Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 250 The Truth of History

By now Cleopatra had gathered a large number of soldiers in Antioch, Asia Minor, mainland Greece and other places, to the extent that even the local governor and commander of the Syrian garrison, Mucinus, began to be wary. However, she also knew her limits. After gathering enough soldiers, she led them south, preparing to attack back to mainland Egypt under the pretext of restoring the Ptolemaic dynasty. The army had just set out and had not yet reached Parphi, but should be there soon.

This is similar to historical situations and also similar to her father's situation.

Historically, her father, Philopator the Flutist, also known as Ptolemy XII, was once driven out of Egypt because of the rebellion of his children and the people. He then went to Rome for help, and as he wished, he obtained the army that had always supported him in Syria. One part was composed of Greek mercenaries/volunteers, and the other part was the Roman regular army. The leader was said to be Mark Antony.

He relied on the power of the Romans to regain his throne, and historically Cleopatra also pulled out a force from Syria to support herself. It is speculated that these people may be a mixture of residents of local Greek towns and some speculators. During the confrontation, a major event occurred in Egypt.

Pompey, who tried to flee to Egypt, was killed by the Egyptians, which made Caesar, who came to hunt him, very dissatisfied. This caused a lot of problems, and the rest of the story is more familiar to the public, which is basically the story of Cleopatra.

At this time and space, the Flutist Philopator simply relied on the strength of the Roman Egyptian garrison to deal with the rebels. Other things were not much different from history. Although Egypt was nominally a vassal state of the Roman Empire, in fact, the Romans' infiltration into the local area was far stronger than that of ordinary vassal states. When the two top rulers of this country started a civil war, it was definitely necessary for the Romans to intervene.

So Orville thought at the beginning that Cleopatra would choose to solve the problem through diplomatic mediation first, and perhaps recruit an army as a demonstration, but would not necessarily start a real fight. Unexpectedly, Cleopatra was so determined that she was really prepared to command the army to fight a war with her brother.

It takes time for the news to reach Rome. It takes some time for the Senate to come up with a result and for Cleopatra to arrive in Egypt. This period of time is the window period that Orwell can operate. He needs to worry not only about the Egyptians, but also about the Governor of Egypt. From the various news Orwell got, although the Governor of Egypt maintained a neutral position on the surface, he was definitely biased towards Berdinos's faction behind the scenes. He was also a person who needed to be worried about. Maybe the 20,000 Egyptian garrisons would become Orwell's enemies.
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Orville made a special trip to stop in Palphi for a few days, not only to replenish supplies, but also to hand over some matters to King Herod.

First of all, there were the alchemical potions for Vespa. King Herod provided more than a hundred of them for free as tribute. Of course, it would be best if he could get them for free. After receiving the goods, Orville sent the ship back to Rome overnight to avoid any accidents.

The next step was to negotiate with the local garrison, which was not difficult to do. Most of the troops stationed in the Kingdom of Palphi were located in the Holy City. It was even after discussion between Orvel and Tia that the final decision was made to station troops there.

The 12th Legion "Thunder" was commanded by Tiya for quite a long time, and Orville had a good relationship with them. After the Palphi War, Tiya directly promoted a captain loyal to the royal family to be the commander of the legion. The interests of the legion were not much different from those of the royal family. Unlike Antonis, the Egyptian governor who had a delicate position, Orville could basically command this legion with the military orders given to him by Vespa.

Orville asked the other side to stop Cleopatra's army and not to fight with the other side, and also to stop the Egyptian army that might come north. This request sounded reasonable, because if you think about it, you know that whether to help Cleopatra or not needs to be carefully discussed by the Senate. Before that, it is the best choice to let the other side remain as it is. Orville did this mainly because he knew that the army that Cleopatra put together would probably not be able to deal with the Egyptian army. Don't let it collapse again. It is enough to let them exist as an army to maintain a deterrent effect. Orville doesn't count on them, just don't let them drag his feet.

Because of the change in position and the fact that both sides were on the march, the communication between the two sides was temporarily cut off. However, I think Cleopatra would understand what she meant. No matter how brave the Egyptian army was, they would not dare to fight with the Roman regular army that was sandwiched between the two sides to maintain order.

Finally, there was the matter of those "holy relics". When Orville was talking to King Herod about this, the other party didn't react for a while. Only after he reminded him did he remember this incident which happened more than 40 years ago.

Herod Agrippa II pursed his lips, then replied in annoyance, "What about those people? It was a big deal at the time, and my father wanted to preserve the relevant evidence, so I have kept it all along. It's just for emergency use. If you need it, just take it."

His father, Herod Agrippa I, was actually a capable man. Not only did he unify the divided Kingdom of Parma after the feudal inheritance, but he also preserved his territory from the Romans and even expanded it a little. Even in the central Roman Empire, he had some face. Emperor Caligula was very respectful to him, and he also made an indelible contribution to the accession of Claudius to the throne. He even established a good relationship with Nero, who later came to power. During his reign, he protected the independence of the Kingdom of Parma.

Considering the perspective of a king of a small country, Herod Agrippa I did almost the best. If he were the king of any other small country, it would not be surprising that he would be rated as the best in the history of that country. However, he was not well regarded by later generations because he executed two very important figures during his reign - John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.

The former was not due to religious issues. In fact, Herod Agrippa I was furious. On his way to Rome, he fell in love with his brother Philip's wife Herodias, so he wanted to divorce his original wife, the Nabataean princess. John publicly condemned this incestuous behavior, and King Herod held a grudge and executed him. This may have been the process in history. Because of killing the saint, he carried a bad reputation for quite a long time.

As for the stories in the Gospel of Mark, Herodias was furious with John and instigated her husband King Herod to fall in love with her daughter Salome. After Salome danced the famous Dance of the Seven Veils (probably a striptease or a ritual from the mythology of the Mesopotamian region), she demanded that St. John's head be chopped off. Orwell didn't have the courage to ask about the true situation of Herod II, but it seems that most of them are later processing.

PS. My friend went out yesterday for some business and had no time to write. After I came back, I found that I didn’t have enough time (I had to catch up on some information), so I owed him a day. I will make up for the update later.

(End of this chapter)