Dorozhand
Banned
There are two POD's ITTL.
1) Hannibal manages to convince the Carthaginian council that his war is worth bending the state towards, and they decide to use the fleet to support him by blockading Roman ports and providing him with reinforcements and siege equipment.
2) Fabius dies before he can make his case about irregular warfare. The Romans try to raise one more army to defeat Hannibal, and it is annihilated like its predecessors.
After this, Hannibal besieges Rome and takes the city using the siege weapons and reinforcements provided from home. He goes on a killing spree and massacres or enslaves most of Rome's inhabitants, making good on his vow to destroy it. Capua replaces Rome as the principle Italian city, and the capital of the governate of Italy, which he puts in the charge of his brother, Hasdrubal. The rest of the peninsula would be subdued by the end of the decade, but unrest would pose a major problem.
Hannibal, after observing the situation in Italy, came to the conclusion that, in order to make the conquest stable, Carthage would have to grant the peoples ruled by the state the status of citizens equal to the Poeni. This greatly angered the council at home, but Hannibal's popularity was such that they relented and approved the action. It would be implemented and would work well in pacifying the Italian populace. Seeing the success of this reform, Hannibal then decided to work the concepts of the sacred band, and the new citizenship (as well as the intense personal loyalty that his mercenaries developed for him in Italy) to create the framework for a professional Punic army. He would use his new army, raised from Numidians, Iberians, Poeni, Capuans, Samnites, and various other ethnic groups under Carthaginian control, to launch two major campaigns. One to link Punic territory in Italy with Iberia, and one to conquer Dalmatia and Macedon.
The first campaign utilized the divide and conquer strategies learned during the conquest of Iberia, as well as the promise of citizenship, to subdue Gaul up to the Loire river. Hasdrubal would also lead a force from Italy that would conquer Massilia. Carthage would ally with the Aedui, allowing them the hegemonize much of the rest of gaul and act as a buffer state. The conquest was for the purpose of permanently linking Italy with Iberia, creating a defensible border, and realigning the politics of the Gallic tribes into a more favourable configuration.
After this, Hannibal would look to the east. Illyrian pirates were proving a hazard for Carthaginian trade from the Adriatic, so Dalmatia was subdued with help from the northern Iazyges (who moved further south ITTL and settled along the Danube). Carthage gave protection and some tribute to the Iazyges in exchange for their loyalty.
Feeling threatened by Carthaginian expansion, Macedon (who by this time has subdued all of mainland Greece) attacks Hannibal in Dalmatia, hoping to defeat him in battle and induce civil war in Carthage. His new professional army, bolstered by the Iazyges, annihilates the obsolete Macedonian phalanxes in battle after battle. Hannibal wisely took control of Greece, not by annexing, but by throwing off the Macedonian yoke and "freeing" the city-states to be tributary clients in reality completely at his mercy. The Dacians in the north would become enemies of Carthage, but Carthage would ally with the Bosphorans, who would distract them and act as a buffer along with the Iazyges. During both the Gallic campaign and this one, Hannibal was accompanied by his only son, Hamilcar II. He would teach him all the lessons that he learned, and would groom him to be a successor strong enough to brave the civil war that he knew would come after his death.
When Hannibal the Great finally dies in 165 BC, the council of Carthage, now free of his cult of personality, attempt to bring down the Barcas and roll back his reforms. Hamilcar II, who was mentored heavily by his father and accompanied him on campaigns, and the professional and loyal army defeat the mercenaries hastily hired by the council in the African mainland. Hamilcar II is popular among the Greeks, who either support him or revolt against Carthage entirely. Hamilcar, remembering what his father taught him (both about divide and conquer strategy, and the avoidance of unneccessary antagonizing actions), gives amnesty to, and recruits into the army, all rebels who turn themselves in, and uses the powerful sacred band to annihilate the primitive hoplites of the remaining Greek rebels. The cities in Africa that rebelled against him are not so fortunate. Their populations are enslaved and replaced by Poeni settlers (who, beginning under Hannibal, have been encouraged to settle throughout the state). During this time, the Numidians, divided by factions who rebelled and remained loyal, were absorbed under the direct administration of Carthage.
After the civil war, Hamilcar declares the council dissolved, and has himself crowned King of the Carthaginians.
Meanwhile, due to the lack of Roman influence in the mediterranean, and of a defeated Hannibal at his court, Antiochus III enthusiastically continues his advance into Egypt after the Battle of Panium. He decides to lead the army himself. Drunk with the dream of the Nile, his force becomes overstretched and he is encircled, defeated and captured by another Ptolemaic army raised completely from native elements. This, however, backfires spectacularly when the native egyptians of this army revolt against the now helpless Ptolemies after killing Antiochus and the captured Seleucids, and begin a new native dynasty.
During the chaos after the death of Antiochus, a Persian rebel army managed to bring down the Seleucids, establishing the Gotarzid Dynasty (named after the rebel leader Gotarzes), which made its capital the city of Nishapur. However, the Parthians would invade Persia later on and capture the indefensible Nishapur and much of the north and east. However, a member of the Gotarzid royal house would escape the capture of Nishapur and regroup the army in the south, defeating and checking the Parthians there. When further attacks on the Southern Gotarzids proved fruitless, the Parthians would expand north and eastwards toward lake Balkhash and around the Aral Sea, growing rich off the trade with China. At first the Northern Gotarzids fought against the Carthaginians, who would conquer Gotarzid territory in Mesopotamia and Arabia during this time, but when the Parthians invaded they allied with Carthage. Carthage would also ally with Armenia against Parthia, which would fight a proxy war with the Parthian client Media Atropatene.
The Southern Gotarzids would rebuild the city of Persepolis and make it their capital, and would usher in an era of great cultural, demographic, and technological development in Persia.
During the collapse of the Seleucids, Carthage under King Hamilcar II and his successors would slowly move eastwards, using the feared Sacred Band infantry and cavalry to subdue the cities and states in Anatolia and the Levant, while consolidating power in the western mediterranean. For a century, they would face no serious rivals, and the Barcid Dynasty would be blessed with a series of capable Kings.
During a civil war between the supporters of the king and an usurper in the first century BCE, the Germans poured through the Alps into Italy, and Carthage was dealt a heavy blow. They sacked cities and greatly reduced the wealth of north Italy, and established small petty kingdoms. Carthage would, however, under the great general-king Gisco II, beat them back across the mountains after a series of bloody campaigns known as the German Wars, and establish thereafter a permanent presence north of the Alps, building a series of forts in the passes.
Carthage would, after the German Wars, resume its eastward expansion. They would subdue the Garamantes, learning many of their secrets of irrigation (the water hadn't dried up yet), and would use this knowledge to establish a deeper presence along the north African coast, squeezing more agricultural bounty out of Mauretania and Tripolitania. Carthaginian colonists would establish settlements even beyond the Atlas mountains. Building upon Carthage's already rich naval tradition, navigators would reach the Canary Islands, and establish settlements as far west as OTL Tarfaya. The conquest of the Garamantes, extensive settlement in Libya, and the general agricultural explosion that ocurred at the time would allow King Hannibal III to lead a successful invasion of the decaying Kingdom of Egypt around the time of OTL's birth of Jesus. Hannibal IV would declare himself Pharaoh after the completion of the conquest. Expansion into Mesopotamia and south towards Qatar along the Persian Gulf, and friendly relations with the Southern Gotarzids, would allow Carthaginian ships to reach India easily. Carthage's powerful navy would dominate the northern Indian Ocean. This explosion of wealth would lead to a golden age of splendour and civilization.
Using the massive wealth of the empire, King Hannibal V built a new capital city in the region of Carthage's ancestral homeland. Named "Great City" in Punic, it would eventually gain a population of around one million, a figure no other city in the world would reach until much later in history. Carthage remained capital of the western half of the Empire, and administered the territories from Spain to Illyria, but the eastern capital would be the residence of the King, and would administer the much wealthier areas of the east. This would cause problems with civil wars later on, but in the short term, it made managing the realm much easier.
The Punic Empire at its height around 75 CE
Orange - Punic Empire
Light Orange - Punic Clients (Aedui, Iagyges, Armenia)
Deep Red - Nervii
Green - Redoni
Cyan - Caletes
Grey - Senones
Teal - Remi
Light Blue - Boii
Purple - Dacian Kingdom
Brown - Kingdom of the Bosphorans
Magenta - Arsacid Dynasty of Persia (Parthians)
Light Magenta - Media Atropatene (Arsacid Client)
Blue - Southern Gotarzid Dynasty of Persia
1) Hannibal manages to convince the Carthaginian council that his war is worth bending the state towards, and they decide to use the fleet to support him by blockading Roman ports and providing him with reinforcements and siege equipment.
2) Fabius dies before he can make his case about irregular warfare. The Romans try to raise one more army to defeat Hannibal, and it is annihilated like its predecessors.
After this, Hannibal besieges Rome and takes the city using the siege weapons and reinforcements provided from home. He goes on a killing spree and massacres or enslaves most of Rome's inhabitants, making good on his vow to destroy it. Capua replaces Rome as the principle Italian city, and the capital of the governate of Italy, which he puts in the charge of his brother, Hasdrubal. The rest of the peninsula would be subdued by the end of the decade, but unrest would pose a major problem.
Hannibal, after observing the situation in Italy, came to the conclusion that, in order to make the conquest stable, Carthage would have to grant the peoples ruled by the state the status of citizens equal to the Poeni. This greatly angered the council at home, but Hannibal's popularity was such that they relented and approved the action. It would be implemented and would work well in pacifying the Italian populace. Seeing the success of this reform, Hannibal then decided to work the concepts of the sacred band, and the new citizenship (as well as the intense personal loyalty that his mercenaries developed for him in Italy) to create the framework for a professional Punic army. He would use his new army, raised from Numidians, Iberians, Poeni, Capuans, Samnites, and various other ethnic groups under Carthaginian control, to launch two major campaigns. One to link Punic territory in Italy with Iberia, and one to conquer Dalmatia and Macedon.
The first campaign utilized the divide and conquer strategies learned during the conquest of Iberia, as well as the promise of citizenship, to subdue Gaul up to the Loire river. Hasdrubal would also lead a force from Italy that would conquer Massilia. Carthage would ally with the Aedui, allowing them the hegemonize much of the rest of gaul and act as a buffer state. The conquest was for the purpose of permanently linking Italy with Iberia, creating a defensible border, and realigning the politics of the Gallic tribes into a more favourable configuration.
After this, Hannibal would look to the east. Illyrian pirates were proving a hazard for Carthaginian trade from the Adriatic, so Dalmatia was subdued with help from the northern Iazyges (who moved further south ITTL and settled along the Danube). Carthage gave protection and some tribute to the Iazyges in exchange for their loyalty.
Feeling threatened by Carthaginian expansion, Macedon (who by this time has subdued all of mainland Greece) attacks Hannibal in Dalmatia, hoping to defeat him in battle and induce civil war in Carthage. His new professional army, bolstered by the Iazyges, annihilates the obsolete Macedonian phalanxes in battle after battle. Hannibal wisely took control of Greece, not by annexing, but by throwing off the Macedonian yoke and "freeing" the city-states to be tributary clients in reality completely at his mercy. The Dacians in the north would become enemies of Carthage, but Carthage would ally with the Bosphorans, who would distract them and act as a buffer along with the Iazyges. During both the Gallic campaign and this one, Hannibal was accompanied by his only son, Hamilcar II. He would teach him all the lessons that he learned, and would groom him to be a successor strong enough to brave the civil war that he knew would come after his death.
When Hannibal the Great finally dies in 165 BC, the council of Carthage, now free of his cult of personality, attempt to bring down the Barcas and roll back his reforms. Hamilcar II, who was mentored heavily by his father and accompanied him on campaigns, and the professional and loyal army defeat the mercenaries hastily hired by the council in the African mainland. Hamilcar II is popular among the Greeks, who either support him or revolt against Carthage entirely. Hamilcar, remembering what his father taught him (both about divide and conquer strategy, and the avoidance of unneccessary antagonizing actions), gives amnesty to, and recruits into the army, all rebels who turn themselves in, and uses the powerful sacred band to annihilate the primitive hoplites of the remaining Greek rebels. The cities in Africa that rebelled against him are not so fortunate. Their populations are enslaved and replaced by Poeni settlers (who, beginning under Hannibal, have been encouraged to settle throughout the state). During this time, the Numidians, divided by factions who rebelled and remained loyal, were absorbed under the direct administration of Carthage.
After the civil war, Hamilcar declares the council dissolved, and has himself crowned King of the Carthaginians.
Meanwhile, due to the lack of Roman influence in the mediterranean, and of a defeated Hannibal at his court, Antiochus III enthusiastically continues his advance into Egypt after the Battle of Panium. He decides to lead the army himself. Drunk with the dream of the Nile, his force becomes overstretched and he is encircled, defeated and captured by another Ptolemaic army raised completely from native elements. This, however, backfires spectacularly when the native egyptians of this army revolt against the now helpless Ptolemies after killing Antiochus and the captured Seleucids, and begin a new native dynasty.
During the chaos after the death of Antiochus, a Persian rebel army managed to bring down the Seleucids, establishing the Gotarzid Dynasty (named after the rebel leader Gotarzes), which made its capital the city of Nishapur. However, the Parthians would invade Persia later on and capture the indefensible Nishapur and much of the north and east. However, a member of the Gotarzid royal house would escape the capture of Nishapur and regroup the army in the south, defeating and checking the Parthians there. When further attacks on the Southern Gotarzids proved fruitless, the Parthians would expand north and eastwards toward lake Balkhash and around the Aral Sea, growing rich off the trade with China. At first the Northern Gotarzids fought against the Carthaginians, who would conquer Gotarzid territory in Mesopotamia and Arabia during this time, but when the Parthians invaded they allied with Carthage. Carthage would also ally with Armenia against Parthia, which would fight a proxy war with the Parthian client Media Atropatene.
The Southern Gotarzids would rebuild the city of Persepolis and make it their capital, and would usher in an era of great cultural, demographic, and technological development in Persia.
During the collapse of the Seleucids, Carthage under King Hamilcar II and his successors would slowly move eastwards, using the feared Sacred Band infantry and cavalry to subdue the cities and states in Anatolia and the Levant, while consolidating power in the western mediterranean. For a century, they would face no serious rivals, and the Barcid Dynasty would be blessed with a series of capable Kings.
During a civil war between the supporters of the king and an usurper in the first century BCE, the Germans poured through the Alps into Italy, and Carthage was dealt a heavy blow. They sacked cities and greatly reduced the wealth of north Italy, and established small petty kingdoms. Carthage would, however, under the great general-king Gisco II, beat them back across the mountains after a series of bloody campaigns known as the German Wars, and establish thereafter a permanent presence north of the Alps, building a series of forts in the passes.
Carthage would, after the German Wars, resume its eastward expansion. They would subdue the Garamantes, learning many of their secrets of irrigation (the water hadn't dried up yet), and would use this knowledge to establish a deeper presence along the north African coast, squeezing more agricultural bounty out of Mauretania and Tripolitania. Carthaginian colonists would establish settlements even beyond the Atlas mountains. Building upon Carthage's already rich naval tradition, navigators would reach the Canary Islands, and establish settlements as far west as OTL Tarfaya. The conquest of the Garamantes, extensive settlement in Libya, and the general agricultural explosion that ocurred at the time would allow King Hannibal III to lead a successful invasion of the decaying Kingdom of Egypt around the time of OTL's birth of Jesus. Hannibal IV would declare himself Pharaoh after the completion of the conquest. Expansion into Mesopotamia and south towards Qatar along the Persian Gulf, and friendly relations with the Southern Gotarzids, would allow Carthaginian ships to reach India easily. Carthage's powerful navy would dominate the northern Indian Ocean. This explosion of wealth would lead to a golden age of splendour and civilization.
Using the massive wealth of the empire, King Hannibal V built a new capital city in the region of Carthage's ancestral homeland. Named "Great City" in Punic, it would eventually gain a population of around one million, a figure no other city in the world would reach until much later in history. Carthage remained capital of the western half of the Empire, and administered the territories from Spain to Illyria, but the eastern capital would be the residence of the King, and would administer the much wealthier areas of the east. This would cause problems with civil wars later on, but in the short term, it made managing the realm much easier.
The Punic Empire at its height around 75 CE
Orange - Punic Empire
Light Orange - Punic Clients (Aedui, Iagyges, Armenia)
Deep Red - Nervii
Green - Redoni
Cyan - Caletes
Grey - Senones
Teal - Remi
Light Blue - Boii
Purple - Dacian Kingdom
Brown - Kingdom of the Bosphorans
Magenta - Arsacid Dynasty of Persia (Parthians)
Light Magenta - Media Atropatene (Arsacid Client)
Blue - Southern Gotarzid Dynasty of Persia
Last edited:
.