My historical ACKS game, Tyche's Favourites is underway. It is set in 300BC in the western Mediterranean, with no magic or other supernatural elements. At the players' request, the game has started off plotted so they can get into their characters and arrive at the base location with things already in motion. That's taken the form of one PC acting as agent for a rich aristocrat to procure the services of the other PCs. They've been travelling from Asia Minor, by land, to get to Massalia.

The game began in late summer moving across the valley of the Padus river in northern Italy, with the PCs and their retinues (over thirty people, all told) negotiating the various Celtic/Ligurian tribes. They are currently in Antipolis (modern Antibes) about to set off on the last leg of the journey. Negotiations have just taken place to establish their contracts, which bind them into training the city militia for the next six months, though much of that activity will be supported by their henchmen. I intend that once they get to Massalia, they'll find a place with things going on, into which they can throw themselves. In other words, something like sandbox style, as I understand these things.

So let's quickly outline the place that will be their home base for the foreseeable future. Massalia was founded 300 years earlier by Ionian Greeks from Phocaea. It has a population of around 6,000 people, and is run as an "aristocratic republic". In other words it's an oligarchy, there's a council of 600 free males of sufficient property, which has an elected executive (timoukoi) of 15 from that number, which in turn elects three of its number as "presidents". That is also the same body from which juries for courts, magistrates appointed to perform civic duties and so on are drawn. Those 600 are also theoretically the militia, split into 60 cavalry, 240 heavy infantry and 300 skirmishers. The reality is that most of those men would rather buy off a threat or hire Celts to fight for them (or in extremis run crying to Rome), and the city has stone walls which secure them against all but the greatest gatherings of tribes. Besides that, though, there is no garrison, Greek city-states will generally not tolerate that sort of imposition, unless they're the thugs of a tyrant who needs them to keep himself in power.

Trade, not land, is the source of Massalia's wealth. It was the gateway to France. They exported their own products; local wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork, salt, olive oil, cups, mixing bowls, to inland markets in Gallia. They were a destination for re-export primarily of grain, amber, tin and slaves into the Mediterranean world. Massalia founded colonies of its own, largely to secure its trade routes and ensure safe places for ships to take on food and water, and shelter against bad weather. They covered a sweep of villages and towns along the southern coast of France, including Tauroeis, Olbia, Antipolis, Nikaia and Monoikos. They traded across the Gulf of Lion with Emporion (Empuries) which was their window onto Spanish trade.

This being a Greek polis, it is of course riven with factionalism and a dizzying array of personal and public agendas. While everyone wants to keep the trade that is Massalia's lifeblood flowing and wants to get rich, you won't find two influential men who can agree on just how to do that. Some of the broad political factions are thus:

• Populists who want to expand the franchise to include poorer men and the large mixed Celto-Hellenic population of the region v conservatives who think maybe it's not restrictive enough and the property requirements should be raised and the rolls purged of paupers.
• Men who support/are in the pocket of the Carthaginians v boosters of the Romans v boosters of the Etruscans v boosters of the Greek city-states of Sicily and southern Italy
• Pro-Celtic and relaxed about the cultures mingling v Pro-Greek and obsessed with cultural purity and preservation of Greek ways
• Those who are want a greater military presence v those who want less so there's more money to create profit
• Build up the navy v build up the army
• Found new colonies v invest in the colonies already in existence
• More involvement in the affairs of the Celtic interior v hands off and leave them to it
• Take a more aggressive stance with Carthage v take a more conciliatory line
• Involvement in the affairs of Hellas ("free Greece/Ionia from the Macedonians" etc) v focus on issues at home

And of course men belong to several, and change their membership as whim or bribes from wealthier men (or foreign backers) take them. Here's the present list of the timoukoi:

Spoiler

Menesthios leader of the populist faction, the PCs employer
Pelopidas - oldest member and senior of the three presidents; indecisive
Cleonymos - bitter opponent of Menesthios, youngest and junior of the three presidents; leader of the aristocratic faction
Laodamas - second president and a moderate aristocrat, open to reasoned argument, reputation for fairness
Menelaos - a populist
Oenemaus - a populist
Parmenides - an aristocrat (in the pay of the Carthaginians)
Satyros - an aristocrat (in the pocket of the Romans)
Elasus - an aristocrat
Diomedes - a populist
Diodoros - an aristocrat (but moderate)
Eurybates - a populist
Hieronymos - an aristocrat (but moderate)
Kallinos - an aristocrat
Kritias - a populist (Galliaphile)

Don't read that list as the only people who matter, of course, there are men who are merely members of the council who might nontheless command respect or have wealth beyond those who currently serve who are pulling strings. If you've got more ideas for what both the timoukoi and indeed anyone else is up to, please share.

Obviously by taking the contract they've enmeshed themselves in the schemes of their employer, an ambitious man called Menesthios (a timoukos, but not a president) who has visions of his city rising to greater things than being the Gallic shopfront of the world.

They've also already annoyed the Carthaginians by rejecting an offer to be bought out of their contract with Menesthios and basically bugger off. One PC has vowed he's going to root out all Carthaginian influence in Massalia in response to their meddling (and he has both the brains and the assassins/agents to do it).

It's not just about the native politicians, either, there are plenty of powerful foreigners and states with an interest in what goes on in the major trade hub of southern Gaul. There are four major foreign powers who have their oars in Massalia; Carthage, the Etruscan city-states, the Roman republic and Syracuse. More detail on the foreign powers:

Spoiler

Kart-Hadast - descendants of Phoenician colonists, the Carthaginians are the pre-eminent commercial and maritime power in the western Mediterranean. From their base in north Africa (modern Tunis), they control an empire of markets, ports and naval bases spanning coastal southern and eastern Iberia, the Balearic islands, southern Kurtyn (Corsica), Sardin (Sardinia) and western Sikelia (Sicily). Their naval squadron out of Gader (Cadiz) blockades the Pillars of Herakles, preventing anyone from sailing into the seas beyond and trading directly with Alba (Britain), the source of most tin. Their warships prowl the seas, keeping the sea-lanes safe for their trade vessels and harassing the fleets of other nations should the whim take them. They prefer to employ mercenaries to do their fighting, and leverage their huge wealth (especially in Iberian silver) to achieve their goals. Massalia has clashed with Carthage in the past, though relations are peaceful at present (but will never be cordial as long as the two vie for control of trade in the region).

They are presently on friendly terms with the Roman Republic, various Tyrrhenoi city-states and have long-standing and well-funded alliances with some of the Keltoi, Ligures and Iberian tribes. Their control of western Sikelia puts them in regular opposition with Syrakousai and the other Greek cities on the island.


Roman Republic - a city-state in central Italia that is growing in power and influence in the region, the Romans are nontheless still very much a Latin power, locked in incessant conflict with their Samnite neighbours. While their interests happily coincide with those of Massalia, they are largely consumed with events inside Italia. From time to time, they have responded to requests for aid from Massalia in the form of troops, of whom they have a large pool of citizen-soldier manpower to draw upon. They see themselves very much as the senior partner in relations with Massalia, and can be high-handed and arrogant in their handling of Massalian affairs.

While friendly with the Carthaginians, they are often in conflict with all of their neighbours; Tyrhennoi, Samnites and other Sabellian tribes, Keltoi, the city-states of Megale Hellas.


Tyrhennoi - the Etruscans are not one people, but a loose confederation of city-states in northern Italia. They were the amongst the first foreigners to trade into Gallia, though they never established any permanent trading posts. They resent Massalia's growing projection into their natural sphere of influence, and drove Massalian colonists out of Alalia, on Kurtyn almost two centuries ago. Their power is waning, they were once the dominant power in Italia, an Etruscan monarch ruling in Rome and with control over the island of Kurtyn. Under threat from the Keltoi, southern Greeks and Romans in Italia, and Carthaginians in the wider region, they are a shadow of their former glory. In the last century the city-state of Felsina passed under the influence of the Keltoi as the Boii conquered the region, renaming the city Bononia.

Their league commonly works together with the Carthaginians to contain Massalian influence, but is often in conflict with the Roman Republic and their Keltoi neighbours.


Syrakousai and Megale Hellas - southern Italia and coastal Sikelia were heavily colonised by the city-states of Greece, raising many settlements there which had a shared identity of common "Greek-ness" in the Hellenistic era. They are, however, just as disunited as Greeks from the homelands, each man owing allegiance only to his polis. Syrakousai is the mightiest of them, the biggest city in the western Mediterranean, home to some 200,000 souls and a major power in its own right. Ruled by the tyrannos Agathokles and his mercenaries, it has seen the rise and fall of many of his ilk, though political turmoil hasn't reduced the city's economic or military muscle.

Syrakousai is in almost constant conflict with the Carthaginians, who often meddle in the city's affairs, which has frequently led to open warfare on land and at sea. The Greek city-states of Sikelia are often drawn into these conflicts on one side or the other. The city-states of southern Italia have tense relations with the Roman Republic and the Tyrhennoi.

The last piece of the jigsaw is the PCs themselves (and their retinues - again each of them is a leader and has a lot of useful people).

Rhyanidd - a princess of the Lugii, from the most northerly fringes of Keltoi influence bordering with Germania, she is an experienced warrior and warleader. Like many aristocrats amongst her people, she is an excellent horsewoman and has served in the role of mercenary cavalry since her mid-teens in the wars of the Greeks. She was on the winning side at Ipsus, seizing much plunder. Her bodyguard are devoted to her, they have earned wealth, status and renown following her (and in some cases, freedom).

Rhyanidd has been hired as the captain of Menesthios' new Celtic bodyguard (who are only to be seen with him outside the city) - one of several private contracts besides the one he was voted the liturgy to provide for refurbishing/training the city militia. Her second-in-command will be training the city cavalry (an unenviable job given they'll be the most difficult of all of them to train).

Meshullum - an Alexandrian Jew originally from Tyre (evacuated as a child from the siege that resulted in its destruction at the hands of Alexander), perhaps it was that early dislocation that led him to his wandering lifestyle. He is a mercenary captain of archers, having been involved in all the major conflicts, since the Gaza campaign, and changed sides more than once. His retinue is comprised of his most loyal archers, and his nephew, a doctor from the Alexandrian school.

Meshullum will be training the artisan class in the arts of skirmishing, and he has notions of separately raising a force of archers amongst Menesthios' Celtic tenants outside Massalia.

Septimus - a Latin from central Italia, he is an enterprising man who considers himself the foremost merchant of war in the Hellenistic world. He provided Demetrios with siege equipment during his famous siege of Rhodes. But he is no idealist allied to the Antigonid cause, he goes where the profit is. His retinue comprises agents, savants and a trio of Cilician pirates. Has sworn to root out the Carthaginians in Massalia.

Septimus will be doing all sorts of underhand stuff, but also wants to captain a ship for Menesthios. I think he also harbours desires of capturing a Carthaginian vessel as a prize and to found his own personal fleet one day. He has a couple of brilliant savants in his entourage who might be able to make some money consulting on various things.

Philipos - a giant of a man from Macedon, he was a hypaspist like his father before him, wearing a fortune in heirloom armour purchased with Persian plunder. On the battlefield he is bronze god of war, almost impervious to harm. He was on the losing side at Ipsus, but came away with his honour intact. His retinue comprises his closest companions; Greek officers, a dubious Ionian, his valet and his nephew.

Philipos will be training the city hoplites and is the most likely (well only one) of the PCs to be made a citizen by the council at some later stage.


So if you're still with me, what sorts of ideas might that be stirring? What agendas could already be in motion in this pit of vipers? Is anything jumping out at anyone as something that must be used?

If Carthage is blockading the Pillars of Hercules, than establishing an overland trade route to a western Gaulish port would allow trading with Alba for tin. It might even become a colony of Massalia. Keeping it low-key would avoid the attention of passing ships. It could also be used to prey on Carthaginian trading ships.

Quote from: soltakss;664758If Carthage is blockading the Pillars of Hercules, than establishing an overland trade route to a western Gaulish port would allow trading with Alba for tin. It might even become a colony of Massalia. Keeping it low-key would avoid the attention of passing ships. It could also be used to prey on Carthaginian trading ships.

There's already an overland trading route that brings the tin (along with amber and other goodies) right to Massalia's door; that's why Pytheas' famous voyage ultimately failed.

That's not to say, of course, that there isn't potential for massive profit (and risk) by cutting out those Celtic middle men and running an expedition of your own. And your notion about a port to raid Carthaginian tin-ships is a good one.

Sounds awesome!