Greco-Roman Conflict Yellow: Greece and current allies | |
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| Date: 1327-Preasent day | |
| Location: The entire Earth | |
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The Greco-Roman conflict is a conflict between a vast array of powerful nations, though the core conflict being between the Roman Empire and New Greek Empire. Nations have fallen or been born along the way, but the Roman Empire and New Greece have been there from the beginning, and will be there until the end.
List of involved countries[]
New Greek Empire - one of the main combatants, New Greece gained independance from Rome and the two have hated eachother ever sense. New Greece has a foreign policy of supporting most Roman rebels and enemies of Rome in general, fueling the fire.- Roman Empire - the other main belligerent, the Roman Empire has been trying to conquer Greece since hundreds of years B.C., succeeding once, only for Greece to again rise.
- Xanjon - a historical ally of Rome (see: Romano-Xanj Incident) and occassional enemy of Greece, Xanjon is the only other country to have been involved since the start of the conflict.
- Old Persian Empire - a defunct precursor to Darian Persia, the old Persian Empire sided with Rome, and paid dearly for it.
- Darian Persia - a long-time enemy of New Greece, the Darians have never forgiven Greece for the destruction of their predeccessor.
- Indian Empire - a former trading partner of Rome, the Romans betrayed the Indians and attacked them, leading them strait into the hands of the NGE; India has returned the favor in every Greco-Roman war since, and shares joint nuclear programs with New Greece. Indian enlistment in the New Greek Army has kept overpopulation down and Greek troop numbers up.
- Confederation of the Inuits of Nunavut - a far-north and frigid land, Nunavut found Greece was highly sympathetic to it's when it rebelled from the Roman Empire, and Greek support for Nunavut has lead to a strong alliance between the two nations.
- Hidronis Grand Monarchy - Hydronia was somewhat of a Roman puppet state, and was pressured by Rome to attack New Greece, following in the footsteps of Old Persia.
- Zambeziland - Zambeziland was originally founded by Rome to be sure New Greece couldn't gain a foothold in Southern Africa, but eventually switched sides and helped New Greece for the span of Roman Intervention in Africa before it's destruction.
History[]
Pre-war events and tension[]
The Greek culture was ever sinking into the folds of the expanding Roman Empire. Statues of the Emperor dotted Athens, Sparta, and Macedon, once proud and powerful nations. The Greek people had been under Roman rule since the Fourth Macedon war, the final in a list of unsuccessful attempts to drive out the Roman Empire by Macedon (and earlier, the Achaean league).
Countless young Greeks died fighting for the Romans, helping Rome subjugate others the same way they themselves had been subjugated. An injustice in the eyes of many Greeks, especially the inventor Tymon Alexios; His praisers often consider him a hero bent on protecting indigenous culture from being assimilated by Rome, while his critics consider him to be a powerhungry and manipulative individual who simply used culture as an excuse to rally support for his vendetta against Rome.
Augustus IV was the Roman Emperor at that time, he was a caring man to his own people, but intended to hold the Roman Empire together through any means; It is thought by many scholars that torture performed on South Mediterranean Union soldiers came directly as a result of his orders.
Eventually, Tymon Alexios' brother, Kyros, founded a militia for the Greek people. A fighting force for Greeks who wished to be warriors while still holding their own culture; This militia also was the first military/paramilitary to accept women into their services (they still required the father or husband's consent, as was Roman law at the time).
Kyros traveled to the lands which were once Carthage and Gaul, and created similar militias there. In early 1327, Tymon and Kyros set a date and time for all three militias to revolt at once, taking the Empire by surprise and gaining their freedom.
The First Greco-Roman War (1327-1379)[]
The sound of gunpowder, shattering windows, cracking wood and clanging iron sounded across many cities at dawn, in mid-1327. The militias overpowered the Roman regiments within their wake, all of which were nowhere near hostile forces and all prepared for another dull day. Their barracks and armories were torched as they scrambled to defend themselves, armed with personal daggers and wearing their linen sleepwear.
By the time word reached the Emperor, it was too late to stomp the sparks of rebellion out, as a fire war already burning brightly. Three new states had been declared: The South Mediterranean Union, New Gaul, and most importantly, The New Greek Empire.
Many of the Generals commanding armies near the rebellions had only ever dealt with bandits or pirates, and become quite arrogant and hubristic. They began operating independently with no overarching structure, attacking cities which weren't even controlled by rebels, or capturing goldmines from their own allies. As their enemies came in and wiped them out, their armor was melted down and the rebels were armed with legion-quality steel, only making it easier to overwhelm and decimate their opposition, largely made up of barely-trained levy guards with rusty iron equipment.
Augustus was forced to restructure his entire military, and the lack of any successful resistance from the Romans was seen as a sign from God(s) by many Greeks, as Greek-majority cities soon opened their gates to let Greek Militias in. Even those who didn't believe the event was supernatural viewed it as unwise to side with a softened, unprepared army trained to fight copper-wielding bandits over a group who'd been preparing and training for years to deal with the entire Roman army.
Rome pushes back[]
As Augustus' more seasoned generals had been called away from Rome's borders to deal with the threat, Gaul forces were the first to feel the wrath of Rome. They fled into caves and mountains, being decimated in fights on land. Cities were burnt to the ground for siding with the militias, as public opinion rapidly swayed from a clear rebel victory to the continuation of the Emperor's authority in the regions being almost certain.
Augustus promised life to any rebel leader who surrendered, and many Gaul generals came to the Emperor begging for a light punishment. They were imprisoned, but after the war were allowed to return to Gaul under house arrest.
Gaul's council of elders was not going to be convinced so easily, however, and continued their fight from mountain fortresses. Arrows, bolts, bullets and flaming trebuchet balls rained down upon passing Roman troops whenever they came, and massive boulders were rolled over any troops who attempted to ascend and reach the forts themselves.
With the Gauls trapped in the mountains, Roman troops pushed into the Mediterranean; The Roman navy was a near-unchallengable power, and they soon engaged in a massive push from both the east and west, crushing the South Mediterranean Union navy.
The SMU fortified their cities against the sea to counter this, preventing the Romans from landing while preparing for the Roman land invasion.
The Greeks fight on[]
While the South Mediterraneans' navy was destroyed, and the Gauls were forced into the mountains, the Greeks repelled Roman invasion from both the land and sea. The Persians and Xanj, long time allies of Rome, were called by the Romans to attack Greece.
The Greeks invaded Persia, and in 1329, arrived at the Persian capital. Greece invaded the capital, razing the capital building, but being repelled in a last ditch attack by Naviarac's forces. The Persians appealed to their rival, the Sassanid Persian Empire for help, but no assistance came, and the Sassanids were one of the first nations to begin trading with New Greece. This escalated the hostilities between the Sassanids and Darians.
War fizzles out[]
The Romans finally besieged the last holdout of the Gauls in 1385, they were running out of food and arrows, and resorted to a massive charge in hopes of reaching the sea. The Gauls fled, killing hundreds of Romans and losing hundreds of their own fighters. They eventually reached the Mediterranean and fled to Greece, Rome's territorial claim of Gaul was fully intact once again.
Years of bloody fighting and war between the Greeks and Romans/Xanj resulted in a stalemate, with neither side able to win an offensive battle. Both Augustus and Tymon saw this was getting them nowhere, and signed a peace treaty somewhat favoring Greece. Greece was allowed to become an independent state.
Meanwhile, the South Mediterraneans held out, refusing to sign any agreements with Rome.
Post-war (1379-1448)[]
Rome began to pressure the South Mediterranean's neighbors to refuse trade with it. They complied, not wanting to anger Rome, but would ironically one day be colonized by it.
Members of the South Mediterranean army were kidnapped and tortured to surrender food shipments, and farms were covertly set ablaze. The South Mediterranean reluctantly surrendered to avoid starvation. In compliance with Augustus' promise, they were allowed to return under house arrest to their homes.
New war brewing[]
By the 1440s, Greece was an established country, and competed colonially with Rome. They had managed to take over some SMU cities, with no resistance of course, before they were signed away. As Rome didn't own them, and the SMU was incapable of signing away Greece's land, the cities were not handed over to Rome. Fearing another bloody war, several emperors did not attack this city... that was, until the reign of Constantine XII of Rome, who had personally been affected by the rebellion.
He plotted to invade Greek Africa and then Greece itself, which, unbeknownst to him, would end up causing an 80 year period of blood, war, and hatred.
Constantine attacks[]
Constantine attacked in 1449, taking the Greeks by surprise on the holiday of Greek Independance, killing several hundred Greek Africans. The Greeks retaliated quickly and killed hundreds of Romans, driving them out of the city. The Greeks drove the Roman infantry back to their own city, which they proceeded to ransack. The Greeks tried to continue to yet another city, but the Roman forces proved too much for them.
Several months went by, neither side attempting to follow up with another attack, when Greece destroyed a troop payload ship. The Romans then proceeded to attack Greek farmland before retreating back.
The process of several months going by without an attack continued like this; Every few months the Greeks or Romans would attack the enemy, followed by a revenge attack. Greece gained more land in Africa but lost more in Persia. Some of it's captured land had been sold to the Sassanids, though it kept a portion of it for itself.
In 1453, Greece besieged the capital of Rome, ironically not rome at the time, Constantinople. While the Greek invasion was repelled, the capital of the Roman Empire moved back to Rome itself.
For 50 more years, little occured, aside from occasional skirmishes. No side could afford to move it's whole army for risk of losing it's other borders.
In 1500, Rome made the mistake of invading India. While they succeeded in conquering much of the subbcontinent, the Indian city-states banded together and began a push against Rome, aiding Greece. Rome couldn't fight on two fronts, and a peace treaty was formally signed in 1520.
Post second war (1520-1789)[]
With the three empires at uneasy peace, Rome turned back towards colonization, as did Greece. While both nations already had colonies in Africa (New Greece's being primarily in Ethiopia-Sudan and Tunisia, and Rome's being mainly in Northwest Africa and Egypt), they both set their sites on other continents.
Rome landed in South America, while New Greece sailed east of Asia. New Greek Polynesia and Roman South America were soon established.
Roman colonialism in North America lead many Amerindian tribes to align themselves with the NGE to avoid conquest.
Inuit Revolt (1641-1642)[]
The Inuit in far-north america united together with New Greece to fight the Romans in 1641, resulting in the creation of the Free State of Nunavut.
| Greco-Roman Conflict and Greco-Roman wars |
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| Direct: Greek Rebellion/First Greco-Roman War • Second Greco-Roman War • Inuit Revolt • Roman conquest of Africa • Indochinese War • Hydronian war • Greco-Xanj War • Nexus Crisis. Proxy wars: Roman Intervention in Africa • Russian Revolution |