H42

In the recent past, Pergamon had been a minor provincial Poleis, a subject of first the Lydian Kingdom and then the Persian Achaemenid Empire, eclipsed by other Greek Cities in Asia Minor. Miletos was more respected, Ephesos more wealthy, and Smyrna stronger on land and sea. When King Kroisos moved west and subjugated the Ionian League, Pergamon was barely a small stopover on the way west to the Sea. In the two-and-a-half centuries since, things had changed quite a lot.

The fortunes of war and politics had not been kind to Smyrna, which had been razed to the ground by the Persians, and Miletos had suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Dareios Megas of Persia when the Tyrant of that city attempted to rise in revolt, it's women and children made slaves and its men put to the sword. Meanwhile, the river Kaystros had its course altered shortly after Alexandros Megas' death and the harbor silted up and malaria spread as a result, causing a great plague and economic ruin.

Through it all, Pergamon remained largely unaffected, playing politics wisely and managing its affairs shrewdly. By the time of Alexandros Megas' death, Pergamon had grown to a regional power, and Lysimachus sought to encourage its growth, building a series of underground Aqueducts that used ceramic pipes to feed water from the mountains to the City and supplement its cisterns as well as adding an Asclepion which taught medicine and philosophy.

Lysimachus' attentions, however, would be drawn away permanently by the wars of the Diadochi, and it was his successor Phileataros who truly began to transform the city. Fortifications were built around the entire Upper Agora on the Acropolis, and a series of bridges and gates were erected to connect the Upper Agora to the Lower Agora, and the Lower Agora to the Foot of the Acropolis. A Sanctuary of Athena was erected, and the parchment industry started up to fund Phileataros' constant improvements.

My new son-in-law, Achaeus had been hard at work making improvements of his own, building a massive theater with seating for ten thousand people at a time and expanding the Sanctuary of Dionysos into a larger temple complex. The money from sales of Parchments was supplemented by Achaeus' vast personal fortune, and funding from his brother, Antiokos I Asianos for further improvements.

As my party met with Achaeus at the Gates into the City at the Foot of the Acropolis, this prosperity and investment into Pergamon clearly showed. The City Walls were stout and made of good, thick, stone, while the gates were lacquered wood studded with bronze sunbursts. The Guards all had high-quality iron shields, helmets, scale armor, and spears, while Achaeus' welcoming party was dressed in richly dyed sea silk and sat atop Nisean Steeds equipped with Hard Tree Saddles and Stirrups.

Achaeus himself was dressed in a gilded steel linothorax with a leopard skin cloak hanging off his shoulder. He held his hand out in a salute as we approached the gates, one which I returned gladly with a nod.

"Welcome to my City, eagerly have I awaited this day, when our houses will be joined in bonds of marriage. I beg you partake of my hospitality, and see what sights Pergamon may offer you." Greeted Achaeus.

"I accept your hospitality and gladly. It is with great joy that I bring you my daughter, your bride, that our Houses may bind together stronger in bonds of marriage." I answered.

"Right, now that that's out of the way, shall we retire to the Upper Agora? My brother wants a word and I would very much like some time with my new bride." Questioned Achaeus.

"Of course, lad. Far be it for me to stand in the way of young love. Just remember not to go too crazy. The Ceremony is still to come, after all." I chuckled.

With that, Olympias made her way out of the covered wagon house where she, Lanassa, and Eurydice had spent the journey from Elaia to Pergamon inside. My daughter wasn't considered the greatest beauty. Her hair was too curly, and her skin was a shade more olive than was considered beautiful. It didn't seem to matter, however, because Achaeus took one look at her and I could see him physically keeping his mouth from falling shut.

"My Princess. You are every bit as lovely as I imagined." He intoned.

"My Prince. You look quite dashing today." Nodded Olympias.

"Oh, go on you two. No need to hold up traffic at the city gates like this." I chuckled as Lanassa put her hand on my shoulder from her position on the wagon house.

"Right. Shall we?" Queried Achaeus, holding his arm out to Olympias.

"We shall. I'm quite interested in seeing this theater you built. Your letters made it sound magnificent and everything I've heard confirms it." Affirmed Olympias, taking Achaeus' arm and being helped onto his horse.

As Achaeus rode off into the city with my daughter mounted behind him, the Gates opened before him, revealing the broad streets of the main thoroughfare of Pergamon. I spotted a number of merchants who couldn't get a spot in the Agora hawking wares as varied as rolls of parchment and cheese wrapped in Drakondia Leaves. In the distance, a second gate led up over a bridge to the lower Agora partway up the side of the Acropolis.

I took all that in with a split-second glance before Lanassa drew my attention to her with a polite cough. I looked over at my wife and cocked an eyebrow, asking, "Yes, beloved?"

"I need to supervise the unloading of the wedding gifts, at least until the porters can handle it without direct supervision. Will you be taking Ptolemy with you to meet with Antiokos?" She questioned.

"I will. He needs to learn the ins and outs of diplomacy sometime if he's going to be King after I'm gone." I answered.

"Then I shall keep Eurydice with me. Best our daughter stays out from underfoot in a foreign land. Gods above, sometimes I think that I gave birth to one of the Anemoi made flesh with all the trouble she stirs up." Smiled Lanassa fondly, shaking her head.

"She does have a certain whirlwind-like character to her." I agreed.

"Our little storm." Sighed Lanassa.

"What did you think of Achaeus? Did you see how he looked at Olympias?" I queried, changing the topic.

"I did. It will be a good match, I think. Aphrodite has given them a flame, now it's up to them to tend it." Offered Lanassa.

"Speaking of, I'm sure there will be some time we can take for ourselves in this exotic land to tend our own marital flames, no?" I smirked, waggling my eyebrows.

"Perhaps." Allowed Lanassa, leaning in to give me a kiss.

"Momma! Are we there? The wheelhouse isn't moving!" Demanded Eurydice from inside the wagon area, killing the moment. Lanassa and I broke apart with a sigh.

"Sorry, Pyrrhus. It seems I shall have to tend to the duties of a mother before I tend to the duties of a wife." Demurred Lanassa.

"To be continued, then. Best not to keep the Master of Asia waiting at any rate." I shrugged.

With that, I put spurs to my mount and turned about to grab Ptolemy from his position at the rear guard of our column. He had been riding up and down the wagon train, getting to know the Royal Guards and generally ensuring things moved smoothly. Currently, he was conversing with a Kataphractoi Hipparch named Hippocleides of Phoenike about potential Hillmen attacks on the way back.

"Ptolemy! With me, Son!" I called out.

Ptolemy's head perked up right away and he zoned in on my approaching horse before asking, "Are we moving on, father?"

"You and I are. Lanassa is staying behind with your sister to supervise the unloading of the wedding gifts. Antiokos wants a word before the proceedings start and I'm bringing you along as my heir." I responded.

"I'd been hoping to pick up something of diplomacy on this trip. Now is as good a time as any for that, I suppose." Nodded Ptolemy.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, finally reaching his position. Then I turned toward Hippocleides of Phoenike and nodded at him.

"You'll handle things here, yes? Make sure the Queen gets whatever support she needs from the porters?" I questioned.

"Of course, my King. Leave it with me." Affirmed Hippocleides.

"Good Man! I doubt this will be as harrowing as the Campaign in Italy, though you never know. The Queen can give quite the tongue-lashing when she's of a mind." I grinned.

"We handled the Romans and Carthaginians, my King. I believe we can get the Porters to move as the Queen desires." Deadpanned Hippocleides.

"Indeed. Ptolemy, with me." I intoned, before turning my mount around and moving into the City, Ptolemy following while Hippocleides began to organize the Porters to get the wagon train into the city for unloading with military efficiency.

Inside the gates, I was struck by two things. The first was the absolute size of the City. Just in the districts at the Foot of the Acropolis alone, there had to be close to fifty thousand people living here. Just based on that and then estimating for size and demographics of the Lower and Upper Agora Districts, I'd wager there were at least one-hundred-twenty-thousand people in the City. That wasn't too shabby, considering that Corinth only had around ninety thousand people living in it.

True, Passaron, Doddona, Phoenike, and Ephyra were around that size, and Ambracia was larger, but that was with the improvements I'd made to sanitation, medical care, and grain production contributing to a baby boom. Elaia had been of a size with Corinth, and judging by what I've seen here, it was likely that Kyzicus was almost as large as Pergamon, and the other seven cities under Achaeus' direct rule in Mycia were likely as large as Elaia had been, and that was just in Mycia. Who knew how big the cities of Lydia, Aeolia, and Troas were?

The other thing I noticed was the smell wafting off of the various slaughterhouses, tanneries, and workshops that turned cattle herds into parchment, leather, tallow, and beef. There was an entire district of the City at the Foot of the Acropolis given over to that economic activity, separated from the main residential districts by the shape of the Acropolis itself, and yet even with the mountain acting as a windbreak, you could still smell the stench.

That stench got less noticeable the higher up on the Acropolis you went. It lessened as we entered the Lower Agora, with many of the moderately skilled or wealthy craftsmen and merchants moving their shops and residences here to escape that smell. We passed through the Agora as various smiths, wine merchants, and so on hawked their wares in the bustling Lower Agora, passing by the Sanctuary of Demeter and a modest-sized Gymnasia before going through another set of gates and over another bridge to ascend further up the Acropolis.

When we reached the Upper Agora District, the smell from the Parchment District finally abated, as we passed by the Barracks for the City Guards, the Temple to Athena, and the residences of several wealthy nobles and merchants before spilling out into the Upper Agora. Here, the wealthiest of Merchants displayed wares such as fine cloth, rich dyes, spices, and jewelry to the wealthy elites and nobility of the City.

As we exited the Upper Agora, we passed by the Theater, a massive edifice carved into the living rock of the Acropolis itself. It truly was a site to behold, with marble terraces for seating and a spot with an erected stage that appeared to be hovering over the side of the Acropolis as if being held aloft mid-air by the very muses themselves. Once we passed by that, we entered the Palace Compound.

The Palace Compound was on the very peak of the Acropolis, with various large halls of white marble and red-tiled roofs, a more well-fortified citadel that served as a fallback point in case of siege and an arsenal and barracks for the Palace Guard in times of peace, and a large, attached, stables. Ptolemy and I stabled out Nisean mounts at said stables and made our way into the largest of the three large halls.

Inside, rich black and white marble columns supported a blue ceiling with a mosaic of the Gigantomachy done in tile and paints on the ceiling. Walls painted a rich, red ochre bore frescoes of nymphs and satyrs, while the floor bore a shallow reflecting pool in the center with various divans and lounges arranged around it. Courtiers and dignitaries in richly dyed silks and expensive jewelry mingled about on the various couches while palace slaves poured wine and offered hors d'oeuvres from silver platters, all while High-Quality iron-armed Palace Guards looked on. A minstrel was plucking on a lyre in the corner, giving a musical backdrop to it all.

At the opposite end of the hall was a raised dais and a throne of cut and polished white marble with gilded accents engraved into the edifice. Seated upon it, was the man that I'd raced ahead to speak with. His hair was like tousled gold, pulled back by an olive wreath forged of actual gold, and he wore one of the few sets of true steel scale thorax that I had traded abroad, along with a cloak of Tiger Skin.

As his eyes locked onto my appearance, he stood, climbing down from his throne to greet me. For a few moments, the music stopped and all eyes were on us as the Master of Asia and the defier of Carthage and Rome met. Then Antoikos I Asianos embraced me as a brother, and the mood immediately returned to its festive nature.

As we broke apart, Antiokos nodded at me and said, "Come, we have much to discuss. The current situation in Istros requires a coordinated strategy and I can think of no better opportunity to discuss it."

"Is not King Paerisades handling it?" I queried.

"He is, though there may be more to the situation than just this war. Should Bolgios be defeated, it is possible that he will turn south next instead of east, after all." Answered Antiokos.

"And my cousin fritters his strength away on campaigns in Thrace and Dardania." I frowned.

"Indeed. We must plan for the event that Macedon comes under attack." Nodded Antiokos, before leading me and my son off into an antechamber where a table held maps, reports from Istros, and most importantly, wine.

It was going to be a long meeting, after all, and we'd all be glad of the wine soon enough. . .

XXXX

AN: The next chapter is already up on the site-which-shall-not-be-named. If you feel like reading it, you can search my name on there to check it out. I can't link to the page thanks to site rules, though.

All right, so here we get a bit of character interaction, get to see Pergamon, and get a bit of foreshadowing involving the Alternate Gallic Invasion of Greece. Alexander the Fifth of Macedon's intervention in the Thracian-Dardanian War might not be as good of an idea as he'd thought it would be.

Right now, Antiokos I Asianos and Pyrrhus are planning for eventualities. There's always the hope that Paerisades the Second's Bosporans kill Bolgios and his Empire splinters without his personal charisma to hold it together. But honestly, it's better to be safe than sorry when dealing with mass migrations and Barbarian Hordes.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the planning and a bit of mingling with various dignitaries afterward.

Stay tuned. . .