Macedonian War (Vae victis!)

Macedonian War
Part of Vae victis!
Macedonians fighting in the Battle of Sparta
Date 189-187 BC Location Greece and Western Anatolia Result Victory for Macedonia Macedonia takes land around the Aegean Sea Etrusca severely curtails Safinei trade
Belligerents
Macedonia Assistance from Etrusca	Western Front Aechean League Eupirus Hellenistic League Eastern Front Pontus Rhodes Pergamon Bithynia Ptolmic Egypt (Minimal Engagement)
Commanders and leaders
Alcaeus	Karanus Agis Castor
Strength
66,000 total	115,000 total
Casualties and losses
~11,000	~32,000

The Macedonian War was the result of many different causes, and ended with Macedonia re-establishing control over Greece and parts of Anatolia. It also decimated Safinei trade with Greece, and trade overall. This made Etrusca and Macedonia powerful allies, and both made huge gains from the war. The war also led directly to the second Etruscan war, a less devastating but better known conflict that would further solidify Macedonia and Etrusca as allies, and crush Safineim once again.

Background

Etrusca, after years of peace, wanted to strike at its long time enemy, Safineim. Quickly, it was realized the best way to do this would be to disrupt their trade the Greek states - the region where around 70% of their trade revenue came from. To do this, they contacted the leaders of Macedonia, who still desired to reclaim Alexander's empire. The Etruscans and Macedonians cut a deal: Etrusca would assist Macedonia in taking back parts of its empire, and in exchange, Macedonia would halt trade with Safineim. With this deal hammered out, Macedonia began to gather troops and start its war.

Fighting

The war started with two major thrusts from Macedonia, one to the east and one to the west. The attack too the west quickly ran into enemies from Epirus, the Hellenistic League, and the Aechean League. However, before the attack to the east ran into resistance, it managed to cross into Anatolia. There, it quickly forced Bithynia to capitulate. At that, point, two coalitions rose against the Macedonians. In the west, the Aechean League the Hellenistic League and Epirus, and in the east, Pontus led Pergamon, Rhodes, and limited units from the Ptolemic Empire. Quickly, fighting intensified on both fronts, with the Macedonians making slow gains.

On the Western front, Macedonian troops pushed into northern Epirus, forcing their opponents to take huge casualties. Taking advantage of Etruscan supplies, Macedonian forces starved out the majority of Epirus' soldiers before Aechean and Hellenistic troops could back them up. This destroyed the nation, and allowed Macedonia to to pass through to pick off the still assembling secondary army. The Macedonians destroyed this army, and moved onto occupying Athens. From there, the last ditch Aechean attack was easily repulsed destroying the army and allowing Sparta to be occupied, effectively ending the war on the western front.

Meanwhile, on the eastern front, Macedonia had only manged to take Bithnyia, and was facing a massive coalition. On one side, Pontus advanced toward the captured territory, and on the other side, a coalition of Pergamon, Rhodes, and the Ptolemic Empire. Realizing that they could not take both these attacks at once, Macedonain troops focused on the larger attack, while only sending a token force to fight Pontus. Over years of fighting, the larger coalition was beaten down, and territory was seized. This allowed the, to focus on the army from Pontus, which had made steady gains into Bithnyia. Within two years, they were defeated, and both fronts where concluded.

Aftermath

This war collapsed Safinei trade and eventually started the Second Safinei war. In Greece and Anatolia, the power dynamic was completely changed, in favor of Macedonia. The new regional power became a close ally of Etruscan, and the two would help each other many times in the future. Meanwhile, the Pltomic Empire was forced out of Anatolia, and instead focused on consolidating their power in Africa. Macedonia also began to establish trade routes across their new territory, and further into Anatolia and Persia. The war shifted the power dynamic, both in the immediate region and across most of civilization.