Asia et Cappadocia

Crassus orders a survet general of the realm. How many men could be raised, how much could be plundered and taken from the Pontic pretender and his supporters. And also, he sent scouts to the Northern borders, to inspect the terrain. He asked right and left about the ways into and out Cappadocia, the roads, the paths, the rivers and the valleys. He hired sheperds and huntsmen. The pro-consul would have to know when Mithridates came. And, Jove, he would come, in force, like any other Oriental despot, thinking himself better than any other living man, better than mere Roman officers. He would be proven wrong, like Perseus of Macedonia or Seleukos. God-kings had been humbled by simple Romans, and they would be again. And again. The pro-consul knew how rich Asia could be, if one were to subject the whole Anatolia Rome would be bathing herself in gold for years to come. And everyone would remember Crassus Capitolinus Asiaticus forever. Moreso if he brought good plunder in statues and marble to decorate a new theatre or forum...

The dreams of grandeur and delusion would entertain the pro-consul while he organized the province and the neighbouring kingdom for war. Bythinia and the Roman clients and allies were forewarned, the Pontic king would soon be at their threshold and Rome demanded loyalty and friendship. Over-ambitious or not, he was diligent and dedicated every day to the burden of ruling the land and readying his forces. At night, he would be delighted by slaves, poets and minstrels, while he waited. And waited.

The proconsul, before the war erupts, asks the leaders of the oldest Asian legion still in service if they would change their promised lands in Galia for their equivalent in the Greek provinces. A new city, a colony for them to inhabit, to be built in an auspicious and bountiful spot, with good farm land.

Crassus proclaims an edict for the recluitment of legions in the province.

The Fall of Bithynia

With the campaign season quickly approaching its end, the forces of Nicomedes of Bithynia were slow to react to the proclamation of open war with Mithridates. As far as the Bithynian King knew, Eupator was still off campaigning in Scythia, putting down local tribes that threatened his newly won mastery of the Black Sea. Nicomedes gambled that the conflict would be some proxy war in Cappadocia between the puppet king and the Roman Pro-Consul, and thus contented himself with entertaining foreign dignitaries in his capital at Nicomedia. While the forces that Rome demanded were raised, it was a slow and half-wrought process, with most of them anticipating that the hard yards of the campaign would take place in the next year when the campaigning season began anew.

Unknown to the Bithynians, Mithridates had also gambled. Gambled on a peace with the Scythians, gambled on a successful Black Sea crossing, gambled on leaving his generals to go out to assemble an army of mercenaries whilst he took his battle-hardened veterans across the border into the hills of Paphlagonia. Storming into Bithynia in a matter of days, Nicomedes soon found his party rudely interrupted by the arrival of the oldest and fiercest of his enemies. The half-prepared army of the King melted away as snow in spring, leaving him to flee into Roman territory for his life as the gates of his own city opened to the armies of Mithridates. In less than a week, Rome’s strongest Asian ally had fallen, a harsh massacre of Roman citizens and sympathisers duly following. Word of this would soon reach Crassus in Cappadocia and Mugillanus in Macedonia, highlighting the mighty threat that the would-be King of all Asia now posed to Roman dominance in the region, dominance that had long been taken for granted. Mithridates now ruled in Nicomedia triumphant, and there gathered his forces for a fresh invasion of Roman Asia in the coming months.

News arrives from the Senate to Proconsul Crassus. Atellus has ensured that the Senate passed a measure to ensure reinforcements to the East. Legio V and the newly raised XVI are due to depart from Tarentum once ships are provided to ensure maritime transport.

Pergamon opens its gates to Mithridates, with several influential figures in the city having been convinced to strike a deal with the Pontic King that preserved their ancient priveleges.

Mithridates makes the city his headquarters, but not before murdering all Roman and Italian settlers within. He uses the treasury to bolster his forces further, and sends armies to besiege Ephesus and Halicarnassos. Furthermore, his navy has arrived from Pontus, and is preparing to contest the Aegean with the Romans.

Mithridatic Army: in Pontus
Mithridates VI (1 battles, 2 survival)
Neoptolemus (2 battles)

14,000 Light Infantry
9,000 Phalingitai (Elite Pike Infantry)
2000 Hypasistai (Elite Sword Infantry)
8,490 Heavy Infantry
1000 Cataphracts (Heavy Cavalry)
3500 Cavalry
1500 archers
15 Elephants
30 Scythed Chariots

Cappadocian Army: In Pontus
11,900 light infantry
1618 Phalangitai (elite infantry)
5450 Heavy infantry
3775 Cappadocian Cavalry
475 Cataphracts (heavy cavalry)




Mithridatic Navy: at Piraeus, Athens
80 Trireme
44 Quinquireme
8 Hexerareme


Aware of the Roman presence in Cilicia, the King of Kings moves his fleet there to ensure that any attempted reinforcement or rescue attempt would not take them by surprise. 

Returning to the east mere months after his victory, Sulla begins the arduous process of setting the provinces in order and ensuring his soldiers had allotments of land to be settled upon. Thanks to the devastation caused by the campaigns of Mithridates, plenty of empty space existed to fill.

First, there would be the already finished colony of Corneliopolis, now the administrative capital of Cappadocia. Built right on top of the old Mazaka, the new Roman settlement was, for all purposes, an extra district within the already ancient city. It was the 'Latin' quarter of the new settlement, and each man was to be given a house within the city and a plot of land on the sizeable Cappadocian royal estates that had fallen into the hands of Roma. This, however, was not as simple as a wave of the hand. Surveys and censuses had to be undertaken, as the exact extent of the lands inherited were examined and parcelled up painstakingly by Roman officials. They were sorted by profitability, longevity, the manner of crops that could be grown there, in what condition they were in. Everything that needed to be known for the settlement of his veterans.

Naturally, Sulla purchased his own share of the prime estates, groves of fertile lands that produced apricots, apples, oranges, and grapes. Slaves from his conquests would till the soil, while the rest of the estates would be held as freeholds by his own veterans, many of whom had grown wealthy enough to hold slaves of their own to do the legwork. The locals would not be able to grasp the niceties of the Republic, its politics, and its governance. To them, it would seem as if another King had come, conquered their land, and had doled out the rewards to his loyal soldiers. It was not far from the truth. Cappadocia, though a Roman province, was deep in the pockets of Lucius Sulla. Coins were circulated in the east bearing his image, and as was the custom amongst the Easterners they began to celebrate feast-days in his honour. The Sullan games became a regular, annual festival in Mazaka for years thereafter, held in celebration of the Triumphator.

Then, onwards to Asia. The death of some eighty thousand Romans and Italians in the region had left it truly desolate and, unfortunately, very Greek. But on the upside, the vast estates of the local colonists were now empty and in need of new management. Near Pergamon itself, a site was mapped out for Colonia Felix. The walled town would feature enough homes for eight thousand veterans, whilst the surrounding farmsteads would be appropriated for their own personal use as the estates were in Cappadocia. Naturally, those that profited from the deaths of Italians and Romans would have their lands revoked, and if they began to stir up trouble Sulla had no doubt that the new settlers would be more than happy to settle it at the points of their swords. Having two legions worth of reliable men in the province would be a sure buffer against rebellion, as well as re-securing Roman influence over a severely damaged region.

By buying up estates in Cappadocia, Sulla can invest in the agriculture tree as a secondary branch. However, income from this secondary tree will be halved to represent the administrative burden, and no extra bonuses will apply.