The Great Seleucid War

The Great Seleucid War, lasted from 580 AVC until 593 AVC and was the catalyst for the Democratic Revolution that would start in 593 AVC.

Declaration of War
In 580 AVC the Senate of Crete ordered the Archon to declare war on Macedonia in an effort to liberate Greek provinces. The Legislative session of 580 AVC was particularly heated as the Populists attempted to block the declaration of war. Eventually the Senate struck a compromise whereby the Militarist party could pass their war bill while the Populists would get a change of the National Idea after the end of the War. Unfortunately for all involved, the war was not as simple as anyone imagined. With the Seleucid Emperor in his 80's and his heir being supremely unpopular due to a previous sessions' Mercantalist motion undermining the Seleucid leader's popularity, it was anticipated that the Emperor would die quickly and spark a civil war among his generals.

The Militarist Archon, Lycurgus Vodenosid, declared war on Macedonia in 580 AVC. Crete's allies, The Kingdom of Crobobizi, Tomis and the Aetolian League, honored their agreements and joined in the war as well. Crete's largest ally Egypt was unfortunately sidelined because of their alliance with Macedonia. Eurycrates Zagreid was given command of the First Army and ordered by the Archon to march on the Macedonian capital. The Archon himself was in command of the Second Army and invaded the Macedonian isles in the Aegean.

The early part of the war was overwhelmingly successful for Crete with the Isles of Samos being liberated quickly. However in early 582 the Seleucid Empire declared war on Crete.

The Seleucid War
With the First and Second Armies engaged with Macedonia, and Egypt on the sidelines because of the war with Macedonia, the Archon quickly concluded a peace between Crete and Macedonia. Macedonia ceded Stobi and Samos to Crete, and Egypt was called into the war.

The Seleucid Army made landfall in Argolis and began to siege Athens. Eurycrates Zagreid moved his First Army down the coast and dispatched the Seleucid Army. Sparta and Messene were liberated from Seleucid control by both Cretan and Aetolian Armies. The Seleucid Army invaded again, this time from the north, driving into Thessaly defeating both the First and Second Cretan Armies and then retreating back into Macedonia. Meanwhile, the Crobobizi had liberated Thrace, but in the process the Seleucid's took Crobobizi. Egypt's holdings in Asia Minor and the Cretan held Isles of Samos also fell to the advancing Seleucids, but Egypt made an offensive push into the Levant, forcing the Seleucid military to split their forces.

In 583, the minor allies, with the exception of Tomis, negotiated peace with the Seleucids, leaving only Egypt, Tomis and Crete in the war. With the Seleucid's occupied elsewhere, Assyria declared independence and in 585 the Seleucid tributary Atropatene joined the war against the Seleucid's realizing that the war may be their only moment to regain their independence. In June of 585, the Seleucids attacked Crete proper in Knossus and moved their fleet into the Aegean to deny Crete control of the seas. The Cretan Nautikon Eurycrates Xenonid moved his fleet against the Seleucids, inflicting a massive defeat on them and securing the Aegean for Crete. Simultaneously the former Archon Lycurgus Vodenosid destroyed the Seleucid force in Knossos. However, the war was far from over.



Elections were held in 585, and were marked by large amounts of disaffection due to the war. Philotheos Pytheid, a Mercantalist, was elected Archon. In the Senate session of 585, a Militarist motion, "Blood Spent Must Land Earn Act", was passed which only allowed the Archon to accept peace when more than half the Seleucid Army was mobilized against Crete. Because of the restrictions of the bill, the Archon was unable to accept the peace offered by the Seleucid's in 585 after the destruction of their fleet and army. They offered peace in exchange for 23 gold, but they were turned down by the Archon pursuant to the bill. This incident has become known as the '23 Gold Peace ' and is representative of Senate restrictions at a time of great crisis resulting in disaster.

With the peace deal turned down, Crete focused its efforts on liberating Asia Minor to try and encourage Egypt to remain in the war. It was also hoped that the Seleucid Emperor would soon die and spark a Seleucid civil war, giving Crete the opportunity she needed to liberate more of the Aegean. However in 587, Egypt negotiated and signed a peace treaty with the Seleucids, leaving Crete and Tomis to stand alone against the Seleucid war machine. Assyria soon followed suit, cementing their independence from the Empire. Shortly after, Atropatene was defeated. Crete was plagued by small rebellions against the government as more people become angry at the cost of the war in both blood and treasure. With the Seleucid military moving reinforcements into Asia Minor, Eurycrates Zagried retreated back into Thrace, but was ambushed by rebels and was grievously wounded. The Cretan military stood at fewer than 15,000 men, and Crete's best general was off recovering from his wounds.

With all of this going on, the Seleucid Emperor finally died at the age of 85, but contrary to the popular thinking in Crete his death did not initiate a civil war. Instead, the generals of the Empire rallied around the heir to defeat Crete and reclaim lost territory. Rather than being divided by the war, the Empire was unified by it. The Governor of a minor province, Arabia, rose up to declare independence, but for the most part the Empire continued on as before. A Seleucid Army soon marched across the Bosporus and reconquered Thrace and then marched into Maedi. With a majority of Seleucid Armies arranged against Crete, the Archon pursuant to the Senate bill, sued for peace and offering the entire treasury. The Seleucid's turned away the Cretan envoy, sensing the upper hand was now theirs.

The Roman Intervention
With Egypt out of the war and with the Cretan military decimated, Macedonia declared war on Crete bringing with them their new and powerful ally to the west, The Roman Republic. Desperate, the Archon sued for peace with the Seleucids, offering them the Cretan territory Maedi. The Seleucids thirst sated, they accepted. However, the situation did not improve much. The Macedonians marched on Stobi and defeated the Cretan army there. The Upper House, obstinate as ever, refused to call in Egypt against the Macedonian incursion.

Amyntus Pytheid, leader of the Religious party, was elected Archon in 590 AVC. The Senate session of 590 AVC was notable for the rise of a Religious splinter faction, the Sons of Zeus. The Sons of Zeus, seeking to avoid a restrictive peace motion like the militarist proposal passed in the last Senate session, passed a bill, the "Unshackle The Archon Act" ceding power to the Archon to declare peace as soon as possible. It was also during this session that the Mercantalist party passed "The Best Party Act", requiring the Archon to appoint Mercantalist party members to positions of authority. The result of the bill being that many unqualified party members were appointed, further alienating the people.

With Eurycrates Zagreid still injured, Nautikon Eurycrates Xenonid was appointed leader of the Army. The Upper House finally relented and called in Egypt to the war against Macedonia and Rome. Macedonia, facing a united Crete alliance accepted peace in 593 AVC and soon after Rome accepted as well in exchange for 20 gold. After 13 years of constant war, Crete was at peace.

The Democratic Revolution
The wars had finally ended, but the people had suffered enough under the rule of the Oligarchs. The men of Crete were all dead, the treasury empty and incompetent men had been appointed to high offices. A Populist revolt began in 593 AVC and would result in the downfall of the Second Republic. This is the true legacy of the Great Seleucid War.