Magna Graecia: Victory's Children (A City State Quest)
The year is 470 BCE. It has been 306...
The year is 470 BCE. It has been 306...
Magna Graecia: Victory's Children (A City State Quest)
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Introduction and Mechanics
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
Magna Graecia: Victory's Children (A City State Quest)
The year is 470 BCE. It has been 306 years since the first Olympic Games, remembered throughout all Hellas. Twenty years ago you were the fleeing citizens of Eretria, desperate refugees huddled into cramped boats. You watched as your mother city was burnt to the ground by the Persian King of Kings. Your possessions were lost, your lands were lost, and for many of you, your family was lost. That was the end of your polis and everything that you had known. Ahead lay only dread uncertainty.
Those days of terror have passed. After landing in the hostile land of Italia, surrounded by unhappy enemies all around, your people have made a home for themselves by the point of the spear. The Eretrians are still called as much, but your home is no longer simply Eretria, but Eretria Eshkata, Eretria the Furthest. You are aware that your isolation from the Greek colonies to the south of you and Hellas itself to the southeast has given you many challenges. Without their support, you have grown culturally distant. Your lack of trade, your struggling funds, your constant careful diplomacy, have all marked you as a city dancing on a tightrope.
Despite that, Eretria has thrived. Its ideals of democratic representation are not unique in the Greek World, but its application is unrivaled. Political stability and military innovation mark the city from its neighbors and rivals and have allowed it to maintain independence in the face of grave challenges. From defeating a massive fleet of pirates using only three ships to comprehensively crushing their Iapygian neighbors again and again in combat, you have proven yourselves a formidable opponent to anyone who would face you.
The naked vulnerability of the past has faded into legend for your people. No longer simply seeking like a wounded animal to survive to the next day, Eretria has healed and created a new society in Italia, changing the face of the region in the process. A new generation is emerging that never had to feel the pangs of starvation or the terror of surrendering to the mercy of Poseidon. In their hands the direction of the city could be taken to new heights, or cut cruelly short by the caprice of the fates. It is to this generation that we now turn our eye as we tell the story of Victory's children.
---
Magna Graecia: Victory's Children is a continuation of a popular quest I ran since the Summer of 2015 on and off, managing in the end to cover about twenty years of history. Set in Ancient Italy in the Classical Era, the quest is a turn-based empire builder where you play as the citizens of the city of Eretria Eskhata, formerly stranded in Apulia after a long escape from certain slavery by Persian hands during the 490 BCE invasion. The quest is influenced by the Total War games, Civilization, and Paradox Interactive strategy games. However, I aim for a higher level of historical accuracy and since the game has started have made an effort to tone down more "gamey" elements in favor of story and historical immersion.
Although it is a sequel of the previous quest found here, I aim to make Victory's Children comprehensible and welcoming to those new to the quest or those who simply did not have time to read so many words of backlog. Old fans of the quest will have no need to worry though; the quest is very much a continuation and has incorporated the decisions they made into the fabric of the city.
---
Ekklesia
The city of Eretria Eshkata is a city of the people, and you are the people. The Ekklesia, as the formal assembly of the people, is the final authority on all matters in the city; tyranny is not even considered here, such is the confidence of the people in their own decisions. All adult men regardless of property or wealth have an equal voice here.
When you vote you are literally placing a vote on behalf of the people; you may even want to roleplay as a member of the ekklesia and it is certainly encouraged (named characters have been acknowledged in the quest if their voice is loud and influential enough). Since the voters directly represent the people, their discussion might affect the course of the city even if what they voted on does not win. Huge majorities or pluralities will reflect on how the citizens of Eretria see decisions.
Every two years the Ekklesia elects a citizen to become the proboulos, or leader of the boule. This is an elected council that can be thought of as an "executive" to the city. The proboulos is not controlled by the players, and in effect helps advise and guide the players. That means players should elect only those who they trust, because they certainly won't be able to control them (although they can remove a proboulos if they have 60% voter support).
Attempting to "game" the system of the ekklesia, to, for example, get a supermajority on a vote for the purpose of artificially stabilizing the city during a time of civil strife may end badly. Remember that I am the QM and can freely interpret what that kind of voter consensus means. Maybe they don't want to vote one way because they all believe in rational thought, or maybe it's because they're resolute xenophobes. Your control of the will of the people is not absolute, especially if you are pursuing votes for purely "meta" reasons.
User Motions and Write-Ins
One of the things that I value in Magna Graecia is user input. Some of the most fantastic concepts of the past were entirely user-inputted, but the usual "write-in" system can also allow for some stupendously stupid outcomes. To that end I've designed a more formal system that allows better write-ins.
The rock-obsessed democracy of Eretria believes in the value of standing on top of boulders when proposing something, and for that you need three kleftes, your lifters. If, during the discussion phase of voting you feel you have an alternative to a currently proposed vote, you can propose a user motion. If three people "lift your rock", then it will be included as a user motion when the vote is created. User motions of this type can only be done during the discussion period. Once voting is commenced all the options are locked in.
I reserve the right to block any option regardless of whether or not it has enough Kleftes because of historical inaccuracy or logical problems. I also reserve the right to take ideas that don't get kleftes and implement them because I think they're pretty cool and interesting ideas; not everything has to be totally formal and since I consider Magna Graecia a somewhat collaborative enterprise I don't see a problem with doing as much. I am a simple man; I see a good idea, I take it.
The other type of user motion is usually for bigger decisions that don't necessarily have to do with the current vote options but can be voted on anyways if the person gets three kleftes. Examples include removing the current proboulos, starting a war (a user motion to start a war began a major conflict that ended with victory over the neighboring tribes) or repealing some previous decision. These kinds of user motion can be made at any time but will only be voted on separately from the main vote for that year.
Civic Tradition and Influence
The political stability of Eretria is not permanent. It must be maintained through the actions and decisions of citizens, and it can decline rapidly in the face of external pressure (war, embargo) or internal pressure (class tension, aristocratic feuds, famine). A new abstract measure has been created to represent the trust the citizen body has in democracy: Civic Tradition. Representing the legitimacy of the democratic tradition, Civic Tradition affects the way citizens see themselves and others. With high civic tradition, the city is seen as paramount, its democratic traditions unassailable, its classes in harmony to expand hegemonia. With low civic tradition, civil strife becomes common, including the dreaded stasis, low-level violence and civil war within the city. This does not only put the city in peril to outside enemies but could lead to a destruction of democracy, which is a game-over for the current iteration.
Classes were also an essential part of Ancient Greek politics; the various poleis, as the city-states were called, developed new governments based on popular unhappiness about the distribution of land and influence. To that end, Influence is a new mechanic that represents the distribution of power between the three major classes: The aristocrats, the Hoplites (small independent landowners) and Aktimones (landless labourers, craftsmen, rowers, and vagrants). Since influence is based on distribution of land, it does not hop up and down but only shfits based on player decisions. Redistribution is radical and lowers Civic Tradition but could prevent an imbalance; at high civic tradition, having one class have more influence than the others is not a big deal, but once tradition starts to lower, that class is more and more willing to use its position to abuse the city's institutions and break its customs in the pursuit of power.
War
War is an essential part of life in Ancient Italy, but it is not something that is directly controlled by citizens. Although having a Total-War style micromanagement of units on the battlefield was fun, it was neither realistic nor easy to produce quickly, so although it may still be used it will be reserved for a few extremely important battles and naval warfare. So how is war conducted?
The answer is through Strategoi, or generals. When it comes time for war, prospective NPC candidates will line up for the wonder and glory of becoming the city's strategos vested with the power of life and death on the battlefield. It is up to the judgment of the voters as the ekklesia to elect the strategos that they think has the best chance; each candidate will give their own ideas of what they will do on the battlefield and how they will do it, and players will be forced to choose between them. Although there are some options during war, such as whether to sell a city's inhabitants into slavery or let them leave peacefully to avoid a bloody melee in the city, when it comes to the minute decisions of war it is out of the hands of voters. Instead, the ekklesia controls the reins of diplomacy and declarations of war and turns over control to the strategos when it comes to the war itself.
Buildings, Economy, and Trade
Buildings are an important way for cities to build defenses and infrastructure and are your second-best way of boosting your civic income (the first being boosting city population, which grows at a specific percentage every year based on food supply and improvements). Everything from Walls to cultural buildings like theaters can be constructed for talents, collected from the treasury. How do you make money? Besides, Taxation, based on your population, there is theater revenue, miscellaneous influxes of cash, loot from cities, tribute from subjects, and income from the Epulian League, a league of cities of which Eretria is the head. Of course, there's also trade, which deserves a separate description.Those days of terror have passed. After landing in the hostile land of Italia, surrounded by unhappy enemies all around, your people have made a home for themselves by the point of the spear. The Eretrians are still called as much, but your home is no longer simply Eretria, but Eretria Eshkata, Eretria the Furthest. You are aware that your isolation from the Greek colonies to the south of you and Hellas itself to the southeast has given you many challenges. Without their support, you have grown culturally distant. Your lack of trade, your struggling funds, your constant careful diplomacy, have all marked you as a city dancing on a tightrope.
Despite that, Eretria has thrived. Its ideals of democratic representation are not unique in the Greek World, but its application is unrivaled. Political stability and military innovation mark the city from its neighbors and rivals and have allowed it to maintain independence in the face of grave challenges. From defeating a massive fleet of pirates using only three ships to comprehensively crushing their Iapygian neighbors again and again in combat, you have proven yourselves a formidable opponent to anyone who would face you.
The naked vulnerability of the past has faded into legend for your people. No longer simply seeking like a wounded animal to survive to the next day, Eretria has healed and created a new society in Italia, changing the face of the region in the process. A new generation is emerging that never had to feel the pangs of starvation or the terror of surrendering to the mercy of Poseidon. In their hands the direction of the city could be taken to new heights, or cut cruelly short by the caprice of the fates. It is to this generation that we now turn our eye as we tell the story of Victory's children.
---
Magna Graecia: Victory's Children is a continuation of a popular quest I ran since the Summer of 2015 on and off, managing in the end to cover about twenty years of history. Set in Ancient Italy in the Classical Era, the quest is a turn-based empire builder where you play as the citizens of the city of Eretria Eskhata, formerly stranded in Apulia after a long escape from certain slavery by Persian hands during the 490 BCE invasion. The quest is influenced by the Total War games, Civilization, and Paradox Interactive strategy games. However, I aim for a higher level of historical accuracy and since the game has started have made an effort to tone down more "gamey" elements in favor of story and historical immersion.
Although it is a sequel of the previous quest found here, I aim to make Victory's Children comprehensible and welcoming to those new to the quest or those who simply did not have time to read so many words of backlog. Old fans of the quest will have no need to worry though; the quest is very much a continuation and has incorporated the decisions they made into the fabric of the city.
---
Ekklesia
The city of Eretria Eshkata is a city of the people, and you are the people. The Ekklesia, as the formal assembly of the people, is the final authority on all matters in the city; tyranny is not even considered here, such is the confidence of the people in their own decisions. All adult men regardless of property or wealth have an equal voice here.
When you vote you are literally placing a vote on behalf of the people; you may even want to roleplay as a member of the ekklesia and it is certainly encouraged (named characters have been acknowledged in the quest if their voice is loud and influential enough). Since the voters directly represent the people, their discussion might affect the course of the city even if what they voted on does not win. Huge majorities or pluralities will reflect on how the citizens of Eretria see decisions.
Every two years the Ekklesia elects a citizen to become the proboulos, or leader of the boule. This is an elected council that can be thought of as an "executive" to the city. The proboulos is not controlled by the players, and in effect helps advise and guide the players. That means players should elect only those who they trust, because they certainly won't be able to control them (although they can remove a proboulos if they have 60% voter support).
Attempting to "game" the system of the ekklesia, to, for example, get a supermajority on a vote for the purpose of artificially stabilizing the city during a time of civil strife may end badly. Remember that I am the QM and can freely interpret what that kind of voter consensus means. Maybe they don't want to vote one way because they all believe in rational thought, or maybe it's because they're resolute xenophobes. Your control of the will of the people is not absolute, especially if you are pursuing votes for purely "meta" reasons.
User Motions and Write-Ins
One of the things that I value in Magna Graecia is user input. Some of the most fantastic concepts of the past were entirely user-inputted, but the usual "write-in" system can also allow for some stupendously stupid outcomes. To that end I've designed a more formal system that allows better write-ins.
The rock-obsessed democracy of Eretria believes in the value of standing on top of boulders when proposing something, and for that you need three kleftes, your lifters. If, during the discussion phase of voting you feel you have an alternative to a currently proposed vote, you can propose a user motion. If three people "lift your rock", then it will be included as a user motion when the vote is created. User motions of this type can only be done during the discussion period. Once voting is commenced all the options are locked in.
I reserve the right to block any option regardless of whether or not it has enough Kleftes because of historical inaccuracy or logical problems. I also reserve the right to take ideas that don't get kleftes and implement them because I think they're pretty cool and interesting ideas; not everything has to be totally formal and since I consider Magna Graecia a somewhat collaborative enterprise I don't see a problem with doing as much. I am a simple man; I see a good idea, I take it.
The other type of user motion is usually for bigger decisions that don't necessarily have to do with the current vote options but can be voted on anyways if the person gets three kleftes. Examples include removing the current proboulos, starting a war (a user motion to start a war began a major conflict that ended with victory over the neighboring tribes) or repealing some previous decision. These kinds of user motion can be made at any time but will only be voted on separately from the main vote for that year.
Civic Tradition and Influence
The political stability of Eretria is not permanent. It must be maintained through the actions and decisions of citizens, and it can decline rapidly in the face of external pressure (war, embargo) or internal pressure (class tension, aristocratic feuds, famine). A new abstract measure has been created to represent the trust the citizen body has in democracy: Civic Tradition. Representing the legitimacy of the democratic tradition, Civic Tradition affects the way citizens see themselves and others. With high civic tradition, the city is seen as paramount, its democratic traditions unassailable, its classes in harmony to expand hegemonia. With low civic tradition, civil strife becomes common, including the dreaded stasis, low-level violence and civil war within the city. This does not only put the city in peril to outside enemies but could lead to a destruction of democracy, which is a game-over for the current iteration.
Classes were also an essential part of Ancient Greek politics; the various poleis, as the city-states were called, developed new governments based on popular unhappiness about the distribution of land and influence. To that end, Influence is a new mechanic that represents the distribution of power between the three major classes: The aristocrats, the Hoplites (small independent landowners) and Aktimones (landless labourers, craftsmen, rowers, and vagrants). Since influence is based on distribution of land, it does not hop up and down but only shfits based on player decisions. Redistribution is radical and lowers Civic Tradition but could prevent an imbalance; at high civic tradition, having one class have more influence than the others is not a big deal, but once tradition starts to lower, that class is more and more willing to use its position to abuse the city's institutions and break its customs in the pursuit of power.
War
War is an essential part of life in Ancient Italy, but it is not something that is directly controlled by citizens. Although having a Total-War style micromanagement of units on the battlefield was fun, it was neither realistic nor easy to produce quickly, so although it may still be used it will be reserved for a few extremely important battles and naval warfare. So how is war conducted?
The answer is through Strategoi, or generals. When it comes time for war, prospective NPC candidates will line up for the wonder and glory of becoming the city's strategos vested with the power of life and death on the battlefield. It is up to the judgment of the voters as the ekklesia to elect the strategos that they think has the best chance; each candidate will give their own ideas of what they will do on the battlefield and how they will do it, and players will be forced to choose between them. Although there are some options during war, such as whether to sell a city's inhabitants into slavery or let them leave peacefully to avoid a bloody melee in the city, when it comes to the minute decisions of war it is out of the hands of voters. Instead, the ekklesia controls the reins of diplomacy and declarations of war and turns over control to the strategos when it comes to the war itself.
Buildings, Economy, and Trade
There are also significant expenses. Army Upkeep is relatively cheap because we are speaking of well-drilled (at best) citizen militias, not professional armies, but navy upkeep is enormous. Army Upkeep is calculated by months in the field; it is rare (and expensive!) for an army to be in the field for more than six months a year in this time period. Navy Upkeep has two modes; when your navy is not active and is sitting in port, it's relatively cheap and just the cost of upkeep and paying rowers off-time wages. However, when the time comes for war, naval costs balloon enormously, representing that maintaining a navy is no easy feat in the ancient world, requiring vast riches like the Athenian silver mines or Rhodes' trade dominance.
Trade imports are also a course of expense, along with building construction, tribute the city is paying out (gods forbid!) and other miscellaneous expenses like subsidies for theater-goers. Finally there is the Sacred Treasury; a user motion last iteration added this now essential mechanic. Every turn 10% of the city's gross income is deposited into the Sacred Treasury unless the amount in the treasury drops below 200 talents, in which case the entire gross income is deposited. The Sacred Treasury is an emergency measure and last line of defense; beware those who open it happily, for they may find themselves without money at a crucial moment...loans are not a real option in this period, and even debasing the coinage is unlikely to help; the only choice the city has is to extort its citizens, especially wealthy citizens, which is not exactly the most popular option. Don't run out of money, is what I'm saying.
Finally, there is trade. Eretria can (and already does) supplement its income through trading with its neighbors. Build improvements to reduce dependence on foreign imports and increase local exports. The path of trade has many rewards, but also many dangers; without a powerful navy, a city dependent on trade can find itself vulnerable to opportunistic powers hungry for a piggy bank to break open. Thankfully, a high trade revenue allows a larger and more well-trained navy and a vast merchant marine, so there is more incentive to have a larger fleet.
Diplomacy and the Wider World
Eretria is not only in the Mediterranean; in fact there are many factions in the quest, from different cultures and with different goals and beliefs. Quest players will not need to know all of them, and in fact many of these factions are not immediately relevant to Eretria. However, without careful diplomacy, Eretria could easily become encircled and destroyed, so it is valuable to think about the wider world around the city and not retreat into internal matters. For this purpose, the city has a Xenoparakletor, appointed every five years by the voters to act as the representative for the city. In this iteration, voters can take a more active role in deciding the city's diplomacy by deciding where to send the Xenoparakletor on various diplomatic or espionage missions. When a Xenoparakletor dies or his term is up, players can choose to elect a new one based on their personalities and skills; different xenoparakletors have different strengths and weaknesses.
The world outside Eretria is not static. It's a big Mediterranean out there, and events can happen entirely without player input, or that Eretria is at the mercy of. In addition to that, there are areas of fog of war, where there is not enough trade and diplomatic relations for Eretrians to say who lives there. These areas are generally dangerous or at least more remote places, and may hide enemies that Eretria will only see coming when they descend from the blackness. That said, it is possible to reduce that fog by sending out deliberate expeditions to expand trade, or by the natural growth of the Mediterranean economy pulling more remote places into the larger system. It's not all shadowy evil, after all, and some unseen regions are just too economically undeveloped to be interacted with.
So with only a little bit more ado, let's begin.
Eretria is not only in the Mediterranean; in fact there are many factions in the quest, from different cultures and with different goals and beliefs. Quest players will not need to know all of them, and in fact many of these factions are not immediately relevant to Eretria. However, without careful diplomacy, Eretria could easily become encircled and destroyed, so it is valuable to think about the wider world around the city and not retreat into internal matters. For this purpose, the city has a Xenoparakletor, appointed every five years by the voters to act as the representative for the city. In this iteration, voters can take a more active role in deciding the city's diplomacy by deciding where to send the Xenoparakletor on various diplomatic or espionage missions. When a Xenoparakletor dies or his term is up, players can choose to elect a new one based on their personalities and skills; different xenoparakletors have different strengths and weaknesses.
The world outside Eretria is not static. It's a big Mediterranean out there, and events can happen entirely without player input, or that Eretria is at the mercy of. In addition to that, there are areas of fog of war, where there is not enough trade and diplomatic relations for Eretrians to say who lives there. These areas are generally dangerous or at least more remote places, and may hide enemies that Eretria will only see coming when they descend from the blackness. That said, it is possible to reduce that fog by sending out deliberate expeditions to expand trade, or by the natural growth of the Mediterranean economy pulling more remote places into the larger system. It's not all shadowy evil, after all, and some unseen regions are just too economically undeveloped to be interacted with.
So with only a little bit more ado, let's begin.
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The Factions
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
THE EPULIAN LEAGUE
A league of the Greek Epulian cities, founded in 301 OL and led by Eretria Eskhata. The cities of the League have a collective veto over Eretria, but in practice her relative size and their divisions means that the league is a creature of her design, to be molded as the Eretrians wish. The League is also a guarantee of security against the Dauni and other dangerous tribes from the interior, who would see the Greeks driven to the sea if they had their way.
Aside from Eretria Eskhata, the cities of the league are Pylona, founded by Megarans, Garnae, by Akhaians, Barletos by Lokrians, and Sipontion by Knidos.
Aside from Eretria Eskhata, the cities of the league are Pylona, founded by Megarans, Garnae, by Akhaians, Barletos by Lokrians, and Sipontion by Knidos.
COLONIAL FACTIONS
The Greek cities of Italy and Sicily are unified by language and culture against the Barbarian interior- and little else. Fractious and spread over a broad area, the Italian Greeks trend against unity or cohesion. Hundreds of years of colonization have established the coasts of Southern Italy and Sicily as dominated by the Greeks, whilst in Sicily and Sardinia the rising power of Carthage consolidates its control over the myraid Phoenician cities established earlier, locked in a struggle for supremacy against the Greeks.
TARAS
A Dorian city founded by Sparta on the Sallentine Peninsula, Taras is prominent among the Italiote Greeks. However, her betrayal by Eretria and subsequent despoiling by the Messapii has left her weakened and her king usurped by a group of oligarchs. She despises the Eretrians and their Kerkyran allies, and has dominion over Hydrus and Kalliopolis on the Sallentine Peninsula, which she views as her birthright.
METAPONTION
Metapontion is a Dorian city famed for its wheat that has recently overthrown its Pythagorean oligarchy in favor of a democracy modeled on Athens and Eretria. They dislike Taras because of their attempt to prevent the democratic revolution and have an alliance with Eretria. It has a few colonies of its own as a security against the incursion of interior Italic peoples. Immigration from Sicily has made Metapontion more Ionian, and the city now looks outwards to opportunities for expansion and glory.
KROTONE
Krotone is a major Dorian Greek city in Southwest Italy. Famed for its athletes, Krotone suffered a defeat at the city of Temesa against an alliance of Rhegion and Lokri Epixephyrii, who are now contesting its domination over the western half of the Italian boot. It was defeated in the Sicilian War but was given a fair peace.
Krotone has dominion over the Oenotrians, a weak people pushed to the boot of Italy by the Lucani and Samnites, and forces them to provide tribute and levies to Krotone.
Krotone has dominion over the Oenotrians, a weak people pushed to the boot of Italy by the Lucani and Samnites, and forces them to provide tribute and levies to Krotone.
LOKRI EPIXEPHYRII
Lokri Epixephyrii is a Lokrian Colony in the southwest of Italy. After a major victory against Krotone that resulted in the seizure of Temesa, Lokri is growing in power and prestige in comparison to its older rival. Its former alliance with Rhegion has been terminated and it seems like the two will soon come to blows. Lokri Epixephyrii was defeated in the Sicilian War and deprived it of Temesa, a major outrage and source of humiliation for the city.
RHEGION
An Ionian city that controls the strategic straits of Messana, under the control of the regent Mikythus. After the passing of Anaxilas, the former tyrant of Rhegion, his ambitious and trustworthy adviser and former slave Mikythos took charge until Anaxilas' sons came of age. He is a wise and careful ruler, but is under pressure from Syrakousai and Lokri, and the children of Anaxilas are less certain in the quality of their character. Rhegion is appreciative of Eretria and its part in the Sicilian War.
KYMAI
Kymai is an Ionian City situated on the coast of the Campanian Plain. Surrounded by Italic tribes, Kymai has nevertheless been able to carve out a reasonable hegemony in the area. Ruled by nobles who overthrew the tyrant Aristodemus in 286 OL, Kymai recently defeated the Etruscans of Veii in a naval contest for the area, crippling their ability to project power at sea. It has good relations with Eretria, which is its mother city and a trading partner besides.
SYRAKOUSAI
The largest Greek city west of Athens, Syrakousai is a center of culture and trade for the Western Greeks. Once an independent democracy, it became the capital of the tyrant Gelo and his brother Hiero after it was seized by them. Their support was bolstered by mercenaries, many of whom make their home in a fortified quarter of Syrakousai, afraid of the vast populations of angry Ionians who have been deported to the city to bolster its wealth and power. With the death of Hiero and the death of Phaleron, his appointed successor, the future of Syrakousai is uncertain.
SIKELIOTE LEAGUE
A new league formed from the liberated Ionian cities of Sicily, the league is inspired by the Epulian League but grants common citizenship between its members. They also elect a strategos to lead the league. The capital of the league is Katane, and its other member cities are Leontini, Megara Hyblaea and Naxus. Founded by overthrowing the rule of Syrakousai, the League's common experience of oppression by the Dorian and autocratic Gelo and his brother Hiero gives it a democratic character. With victory against Syrakousai the Sikeliote League may become a major player in Sicily.
WESTERN FREE GREEK CITIES
Along with the major Italiote Greek cities, there are a number of independent Greek cities in the west that owe no allegiance to anyone but themselves. Only Lykai is relevant to Eretria Eskhata, as it is a city on the tip of the Sallentine Peninsula supported by Kerkyra, and a thorn in Taras' side. Led by Alepous the Wily, it is likely to become a target for Taras in the case of war with Kerkyra.
On Sicily, the most notable are Selinous, a wealthy city that was an ally of Carthage against Hiero, and Himera, the site of a major stalemate between the Carthaginians and the Tyrant Gelo that led to the death of both the Carthaginian king and the tyrant. Himera is now ruled by the original tyrant, an ally of Carthage. Akragas, a former ally of Hiero that has collapsed into infighting, is also important for its wealth and central position in Sicily. Gela has recently freed itself from Syrakousai and has a democratic government.
In the Adriatic, there are a number of small Greek settlements. Epidamnos is the most important, in south Illyria, having recently experienced a democratic revolution partly thanks to an Eretrian citizen and scammer, Leontios, who drove the people into a righteous furor.
On Sicily, the most notable are Selinous, a wealthy city that was an ally of Carthage against Hiero, and Himera, the site of a major stalemate between the Carthaginians and the Tyrant Gelo that led to the death of both the Carthaginian king and the tyrant. Himera is now ruled by the original tyrant, an ally of Carthage. Akragas, a former ally of Hiero that has collapsed into infighting, is also important for its wealth and central position in Sicily. Gela has recently freed itself from Syrakousai and has a democratic government.
In the Adriatic, there are a number of small Greek settlements. Epidamnos is the most important, in south Illyria, having recently experienced a democratic revolution partly thanks to an Eretrian citizen and scammer, Leontios, who drove the people into a righteous furor.
CARTHAGE
Carthage (called Qart-Hadasht, or New City, by them) is the premier Phoenician city in the Western Mediterranean. Founded hundreds of years ago, the mercantile city-state is ruled by King Hanno, known as an explorer and a capable king. Through a series of alliances, subjects, and colonies, it exercises dominion over parts of Sicily and Sardinia and its navy is among the largest in the world. Its main rival are the Greeks of Syrakousai with which the Carthaginians contest hegemony over Sicily. Thanks to the service of Eretrian citizens in her mercenary armies as commanders, Carthage sees Eretria favorably. Carthage is currently in chaos because King Hanno has disappeared with a fleet past the Pillars of Herakles [Strait of Gibraltar].
There are other Phoenician cities in North Africa aligned to Carthage. These are Utica, which is the second-largest Phoenician city in Africa, Hadrementos, and Thapsus, the linchpin of Carthaginian efforts to subjugate Libya.
IAPYGIAN AND ADRIATIC FACTIONS
Migrating in times lost to history from Illyria, the Iapyges have been rudely assaulted by the arrival of Eretria, that has reduced many of them to serfs and forced others to form confederations against the new Greek pressure. Although hellenizing, they are still hostile to the ambitions of the Italian Greeks, that would see them crushed and subservient beneath the Hellenic sandal. Their factions are the Peuketii, Dauni, and Messapii.
Also potentially descended from Illyrians, the Enetoi and Liburni are major fixtures of the Adriatic.
Also potentially descended from Illyrians, the Enetoi and Liburni are major fixtures of the Adriatic.
KINGDOM OF THE PEUKETII
Following a final with Eretria that ended in the death of their king, the Peuketii have been subjugated to Eretria. After the destruction of the last independent Peuketii cities, Eretria entrusted Canosa and then Rhyps to the loyal and effective Harpos of Sannape, who promptly purged Canosa and tied Rhyps to his own family through promised marriage ties. Time will tell if he remains a loyal ally, but he is certainly an effective ruler. Erodia has been founded by him as a bulwark against the Lucani of the interior.
DAUNI CONFEDERATION
A tribal confederation held together by the force of will of the leader of Auscula, King Arpus. He has defeated all his rivals and pulled the cities of the Illyrian Dauni together into a single kingdom, but only time can tell if the construction will last past his death. The Dauni are extremely wary of Eretria, and it is only the careful maintenance of a balance of power and the military capability of the Eretrians that restrains Arpus from war. Recently, he has seized back land from the Fretani and created the new settlement of Drionis as a barrier against further incursions, and is now likely to turn his attention back to Eretria.
MESSAPII CONFEDERACY
United by King Daxtus of Hyria in their hatred for the Greeks of Lykai and Taras, the Messapii recently signed a sworn oath of peace with the Eretrians in order to secure their flank on the favored god of Daxtus, Artemis. Like the Dauni, the confederation is tied together by force of will, and Daxtus is far less powerful in his own right than Arpus. His relations with Arpus are also strained by his hosting of Gamrusa, the heir to the Dauni town of Arpi and potential threat to Arpus' hegemony. Daxtus has a truce with Eretria sworn on an oath of his favorite goddess Artemis.
Gnatia is an independent Messapii town in alliance with Eretria, led by the hellophone king King Jaratus. However, it is known that his eldest son does not feel the same way, and his second son is jealous of the heir. The city is eyed by Daxtus as a dangerous threat to his hegemony and a way for Eretria to project power in Messapii lands.
ADRIATIC PEOPLES
Although a frontier for the Greeks, the Adriatic is by no means empty, especially on its northern end. An area of growing wealth as trade brings new prosperity and interest from further south, the Adriatic will surely soon become a battleground for the competing ambitions of the peoples fringing the sea.
The Enetoi are a people perhaps related to the Illyrians, known for their seafaring tradition and large salt reserves. They are friends of Eretria and common enemies of the Liburnians.
The Liburnians are an Illyrian offshoot infamous as pirates and hegemons of the Adriatic. However, their defeat by the Eretrian Eusebios at the Battle of Fifty Masts and subsequent Enetoi raids have left them humiliated and destitute, and they seek to regain their glory and seek revenge against Eretria and the Enetoi.
The Enetoi are a people perhaps related to the Illyrians, known for their seafaring tradition and large salt reserves. They are friends of Eretria and common enemies of the Liburnians.
The Liburnians are an Illyrian offshoot infamous as pirates and hegemons of the Adriatic. However, their defeat by the Eretrian Eusebios at the Battle of Fifty Masts and subsequent Enetoi raids have left them humiliated and destitute, and they seek to regain their glory and seek revenge against Eretria and the Enetoi.
NATIVE TRIBES IN ITALY, SICILY AND SARDINIA
Forming a huge territory beyond Greek settlement in southern Italy, the Italics are a diverse group who feud incessantly with one another over both cattle and cities, with a general preference for raiding over pitched battle.
LATINS
The Latins are an Italic tribe along and south of the River Tiber. They have recently wrested themselves from Etruscan hegemony. They are more urban and wealthy than their neighbors, and their central spot along the Tiber make them an attractive target for not only Etruscans, but Sabini, Volsci, Hernici, and other peoples from further afield. They are organized into the Latin League, although their chief city of Rome, after liberating itself from the Etruscans, is rapidly rising to take a premier place in the league, to the point where the other cities of the League fear they will be subordinated.
SAMNITE TRIBES
The Samnites are shepherds and warriors feared for their prowess in warfare with the javelin. They are pastoralists and Shepherds who are organized into a loose confederacy, occasionally selecting a leader among them in times of crisis. The Samnites are separated into four tribes, they are:
The Carcereni, whose chief city is Bovianum Vetus, the Pentri, who occupy the center of Samnite lands and who own Bovianum, the center of the Samnite Confederacy, the Caudini, who from their chief city of Caudium have been exposed to many Greek and Etruscan influences, and the Hirpini, who control Maloenton and are among the most expansionist of the Samnites.
The Carcereni, whose chief city is Bovianum Vetus, the Pentri, who occupy the center of Samnite lands and who own Bovianum, the center of the Samnite Confederacy, the Caudini, who from their chief city of Caudium have been exposed to many Greek and Etruscan influences, and the Hirpini, who control Maloenton and are among the most expansionist of the Samnites.
The Frentani are a Samnite tribe not part of the confederacy that reside on the Adriatic Coast of South-Central Italy. Both traders and shepherds, they have recently been repulsed from their invasion of Dauni lands and have retreated to their old borders.
LUCANI
The Lucani are an Oscan tribe of shepherds in the mountainous southern interior. Although they have expanded outwards before, they keep mostly to themselves, divided into a series of tribes and hillforts and tied in a confederacy, selecting a dictator in times of crisis or expansion. Their chief city is Ostritania, known as a meeting place for the different Lucani tribes, high in the hills of South Italy. Like the Samnites they are known for their javelins, but also their "flying" light cavalry which moves swiftly and skillfully in skirmishes and scouting.
MINOR ITALIC TRIBES
There are a number of smaller or less notable tribes who fight constantly over small reaches of swampy and underpopulated territory. The Volsci are the most notable, an aggressive tribe with a focus on cattle herding and livestock, occupying a swathe of marshes and plains southeast of the Latins. To the north of them are the Hernici, a small tribe related to them who often enter into alliance against the Latins with them. There are also the Ausones, who are pressured on all sides by the more warlike Volsci and interior Samnites, and hold the northern part of the Campanian plain.
SABELLIAN TRIBES
In the center of Italy there live a group called the Sabellians, who have among them a series of smaller tribes related to one another by language and culture. These are:
The Umbri, the largest and most urban, occupying a central swathe east of the Tiber river. The Picentini, a pastoral people in an undeveloped and sparsely populated stretch of the Adriatic coast. The Marrucini, who share the port of Aterna with the Vestini, their allies and rivals. There is also the Paeligni, a pastoral people, the Praetutii, who hold the marshy land south of the Picentini, the Marsi, who pay tribute to the Samnites, and the Sabini, who often descend onto the Tiber plain to do battle with Latins and raid their towns.
The Umbri, the largest and most urban, occupying a central swathe east of the Tiber river. The Picentini, a pastoral people in an undeveloped and sparsely populated stretch of the Adriatic coast. The Marrucini, who share the port of Aterna with the Vestini, their allies and rivals. There is also the Paeligni, a pastoral people, the Praetutii, who hold the marshy land south of the Picentini, the Marsi, who pay tribute to the Samnites, and the Sabini, who often descend onto the Tiber plain to do battle with Latins and raid their towns.
NATIVE SICILIAN AND SARDINIAN TRIBES
On the islands of Sicily and Sardinia there are still native peoples hostile to the colonies being founded on their lands, and will resist them vigorously. On Sardinia the Nuraghi still hold much of the interior from their drum-forts. On Sicily, the Sikels resist the Greeks in the east, the Sikani in the center, and the Elymi, traditional Carthaginian allies, from the west. All three are being slowly Hellenized even as they fight back against Greek encroachment.
ETRUSCANS AND LIGURES
Despite being major peoples in North and Central Italy, both the Etruscans and Ligures defy common classifications. The former are a people of mysterious origin, dominating the center-north of Italy and until recently holding domination over the Tyrrhenian Sea. Their wealth and sophistication is unparalleled among the Italian peoples and their merchants range far and wide. The Ligures are a naval people on the northwest coast of Italy, of similarly unknown origin.
THE ETRUSCANS
The Sacred Etruscan League is a mostly ceremonial body of the central Etruscans. The league itself is ceremonial and has little formal role, and the Etruscans feud incessantly with each other and the other peoples of Italy. They have recently faced a series of setbacks including a naval loss in the Tyrrhenian Sea, occasional incursions from the north, and the overthrow of the King of Rome. However, they are still powerful and it is mostly their fragmentation, not their external losses, that has weakened them.
The cities of the Sacred Etruscan League are: Velzna, the capital of the league, Clevsin, a militaristic city, Aritim, known for its famed pottery, Fufluna, the source of famed Etrurian iron and copper, Velathri, to the northwest, Veii, a naval power bruised by defeat by Syrakousai, Velch, rich and prosperous from silver and copper mines, Tarchna, in a malaise due to the loss of control over Rome, Caisra, a trading town famed for its anti-piracy stance, Curtun, conquered from the Umbri, and Perusia, a center of the Etruscan wool trade.
The cities of the Sacred Etruscan League are: Velzna, the capital of the league, Clevsin, a militaristic city, Aritim, known for its famed pottery, Fufluna, the source of famed Etrurian iron and copper, Velathri, to the northwest, Veii, a naval power bruised by defeat by Syrakousai, Velch, rich and prosperous from silver and copper mines, Tarchna, in a malaise due to the loss of control over Rome, Caisra, a trading town famed for its anti-piracy stance, Curtun, conquered from the Umbri, and Perusia, a center of the Etruscan wool trade.
Padanian League
Colonized by the Etruscans in times since past, Padanian Etruria is a vast league along the vast Padus (Po) river. Although less populated and prosperous than their southern cousins, the Padanian League is still a formidable entity. The coastal city of Adria hosts a small Korinthian trading quarter. Felsina, the capital of the league, and Mantua, situated on an island on the Padus River, are also notable.
Campanian League
Centered around the city of Capeva on the Campanian plain, the southern Etruscans are an admixture of local tribesmen, Etruscans, and Greeks. They have been cut off from their northern allies and supporters by the loss of Rome and the loss of naval dominance in the Tyrrhenian sea, and they would be easy pickings for an interior invasion...
Outside of these leagues, there are some independent Etruscan cities. They have not joined the Etruscan Leagues and mostly keep to themselves because of their insignificance.
THE LIGURES
From their cities and towns in northwest Italy the Ligures are a major fishing and naval presence, as well as a stopover for Greek ships sailing west to Massilia and the mines of the Keltoi. They resemble the Keltoi in their mode of life, formed in villages and small towns for protection, but are of another, much older origin which they insist distinguishes them from all the other peoples of Italy. They are used as mercenaries by the Carthaginians and also featured in the armies of the Tyrant Hiero of Sicily.
THE MAINLAND
The former home of Eretria and homeland of all Greeks is a place of warfare and duelling hegemonies. Increasingly divided between supporters of Athenai, the rising power, and Sparta, the presiding hegemon, Hellas is a powder keg waiting to erupt. With their victory over the Persians, the cities of the region have a newfound cultural and political confidence, while the King of Kings licks his wounds, watches, and waits.
ATHENAI
Woe to all who cast themselves in the way of Athenai. Endlessly vigorous and creative, Athenai has wrested itself from the shackles of tyranny in former years and defeated all who dared challenge its new democracy, including the Persians at the extraordinary battle of Salamis. Now, through the anti-Persian Delian League, they exercise hegemony across a vast swathe of the Aegean. Their meteoric rise is gaining the ire of Sparta, however, who does not seem keen on a new power to challenge its own rising to the northeast. It is only a matter of time now as the old bonds of the Hellenic League fray that the two will come to blows. Building its walls, Athenai seeks to construct not only new fortifications but a new order among the Greeks.
Athenai treats Eretria Eskhata as if they are a long-lost sibling, friendly to the point of confusion on Eretria's side. Due to its ambitions and reach, Athenai's interest may yet be a double-edged sword.
SPARTA
All dread the name of Sparta, singularly respected and feared in Greece. Near the apogee of its power, Sparta is nevertheless discomfited by the rising Athenian state. Still, the unique Spartan system which is designed around the construction of a powerful army at the cost of a warped society still guarantees its supremacy among the Greeks, and they are known to act slowly in response to new threats. The Athenians might be upstarts, but it will be some time yet before the Spartans rise to the challenge, paranoid as they are about the threat of Helots revolting or some other danger at the edges of their vision.
Sparta cares little for the Eretrians, who they see as weaklings who fled their homeland to play games in the colonies.
Peloponnesian League
A loose appendage of the Spartan state, the Peloponnesian League are a group of city states that are in a league with Sparta for their own protection, and for Sparta's protection. Although the league's borders are often fluctuating, it usually contains a large fraction of the Peloponnese. League members wide autonomy, and pass in and out of the League as politics shift.
All the cities of the league are Dorian. Some of its major members are Korinthos, Sikyon, Elis, and Megara, although most larger cities have independent foreign policies and participate in the league to placate Sparta.
KORINTHOS
Among the most important of the Hellenic Mainland poleis, Korinthos has seen better days. Amid charges of decadence, the city has declined from the glories of its hegemony in bygone years, but it is still as wealthy and cultured as ever, and indeed much of the 'decline' is mere caricature by Athenians. Its navy and army, while not among the best, are respected, and it still has ambitions beyond Hellas. In recent years, particularly, it has cast its eyes towards the Adriatic, where it sees potential opportunity to prevent its rival and former colony Kerkyra from becoming more powerful. Korinthos is an oligarchy enriched by its place on the isthmus between the Ionian and Aegean sea, guarded by the mountain fortress of Akrokorinth overlooking the city.
Korinthos eyes Eretria with interested eyes, wondering if there is anything for it in the rich Adriatic pie.
KERKYRA
A former colony of Korinthos on the island of the same name, Kerkyra is an important power in western Greece and increasingly the Adriatic coast. Known for its wine, Kerkyra's network of colonies and respectable navy make it a power that will give most other city states pause before they consider attacking it. An oligarchy, the city's main threat comes from its antagonistic mother city Korinthos, which has conquered and exploited the island several times in the past.
Kerkyra recently performed a considerable diplomatic coup by separating Eretria Eskhata from its Tarentine allies and securing a defensive pact with them, increasing their influence in the region and allowing them to support the colony of Lykai on the Sallentine Peninsula against the wishes of the Tarentines.
THE NORTHERN GREEKS
There are a number of larger Greek states tied by their cultural affinity that exist in the northern part of Greece, vying for control with one another and attempting to unify their region in a single ethne (nation).
In northwest Greece, the Epirotes are divided into the tribes of the Thesiprotians, Molossians, and Chaonians. If they were to unite they would be a formidable nation, but as it is they mostly fight with one another. Dodonna, in Epirus, is a major cult center of Zeus and the most famous oracle in all of Greece after Delphoi.
Thessaly is a land of well-watered valleys and flat plains excellent for rearing horses. It is divided into a series of poleis, with total domination by the horseriding aristocracy despite demands by the people of these cities. An ever-shifting game of politics and power may yield to a powerful leader able to unite the entire region in a single fearsome conglomerate.
Makedon is a kingdom that is sometimes debated about in terms of whether it is Greek at all. Ruled by King Alexander I, a capable ruler who has managed to throw the Persians out after years of tributary status, the kingdom is known as a friend to Greeks and well-liked among the southern Hellenes.
In northwest Greece, the Epirotes are divided into the tribes of the Thesiprotians, Molossians, and Chaonians. If they were to unite they would be a formidable nation, but as it is they mostly fight with one another. Dodonna, in Epirus, is a major cult center of Zeus and the most famous oracle in all of Greece after Delphoi.
Thessaly is a land of well-watered valleys and flat plains excellent for rearing horses. It is divided into a series of poleis, with total domination by the horseriding aristocracy despite demands by the people of these cities. An ever-shifting game of politics and power may yield to a powerful leader able to unite the entire region in a single fearsome conglomerate.
Makedon is a kingdom that is sometimes debated about in terms of whether it is Greek at all. Ruled by King Alexander I, a capable ruler who has managed to throw the Persians out after years of tributary status, the kingdom is known as a friend to Greeks and well-liked among the southern Hellenes.
MAINLAND FREE GREEK CITIES
There are hundreds of independent poleis in the Aegean entirely free from the domination of any major hegemon. Many of them are tiny, with only a few hundred inhabitants, while others are powers in their own right.
Megara is an important city to the northeast of Korinthos which is a constant rival for the Korinthians. Frustrated with the Peloponnesian League of which it is a part, they may soon defect to Athenai and cause a major war between them and Sparta. It is also known for its high-quality marble.
Thebai was the leader of the Boeotian League, a loose league of Boeotian cities to the northwest of Athenai. However, its support for the Persians has humiliated them in the aftermath of the Persian defeat, and they seek to regain their pre-eminent position in the league.
Delphoi is the greatest religious center of the Greeks and the most famous oracle in all of Greece, hosting a temple to Apollo and the titular oracle . It is also the focus of the Delphic Amphictyony, a league of all the major peoples of Greece who seek to protect the sacred nature of Delphoi against any and all invaders and ambitious cities.
The Akhaian League is a collection of small cities in the north Peloponnese, culturally unified with a traditional center at Aigion. Although not very important, the League would be well-placed to benefit from a collapse of Spartan power.
PERSIAN EMPIRE
The Persian Empire is a vast Imperium under the rule of the King of Kings, Xerxes the first. Although the rule of the King of Kings stretches from one corner of the earth to the other, his control over his domains is imperfect, and his individual satraps have great leniency in their own affairs, intervened in only because of rebellion. Currently the Persian Empire is facing a united Greek front that after the battles of Salamis and Plataea has liberated much of the Anatolian Greek coast and destroyed the Persian fleet.
The King of Kings, when he bears to think of Eretria at all, is bemused that the jackals who turned tails and ran now sit in a faraway land surrounded by barbarians- precisely what his father had in store for them had they been captured during the first expedition against the accursed Greeks.
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City Statistics, Laws & Decisions
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
Name of City: Eretria Eskhata
Patron Gods: Divine Union of Pallas Athene & Apollon
Laws and Customs of the City of Eretria
Government
The Ekklesia is the core of the city's government structure, determines all legislation and has power over land distribution and taxation. The boule is an executive council, elected every two years by popular lot drawn from the city's twenty-five demes [constituencies]. It also organizes the city's finances and constructions, and foreign policy. It can be dismissed if a supermajority (66%) of the ekklesia calls its ability to govern into question. The Ekklesia's word is law.
The Proboulos is the leader of the boule, is elected separately, controls its members, and can apply sanctions to members of the boule who do not follow his orders, even members of opposing slates. During a war, if a majority of the ekklesia (50%+1) support it, elections will be suspended until the end of the war.
The boule can form mikroboulae, or citizen's councils, on matters unrelated to the boule which are beneath its focus. They serve for a year and then pass their experience onto the next group. The city has a Xenoparakletor, elected every five years, that negotiates with foreigners. A member of the boule can become Xenoparakletor. The city also has an Assembly of the Mint, with a leader appointed by the boule who serves for life.
The boule cannot present ratification votes: It must allow counter-proposals from the ekklesia, and not make votes about whether or not the ekklesia approves of the boule's legislation.
A volunteer citizens advocates and speaks for issues of the city's metics in the ekklesia.
The Proboulos is the leader of the boule, is elected separately, controls its members, and can apply sanctions to members of the boule who do not follow his orders, even members of opposing slates. During a war, if a majority of the ekklesia (50%+1) support it, elections will be suspended until the end of the war.
The boule can form mikroboulae, or citizen's councils, on matters unrelated to the boule which are beneath its focus. They serve for a year and then pass their experience onto the next group. The city has a Xenoparakletor, elected every five years, that negotiates with foreigners. A member of the boule can become Xenoparakletor. The city also has an Assembly of the Mint, with a leader appointed by the boule who serves for life.
The boule cannot present ratification votes: It must allow counter-proposals from the ekklesia, and not make votes about whether or not the ekklesia approves of the boule's legislation.
A volunteer citizens advocates and speaks for issues of the city's metics in the ekklesia.
Laws
Much of the City's laws were written by Hesperos, a fearsome hoplite who believed that austerity, sobriety, and virtue must be the guiding rules of any system of law. In Eretria, women are allowed to walk outside at night alone without a chaperone, but are barred from wearing short skirts or indecent clothing. Fathers dishonored by a woman cannot punish the wives or daughters of other fathers: it must be a personal matter of the family.
All those who are able to prove that they landed with the rest of the fleet in Eretria Eskhata at 286 OL are granted Afexi Citizenship, granting them freedom and citizenship automatically. As a result, it has a much larger franchise proportional to its franchise than most poleis.
Punishment tends to leniency, with a greater interest in fines and exile over executions or other egregious punishments, except for the most severe offenses. This is aided by the rapid sentencing Eretria has, with the speed of the case more important than the fullest appreciation for the facts. The city has a property court whose jurors are chosen by lot, handling difficult decisions with a majority vote if no consensus can be found. A contract court collects, records, and saves all private and public contracts in the city, preventing corruption and cheating. Severe graft laws do not show much clemency for those who misuse public funds for personal interest, and it will usually lead to exile.
Precedence is the basis of Eretrian law, with a rule of tradition acknowledging prior decisions.
All those who are able to prove that they landed with the rest of the fleet in Eretria Eskhata at 286 OL are granted Afexi Citizenship, granting them freedom and citizenship automatically. As a result, it has a much larger franchise proportional to its franchise than most poleis.
Punishment tends to leniency, with a greater interest in fines and exile over executions or other egregious punishments, except for the most severe offenses. This is aided by the rapid sentencing Eretria has, with the speed of the case more important than the fullest appreciation for the facts. The city has a property court whose jurors are chosen by lot, handling difficult decisions with a majority vote if no consensus can be found. A contract court collects, records, and saves all private and public contracts in the city, preventing corruption and cheating. Severe graft laws do not show much clemency for those who misuse public funds for personal interest, and it will usually lead to exile.
Precedence is the basis of Eretrian law, with a rule of tradition acknowledging prior decisions.
Military
Like most Greek poleis of any note, the main force of Eretria's army are Hoplites. Drawn from aristocrats and yeoman farmers, Hoplites are distinguished by their ability to afford a hoplon shield, a lamellar or bronze cuirass, and a dory spear. They are a citizen army, who fight in a shield wall called a phalanx.
The poorest and landless citizens are called Psiloi, skirmishers with a javelin, rocks, and a small shield who have very little armour and who are quick on their feet. The Cavalry are mostly aristocrats who are lightly armed and armored, more used to skirmishing, raiding, and scouting than pitched battle.
The City has some unique forces. The Sacred Ekradamoi are a group of the 500 fastest and lightest runners in Eretria, outfited with smaller shields and lighter armour than hoplites while still being capable of fighting in Phalanx. They were devised after the first battle Eretria fought in Italy, and are unique among Greeks. They replenish their ranks every five years through a challenging athletic competition.
The Kleos Exoria are the best cavalrymen that Eretria has, with most of them having fought in mercenary wars in Africa for Carthage: there are fifty of them, selected from the cavalry.
The city also has a military slave force drawn from the slaves of masters, organized into task forces that during battle can be used for engineering and logistics (+10% army upkeep permanently, improved logistics and military construction).
When it comes to command structure, Eretria's war council is a single head Strategos, two deputies, and seven more subordinate generals, allowing for a delegated distribution of command.
In naval warfare, the city uses Triremes, so-called for their three banks of oars. They have a large crew, fast speed and manuevering, and the ability to both ram enemies and board their ships.
The poorest and landless citizens are called Psiloi, skirmishers with a javelin, rocks, and a small shield who have very little armour and who are quick on their feet. The Cavalry are mostly aristocrats who are lightly armed and armored, more used to skirmishing, raiding, and scouting than pitched battle.
The City has some unique forces. The Sacred Ekradamoi are a group of the 500 fastest and lightest runners in Eretria, outfited with smaller shields and lighter armour than hoplites while still being capable of fighting in Phalanx. They were devised after the first battle Eretria fought in Italy, and are unique among Greeks. They replenish their ranks every five years through a challenging athletic competition.
The Kleos Exoria are the best cavalrymen that Eretria has, with most of them having fought in mercenary wars in Africa for Carthage: there are fifty of them, selected from the cavalry.
The city also has a military slave force drawn from the slaves of masters, organized into task forces that during battle can be used for engineering and logistics (+10% army upkeep permanently, improved logistics and military construction).
When it comes to command structure, Eretria's war council is a single head Strategos, two deputies, and seven more subordinate generals, allowing for a delegated distribution of command.
In naval warfare, the city uses Triremes, so-called for their three banks of oars. They have a large crew, fast speed and manuevering, and the ability to both ram enemies and board their ships.
Economy
Eretria has a standardized system of weights and measures designed by a Metapontion mathematician, superior to its neighbors (+10% boost to trading income). Debt slavery is banned, with citizens who cannot pay their debts forced into public service until their debt is repaid (+5% building cost reduction). Slave labor is restricted to household labor, with only two slaves allowed to participate in manual labour per master. This restricts the ability of rich slaveholders to produce large private works and avoid wage labor on their farms. It applies to foreign merchants in the city as well (+10% building cost increase). As a result of these restrictions, trade gangs are formed, where a trade gang owner rents slaves from owners and uses them to do labor projects as a collective leased labor mass. Slaves taken from conquered and captured Greek cities are allowed.
Citizens can freely sell land in and out of the family in Eretria.
The boule can order individual merchants to shift their trade to where Eretria wants regardless of their concerns. The Agoranomoi manage Eretria's agora, and are chosen through lot. The city has rules and regulations for bottomry insurance that keep interest rates lower and make insurance policies more efficient.
The city has a special treasury, the Sacred Treasury, that can only be unlocked during a war, famine, or for emergency repairs. If it falls below 200 talents, the entire income for that year will be devoted to it until it breaches 200. Once it does, 10% of the polis' gross income each year will be contributed every year. For a user motion to unlock it, it must have a majority, not just a plurality.
The city has a tax for metic transactions in the Agora [+3 talents a year].
Citizens can freely sell land in and out of the family in Eretria.
The boule can order individual merchants to shift their trade to where Eretria wants regardless of their concerns. The Agoranomoi manage Eretria's agora, and are chosen through lot. The city has rules and regulations for bottomry insurance that keep interest rates lower and make insurance policies more efficient.
The city has a special treasury, the Sacred Treasury, that can only be unlocked during a war, famine, or for emergency repairs. If it falls below 200 talents, the entire income for that year will be devoted to it until it breaches 200. Once it does, 10% of the polis' gross income each year will be contributed every year. For a user motion to unlock it, it must have a majority, not just a plurality.
The city has a tax for metic transactions in the Agora [+3 talents a year].
Culture
The city has a number of famed public statues. The statues of both Krios the Titan and Apollo were saved from the old city of Eretria after negotiations with Khalkis and placed on the Akropolis. Also famed is the Statue of the Divine Union, depicting Apollo and Athena holding hands in holy matrimony, inside the Shrine of the Divine Union on the Akropolis. The city also has a Thunderbird, an immense bird from Africa that was purportedly discovered in the city's walls during a storm. It is seen as a gift from Zeus, a flightless long-necked animal commonly featured on the city's coins. It is kept by the city's seers.
The city has several festivals. In the summer, bulls are slaughtered on the Akropolis to celebrate Apollo & Athena as well as the greatness of Eretria and its laws. The procession of the One Marriage, in spring, celebrates the foundation of the Divine Marriage in the city. It includes bull running, and goes from the gates of the city to the Shrine of the Marriage, where a young selected boy and girl to represent Apollo and Athena are "married". When summer ends, the festival of Apollo and Artemis commences, celebrating each god individually, funded by citizens and foreigners selling wares, and includes a play contest and athletic games funded by the city.
Eretria subsidizes the theater to support playwrighters, culture and the arts in the city [-10 talents each year]. A Cemetery of Heroes allows the city to remember the best among it, but who will go in that cemetery may become a contentious subject in the future.
The city has several festivals. In the summer, bulls are slaughtered on the Akropolis to celebrate Apollo & Athena as well as the greatness of Eretria and its laws. The procession of the One Marriage, in spring, celebrates the foundation of the Divine Marriage in the city. It includes bull running, and goes from the gates of the city to the Shrine of the Marriage, where a young selected boy and girl to represent Apollo and Athena are "married". When summer ends, the festival of Apollo and Artemis commences, celebrating each god individually, funded by citizens and foreigners selling wares, and includes a play contest and athletic games funded by the city.
Eretria subsidizes the theater to support playwrighters, culture and the arts in the city [-10 talents each year]. A Cemetery of Heroes allows the city to remember the best among it, but who will go in that cemetery may become a contentious subject in the future.
Dependencies
Both the Epulian League (composed of four cities) and the Kingdom of the Peuketii submit a tithe of their income each year. The Epulian League has a combined veto over Eretria on league affairs if they all agree on an issue, a reserved space and privileges in the Eretrian agora, and a grain monopoly agreement with Eretria, where they buy cheap grain only from Eretria.
Serfdom
Eretria has a number of serfs, obtained from conquering swathes of the Epulian coastal plain. Most of these serfs are native Peuketii. Their movement is restricted between estates, they cannot serve in the army or be armed, they cannot be tortured or killed without due cause, they cannot perform household labour, they can be freed as the landowner wills, and they will be given twenty lashes for attempting to flee, with ten for each serf who abets them. Collective punishment of serfs is not allowed.
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Map
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
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The Story Thus Far
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
The Story Thus Far
NOTE: This is meant to be an appetizer and a synopsis, not a detailed explanation of the city's existence. It can help both new and old players acquaint themselves to the situation in Eretria as we take our next step forward.
This is the sum of Eretria's history to the present, told by Eurasmos son of Aristides.
Eretria Eskhata founded itself on the ashes of the local town of Bare. The surrounding kings, who were very wroth at this, sent forces to destroy Eretria, but the city chose Herodion to defend it and he crushed the barbaroi. Crafty, the Barbaroi used this distraction to save their brethren we had enslaved on landfall, but the actions of the valiant women of Eretria prevented them from doing damage to the city itself.
In the ensuring years there was great strife and discord as the citizens thought themselves wronged by the nobles, the citizens grown haughty and confident with the expansion of the franchise to all men regardless of property. One citizen, Lykurgus, was exiled and attempted to raise a great host of pirates to seize the city, but was defeated in an extraordinary battle by the great Eusebios, who defeated fifty ships with three. This battle has been subject to much dispute, but my father had seen it with his own eyes and agrees it is as I have said. Eusebios saved a barbaroi city, Gnatia and its king became the friend of Eretria.
Afterward, the city enjoyed peace till a plot by the barbaroi slaves was discovered, and they were killed. The city decided on war with its many neighbors, and were able to triumph thanks to the good heroes Eusebios and Herodion who wrought terrible vengeance at sea and on land upon the barbaroi with the aid of their ally, Taras, in the south, led by a good king favorable to Eretria. After this, the city reformed its institutions and an aristocrat, Drako became the first true leader of Eretria, steering the ship fairly and justly so much that many would emulate his manner later.
The city helped fight against the Mede in the cataclysm of the battles of Salamis and Mycale, and fair Herodion, finding himself unliked at home, departed abroad for Carthage. Drako lost a challenge to swift-thinking Timaeus, who ruled erratically and was removed in favor of Antipater, a compatriot of Drako's. Antipater was seen unfairly as brutish and stupid, but his time was stable and peaceful. However, many new poleis came upon the Barbaroi to Eretria's north, and they threatened the peace. Wise Drako made a League of these cities and went to war with the Barbaroi. The war had its failures, as strongheaded Eustarchus, a patriot, was elected strategos on promises of glory, but only fell in battle ignobly.
After, Drako became strategos, and brokered a good peace wherein the Barbaroi fled inland and the coast was Eretria's. He cultivated good government and good relations, and replaced Antipater as leader of the city. However, years of praise combined with personal tragedy to risk his reputation when he made moves towards the tyrannical; it was only the wise moderation of the city that prevented such a thing.
Quelled from his ambition by the city, Drako now once more ruled justly and nobly. In the south, there was chaos in Taras, but the city of Kerkyra used trickery and scheming to make Eretria abandon its alliance and favor it instead. The city found itself with many new serfs after hunting supported by its barbarian tributaries, and set laws for the serfs. It also forged a defensive pact with Kerkyra, in lieu of anything better.
After many years abroad, fair Herodion now the one-eyed returned home and was welcome with much fanfare. Becoming victory as the proboulos, he took the city to war with the Peuketii town Azetion and forced its surrender, allowing its people to flee to the barbaroi king Daxtus of the Messapii in exchange for an oath of peace.
This is the sum of Eretria's history to the present, told by Eurasmos son of Aristides.
Eretria Eskhata founded itself on the ashes of the local town of Bare. The surrounding kings, who were very wroth at this, sent forces to destroy Eretria, but the city chose Herodion to defend it and he crushed the barbaroi. Crafty, the Barbaroi used this distraction to save their brethren we had enslaved on landfall, but the actions of the valiant women of Eretria prevented them from doing damage to the city itself.
In the ensuring years there was great strife and discord as the citizens thought themselves wronged by the nobles, the citizens grown haughty and confident with the expansion of the franchise to all men regardless of property. One citizen, Lykurgus, was exiled and attempted to raise a great host of pirates to seize the city, but was defeated in an extraordinary battle by the great Eusebios, who defeated fifty ships with three. This battle has been subject to much dispute, but my father had seen it with his own eyes and agrees it is as I have said. Eusebios saved a barbaroi city, Gnatia and its king became the friend of Eretria.
Afterward, the city enjoyed peace till a plot by the barbaroi slaves was discovered, and they were killed. The city decided on war with its many neighbors, and were able to triumph thanks to the good heroes Eusebios and Herodion who wrought terrible vengeance at sea and on land upon the barbaroi with the aid of their ally, Taras, in the south, led by a good king favorable to Eretria. After this, the city reformed its institutions and an aristocrat, Drako became the first true leader of Eretria, steering the ship fairly and justly so much that many would emulate his manner later.
The city helped fight against the Mede in the cataclysm of the battles of Salamis and Mycale, and fair Herodion, finding himself unliked at home, departed abroad for Carthage. Drako lost a challenge to swift-thinking Timaeus, who ruled erratically and was removed in favor of Antipater, a compatriot of Drako's. Antipater was seen unfairly as brutish and stupid, but his time was stable and peaceful. However, many new poleis came upon the Barbaroi to Eretria's north, and they threatened the peace. Wise Drako made a League of these cities and went to war with the Barbaroi. The war had its failures, as strongheaded Eustarchus, a patriot, was elected strategos on promises of glory, but only fell in battle ignobly.
After, Drako became strategos, and brokered a good peace wherein the Barbaroi fled inland and the coast was Eretria's. He cultivated good government and good relations, and replaced Antipater as leader of the city. However, years of praise combined with personal tragedy to risk his reputation when he made moves towards the tyrannical; it was only the wise moderation of the city that prevented such a thing.
Quelled from his ambition by the city, Drako now once more ruled justly and nobly. In the south, there was chaos in Taras, but the city of Kerkyra used trickery and scheming to make Eretria abandon its alliance and favor it instead. The city found itself with many new serfs after hunting supported by its barbarian tributaries, and set laws for the serfs. It also forged a defensive pact with Kerkyra, in lieu of anything better.
After many years abroad, fair Herodion now the one-eyed returned home and was welcome with much fanfare. Becoming victory as the proboulos, he took the city to war with the Peuketii town Azetion and forced its surrender, allowing its people to flee to the barbaroi king Daxtus of the Messapii in exchange for an oath of peace.
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Historical FAQ & Bibliography
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
HISTORICAL FAQ
Inevitably, questions come up with a game as grounded in real life history as this one. In order to avoid repetition of basic questions about history, I have included this FAQ (based off real questions people have asked) to answer the ones that come up the most often. These are generalizations and thus have many exceptions; they are mainly here so people can get a good broad look at how things worked in Ancient Greece.
Q: How did Citizenship work in Ancient Greece?
Q: How did Citizenship work in Ancient Greece?
In Ancient Greece, citizenship is a status, not a privilege. This means that unlike in Ancient Rome, there is no partial citizenship. Greeks saw citizenship almost as an ethnicity and an important part of their identity, and thus held it highly and guarded it jealously. Only Greeks could become citizens in a city, and citizenship was granted only very rarely. Citizenship is hereditary, passed through the male line. Although theoretically it is possible to "marry in" to citizenship, it almost never happens. Citizens marry citizens and metics marry metics.
In most ancient Greek cities (referred to as a polis, or poleis in the plural) only a certain class of men could vote on important matters. Some cities such as Athens had universal male suffrage, allowing male Greeks in the city of all classes to vote. However, this still left out the metics and women, who were not allowed to vote. In the archaic period citizenship was still malleable, but by the Persian Wars (so our setting!), it had become firmly established in most cities. Citizenship is no laughing matter and is the primary identifier for many citizens beyond their tribes, clans, and oikos (or family). Although in later periods citizenship became again more malleable as the polis declined as the primary organizer of Greek life, it still retained an importance into the Roman period.
In most ancient Greek cities (referred to as a polis, or poleis in the plural) only a certain class of men could vote on important matters. Some cities such as Athens had universal male suffrage, allowing male Greeks in the city of all classes to vote. However, this still left out the metics and women, who were not allowed to vote. In the archaic period citizenship was still malleable, but by the Persian Wars (so our setting!), it had become firmly established in most cities. Citizenship is no laughing matter and is the primary identifier for many citizens beyond their tribes, clans, and oikos (or family). Although in later periods citizenship became again more malleable as the polis declined as the primary organizer of Greek life, it still retained an importance into the Roman period.
Q: What are Metics?
Metics are permanent residents in Greek cities who are disenfranchised. They might have no lineage of citizenship, are immigrants, or are non-Greeks who are not slaves but live in the city. Metics are a sort of second class in the city; they are exempt from any political debates, cannot own property, and have to pay a special poll tax. They still serve in times of war, however, which can create some tensions.
It is important to understand that metics are essentially "citizenless" for the most part; although some residents might be citizens of other cities, most metics tend to be without any citizenship and form their own communities within Greek cities. In Athens and other cities with larger metic populations, they have their own separate courts and judges which allows them to live in a society parallel to that of the citizenry.
Metics cannot be "naturalized" or granted citizenship in a Greek city except in exceptional circumstances. The nature of citizenship as an exclusive status and important identifier means that keeping metics separate is an important part of what forms a city's identity and keeps citizens confident of their own superiority even if they might be in actuality poorer than the metics of the city. Although in the late 4th century BCE the designation of "metic" disappeared totally, in the 5th century BCE it was still an important identifier in many cities and cannot be removed without extreme unrest. Attempting to grant the metics mass citizenship or introducing a regular process to gain citizenship would go against the very conception of Greek citizenship.
In many cities Metics had representatives in the ekklesia to at least nominally acknowledge their existence and vouch for them. Importantly, the term "metic" is actually a specifically Athenian term, but they tended to exist in other cities as well during the time period. It is simply that the largest wealth of information that we have is from the city of Athens.
It is important to understand that metics are essentially "citizenless" for the most part; although some residents might be citizens of other cities, most metics tend to be without any citizenship and form their own communities within Greek cities. In Athens and other cities with larger metic populations, they have their own separate courts and judges which allows them to live in a society parallel to that of the citizenry.
Metics cannot be "naturalized" or granted citizenship in a Greek city except in exceptional circumstances. The nature of citizenship as an exclusive status and important identifier means that keeping metics separate is an important part of what forms a city's identity and keeps citizens confident of their own superiority even if they might be in actuality poorer than the metics of the city. Although in the late 4th century BCE the designation of "metic" disappeared totally, in the 5th century BCE it was still an important identifier in many cities and cannot be removed without extreme unrest. Attempting to grant the metics mass citizenship or introducing a regular process to gain citizenship would go against the very conception of Greek citizenship.
In many cities Metics had representatives in the ekklesia to at least nominally acknowledge their existence and vouch for them. Importantly, the term "metic" is actually a specifically Athenian term, but they tended to exist in other cities as well during the time period. It is simply that the largest wealth of information that we have is from the city of Athens.
Q: How did ancient justice systems work?
It is important to understand that Greek justice systems that we know of are based on a very shallow archaeological record because besides Athens and Sparta (who had its system written about mostly by others) most Greek justice systems have not been investigated in detail. However, it is important to understand that in general, Greeks did not put a high amount of emphasis or interest in legal advocacy; that is to say, there were very few, if any lawyers.
Instead, defendants and plaintiffs would represent themselves in a court before a panel of judges or a jury. The ones presiding over the case would depend on the government in the city; in many oligarchies it would be "Archons" or other powerful leaders of the city who would decide on cases, while in democratic cities it would be before very large juries to prevent corruption; Athens could have as many as 6001 jurors on a single case.
However, the justice system in many cities was only mildly respected at best, and only in Athens and a few other cities did anything approaching a "rule of law" appear. Instead, arbitrary and corrupt decisions would be provided for larger cases by heavyhanded aristocrats and nobles, or there would be no trial at all beyond a sham.
The only notable exception to this were ancient constitutions, which were not the same as modern ones. In the ancient sense, a constitution is simply the accreted collection of legal customs, not a singular document that sets out the highest laws in the land. Most city states in the Mediterranean in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE adopted legal constitutions establishing basic principles of the city, although how much this was respected depended from city to city. In Greek cities (one should remember Carthage also had a constitution, though we know little of it) the laws would be displayed in the central square, called an Agora, which would also generally be the gathering place for political meetings and philosophical debate.
Instead, defendants and plaintiffs would represent themselves in a court before a panel of judges or a jury. The ones presiding over the case would depend on the government in the city; in many oligarchies it would be "Archons" or other powerful leaders of the city who would decide on cases, while in democratic cities it would be before very large juries to prevent corruption; Athens could have as many as 6001 jurors on a single case.
However, the justice system in many cities was only mildly respected at best, and only in Athens and a few other cities did anything approaching a "rule of law" appear. Instead, arbitrary and corrupt decisions would be provided for larger cases by heavyhanded aristocrats and nobles, or there would be no trial at all beyond a sham.
The only notable exception to this were ancient constitutions, which were not the same as modern ones. In the ancient sense, a constitution is simply the accreted collection of legal customs, not a singular document that sets out the highest laws in the land. Most city states in the Mediterranean in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE adopted legal constitutions establishing basic principles of the city, although how much this was respected depended from city to city. In Greek cities (one should remember Carthage also had a constitution, though we know little of it) the laws would be displayed in the central square, called an Agora, which would also generally be the gathering place for political meetings and philosophical debate.
Q: What was the status of women in Ancient Greece?
Most of our sources from the period focus on the two outliers, Athens and Sparta. What we can say from the writings of early poets like Hesiod and later writers is that women in Greece did not have a very good position to say the least. The best way to describe it is a sense of latent paranoia; men in Greece thought that although man was limited, he was at least rational, but the woman was inherently irrational and had to be controlled by her peers. This is best exemplified by the legend of Pandora's Box; entrusted with the most important box in the history of the world, Pandora, being a stupid woman, bungles it up. In that, the Greeks are perhaps not unique, but how they implement this is.
The consequence is that although there are some legal safeguards for women, for the most part they are beholden to their husband, becoming in effect the property of the oikos; they are in effect "tamed" by their husband and exist at his service. This is not nearly as domineering as the Roman Pater Familias, but there are expectations they she will tow the line to her husband's expectations and take care of the children.
None of this prevented many brilliant women like the famous oratory teacher Aspasia (who taught Perikles) from becoming prominent, but it did mean that the position of Greek women was considerably curtailed. Sparta is a bit of an "exception", but not in the way one might think. The reason why Spartan women were allowed to be more free than other women is because there was an expectation they would use this freedom to turn themselves into exemplars of the Spartan citizenry; the legend of the Spartan hoplite killed by his mother because he was the sole person to come home from a battle is there for a reason. Spartan women were expected to be good broodmares, and like any broodmare were thus allowed to go about the pasture to their heart's delight.
In Athens, the opposite existed. Extremely concerned over the morality of women expressed by Hesiod and Pandora's Box, as well as a need for the male citizenry to affirm its identity, produced one of the most oppressive atmospheres for women in Greece both at home and overseas. Women were veiled and had to be with a chaperone in public; the citizens of other cities complained about this, in fact, showing how far Athens had gone. However, this did not preclude women from participating in festivals like that at Eleusis. The dimensions are a bit more complicated than one might expect, and that women may have disliked this position does not mean that many did not help support it. Overlaying modern morality will have poor results.
The consequence is that although there are some legal safeguards for women, for the most part they are beholden to their husband, becoming in effect the property of the oikos; they are in effect "tamed" by their husband and exist at his service. This is not nearly as domineering as the Roman Pater Familias, but there are expectations they she will tow the line to her husband's expectations and take care of the children.
None of this prevented many brilliant women like the famous oratory teacher Aspasia (who taught Perikles) from becoming prominent, but it did mean that the position of Greek women was considerably curtailed. Sparta is a bit of an "exception", but not in the way one might think. The reason why Spartan women were allowed to be more free than other women is because there was an expectation they would use this freedom to turn themselves into exemplars of the Spartan citizenry; the legend of the Spartan hoplite killed by his mother because he was the sole person to come home from a battle is there for a reason. Spartan women were expected to be good broodmares, and like any broodmare were thus allowed to go about the pasture to their heart's delight.
In Athens, the opposite existed. Extremely concerned over the morality of women expressed by Hesiod and Pandora's Box, as well as a need for the male citizenry to affirm its identity, produced one of the most oppressive atmospheres for women in Greece both at home and overseas. Women were veiled and had to be with a chaperone in public; the citizens of other cities complained about this, in fact, showing how far Athens had gone. However, this did not preclude women from participating in festivals like that at Eleusis. The dimensions are a bit more complicated than one might expect, and that women may have disliked this position does not mean that many did not help support it. Overlaying modern morality will have poor results.
Q: What is the status of the aristocracy in Ancient Greece?
As the Greek Dark age began, a group of men who were able to acquire relatively more land than their peers (relative being the keyword, as this was tiny by later standards) began to distinguish themselves by their ability to graze horses on their lands and acquire wealth through the produce of their fields. This group, emerging from the mists of the early dark age as the aristoi, or Best Men, appeared all across Greece and came to primacy; over the course of the Greek dark age, they acquired ever more power, overthrowing or subverting the earlier "kingdoms" that were likely little more than hereditary warlords. Developing a group identity, the aristoi sought to emphasize the right to rule that they had by virtue of their superior birth and upbringing expressed in the term of arete, or excellence.
Arete justified all of the arbitrary abuses and controls that the aristocrats placed upon the peasantry and smallholders. However, as the emergence of the hoplite phalanx in the 700s and 600s BCE disrupted traditional military arrangements, the more prosperous but non-aristoi landholders began to demand more power. In some cities, the aristocrats were able to create a power-sharing arrangement that allowed them in, as well as for the first time allowing those who had gained their wealth through commercial means, circumventing the traditional route of landholding as the means to power.
In other cities, uprisings and political chaos as well as feuding between aristocratic families and clans brought their rule to an end as tyrants, usually populist rulers who exploited the divisions of aristocrats to take control, overthrew the aristocratic-dominated assemblies in their favor. Other than in Sicily, which remained politically chaotic until the rise of Rome, the tyrants only lasted a generation or two, whereupon they were overthrown by oligarchies that incorporated all elites including those that had gained their wealth by commerce, and even threw bones to the hoplite "middle class", as it was. However, this arrangement proved unstable for the reason that it re-opened the old wounds of feuding (that the tyrants had based their social contract upon preventing) and destabilized the whole polis. Rising debts and demands for land reform from landless laborers and small farmers resulted in massive social disruption in the last years of the 500s BCE, with the emergence of democracy.
However, many aristoi did not actually ingratiate themselves to democracy but stayed outside of its bounds, participating only in order to secure their rights but acting as though it was simply an interregnum on their rule. As a result, there remained an intransigent class in the poleis, the aristoi, that could wait in the wings if democracy proved to be a failure, as for many cities it did, at least in the opinion of its most distinguished members. This disdain for democracy can be best exemplified by Plato, who preferred the idea of the Philosopher King over what he saw were the irrational wiles of the democratic body.
This is of course, not the whole story, but for a generalization that ignores obvious outliers like Sparta, it works well enough.
Arete justified all of the arbitrary abuses and controls that the aristocrats placed upon the peasantry and smallholders. However, as the emergence of the hoplite phalanx in the 700s and 600s BCE disrupted traditional military arrangements, the more prosperous but non-aristoi landholders began to demand more power. In some cities, the aristocrats were able to create a power-sharing arrangement that allowed them in, as well as for the first time allowing those who had gained their wealth through commercial means, circumventing the traditional route of landholding as the means to power.
In other cities, uprisings and political chaos as well as feuding between aristocratic families and clans brought their rule to an end as tyrants, usually populist rulers who exploited the divisions of aristocrats to take control, overthrew the aristocratic-dominated assemblies in their favor. Other than in Sicily, which remained politically chaotic until the rise of Rome, the tyrants only lasted a generation or two, whereupon they were overthrown by oligarchies that incorporated all elites including those that had gained their wealth by commerce, and even threw bones to the hoplite "middle class", as it was. However, this arrangement proved unstable for the reason that it re-opened the old wounds of feuding (that the tyrants had based their social contract upon preventing) and destabilized the whole polis. Rising debts and demands for land reform from landless laborers and small farmers resulted in massive social disruption in the last years of the 500s BCE, with the emergence of democracy.
However, many aristoi did not actually ingratiate themselves to democracy but stayed outside of its bounds, participating only in order to secure their rights but acting as though it was simply an interregnum on their rule. As a result, there remained an intransigent class in the poleis, the aristoi, that could wait in the wings if democracy proved to be a failure, as for many cities it did, at least in the opinion of its most distinguished members. This disdain for democracy can be best exemplified by Plato, who preferred the idea of the Philosopher King over what he saw were the irrational wiles of the democratic body.
This is of course, not the whole story, but for a generalization that ignores obvious outliers like Sparta, it works well enough.
Q: What is the ethnic divide between the Greeks like?
It is difficult to generalize because the complexity of Greek life was, well, complex. The idea of a united Greece was clearly subscribed to; it was clear that there were Hellenes and there were Barbarians. However, the natural state of this united conception of the Greek people was to be divided, and it was unquestionable that the Greeks were divided. It is difficult to talk simply of "ethnic" considerations because the arrangements that divided the Greeks could be far more complex.
To some extent, however, there existed clear boundaries of dialects and such that the Greeks themselves agreed with. The Athenians, for example, identified themselves as the father of all the Ionian Greeks, and as a result took control of a pan-Ionian festival at Delos at the end of the 6th century BCE. Certainly, Greeks of different dialects would have had different ways of saying things, and the Athenians were doubly unique because Attic was a sub-dialect of Ionian. Although these emerged as divisions in politics as well as in language, they were most likely to be expressed in different styles of art and architecture as well as some religious differences and emphasis.
The Ionian-Dorian divide is the most notable one for us, although obviously others existed, and the identification with polis tended to trump that of ethnic consideration. It was only when ti came to internal divisions between Ionians and Dorians, most obvious in the Greek colonies where many different groups mixed, that things could become violent. The Dorian Gelans were notorious for expelling and deporting vast amounts of Ionians from their lands.
To some extent, however, there existed clear boundaries of dialects and such that the Greeks themselves agreed with. The Athenians, for example, identified themselves as the father of all the Ionian Greeks, and as a result took control of a pan-Ionian festival at Delos at the end of the 6th century BCE. Certainly, Greeks of different dialects would have had different ways of saying things, and the Athenians were doubly unique because Attic was a sub-dialect of Ionian. Although these emerged as divisions in politics as well as in language, they were most likely to be expressed in different styles of art and architecture as well as some religious differences and emphasis.
The Ionian-Dorian divide is the most notable one for us, although obviously others existed, and the identification with polis tended to trump that of ethnic consideration. It was only when ti came to internal divisions between Ionians and Dorians, most obvious in the Greek colonies where many different groups mixed, that things could become violent. The Dorian Gelans were notorious for expelling and deporting vast amounts of Ionians from their lands.
Q: How did Greek slavery work?
Modern conceptions of slavery are somewhat colored by the fact that we have a vivid imaging of the racially based chattel slavery of the Antebellum South in the United States. However, this slavery is far removed from that used by the Greeks and other ancient peoples. Greek slavery tended to be for two main purposes; as a manual labor force and as servants in the house. Their treatment varied on the time, place, and their line of work.
Greek slaves that were utilized in manual labor generally were imported to make up for labor shortages in cities like Athens, where the involvement of debts by Solon at the beginning of the 6th century BCE meant that the traditional cheap labor force, indentured servants, were no longer available. Slaves were almost never used in galleys in the ancient world because the galley was seen as a place of honor and a respectable profession. Instead, they would be used in the home or in the field, although the most famous use of slaves in classical Greece was in the horrendous conditions of the silver mines of Laurium in Attica, where slaves worked to short deaths in a dreadful working environment.
The ethnic makeup of slaves tended to depend on place to place; Thracians and other peoples from the north of Greece were popular because of their accessibility, although the enslavement of other Greeks was hardly uncommon in wars. Slaves could gain their freedom through manumission and unlike in the antebellum south where such freedom was extremely difficult to get, it was accessible to slaves lucky or hard-working enough to buy their own freedom. Once free, slaves were non-citizens, although there are a few historical cases of slaves who did a service to the polis being freed and made citizens en-masse. Freedmen were rarely discriminated against on the basis of their former slavery; it was more that they were non-citizens, metics.
Greek slaves that were utilized in manual labor generally were imported to make up for labor shortages in cities like Athens, where the involvement of debts by Solon at the beginning of the 6th century BCE meant that the traditional cheap labor force, indentured servants, were no longer available. Slaves were almost never used in galleys in the ancient world because the galley was seen as a place of honor and a respectable profession. Instead, they would be used in the home or in the field, although the most famous use of slaves in classical Greece was in the horrendous conditions of the silver mines of Laurium in Attica, where slaves worked to short deaths in a dreadful working environment.
The ethnic makeup of slaves tended to depend on place to place; Thracians and other peoples from the north of Greece were popular because of their accessibility, although the enslavement of other Greeks was hardly uncommon in wars. Slaves could gain their freedom through manumission and unlike in the antebellum south where such freedom was extremely difficult to get, it was accessible to slaves lucky or hard-working enough to buy their own freedom. Once free, slaves were non-citizens, although there are a few historical cases of slaves who did a service to the polis being freed and made citizens en-masse. Freedmen were rarely discriminated against on the basis of their former slavery; it was more that they were non-citizens, metics.
Q: How did Greek colonies work?
The modern conception of the "colony" conceives of a peripheral area tied to the metropole that provides it with raw materials and has little political representation. Greek colonies were named after these because of the pretensions of 19th century Historians to connecting their own civilization with that of the Greeks, but the colonies of the Hellenes were extremely different from those of the European colonial powers in the age of imperialism. Greek colonies tended to be, almost all of the time (there are exceptions which we will get to!) self-governing bodies that were formed specifically as independent political units away from the mother city. Although the mother city and the foundling had a special relationship, this hardly extended to any sort of political control of the mother city over the foundling.
Greek colonies were founded in two main phases; the first was in the early dark age with a migration across the Aegean to the western edge of Anatolia, creating the future Greek political region of Ionia; there was also some expansion to Cyprus during this period. During the 700s, 600s, and 500s, however, population pressure, political chaos at home, economic demand for raw materials like grain, and other problems compounded to push migrants further and further afield from Greece, colonizing everywhere from Italy to the Black Sea coast to Libya. Greek colonists would usually gather around a founder, the oekist, who would have considerable political power over his charges, a location would be surveyed and chosen, and then they would embark.
The Greek colonies proved to be enormously successful, allowing for the transplanting of Greek culture, art, and trade to a variety of different environments. Colonies were on the surface near-identical in political organization to their counterparts in the Mainland, but some subtle differences pervaded, and the influence of indigineous peoples which the colonists either intermarried or expelled from their lands was clear in many regions. This allowed for a cultural exchange that was important for the development of many peoples, such as the Etruscans whose exposure to Greek art and culture, although overstated, did cause important changes in their art and political arrangements largely concurrent with the expansion of Mediterranean trade.
The scene of our story is one of the most densely settled regions, known in ancient times as Italia (only the south of Italy was referred to in this way) or Magna Graecia, Great Greece, an acknowledgement both of the wealth of its inhabitants and the similarity of climatic and agricultural conditions to the homeland. These colonies would be powerful, acting as patrons to art and culture as well as philosophy (the Greek Mathematician Pythagoras ran a cult in the city of Krotone that was immensely influential) until pressure from indigenous peoples and eventually the Romans would end their efflorescence.
Greek colonies were founded in two main phases; the first was in the early dark age with a migration across the Aegean to the western edge of Anatolia, creating the future Greek political region of Ionia; there was also some expansion to Cyprus during this period. During the 700s, 600s, and 500s, however, population pressure, political chaos at home, economic demand for raw materials like grain, and other problems compounded to push migrants further and further afield from Greece, colonizing everywhere from Italy to the Black Sea coast to Libya. Greek colonists would usually gather around a founder, the oekist, who would have considerable political power over his charges, a location would be surveyed and chosen, and then they would embark.
The Greek colonies proved to be enormously successful, allowing for the transplanting of Greek culture, art, and trade to a variety of different environments. Colonies were on the surface near-identical in political organization to their counterparts in the Mainland, but some subtle differences pervaded, and the influence of indigineous peoples which the colonists either intermarried or expelled from their lands was clear in many regions. This allowed for a cultural exchange that was important for the development of many peoples, such as the Etruscans whose exposure to Greek art and culture, although overstated, did cause important changes in their art and political arrangements largely concurrent with the expansion of Mediterranean trade.
The scene of our story is one of the most densely settled regions, known in ancient times as Italia (only the south of Italy was referred to in this way) or Magna Graecia, Great Greece, an acknowledgement both of the wealth of its inhabitants and the similarity of climatic and agricultural conditions to the homeland. These colonies would be powerful, acting as patrons to art and culture as well as philosophy (the Greek Mathematician Pythagoras ran a cult in the city of Krotone that was immensely influential) until pressure from indigenous peoples and eventually the Romans would end their efflorescence.
Q: How did Greek morality work?
The Greeks conceived of themselves as the heirs to the Homeric tradition. The Iliad and the Odyssey pervaded their thoughts and education in a way that seems incomprehensible to us; even the nearest analogue of the Bible does not really begin to cover it. The heroic stories of the Iliad would provide a kind of guiding line for the Greeks to follow, even to the point where it might have limited progress or caused folly. The Greeks were bound by their conception of creating an image of themselves that proved true to the Homeric ideal, even if their poleis and battle arrays were in fact extremely contradictory to the content of Homer. In this context, the Greeks saw themselves constantly in competition with their peers.
That does not begin to cover it, though. That they were in competition is an easy statement to make, but the reality is far more pervasive than we might imagine; in every field, the Greeks sought to compete. Even in the presumably cooperative field of the Hoplite Phalanx, each of the hoplites sought to outdo the others by being the most valiant in the field while also keeping within the phalanx. It was a competition to see who could be the most orderly, in effect. The famous divisions of the Greeks stems from this kind of conception; the Greeks never thought themselves as a united people politically.
All of this led to the defining feature of the Greek man's life that would distinguish him, arete, excellence, which we have already encountered in the context of the aristocrats. To have arete is the most important thing, and arete can be won in competition, whether martial, or athletic, or rhetorical. There is no conception of discipline as we might imagine or even authority as the Romans might have imagined, because everything is competition, everything is contest. The great irony of the famous Olympic games was that the most unitary event in Greece was a competition.
In terms of philosophy, by the time of the game Greek philosophers had mostly abandoned supernatural explanations for phenomena, instead preferring to focus on the idea of man's relation to the natural world. This did not mean they were not religious, but that they preferred to understand nature in the manner of empiricism. This is a generalization, though, and a grand one; the hokieness of some aspects of Greek science, if it could even be called that, should not be forgotten. Certainly, though, their thought was considerably advanced when it came to considering nature in terms of a purely natural, non-spiritual construction. However, the disdain that Greek aristoi had with working with their hands and working in general (leisure was the preferred state for Greeks) meant that practical and applied science was a poor field. Combined with a bias towards things which could be justified within the context of the Iliad (thus excluding war machines), Greek science never left the realm of the theoretical except in some spectacular exceptions usually in the field of warfare.
Greek disdain towards merchants was also part of it, although it should hardly be overemphasized; many Greek cities such as Korinth were much less biased than we originally assumed. However, even the cities amiable to commerce never developed a very coherent economic theory, and for philosophers and writers, economic phenomena could be described in the form of arete, or moral failing. If a city has superseded another city, then the first city is not economically dominant because of its superior trading networks, it is dominant because of the excellence and austerity of its people. This did not prevent the development of powerful tools such as sophisticated maritime insurance, but it did mean that the field of economics, and connecting commerce to the pursuit of science, lagged badly.
That does not begin to cover it, though. That they were in competition is an easy statement to make, but the reality is far more pervasive than we might imagine; in every field, the Greeks sought to compete. Even in the presumably cooperative field of the Hoplite Phalanx, each of the hoplites sought to outdo the others by being the most valiant in the field while also keeping within the phalanx. It was a competition to see who could be the most orderly, in effect. The famous divisions of the Greeks stems from this kind of conception; the Greeks never thought themselves as a united people politically.
All of this led to the defining feature of the Greek man's life that would distinguish him, arete, excellence, which we have already encountered in the context of the aristocrats. To have arete is the most important thing, and arete can be won in competition, whether martial, or athletic, or rhetorical. There is no conception of discipline as we might imagine or even authority as the Romans might have imagined, because everything is competition, everything is contest. The great irony of the famous Olympic games was that the most unitary event in Greece was a competition.
In terms of philosophy, by the time of the game Greek philosophers had mostly abandoned supernatural explanations for phenomena, instead preferring to focus on the idea of man's relation to the natural world. This did not mean they were not religious, but that they preferred to understand nature in the manner of empiricism. This is a generalization, though, and a grand one; the hokieness of some aspects of Greek science, if it could even be called that, should not be forgotten. Certainly, though, their thought was considerably advanced when it came to considering nature in terms of a purely natural, non-spiritual construction. However, the disdain that Greek aristoi had with working with their hands and working in general (leisure was the preferred state for Greeks) meant that practical and applied science was a poor field. Combined with a bias towards things which could be justified within the context of the Iliad (thus excluding war machines), Greek science never left the realm of the theoretical except in some spectacular exceptions usually in the field of warfare.
Greek disdain towards merchants was also part of it, although it should hardly be overemphasized; many Greek cities such as Korinth were much less biased than we originally assumed. However, even the cities amiable to commerce never developed a very coherent economic theory, and for philosophers and writers, economic phenomena could be described in the form of arete, or moral failing. If a city has superseded another city, then the first city is not economically dominant because of its superior trading networks, it is dominant because of the excellence and austerity of its people. This did not prevent the development of powerful tools such as sophisticated maritime insurance, but it did mean that the field of economics, and connecting commerce to the pursuit of science, lagged badly.
Q: What about Greek Religion?
Most of what you know about Greek religion is Athenian propaganda.
It is sad but true. The Athenians, in an attempt to elevate Athena above many of the other Gods, wrote many of the patron gods of other cities as slovenly and blundering. This is not to say that the reality of Greek religion was radically different than what we think, but that our limited evidence means that it is difficult to say what many cities thought of their Gods. What we know is that the idea of the Gods as anthropomorphic and somewhat human goes back at least to Homer and his works, so it is not entirely an Athenian smear campaign at work. However, what we do know is that the Greeks certainly held their Gods in great reverence and explained events through the omens and punishments of the Gods.
Cities had their own local deities and patron Gods as well as more universal Gods that were known by practically everyone. Discussion about the Gods was, as with everything else in Greece, extremely fractious, with differing legends and interpretations (the Athenian one, or rather one Athenian one, being the most known today). There were many different festivals, such as the aforementioned Festival at Eleusis that celebrated Demeter returning the spring when Zeus had Hades return Persephone. Such festivals could give political power to the cities who controlled them, and thus when Athens seized control of Eleusis in the early part of the 6th century BCE it proved an important tool for Athens to mold the "mysteries" of Eleusis into an expression of popular religion.
People in Ancient Greece were not casual about their feelings about the Gods. Although later writers in the Hellenistic Period could go as far as to reject the old pantheon because of the loss of faith that the collapse of the Polis as the center of Greek life had on Hellenistic society, in the classical period faith remained as strong as ever, even if there was no "codification". Oracles such as those at Dodonna and most famously at Delphi acted as important ways for Greeks to get advice; do not think of Delphi as the expression of a foolish people who thought that reading entrails was an acceptable method of prediction, but a system of wise advice-givers who for very high prices could give excellent information to those who want it. Delphi was most often consulted for things such as colonial expeditions; this was hardly mystical stuff. People did believe it, they truly did, but that did not mean that they did not expect the advice to be helpful.
It is sad but true. The Athenians, in an attempt to elevate Athena above many of the other Gods, wrote many of the patron gods of other cities as slovenly and blundering. This is not to say that the reality of Greek religion was radically different than what we think, but that our limited evidence means that it is difficult to say what many cities thought of their Gods. What we know is that the idea of the Gods as anthropomorphic and somewhat human goes back at least to Homer and his works, so it is not entirely an Athenian smear campaign at work. However, what we do know is that the Greeks certainly held their Gods in great reverence and explained events through the omens and punishments of the Gods.
Cities had their own local deities and patron Gods as well as more universal Gods that were known by practically everyone. Discussion about the Gods was, as with everything else in Greece, extremely fractious, with differing legends and interpretations (the Athenian one, or rather one Athenian one, being the most known today). There were many different festivals, such as the aforementioned Festival at Eleusis that celebrated Demeter returning the spring when Zeus had Hades return Persephone. Such festivals could give political power to the cities who controlled them, and thus when Athens seized control of Eleusis in the early part of the 6th century BCE it proved an important tool for Athens to mold the "mysteries" of Eleusis into an expression of popular religion.
People in Ancient Greece were not casual about their feelings about the Gods. Although later writers in the Hellenistic Period could go as far as to reject the old pantheon because of the loss of faith that the collapse of the Polis as the center of Greek life had on Hellenistic society, in the classical period faith remained as strong as ever, even if there was no "codification". Oracles such as those at Dodonna and most famously at Delphi acted as important ways for Greeks to get advice; do not think of Delphi as the expression of a foolish people who thought that reading entrails was an acceptable method of prediction, but a system of wise advice-givers who for very high prices could give excellent information to those who want it. Delphi was most often consulted for things such as colonial expeditions; this was hardly mystical stuff. People did believe it, they truly did, but that did not mean that they did not expect the advice to be helpful.
Q: Did racism exist in the ancient world?
Racism in the modern conception certainly did not exist. The Hellenes, even as they disdained barbaroi, the Barbarians, who could not speak Greek, hardly discriminated on the basis of skin color, and even their language-based bigotry was not nearly as virulent as American racism. The Greeks thought themselves superior to everyone, it is true, but this was not a racially based superiority, but a culturally-based ones, and peoples who adopted Greek culture would be to some extent accepted into the larger Greek community. This was never quite the whole story; the Greeks disliked the Macedonians because they thought them half-Greek. Still, Greek writers wrote approvingly of peoples who had "gone Greek" and had been transformed into Hellenized peoples. This process actually proceeded most not under the Hellenistic rulers (where it was mostly superficial) but in the adjacent peoples to the Greek colonies. The Elymians, for example, a people in Sicily, had by the 400s BCE become so Greek that they were building splendid temples in the Greek style. Other peoples like the Etruscans adopted the Greek alphabet.
So was there prejudice? Absolutely. Was there rigid skin-based racism? Not at all.
So was there prejudice? Absolutely. Was there rigid skin-based racism? Not at all.
QUEST BIBLIOGRAPHY
Academic Papers & Textbooks
Asheri, David. Laws of Inheritance, Distribution of Land, and Political Constitutions in Ancient Greece. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 12, no. 1 (1963): 1-21.
Boardman, J. (1999) The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade (4th ed.) Thames and Hudson.Asheri, David. Laws of Inheritance, Distribution of Land, and Political Constitutions in Ancient Greece. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 12, no. 1 (1963): 1-21.
De Angelis, Franco. Estimating the Agricultural Base of Greek Sicily. Papers of the British School at Rome 68 (2000): 111-148.Hall, Johnathan, "How 'Greek' were the Early Western Greeks?" in Greek Identity in the Western Mediterranean, edited by Kathryn Lomas, 35-54.
Morris, I. and B. Powell (2009) The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society (2nd Ed.) Pearson.
Wonder, John. The Italiote League: South Italian Alliances of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC. Classical Antiquity 31, no. 1 (2012): 128-151.
Books
Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times by Thomas R. Martin, (2nd edition) 2013.
Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome by Arthur Eckstein, 2009.
Rise of the Greeks by Michael Grant, 1987.
Soldiers and Ghosts by J.E Lendon, 2005.
The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome by Robin L. Fox, 2006.
Numerous other minor sources on things like the Samnites and Etruscans. Extensive use of the admittedly weak wikipedia when nothing else can be found.
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306 OL, Turn 21: The Sack of Stones
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
306 OL: THE SACK OF STONES
Stone and sand mingled in the shadow of the God Helios as he rose triumphant over the landscape, his rays piercing the veil of night that had covered the plateau of Murgia. This was not a favorable place, but a karst landscape where water readily escaped into the ground. To the Eretrians, the hills were as sores and the plateau the body of some titan; only that could explain the terrible dryness that accompanied them everywhere they went. The clouds fled the presence of the overbearing sun and the trees wilted in his gaze, affording no shelter; the greens of the shrubs were faded and tired, leeched by the heat and drought. In this terrible place there nevertheless stood stout and defiant a town, the Peuketii settlement of Azetion. Arranged in the manner of a stone drum, the city's new-built walls alone did not shrink from the sun. Another wall, smaller, of piled rocks and gravel, surrounded it, and beyond that the Eretrians camped.
They were tired and hungry, it was true. Every day their cavalry, and those of their subjugated Peuketii allies, ranged farther to hunt for food. Greeks were not accustomed to long sieges, and the season was coming to an end. The thoughts of the hoplite who sat leaning on his shield turned often to family and farm, only one week to the northeast but a million miles farther in his imagination. Only the fact that today the siege would come to an end allowed him peace of mind. He endured jeers from the battlements of the barbaroi, because he knew that the jeers had grown quieter and weaker over the months. It had been the longest siege in his memory, to be sure, but it was worth it. The Peuketii were a people related to the Illyrians who came to Epulia to settle in some long-forgotten time, but in this present age they were subjects of the Eretrians, forced to bear the yoke after the Eretrians had routed their kings and turned their cities to ashes. This is how it was to be, and that Azetion did not understand this simple fact was an affront that they would now finally correct. A collection of malcontents, bandits, defiant warriors, and refugees, the town was the last holdout of independence among their people. With it at an end, an enemy would be quashed and Eretria's fears at an end. He could sit on the porch of his farmhouse, looking out towards the fields, not worrying a jot about Peuketii riders descending on his home. With that assurance he turned again to his farm, and was lost in thought about the thought of returning to his bright little daughter.
The Eretrian camp was a mess of tents of every shape and size, erected hastily by each man and the military slaves that accompanied them on a Murgian hill outside the wall of circumvention. At the head of the camp a large rectangular tent stood prominently, overlooking not only the hill but the town of Azetion below. It was from here that fair Herodion surveyed the plain of war. With a single wise eye he saw all; the starvation of Azetion emptying out the once lively hecklers on the town's wall, the tired and huddled mass of Eretrians, the camp fires coming two hills over from the delegation of Daxtus the Messapii. He and his riders had offered the Eretrians a deal that they had with some hesitation accepted; let the citizens of Azetion go, and there will be peace among the Messapii and Eretria. He swore this upon the Goddess Artemis, whom he much loved and had lavished sacrifices for many times before. Herodion could respect such admiration; Eretria had once worshipped Artemis Amarysia, and there was some initiative to renew the old Euboaean festivals in Epulia. The goddess of the hunt, and the hills, and the forests, and many other things besides, was a fair choice for men such as Daxtus whose personal sign was the lion, whose city sat stout on a hill, and whose riders knew well the whistles of the trees.
Still, it was bald necessity that necessitated that they give over the citizens, not Daxtus' well-chosen piety. Azetion had been a thorn in the side of Eretria, but it was a thorn precisely because it was difficult to take; the landscape required the digging of cisterns to maintain water, and the hills were not bursting with food. If they held out and attempted to take the city, it would be with loss of life and exhaustion at the end of the campaign season; it would be an unhappy way to end his first year as Proboulos with an indiscriminate slaughter of the citizens of Azetion and death of many Eretrians in the storm of the town. He had always avoided such actions in Sicily; why should he, a man who had seen the beauty of a hundred cultures in his campaigns in Carthage, seek to slaughter the people of cities? Better not to give them the idea to do the same to Eretria, and let them be. Better alive, subjugated or exiled, than dead in the ground where their compatriots can nurse bad blood against his city, to be returned in a hundred lifetimes with equal vigor.
He shared an embrace with his lover Eutropios as they appreciated the haze of the early morning. The camp was stirring to life, smoke began to billow and rise from the city as the people of Azetion made their last sacrifices, and riders could be seen faintly arriving from Daxtus' camp. The day had come to make the deal. Eutropios and Herodion rose, and then with them their own riders, the Kleos Exoria. Down below were the hieros ekradomoi, fleet-footed and lightly armored men with little shields and sharp minds. They were second to wake, and rose as one, beating their shields to wake their friends and allies. Last were the hoplites and the psilloi, who saw the commotion and stirred to see the outcome of the deal.
It was a simple matter. Herodion mounted his chestnut horse and rode out, hieros ekdadomoi not far behind. Daxtus greeted him not far from the camp, amidst the ruins of an old shrine to Artemis that had clearly just been restored. Herodion called the great hoplite Pydamon, who exchanged pleasantries with the Messapii seer in goat-skin cap and then made a sacrifice of a sheep to Artemis. Daxtus himself was there, dismounted and sitting among his riders. He was a tall man wearing an exceptionally fine Illyrian helmet, desgned in the Greek fashion with feathered plume but without a nosepiece. He was tall and willowy, his face a perpetual smirk as he cracked easy jokes among his subordinates. His beard was curly and Greek; more Greek than Herodion's practical stubble. His armor was plain, his horse fine, his eyes wide and large. After a time he mounted his horse, approached Herodion, made pleasantries, and then asked him of the deal. Herodion replied the deal was intact. Daxtus swore to Artemis and left, and a fabric flag was waved from a nearby hill to Azetion.
Just like that, the siege ended. The Eretrians gathered at the edge of their camp as the gates of the city swung open later that day and the people of Azetion walked out, bony and exhausted, heaving their valuables and dragging their idols. Now it was the Eretrian turn to jeer; they beat drums, struck spear to shield, hollered and shouted at the passing people. The hieros ekradamoi bid Azetion farewell with a coordinated dance. Gathering into formation, they marched forward and back while chanting in tune to drums and flutes, thrusting their spears towards Azetion and then walking back. It was enough to make some of their women and children weep, but the people of Eretria cared little for their feelings. This was an enormous mercy and everyone knew this; from Kallias the xenoparakletor, who had argued in favor of mercy on practical grounds, to the brash Antipater, former leader of the boule, who had led the argument to destroy the city. Without such a performance, the memory of the pain the Peuketii had inflicted on the city might have driven the Eretrians to break a sacred oath then and there.
Finally the city was denuded and the sack began. It was an empty sack, for there was little left but wood and stones. First they set the dry wood alight and let the city burn for a day. Then Pydamon circumscribed that they should pull down the stones of the walls and smash the idols still in the temples, piling it up in the center. Once that was done, he recommended that they should take a piece of olive grove and a head of an Idol, and grind them into dust in the central city square. They did so, and Pydamon produced a drum as he orated to the Eretrians.
PYDAMON: Good Eretria, fairest Eretria, your piety does you good by the beliefs of your fathers and your father's fathers. In former days we were godless and disturbed, our holy places taken from us, Artemis forgotten, the Divine Marriage elevated our only recourse. We love Athene and Apollo and their union, it is true, but there are other gods and we must fear them as we love the Divine Marriage. Our city as built on the people cannot be a godless city, for it is from the people that the Gods require worship. This drum that I have created was made from materials produced in the remains of this city, and like all else that is Peuketii we have turned it into our possession. They are ours now and we must do good by them, as a shepherd does good by his flock. The Peuketii would have slaughtered us and driven us into the sea, but we repay them with the care of a father. They take our language and our customs and our armor, and they learn to be like us, like a children does of his father. I myself was not a Greek once, but an Illyrian, who sat among the barbaroi speaking my inferior tongues. Now I have transformed, my father the slave not become I, the seer. I am a Mantis now, a diviner, and it is through the Gods that I find meaning; it is through the Gods that we all find meaning. Let us beat this drum now, and within three days a feast shall arrive sent by the whole pantheon of the Gods for our appreciation. We shall take from this feast good cattle and set it aside for the Gods, we shall let the cattle's blood soak the ground and curse the ruins of this place.
So they did, and in three days the Gods showed their (dis?)pleasure when a feast arrived of a kind that the Eretrians did not expect. A massive herd of sheep arrived, driven by Peuketii riders. At first the Eretrians were happy, but then became deeply unsettled when the Peuketii threw down some captives with a grin; they were Lucani, the shepherds of the interior. The Peuketii chief Gargas, a rider of the King Harpos of Sannape, told the Eretrians the story of what had happened. Ranging further and further for food, they found a Lucani settlement of shepherds grazing on the edge of their territory. Remembering how horribly the Lucani had sacked their cities, the Peuketii slaughtered the warriors, captured the women and children, and drove the sheep to Azetion.
Immediately the Eretrians erupted into a fierce debate. The famed Drako, who had been the leader of the city for many years and one of its greatest orators, recommended they drive the sheep back and reprimand the Peuketii. Herodion and Antipater and Pydamon were vigorously opposed, and then the citizens gave their part; the crafty merchant Sideros suggested that they might make some scheme where they shave the sheep and then send them back, but this mostly confused the other citizens as to why they would do that. Kallias agreed with Drako and recommended deep caution with the Lucani; although they were simple shepherds in times of peace, when they turned to war their light cavalry and javelin-bearing skirmishers could descend like bees from the mountains to exact retribution. Herodion argued that they could handle any incursion, and that this feast was needed to raise the citizenry's spirits. They had been in a long siege and had been robbed of booty, women, slaves, or any kind of revenge, and sacking the abandoned stones was no substitute. How could they return home to their wives and children telling them that the only thing they had been able to get was the head of some poorly fashioned idol? No, it would not do.
The argument continued among the commanders and notables until at last it was turned to the ekklesia. On the one hand, the city needed the religious and moral boost that could be provided by such a feast of sheep, and to reprimand the Peuketii for vengeance against their enemies would be unfair, as it was not as if Eretria had not enacted vengeance against enemies in the past. Pydamon argued that in addition to the holiness of such a feast, if the Eretrians were to take their subjugation of the Peuketii seriously they could not simply punish them constantly. Such an action would render the Peuketii furious against Eretria, like a child who is told "no" to every request. On the other hand, the reputation of the Lucani in Eretria was enormous; many years earlier, following the Battle of Canthara against the Peuketii, the Peuketii fled into the forest behind the battlefield, only for them to be ambushed by their Lucani allies and slaughtered. These shepherds turned butchers were nothing to be trifled with.
After a day of debate, and many citizens gazing hungrily at the herd of sheep, the question came to a vote of the citizenry, gathered in the center of the Eretrian camp as night blanketed the proceedings in a pleasant cool.
---
The City of Eretria's Peuketii subjects have captured a massive herd of sheep from the Lucani, shepherds from the interior of Italia. Many in the city fear the Lucani for the battle prowess and want to return the sheep while punishing the Peuketii, but others would prefer they keep the sheep, regardless of the consequences. In the former case the captive women and children would be returned, while in the latter they would be sold into slavery, a salve for the surrender of Azetion without any loot for the citizens.
[Discuss for 24 hours before voting] Who are we to reprimand the Peuketii for doing as we asked and finding us food? Woe to the Lucani for ranging out of their territory for grazing, they have paid the price. Let us feast now and then return home with peace of mind and full stomach.
[Discuss for 24 hours before voting] We cannot allow ourselves to be motivated only by hunger and misplaced piety: Think of the consequences! Yes, it is true that the Lucani caught the Peuketii in an ambush, but we know neither their tactics nor their ambitions. It would better to return the sheep, even if we must march home hungry and unhappy, than to feast now and fight later for the sake of a few hundred head of sheep.
Author's Note: Although I usually don't have a 24-hour delay before voting when there's only one vote, but as the first update of the new quest I figured I would give people time to acclimate before voting, so both new and old members can get re-acquainted with the quest.
Also feel free to ask any kind of question!
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Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
The thread is now open for posting.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Seeya in a week then.
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
By quest standards it's actually not that long. Excluding the mechanics and supplements it's probably like 150k words.
- Location
- USA
I am not inclined to punishing our tributaries. Were these people outside their normal area of ranging? I am not quite sure whether they crossed the general border or were in a contested region (as opposed to something that is thought of as Lukani region).
Cetashwayo
Lord of Ten Thousand Years
- Location
- Across the Horizon
It a contested region. Borders are far too fluid in the ancient period to point to a "direct border" unless there's a boundary monument, which there isn't in this case, so it's ambiguous.
Oh god the feuds...but we need it so...
I think we'd have to go for this. The border is contested enough that who is in the right would forever be argued anyway.
Might as well argue full
The Peuketii are the instrument of the gods in this case. After all, has not the wise seer Pydamon foretold the coming of a feast sent by the gods within three days? What clearer sign could there be that taking this herd, sacrificing its heartiest and most beautiful animals and feeding our victorious army of its flesh is the will of the divine?
I don't fear the Lukanii. Yes, they are terrible in war, but the gods are on the side of Eretria in this matter. Surely they could not win such a fight.
Not to mention that if the Lukanii truly have intruded into the lands of our Peuketii vassals then war with them is inevitable anyways, whether we give back the sheep or not. In fact, they might even see our mercy as weakness should we return the herd to them!
I don't fear the Lukanii. Yes, they are terrible in war, but the gods are on the side of Eretria in this matter. Surely they could not win such a fight.
Not to mention that if the Lukanii truly have intruded into the lands of our Peuketii vassals then war with them is inevitable anyways, whether we give back the sheep or not. In fact, they might even see our mercy as weakness should we return the herd to them!
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Leingod
Immaculate Blooming Lotus
The damage has already been done; were we to return the sheep, the women and the children and punish the Pueketii, there would still be those among the Lukanii who held grudges for it, and to those men such an act would embolden rather than mollify them, for they would think us afraid of them.
Best to take the good with the bad, rather than nullify the good entirely merely on the chance of perhaps limiting the bad.
Best to take the good with the bad, rather than nullify the good entirely merely on the chance of perhaps limiting the bad.
maximillian
Civilised Sheep
- Location
- Ranch
The lukanni are barbaroi. All that they believe thiers, is property only by the grace of the Greeks.
A Greek does not beg the barbaroi forgiveness. A Greek does not treat with them a equals, for that is madness! The Gods elevated our people to supremacy, we take from the barbarians without fear, we subjugate and rule over them for it is the natural order of things!
The strong take what they will and the week suffer as they must, such are the laws of nature. Yet we citizens of great Eretria are a benevolent body, for we pity the barbarian, and seek to bless him and make him more like a Greek. What we take from the Lukanni and other of thier ilk is not only our right, but also just dues for our efforts to civilise these lands.
Should the Lukanni object to our exacting of this tribute, they are welcome to our spears and shields.
As for the Pueketii, why would they be punished? They are our subjects, and they obeyed our commands with exemplary dedication. They have not been lax in thier service, and to punish dedication simply due to its results being more than expected is nothing short of injustice! Should we have given them a mandate which they then broke, punishment would be due. But thier mandate was followed most thoroughly, those who call for punishment should themselves be punished, for they should have specified an exact mandate if they are so worried at the results.
A Greek does not beg the barbaroi forgiveness. A Greek does not treat with them a equals, for that is madness! The Gods elevated our people to supremacy, we take from the barbarians without fear, we subjugate and rule over them for it is the natural order of things!
The strong take what they will and the week suffer as they must, such are the laws of nature. Yet we citizens of great Eretria are a benevolent body, for we pity the barbarian, and seek to bless him and make him more like a Greek. What we take from the Lukanni and other of thier ilk is not only our right, but also just dues for our efforts to civilise these lands.
Should the Lukanni object to our exacting of this tribute, they are welcome to our spears and shields.
As for the Pueketii, why would they be punished? They are our subjects, and they obeyed our commands with exemplary dedication. They have not been lax in thier service, and to punish dedication simply due to its results being more than expected is nothing short of injustice! Should we have given them a mandate which they then broke, punishment would be due. But thier mandate was followed most thoroughly, those who call for punishment should themselves be punished, for they should have specified an exact mandate if they are so worried at the results.
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I read it over two days, but i had literaly nothing better to do
- Location
- Reno
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Those sheep are our by right of conquest and right of not being gross weird barbori. Let the Lucani try and fight us, they will fall to our superior strength.
Night_stalker
Slava Ukraini!
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Perhaps sacrifice some of the sheep first to the Gods, then start the feast?
Stealthy
Reverently Irreverent
- Location
- Roaming
A primer on Eretrian Politics, for newcomers.