Macedonian Tales - An Antipatrid 1.2 AAR

[Nikolai]

Once, there was Macedon. Macedon the mighty, Macedon the free. Led by great men, like Phillip. Like Alexander.

Phillip made an Empire in Greece.

Alexander made an Empire of the known world.

Then he died.

His realm was divided between his men, the diadochi.

These men vied for control of the Hellenic world.

Persia was dominated by the Seleukid Empire.

Asia by Phrygia, but she shared this province with lesser realms.

Egypt and her vast riches were taken by Ptolemaios.

Macedon was again a small, if powerful, kingdom in her old core region of Greece.

But the southern parts were split into many small kingdoms, some under the protection of Phrygia.

In Epirus, a young king thirsted for power.

Kassandros I Antipatrid knew he had a long way ahead of himself, if his kingdom of Macedon were to again become a world power.

He struck at some of the weaker Greek kingdoms. He won.

He took out Epirus and killed the would be conqueror, making his realm a province of his own kingdom.

He conquered Rhodes and her allies, securing his grip of most of Crete and the ancient stronghold of Rhodes.

He vanquished Illyria Graeca and several Greek kingdoms in a bloody war that could have broken his might once and for all.

He prevailed.

In Phrygia, the old guard died.

Same, in Egypt.

In the Seleukid Empire, the old fox refused to die.

Kassandros, for his part, were getting senile.

But he lived on.

His heir was a leper, his other sons preparing their bid for power.

But Kassandros was not done.

Another war, this time draining both the coffers of state and Macedon’s manpower.

The man was senile, stubborn and increasingly incompetent.

Then he died.

His second son raised an army but did not yet strike.

Instead, he helped win the war.

But now, controlling the strongest army, as his brother the king lost his men, but won the war.

Phillippos IV Antipatrid was a dead man walking, and Macedon held their breath as he lingered on, closer and closer to Hades.

His son and heir, a 17-year-old whelp – yet untried.

 

[Nikolai]

With time, we all pass away.

Some pass early.

Philippos IV did not last long, only a year.

Then his son Kassandros II rose to the throne.

Kassandros deftly maneuvered the intrigues of court and avoided civil war.

A war here, a war there, and soon Macedon was considered a great power in her own right!

Phrygia was soon looked upon with hungry eyes.

Egypt and the Seleukids offered alliance, in addition to Thrace. The spears were sharpened.

Kassandros had no son of his own, and his daughters could not inherit according to the law. His consort wished the change that.

But Kassandros loved his able brother and refused. Until he got his own son, his brother was to remain heir.

Ever popular, Macedon was offered another alliance, this time by the budding power of Rome.

Even Phrygia offered an alliance, but this was politely declined, of course.

War was finally on the horizon. But first the threat of civil war had to go. Prepalaos Prepelaid, a mighty general, got to think himself of royal stature. This had to be stopped!

In the end, he was convicted and sent to jail.

The war could finally start!

Thrace soon joined in.

So did Rome.

The war went well for a good while.

However, Phrygia was still mighty. During some decisive battles, all of Macedon’s armies perished, as well as her entire navy!

Her allies still fought, though.

And soon Phrygia was ready to negotiate. Macedon and her allies won the war and gained plentiful lands.

 

[Nikolai]

With the war over, it was time to rebuild. From scratch in Macedon’s case.

The problems wouldn’t leave Kassandros alone though, soon after the war was over he got word that Pausanias Alexandrid had fled captivity and was plotting to get his new allies in Kerkouane Macedonian land.

Kerkouane was small fish though, and Kassandros had plans for his kingdom. He had allies, even though Egypt was getting uppity and sending him insults now and then.

Egypt still was on his side though, for the time being. And Rome and the Seleukids as well as Thrace also was answering his calls.

Kassandros wanted to control all of Greece, and Athens was only allied to Phrygia. With the allies on his side, Kassandros was ready to strike. He had no navy, but he had built up a good army.

It was time.

As the war went on, however, the brother of Kassandros fled his captors (not me) and gave Delmatia claims on Macedon lands!

Worrying as that was, Delmatia was small fish too. And Phryiga was ready to sue for peace. Four provinces to Macedon and two provinces to Egypt.

The Seleukids was getting stronger in the east and rose to great power status, thus ending their alliance with Macedon and issuing a guarantee for Macedon’s independence instead.

Cute. They would soon be back as allies though.

Philippos, the primary heir, had been constantly sick for some time, and the doctors were not doing their job. Their last treatment made him permanently brain damaged.

This made the boy somewhat crazy it seems, and he began to feel neglected and wanted more fatherly love. Thus, the son began to see the father as a rival.

 

[Nikolai]

Being a most devoted dad deep down, Kassandros placed his son at the head of an army and sent him to war to prove himself.

The goal war both Peleponnes and Thrace, especially the latter as Kassandros wanted a land bridge to Asia as soon as possible, but Thrace were allied to big and powerful Moesia, and the Greek city states to each other. The decision was to take on the city states and Thrace and leave Moesia out of the equation.

The war in Peleponnes was a disaster, the terrain and wealth of the city states meaning the Macedon army met stiff resistance and many mercenary companies. However, Thrace fell easily enough, and a province was taken from them and them alone. Peleponnes was safe for now…

Another escape from captivity meant Lemovia now had claims on Macedon. Kassandros laughed and said they would never be able to press them in war.

Then Egypt broke their alliance with Macedon, after sending insults for years and despite Macedon trying to remain friends.

Kassandros himself was getting old and soon after the Egyptian missive was diagnosed with cancer.

He wanted to be reminded of something great and ordered the elevation of Pella the capital to a metropolis. Soon construction was starting.

But Kassandros was not the only one ill, his heir was also feeling under the weather.

The cancer on its part made Kassandros prone to infection. He was not long for this world now.

Another prisoner escape made Kassandros wonder what was wrong with prison guards these days.

That was his last thought as he went to bed and never woke up again.

 

[Nikolai]

Philippos didn’t waste time, time was something he might not have much of. So he declared war on Athens, to get more of Greece under Macedon’s sway.

And to get another shot at Phrygia.

At the other side of the world, Maurya tried to use the new war to give the Seleukids a hard time. Macedon pledged moral support, it’s too far away, naturally.

The war against Athens and Phrygia ended soon enough, giving Macedon all of Athens’ lands as well as more Asian coastline.

Then Philippos died, and Tauriskos took over.

His relative Antikles got pretty bold ideas about the succession, though.

 

[Nikolai]

Tauriskos needed to get the succession crisis fixed.

He immediately used his resources to approach the men under Antikles’ command, who counted 33.000 men.

Soon, only 9.000 men remained. The rest scattered with the wind, wealthier than before.

But not a threat.

Phrygia in the meantime had their own troubles. Mysia Abrettene had seceded and was without allies.

Tauriskos declared war, wishing to secure the whole country.

Egypt saw this as an opportunity to strike and declared war on Macedon.

Tauriskos was not worried, though. He had the Seleukids, Rome and Bactria on his side.

Mysia Abrettene soon fell, and Egypt were also slowly losing their war of aggression.

Confident in his abilities, Tauriskos did not falter when Phrygia declared war, seeing this as a way to secure more of Asia for his Empire.

Soon thereafter, Phrygia’s Basileus died and left his throne to his two-year-old son.

While Phrygia was waging war with Macedon and a possible civil war was looming over their heads, Egypt was ready to admit defeat.

Soon thereafter, the long awaited Phrygian civil war started.

Macedon gladly peaced out with the youngling Basileus, and then invaded the Phrygian rebels.

Tauriskos is, after all, a benevolent ruler and neighbor.

And so it was that the rebels died an agonizing death.

 

[Nikolai]

Back home Tauriskos had new problems.

Rumor had it his consort planned his demise.

Perplexed and unbelieving, Tauriskos ordered her tailed at once.

She was too cunning for the tail, however, and quickly detected him.

A marital spite in front of the entire court ensued.

Public appearances had to be kept however, and they continued to show up together.

One day, during a wedding, an assassin plowed his dagger deep into Tauriskos’ heart.

Was it Nephoris who was behind?

No one knew, as the assassin accidently fell on the royal guard’s spears while fleeing.

No one dared point the finger.

Tauriskos was dead, his underage son basileus.

And Antikles raised even more loyal troops than last time, biding his time…

 

[Nikolai]

Macedon was – again – in a precarious situation.

The primary heir was also actively working towards gaining the throne by illicit means.

And that could not do.

The regency council, led by the Queen Mother, used all their political clout to encourage deserters from Antikles’ ranks.

Soon his ranks went from 41.000 men to merely 17.000.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mother wanted to strengthen her boy’s standing, and decided to unite Crete under the Macedonian banner.

The boy, however, was missing his father and was seen red eyed after crying more and more often.

The Queen Mother on her side asked him to quit whining and continued to unite Crete.

Some good news came not long after, as one of the pretenders with many troops behind his name, died.

The gods continued to smile towards the regency, as also Antikles kicked the bucket.

Seeing this as a good sign, the Queen Mother ordered the military to secure the Hellespont.

This backfired, however, when the enemy signed on every mercenary company under the sun.

And thus, Philippos Antipatrid came of age while his armies were fleeing.

 

[Nikolai]

As Philippos came of age, his people came to revere the man. Humble and most devout, this man was surely blessed by the gods.

Philippos inherited a war that was going badly, and his acumen as a commander showed when he ordered his troops to secure the rather small area owned by his enemies, while letting the enemy mercenaries run rampant in his country’s rather new won and unruly country side.

This paid off and he could soon sign a peace treaty completely in his favor.

He then turned to the one thing his predecessors could manage; securing all of southern Greece. The small countries were many, rich and protected by Thrace, but he felt this was his country’s destiny, and who were he to stand in the way of achieving Macedon’s greatness?

His first foray into the Peleponnes were hindered by the terrain being not in his favor and the huge amounts of enemy troops, but he battled on.

One big enemy troop stack kept hindering progress, but he kept sending more and more troops, winding them down.

His heir, an old relative, died, but his wife was pregnant.

And soon he had his heir, little Tauriskos. May his reign be better than his grandfather’s.

Finally the big stack of doom opposing Philippos was beaten.

But then the slaves of Epidamnos revolted.

Thankfully, they were soon struck down – by enemy troops trying to secure the area no less!

And finally, peace was within reach. Philippos demanded half of Greece from his enemies, as well as a land bridge between his Asian and European lands.

 

[Nikolai]

With peace won, it was time to claim more Asian land.

Phrygia, through their small ally Kios, was the target.

The governors of Asia kept being disloyal and uppity, and each time one was neutralized, the next became as bad as the old one. It seemed it was a curse.

Prepelaos Prepelaid was no different. He tried to burglarize a villa belonging to Philippos. Or perhaps kill the basileus.

In any case, he was thrown out the balcony, badly injured and watched from now on.

Phrygia and Kios was soon toast, resulting in a humiliating treaty.

And thus, Philippos turned to Greece once again, where Troizen stood alone.

They were soon part of Macedon.

Prepelaos did not stop his foolishness despite his beating a while back, and his last insults were too much. Dungeon it was.

In the north of Asia, there were chaos. Macedonian arms needed to secure the area.

And so, Macedon did.

Tauriskos, the heir of Philippos, was getting uppity, angry to not have more responsibility.

Carthage surprised Philippos when they offered an alliance. Already allied to Seleukids and Rome, Macedon was secure as it was, but Carthage was strong and a worthy ally.

Philippos said yes but told the ambassadors he would never betray Rome.

Tauriskos demanded more responsibility again, and Philippos decided to grant him a command over the 9th Stratos.

 

[Nikolai]

In a world where everyone and their dog wants to ally Macedon, Moesia is the last one out. More allies are equal to more power and security, so Philippos naturally accepted.

Not long after Moesia asks for Macedon to do good on their alliance. The enemies are perfect for Macedon, as Philippos wanted to take them on anyways.

Not long after the war is basically won, but as Macedon is not war leader, they need to wait for Moesia to divide the spoils.

Domestically, the governor or Phrygia has trouble and asks the state to pay for his province’s trouble. He asks for a lot of money, money the state does not have at that moment, so Philippos says “pay it yourself, FOOL”.

Soon thereafter the governor is sent to debt prison. Oops.

After this, the war in Asia is finally over, and Macedon gets a lot of land for their effort.

Philippos is pleased.

Moesia is power hungry and asks for help in another war. Philippos naturally accepts.

Then Numenios Alexandrid, a powerful figure that is dissatisfied with his lack of office or command, hires his own private army. It’s only 12.000 man strong though, so there is not much worry in court.

Carthage in the meantime wants to wage war on Rome and asks for Macedon’s support. Philippos has long decided Rome is the stronger horse to bet on, so he politely declines. If Carthage is to wage war on Rome, she does so alone. Carthage is not pleased.

Philippos is not afraid of war though. Phrygia needs to get some Macedon heels on themselves!

In Asia the war goes splendid, but when Macedon invades the Levant, a massive host of mercenaries comes knocking, obliterating two 20.000 man armies and leading two generals – one a nephew to the basileus – into captivity.

During the aftermath of this disaster, Moesia calls Macedon to war again. Phillipos accept but does not plan to take much part in the war at this point.

In the peace treaty with Phrygia, half of their remaining lands get taken. They might soon stop blighting the map now.

 

[Nikolai]

Philippos began to feel his age. His health were worsening and his brother was dead. No one knew properly how he was his brother, he didn’t show up in the family tree on the basileus’ side, but they were very close.

Philippos’ luck were not getting better, having started treatment for his sickness the doctor did a mistake while in a drunken stupor, and the basileus got castrated.

Speaking of luck, Egypt then declared war. They had twice the troops of Macedon,but the Seleukids had more than them, and both Rome and Carthage were close. So Philippos felt secure.

Then his heart stopped. It was now up to his son and heir Tauriskos II.

The war went well for a good while, but then the progress stopped with a series of bloody battles and defeats in northern Syria. Macedon held the line, but neither side was strong enough to progress, and Seleukids were otherwise occupied in the East with Maurya who had attacked.

As such, a peace agreement was made.

Mnesistrate, the consort of Tauriskos, were a martial mind and persuaded the basileus to let her accompany him on his campaigns.

Rome on their side asked for help in a future war against Carthage. Tauriskos wanted to keep both allies if possible, and refused to help, but kept the alliance with Rome.

Back at home, rumors spread saying Macedon was fallen from grace. A stupid idea, all the time Macedon won all her wars, but Tauriskos decided to calm the nobility with a glorious banquet.

Moesia was being stupid and wanted to wage war on Macedon’s long time ally the Seleukids. They were stronger than Moesia and Macedon combined and trusted friends. Tauriskos flatly refused.

Tauriskos was a cultured man and decided to use much resources to spread the arts around his country.

Then he went to war.

Greece were to be finally united under Macedon!

Rome also wanted to war, but on another front. Tauriskos joined.

Then disaster struck. While the war in Greece went well, a huge enemy army cornered Tauriskos’ army and the end result were a resounding loss. His consort was immediately blamed for the loss. A woman in a man’s world? It naturally was her fault.

 

[Nikolai]

All while the war raged, a scandal was brewing at home.

The slave population and cultured people everywhere were appalled by the accusations made towards Philokles Helladid, the Macedon Hierophant.

Tauriskos did not feel it necessary to do a full investigation but did order an inquiry.

The Hierophant did some excellent work and was skilled, so as a sign of his gratitude Tauriskos offered to bribe his official’s judges so that he would get off scot free.

To Tauriskos’ surprise, Philokles flatly refused any help and made rude remarks about his liege’s ability to rule.

In the end, the Hierophant was indeed found innocent, only given a small fine for minor offenses, but the way the trial was done had made the slaves in the realm somewhat unhappy.

Tauriskos had, while the trial ran, won a decisive victory in the Peleponnes, though. All of Greece were finally Macedonian!

In Asia, the borders were ugly and too hard to defend properly, the basileus decided. As sich a war was declared on Cappadokia, dragging several neighboring countries in, in particular interest Phrygia.

Moesia was also a hostile power this time, the country had collapsed during the war in the Peleponnes and even broken the alliance with Macedon.

They were in for a rude awakening.

More worryingly, but not of major concern, was the fact that spies told Tauriskos Carthage was planning to abandon their alliance. Rome were much more important in the long run, the basileus decided.

News about a crisis in Egypt also gladdened the heart of Tauriskos, as he deemed them then being out of the picture while he conquered more of Asia.

Carthage then broke their alliance with Macedon, but Tauriskos didn’t worry.

Then, Egypt surprised all and declared war…

 

[Nikolai]

The first order of the day after Egypt declared war, was to finish the war with Cappadocia & co. Soon, the perfidious Phrygia was but a speck in the Levant.

The Seleukids were invading in force, sweeping Egypt aside as if nothing.

Back in the West, Rome were attacked by Carthage, and Macedon was dragged into it.

Not wanting to give the Seleukids too much land gain, if mostly arid swathes, Macedon brokered peace, gaining the Seleukids one province, Macedon two, and liberating small countries along the coast. Athens without Athens proper? Yes please!

As soon as the war was over, the Isis cult wanted permission to spread into Macedon lands. Egyptian gods, however, were not welcome.

Having secured his position, Tauriskos were seen as a most decent man.

He was also, however, a sick man.

In the West, Rome stood triumphant against Carthage, taking the Western half of Sicily. Why they did not take the Eastern half, no one knows.

Back home, the son and spare heir of Tauriskos, Kallisthenes, asked for help from Tauriskos to raise a host loyal to him. Tauriskos saw no problem with this, and willingly permitted it.

With his advancing age and sickness, Tauriskos got more and more depressed, wishing for life to be easier for a poor basileus.

His sicknesses became only more numerous, though.

Then fate intervened, as Tauriskos son and heir Areus died in a hunting accident. Witnesses say he fell on a spear just lying around.

Poor Tauriskos only got worse after this, adding gout to his other illnesses.

He felt like he needed a distraction and attacked Cappadocia again.

The war soon finished in his favor, and this move made Macedon recognized as truly a Great Power.

This unfortunately ended the alliances Macedon had with lesser powers, being replaced with guarantees of independence…

 

[Nikolai]

Macedon now had to go it alone. Egypt were a good target as any.

Ruled by a child, having way less troops than Macedon.

Although Carthage had many troops and were their allies but would have a long way to travel to utilize said troops.

The war went well, but not long into the fighting, Tauriskos died, leaving his heir Kallisthenes to finish his work.

Two and half years of fighting later, with Macedon troops laying siege to the Sinai, peace war finally made.

With this victory, the important great city of Antigonia was Macedonian, and Kallisthenes decided to let the capital city of Antigonos be left alone, unharmed.

On the home front, Kallisthenes had been a naughty boy – and shocked the court by legitimizing his son (who had amazing stats for a newborn babe).

As struck by the gods, Kallisthenes then fell ill.

The Seleukids, Macedon’s old and trusty ally, had seemingly turned around, sending insults to the Macedonian court. This did not bode well for the future friendship of the two.

Back in Egypt, a crisis was brewing, as the old kid basileia was replaced with an ever younger basileus.

The Seleukids were stepping it up, claiming Macedon’s recently conquered province of Syria as their rightfully own.

Kallisthenes decided if war was to come, best destabilize the most unstable of the two.

He had bigger problems at home though, as his dalliance with a younger woman and then legitimizing the resulting child had made his wife properly angry. Rumor had it she wanted him dead.

The heir, though a grown young man, was visibly torn between allegiances.

Days later, an assassin attempted to kill the basileus. Gravely wounded, all thought him dead, and his consort proclaimed his heir Mnaseas as basileus.

But Kallisthenes was not dead, although gravely wounded.

The treacherous consort was imprisoned and killed, while a new and young consort were presented to the court.

The two soon became good friends, age differences notwithstanding.

The young consort was pious, and his near-death experience together with her influence made the basileus chaste.

A trusted general, Aristogeiton Argead, came to court asking for change in the military laws of the kingdom. He wanted the aristocracy to have much more influence. Kallisthenes thought this a good idea and implemented the change.

It was, it turned out, to be his last command before dying.

What followed, was the tragedy and triumph of Mnaseas I Antipatrid.

 

[Nikolai]

As Mnaseas rose to the throne, his brother Kallisthenes felt his life might be in danger. As a pretender, he was a liability, and knew it. He fled to the Seleukids, who eagerly accepted him in their court.

Mnaseas then set in motion a trial to end the threat of the mighty pretender Philippos “The Arabian” Antipatrid, whom were distinctly disloyal, eager for the throne and had an army of some size behind him.

The accusation; treason.

The accused acted quite guilty. It seemed a conviction was soon within grasp.

Then he tried to flee the trial, but he was caught before he could disappear.

Yet the verdict was a complete vindication for the pretender; he was found innocent on all accounts.

After this, Mnaseas began seeing Philippos as a rival – to be crushed at the first opportunity.

He began a smear campaign, ruining Philippos’ popularity in the process.

Still, more and more people questioned the basileus’ ability to rule.

In secret, Mnaseas began plotting for the assassination of Philippos.

Against all advice, the basileus himself tried to do the deed, and failed miserably, having to flee deeply wounded into the night.

He was close to death.

 

[Nikolai]

Still alive, if barely, Mnaseas was invited by the Cult of Fortune, which he gladly accepted.

Feeling lucky, he then started the preparation to assassinate Philippos again. Second time’s the charm, right?

His lack of skill was more and more apparent though, and he was seen as utterly incapable by people around him.

Wanting to show he was made of sterner stuff, he imprisoned the popular governor of Pamphylia, losing most of the province’s loyalty in the process.

He got better news when he finally managed to get Philippos killed, however people whispered about his involvement.

Egypt was governed by a child, with less troops to his name (although a lot of manpower) than Macedon.

Carthage hadn’t been a problem before, and the Seleukids were occupied in India and had not that many troops either.

So, the basileus decided to take on Egypt again.

Wanting to become a better ruler, Mnaseas hired a renowned philosopher from Halikarnassos.

The war on land went well, but on the seas, Macedon was defeated.

Still, the victories on land netted Macedon two new provinces from Egypt.

Then the slaves of the newly conquered provinces rebelled.

The war weary troops were many, and close though, so the rebellion soon was defeated.

But Mnaseas now got a new problem. The Alketid family, led by Damokrates Alketid, wanted power and raised a huge army of 106k troops. This was a big threat to Macedon.

Mnaseas thus decided he would bring Damokrates to trial, and this time he would surely win.

It soon went well, with the accused self-incriminating himself.

He became more and more nervous, and Mnaseas regarded the trial as practically won.

He was wrong.

Desperate, Mnaseas did what he could to smear the reputation of his foe.

Then he planned his next assassination attempt on a political rival.

Luckily for the basileus, it went well.

Then, the Seleukids declared war.

 

[Nikolai]

The war against the Seleukids went well, with Macedonian troops flooding into Mesopotamia.

However, Egypt saw this as a perfect opportunity to take back lands lost and declared war.

Mnaseas quickly sent half of his invading force from Mesopotamia to the Levant.

Soon after, he peaced out with the Seleukids, gaining a whole province plus parts of another.

But he had only barely started on his invasion of Egypt when Rome declared war.

Hoping on Rome not mobilizing and invading before he could peace out, Mnaseas pressed forward into the Nile delta, and then took what he could.

Luckily for him, Rome never sent a single soldier, and a year later peaced out for a white peace.

During the war, Eurylochos Prepelaid, the governor of Asia, had become very strong. And very disloyal. Mnaseas flooded him with gifts, wanting to make this powerful man his friend.

He succeeded.

His new friend then got free hands and even more gifts.

Not long after, the Archisomatophylax was discovered having embezzled a lot of money from the state. Mneaseas sent him to prison and confiscated his whole fortune for the state.

After so much success, something just had to go wrong for Mnaseas. His son and heir got sick, and his doctor lost his knife and accidently cut off vital parts of his body…

Adding to this, earlier treatment had made his son brain damaged…

 

[Nikolai]

Mnaseas’ problems did not stop, however.

Soon rumors of a plot against one of the heirs were discovered, led by Dios Antipatrid.

It turned out the brain damaged Tauriskos had been led astray and convinced to plot against his brother Kallisthenes. The basileus warned his second son as soon as he found out.

This might have saved the son this time, as the thugs visiting his home found him not at home. It meant, however, that the two brothers began seeing each other as rivals.

In the Levant, Phrygia had resurfaced after Egypt liberated them from one of the countries Macedon liberated from Egypt again during the last war between the two. Under a new dynasty, so it was Phrygia of old in name only.

The two were not, however, allied, and Phrygia stood on their own.

To avoid more wars with the Seleukids, Mnaseas secured friendship with the Seleukid Archisomatophylax.

And soon after war was declared, Phrygia was – again – no more.

The Phrygian elite were eliminated to the man.

Macedon was now the unrivalled strongest heir to Alexander and controlled the famed Silver Shields.

Mnaseas himself was now 66 years old and still in bad health.

The march of time also sometimes lent a hand, as the long-time rival of the basileus Theodoros The Arabian Argead died finally.

This Mnaseas celebrated with a new war on Egypt.

Then his beloved wife died suddenly.

The Egyptians assembled all their troops to deny Mnaseas access to the Nile Valley, and after weeks of fighting, Macedonian troops were slowly pushed back. However, there were more fresh troops coming, and the Egyptian Pharao accepted peace on the terms that Egypt ceded Galilee.

Mnaseas was old and frail, and needed someone to care for him on his last days. He decided to everyone’s horror to remarry – a 16-year-old.

Her family got royally paid for this, and the marriage rites soon were done.

With peace achieved again and a nurse-wife at his side, Mnaseas declared that Macedon was now an Empire to rival that of Alexander’s.

The celebrations were marred by his old friend Kleonymos Timarchid dying, however.

And the basileus was getting older and sicker by the day.

Celebrating the proclamation of his Empire, Mnaseas ordered the mapping of the whole known world as it stood in 727 AUC.

The Mediterranean was dominated by Rome in the West and Macedon in the East.

In the South, Egypt still was a force to be reckoned with, while the Central and Eastern Middle East were dominated by the Seleukids.

In faraway India, the Maru Empire were in almost total control.

The year was 727 and Mnaseas was 77 years old. His doctors estimated he would be dead before summer.

Worse, his heir – the brain damaged Tauriskos – was dying too and his doctors estimated he might, possibly, survive his father. But only by a month or two.

The future of the Empire rested on the second son of Mnaseas, Kallisthenes, a healthy if older man by this time. However, would he survive the one or two months between his father’s death and his brother’s?

Time would show, but it will have to be another chronicler who tells you.

The game is over.