Blood on the Frontier: Carthage (Kowalski) and Rome (Базослав) in Protracted War
There is no softening in the hostility that pits Carthage (Kowalski) and Rome (Базослав) against one another, sustained now through 6 unbroken years of campaign and counter-stroke. Envoys who attempted mediation have retired in despair. Caravan masters in the desert cities doubled their escorts and raised their tolls. Philosophers in the agora note that glory is eternal, but replacing lost baggage mules and broken oars proves ruinously expensive.
Field Reports of the Generals
One Step from Total Dominion: The Hegemony of Carthage (Kowalski)
The threshold of supreme dominion is at hand: Carthage (Kowalski) holds 15 vital centers, needing only 3 more cities to dictate law to the entire Mediterranean. Priests in the capital are already offering white heifers to the gods in anticipation of the victory festival. The senate of Carthage assembled in festive white togas, pouring lavish libations of wine to celebrate the conquest. Experts of the rostra are unanimous that the outcome was inevitable, now that it has occurred.
Field Reports of the Generals
Fortune Turns in Dalmatia: Carthage (Kowalski) Drives Out Greece (Luis Rodriguez) Once More
A fresh storm of javelins in Dalmatia has seen Carthage (Kowalski) wrest the town from Greece (Luis Rodriguez), marking 2 captures across these bitter seasons. The palisades, patched repeatedly with green timber, barely held for an hour. The strike originated in Venetia, which the defenders had thought secure. Wine merchants of Carthage rolled their finest casks into the squares and gave them away to all comers. 'Fortune favors the resolute, but disciplined cohorts turn fortune into certainty,' noted a seasoned legate.
A lightning strike by Greece (Luis Rodriguez) drove the cohorts of Carthage (Kowalski) from Messenian Sea before defensive ranks could be closed. Sentry posts along the river were overwhelmed in the opening moments of the engagement. The columns set out from Aegean Sea at first light. The treasurers of Carthage began burying their silver in cellars, trusting nobody with the keys. 'Words and treaties are merely the garments with which force clothes its naked ambition,' remarked a neutral diplomat.
Field Reports of the Generals
Imperial Surge: Carthage (Kowalski) Triumphs Across the Frontier
The eagle standards of Carthage (Kowalski) advanced without pause this year, adding 2 fortified cities to the sovereign census. Scribes in the capitol worked late into the evening updating boundary tablets and tax rolls. Poets in the taverns of Carthage were already composing verses that compared the generals to Achilles. 'Carthaginians would call it luck; we call it drill,' sniffed a drill-master of Carthage.
Field Reports of the Generals
The Waning of Egypt (Tim4egg): Severe Territorial Losses
Signal fires relayed along the mountain ridges confirm that an alarming retreat has forced Egypt (Tim4egg) to yield 2 cities to encroaching adversaries. Panic has begun to spread through commercial quarters as grain supplies dwindle and taxes soar to cover the disaster. Dismay seized the assembly in Egypt, where counselors openly questioned whether the state could endure. The poets, as is their habit, will compose odes for whoever pays the better fee.
Councils of the Great Powers
Endless Blood-Strife: Egypt (Tim4egg) and Persia (Эльф ушастый) Refuse to Yield
Urgent dispatches borne by naval dispatch-galleys report that the bitter struggle between Egypt (Tim4egg) and Persia (Эльф ушастый) has now raged for 6 years running, with neither sovereign willing to sue for peace. Frontier settlements have been burned and rebuilt until only ashes and stubborn pride remain. The legal justifications offered by imperial rhetoricians are as ornate as they are thoroughly unconvincing. 'The stars say nothing of this,' admitted an astrologer, 'which is itself a sign.'
Councils of the Great Powers
Generations of Hate: Carthage (Kowalski) and Egypt (Tim4egg) Continue Their Relentless War
Neither time nor exhaustion has softened the bitter rancor dividing Carthage (Kowalski) and Egypt (Tim4egg), whose armies continue to trade slaughter across scorched boundary ditches. The two sides also clashed at Cyrene and Libyan Sea. Slave dealers at the Delos market reported brisk business, as always in times like these. 'Whichever flag flies, the harbor dues are collected at dawn,' observed a customs clerk.
The Sovereign Ledger of Cities
The treasury of Carthage (Kowalski) swells with tribute, advancing to 15 cities (+2).
The census of Egypt (Tim4egg) shortens (-2), leaving 6 towns on the rolls.
The realm of Greece (Luis Rodriguez) shrinks on the wax tablet by 1 city; only 6 cities still pay tribute.
Persia (Эльф ушастый) reports abundant harvests and rising revenues, securing 1 additional stronghold to reach 6.
Rumors from the Baths & Taverns
Whispers in the port taverns claim an emissary from Carthage was seen slipping from the residence of an envoy of Rome disguised as a grain merchant.
Ferrymen insist that a hooded rider of Rome was ferried across the river by night to a meeting with the people of Persia.
Civic Decrees & Oddities
A scorching heatwave bakes the southern plains; commanders pitch leather pavilions beneath olive groves and debate the omens.
Civic Decrees & Oddities
ATTENTION VINTNERS: Two score empty terracotta amphorae in sound condition, sealed with pitch. Inquire at the harbor granary.
