the year’s Consuls, Flaccus, to Spain to put down the Celtiberians. Flaccus was able to defeat the Celtiberians on the field and forced them to retreat to Complega, but he was unable to take the city before his term ended. 179 opened with a new Consul, Sempronius Gracchus (father of the Gracchi), taking the field against the Celtiberians. When the Celtiberians struck out from Complega and besieged the Roman ally of Caravis Gracchus responded swiftly and drove them away. The Celtiberians then sent a peace delegation from Complega, but this delegation was actually a trick to kill Gracchus. Gracchus saw through the trick and turned it to his advantage by feigning a retreat then springing an ambush on the Celtiberians. In this way he was able to take Complega and thus restored the peace. So ended the First Celtiberian War, with bright hopes to a lasting peace (although the western Celtiberians and Lusitani would continue to plague Rome from modern Portugal until 133 B.C.).

This time Spain was peaceful for twenty six years before the Celtiberians revolted a second time, in the most famous of the revolts. In 155 B.C. a Lusitani raid into Hispania Ulterior (Farther Spain) defeated the armies of both praetors, this defeat allowed for the Celtiberian city of Segeda in Hispania Citerior to rebel. In the coming year Segeda refused to pay the annual tribute or send troops to Rome, this encouraged the neighboring cities to rebel and together they formed a confederacy and started construction of a defensive wall. On New Years 153 B.C. the Senate sent Consul Q. Fuvius Nobilior to attack Segeda. Along the way there the Celtiberian general Carus launched an ambush and killed 6,000 Romans. To get revenge Nobilior launched a counterattack, in which Carus was killed. A few days later the Arevaci, an Iberian tribe, revolted and holed up in their main city of Numantia. Nobilior besieged the city with a force of elephants, but the elephants became frightened and rampaged through the Roman camp. Nobilior then sent for native reinforcements, but these were ambushed along the way by Celtiberians and forced to flee. Shortly thereafter the city of Ocilis rebelled also and Nobilior was forced to retreat to his friendly winter quarters soon after. In 152 B.C. the Senate replaced Nobilior with Claudius Marcellus, who sought to gain much glory by ending the war quickly. After arriving he set out for Ocilis and though he was ambushed Marcellus was able to besiege the city. During the siege Marcellus opened negotiations and demanded only hostages and the payment of a fine, but other then that he was willing to pardon them. Ocilis accepted the terms and Marcellus moved on, accepting the surrender of the Nergobriges tribe. But the Nergobriges went back on their surrender and ambushed the Roman baggage train as it passed them. Marcellus reacted swiftly and besieged the Nergobriges’ capital and imposed the same terms as before. Soon after this many tribes in the region surrender to Marcellus who reports it to the Senate. When news of this reached Rome the Senate rejected the terms immediately, demanding unconditional surrender from the rebels and nothing less. In 151 the Senate sacks Marcellus and replaces him with Licinius Lucullus, but Marcellus disobeys orders and offers light terms to the remaining rebels based at Numantia, they accept and Marcellus thus deprived Lucullus of his war. Lucullus hated the peace of Marcellus and being greedy and lusting for war launched unprovoked attacks on the Celtiberians, for example the Vaccaei tribe. However the most infamous of all was the attack on the Caucai where Lucullus after accepting a truce with the tribe marched into Cauca (the Caucai capital) and slaughtered all of the adult males and sacked the town. Later Roman authors condemned the sack of Cauca as a stain on Roman honour. In 150 B.C. Lucullus moved to assist the praetor of Hispania Ulterior, Sulpicius Galba, who had been defeated the previous year by the Lusitani. Caught between Lucullus’ fresh forces and the resurgent Galba the Lusitani sued for peace. Galba, a man even more greedy then Lucullus then pretended to be sympathetic to the Lusitani cause and offered them rich new land. The Lusitani took the offer and camped in three large groups and they were slaughtered in thousands by the Romans of Galba and Lucullus, and those who survived were enslaved. But a few escaped and would later rally under a man named Viriathus, and this force would be a major thorn in the Roman side. Lucullus returned to his area of command and besieged the city of Intercatia, but he was unable to take it and had his military tribune Scipio Aemilianus negotiate on his behalf. Lucullus then turned to Pallantia but called off the siege because of constant guerilla raids. In 149 B.C. Lucullus is called back to Rome by the Senate (Cato in particular) to answer for his actions. With Lucullus’ leaving the Second Celtiberian War unofficially ended (it ended officially in 151 B.C.), although the guerilla campaign of Viriathus would start after he left in 147 B.C.

The reasons for the Third Celtiberian, or Numantine War lay in Lucullus’ actions in the second. In 143 the guerilla leader Viriathus suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of the Romans, this prompted Viriathus to call upon his Celtiberian cousins, who in response declared war. Caecilius Metellus and a army marched on Numantia soon after, but they never reached the city, even though they were successful in the field. Due to the constant thorn represented by Viriathus the Romans negotiate a treaty recognizing Viriathus as a friend of Rome in 142, though this is quickly broken. In 141 B.C. Pompeius Aulus arrived and attacked a rebel tribe known as the Termantians, Pompeius was however incompetent and his attack on the Termantians failed. Pompeius then besieged Numantia but after three years of no results the Senate decided to sack Pompeius in 139, who like Marcellus negotiated a light peace with Numantia, only to deny the fact later when the Senate rejected the offer. Pompeius’ successor Popillius was even more incompetent then Pompeius was and the Senate sacked him before the year was even out. One good thing for Rome does happen in 139, through bribery the Romans kill Viriathus, although the Lusitani fight on without him. In 137 a new Consul, C. Hostilius Mancinius came to Iberia, he did not fare well. While besieging Numantia Mancinius received word of enemy reinforcements and he subsequently retreated from Numantia and straight into a valley trap where Mancinius surrendered himself and his army to the Celtiberians through his quaestor, Tiberius Gracchus. In addition Mancinius pledged that from now on Celtiberia and Rome were now equals. The Senate was outraged and ordered Mancinius’ immediate recall to Hispania Citerior and sent the other Consul, Aemilius Lepidus in his place. Not wanting to wait for orders Aemilius dived ahead into war attacking the Vaccaei without provocation, the Senate ordered him to cease but Aemilius ignored the order and after he was done Aemilius besieged Pallantia but supplies ran out before the city fell, forcing him to retreat back to Roman territory, with the Celtiberians harassing him the entire way. In a first in Roman history Aemilius is stripped of his command while still in the field and sent back to Rome. In Rome the Senate decided to send Mancinius to Numantia naked in a symbolic gesture, Aemilius was fined. The fighting remained indecisive until 134 B.C. when the Senate, waiving the law aside, elected Scipio Aemilianus as Consul and sent him to Spain. Scipio immediately whipped the army into shape by first dispensing with all things and people not vital for the army’s survival. He then restored discipline by having the troops build then tear down their camps and defensive fortifications at a moment’s notice. Scipio also made sure that each man had an allotted task he had to do and place to be at all times. Once the army was prepared to his satisfaction Scipio marched on Numantia, always refusing to give battle. Once he arrived Scipio ordered all of the fields around Numantia burned, after taking what was needed to feed the army. He then had his men circumvallate the fortress by building a ditch and palisade around it, and behind this lay a ten foot wall. On this wall were towers with catapults and ballistae. Scipio continuing with his plan to starve Numantia out by blockading the nearby Duero River by building two towers on each side and floating knife-and-spear studded logs in the middle. In desperation the Numantines called for allied aid, but none of the other cities would assist them, except for the younger men of the city of Lutia. When the elders of this town told Scipio of this the Numantines hoped he would break the siege, Scipio instead took a portion of his army and surrounded Lutia demanding that the young men be surrendered to him, they were and Scipio cut off their hands to prevent them from aiding Numantia, to which Scipio soon returned. In desperation Numantia sent out an envoy, Avarus, to negotiate a peace. But Scipio would not accept anything less then unconditional surrender and when Avarus returned to his people they killed him for suspected treachery. Numantia held out for another eight months (they even resorted to cannibalism) before in 133 B.C. the town finally surrendered to Scipio, but the few surviving people would not give the Romans a chance to savor their victory by committing suicide. Thus ended the Third Celtiberian War, and with this victory all real opposition to the Romans ceased.

After the Third Celtiberian War there were no more rebellions, but Spain was still not completely conquered. In the ten year period between 82-72 B.C. the last remaining free Celtiberian and Iberian cities threw in their lot with the Roman governor Quintus Sertorius, a supporter of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cinna, in his war against Rome. When Sertorius was assassinated in 72 the Romans left the Celtiberians and Iberians alone, until 39 B.C. when Octavian Caesar arrived and launched a series of campaigns of conquest that would last, to the credit of the fighting spirit of the Celtiberians and Iberians, until 19 B.C. So ended the last of Rome’s Iberian wars.

In conclusion the Iberian Wars of Rome were on of the great conflicts of theRepublic And through the long hard fight Rome became a stronger power (Marius started his career in Iberia and the famous gladius sword was modeled off a Celtiberian weapon).

[Biographies: Cleomenes III of Sparta]

Cleomenes III of Sparta was the most energetic king in Spartan history. Following in the footsteps of his father’s co-king Agis IV, Cleomenes sought to reform the Spartan state and make it a superpower once again.

Cleomenes’ birth date is debated. Due to the obscurity of Spartan records the exact date of birth for Cleomenes III is unknown; it is generally believed to be somewhere around 260 B.C. His father was Leonidas II and his mother is unknown. Cleomenes’ beliefs were shaped early on by his tutor, Sphaerus, who was a believer in the utopian system. Sometime later, but before Cleomenes came to the throne his father had him marry the widow of Agis IV (her name is unrecorded), who had a big part in shaping the future actions of Cleomenes III.

Cleomenes came to the throne with the intention to reform from the start. In 235 B.C. Leonidas II died and Cleomenes became King Cleomenes III along with Archidamus V. Remembering that Agis IV had been assassinated for his reforms Cleomenes knew he had to get popular first and start slow. In 229 B.C. Cleomenes led Sparta to war against the powerful Achaean League and its Strategos, Aratus of Sicyon. By 227 the Achaeans were on the run as Cleomenes soundly defeated them at Mt. Lycaeum and Ladoceia (near Megalopolis). Knowing that with his popularity high that the time was right Cleomenes launched a coup, killing four out of the five ephors, disbanded the Assembly, and replaced Archidamus V with his (Cleomenes’) brother Eucleidas as co-king. It is supposed that Cleomenes III also at this time introduced the patronomoi (board of six elders). With the biggest threat to his reforms out of the way Cleomenes reinstated some of the old ways of classical Sparta (such as the training of youth) as well as the Lygurcan Constitution (a set of laws that among other things gave every citizen a kleros or lot big enough to support their family and equal wealth) and cancelled all of the debts in the land. Next Cleomenes decided to redistribute all of the land in Sparta into 4,000 lots, and made it so that everyone even those normally excluded (such as the perioikoi or free men with out citizenship and hypomeinones) could own a lot. The news of these social reforms spread quickly and all over the Peloponnese citizens began to demand the exact same thing from their own cities. This worried Aratus and the other League members because the people could very well rise up and join the Spartans. In 226 Cleomenes marched out of Sparta for the new campaign season with an army reformed along the Macedonian model.

Now with a reformed Spartan society and reformed army Cleomenes prepared to take Greece by storm. Soon after marching out the cities of Arcadia, Corinth, and Mantineia all fell to Cleomenes and his army and Aratus was defeated in battle at Hecatombaeum near Dyme. These victories earned Cleomenes so much fame that Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt began to pay him an annual subsidy. Meanwhile Aratus and the remaining members of the Achaean League began to plan on how to do away with Cleomenes when news reached them that Pellene, Phlius, Argos and others had fallen. Confronted with this news they appealed to their former enemy Antiogonus III Doson of Macedon for aid. Meanwhile the cities of the Peloponnese were learning that Cleomenes did not intend to spread his social revolution beyond Sparta, and that he was only interested in reviving Spartan power. In 224 B.C. Aratus finally convinced Antiogonus to come; he launched an attack on the fortified Isthmus of Corinth and was repulsed by Cleomenes. When news of the beginning of a war between Sparta and Macedon reached Egypt Ptolemy III stopped paying the subsidy and abandoned Cleomenes. Soon afterwards Argos rose in revolt and thus created a hole for the Achaean League forces and the Macedonians to get through. In 223 B.C. Arcadia fell to the Macedonians, in response Cleomenes destroyed the city of Megalopolis. Realizing that the destruction wouldn’t buy him much time Cleomenes sold 6,000 serfs their freedom and used the money to buy mercenaries to boost his forces. In 222 B.C. Antiogonus confronted Cleomenes in battle at Sellasia on the road to Tegea. Here at Sellasia Antiogonus had more troops but Cleomenes had the better position. Despite this and a skillful handing of formations Cleomenes lost to Antiogonus. Shortly thereafter Antiogonus entered Sparta and deposed Cleomenes III, then he repelled all of the social reforms, which was considered more dangerous then Cleomenes himself.

Now in exile Cleomenes III wandered before coming to an old friend. In 221 B.C. after wandering around the Mediterranean for a few months Cleomenes came to Egypt were he was welcomed by Ptolemy III and was well treated by him. But later that year Ptolemy died and his son Ptolemy IV Philopator came to the throne. Ptolemy IV was distrustful of Cleomenes and had him imprisoned in 220 B.C. In 219 Cleomenes, tired of prison tried to orchestra a revolt against Ptolemy, this failed and Cleomenes III, rather then be executed, committed suicide. So died Cleomenes III, the great reformer king of Sparta at the age of 41.

Cleomenes III left a mark on Greece, but not the mark he wanted. The most lasting legacy of Cleomenes was not his conquests nor his army but his social reforms. It was the perceived danger of the social reforms of Cleomenes III (citizenship for all, equal wealth and land for all) that scared Aratus and mobilized Antiogonus III. Interestingly enough Marx cites the system devised by the Lygurcan Constitution, Agis IV, and Cleomenes III as amongst his inspirations for Communism.

[What books are you reading these days?]

I'm reading "The Warrior" by Francine Rivers, it is an awesome historical novel.

[Biographies: Chandragupta Maurya]

Chandragupta Maurya was India’s first Emperor and great leader. Starting out from lowly beginnings and with the help of some talented individuals Chandragupta would form India’s first great empire, which would last for 140 years after his death.

Chandragupta Maurya’s origns are shrouded in mystery. Generally there are two accepted stories on the birth and youth of Chandragupta Maurya. One story has Chandragupta born into the Maurya clan of the Kshatriyas (Hindu warrior caste), who fell on such bad times that he was sold by his maternal uncles to a cowherd, who raised him as his son. He was later sold as a boy to a hunter to tend his cattle. It was about this time it is said that Chandragupta met Kautilya, who was a Brahmin (a Hindu priest). Kautilya was interested in the boy and his Khastriya origns for the purpose of getting revenge on the reigning Nanda kings of Magadha (in modern Bihar, India). Kautilya then bought Chandragupta from the hunter and took him to Taxila (modern Pakistan) where he gave the boy a royal education, in preparation for the purpose he had for Chandragupta. The second tradition has Chandragupta Maurya being born out of the affair of a Nanda prince and his maid, whose name was Mura (according to this tradition Chandragupta named his dynasty for his mother). Chandragupta spent his youth in the palace and was raised as a prince, but when a kinsman of his named Dhanananda came to power things changed. In a confusing series of events Chandragupta found himself at the center of a political movement by the Brahmins to kick the Nandas out of Magadha, at the end of which Chandragupta was exiled. In this exile the young man met Kautilya, who like above, was interested in Chandragupta for the purpose of revenge. Kautilya then took Chandragupta in as his adopted son and took him to Taxila to complete his royal training.

In any case it was from Taxila that Chandragupta Maurya would begin his conquest. According to Plutarch it was shortly after completing his training that Chandragupta saw the Macedonian army of Alexander the Great. Intrigued by the foreigners and their army Chandragupta studied them and even met with Alexander himself, telling him that the time was ripe for an advance further south. Modern historians believe that Chandragupta was trying to manipulate Alexander into weakening Magadha enough for him to stage a coup. In any case Alexander was forced to turn back and upon his death in Babylon in 323 B.C. Chandragupta, on the advice of Kautilya raised an army. Before long Chandragupta had a disciplined fighting force organized along Macedonian lines and in 322 B.C. (the first definite date in Chandragupta’s life we have) conquered the Punjab. He turned his army around and marched on Magadha, where Dhanananda was so unpopular that Chandragupta was hailed as a liberator by most of the people. In 321 B.C. Chandragupta finally defeated the Nanda loyalists and was proclaimed king, but this did not satisfy Chandragupta, who named himself Emperor Chandragupta Maurya I and his empire, the Mauryan Empire. In accordance with Kautilya’s advice Chandragupta increased the size of his forces till they numbered 30,000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants, and 600,000 infantry. He then sent this army to conquer the Macedonian held Indus River valley in 317 B.C., which was falling into the grips of civil war. After this Chandragupta, again by Kautilya’s advice, settled down to give his new empire structure. During his training in Taxila Chandragupta had grown to earn a liking for the Achaemenid style of governance and ruling, so he instituted a similar system in his Mauryan Empire. A period of peace and stability then ensued following this, but this peace was shattered when news reached the Mauryan capital of Pataliputra in 305 B.C. that Seleukos (Seleucus) I Nicator of the newly formed Seleucid Empire was marching towards the Indus, intent on recovering Alexander’s Indian possessions. Chandragupta went out to meet Seleukos in battle and utterly defeated him at the Indus. The war continued for the next two years until in 303 B.C. Seleukos and Chandragupta reached an understanding. Seleukos agreed to recognize the Mauryan Empire as a legitimate state and to give up the territories of Gandara and Arachosia (The Kabul valley in modern Afghanistan). Chandragupta in turn agreed to recognize the Seleucid Empire as a legitimate state and gave 500 elephants as a gift. To seal the deal Seleukos gave his daughter Helen to Chandragupta as a wife. After the signing of the treaty Chandragupta resumed his conquests, by the time Kautilya convinced him to stop again the Mauryan Empire extended as far north as the Himalayan Mountains and as far south as the Narmada River. With this Chandragupta stopped his expansion and focused internally.

Chandragupta Maurya had made his empire huge and given it a great system of governance; now that he had all the land he wanted he settled down to focus on these domestic matters. One of the first things he did was continue to refine the Achaemenid system. Chandragupta then reformed the caste system so that instead four castes, there were seven: Philosophers, Peasants, Herdsmen, Traders, Soldiers, Government Officials, and Councilors. The backbone of the Mauryan Empire was its agricultural prosperity. To maximize this Chandragupta made it so that he owned all of the farms, he then rented these farms out for a quarter or a half of what was produced on them. To make sure that people worked on the farms Chandragupta exempted them from military service or any other service to the state. The country’s civil service was such: The empire was divided into districts which were managed by relatives and trusted generals of Chandragupta, in each district were several departments which managed all of the government owned faculties and responsibilities in the district. Chandragupta also saw to it that the government controlled the prices of goods and trade, which he did by standardizing all of the weights, measures, and coinage in the Mauryan Empire. To protect the nation from foreign attack Chandragupta Maurya standardized the armed forces so that the Mauryan army would always stand at the strength of 600,000 men. However despite the great wealth and power of his empire, Chandragupta Maurya never enjoyed it, for he was incredibly paranoid. This paranoia was the reason that Chandragupta created a branch of the government that reported directly to him on everything and everybody in the government, even the slightest suspicion on the part of Chandragupta could make a person disappear. The crowning achievements of this paranoia were, according to Megasthenes (Seleucid ambassador to Chandragupta), the building of a palace that reportedly contained 1,400 beds that he never slept twice in and the formation of, on the advice of Kautilya, a unit of 700 female bodyguards.

Chandragupta Maurya’s last years and death are filled with as much mystery as his birth. In 301 B.C. a Jainist sage named Bhadrabahu said that there would be a twelve year drought. According to Jainist tradition Chandragupta, upon seeing the drought happen converted to Jainism and abdicated the throne to his son Bindusara in that same year. He died in this account by starving himself to death while in prayer with Bhadrabahu in 297 B.C. In another account Chandragupta simply threw Bhadrabahu out of his court and ignored his warning, dieing as in the above in 297 B.C., but in this account because of old age. So died Chandragupta Maurya, the first great unifier of India, at an unknown age.

The impact of Chandragupta Maurya was tremendous. Due to Chandragupta’s strong military tradition and excellent government structure the Mauryan Empire was able to grow to cover the entire Indian subcontinent under the reigns of his son Bindusara and his grandson, the legendary Buddhist Emperor Ashoka. While the Mauryan Empire would not last for very long after the death of its founder (about 140 years) the mark it left behind on India still remains to this day.

[Biographies: Scipio Africanus Major]

Scipio Africanus Major (Latin: P. Cornelivs PFLN Scipio Africanvs) was a great hero of the early Republic. A true Roman patriot, Scipio was never willing to admit defeat during the Second Punic War.

Scipio Africanus Major was born into greatness. In 236 B.C. in Rome the man who would become Scipio Africanus was born. His father was Publius Scipio and his mother is unrecorded. Scipio’s early life is mostly unknown; we can only guess what he did before his first recorded appearance in 218 B.C.

The first recorded appearance of Scipio Africanus Major was in 218 B.C., at the start of the Second Punic War. At the start of 218 Scipio’s father Publius, like his own father and grandfather, was elected Consul. When news arrived of Hannibal’s advance Publius set out to stop him at the River Ticinus, his son came with him leading a cavalry troop. During the battle Publius was badly wounded, and according to Scipio’s friend Laelius in a later account, Scipio after seeing his father go down charged through the Carthaginian ranks to rescue him. Following the battle the Roman forces fell back to the River Trebia (December, 218 B.C.), where Scipio, taking command of his father’s forces, ordered the troops to make camp and stay put, Hannibal did likewise. When Titus Sempronius Longus arrived at Trebia with reinforcements he clashed immediately with Scipio. Sempronius wished to attack as soon as he arrived, but Scipio argued for waiting on their side of the river, knowing that the Romans could afford to outwait Hannibal. Sempronius listened at the time, but later fell for Hannibal’s skirmisher bait hook, line, and sinker. In the aftermath of this battle Scipio broke camp and returned to Rome, in the following year (217 B.C.) he may have married Aemilla, daughter of Aemilius Paulus (who would in 216 die at Cannae). In the following year of 216 B.C. Scipio was made a military tribune and was in the army of Varro and Paulus at Cannae, the greatest Roman defeat of the Republican Era. Following the disaster Scipio along with 4,000 troops regrouped at Canusium, were he heard that a group of politician-generals led by Lucius Caecilius Metellus were planning on abandoning the Italian peninsula to Hannibal. Scipio, upon hearing this, gathered some supporters and stormed the meeting place of the conspirators. There he made them swear at sword point to continue to serve Rome faithfully and loyally. Scipio disappeared from history at this point for the next three years; he reappeared in 213 B.C. when he retired from the military and became a civilian by winning the elections for curule aedile, the tribunes upon hearing this objected, stating that he was too young for the position. Scipio replied to this by stating “If the Roman people want to make me aedile, I am old enough”. Two years later in 211 B.C. news reached Rome that the Carthaginians had defeated and killed Scipio’s father, uncle, and their troops in Spain. Scipio at this point swore revenge on the Carthaginians, promising to stop at nothing to defeat them.

Following his father’s death Scipio would embark on a series of campaigns that would prove his genius in battle. In 210 B.C. the Senate formed a new army to send to Spain, but no general came forward to take command. Scipio then stepped forward and made an impassioned plea to the Senate for his own candidacy for the job. Though young, Scipio was impressive and the Senate relented, giving him command of the Spanish theater of war. In 209 Scipio arrived in Spain, and made his headquarters at Tarraco (modern Tarragona). Scipio, a firm a believer in the doctrine of “the best defense is offense”, made his first move an attack on the Carthaginian fortress of Carthago Nova, catching it completely by surprise. There was no siege in this case, during the attack the lagoon that formed a natural protector of the city’s northern wall went down, thus allowing Scipio to take the city easily. The taking of Carthago Nova sent shock waves throughout Spain, the sudden loss of their home base motivated the three Carthaginian armies in the region (under the command of Hasdrubal Barca, Mago Barca, and Hasdrubal son of Gisgo) to take Scipio as a serious threat. Scipio spent the time gained to him by the shock of his actions to train his men to fight in such a way to counter the tactics of the Carthaginians. Scipio put his troops training to the test when he met Hasdrubal Barca in battle at Baecula (modern Bailen). Scipio won brilliantly at Baecula and won an even greater victory in 208 at the battle of Baetica. Hasdrubal, following these defeats then left Spain at the request his brother Hannibal to go to Italy. Scipio decided to not pursue and instead turned to deal with the two remaining commanders: Mago Barca and Hasdrubal son Gisgo. After a further two years (208-206) of fighting, not to mention diplomatic negotiations with the local Iberian chiefs Scipio defeated Mago and Hasdrubal at the decisive battle of Ilipa (modern Alcala del Rio). Scipio then left Spain and went to Numidia (in modern North Africa); the reason for this was to gain the support of Princes Massinissa and Syphax. After gaining their support Scipio returned to Spain and quelled a minor army mutiny. He then surrounded the fortress of Gades (modern Cadiz) and once it fell later that year the Roman conquest of Carthaginian Spain was complete, Scipio returned to Rome in triumph.

Having made his reputation and his fame in Spain, Scipio now returned to Rome with the idea of finishing the war. In 205 B.C. Scipio entered Rome to wild cheering crowds and discovered that he had been elected Consul for the year. In his first decision Scipio decided to ignore Hannibal and his army and instead strike at Carthage itself. Many in the Senate opposed Scipio’s decision, but he beat them down and got an assignment to Sicily. Because his new army was mostly made up of volunteers Scipio used Sicily as a training ground, their first military action was the taking of the town of Locri Epizephyrii from Hannibal (misconduct of the part of Scipio’s governor would later give his opponents in the Senate much political ammo to fire at him). In 204 B.C. anti-Scipio members of the Senate dispatched a commission to Sicily to discover what Scipio had been doing. When the commission discovered that Scipio had been training his men into a well disciplined fighting force the Senate ordered Scipio to invade Africa, to which he was more then happy to oblige. Scipio together with 35,000 men landed on Carthaginian shores and laid siege to Utica. Then news reached the Roman camp that Syphax had betrayed them and Scipio broke camp and moved out. In early 203 Scipio met in battle and destroyed the combined Punic-Numidian army under Hasdrubal son of Gisgo and Syphax. Scipio keeping up the pace swung down onto the Great Plains along the River Bagradas (modern Suq al Khamis along the River Majardah) and smashed the assembling army there. Carthage then opened negotiations with Scipio, during which he displayed admirable restraint, but these were all for nothing when Hannibal returned in 202 B.C. Thinking fast Scipio moved southwest and there met with the Numidians still loyal to Rome under Massinissa. Scipio then took this new combined army and turned east, where he met Hannibal in battle at Zama. In the end Scipio won that battle due to his Roman-Numidian cavalry outflanking of Hannibal, though both men tried a repeat of Cannae on the other. After this victory Scipio once again opened negotiations, and this time Carthage accepted his terms, which in light of what many Roman aristocrats demanded was rather lenient. When Scipio returned to Rome he found a city full of jubilation over his victory, and despite his protests the Senate named him: Africanus (Latin: Conqueror of Africa). After this Scipio would, despite the pleas of the people (who wished to place even more honors on him), retired from public life.

Content with all he had done for Rome, Scipio had retired from public service, but it was destined to not last. In 199 B.C. Scipio Africanus was elected Censor and named Princeps Senatus (Latin: First among Equals). Unable to refuse the office Scipio came out of retirement and took his role. Scipio’s tenure was marked by his love of all things Hellenic (a reason why so many senators hated him during the Second Punic War). When his five years as Censor and Princeps Senatus was up in 194 B.C. the people elected him Consul for the second time. Despite his love of Hellenism Scipio was against an evacuation of Roman forces from Greece in the wake of Philip V’s defeat, believing, and not without good reason, that Seleucid king Antiochus III would invade the area if Rome left. On Hannibal’s suggestion that is exactly what Antiochus did and Scipio’s decision proved correct. In 193 B.C. Scipio was assigned to an embassy to first Africa and then the East, what he did during this time is unknown. In 190 B.C. Africanus’ brother Lucius Scipio was elected Consul and appointed to lead the Roman army against Antiochus, who had retreated out of Greece due to a Roman victory at Thermopylae the pervious year. Africanus volunteered to serve as Lucius’ legate; however he fell ill during the campaign and was unable to assist Lucius in his decisive victory at Magnesia that December (for this victory Lucius was given the title Asiaticus). All was not well in Rome however; the enemies of the Scipio family led by Cato the Elder led a series of attacks in the political arena. As a result Lucius’ command was taken away and Africanus’ lenient peace terms were made harsh. In 187 B.C. a pair of tribunes brought Lucius to trial, accusing him of misappropriating war indemnities from Antiochus. The accusation angered Africanus to the point where as Lucius was bringing in his account books Africanus seized them, tore the books to pieces, then threw the pieces on the floor. As a result Lucius was found guilty and disgraced. In 185 B.C. Africanus himself was brought to trial on the accusation of accepting bribes, the trial took place on the anniversary of the great victory at Zama. At the trial Africanus reminded everyone of this and as a result was acquitted. In 184 B.C. Scipio Africanus left Roman politics for good by leaving Rome and moving to his country farm in Liternum in Campania (modern Southern Italy) and there spent the remaining year of his life as a farmer. He died sometime in 183 B.C. at the age of 53, his last wish was to be buried on his farm and not in the family tomb in Rome. So died Scipio Africanus Major, one of the greatest minds of his day.

The impact of Scipio Africanus Major was huge upon Rome. Because of his strategic and tactical mind he never lost a battle he led, and because of this Scipio Africanus Major had the reputation to beat during the Roman Republic. He was also considered the paragon of the Roman military man and was the model that all future Republican generals were compared to.

[Biographies: Decebalus]

Decebalus (ancient Dacian: Decebal) was the last great king of the Dacians and their greatest hero. Starting out as a lowly nobleman he would in time become King, and would also in time lead Dacia’s last resistance to Rome.

No one knows when or where Decebalus was born. In an unknown place to unknown parents Decebalus was born. We know nothing about his early life except that his name was not Decebalus originally, it was Diurpaneus, and that he was born a Tarabostes or local aristocrat. From his later actions we can tell that as a young man Decebalus probably bemoaned the fact that Dacia had been divided into four or five small bickering states since the Great King Burebista died (roughly around the same time as Julius Caesar).

As an adult Decebalus would do much to remedy the problems he saw. Details are scarce on Decebalus’ activities before 85 AD, but we do know that he spent those years apparently unifying the land for his king (whether or not this king was the same one who gave Decebalus his throne is unknown) and concentrating power in the citadel of Sarmizegetusa (modern Hunedoara county, Romania). In 85 AD Decebalus, who was commander-in-chief of Dacia apparently, reformed the army into a feared force and then led this new army across the Danube into the Roman province of Moesia to raid. When the Romans heard of this and that the Dacians had killed the governor of Moesia the Emperor Domitian responded by dispatching Praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus with two legions (among them the famous Legio V ‘Alaudae’) to punish Dacia. However Decebalus had expected this and set up an ambush for the Romans at a mountain pass called Taepae (now known as ‘The Iron Gates of Transylvania’). The result was a massacre of the Roman forces: Prefect Fuscus lay dead, two whole legions were wiped out, and their eagles captured. Decebalus’ popularity with the people had reached the point now that King Duras Durbaneus stepped down from the throne, and to no one’s surprise Decebalus was chosen to replace him. Upon ascension the new king adopted the nickname of ‘Decebalus’ (ancient Dacian: Braveheart) as his new name and a cult soon grew up around him.

Now as King, Decebalus would set out to earn even more glory for himself and Dacia. In Rome Domitian prepared for a second attack on Dacia, to reverse the defeat from the previous year. This time Domitian sent an officer known as Tettius Julianus, whom like his predecessor was set to enter Dacia through the Iron Gates. This time around the battle ended in a tie, with both sides suffering heavy casualties, but the Romans eventually retreated. Decebalus celebrated the tie as a great victory and told the people that. Domitian in reply to this made preparations for a new campaign against Dacia, but an uprising in Germania made this impossible. Knowing he could not afford a two front war Domitian sent a peace delegation to Decebalus, who agreed to keep the peace of the region intact if Rome would pay him tribute and loan him some military engineers. Domitian hastily agreed and in 89 AD peace settled over the region, until the coming of Trajan.

With his realm at peace Decebalus decided to improve Dacia domestically. Decebalus set out first of all to improve national unity, for although Dacia was one nation again the bickering still continued, but on a much smaller scale. Decebalus also set out to improve Dacia’s buildings, using the engineers on loan from Rome he would beautify his capital of Sarmizegetusa with palaces and temples, Decebalus also built workshops to teach his people how to maintain the buildings and build even more. On the political front Decebalus would conclude treaties with the surrounding nations, most notably the Sarmatian tribes of the Iazyges and Roxolani. However during all of this Decebalus did not forget the army and constantly strengthened it throughout the period. In 101 AD the peace was shattered when the new Emperor of Rome, Trajan, launched his invasion.

In 101 AD the new Roman emperor, Trajan, set out to conquer Dacia, in order to reverse the dishonour of Domitian’s actions 87-89 AD (Trajan also had an ulterior motive in that he supposed that rich Dacian gold could alleviate Rome’s financial woes). On March 25th, 101 AD the Romans launched their third invasion of Dacia with 15 legions. Decebalus, who had been watching the Roman buildup decided to adopt a scorched earth policy and let the huge Roman army cross the Danube and advance into Dacia unmolested, meanwhile Decebalus called on all Dacian warriors to converge on Taepae, where he planned to make a stand against the enemy. Decebalus hoped that by denying the enemy food supplies from the villages and farms he would face a much weakened foe at ‘the Iron Gates’. Much to the surprise of the Dacians the Romans were well rested and fed, but Decebalus continued with the original battle plan. In the ensuing battle, like the one in 88 AD, they were heavy casualties on both sides, but this time it was the Dacians who pulled back. Thinking fast Decebalus went to the Roxolani, Burs (Dacians outside Decebalus’ rule) and thier allies and convinced them to join him in his war. Together with an army of around 160,000 men (140,000 Dacians and 20,000 Roxolani, Burs, and thier allies) Decebalus laid waste to the Roman settlements of Lower Moesia along the coast of the Pontus Euxinus (modern Black Sea). Decebalus then spends the winter of 101 fighting Trajan in Lower Moesia. In the spring of 102 AD Trajan launched a new offensive against Decebalus, and the alarming rate at which the Romans advanced worried Decebalus more then he cared to admit. Despite everything he throws at them the Romans keep coming and Decebalus sends two peace delegations to Trajan, but nothing gets done in the negotiations. Soon the Romans cross the Carpathian Mountains and reach the plains. In the ensuing battles Decebalus and his Dacians fight hard against the Romans, but eventually he calls for parley with Trajan once he hears that Sarmizegetusa had fallen to the Romans (with the help of traitorous local nobles) and that his sister had been captured in one of the foothill cities to the northeast of the capital. Trajan grants the request; his own troops were exhausted by all of the hard campaigning and he needed a respite in the fighting. In the negotiations Trajan and Decebalus came to a peace agreement favorable to Rome. In it the Dacians had to hand over a large chunk of land, disarm, and Decebalus had to become a client king of Rome. To keep the treaty and the peace Trajan forced Decebalus to allow Roman garrisons in his territory. Decebalus agreed and Trajan returned to Rome a hero, he was even given the title of Dacius (Latin: Conqueror of Dacia) by the Senate, something that Decebalus deeply resented.

Decebalus and all of the Dacians soon began to resent the Roman occupation forces, so he planned a revolt to chase the Romans back across the Danube. In 105 AD, just three years after the last war Decebalus began to gather all of the warriors to Sarmizegetusa and other fortresses, where he began to rearm his men. Completely taking the Romans by surprise Decebalus slaughters them and takes their fortresses, at the same time he attacks the Iazyges, in order to keep both Rome and her allies tied up. In Rome Trajan hears of this and makes ready to depart when there is a assassination attempt on his life, as a result Decebalus gains much needed time to make ready his defenses (it has been suggested by Romanian historians that Decebalus was behind the assassination attempt). In the summer of 105 Trajan arrived in Dacia and gathered all remaining Romans to him. Decebalus hearing of this ordered all available troops to finish the Romans once and for all; this campaign takes up the rest of 105. In the spring of 106 AD Trajan starts his counter offensive against Decebalus, whose troops dug in the towns and cities to await the onslaught. But the Romans brake through and they torch every settlement. Decebalus, realizing that Dacia’s only hope lies in outlasting Rome in a siege calls every warrior available to hole up in Sarmizegetusa. Trajan soon arrived at the walls of the Dacian capital and set to siege it. Decebalus and the garrison are able to repulse the first assault against the walls of Sarmizegetusa (which makes one wonder if Decebalus had those loaned engineers ‘update’ Sarmizegetusa’s walls). At this victory Decebalus knew he was in for a long siege. At some point during all this the Romans find Sarmizegetusa’s main water supply and cut it, causing the garrison to begin to die of thirst. The biggest blow to morale came when the Romans broke through a section of the defensive wall and set the interior alight, killing the elderly high priest Vezina in the process. Decebalus now knew that in order for his cause to survive he had to escape, so at the last minute Decebalus and a contingent of soldiers escaped, they would go to the city of Porolissum (modern Moigrad). At Porolissum Decebalus learned that his enormous treasury (which was reported to have weighed l65,500 kilos in gold and 331,000 in silver) had been discovered at its secret hiding place under the Sargetia River and carted off by the Romans. Trajan soon discovered Decebalus had escaped Sarmizegetusa and it did not take long for the Romans to find Decebalus and his army at Porolissum. At Porolissum Trajan defeated the Dacians in battle for the last time and once again Decebalus fled, this time to the wild and untamed regions where he hoped to raise an army of liberation. But the Romans were relentless and dispatched a cavalry unit to capture him. Decebalus, preferring death to captivity in Rome committed suicide, and as a last wish ordered his retainers to do the same. And so died Decebalus, the last king of Greater Dacia at an unknown age in the wilderness.

In the aftermath of Decebalus’ death much happened. Trajan upon hearing of Decebalus’ death had his head cut off and sent to Rome as proof of his death. Despite this the memory of Decebalus and what he did has never died in Romania, where he is remembered as the first and greatest of their national heroes.

[Other: Building Materials of the Ancient World]

The builders of the ancient world used a variety of different materials. Some, such as in the Romans, used materials that were special to that people. Others, such as the Greeks, used materials that were common to any people.

The Romans used 5 main materials when building, these are: Rubble, Tufa (a special spongy yellow stone found only in Italy), bricks (fired and unfired), cement (which was made using rubble and Tufa), and marble. Some Roman tools would have been: chisels, axes, saws, drills, and hammers.

The material used by the Greeks depended on the era, for the early classical period the materials were: mud, mud bricks, and wood. As time went on the Greeks began to use different materials in building on top of these, such as: limestone, marble, better bricks, and baked clay. Greek tools consisted of more or less what the Romans used.

The Persians used a variety of building materials, these were: fired or unfired mud brick (which given the climate was an excellent material), stones, wood, lime plaster, mud, reed mats, and bitumen (a special adhesive found only in the Middle East). Tools used by the Persians were: lathes, saws, pegs, iron axes, picks, shovels, and hammers.

[Biographies: Marcus Aurelius]

Marcus Aurelius was one of the Roman Empire’s best Emperors; in fact he is counted as one of the ‘Five Good Emperors’ (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius). During his reign Marcus did much to defend and expand Roman territory, as well as doing much for Rome in peace time. However it is for his small book of Stoic wisdom, The Meditations, that he is best remembered.

The man who would become Marcus Aurelius was born probably in Rome. On April 26 121 AD Marcus Aurelius, then known as Marcus Annius Verus, was born to Annius Verus and Domitia Lucilla. His parents considered it a good luck sign that in that same year his grandfather became Consul a second time and his aunt married the distinguished senator Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus. As a youth Marcus delved deeply into his studies, in particular rhetoric and philosophy. This got him notice from the Emperor Hadrian, who hence forth called him ‘Verissimus’ (Latin: Most Truthful). In 136 AD the Emperor Hadrian adopted Lucius Ceionius Commodus as heir and arranged for the fifteen year old Marcus to wed his daughter Ceionia Fabia. In 138 AD when Marcus was seventeen Hadrian’s adopted heir, Commodus, died and Hadrian chose as his successor Marcus’ uncle Antoninus. Antoninus was in turn required to pick out his successors, so he chose Marcus (who was given the new name of Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus) and Commodus’ son, the eight year old Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus.

During his uncle’s reign Marcus would gain much experience. During the long peaceful reign of Antoninus Pius both Marcus and Lucius devoted themselves to learning and study, Marcus more Lucius. This is attested too by the letters between Marcus and his tutor, Fronto. However somewhere along the line Marcus began to grow tired of what his tutors offered him, so he went in search of something more. He found that in the philosophy of Stoicism, to which he dedicated the rest of his life too. Marcus was also an active figure in politics, he would become over the course of Antoninus Pius’ reign Consul three times (140, 145, and 161) and became a magistrate and priest for an unrecorded amount of times. Marcus despite the fact his studies and governmental responsibilities took up most of his time still found the time to pursue a suitable marriage for himself, in 145 AD during his second consulship he married his cousin Annia Galeria Faustina. In 147 Antoninus judged Marcus ready and bestowed upon him the honors of Tribunicia Potestas and Imperium Proconsulare thus making Marcus joint Emperor with him. On March 8, 161 AD Marcus would wake up to the sight of the statue of Fortuna in his bedroom, this statue was always in the bedroom of the Emperor only, thus Marcus figured out that Antoninus died overnight, and that he was now the new Emperor. There was no opposition to Marcus’ succession, a rare thing in the history of Rome. Thus the senate declared Marcus, now forty years old, and his adopted brother Lucius, in accordance with Antoninus’ will, as joint Augusti (Latin: Emperors) of the empire and gave them new names. Marcus became Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus and Lucius became Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus.

Now as Emperor Marcus would do much for Rome, both in war and peace. Almost immediately after his ascension Marcus discovered that his reign was not going to be a repeat of Antoninus’. On the eastern frontier the tensions between Parthia and Rome had peaked. The nation of Armenia had long acted as a buffer between Rome and Parthia and now with the uncertainty of how the new Emperors will reign the Parthians under their king Vologaeses III struck first, establishing their own candidate for the Armenian throne as king and defeating the legions sent against them with impunity. Marcus reacted much quicker then anyone thought he would (after all Marcus was a philosopher, not a soldier) and he sent his brother Lucius to deal with the problem. Lucius was however more of a party man then a general, luckily for Marcus and the empire Lucius’ immediate subordinates were some of Rome’s best military leaders. Starting in 162 AD Rome was on the offensive against Parthia, and led by Avidius Cassius the Romans would even sack the major city of Seleucia and the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon (modern Baghdad). In 166 AD Parthia surrendered to Rome and a pro-Roman king sat in Armenia, the people considered the war against Parthia the most decisive since Trajan’s wars against Dacia. When Lucius and his army returned to Rome for a triumph in honor of the victory they brought with them a disease that devastated most of Rome and its empire, most historians think it was probably smallpox. This cast a bad light upon the joint emperors, who had just taken the titles of Armenicus and Parthicus in honor of the victory over Parthia. During this time Marcus dispatched the first of several official embassies to Han China. In the north the Germanic tribes, led by the Marcomanni smashed through the Roman defensive fortifications called Limes and thus posed an even greater threat then Parthia. But Marcus, though worried, was more concerned with providing for his suffering citizens. By 169 the threat became too much to ignore and Marcus together with Lucius marched north to deal with the invaders.

169 AD was the beginning of a new period for Emperor Marcus Aurelius. In early 169 AD the Marcomanni and Quadi tribes entered Italy itself, this was the first time an invader entered Italy since the Cimbri and Teutones in the late second century B.C. Marcus and his brother wasted no time and ordered an broad mobilization and draft, even slaves were included in the army. After this the two emperors marched north and managed to dislodge the Marcomanni and Quadi from their siege of Aquileia. After this victory Marcus pushed on, only to learn that Lucius had died suddenly of a stroke. Heartbroken, Marcus turned back and took the body of his adopted brother to Rome for burial with full battle honors. Following this Marcus Aurelius went back north to campaign against the Germanic tribes; he would spend the rest of his life on this campaign. Today we do not know what Marcus’ battle plan against the Germanic tribes were but we can guess from what happened on the campaign what they were: Step one was to drive the Marcomanni and allies out of Italy and then back across the Danube. Step two was isolate each tribe and defeat each individually, this step in particular was time consuming and expensive, as attested by the raising of two new full legions (2nd and 3rd Italica) and the (sometimes re-) building of several border forts all over the frontier. Step three, which was never reached was apparently to turn the invaders’ homelands into two new provinces (proof of this being planned has been discovered). The war against the Marcomanni and allies was primarily characterized by the slow, steady, and plodding progress of the advance. During this time Marcus would write his famous ‘The Mediations’ which surprisingly where written in Greek instead of Latin, in this little book Marcus wrote all of his thoughts and beliefs and it has served as a priceless look into the mind of an extraordinary emperor. In 175 AD Avidius Cassius, the hero of the Parthian war and governor of Syria (Cassius’ power extended far beyond Syria however, he was de facto ruler of the Roman East) rose up in rebellion after hearing a rumor that Marcus was dead. When the Emperor heard this and the rumors that his wife, having an affair with Cassius, had pushed him too it, made a quick peace with the remaining Germanic tribes and went east. Upon reaching Asia Minor Marcus learned that the rebel general was dead, killed by his own soldiers still loyal to Marcus. Deciding that he must assuage the fears of his eastern subjects and make sure they knew he was alive Marcus went on tour of the Roman East, visiting Antioch, Alexandria, and then swinging westwards to Athens (where he spent a considerable amount of time) also during his trip Marcus was, like Hadrian, initiated into the cult the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to Rome Marcus rested a bit in the lull of peace, but that was soon broken as the Germanic tribes once again invaded. In 177 AD and this time taking his sixteen year old son Commodus with him (whom he had just made a junior emperor); Marcus went north to lead the troops in person. Over the next three years Marcus continued his stellar string of victories against the Germanic tribes, and he was by, modern estimations, on the cusp of victory when suddenly in March, 180 AD he came down sick. Knowing he was on his death bed Marcus told his son Commodus to continue the war and crush the tribes after his passing. On March 17, 180 AD Marcus Aurelius died in the city of Vindobona (modern Vienna).

The domestic and peacetime achievements of Marcus Aurelius were not much, due to the lack of peace during his reign. For the most part Marcus left things as they were under his predecessors, however he did show interest in the field of law, so he got involved with that. During his reign Marcus passed several laws, which in general made life easier for those less fortunate. Marcus also increased government centralization by reinstating the powers of the iuridici (the judicial administrators of Italy). Marcus’ religious policy was remarkably lenient and as long as other religions did not cross his laws Marcus was okay with them. The exception to this of course, was Christianity, while Marcus never persecuted Christians he also did nothing to make life easier for them by changing the laws of Trajan and Hadrian in regards to how Christians are to be treated. The greatest example of this was the massacre at Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France), which to the credit of Marcus he did not start, but to his discredit did not stop.

Marcus Aurelius was one of Rome’s great Emperors. While there was never long periods of peace in his reign Marcus Aurelius is still counted as a member of the ‘Five Good Emperors’ and is still widely regarded as a great emperor by historians. Due to the actions of his son Commodus the death of Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-king (as some label him), marks the end of the era of Pax Romana and the start of Rome’s long decline.

[Star Wars]

I just noticed this topic and I wanna pitch in here. I plan on seeing "ROTS" on Thursday or Saturday with my Dad, whose big Star Wars fan like me.

[Biographies: Brennos]

Brennos (Celtic: possibly meaning raven king or battle lord) was the name, or more likely, the title of the Gallic chieftain who in 387 B.C. sacked the city of Rome for the first time in its history. It would be his memory that incited the Roman distaste of the Celts, and drove their aggressive stance towards them.

No one knows when Brennos was born. In an unknown year in Senone lands to unknown parents Brennos was born, if that was even his name. Besides the fact that as the chief of the Senone tribe he had to have been born in their lands, nothing else is known about Brennos’ early life. Even this much in conjecture.

In the late 5th and early 4th Centuries BC a series of migrations by proto-Germanic peoples into the Danube area forced the pre-existing Gallic tribes to migrate. These tribes, including the Senones, settled down in the Po River Valley. Their migration brought on war with the Etruscans, the dominant power in the region. Eventually the Celts and Etruscans agreed to co-exist but tensions existed. This was aggravated by the wars waged between the Etruscan League (the premier Etruscan politico-military power led by Veii), the Roman Republic (and its Latin allies), and the Hellenes of the south and Sicily (of which Syracuse was greatest). The Celts proved useful mercenaries, especially to the Hellenes. Eventually the Romans broke the Etruscan League with the capture of Veii in 396, and the rest of the league cities fell under Roman sway. Into this stepped the figure of Brennos.

The Senone advance on Clusium in 387, and its reasons, is still a matter of academic debate. It seems likely however, that Brennos and his men were acting as mercenaries in the pay of the tyrannos (Greek: sole, illegitimate, ruler) Dionysios of Syracuse. Dionysios’ interests would have been served two-fold: For one the Gallic advance would serve as a useful distraction to the Romans, and second it further weakened the Etruscans. In any case, Brennos’ arrival prompted the city leaders to send word to Rome. The Senate responded by sending a delegation of three diplomats to negotiate. The talks eventually broke down and insults by men on both sides resulted in a fight. One Senone chieftain was slain in the fighting, and Brennos, shocked by this breach of sacred protocol (by both Roman and Celtic standards), ordered his army (already engaged with the Etruscans) to withdraw. At this point Brennos may not have desired war with the Republic directly, just with the Etruscans. It may have been in this spirit then that he sent his own delegation to Rome, to demand the Roman diplomats be handed over. The Senate not only refused but also gave the three men (by tradition brothers belonging to patrician clan of the Fabii) status as military tribunes holding consular powers. The Senones were enraged, and Brennos left Clusium to march on Rome itself.

On July 18th the Roman army of 24,000 under the overall command of Consul A. Quintus Sulpicius arrayed itself for battle on the banks of the river Allia. On paper, the army was comprised of six legions, but these forces were drastically under strength and aside from the patrician heavy infantry, based on the Hellenic hoplitai, were formed from ill-trained and equipped levies. Brennos commanded an army of similar numbers but not much else is known. It seems his forces were definitely better trained, or better experienced and better equipped (given what is understood about Roman military equipment of this era versus Celtic). During the battle, Brennos broke the Roman line by concentrating on the flanks first, which shattered quickly, and then surrounding and destroying the patrician troops in the center. The remaining troops fled to Veii and were joined by many civilians there, who had left the capital in the face of the Senone advance.

Three days later Brennos and his army arrived and all of Rome, save the fortress of the Capitoline Hill fell to him with out trouble. An initial assault on the Capitoline was repulsed, and the problem of the fortress would plague Brennos even as sack continued. One night (after a month traditionally), Brennos thought of a plan to attack the Romans at night. The assault was foiled, reportedly, by the honking of the sacred geese in the temple of Juno. After that, Brennos decided to settle down and starve the Romans out. Disease soon spread among the Senones and wrecked havoc. Due to low supplies the defenders asked for parley with Brennos after six months, which he accepted. In the ensuing negotiations, Brennos agreed to leave Rome if they paid him 1,000 pounds of gold, to which the Romans reluctantly agreed. In the weighing of the gold, Consul Sulpicius began to complain the Gallic weight measures were too heavy. The angered cheiftain responded by flinging his sword on the table and yelling “vae victis!” meaning “woe to the vanquished”. After getting his gold Brennos left Rome behind, there are two versions on what happened next: One version has the returning M. Furius Camillus driving Brennos out of Rome and then killing him. The other has Brennos returning to the Po River Valley, and this one is the most accepted. Taking the second as truth, we have no clue when Brennos died, but the mark he left on Rome was undeniable.

Rome would always remember Brennos. After the departure of the Senones, Rome underwent a dramatic military reform, the Camillan reform, and it was mostly due to Brennos the Romans abandoned the Hellenic way of fighting and adopted a more standardized model. Furthermore his actions formed the basis for a grudge between the Romans and the Celts that was to last for over three centuries.

[Biographies: Vercingetorix]

Vercingetorix (Gaulish: Ver-Rix Cingetos) was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe in Gaul (modern France). Starting in 52 B.C. he led a revolt against the invading Romans under Julius Caesar, his actions during the revolt are remembered to this day.

Vercingetorix was probably born near his tribe’s capital (Gergovia). From what little info we have Vercingetorix was probably born in 72 B.C., his father was Celtius and we don’t know who his mother was. Because we only know of him from Roman sources we don’t know much about Vercingetorix as a child or young man, except that perhaps he was probably very high spirited and probably gained some renown in deeds.

In 58 B.C. Caesar invaded Gaul, and from his later actions we can tell Vercingetorix resented the systematic conquest of his homeland. While Caesar waged war around him Vercingetorix could only watch, because he was still too young to go to war. Vercingetorix probably developed even stronger feelings on the matter when his father gave in to the Romans with a fight. In 54-53 B.C. the Eburones and their leader Amborix along with allies rose up in rebellion against Caesar, while the Arverni could not take part in the rebellion because their homeland (modern Auvergne) was too far away to be of any help, Vercingetorix still watched and probably noted just how effective a guerilla war was against the Romans.

Now having seen what kind of war could work against the Roman war machine, various Gallic tribes rose up in revolt. In the winter of 53-52 B.C. Caesar was not in Gaul, having left for Rome after crushing Amborix’s rebellion. In the land of the Carnutes in the city of Cenabum (modern Orleans) the Gauls rose up and killed all the Romans in the town. It did not take long for word to reach Arverni lands of the slaughter. In Arverni lands Celtius was found dead, a Roman gladius (short sword) by his body and Vercingetorix, believing the Romans were behind his father’s death, swore revenge. Now that he was ruler Vercingetorix sent out from Gergovia a plea for revolt from all the tribes. To even the new chieftain’s surprise nearly all of the tribes along the Lorie river (the ancient name is unknown) rose up in revolt. By now Caesar was aware of what was happening and he set out to rejoin his men, even if that meant pushing through six foot deep snow drifts. When word reached Vercingetorix of Caesar’s determination he called on the tribes in Caesar’s path to burn their settlements to the ground and drive off their livestock. However the chieftains of those tribes did not like the idea, believing that no man could force his way through the deep snow, but Vercingetorix told them in a speech that it would be better for them to lose their homes, then to see their wives and children carried into captivity. Those words convinced the chiefs and in one day alone (however begrudgingly) they burned twenty towns. When Caesar arrived in Gaul he found a burnt landscape and with Vercingetorix’s cavalry cutting off their tenuous line of supply the Romans ran out of food fast. Amongst the Gauls it was believed that Vercingetorix’s plan would work, however a hitch soon developed in the plan. The Bituriges, one of the tribes in Caesar’s path, were unwilling to burn down their capital of Avaricum (modern Bourges). They believed that Avaricum, because of its location was invincible. Against his better judgment Vercingetorix allowed the Bituriges to keep their capital, the cold and hungry Romans under Caesar and Titus Labienus arrived and laid siege to the city in early spring 52 B.C. To the amazement of all but Vercingetorix the city fell after twenty-seven days of siege and the Romans got the food they so desperately needed. Out of the population of forty-thousand in the city only eight hundred survived to tell Vercingetorix of the fall of Avaricum. Going with the flow Vercingetorix changed plans and fell back with his army to the Arverni homelands, or to be more precise, Gergovia. As expected Caesar followed suit and upon reaching the lands of the Arverni divided his army between himself and Titus Labienus. Caesar’s wing of the army followed Vercingetorix to Gergovia, where he came the closest he ever had to defeat due to the planned defection of the Aedui tribe’s allied horsemen to Vercingetorix. Following up on his semi-victory Vercingetorix caught up with the Romans just as Caesar and Labienus (who had been dealing with the Senones and Parisii) rejoined at Loire River. At the river the Romans defeated the massive Gallic army (primarily due to the aid of the Germanic allied cavalry) and they fell back, fighting all the way, to the Mandubrii capital of Alesia.

At Alesia the stage was set for the final act of Vercingetorix’s rebellion. Along the way to the fortress town of Alesia the chiefs of Vercingetorix’s eighty-thousand man army proclaimed him as commander-in-chief of all Gallic forces (the Romans took this to mean they crowned him king, and they may have, but we may never know). Vercingetorix was surprised at the move and quickly acted to make things hard for Caesar, who was marching on his position even as he planned. Vercingetorix hoped to implement his scorched earth policy from the beginning of the rebellion on a national level. Unfortunately for Vercingetorix the chiefs where not willing to go with his plan this time, stating it went against everything they believed in as Gauls. Vercingetorix tried his best to persuade them to change their minds, but the chiefs would not budge and soon afterwards the Romans arrived. Caesar realized upon arrival that Alesia could not be besieged in an ordinary manner. So he thought up along with his engineers what would become one of the most extraordinary siege fortifications in history: a double circumvallation that enveloped the city of Alesia as well as the besiegers. As the walls went up Vercingetorix was not idle, he constantly sent out cavalry and infantry to interrupt the building; however no matter what he did Vercingetorix could not stop the Romans. So on the eve of the completion of the works Vercingetorix sent out some cavalry to each of the tribes with in the rebellion that were not already with him to come to Alesia to lift the siege. At Alesia, Vercingetorix had just enough food to last for a month, and everyone in Alesia hoped for the arrival of their allies. As the month wore on it became increasingly obvious that the food could not sustain both the warriors and the Mandubrii, so the chiefs of the tribes came to Vercingetorix and told him to eject the Mandubrii so the army would survive. At first Vercingetorix rejected the idea, but over time finally came to give his most difficult order. When the Romans saw the Mandubrii in the space between Alesia and the Roman camp they wanted to let them in, but Caesar vetoed the idea, believing that Vercingetorix was up to something. Soon afterwards word reached Vercingetorix that allied reinforcements; a quarter of a million strong, under the command of his kinsman Varcassivellanunus would soon arrive and when they did the cheering from both Gallic armies would deeply unsettle the Romans. As soon as they were ready (probably within a few hours of their arrival) the Gauls under Varcassivellanunus charged the Roman lines, at the same time the garrison under Vercingetorix also charged out. In what can perhaps be described as a very close run victory the Romans managed to push back the Gauls and capture Varcassivellanunus. The next day Vercingetorix gathered together all of his fellow chiefs and told them that in order to save his warriors he would surrender to Caesar, he told them to follow suit. When Caesar heard that Vercingetorix was willing to surrender he accepted the proposal and made a big show out of accepting the personal surrender of Vercingetorix to him and the over all surrender of the Gallic army to Rome. And so ended the revolt of Vercingetorix and with it free Gaul’s last gasp.

Vercingetorix would spend the rest of his days in captivity. When Caesar returned to Rome he had Vercingetorix march through the streets of Rome in his great triumph arranged by the Senate, only to be thrown into Tullianum prison instead of being killed, it is believed that Caesar was trying to show some measure of respect to Vercingetorix but he did not know the Gaul considered captivity a great insult. Six years later in 45 B.C. after Caesar won the Roman Civil War he paraded Vercingetorix through the streets a second time, as reminder to the Romans of all he had done for them. After this second triumph Vercingetorix was killed, either by strangulation or beheading. And so died Vercingetorix, the last great Gallic chieftain for hundreds of years, at the age of 27.

The influence of Vercingetorix is still felt today. After the defeat of Vercingetorix it was just a matter of clean up before the Romans finished their conquest of Gaul in 51 B.C. It would not be until the 3rd-4th century AD that Gaul would be free once again, and ever since then the French people have remembered Vercingetorix for his stand against the Romans.

[Biographies: Aristides]

Aristides ‘the Just’ was an Athenian statesman of the 5th century B.C. renowned for his fairness and was the primary opponent of Themistocles in the Athenian political world. Aristides is also well known as the founding father of the Delian League.

Aristides was probably born in Athens itself. It is widely held that Aristides was born in 530 B.C. in the city of Athens proper. His father was Lysimachus, his mother is unknown. Not much is really known about Aristides’ early life besides that he was a follower of Cleisthenes (who tossed out the tyrants) and an admirer of the Spartan ethical system. It was because of this that Aristides would go on to become a supporter of aristocracy over full democracy for most of his life.

Early on in his career Aristides would gain notice. When Aristides was old enough he would go on to join one of Athens’ political parties, it would be here at the beginning of his career that Aristides and Themistocles probably first met. Aristides would go in these early years to gain a reputation for his sense of justice and fairness, hence his nickname ‘the Just’. It was because of this that Aristides was appointed treasurer at one point and in that office he did much to expose corruption. In 490 B.C Persia set out to invade Greece and the foreigner Miltiades was appointed supreme commander due to his experience in fighting Persians (it is interesting to note the Ekklesia did consider Aristides for the job). Aristides along with nine others was elected to be his vice commanders and he would go on to perform admirably at Marathon. After the battle Miltiades put Aristides in charge of the war booty, due to his reputation from his days as treasurer.

In the years following Marathon, Aristides and Themistocles would start their famous rivalry over the navy. In 489 B.C. when Miltiades died Aristides was overwhelmingly elected archon for that year time. Not much is really known about what Aristides did, but we can be sure he probably used his position to fight democratic reform and Themistocles’ new plans. Aristides was of the opinion that Athens was not a naval power, but a land power, thus a navy was a waste of both time and money. Over the next several years (489-483) Aristides and Themistocles publicly debated on the matter, with Aristides always stating that a navy was not worth the money. In 483 the unimaginable happened when Themistocles called for Aristides’ ostracism, stating that Aristides by being just was trying to make the people proclaim him king. The common people at the time were extremely hostile to anyone who was raised up high; thusly Themistocles’ call was well timed in that respect. According to Plutarch on the day of the voting an illiterate farmer approached Aristides and asked him to write ‘Aristides’ on his pottery shard (which was what the Athenians used when voting), Aristides did so and asked the farmer what the accused had done to him. The farmer replied that he had done nothing to him, he was just tired of hearing Aristides called 'the Just’. Sure enough Themistocles got his way and Aristides was ostracized, we don’t know where he went but it is commonly believed to have been an island in the Aegean or Asia Minor.

Having been ostracized Aristides now wandered about. He traveled the Greek world, we don’t know what he did for the majority of this period or where he went (we do know he did go to Byzantion at least once) but from later actions we know something probably happened to him to make him rethink his position towards democracy and democratic reforms. After three years of exile (483-480) the upcoming invasion of revenge by Xerxes forced the Athenians to seriously rethink their past decisions, many thought that Aristides would actually help Xerxes. Due to this the Athenians recalled all those exiled, at the time Aristides was going about several Greek colonies calling on them to resist Xerxes and stand with the Greek mainland. When Aristides returned to Athens he found Themistocles as supreme commander, many believed he would stand against Themistocles, but to their utter surprise Aristides actually called upon his fellow Athenians to follow his old enemy’s plans for the defense of Athens. Everyone was utterly flabbergasted that Aristides and Themistocles put aside their differences and united. In the aftermath of the victory at Salamis the two men worked together rather well, Aristides even lead an assault on the Persian held island of Psyttaleia using Themistocles’ navy to transport his infantry. But problems rose again when Themistocles wanted to burn the bridge that Xerxes had built over the Hellespont, Aristides argued that by burning the bridge the Persians would fight harder out of desperation. Eventually Aristides got his way and Xerxes crossed back into Persian territory with out problem, however he left behind a rather strong force in Greece.

479 B.C. would be the start of another period of incredible popularity for Aristides. As 479 opened the Athenians decided to appoint Aristides as that year’s supreme commander. When Mardonius, the commander of the remaining Persian forces, marched on Athens after failing to bribe the Athenians out of the war Aristides fell back to Salamis and sent envoys to Sparta asking for aid. After receiving a promise of aid Aristides returned to the mainland with 8,000 men and marched to meet the Spartans and other allies at Plataea. True to their word the Spartans and allies arrived with 5,000 men. While waiting for the Persian army to come confront them Aristides was forced to confront a conspiracy amongst Athens’ elite to betray the battle to Persia. After quashing the conspiracy through peaceful means the Persians arrived and together Aristides and the Spartan commander Pausanias lead the Greek forces to victory that day. In the aftermath of Plataea Aristides suggested that games should be held at the battlefield every five years in commemoration of the victory and that all of the Greek weapons should be gathered up and put in arsenal for continuing the war. Not surprisingly the attending Greek states agreed with Aristides and put his ideas into action. After all this Sparta and her allies continued the war against Persia overseas, Athens decided to not join this continuation war just yet, despite the words of Aristides.

After Athens made the decision to not join the Spartans overseas a new period of Athenian democracy started, spearheaded by Aristides. Since the battle of Plataea the previous year the common people had been calling for even more democracy in Athens, but no one listened to them, that is except Aristides. Taking up the common people’s call as his own Aristides proved vital to the passing of a bill that allowed all male citizens of the Athenian state to run for the office of archon, not just aristocrats. The passing of the bill came as a big shock the aristocrats, not only that it even passed, but that their champion helped it pass. Following this Themistocles came before the Ekklesia and told them that he had a plan that would reap great benefit, but it was a secret. Wanting to know what the secret was the Ekklesia ordered Themistocles to tell Aristides his plan. The plan was to destroy all of weapons of the other Greek states at the arsenal, thus making Athens master of Greece. Aristides then went to the Ekklesia and told them that Themistocles’ plan would be very beneficial to Athens, but it was also dishonorable to the extreme, so the idea was dropped.

Not long afterwards Aristides and Cimon (the son of Miltiades and Aristides’ protégé) both spoke strongly for reentering the war against Persia and in 477 B.C. Athens reentered the war. It was during this time that the Ionian Greeks suffered under the harsh command of Pausanias and to them Aristides and Cimon were good alternatives, so they revolted from the Spartans and formed a new alliance with the Athenians through Aristides and Cimon. Because of Aristides’ reputation as a treasurer he was given the job of sorting out the newly formed Delian League’s treasury. As the treasurer Aristides fixed the rate of the tax levied on the league members as well as making sure that the funds gained from the tax was appropriated amongst the League’s different activities fairly (an interesting note is nothing is known about Aristides’ reaction to Themistocles’ ostracism in 471). Nothing is known as to how long Aristides was treasurer but it has been thought he stayed in the position till his death in 468 B.C. at the age of 62. So died Aristides ‘the Just’ the most famous man of his day.

Aristides ‘the Just’ left a large mark on Athens, and indirectly on Greece as well. Aristides left a legacy of honesty and fairness in politics and money handling that would become the standard in Athens, he also on another note laid the foundation for the Athenian Empire through the founding of the Delian League. When Aristides died there was much mourning for him in Athens, interestingly he had so little money personally that his family was granted a state pension well into the 4th Century B.C.

[Biographies: Boudicca]

Boudicca (Brythonic: Boudiga) was one of Imperial Rome’s greatest headaches. Her great uprising in 60-61 AD was remembered for years to come afterwards as an example of the fierce Celtic spirit and determination.

Boudicca was born into an unknown family in an unknown chiefdom. In the approximate neighborhood of 30 AD Boudicca was probably born somewhere in south central Britain, and was probably the daughter of the local chief. Due to sketchy details we do not know anything solid about Boudicca before 48-49 AD. It has not been thought out of the realm of the possible by modern historians that Boudicca would have excelled in fighting and showed great strength of will early on.

In 48-49 AD we begin to have solid facts about Boudicca. In either 48 or 49 AD Boudicca married the chieftain of the Iceni tribe, Prasutagus, she would ultimately bare her husband two daughters, whose names and birthdates are unknown. The Iceni (the Iceni lands most likely centered around modern Norfolk), like all tribes in that area, was a Roman client power and Prasutagus like all client chiefs was forced to make the Roman emperor co-heir of his chiefdom along side his children. In early 60 AD Prasutagus came down ill and died, and in the will that he had written he left half his chiefdom, personal possessions, and most of his gold to the Roman emperor Nero. However Prasutagus left the other half of his chiefdom, several ancient artifacts, and the rest of his fortune to Boudicca to hold until their roughly teenage daughters matured. Prasutagus had hoped that by leaving the greater half of his belongings to Rome he could insure a degree of stability for his family, as history shows he was sadly wrong.

Following the death of her husband Boudicca took over leadership of the Iceni. In the months following Prasutagus’ death the Roman Procurator Catus Decianus ordered an invasion of Iceni lands, stating that Prasutagus’ will was null and void because he did not leave all of his possessions to Nero. Because the Governor of Britain was away fighting druids on the island of Mona (modern Anglesey) the legions moved in and devastated Iceni territory, seizing the lands of the Iceni nobles and enslaving the women and children. On top of all this Decianus called in on several loans and debts owed to Rome and demanded that Boudicca repay them immediately. But Boudicca did not have the kind of money that the Romans asked for, so Decianus ordered his soldiers to flog Boudicca in public, then to rape her daughters. All of this heaped up on itself angered Boudicca beyond her ability to withstand it any longer and she called for rebellion against the Romans. One by one the Brythonic tribes of Britain joined together under her banner; first her own tribe of Iceni then the neighboring Trinovantes and then gradually all of the client tribes joined Boudicca, even the Iceni’s traditional enemies. Eventually even the unconquered tribes joined in and soon Boudicca was reputed to have had an army of more then 100,000 men and women. The Boudiccan rebellion had begun.

Burning with rage and followed by an army that was like mined to her Boudicca struck back. The first target of Boudicca’s rebel army was the city of Camulodunum Colonia (modern Colchester), which was populated by retired Roman veterans and their families. Without warning the Brythonic forces attacked the settlement, and despite it all the townsman were able to hold on long enough to get word out to Procurator Decianus and Legio IX Hispania commander Quintus Petillius Cerialis. However while the Procurator and Legio IX commander acted quickly the town defenders could not hold the rebels and the town was burnt. While the townspeople did hold out a bit longer in the temple of Emperor Claudius they were massacred by Boudicca’s soldiers. Meanwhile to the north Legio IX Hispania was ambushed and wiped out by Boudiccan soldiers hiding in the woods, only Commander Cerialis and some horsemen escaped. General panic then engulfed the Romans living in Britain, and everyone knew that Boudicca would not be satisfied with small settlements forever. Meanwhile the Governor of Britain, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, reached the merchant city of Londinium (modern London), and knew that the city would most likely be Boudicca’s next target because of its importance as the Roman administration center. Suetonius also knew that Londinium was militarily indefensible and so ordered an emergency evacuation. Boudicca arrived soon after and overrun the city defenses and in a speech viewed today as unneeded she encouraged her men to show no mercy to the Romans. The fire that Boudicca’s soldiers started at Londinium was so hot that it left a 10 inch layer of red clay after cooling off. However while she had burned the Roman administration center in Britain her thirst for revenge was still not quenched, so she marched north to Verulamium (modern St. Albans), believing, according to Roman sources from the period, that she had to punish the pro-Roman ‘traitors’ that were living in that city. Meanwhile Suetonius called on all legions in Britain to come to his location in the Midlands, all legions (Legio XX Valeria Victrix and Legio XIV Gemina) except for Legio II Augusta responded and began moving. At Verulamium the Brythonic forces discovered that the inhabitants had received advance word and evacuated, some inhabitants still remained however. As usual Boudicca ordered the remaining inhabitants killed and the town burned, at this point the rebellion took a turn when Boudicca received word that Suetonius was amassing the remaining legions in the Midlands, but for some strange reason (perhaps pride?) Boudicca did not order an attack on the Romans right there and then; but instead decided to wait, this mistake would come back and haunt her in time to come.

Her rebellion thus far very successful up to this point Boudicca continued to rampage across Roman Britain, while enemies continued to gather. By the dawn of 61 AD Boudicca’s rebellion had proven to be a resounding success, but Roman Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was still alive and gathering troops in the Midlands, as long as Suetonius lived Boudicca knew her revolt could not succeed. So she gathered together her army reputed to have swelled upwards 230,000 men and women and marched towards the Romans, curiously enough the soldiers brought their entire families and their wagons with them. Meanwhile the situation could not have turned out better from the viewpoint of Suetonius, because circumstance allowed Suetonius, not Boudicca, to choose the battlefield and he chose a heavily forested area (to nullify the Brythonic advantages of numbers and thier chariots) near what is today Athelstone, Warwickshire (actually there is numerous locations suggested for this battle, I choose to use near Athelstone for this article). At the battle field the Brythonic army drew up in a great mass with the families and wagons drawn up in circle behind them. Boudicca felt confident of victory that day and probably believed that her overwhelming numbers would crush the much smaller Roman force of 10,000 men. Much to Boudicca’s surprise her army lost the battle of Watling Street (as it is now called) due to excellent use on the part of the Romans of the local woody terrain. According to tradition as Boudicca watched her soldiers and their families get slaughtered at the wagons she slipped away with her daughters and took poison to escape capture by the Romans. And so died Boudicca, brave warrior queen of the Iceni and terror of Rome in Britain, at the approximate age of 30.

In the aftermath of Boudicca’s rebellion the Romans cracked down hard on the Celts. In the months and years to come Rome would come down hard on Britain and there was never another rebellion against Roman rule on the isle after Boudicca. It is interesting to note that out of either respect or fear the Romans later allowed the Celts of Britain to bury Boudicca, where that grave is, we may never know.

[Biographies: Arsaces I]

Arsaces I (Parni: Arashk) was the first king of the Arsacid dynasty of Persia, also called the Parthian Kingdom. While not much is known of Arsaces I, he must have been a giant of a man amongst his people, for all Parthian kings after bore his name upon succession.

We currently do not know when Arsaces was born. Part of the problem surrounding writing about Arsaces is that it eludes historians when he was born. We do know he was born on the Caspian steppes, into the royal family of the Parni tribe (a part of the Dahae tribal confederation). Of the Parni tribe we know, thanks to the writers that accompanied Alexander the Great, that they were master horse breeders and renowned for their skill with a bow. As a young man Arsaces was most probably involved with matters of peaceful negotiations, as Parni tradition dictated that princes handled peaceful matters, chiefs did war.

We first hear solidly of Arsaces in 250 (or 247, depending on whom you use as a source). At about 250 B.C. Arsaces and his brother Tiridates (Parni: Tirdat), now chiefs of the Parni invaded the province of Parthia in the Seleucid Empire and after defeating the provincial governor, Andragoras, annexed the area. Soon after this Arsaces turned towards the province of Hyrcania and annexed it too, thus creating a solid power base in Persia from which to strike at the troubled Seleucids. In 247 B.C. Arsaces took advantage of internal problems within the Seleucid Empire and had himself crowned Shahandshah (Ancient Persian: Emperor) of a new nation, Parthia (which means ‘the exiled’ in the Parni language), at the city of Asaak. At this point according to Arrian, Arsaces was killed and succeeded by his brother Tiridates, but this is most likely a dramatic fabrication. It seems that from this point until 231 Arsaces adopted a defensive stance towards the Seleucids, never venturing out of Parthian territory. However on the diplomatic front Arsaces was quite active and in 234 he negotiated an alliance with the new ruler (Didotus II) of his fellow rebel kingdom, Bactria (founded by Didotus I about the same time as Parthia).

In 231 the Seleucids launched their counter-attack against Parthia. Lead by Seleucus II Callinicus the Seleucid army invaded Parthia, and Arsaces knew that his army was in no condition to face them head on. So using his connections with his steppe nomad cousins, Arsaces led his people back into the steppes, to the lands belonging to the Apasiacae ( Scythian: Scythians of the Waters). Seleucus II and his army pursued the fleeing Parthians, but as he discovered this was all a trick. As Seleucus pursued his army was constantly harassed by ‘rear guard’ elements of the Parthian forces, by the time the Seleucids reached the Jaxartes River they had taken a large loss in both men and material. Soon after reaching the river Seleucus II found out that his brother Antiochus Hierax had revolted back in Syria. Seleucus requested and received a truce with Arsaces, who in return agreed to recognize Seleucid suzerainty.

From this point until his death Arsaces focused on peaceful matters. Upon returning to Parthian territory Arsaces set about transforming his semi-nomadic peoples into a settled nation, which he did to great success. Drawing on the example of the Seleucids and Achaemenids before him, Arsaces attempted to create a lasting governmental structure in his new country. Another part of Arsaces’ program was the refounding of several old cities as well as the founding of new ones, such as: Asaak, Dara (which would later become famous as impregnable), and Nisa (which later became the burial place of Arsaces). Despite this Arsaces never forgot his roots and went to great lengths to insure that ties with the Parni, Dahae, and Scythians were kept strong. In 211 BC at an unknown age and by unknown causes, Arsaces I died. According to his wishes he was buried at the new city of Nisa.

In conclusion Arsaces I is a figure shrouded in mystery. While we do not know much about Arsaces I his mark on history in the area was huge, and the nation he founded would in later years become so powerful it could stand against the might of Rome

[Biographies: Lysander]

Lysander was a Spartan admiral of the Peloponnesian War who was responsible for securing the surrender of Athens and her remaining allies. Lysander was also a political leader who aspired to control all of Greece with Sparta at the lead.

No one is quite sure when Lysander was born. Much to the puzzlement of modern historians no one is quite sure when Lysander was born or even who his parents were. It is known that he was a member of one of Sparta’s ruling houses, the Heraclidae, but he was not a royal himself. For this reason it is believed that Lysander’s father was a royal but his mother was a helot (a Messenian serf). Not much is known on Lysander’s early years besides the certainly that he went through the same rigorous training all Spartan boys did.

We first hear of Lysander in the last part of the Peloponnesian War. In 408 B.C. Lysander was given command of the Spartan fleet, which was based in Ephesus at the time. Lysander immediately took to his new job and ordered a closing of mercantile activity and the building of new shipyards to rebuild the fleet with. During this time Lysander became close friends with the Persian Satrap of the area, Cyrus the Younger. While Lysander waited for his fleet to become ready he managed to persuade Cyrus to fund a raise in the sailor’s pay. Lysander believed that by offering the highest pay of any navy in the area he could get some of the excellent Athenian crews to defect, and he was right. In 407 Lysander sailed out of Ephesus and began to openly challenge the Athenian fleet, but Alcibiades, the Athenian admiral, refused to take the bait. When Alcibiades was forced to divide his fleet one of his subordinates, Antiochus, went and challenged Lysander to battle. Lysander accepted and he defeated Antiochus at the battle of Notium, which insured Lysander’s rise to prominence and Alcibiades’ exile. Following the battle Lysander began to send messages to those who disliked Athenian rule of their country saying that he would establish a better government if they would support Sparta, or more likely, him. When 407 ended the ephors back in Sparta selected a man named Callicratides to lead the fleet (due to Spartan law forbidding two terms in any office). Lysander did not like this decision and as his last official act as admiral he cancelled the Persian pay funding and brought the fleet to a harbor in the Peloponnesian peninsula.

Deprived of his position of admiral by law Lysander could do nothing but watch. In 406 when Callicratides began his term as admiral Lysander came along as his second in command, though he did not like it. Callicratides' first major action as admiral was to move the Spartan fleet to Mytilene in order to block the Athenian fleet, which would pass by the island soon. However things did not go according to plan and the Spartan fleet was decimated at the battle of Arginusae. Much to everyone’s surprise Sparta sent a peace offer to Athens following the battle, but Athens refused. After this Sparta’s allies in the war requested that Lysander be given command of the fleet again, but this was against Spartan law, so the ephors decided to appoint a man named Aracus as admiral. However the ephors also made Lysander the new admiral’s ‘deputy’ but command was actually in Lysander’s hands.

Now in command again Lysander sought to finish the war. In 405 B.C. after rebuilding the Spartan fleet a second time and renegotiating his previous agreement with Cyrus the Younger, Lysander sought out to reverse Sparta’s misfortune and end the war once and for all. In September that year Lysander, with the entire Spartan fleet at Abydos, noticed that the entire Athenian fleet was beached at Aegospotami. This was a golden opportunity and Lysander took advantage, knocking the Athenian fleet out of the war for good. Working in tandem with King Pausanias on land Lysander blockaded Athens by sea, and in early 404 B.C. Athens surrendered to none other than Lysander, who dictated the harsh peace terms and thus ended the Peloponnesian Wars. In addition to this Lysander, remembering his earlier promises, forced Athens during the negotiations to accept his Oligarchic form of government (later known as the Thirty Tyrants) as its new government. Lysander also created similar governments of ten men (called Decarchies) in each of Athens’ allied states. For these actions Lysander became hated throughout Greece, even his Persian allies complained (this interestingly got him removed from his position of admiral).

Now having ended the war Lysander planned his next moves, and ultimately his downfall. In 403 B.C. a year after the establishment of the Thirty Tyrants a revolt lead by Thrasybulus tried to return the old democracy. Sparta sent Lysander to suppress the revolt and he was close to doing so when he heard that public opinion in Sparta had turned against him. In a radical move the kings and ephors both decided to abolish Lysander’s oligarchic system and democracy was restored to Athens and her allies. Lysander was enraged at this and went into seclusion, planning how he might regain his former power. When King Agis died in 399 B.C. his brother Agesilaus wanted to become king, but it looked like his nephew, Leontychides, would become king instead. With Lysander’s aid Agesilaus managed to become king and Lysander believed his return to prominence was in the bag, but Agesilaus would prove to be more intelligent then Lysander first believed. When Agesilaus, on Lysander’s suggestion, visited the Ionian Greek cities it became clear to him that Lysander was manipulating him, so Agesilaus moved to undermine Lysander. Realizing that his puppet had cut his strings so to speak, Lysander returned to Sparta in 396 and there it is believed he masterminded the movement to make all members of the royal houses, whether royal or not, eligible for the position of king. The next year in 395 B.C. the Corinthian War began and Lysander was given a field command, along the way to besiege the city of Haliartus the Thebans ambushed and killed him.

In conclusion Lysander was one of Sparta’s most brilliant naval commanders. But ultimately his political ambition and vindictive nature doomed him to unpopularity both in his generation and later generations.

[My Book Has Been Published]

Wow! Congrats Steve and Jordan!

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[Biographies: Themistocles]

Themistocles was an Athenian statesman of the Persian Wars period. Today he is well known as the man who saved Greece, because it was his strategies that won the pivotal battle of Salamis.

Themistocles was born into wealth. In 525 (or 528) B.C. Themistocles was born in the village of Pherearrhioi to a wealthy aristocrat named Neocles and his unnamed Carian concubine. Because of his birth Themistocles for the most of his young life was excluded from affairs in Athens itself. This changed in 508 when Cleisthenes introduced legislation that allowed all free men to become citizens. We do not know much about Themistocles’ early life besides that he showed leadership qualities, arrogance, and a mind for planning at an early age.

493 was Themistocles’ first political foray. In 493 B.C. Themistocles was elected to the office of Archon (Attic Greek: President) and while in office he advocated the building of public works at Piraeus and he paid close attention to the arrival into Athens of Miltiades, who had come to Athens to escape the wrath of the Persians, who were attacking his home of the Chersonese Peninsula in Ionia. Several leading Athenians, including Themistocles, took dim views of Miltiades at the time because he was an autocrat. After Themistocles’ time as Archon was over in 492/491 he became part of the Aeropagus, which was a council of former Archons who also wielded a good degree of power. In 490 B.C. word arrived in Athens that the Persians were going to invade, to punish them for supporting the Ionian revolt, they also learned that Hippias, the former tyrant of Athens was with them. To combat the Persians Miltiades was elected Strategos and Themistocles was elected to be one of his vice commanders. At the battle of Marathon the Athenians managed to defeat the Persians, we do not know what Themistocles did at this battle, but we do know he envied Miltiades and said of this: “Miltiades’ trophy does not let me sleep!” It was after Marathon that Themistocles became convinced that Athens could not afford another land battle with Persia, thus he decided to instead push for a larger navy.

The 480s were a turbulent time for Themistocles. When Miltiades died in 489, just a year after his great victory at Marathon, the political scene turned to focus on Themistocles and his main rival Aristides (called ‘the Just’). Their rivalry was over the naval programme that Themistocles was campaigning so hard for, a policy that Aristides felt would cost the aristocracy more then they could afford to lose. The rivalry came to an abrupt halt in 483 B.C. when Aristides was ostracized and Themistocles became Archon a second time. It was during this time that Themistocles won his greatest peace time victory when he was able to persuade the Athenian Assembly (Attic Greek: Ekklesia) to instead of dividing the surplus silver from the new rich finds at Laurion amongst the people to devoting it towards the building of a fleet. The money from Laurion built one hundred ships, but Themistocles had planned to build two hundred so he decided to go to the Peloponnesian league headed by Sparta and he successfully convinced them to build the remaining ships, however he had to later give command of the combined fleet to a Spartan named Eurybiades, mostly because two cities in the Peloponnesian league (Corinth and Aegina) refused to build ships that would be led by an Athenian. When Themistocles’ term as Archon ended in 482 the two hundred ships were being built and would soon be completed, there was still some that doubted Themistocles’ plans, but in 481 when it became abundantly clear that Persia was going to invade, Themistocles was vindicated.

In 481 B.C. planning began for a Greece wide defense against Persia. When all the Greek city-states met in 481 at Corinth to discuss the defense of Greece against Persia it was Themistocles who proposed that Athens should be evacuated in case the Persians break through Thermopylae, he also proposed that the Greek fleet should station itself at two vital straights: Artemisium and Salamis. Many opposed the plan but it finally passed and Themistocles moved up the bulk of the navy to Artemisium in the spring of 480. However despite their larger ships the Greeks lost at Artemisium, though they bloodied the Persians quite a bit. News of this defeat coupled with the news of the massacre at Thermopylae convinced the Athenians to put Themistocles’ evacuation plan into action and the women and children fled to the Peloponnesian peninsula while the men gathered to the fleet at Salamis, for one last stand.

The stage was now set for the battle that would decide the fate of Greece. At Salamis according to Herodotus Themistocles had a problem on his hands, all the other Greek admirals wanted to flee Salamis. Themistocles in answer threatened to give up right there and then and take his men and their families to Magna Grecia (Italy). Resignedly the others agreed to stay at Salamis, but only if it was a defensive battle (some modern historians believe that the above was made up, because of the great defensive position that Salamis offered, but this is probably due to hindsight). With this crises passed Themistocles now had to figure out how to make the Persians strike first, so in the dead of night Themistocles sent out a servant named Sinnicus to tell Xerxes, who was camping on a tall hill over looking the area, that the Greeks were going to retreat at dawn the next day and that he should move his fleet into the straight now. Xerxes believed the story and moved his massive force into the narrow straight of Salamis after midnight with no moonlight to guide them; as a result the Persian crews would be very tired and disoriented the next day, which was what Themistocles was aiming for. At dawn the next day September 29, 480 B.C. the Greeks took the Persians completely by surprise, with both the Persian mobility and large numbers neutralized the Greeks rout the Persians in a brilliant victory, Greece is saved and Themistocles becomes the hero of the hour.

Despite his brilliant victory at Salamis Themistocles’ career soon went down hill. The year following the victory of Salamis the Greeks launch their counterattack on Persia and the last remnants of Xerxes’ army was beaten at Platea, however despite his popularity Themistocles was not allowed to lead the Athenians at Platea, that honor went to his recalled rival Aristides. When the Greek navy destroyed the last remnants of the Persian navy at Mycale Themistocles was not allowed to lead them, that honor went to another recalled rival: Xanthippus. However though Themistocles suffered some loss of popularity with his own people the rest of Greece loved him for Salamis; in fact he was invited to Sparta in the winter of 479/478 and received a standing ovation from all the attendants. Following the end of the war against Persia the city of Athens did not know what to do with Themistocles, since the Aeropagus and the Assembly thought he was much too radical. Throughout the 470s Themistocles was very active politically and he campaigned for a variety of causes, amongst them was the rebuilding of Athens’ walls and the walls of its harbors (Themistocles was forced to play a dangerous political game with Sparta in order to build the walls). Themistocles was also the main force behind the relocation of the main Athenian harbor to Piraeus, which became very heavily fortified and extremely wealthy due to its new found importance, this in turn made Athens extremely wealthy (for this reason Themistocles is credited with the creation of the Athenian Empire). However despite this the aristocracy feared both the power and influence of Themistocles, and sought to ostracize him, which they did in 471.

Now an exile from his home city Themistocles wandered. After leaving Athens Themistocles journeyed to the city of Argos where, despite his ostracism, he continued planning how to make Athens great. This proved to make him a thorn in the side of the Spartan authorities, they in order to get him out of their hair made up charges of treasonous dealings with Xerxes. The Assembly turned Themistocles’ ostracism into a death sentence and they ordered the city of Argos to extradite him back to Athens, but Themistocles escaped and fled to Persia. There Themistocles (ironically) offered his services as a naval commander to either King Xerxes or his son Artaxerxes, who readily accepted him because the Persians seemed to respect those that defeat them. When news of this reached Athens the Assembly declared him a traitor and confiscated his property. For the rest of his life Themistocles lived in the lap of luxury as the governor of the area of Magnesia, with the tax revenue of Magnesia, Myus, and Lampsacus paying his food, condiments, and wine. Themistocles died in 459 B.C. at the age of sixty-five; after his death a group of his friends managed to smuggle his body, which was worshiped by the Ionians, back to Athens where he received a small private burial.

In conclusion Themistocles was one of Ancient Greece’s greatest military/political heroes. Remembered today as the man who saved western civilization from being snuffed out while still in its infant stages Themistocles became the model for all future radical statesmen (such as Pericles) in his era.

[Romans: The Praetorian Guard]

The Praetorian Guard (Latin: Cohors Preatoria) was the bodyguard of the Roman Emperors from Augustus until Constantine and a powerful political force to be reckoned with. At times they even assassinated the very man they protected for their own gain.

The Praetorian Guard was formed by Augustus. When Octavian Caesar became Augustus and the first Emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. he realized that he must have some form of protection. While important figures in Roman politics did have a bodyguard protecting them, Augustus thought he deserved more, so he chose 9 cohorts of veteran soldiers and exemplary youths and called them the ‘Cohors Preatoria’ or ‘Select Cohorts’. Because Augustus did not want to give off an air of despotism he kept only three cohorts in Rome’s limits and forbade them for wearing armor or weapons. The three cohorts stationed in Rome were called the ‘Cohors Togata’, because they wore togas instead of armor. The togas the Praetorians wore in Rome looked like those of the ‘lictors’ who protected the Roman Consul, but unlike lictors the Praetorians carried a sword in the folds of their togas. From 27 B.C. until 2 B.C. there were no major changes to the Praetorian Guard in either size or structure, and then in 2 B.C. Augustus created the office of ‘Praefectus Praetorio’ or ‘Praetorian Prefect’ to lead the guard. Until this point each cohort was lead individually by a tribune, now the guard had a more solid command structure with two men of high rank being in command. The last major happening in the guard during Augustus’ time was in 5 AD when the number of men in each cohort was increased in size from 500 men to 1,000 men.

The famous meddling in politics started during the time of Tiberius. After Augustus died in 14 AD Tiberius ascended to the throne he started the practice of giving the guard a ‘Donativum’ or ‘Imperial Gift’ upon ascension. It was also during Tiberius’ reign that the guard received their most famous prefect: Lucius Aelius Sejanus. Under Sejanus the guard began enjoying power over the Emperor. In 23 AD Sejanus ‘convinced’ Tiberius to move the Praetorian barracks from the Italian countryside to Rome itself, this new barracks was named ‘Castra Preatoria’ or ‘Camp of the Praetorians’, in addition one extra cohort was added to the three already in Rome. This move was the start of a dangerous power game between the Praetorians and Tiberius and this became manifest several times ending in Sejanus’ death at Tiberius’ orders. From that point things were rather quiet, but the Praetorians would take a new step in power in the reign of Tiberius’ successor Caligula.

During the time of Caligula the Praetorians took a new step in political power. In 41 AD a coalition of Senators and Praetorians assassinated the Emperor Caligula because he had insulted the Roman military and institutions; they also thought him mentally unstable. In Caligula’s place they elevated his uncle Claudius to the throne, when the Senate opposed the elevation the Praetorians threatened death and mayhem. To everyone’s surprise Claudius turned out to be a good Emperor and in 47 AD he increased the number of cohorts to twelve as thanks to the Guard. From then on the Praetorian Guard became the most powerful force in Rome; Emperors did not become Emperors or stay in their position unless they bribed the Praetorians first. In 69 AD Nero (The Praetorians had deserted him by then) and the Roman Empire suffered its first major crises as the Julio-Claudian dynasty was toppled and 4 successive generals became Emperor in one year, usually by bribing the Praetorian Guard first. One of these general-emperors, Vitellius, increased the Praetorian Guard’s size from twelve to sixteen cohorts. Eventually the civil war was won by Flavius Vespasian, the conqueror of Jerusalem, whose sole recorded action with the guard was in decreasing their size back to nine cohorts. From Vespasian till Commodus the Praetorians were not as active as before and acted more as military units during that period, due to those Emperors being fighters at heart.

In 193 AD the Praetorian Guard took their power to new heights. During the reign of Commodus the Praetorians agreed to look the other way and allowed Commodus’ assassination they also killed Commodus’ successor, Pertinax. After this the Praetorians took a massive step in power and actually auctioned off the Imperial throne to the highest bidder, this went far beyond the previous practice of receiving bribes in the form of Donativum and everyone was shocked. The man who bought the throne was Didius Julianus (a wealthy senator), but he was killed by the Praetorians in a sudden change of favor. Septimius Severus then took over that same year and disbanded the Praetorian Guard on charges of disloyalty, only to reform them later on in his reign. However Septimius Severus made a big change to the Guard by opening recruitment to all legions in the Roman Empire, not just the Italian ones. Over the course of the next century the Roman Empire was delved into near continuous chaos as political power struggles, civil war, and barbarian attacks wracked the Roman state and the Praetorian Guard’s meddling in Imperial affairs only made things worse. Stability returned a short while with the ascension of Aurelian but this stability faded after his death in 275. The chaos returned for another decade after this and was stopped by Diocletian in 284 AD

Diocletian’s rise to power in 284 marked the beginning of the end. One of the many things that the Emperor Diocletian did in his reforms of the Roman Empire was to form a new military unit, called the ‘Sacer Comitatus’, this unit’s primarily job was to protect the Emperor. In one swift stroke Diocletian had destroyed the power of the Praetorians by taking away their primary job, protecting the Emperor, and giving it to a similar but more trustworthy unit. With their job gone the Praetorians faded and were relegated to a role on the sidelines, that is until 306 AD, when opportunity presented itself for a comeback for the Praetorian Guard. That year Constantine was made Augustus of the West and the Praetorians, who did not like Constantine, elevated his chief rival Maxentius to the throne. Galerius, Augustus of the East, sent a subordinate to subdue the Praetorians but this just catapulted the rest of them into supporting Maxentius. When Constantine invaded Italy in 312 AD he met Maxentius in battle for the last time at Milvian Bridge, where nearly all of his troops were Praetorian Guards. In the battle Constantine crushed Maxentius and with him the Praetorian Guard. When he arrived in Rome Constantine completely abolished the Praetorian Guard and scattered their remaining members to the far corners of the Roman Empire, he also in a symbolic gesture destroyed the Castra Preatoria, bringing 300 years of Imperial history to an end.

The organization of the Praetorian Guard was unlike the rank and file legions. As stated above the Praetorian Guards were made up of veterans from first the Italian legions, then the whole empire, this ensured the elite status of the unit. Training in the Praetorian Guard was much harder and much more intense then the regular legions, mostly due to their elite status as the Emperor’s bodyguards. Pay for a Praetorian was much higher then the regular soldier and this special pay was called Sesquiplex Stipendum which means ‘pay and a half’, it was given three times a year: January, May, and September. This pay was increased by Domitian to 1,500 denarii and fixed at that by Septimius Severus. There was also the Donativum as mentioned above which was given at the ascension of each new Emperor. A Praetorian could retire after 16 years of service (this is shorter then the 20-25 years in the rank and file) and upon this receive 5,000 denarii, some land, and a diploma (like the rank and file received).

The arms and armor of the Praetorian was pretty much the same as the rank and file. The Praetorian Guard carried the same weapons and wore the same armor as regular legionaries during Augustus’ reign but following his death and the ascension of Tiberius things changed a little bit. For one the Praetorians were allowed to wear special breastplates and they were granted special blue shields that a bore a quarter Moon, stars and scorpions (probably because Tiberius’ birth sign was the Scorpion). It is debated however about historical authenticity of the breastplates, but shields have been found so at least that much probably distinguished them on the battle field.

In conclusion the Praetorian Guard was one of Imperial Rome’s most remembered military units. Today the term Praetorian is used to denote any exemplary bodyguard unit or military politics.

[Please Pray]

Hey everybody I am asking for prayers for my family friend Dennis Borden. He is very close to me and a surrogute Grandpa, his wife passed away last night and he needs all the comfort and love he can get.

[Battles: Battle of Idistaviso]

The Battle of Idistaviso in AD 15 was the battle in which the Romans got their revenge on Arminius for the massacre at Teutoburg Wald. Despite this Idistaviso did not give the Romans hegemony over the forests of Germania, but it did secure the borders of the Roman Empire for some time.

The groundwork for the battle of Idistaviso was laid by Teutoburg. In AD 9 Publius Quinctillus Varus and his three legions (Legios XVII, XVIII, and XIX) perished in the Teutoburg Wald, ambushed by a German confederation of sorts led by Arminius (known in modern Germany as Hermann the German), whom Varus thought was his friend. The massacre shook Rome to its core and after Caesar Augustus died a broken man in AD 14 his son-in-law, Tiberius, was determined to avenge Roman honour in Germania. In AD 15 Tiberius decided to send his nephew and heir apparent, Claudius Drusus Germanicus, to Germania with the purpose of defeating Arminius once and for all. In a brilliantly led campaign Germanicus (whose name comes from his father Drusus the Elder’s victories over the Germans) defeated Arminius in everything but decisive battle. During this campaign Germanicus and his troops came into the Teutoburg Wald, where the Romans buried their dead and recovered one of the eagles lost in that place. When winter came Germanicus pulled back across the Rhine, harassed by Arminius, and to the safety of the camps. In the spring of the next year (AD 16) Germanicus set out again this time along a different route. Germanicus loaded his army onto boats sailed down the Rhine, using his father’s canal system to reach the North Sea and then the Ems River. After disembarking the Romans marched along the river into Germania and eventually reached the Weser River. It was here that the Romans saw a combined army of Cherusci, Semnones, and Langobardi seemingly waiting for them. Within hours Arminius crossed the river Weser under a flag of truce, stating he wished to speak with his brother Flavus. When the brothers met Arminius asked Flavus where he had gotten his face wound at and what the Romans offered in compensation. Flavus replied he got a raise and various symbols of courage, the Roman equivalent of medals. Arminius was not surprised and he made his brother an offer, to come and serve under him in the German armies. Flavus refused to do so and made his brother a counter offer, to surrender and serve Rome again. Arminius refused and a massive argument ensued that almost broke into fisticuffs, had not their respective officers bodily dragged them away. Early the following morning Germanicus sent some cavalry over the Weser, were they where ambushed by Arminius. After this Germanicus sent his entire army across the Weser and at the bend of the river over looking the Idistaviso (Ancient German: Valley of the Maidens) the Romans began building a fort. When word reached the Roman camp via scouts and deserters that Arminius was planning a surprise attack the Romans quickly got into their trenches and the attack was called off. Over the course of the next several days Arminius rode over to a safe distance from the Roman camp and offered money, a wife, and land to any Roman that deserted. Germanicus in answer disguised himself as a camp follower and gave speeches saying that his dreams were full of good omens and that Roman victory was certain. After all of this was over Germanicus led his men out of the trenches and onto the plains of the Idistaviso, Arminius followed suit and the battle was soon joined.

Germanicus marched out with veteran troops at his side. The army of Germanicus at the Idistaviso was made up of 8 legions and some support troops to put this to numbers that would be: 29,000 legionaries, 30,000 auxiliaries, 7,500 cavalry, and 5,000 Batavian native allies. The number of troops that was left behind at the fort is unknown, not even Tacitus lists them.

The army of Arminius was mostly made of a hodge-podge of veterans and green troops. All in all the army of Arminius was made up of 55,000 men. It is impossible to try to divide the number of men into their respective tribes, the best we can do is guess.

As the battle began the two sides took up formation. When Arminius saw the Romans advance out of the trenches he formed his men into a massive arch with one wing on the river and the other on heavy forests, the Cherusci held the center line, because Arminius was one of them. In response Germanicus formed his men into a three line formation: The first line was composed of the auxiliaries and skirmishers, the second line was composed of half of the legionaries with a contingent of the Praetorian guard sent by Tiberius to protect Germanicus in the center, and the third line was made up of the remaining auxiliaries and the other half of the legionaries. Germanicus in a crafty move also sent his surviving cavalrymen into the woods, opposite the German right.

With both sides now in battle line only one side’s moving would start the battle, and the Germans made that move. Seeing the Roman line forming up as an advance to their position the entire German army charged the Romans. The Cherusci were so fierce that they almost broke the center of the Roman first line, but the auxiliaries despite it all still held on. Meanwhile on the left and right sides of the battlefield the Germans were repulsed by the Roman auxiliaries. On the German left the beaten warriors attempted to escape the battle by fleeing to the woods on the right (fleeing across the Weser did not seem like a good idea at the time), however as the warriors ran they were met by remnants of the German right wing, who were fleeing the Roman cavalry, who had just burst out of the woods. With both the German left and right broken and taking a beating at the hands of the Roman cavalry the Cherusci too broke down and fled, this caused a general route in which the Germans were massacred as they attempted to either cross the Weser or flee into the forest. In the middle of it all was Arminius who knew that if the Romans caught him he could expect no mercy, so in order to escape he covered his face with blood. The battle of Idistaviso was over, and Roman honour had been avenged.

In the aftermath of Idistaviso much happened. When all of the Germans had fled it was revealed that much had been left behind for the Romans to capture, amongst these was Arminius’ own wife: Thusnelda, who had been forgotten by Arminius as he fled, and the second of the lost eagles of Varus. Despite the great shame that Arminius had suffered due to this he was able to raise another army and he continued to be a threat to the Romans till his death, thus in a way Germanicus still lost as he was unable to kill Arminius. However the victory at Idistaviso did do much for Roman prestige as the victory insured Roman control over all tribes west of the Elbe and in AD 17 Germanicus received the last triumph given to a non-future emperor.

In conclusion Idistaviso was not the decisive battle that either Rome or Arminius sought. What it did do was ensure the stability of the Roman frontier in Germany at the Elbe and give Arminius a good bloody nose, though it was one that he recovered from.

[Today's my 18th Birthday!]

Well Paul my book is 960 pages long. BIG BOOK!!!

As for special stuff, that comes Saturday, so my Dad can be there to see it.