Interlude-Scenes From Elsewhere II

Ptolemy I Soter, Basileus of Egypt, Pharoah, He of the Two Ladies, He of Sedge and Bee, and a number of other titles he hadn't realized he had signed up for when he decided to adopt Egyptian customs of rulership to ease his reign was a troubled old man. At 72 years of age, he was perhaps the oldest of the remaining original Diadochi. Of his contemporaries, most were dead in the wars, Lysimachus was captured and in Thracian custody, Seleucis was facing a revolt in Bactria and India, and Phileatarus was the ruler of just Pergamon and a small slice of Asia Minor, relegated to being a subordinate for his entire reign. You would think that outliving most of his rivals and being in a better position than those that yet remained would bring a sense of peace, but this was not so for Ptolemy.

"Heavy lies the head that wears the crown. Sometimes, I wonder how you did it, Alexandros." Sighed the old King.

Indeed, Ptolemy had problems that Megas Alexandros never needed to deal with. Chief among them, his sons. Ptolemy's eldest surviving sons were both named Ptolemy, but his eldest had been given a soubriquet by his officers, Ptolemy Keraunos, the thunderbolt. His younger brother was currently just Ptolemy. The problem was that his two eldest sons did not get along. Ptolemy I Soter could not see any power-sharing agreement between the 2 after his death lasting for very long. He did what he could to encourage cooperation amongst the pair, but they did not heed his words often or for very long.

The brewing succession crisis was not his only worry, however. His stepson, Magas of Cyrene had recently taken the position of Governor over Cyrenaica. This would ordinarily be business as usual, giving a member of the Royal Family an out-of-the-way province so they could not contest the succession further than his eldest sons already were doing. This time, however, it seemed as if Magas' Ambition was being stoked by advisors from the Cyrenaican Pentapolis.

Ptolemy's agents had heard troubling rumors that some of his stepson's local advisors were urging him to push for even more autonomy for Cyrenaica. The province was already semi-autonomous. Ophelias had run it practically as a client state more than as an integrated province of Egypt. If Magas gave into his advisors, Ptolemy had no doubts that 1 of 2 things would happen, depending on his response. Either Ptolemy gave Cyrenaica more autonomy, making it a de jure client state, which would embolden the Cyrenaicans to ask for even more concessions later, or he denied them, which may well lead to a revolt.

Neither option was good for Egypt, but the wars with Seleucis over territories in Syria and Asia Minor had depleted Egypt's forces and coffers. The army and treasury needed time to recover before Ptolemy could countenance a campaign against his stepson. That time may be gained by allowing Cyrenaica de jure client state status, but if the next crisis arrived after he had died, the friction between his sons may be too much to weather a Cyrenaican bid for independence. Their stepbrother would certainly use a potential civil war to his advantage.

"I have to find some way to get those 2 to work together. The only question is how?" Pondered Ptolemy.

In the end, Ptolemy I Soter decided the best way to get his fractious sons to work together was to force them to do so by law. He rewrote his will the day after pondering the issue, mandating a period of Co-rule for no less than 10 years between Ptolemy Keraunos and his younger brother. If this did not happen, the throne would pass to their half-brother Meleager. Meleager was currently serving as Governor of Cyprus and had given no indication that he wanted the throne, which had caused Ptolemy to leave him out of the succession. This, of course, made him the perfect candidate to serve as the stick for his 2 oldest sons to cooperate. And if worst came to worst and that cooperation broke down? Meleager would serve just as well to administrate the entire Kingdom.

After all, he had managed to do well enough in Cyprus. . .

XXXX

Agathocles had been sent a letter by Pyrrhus. The boy had done it! Not only had he managed to conquer the majority of southern Illyria, but he had brought the Labatae to heel, made them a client, and forced them to give up his boy! When the missive arrived, Agathocles felt like jumping for joy. The only reason he hadn't was that his age meant the winter often made his knees twinge. Old age made slaves of us all eventually.

"I'm not in Hades domain yet. With my son recovered, I have time enough to give the boy lessons he'll need to be King when I'm gone!" Laughed Agathocles.

Indeed, his plan had Pyrrhus not recovered Arcathagus had been to restore Syracuse's democracy in his will. If his dynasty could not continue as king, he figured he may as well give the city back to the people. Thankfully, this wouldn't be necessary any longer. Now that his son would be coming home once the seas had calmed from their winter wrath.

"I suppose I'll need to prepare for a wedding as well." Mused Agathocles.

It was true, he had promised Pyrrus Korkyra, Leukos, Paxoi, and the other Ionian Islands he had captured as a dowry for Lanassa, all if the boy could bring Arcathagus back to him. Now that Pyrrhus was fulfilling his end, preparations needed to be made for Agathocles to fulfill his. His daughter Lanassa was quite the beauty, he knew. Kings and Generals would fall over themselves for her hand, much less the Ionian Island dowry. She deserved a big wedding, he would see to it that she received it.

Climbing the stairs of the palace to his daughter's rooms, he knocked twice on the cedar door to her chambers. A maid opened it.

"I have to speak to my daughter." He said. The maid bowed and moved out of the way.

Inside, Lanassa was reclining on a divan, enjoying a platter of soft cheese and a cup of wine. She sat up when she noticed him enter.

"Father? Is everything all right?" She asked.

"Everything is better than all right, the ruddy bastard did it! Your brother is coming home safe and unharmed!" Grinned Agathocles.

"That's wonderful news! Little Arcathagus must have been quite scared, being held by those pirates." Replied Lanassa.

"No one is going to need to worry about Labatae pirates anymore. Pyrrhus brought those dogs to heel. He conquered the lot of them." Grinned Agathocles.

At that, Lanassa pivoted topics. "What is he like? I had heard he was a philanderer." She asked with a frown.

"He was, but something changed in him after his first wife's death. He hasn't touched a woman since, or so my man in Ambracia says. He threw his Illyrian mistress out of the city! As to what he's like. He's clever, courageous, and quite the likable fellow. They say he remembers every officer he's ever served with, which is more than I can say for most kings and generals. His people love him and some say even his enemies seem to respect him." Replied Agathocles.

"He sounds too good to be true." Frowned Lanassa.

"Some of that is probably propaganda, but I can damned well vouch for his cleverness and likability. You could do a lot worse, daughter of mine." Shrugged Agathocles.

"I suppose I will find out soon enough. We are to be married after all." Replied Lanassa. The conversation then pivoted to wedding arrangements. Despite Lanassa's questions, the tone was joyous. Arcathagus had been saved after all.

Family was important. . .

XXXX

AN: Ptolemy I Soter's succession was a mess IOTL. Ptolemy II Kerounos, Ptolemy II Philadelphos, and Meleager I all took the throne for varying amounts of time and plotted against each other. Ptolemy II Philadelphos even took his sister for his bride, after she'd been married to his half-brother Ptolemy II Kerounos.

It was some real game of thrones shit.

Here Ptolemy I Soter is actively trying to force his sons to work together. We'll see how that works out for him.

As for Magas, he was Ptolemy I Soter's stepson by his 4th wife Berenice. Ptolemy granted him the governorship of Cyrenaica IOTL on the death of his old war buddy Ophelias, who had been Governor before. Cyrenaica was governed loosely from Alexandria, giving a lot of power to the local governor. Almost as much as if they were a client rather than a province.

IOTL Magas succeeded in breaking off from Egypt. Will he do so here? Read and find out.

As to Agathocles, IOTL when he died with no proper heirs, he would indeed give Syracuse back to the people. Here, he doesn't have to.

IOTL Lanassa had issues with Pyrrhus being a philanderer and having an Illyrian Mistress. You'll recall back when, that the SI sent said mistress away and resolved to be monogamous so as not to fall into the same pitfalls.