Seleucid Empire

The campaign brief

"Fortune favours the bold." – Simonides of Keos

Roughly two decades before the battle of Chaironeia, a noblewoman called Laodike gave birth to her son in the small town Oropos in Macedonia. These days, one can hear the stories that Apollo himself, the god of music and the sun, was the true father of this child. But officially it was the son of Antiochos, a man of the army who hailed from the mountain area of Orestis. That boy was named Seleukos, and with his parents holding close relations to the royal court, he enjoyed a formidable education. Once Seleukos became a teenager, he served as a squire to king Philip II, and upon becoming a man, joined the new royal battle guard, the Hypaspists. After the battle of Chaironeia and the murder of Philip, the Hypaspists accompanied the demigod Alexander on his brave and magnificent adventures in the East. The red-haired hero brought down the empire of Persia, and the Hypaspists followed him through the endless deserts into India. Seleukos emerged not only as an impressive soldier, but also proved his abilities to command and organise. Thus, it was no surprise when the godly Alexander elected him for his elite Companions, the Hetairoi. At the battle on the river called Hydaspes in the mythical land of India, Seleukos commanded part of the right wing of the army and defeated the enemy's monstrous elephants.

Upon their return to Susa, Seleukos married Apame, a woman whose beauty grandly excelled that of her native Sogdia, a rocky badland in the wild northeast. Apame gave birth to Antiochos, the first and most beloved son of Seleukos. It was at this time that the gods on Olympus felt that Alexander had done enough in the world of the mortals, and he died in the palace of Babylon. A most ambitious and very Greek competition between his generals emerged, and Seleukos took part in the early Diadoch wars on the side of the royal regent Perdikkas, but later found an esteemed friend in Ptolemaios, who had become the pharaoh of Egypt. Together they put up a fierce resistance against the mighty Antigonos Monophtalmos, who only had one eye, but the ambition to rule the whole world. They defeated his young son Demetrios at Gaza in 312 BC and Ptolemaios sent his friend eastwards, to reclaim his rule over Babylon. Accompanied by only a small contingent of elite soldiers, Seleukos was joyfully welcomed in that ancient city, and it was then that he laid the foundation for his own empire.

When Antigonos heard of these events, he was furious and started a war against Babylon the following year. But the courageous Seleukos refused to give in and repelled the attacks of the One-Eyed time and again. After his victory, Seleukos advanced eastwards and was acclaimed as the new ruler of these Eastern people, also signing a worthy treaty with Sandrokottos (whom his own people call Chandragupta), the lord of the Indians. The brilliant Seleukos gave him empty deserts in return for 500 terrible war elephants. With those, he strengthened his army and then returned to the West, where he joined Ptolemaios and Lysimachos at the battle of Ipsos in 302 BC. In this heroic engagement, his elephants held off Demetrios Poliorketes' famed cavalry and Antigonos was finally killed. While Demetrios became a refugee and Seleukos was able to annex wide parts of Asia Minor and northern Phoenicia into his dominion, sadly a quarrel emerged between him and his friend, the Pharaoh. Both men, with only the best intentions, laid claim on the strategically important land of Koile Syria. For now, they settled their conflict peacefully, but that did not solve the problem in the long term.

In 286 BC he captured Demetrios and turned on Lysimachos, his last remaining foe, who ruled over his own little empire in Thrace. While Seleukos assembled his troops, rather cheerless news arrived from Alexandria, where the great Ptolemaois had died. His son Ptolemaios II succeeded him as Pharaoh, but his elder son Ptolemaios Keraunos was expelled. Upon arriving in Asia Minor, Seleukos decided to take Keraunos with him, thereby establishing a rather disturbed relationship with Ptolemaios II. The Seleucid Army met Lysimachos in battle at Kouroupedion in 281 BC, and both kings, who had campaigned from Macedon to India and back, and then fought endless further wars over the decades, rode into battle as old men. Seleukos won a decisive victory and Lysimachos paid with his life, which ended after 80 exhausting years. Seleukos now only had one last dream: to return to his native Macedon and hopefully unite it with his empire in the East. But when Keraunos realised what the price was, he betrayed him. The murder of Seleukos, who died, 77 years of age, after having done and achieved more in his life than most men could ever dream of, sent shockwaves through the Hellenistic world.

His son Antiochos thus faced a more than formidable challenge to keep the empire together when he inherited the kingship. Revolts broke out in Syria and Asia Minor; Bithynia and Cappadocia asserted their independence and Keraunos ruled in Macedon. To make bad matters worse, the Gauls ravaged Greece and the Bithynian dastard king invited them into Asia. Not fearing the ferocious Barbarians, Antiochos rode into battle and trampled the Celts with his mighty elephants. Seeing his rival king busy in the North, Ptolemaios II seized the chance and betrayed the old friendship of their fathers to invade Koile Syria only a few months after the Elephant Battle. Bold campaigns from both sides eventually failed, and a year ago Antiochos had to settle for peace with his most powerful foe. Now Damascus and the adjacent regions have fallen into the hands of our enemies, Cappadocia and Bithynia had to be forfeited and the Galatians have settled in central Anatolia.

But Antiochos possesses the greatest kingdom in the known world, and an army made up of the finest Macedonian and Greek soldiers, including the Hetairoi and Hypaspists, but also a vast reserve of native warriors and - of course! - the great herd of elephants who carried the day against the Galatians five years ago. His son has just come of age, the merchants of Antiocheia often travel far into the lands of India to bring the finest luxuries of the world to the court, and Antigonos Gonatas, a friend of Antiochos and rival to Ptolemaios II, now rules as king of Macedonia. The gods still hold a bright future for the Seleucid dynasty, but Antiochos must be wary of his enemies, internal as well as external, and wait for the right moment to strike and reclaim the lost lands in Syria and Asia Minor. May he be guided by Zeus to victory!