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Magna Graecia: A City State Quest

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The Dauni and Messapii remain our largest concerns. We need to split their federations into rival groups if at all possible, or hope the Dauni get continued pressure from Fretani and whoever is to the west of them. If so I would like to see if we can mobilize and force Salapia into a tributary status along with helping to fracture the federation and loot it.

To the South the Messapii are surrounded by Greeks, unfortunately thanks to being forced to break our alliance with Taras the main greek power next to them besides ourself does not like us. Otherwise a combined venture to keep Gnatia as an ally and force Brention into tribute to us and Manduria into tribute to Taras could be done. It still may remain a possibility if we get our new allies Kerkya to agree to it and bring Taras on board. Aoxenta would then be tribute to Kerkya. That should weaken them enough combined with looting and hauling off part of the population as serfs and slaves both for Eretria and Taras, along with Kerkya and also to ship to mainlaind Greece for sale. That should break the back of the Messapii enough to prevent there remaining five cities to be enough of a threat, or we hand out a further 1 small city to each member (Eretia, Taras and Kerkya).

That of course is best case scenario so small chance it will happen.

I think Dauni are the main enemy we have to concern ourselves with and breaking them when possible will only be a positive. If we do so and force Salapia into our sphere we should look into building a colony on the coast along the lake it inhabits. That will also connect the northern 3 cities of our League with us and Barletos and secure the coast line for our league. Best case we get the heir to Arpi that is hiding in the Messapii lands to seize control there along with splitting the smaller cities between them and Auscula. That way the Dauni can still serve as a buffer against any aggression from the neighboring factions to the North and the West but are not strong enough to challenge us or the League.
 
We should make use of the Athenians quasi-sibling attitude to us and attempt to deepen relations further. Even though I know many of our citizens still remember their abandonment of our city to the Persians by Athens we must put that abandonment aside. The requirements of the state of the Mediterranean require us to cultivate the Athenian connection in order to prevent any Krotone aspirations on the Adriatic. At the very least, encouraging the Athenians to view us as the foremost of the Ionian Greeks means that when they inevitably invade Italy during their 529 step plan to defeat Sparta, they will at least be invading in support of us against Taras.

Our alliance with Taras has been severed irrevocably and we must now, unfortunately, align ourselves against them. We should cultivate our relationship with Metapontion to create a counterbalance which should prevent any aggression from Taras. Whilst not going so far as to ally ourselves with the Barbaroi we should put our quarrel with the Messappi aside for the moment and when they launch their next war of conquest against Taras we should, in turn, wage war against the Dauni in an attempt to break the back of the Dauni Confederation. If they look unlikely to engage in a war, then we should consider arranging for one as a potential war with the Dauni is too risky with the Messappi uncommitted at our backs. The Dauni Confederation must be broken for the Eretrian League to be secure.

Finally, we should expand our navy further and work with Kerkyra to ensure the Adriatic remains as free of pirates as possible. Taking the fight to the pirates and burning their towns as needed.

Thoughts?
 
Breaking the Dauni may very well invite those peoples lurking in the fog of war in Central Italy to flood in and take their place. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. In any case Eretria lacks the sophisticated siege equipment needed to seize cities before being forced back home by winter, so prolonged campaigns against the Dauni are likely to be highly frustrating and indecisive as well as costly.
 
Cavalier said:
Breaking the Dauni may very well invite those peoples lurking in the fog of war in Central Italy to flood in and take their place. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. In any case Eretria lacks the sophisticated siege equipment needed to seize cities before being forced back home by winter, so prolonged campaigns against the Dauni are likely to be highly frustrating and indecisive as well as costly.
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Don't we have the Sacred Treasury to basically counteract that somewhat? We store away money so we can continue to fight longer than our opponents because whilst their economy needs them to withdraw after several years of combat, we can keep going for years longer using our savings
 
Breaking the Dauni should be done by splitting their confederation in two, that should hopefully keep them weak enough to not challenge us or our league and strong enough to serve as a buffer against other people. Taras is going to be an issue unless most of the citizens can be forced to leave, if we can force them to maybe Sicily where they can put pressure on the Barbaroi and be far enough from us to make them a non-issue. But when we break Taras we also need to break the Messappi lest we have the Dauni to the North and Messappi to the South. For the Messappi if Taras is broken then selling them to our Greek citiies in Italia and back in the mainland until their numbers are manageable as tributaries would be the best.
 
McLuvin said:
Don't we have the Sacred Treasury to basically counteract that somewhat? We store away money so we can continue to fight longer than our opponents because whilst their economy needs them to withdraw after several years of combat, we can keep going for years longer using our savings
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Look back at some of the wars Eretria fought and the associated costs of mobilizing and campaigning, and look at the cost @Cetashwayo cited for maintaining triremes in combat, and then tell me how long that a Treasury of a few hundred talents under constant pressure from people who want to spend it all will last. And the Dauni being an indigenous tribal people can round up their fighting-age males at a fraction of the cost of urban Greeks; they are merely constrained by the need to have the men around for planting and harvesting, which is outside the campaigning season anyway.
 
Breaking Taras is no small feat, considering it is one of the most important cities in the western Greek World, has the best harbour in Italy, and has double your population :V
 
Frankly, trying to compete navally right now with the richer and more established cities seems a waste of resources. We aren't going to be able to challenge Kerkyra and throw off the alliance with them any time soon, so we might as well accept that and settle for a small skilled naval force that gives us superiority and mobility over the barbaroi, relying upon the alliances to fend off Greeks.
The resources saved there we plough into our army and infrastructure.
 
Yeah, but what we really need to do is make sure the trains are always running on time so Mussolini can't rise to power.
 
Betraying Taras was probably a bad decision on our part. I can't remember which way I voted but whichever it was I'm regretting it.
 
Personally, I think we'll see a balance of power straining to be maintained. Here's why:

Daxtus is much less powerful than Arpus. But Daxtus is hosting Gamarusa, who is a threat to the hegemony Arpus created.

Meanwhile, Arpus is watching developments in Eretria, and angered by Daxtus sheltering Gamarusa.

Unfortunately for him, he'll have to decide who the larger threat to him is: Gamarusa or Eretria.

I think the fact that we let Arpus fight his recent war, war wariness in the Dauni, the destruction of Azetion, and our peace with Daxtus will stay his hand.

I'd like to use the time to strengthen our polis.
 
What was our betrayal toward Taras again?

Huh, perhaps I should go a reread before/when the next thread arrived. I've been forgetting a number of things, especially in regard to foreign politics.
 
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@Cetashwayo, I was reading about our laws, decisions ect. on the first page and came across something that's been bugging me for a bit. Our sacred band of lightly-armored hoplites are described both as Ekdromoi, Ekdramoi and Ekradamoi. Is this intentional?
 
Salbazier said:
What was our betrayal toward Taras again?

Huh, perhaps I should go a reread before/when the next thread arrived. I've been forgetting a number of things, especially in regard to foreign politics.
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We let Kerkyra establish a colony in Taras' barbarian backyard and did not crush it, which agitated the Messappii. Taras was, in turn, going through an upheaval with it's would-be ruler and aristos while the Messappii trashed the country side. Eretria decided to standby and watch, break ties with Taras while Kerkyra waited in our port menacingly, and then make a defensive pact with them.
 
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