H15

Agathocles and the rest of the wedding guests stayed a few more days after the actual wedding. I mostly used the time with them to set up various trade agreements. Sea silk was a big export, but so was salt, olive oil, salted anchovies, and metalwork. My blast furnace complexes could turn out high-quality iron tools and equipment instead of steel for export purposes and I managed to bargain for surplus iron ore from Zeno of Alexandria, the ambassador of Ptolemaic Egypt to feed them. It turns out that Ptolemy was very interested in timber for shipbuilding and sea silk for lightweight clothing. It seems his Kngdm being primarily desert limited the amount of timber his navy had access to and the heat meant that lightweight textiles were in high demand. From the City of Taras in Magna Graeca, I managed to set up a trade deal of Iron Goods in exchange for Calamine they mined in the mountains of their hinterland. I could use the calamine to make Brass, which would give me another trade good and possibly allow me to jump-cut the Romans by stealing their Brass-making process some 50 years before they figured it out. From Akragas, Heraclea Minoa, Messana, Locri, Region, and the other Greek cities of Magna Graeca, I traded iron goods, salt, wine, and sea silk for silver. From the Lysimachids, I traded olive oil, salted anchovies, dyed wool, iron goods, and wine for the gold and silver of Thrace and Dacia. The Seleucids traded a bevy of exotic eastern goods for my Iron Goods and Salt. The Aetolian League bought iron goods, salted anchovies, and some surplus grain, Athens wanted our sea silk and green dye, even Sparta bought iron goods for their army. I even sold wool and olive oil to Macedon, who I planned to invade.

All in all, I made several lucrative trade deals with the majority of local powers. Only Rome and Carthage, who did not send ambassadors to my wedding, did not get any benefit. Over the next months, I watched as the fruit of those deals came pouring in. My treasury, which had already refiled from trade with my new clients, now exploded with coins from all over the world from taxes on trade. Not just that, but myrrh and frankincense from the Seleucids came in on a regular basis and my merchants were doing a brisk business with the temples of various gods who paid good coin to acquire the rare and valuable oils and incense. This allowed various festival ceremonies, such as the Metageitnia of Apollo, the Heraclea, the Genesia, Oschophoria, and more to be conducted with a certain level of grandeur that had not previously been available. The calamine from Taras was crushed, powdered, and mixed with charcoal and copper in a crucible to make Brass. This process was slow going, as I did not have dedicated facilities for it, though funds from my bursting treasury had been applied toward building an annex to both of my blast furnace complexes that would handle just brass-making. It would be February before they were finished, however, as, by the time I sent the funds, labor was needed for the planting season more than it was for new construction processes, and winter would also slow the work.

Speaking of planting, my heavy plows, horse collars, and 3 field rotation had been taken up by many new farmers and landowners in both Epirus proper, and my clients. This increased the amount of land under cultivation by a factor of 3, mostly from the nobility who owned large farms and estates worked mostly by slaves, but also a smattering of poor tenants. It was enough of an increase that I worried about milling capacity. We didn't have enough mills of the right type to mill all the grain we were producing, even with trade and storage. This in turn got me thinking about another uplift project I had been putting off until I needed it. Windmills. They could mill more grain, faster, than the current treadwheel-powered grain mills we were using. It also put me in mind of watermills which would help power trip-hammers for my growing forge complexes. Both would require a carpenter to consult on the designs.

I once more summoned Eumenes, but the old man had to recommend one of his former apprentices for the job, as he was quite busy with building heavy plows at the time. Aeson was a young man, originally from Panticapeum in the Bosporan Kingdom who had been sent to Ambracia to live with a distant uncle when his father died in a war with the Scythians when he was only 7 years old. His uncle had arranged an apprenticeship with Eumenes a year later. Now in his 20's, Aeson ran a carpenter's shop of his own in Casope, not too many days ride away from Ambracia. I sent for the man and he arrived 4 days later. Eumenes' recommendation was not given in vain. Aeson proved to be an astute judge of projects. He took my papyrus drawings of wind and watermills and returned the next day with corrections on diagrams done mostly by memory, and even a few sites he thought would be suitable for mills in the area. I gave him funding and he got to work hiring crews and buying materials. By the time the Harvest came around, we would have several windmills up and running and the forge complex in Ambracia would get a waterwheel-powered trip hammer by March, using a tidal mill set up in the gulf.

As to military affairs, production continued apace on steel equipment. My forge complexes in Ambracia and Passarn now had multiple blast furnaces and at least half of them were dedicated to domestic steel production for my army and those of my trusted clients. Through correspondence with the City Fathers of Epidamnos and Assembly of Nymphaion, I learned that their armies had been completely re-equipped with steel armor, shields, and weapons by the end of the year, as well as hard tree saddles and stirrups. They were still using Iron javelins, though, as they did not want to waste steel on disposable weapons. Nymphaon had even boosted its numbers from 3,000 to 4,000 with immigrant Greeks from Polai in modern-day Istria. Apparently, the Venetii had attacked the city with a large enough army that its inhabitants fled with a full third of the army. Because most of the Greek Colonies between Nymphaon and Polai were Founded by Doric Greeks and Polai was founded by Ionian Greeks, Nymphaon was the only Greek city they ran into that would shelter them.

The Byllones meanwhile had managed to replenish and re-equip their forces, as well as continued to Hellenize their army. Of their 3,000 troops, they had managed to convert 2,400 over to Hellenic troop types, though in doing so, they had needed to replace a few hundred troops that were not up to snuff. Astios reported he now had 300 Phalangites, 1,000 Thureophorai, 1,000 Peltasts, 100 Companion Cavalry, and 900 Illyrian Noble Cavalry. Unfortunately, they had not managed to increase their ranks thanks to the hiccups in converting over to Hellenic troop types. Meanwhile, Epulon and the Taulantii chose to focus on re-equipping and refilling troops lost to Bardyllis' invasion force, though he only managed to add another 2,500 troops to his pre-intervention strength. He had 3,500 Thureophorai, 6,000 Illyrian Spearmen, 2,000 Illyrian Slingers, 1,000 Peltasts, and 1,000 Illyrian Noble Cavalry, all equipped with my steel, hard saddles, and stirrups. The equipment alone wouldn't make up for the lack of discipline in the Illyrian unit types, though, nor would it make up for the green-ness of his replacements.

Of my less trustworthy clients, King Artas of the Rump Labatae could only get his forces to 5,000 troops, half of the Labatae's pre-war strength. Most of these were Iillyrian-style troops as well, Illyrian slingers, and Illyrian spearmen. He had managed to get some of his Illyrian noble cavalry and some of his Illyrian Spearmen to change over to Companion Cavalry and Thureophorai, but only around 300 of each. He currently had 300 Thureophoarai, 1,400 Illyrian Spearmen, 2,000 Illyrian Slingers, 300 Companion Cavalry, and 700 Illyrian Noble Cavalry. He did not have any of my steel or hard tree saddles and stirrups, but I did send him enough high-quality export iron equipment to equip his Hellenic-style units. It was the best he was going to get until I was convinced he had Hellenized his people enough. King Agron of the Penestae didn't even get that. Oh sure, he sent reports, trade, and tribute, but I couldn't trust him at all. He had fought against us and unlike Artas had little love for us or our ways, having submitted only because it was either that or die. I couldn't even trust that his report of having 10,000 troops was accurate. I was fairly certain he could have mustered around 2,000 more even without the agricultural uplift I had sent him. According to his report, he had 1,000 Illyrian axemen, 4,000 Illyrian spearmen, 3,000 Illyrian slingers, and 2,000 Illyrian Noble Cavalry, most of whom were stationed close to the border with what was left of Bardyllis' Kingdom. Who knew what the truth was?

For my own forces, not only was I up to 22,000 forces in Epirus proper, but I also had gained control of a further 7,000 troops from the various Islands had been given as Dowry for my wife for a total of 29,000 Greek troops. I was now up to 11,000 Phalangites, 4,000 Hypaspists, 7,000 Thureophorai, 4,000 Peltasts, and 3,000 companion cavalry. I also had 120 Triremes, 40 Quadriremes, and 10 Dromons of my own navy and could call on a further 60 triremes, 10 Quadremes, and 90 Illyrian Liburnians from my clients. And I would only grow more powerful as increased harvests and trade made way for increased population growth for recruitment and supply.

Speaking of Lanassa, she joined me at court and helped me to manage the various nobles, ambassadors, and landowners. Most of them already loved me, but a few of the Ambassadors seemed to be diplomatically antagonistic. Notably, the Roman Ambassador, a man named Sextus Julius Libo seemed to delight in comparing my kingdom and court unfavorably to Rome. He had recently arrived to meet with me on behalf of the Roman Senate and was quite possibly the worst person they could have sent, though wth the renewed war in Etruria after Rome withdrew last year, and the Samnite raids into Latium, they may be running low on more senor patricians for the job. The man had nothing but disdain for the institution of monarchy and seemed to view all Greeks as intellectual, smooth-talking, and utterly unpossessed of martial qualities. He constantly talked up the Roman army and his time as military tribune during the Second Samnite War in the army of Lucius Postumius Magellus, who won that war for Rome at Bovianum. I bore the man's snide demeanor and backhanded digs with a sort of detached stoicism. I told myself that he'd see his precious legions get beaten by Greeks when I eventually went to war with Rome. Unfortunately, Lanassa was not so restrained.

"Ambassador, you constantly talk about Roman martial might. I admit as a woman, I am not well versed in Military History and would like to know more. You say Rome crushed these Samnites utterly some years back?" She asked innocently. I knew she was winding up to something by the tone of voice and braced myself.

"Indeed, at Bovianum we crushed the best part of their strength and took the town, forcing them to sign a peace. With one stroke, the Legions of Lucius Postumius Magellus avenged the defeat at the Caudine Forks and allowed the Republic to annex much of the Samnite territory." Grinned Sextus Julius Libo, puffing his chest out with pride.

"And yet you are fighting a war with them again? One that began not 6 years after their utter defeat?" Asked Lanassa.

"The Samnites are foolish. Hill barbarians who do not know when they are conquered. They will not last long." Scowled Sextus Julius Libo. The ass kept digging himself deeper, I could tell Lanassa had smelled blood and the Roman didn't even know he was in trouble.

"They have lasted almost 3 years, beaten one of your armies and sacked one of your cities. Is that not long enough?" Asked Lanassa.

"You have no experience with the Samnites, being Greek. I would not expect you to know about their stubbornness." Scoffed Sextus Julius Libo.

"Perhaps not, but here in Epirus, we have our own form of stubborn hill barbarians, the Illyrian Tribes. Yet my husband subjugated many of them in a single campaign. What remains of the Illyrians in the vicinity are either clients of ours or have fallen into infighting that shows no sign of stopping. Yet you constantly say we Greeks have no martial qualities compared to you Romans. I must confess to being at a loss as to how this can be so if we have managed to subjugate our stubborn hill barbarians so utterly in a single campaign, while it seems to be taking you Romans so long to do the same with yours. But then, I am only a woman not versed in matters military." Replied Lanassa, smirking at the pompous Roman condescendingly.

Sextus Julius Libo sputtered at my wife's insinuation, his face turning red for a brief moment before he replied. "How like a Greek to twist things so with a silvered tongue. King Pyrrhus, is this how you let your women behave in Epirus? Perhaps you are not so different from those barbarians you have subjugated after all. I hear they let their women speak out of turn, and even rule their petty kingdoms." He spat. That brought me into the argument and I was not pleased about that.

"You may certainly think so, Ambassador, but at least we do not let our tongues wag ungoverned by reason. My wife is a Queen, to be treated with due respect, but more than that she has a point. For all your bluster and stereotypes, you have not defeated your enemies yet. Perhaps you may well do so soon enough, but not yet. I would think in light of that fact, Roman ambassadors would wish to make more friends and not more enemies." I rebuked with a frown.

That seemed to cause the Ambassador to force himself to calm down. Several deep breaths later, Sextus Julius Libo spoke again. "Apologies, King Pyrrhus. I am simply not used to Epirote wine and the climate in Ambracia seems to have stirred a fever in my blood." He said.

"Perhaps then you should withdraw to your residence for a rest? If you wish, I can move our meetings to my Hunting Lodge in the mountains? It is quite brisk up there, which may help cool your blood." I replied.

"Perhaps it might, but I shall return to my residence for the moment and we can start fresh tomorrow." Admitted Sextus Julius Libo, taking the out I had provided him to save face.

I turned to Lanassa after he had left and said, "You did not have to do that."

"I am your wife, Pyrrhus. What sort of Queen would I be if I let you sit there and take his insults like that? It would have done nothing good for your stress levels." She replied.

"Thank you. I mean it." I said, smiling.

"I can think of one way you can thank me." She grinned impishly.

"Oh, you Auloniad! I'll do my best to oblige." I grinned. Getting up from our thrones, we retired to our rooms in a hurry.

Our clothes didn't last much longer after we arrived. . .

XXXX

AN: Things are going pretty well for Epirus, as you see in the first part of the chapter. It's doing really well militarily and economically and is even getting a second bit of uplift with windmills, calamine brass, and tidal mill-powered trip hammers.

Of course, the Penestae are remaining untrustworthy and the disparity of forces they reported and what they could have raised even before the Agriculture Uplift was handed to them is suspicious. The SI thinks that Agron may be raising forces in secret, possibly to interfere with the current civil war in what is left of Bardyllis' Kingdom. To what end, he doesn't know, he just knows that this can't be all of their troops.

Rome also sent an ambassador. One who is even an ancestor of Julius Caesar. Why hasn't been explained yet, and it is unexpected as it didn't happen IOTL. The SI has no idea what they want or why they would send a man who harbors some of the more unflattering Roman stereotypes about Greeks.

To those of you wondering what an Aulonaid is, it's a Greek term for a Valley Nymph. They tended to be highly sexual and tended to hang out with the Greek God Pan. It works on a couple of levels here, both obvious and not.

The next chapter will cover why Rome sent Sextus Julius Libo to talk with Pyrrhus as well as the end of 294. Then we'll get an interlude showing how Rome did in the War this year and some goings-on in Carthage.