Epirus Ascendant, Part 1

[HistoryDude]

The ascension of Pairisades II marked an immediate change in policy. Makartos had been willing to settle for a return to the status quo, so he had mostly defended Epirus’s territory against invasion. By contrast, the new emperor wanted to punish Carthage for daring to challenge Epirus. He immediately began expanding the Epirote fleet to drive a dagger through the heart of the Punic city-state.

The fleet was completed by 712 AUC, and Pairisades gathered his armies and sent them to Africa under the command of Hekatesid. The fleet first encountered Carthaginian resistance off the coast of Libya. Both navies were taken by surprise by this encounter, and the initial battle was extremely disorganized. That changed quickly. The Battle off Libya became one of the deadliest engagements in Antiquity, but Epirus eventually emerged victorious.

The Punic fleet was forced to withdraw back to Carthage itself, and Hekatesid decided to land his army in Libya, hoping to recruit local tribesmen and threaten the very basis of Carthage’s power.

His army quickly raided a few small local settlements. This successfully angered Carthage, but it failed to encourage resistance to Punic rule by any of their vassals. Hekatesid thus decided on an audacious course of action - he had his army march to Carthage itself.

They reached the city in April, and the Punic government instantly panicked. They recalled all of their armies in Sicily and Spain and offered to negotiate a new treaty with Pairisades. The Basileus refused, knowing that he could get better terms if he was patient.

Hekatesid, for his part, was aware that he had no hope of actually taking Carthage, given that he lacked immediate fleet support and had to live off of the land. He was equally aware that nobody in Carthage knew that, though, so he launched periodic forays against the city walls, making it appear as though he had begun a siege.

In truth, he planned to wait for the Punic reinforcements to arrive and engage them in a single, decisive battle. He hoped that his army could win that struggle, and he theorized that Carthage would give up anything to ensure that he left the outskirts of the city.

The reinforcements finally arrived in August, and the Battle of Carthage lasted throughout most of that month. Neither side managed to achieve a victory, and both armies eventually retreated.

In the aftermath, Pairisades agreed to negotiate with the Carthaginian leaders. His only territorial demand was control over the eastern half of Sicily, but his other demands were harsher. He wanted Carthage to hunt down members of the Cult of Hecate in their lands and hand them over to him personally, and he asked for a very large sum of gold. Exhausted by the war, Carthage agreed, and the Great Mediterranean War ended in September 712 AUC.

Hekatesid returned to Epirus a hero, and a long age of peace began. For his part, Pairisades II returned to Sicily and met with the King of Magna Graecia in Messina. He told the king that he could either kneel and swear fealty to the Throne of Alexander in exchange for remaining a governor, or he could pointlessly resist. Seeing little other choice, the King agreed to kneel, and Archimedes’s experiment ended.

Aware of the potential implications of this act, Pairisades met with the Senate of Rome a year later. They agreed to a perpetual peace where the current borders were maintained.

For their part, the Cult of Hecate fled Carthage, swearing revenge against both Carthage and Epirus.

(Map of the Known World at the conclusion of the Great Mediterranean War. Epirus is in yellow.)





A/N: My apologies about the long hiatus. The normal pace of updates should be maintained from now on. Also, this update is the last update played with Imperator itself. I will have a few more updates to bridge the gap between Imperator and 867 and CK3, though.

 

[HistoryDude]

The cult seems to be up to no good.

They were. They were a way of justifying a few things in-universe, but I assure you that they will return.

That is all exceptionally messy. The statement that Carthage would regret the failure of the conference does suggest things will start going very badly for them, so I do look forward to that. Equally however it seems unlikely the Cult of Hecate will go quietly, so Epirus appears in for a rough time as well.

Everything seems to have worked out... for now.

Epirus as a nation seems to have a successfully completed the 'Time of Troubles'; but for Emperor Makartos not so much. Thanks for updating

Yep. Epirus deserves an age of peace before I destroy their empire for a more interesting CK game .

They certainly know how to spoil a party. I hope their impudence can be punished at some point ...

… before they … oh, too late! The new ruler inherits quite a set of problems, though the worst seems to have been weathered. Much work to be done.

I imagine that Pairisades had many public trials and executions.

He does seem to have resolved his foreign policy issues, though.

 

[NarcomancerPL]

Considering Borders situation really looks like from early medieval era: Rome (Carolingians), Carthage (Andalusians), Epirus (Byzantium), Seleucids (Caliphate) and strong united Egypt

 

[El Pip]

A Perpetual Peace, those always go well so I'm sure relation with Rome will be fine from now on.

I do like the Cult of Hecate escaping, mostly because I imagine them as cartoon villains saying they will get Epirus next time while shaking their fists and running off the edge of the screen. Be interesting to see where (or how) they pop up in CK3.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thanks for the update. Woe is Carthage. Rarely does Carthage seem to be a winner in anything.

 

[Bullfilter]

He wanted Carthage to hunt down members of the Cult of Hecate in their lands and hand them over to him personally

Good try, anyway!

For their part, the Cult of Hecate fled Carthage, swearing revenge against both Carthage and Epirus.

They are making themselves some powerful enemies … but will they fall into a plot hole on the way from I to CK3?

Also, this update is the last update played with Imperator itself. I will have a few more updates to bridge the gap between Imperator and 867 and CK3, though.

Congrats on making it through with a nice empire there. Look forward to see how CK3 shapes up.

 

[Idhrendur]

Congrats on getting to the end of Imperator. Looking forward to the epilogue to this part and the next era!

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, that was a longer hiatus than I would've liked. Anyway, here's the first of the link updates that will get us to 867 and CK3!



After the Great Mediterranean War, Pairisades II had one final issue. He needed to ensure that the Cult of Hecate could not find refuge in any portion of the civilized world… and that required a lot of diplomacy with many different states.

Pairisades decided to deal with all of them at once. He sent messages to Rome, Carthage, Seleucid Persia, and Ptolemaic Egypt asking to host a meeting of their rulers in Petra. The symbolism wasn’t lost on anyone.

The great powers agreed. Pairisades intended the Conference of Petra to resolve all disputes between the involved parties. The first such dispute was, naturally, over Spain. Both Carthage and Rome wanted the territory, and both ruled portions of it, even if Carthage controlled far more of it.

The Council ultimately decided to grant Spain to Carthage, but Rome gained Punic Sardinia and Gaul in the bargain. Of course, various small tribes still controlled a large part of both regions. Pairisades probably hoped that the two powers would focus on pacifying them instead of on fighting each other… which would, naturally, benefit Epirote trade in the Western Mediterranean.

With the Western Mediterranean dealt with, the Conference turned its attention to resolving the struggles of Alexander’s successors. That proposition was far more difficult. For one thing, neither Rome nor Carthage wanted to make enemies in the east, so neither polity was willing to step in and act as a neutral arbiter, as Epirus had in the west.

For another, there was a lot more territory in dispute. Both Egypt and Epirus controlled territory in Greece, which was also dotted with smaller sovereign polities. Epirus and Seleucid Persia shared dominion in Anatolia. To make matters worse, the Seleucids refused to recognize Armenia’s independence. The Epirote-Armenian Alliance thus made matters particularly thorny with the sons of Seleucus. None of that was aided by Seleucid-Ptolemaic territorial disputes.

For a full year, dignitaries of the eastern powers negotiated at Petra. The fruit of their labor was an equitable compromise - Egypt gave up some land in Greece to Epirus in exchange for a slight adjustment of the Levantine border in their favor. For their part, the Seleucids agreed to swap Anatolian lands with Epirus. It was agreed that the remaining independent states in Anatolia were to fall under Epirus’s sphere of influence.

The matter of Armenia was surprisingly simple to resolve. Seleucid Persia agreed to recognize Armenia as a sovereign state in exchange for a small enclave of their land.

All powers involved left the Conference of Petra satisfied. As a result, for the entirety of Pairisades’s reign, there was no war between the great powers - and no offer the Cult of Hecate could make in exchange for asylum. They were forced to flee into Gallic and Germanic lands - lands that were given to Rome. Many were caught and executed - or shipped to Epirus for… interrogation.

Even so, the Cult survived, and Petra and its consequences convinced them that all of the “civilized” states were beyond redemption. The fruits of that theology would devastate Europe centuries later and almost destroy Epirus itself.

That was all centuries in the future, though. In the short term, Petra benefitted all involved parties. The lack of war allowed the opening of thousands of new trade routes. Ideas traveled, and a golden age of learning began.

In Epirus, Petra is generally considered the beginning of the Eirene Epeirotes. Even when the rest of Classical Europe fell back into conflict and ultimately fell, this period continued…

View attachment Map 12.png
(The world after the Conference of Petra. Epirus is in yellow. Areas marked as under Epirote influence are in striped yellow. Areas under Punic influence are in striped green. Areas under Roman influence are in striped red.)

 

[HistoryDude]

Considering Borders situation really looks like from early medieval era: Rome (Carolingians), Carthage (Andalusians), Epirus (Byzantium), Seleucids (Caliphate) and strong united Egypt

Those borders won't last, of course, but you're right, even if they're more messy here. The Conference of Petra did clear up some of that mess at least.

A Perpetual Peace, those always go well so I'm sure relation with Rome will be fine from now on.

I do like the Cult of Hecate escaping, mostly because I imagine them as cartoon villains saying they will get Epirus next time while shaking their fists and running off the edge of the screen. Be interesting to see where (or how) they pop up in CK3.

I have plans for the Cult of Hecate in CK3. They can be very patient.

As for the Perpetual Peace... Rome has other fish to fry at the moment, and Carthage is going to be a victim before any Epirote territory outside of Magna Graecia anyway.

Thanks for the update. Woe is Carthage. Rarely does Carthage seem to be a winner in anything.

Carthage definitely made a bad move there. Maybe they were the victims of sorcery?

Good try, anyway!

They are making themselves some powerful enemies … but will they fall into a plot hole on the way from I to CK3?

Congrats on making it through with a nice empire there. Look forward to see how CK3 shapes up.

We'll see how long that empire lasts...

Congrats on getting to the end of Imperator. Looking forward to the epilogue to this part and the next era!

Thanks! I am happy to get this far!

 

[HistoryDude]

The incorporation of the Kingdom of Magna Graecia into Epirus was harder than Pairisades initially expected. Magna Graecia’s culture had become very different from Epirus’s during the time when they had been separated.

The biggest issue was religion. Magna Graecia had been split from Epirus during the Flourishing of Religious Thought. In Epirus itself, that period had ended with the Synod of Passaron, but, in Magna Graecia, the new Kings had immediately decided to assert their newfound authority by designing their own religion centered on themselves. This religion incorporated elements of the official Helleno-Kemetist Church, other Greek religious practices, the Punic rituals, and some Italic festivals. The de-facto independence of the Kingdom meant that the Edicts of Toleration were never enforced there, so this new faith was the only one accepted in Magna Graecia.

The end of the Kingdom of Magna Graecia’s independence created theological issues for this faith, but this problem was not the first thing to cause tension between the heirs of the old way of life and the new Epirote laws. That honor went to the converters. The converters were a secret group loyal theoretically only loyal to the Magna Graecian monarchy that were charged with… eliminating religious dissidents. In 715 AUC, the Helleno-Kemetist Church sent missionaries to Magna Graecia, hoping to finally gain some converts in the area. The converters responded as they would to any other church that tried to convert Magna Graecian citizens - they caught the perpetrators and executed them.

The Helleno-Kemetist Church immediately complained to Pairisades about it. Pairisades responded by sending a letter to the governor of Magna Graecia demanding that he enforce the Edict of Toleration. The governor issued a decree that told the converters to apologize, return the bodies, allow proselytization throughout the area, and pay the Church a sum as recompense. The converters replied that they only took orders from the legal King of Magna Graecia.

The governor told Pairisades as much. Pairisades resolved the issue by declaring himself King of Magna Graecia and ordering the Edict of Toleration enforced. This decision conveniently resolved the problem and ended a few schisms within the Magna Graecian Church over who was the rightful head of their faith. It also massively worried a lot of nobles because the converters were essentially a secret spy organization that could be used on anyone.
Another issue was the existence of a Magna Graecian army and navy. Most of the other governors had no armies, and the few that they could scrounge up were poorly trained levies. They posed no threat to central authority. The Magna Graecians, by contrast, had large armies meant to patrol their borders with Carthage and Rome.

That left Pairisades with a dilemma. It would be easy to allow these armies to remain, especially since it meant that he could keep the western borders defended when the Conference of Petra inevitably became obsolete. The problem with that solution was that the other governors and nobles would complain about their own lack of private armies, especially given how restless they were from the seizure of the “converters”. Allowing them armies was a recipe for civil war, but denying them would invite court intrigue that might end with the destruction of his dynasty by assassins.

In the end, Pairisades solved that problem by creating a new position - Commander of the Armies in the West - and placing him in charge of the old Magna Graecian army. A similar position - Commander of the Armies in the East - was created to ensure that Petra was honored on the Anatolian borders. Both positions had appointed commanders.

After that, Magna Graecia’s integration into the larger state went relatively smoothly. No new issues emerged, and Pairisades died in 727 AUC. His son, Nikostratos, succeeded him.



A/N: We'll have a few more updates on the Eirene Epeirotes, a decent amount of updates on the end of Antiquity, and then we'll move on to CK3.

 

[Midnite Duke]

Solve problems by placing yourself in charge. Works for diligent and ambitious leaders, not so much for slothful and content leaders. Thanks, please let me know when CK3 part starts.

 

[El Pip]

In the end, Pairisades solved that problem by creating a new position - Commander of the Armies in the West - and placing him in charge of the old Magna Graecian army. A similar position - Commander of the Armies in the East - was created to ensure that Petra was honored on the Anatolian borders. Both positions had appointed commanders.

By solving one problem he has perhaps created another, two very powerful figures with Armies that could end up more loyal to their commanders than the Emperor. Still, a problem for Nikostratos and his heirs.