User:Firesofdoom/An Empire Forever Sandbox

First Point of Divergence — In 341 BCE, Alexander’s sister, Cleopatra of Macedonia, has a Child called Amyntas after his grandfather. Even as a young child, he demonstrated exceptional intelligence, benefiting from tutors and the help of his uncle. When he was 13 years old, Alexander began to personally take care of his nephew, teaching him combat. Additionally, contact with various tutors kept Amyntas well versed across many disciplines, even when his focus was on combat. Eventually, Amyntas took command of parts of Alexander's army, and proved exceptional in that area as well. After years of training under his uncle, Amyntas was named the heir to Alexander’s Empire, and upon his uncle’s death took over the throne.

Second Point of Divergence — Instead of going extinct, the Hagerman Horse flourishes across the American continent. Both the Mayan and Incan civilizations are able to benefit massively from these horses, and develop extremely fast. In addition, this makes several city states rise across the southern Mississippi, creating a collage of cultures and trade in that region. Across the rest of the continent, Tribes manage to centralize more, and some even abandoned their nomadic routes. These combined factors allow much larger and technologically advanced societies to rise across the American continent, ultimately creating a much more balanced world.

Timeline

Amyntas’ Reign (323-289 BCE)
After taking the throne, Amyntas quickly became one of the most ambitious and prolific leaders in the history of the Macedonian Empire, instituting reforms that would allow the Macedonian Empire to exist for ages to come. He established a permanent capital, and encouraged cultural and economic development. His rule is often considered the foundation of most future Emperors, as well as the more democratic elements of the government system. He established systems and infrastructure to be built on by future Emperors to form one of the most Cultured, Powerful and long lasting states to exist.

Public Works
One of the main focuses of Amyntas’ reign was various public works projects, to improve the lives of his citizens, and provide entertainment. He was extremely successful with this, and even managed to break even on most of the projects. These projects also started a long tradition of Macedonian Emperors starting large public works projects, of all kinds. This allowed future Emperors to both create revenue streams outside of the hard to enforce taxes. Additionally, it helped Amyntas reign distinct from Alexander’s, and sharply contrast with the rapid conquest that defined His Uncle’s reign.

The Great Road
After establishing his capital in Babylon, Amyntas decided it was high time to work on connecting the Empire. His first major project was the show called ‘’’Great Road,’’’ A road to link Babylon to the Greek provinces. This road would be essentially unrecognizable as such by any contemporary Macedonian citizen, and in most places, it was little more than compacted dirt. In concept, sections near major cities where paved, or at least covered in some form of sand or rock. It was meant to extend from Athens to Babylon, cutting across Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, and parts of Greece. With these goals in mind, construction was commenced in 321, only two years after Amyntas took the throne.

While this road ultimately worked the construction of it was exceedingly difficult. Most of the road was made through relatively empty desert, or worse, the mountains of Anatolia. The first major problem was the massive corruption of the builders of the road. Within the first year, only 76 miles of road were completed, and more than half the funding was stripped away at some level. This initial failure and loss of funding devastated the project, and it was almost cancelled. However, two months before the project was about to be shut down, a Persian builder with moderate reputation named Darius came forward, and asked to try to recover the project. With nothing to lose, and with Darius asking for only a small price, Amyntas decided to let him try.

Immediately, Darius set to work. He removed hundreds of workers, replacing them with various builders and experts he had met throughout his career. Quickly, they set to work, starting by redoing the shoddy work that was completed during the first year. After completing this task, Darius managed to complete an additional 124 miles of the road. After an inspection by Amyntas himself, Darius was allowed to continue the project to its conclusion. Within a decade, the road was completed to almost all the specifications. However, the road, instead of continuing to the Greek cities, the road was halted at the strait of bosphorus. Despite some will to carry on, the project was halted at this point as it was considered unnecessary to continue the road into the relatively well developed Greek states.

The Great Road would last for almost a thousand years, before being replaced by a more modern system. After the completion of the taxing stations were set up along the road, though circumnavigation of these places became hilariously common - in some places, the route around the tax station was better traveled than the road itself. Even with the almost universal tax evasion across the system, the road paid for itself through the amount of trade it provided to the Empire. Not only that, but it proved the viability of profitable roadways, a system that could be eventually applied to other forms of infrastructure and public works. Eventually, it lead to the creation of an organization called the ‘’Transportation Company’’ dedicated to the creation and upkeep of infrastructure across the Macedonian Empire, an organization that exists to the modern day.

The Grand Palace
Despite the names implications, the ‘’’Grand Palace’’’ was not a Palace per se; instead it was a combination of public forums, markets, and baths among other attractions. It was designed as a new Greek influenced center of Babylon. The palace it was named for was actually not particularly outstanding, at least not by Babylonian standards. It served as a symbol of Greek dominance across the Macedonian Empire, and imitators popped up across the Empire, notably in Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Damascus. In the future, later Empires would add onto Amyntas’ work, making the area even grander, usually to demonstrate the strength of their rule or to commemorate victories.

One of the major attractions of the Complex was the ‘’’Ἀγορά Agorá,’’’ or ‘’’Gathering place,’’’ which served as a area to facilitate open discussion between citizens. While the concept of a place for open discussion was already widely accepted and common across Greece, this was the first major instance of it outside that immediate region. It proved a popular place to formally discuss topics ranging from politics or philosophy to engineering and mathematics. Later, a similar area directly up a set of stairs from the Ἀγορά Agorá would serve as the location for the official senate of the Macedonian Empire, thus giving debates or protests that took place on the area some form of political weight.

While the Ἀγορά Agorá and other smaller forums certainly attracted and entertained intellectuals, other accommodations were required for less politically inclined citizens. These mainly came on the forms of open markets, with some taxes to pay for the Grand Palace. While markets existed elsewhere without the extra taxes, the market in the Grand Palace was far more popular than the others. The main reason for this was that the market area had far easier access to goods from other parts of the Empire, especially Greek goods. The public baths where grand and extremely popular, attracting many customers, mostly of the richer variety. These two other services essentially gave the Grand Palace something to attract almost every demographic of the population.

Two main things paid for the this project. The first were the aforementioned taxes on transactions in the market. Similar to the ones on the Great Road, these taxes were often circumvented, but still proved useful. The second way was a simple toll to get into the baths - one drachm to admit five people. This encouraged people to go the the bathes in groups, and helped keep many people - at least those in the wealthier classes - clean and sanitary. Later, free baths would be introduced across the city, though the baths in the Grand Palace where still favored due to their exclusivity. These two revenue streams allowed the Palace to pay for itself within several years, and make profit from that point onward.

Construction of a Government
After Alexander’s ruthless conquests, he essentially left to job of building a sustainable government to his Nephew, a challenge Amyntas immediately took on. The system he eventually created would last for many years to come, and allow to empire to expand massively. Additionally, the government was at least in part democratic, allowing common citizens to have a say in their government. Not only did this promote stability, but it allowed people to raise through the ranks on merit and contribute to the Empire’s advancement. Ultimately, this was probably Amyntas’ largest legacy, and these changes would have the most effect on the Macedonian Empire.

The Council of Commons
The main body of the government - or at least its legislative branch, was an institution known as the the ‘‘’Council of Commons.’’’ Members for this came from various cities and areas from across the Empire. Technically, there were initially no rules about how many people a member had to represent. Unofficially however, anyone who claimed to represent less than a 10000 or so people was thrown out. This eventually lead for a push for defined areas of election, though for hundreds of years, this push was ignored. This was largely a moot point however, as even without defined areas of election, this served as an at least partially representative system for the Empire.

However, in order to keep a thumb on the scale, any resolution that passed—meaning it had at least 55% of the vote—had to be directly approved by the Emperor. If it was not, the Resolution could not be brought back up for five years, unless the Emperor specifically requested it be brought up. This was the main limiting factor on what the Council of Commons could do, and put them directly under royal control. Despite this requirement, the resolutions were rarely rejected, except the ones the Emperor particularly hated. This made for a very good relation between the ‘’Council’’ and the Emperor, though it caused some tension on controversial resolutions. Eventually this rule would be overturned, but until then the system would work relatively well in the current state.

Election
Election procedures were shaky at best, but in most areas they followed a similar pattern, though the details varied greatly. In most cases, only men were allowed to vote, but women were allowed to attend the proceedings and debate. To start the election proceedings, anyone who wished to vote or be elected would meet at a predetermined at dawn. As soon as the sun fully raised, a predetermined speaker - himself not allowed to be elected - would give a short speech, and then allow anyone who wished to to come up and speak. After a full day of debate, the elections would be begin. While there was no way to decide on candidates, it was rare to have more than 4 or 5 competitors, and often as little as three. After the vote, the man with the most votes would be declared the senator for that region.

Leadership
Once they were elected, the Senator would have a eight year term, with as many as three terms permitted. As soon as all the Senators arrived in Babylon, they would elect 1/10th (generally out of 3-4 thousand) of their members as ‘’’Lieutenants.’’’ From there, the Lieutenants would hold several elections among themselves. First off, on an annual basis, they would elect the ‘’’Triumvirate of the Senate’’’ - essentially, the three men who got to run the senate. In addition, they would elect anywhere from 20 to 60 other positions, varying depending on the issues at the time. The only other permanent position was the ‘’’Sergeant’’’, who was responsible for keeping the Senators safe, arranging guards and the like. The men in this group were collectively called the ‘’’Masters of the Senate’’’, often shortened to just Masters.

After their first term had expired, the Masters had several options. First of all,they could remain on the senate as a former Master. This meant they were still technically part of the senate, but could not vote, only engage in debates. This essentially equated to retirement, just with the ability to debate on occasion. The other main option was to seek reelection, which just meant they got a second term, with no guarantee they would continue to be a Master. This was probably the most popular option, as most Masters wished to continue their involvement in the senate. If they were a particularly powerful or otherwise influential senator, they could seek to be governor of a province, or a military command of some sort.

While the Masters either had or could acquire power and wealth, their peers were much worse off. The debate system, which allowed all the Sitting and Former Masters to make their arguments before the rest of the Council, essentially ensured that the average senator would only speak a half dozen times or so during their term. To make up for this deficit, the Senators tried to make many public appearances, where they would debate among themselves or give speeches. Often they would announce which way they intended to vote on an issue, in order to gain support with people who agreed with them. This was more or less their only political tool, as they really had no other influence in the Council.

The Province System
As he built his government and worked on various public works projects, Amyntas decided that the Macedonian Empire was far too difficult to administer in its current form. In order to facilitate the desired easier administration, Amyntas began to split the empire into various provinces. These provinces would make the empire much easier to manage. It allowed the Emperors track the best places to recruit soldiers, or the places that dodged the most taxes. It also meant that spending could be distributed more evenly over the Empire, giving each province the funding they needed. It also gave the Macedonian Empire a simple way to expand; just add more provinces.

Initially, there were two main types or provinces. The first were the ‘’’Imperial Provinces,’’’ or provinces under close control of the Emperor. These provinces were the most valuable, and thus merited closer Imperial control. In most cases, these provinces would be administered by a select group of Masters, (sitting or former) under advisement of the Emperor. In general, the Masters who were assigned to the province took one month terms acting as the governor, consulting the Emperor and their colleges in emergencies. These provinces were often the richest and most important, or simply had a resource that the Emperor wanted direct control over. The only way they could be reclassified was by becoming less valuable or less loyal, which rarely happened.

The second type of province were the ‘‘’Gubernatorial Provinces.’’’ The Emperor had far less direct control over these provinces,as they were considered less valuable. At first, this was a recipe for revolt, and ‘’’Governors’’’ trying to either gain independence or take over the Empire where the primary cause of the multitude of civil wars the empire had. Eventually, revolts would lead to five Senators to be appointed to oversee each province, and keep the Governors in check. Later, ‘’’Colonial Provinces’’’ would be added to the mix, which would serve essentially as a placeholder until a province could officially join the Macedonian Empire. This province system continued through the entire history of Macedonia, with only minor reforms.

Military
While he was most known for his Public Works the the creation of a mildly democratic government, Amyntas was also deeply involved in his military. He changed it from a group slammed together by into an effective professional force. These forces would serve as the backbone of the Macedonian Empire for centuries, and saved it from destruction many times over. Most of this effectiveness can be traced directly back to Amyntas, or events that happened under his reign. In addition to his skill in organizing the army, the Emperor also proved to be an effective commander, specifically during the Athenian War.

Organization of the Army
The first step was to create an effective structure for the military. While Alexander’s forces had effectively fought and conquered, it was vastly inefficient to raise an army from scratch every time one was needed. The best way to create an effective professional army, it was decided, would be to have each province raise its own army, and for these armies to be combined when needed. Immediately, each Governor was ordered to appoint a ‘’’Provincial General’’’ who would be responsible for building and managing the army of each province. In addition, each province was given quotas for how many troops they would have, based off population figures.

However, one major flaw was found with this system: many of the Macedonian Empire’s subjects resented the empire, and would probably be unwilling to fight for it, even if it was within their interests. The solution to this problem was two pronged. First, being a Soldier had to be an appealing job, with high pay and various benefits. Not only that, but each army would be presented as defending their individual province, rather than the Empire as a whole, which raised morale significantly in the more rebellious provinces. This lead to very high recruitment rates, and with so many potential soildeirs, anyone who was likely to hate the Empire could easily be filtered out. This proved extremely effective, and usually prevented almost all dissidents from entering the military.

While the first method was useful, it was widely recognized to be flawed, and would probably break down if enough stress was put on it. To counter this, Amyntas decided to create the ‘’’Army of Babylon,’’’ and elite force under the direct control of the Emperor. This group would be made up of people loyal to the Empire, mostly Greeks, Anatolians, and Babylonians. The training for this army was spectacular; almost four years of training was required to get in. Once in, they got double the normal pay of soldiers, as well as many cushy or respected duties. In battle, they could be used as an effective and loyal fighting force. In extreme cases, they could also attack rebellious armies from the provinces, and were trained to do so.

This combination of the ultra loyal Army of Babylon and the less loyal province based armies proved incredibly effective in many circumstances, and only lost in extremely rare situations. As the army grew, provinces increased their contributions, but it stayed in the same structure. It would serve the Empire for several hundred years, and even when it changed, it retained many of its original elements. It also gave the government a powerful tool to fight its enemies and defend itself in times of trouble. Ultimately, it stood the test of time, and it was a powerful tool for both economic and political control of the Macedonian Empire, and dominated the immediate region for a long time.

The Beginnings of a Navy
After the creation of a powerful army, Amyntas decided to turn his attention to the seas. Most of the eastern Mediterranean was under his control, and the Persian Gulf represented an unregulated threat. And while the army could probably repel any land based invasion, an invasion by the sea would be far harder to deal with. He decided to lobby to the Senate to deliver the funds necessary to start such an endeavor. After much discussion, the Senate, decided to invest in the creation of a navy, and resolution that was quickly approved by the Emperor. With the Senate’s approval, the navy quickly began to be built.

The first thing that was done was institute a tax to pay for the navy. In order to do this fairly, the Emperor decided to tax people based on how far they were from the ocean, rationalizing that people closer to the ocean would derive more benefit. Once, this was set up, two fleets began construction. The first would be for use in the Mediterranean, while the second would operate along the shores of Arabia. The later was much smaller, and its main purpose was to expand trade opportunities along the Arabian coast and to India. Almost 900 ships were built during the remainder of Amyntas’ reign, approximately 950 for the Mediterranean and 50 for the Arabian coast.

In the future, the Navy would be further expanded upon by later Emperors. The main goal of it - protecting Macedonia from naval attacks - was easily achieved. In addition, it helped facilitate trade across the Mediterranean. Not only that, but it was often considered the most powerful navy in the world, its only close competition being Carthage. Like the army system, it would last for hundreds of years with only minor changes. The only major change was how taxes for it were collected, but this could hardly considered an operational change. Overall, the new Navy was a massive success. It paired well with the army structure, and achieved and exceeded its goal.

The Athenian War
While Amyntas’ only major military action during his reign is commonly called the ‘‘’Athenian War,’’’ It was essentially the Macedonian Empire taking over the rest of the Greek City states. It was a quick and bleak war, that did little more than prove the effectiveness of the new army structure, and arguably the lack of therefore of the other Greek armies. Because it was the only real war during Amyntas’ reign, it did have significant negative effects on the Economy, as well as trade in the immediate region. Another side effect of the war was that it tested the loyalty of the Armies from the provinces, knowledge that would be invaluable in future wars.

It quickly became clear none of the other Greek states could stand up to Macedonia, and as a result, Macedonia made quick advances across northern Greece. Met with little resistance, the Macedonia pushed forward increasingly fast, stretching their army to the breaking point. This proved a golden opportunity for Athenian and Spartan forces, who managed to halt the advance and regain the advantage. To cope with this, Amyntas brought in two more armies, which crushed the resistance by sheer weight of numbers. After a season of standstill, Macedonia resumed their fast expansion, taking Athens and Sparta by the end of the summer, and securing their hold over Greece.

The war lasted less than two years, with Macedonia winning with relative ease. However, because Amyntas died almost immediately after the war was finished, slight unrest existed among the City States, and served as a place for Karanus - Amyntas’ son and successor - to prove himself. This caused several allowances being made for the Greek provinces, in order to assimilate them. Within 100 years, the war had been cast aside and Greece became a core region of the Macedonian empire. This made the war a success overall - a success that would be repeated many times across Macedonian History.

Karanus’ Reign (289-247 BCE)
After Amyntas’ successful reign, it was left to Karanus, his adopted son, to secure and expand the borders of the existing Empire. To do this he had to fight multiple wars (as many as five, depending on how you count) and increase the size of the Macedonian army. This would make Karanus much more focused on the military than his predecessor, and social issues mostly fell by the wayside. This isn’t to say they were completely overlooked - Karanus continued to manage an effective bureaucracy, but it certainly wasn’t a priority of his reign.

The other major focus of Karanus’ reign, largely overlooked, was his wide ranging economic reforms to the empire. Everything from the tax system to trade and commerce was overhauled to be more efficient for the whole empire. A central bank - a novelty until more than 500 years later, was even created. In addition, karanus introduced various regulations for merchants. Most of these were simple quality control, but other more extreme regulations were put into place, such as price ceilings on various products. He also worked to establish a single currency across the kingdom, namely the Tetradrachm.

Expansion and Wars
As mentioned, Karanus spent a lot of his reign fighting wars and securing and expanding the Empire’s borders. While this occurred almost everywhere, the notable fronts were in Anatolia, Arabia, the Balkans, and India. This mix of war and expansion would define Karanus’ reign, and has been very romanticized across the years. Everything from epic poems and plays, and more recently movies and games, have been based around Karanus, making him one of the most famous Macedonian kings, probably second only to Alexander. His contributions were indeed invaluable, and he definitely earned his reputation and glory.