Alexarchus
| Alexarchus | |
|---|---|
| Basileus | |
 Illustration of Alexarchus | |
| Reign | 447-459 CE |
| Coronation | 447 CE |
| Predecessor | Onomakritos I |
| Successor | Deinokrates I |
| Born | 27 January 421 CE Parilla, Makedon |
| Died | 19 June 459 CE (39 years old) Boreas |
| Dynasty | Zelusian Dynasty |
| Religion | Zobethos |
Alexarchus, (Makedonian: Ἀλέξαρχος), known sometimes as Alexarchus the Bold, was a King (Basileus) of the Makedonian Empire, ruling from 447-459 CE.
Son of Onomakritos I, Alexarchus ascended to the throne following his father's death in 447 CE. He inherited an empire still reeling from the Zobethos Civil War and suffering from economic and political instability, coupled with border troubles with Makedon's neighbors that became known as the 16 Years' Crisis. Lacking support from the Makedonian nobility and Royal Court owing to his homosexuality, Alexarchus was forced to navigate the Crisis with limited resources; he nevertheless accomplish much to bring about an end to the crisis. He married Minara, a Karvelebi Princess, to forestall a Karvelebi revolt, while rebuilding much of western Ruvelka that had been devastated by the Civil War. He established diplomatic relations with the Rideva Empire and reformed Makedon's borders in Mansuriyyah and the unrest following the collapse of the Hannashka Empire, subjugating several Khaltian petty Kingdoms and establishing a series of alliances to safeguard the border. The rise of the Rideva coupled with fighting within Nalaya triggered the Hayren Migration, which he allowed to settle in southern Ruvelka and Syara in exchange for their loyalty to the throne. He reformed the Empire's taxation and internal trade network, staving off economic collapse. He instituted new reforms that granted limited legal protection to slaves and redistributed land to farming communities. Following the conclusion of the crisis conflicts with the Bosrei dominated his reign, owing to the rise of the warlord Jarpr. Alexarchus waged Alexarchus' Bosrei War for two years before he was captured by Jarpr and executed.
Alexarchus proved a controversial leader during his reign, however modern historians hold him in high regard, and today is considered one of the Empire's best Kings. He is often seen as an icon of Syara's LGBT community, and is regarded as a heroic figure in Syaran culture, especially Makedon and Hayreniky.
Early Life
Alexarchus was born 27 January 421 CE to Onomakritos I and his wife Melousa. He was the second child of the couple after Rhoekos (born 438 CE), and thus was originally second-in-line to the throne. He also had a younger sister Kharope (423-481 CE) and a younger brother Eurymedon (c. 425-477 CE). As second eldest Alexarchus originally had little chance of ascending to King. His relationship with his brothers was described as competitive but pleasant. He was closer to his sister and took up riding at a young age, as was common among Makedonian nobility. The outbreak of the Zobethos Civil War when he was 10 years old originally did not impact him significantly, as Parilla was away from most of the fighting in Ruvelka. With his father away on campaign against the Traditionalists led by Hegesistratos, Alexarchus' uncle, he altered between the royal palace in Parilla and estates on the island of Chryse.
Alexarchus' life changed when Rhoekos fell ill in 435 CE and died shortly afterwards, making Alexarchus the eldest and first in line for the throne. When he was 15 he began training for the role of King, attenting schools and equestrian events in preparation for his rule. When he was 17 he began serving as a hetairoi officer in the army. He took part in minor military operations against rebellious nomadic tribes in Arkoenn and near Tennai, and by age 23 was commanding a taxis of cavalry. The rapid decline of his father's health between 446-447 brought him back to Parilla, where he made preparations to assume the throne. Although Onomakritos saw a brief revival of health in the spring that led his family to believe he would survive, he declined one more in the summer and died in July 447 CE, making Alexarchus King. His coronation took place a month later.
During his youth Alexarchus was known for his homosexual relations, something that continued into his military career. Makedonian society had complex views regarding homosexuality; while not outlawed or punishable by violence, it was often associated with youthfulness and immaturity. Thus while acceptable (or ignored) during adolesence, it was seen as increasingly taboo as one got older, and afterwards was only considered socially acceptable if acting in the role of erastes towards a younger eromenos. Complicating the matter was while homosexual activity was not considered troublesome so long as it remained within one's social status, breaking social barriers to engage in sexual activities (both heterosexual and homosexual) was considered taboo. As Basileus Alexarchus therefore had no real social equal, and his tendency towards attraction to similarly-aged males added an additional level of derision.
Reign
Alexarchus was coronated in August 447 CE. While the exact date is unknown, details of the event indicate the event was poorly attended, reflecting the lackluster popularity Alexarchus enjoyed. Many Makedonian nobles and aristocrats did not see Alexarchus fit to rule, and rumors that a group of noblemen intended to dispose Alexarchus and replace him with his younger brother Eurymedon were heard within the palace. This never came to pass, likely because Eurymedon was not on board and would in fact prove to be one of Alexarchus' strongest supporters in the Royal Court.
Alexarchus inherited an empire in the midst of massive social upheavel and severe political and economic instability. The Realm was still reeling from the Zobethos Civil War, which despite the Zobethian victory still had to contend with sizeable traditionalist populace. The fighting had devestated western Ruvelka, negatively impacting food production in Galania, the breadbasket of the Empire. Disruption of trade and shortages of raw materials led to coinage debasement, and resulted in an economic depression. Starting in 445 CE, this eventually became known as the 16 Years' Crisis.
To complicate matters, the Empire's borders were in a flux and growing unstable. In Mansuriyyah, the collapse of the Hannashka Empire half a century prior had introduced instability through the Liezue League, resulting in infighting between themselves and the various Khaltians kingdoms. This had not only brought Makedonian trade with Tennai to a halt, but also further contributed to the already precarious positioning of Makedon's southern borders, which were dependent on a network of stable alliances to ensure Makedonian influence with the Hayren tribes and throughout Nalaya. The decline of the Quảng Dynasty in neighboring Quenmin further added to Makedonian unease regarding their eastern borders, in addition to the Acrean Empire's victory over the Sabrian Empire provided another source of concern. Lastly, the continued conflict with the Bosrei in Borea, near Makedonian holdings in Eracura, threatened to spill over into major conflict as the various Nordic tribes threatened Makedonian interests.
Alexarchus' attempts tackle these problems were hindered by the Royal Court's unwillingness to fully support his efforts based on their suspicion of his capability to rule. Alexarches' decision to take a male lover in 448 CE only added to this supsicion, as it was viewed as a sign of immaturity by many members of the nobility. The failing of the Court and aristocracy to full endorse his endeavors proved to be a continuous problem for Alexarchus during his reign and contributed to a very aggressive, hands-on approach to problem solving that was perennial throughout his rule.
Ruvelka and Syara
Alexarchus faced three major problems close to home. First, the disruption caused by the Zobethos Civil War had left much of western Ruvelka in ruin, with what remained heavily depopulated and abandoned. This had all but collapsed internal trade through the Kurillas from Makedonian holdings in central Siduri. Merchants and their caravans, once a common site on roads throughout north-west Siduri, were nearly extinct. Unable to reliably transport silver, gold, and copper mined from Ruvelka's mountain ranges, the Drachma, declined significantly in value leading to currency debasement and inflation. This in turn crippled the agricultural basin of the Empire, as wealthy landowners were no longer able to sell their produce and were forced to consume whatever they produced locally, leading to food shortages in some areas of the Empire. This matter was made only more severe by the disruption of canals and irrigation systems built along the Galanian Valley as part of the Rioni River, who's regular flooding was necessary to feed the Empire's population. Lastly, in the political turmoil following the civil war many of Ruvelka's tribes and petty kingdoms had grown frustrated with Makedonian rule, threatening to spill over into rebellion.
Alexarchus responded by deploying much of the Makedonian army to patrol the roadways connecting Syara with the Empire's eastern domains in 448 CE, decreasing attacks by bandits and highwaymen. What treasury could be spared was given to merchant guilds as payouts to resume operating their trade routes, while additional slaves and availible freemen were sent to the mines in the Kurillas and Matras to increase output. By 450 CE enough silver and gold was availible for Alexarchus to revalue the drachma to near its pre-civil war standard, although concurrent attempts at price controls for goods such as grains and pottery were quickly ignored and the edict was quietly reversed.
Tackling the issues of agriculture proved more difficult. While the revaluation of the drachma allowed for more government funds to be poured into reconsctructing canals and farmlands, the interruption of the civil war had resulted in the explosion of a class of freemen who lacked the skills or money to work anywhere but for larger farm estates, while the limitations of production had created a surplus of slaves. Alexarchus' response was to break up some of the larger family owned estates, to the outrage of some Makedonian nobles, and redistibute them to lower classes. This triggered a small rebellion in 451 that Alexarchus put down bloodily. In addition, Alexarchus had 12,000 slaves redistributed as "decade farmhands" who served for ten years for various smaller farms in order to ensure there was enough labor to produce a surplus and afterwards they would be free to become taxable subjects of the empire.
Handling the Ruvelkan satrapies was met with a mixture of diplomacy and military force. In 451 Alexarchus sacked the settlements of Berhida and Derecske to put down local rebellions. More problematic was the Karvelebi Kingdom, centered around the modern region of Zemplen. The Karvelebi King, Zurab, threatened the vital roadway south of the Granika River and north of the Matra Mountains through which over 3/4ths of the Empire's land routes from the east to Syara traveled. Having grown rich off of the roadway, Zurab's potential for rebellion proved dangerous. In 452 CE Alexarchus resolved the matter by marrying Princess Minara, the first time a Karvelebi had married into the Kinesean Dynasty (although some had been adopted previously).
The marriage was met with mixed reactions in Parilla, who saw the marriage of a foreigner to the Makedonian King as unbecoming of the throne, but some nobles were pleased to see the King marry a women. Frustration with his continued relationship with his lover Aristippus however led to the latters death in 453 at the hands of a group of Makedonian nobles led by Chileos of Pydna. The murder further soured Alexarchus's relationship with the Royal Court, and he increasingly adopted more autocratic and direct means of controlling the Empire.
Despite his homosexuality, Alexarchus and Minara produced two children, including a son that was named Deinokrates. Details of the relationship between Minara and Alexarchus are scant; according to Asonides (writing sixty years later) she was well aware of his sexuality but was nevertheless supportive of him and wept when he was later killed. Alexarchus later took another lover in 455 named Zethus, although details of their relationship are likewise few in number.
Southern Siduri
In 455 CE Alexarchus turned south to stabilize Makedon's borders with the now defunct Hannashka Empire. Unable to recruit heavily from Syara or Ruvelka, Alexarchus marched south and levied additional from troops from his Mansuri satrapies, eventually fielding an army of 50,000. The Empire's borders had relied in a network of alliances with various petty kingdoms and tribes that had settled along the Mansuri border with the Hannashka, and their collapse and remaining rump state east of the Barad Mountains. Fifty years prior the Hannashka had effectively collapsed and the Rideva Empire had emerged to take its place, but by 455 was still concentrated in southern Tennai while the north was controlled by the Kandya Dynasty. In the meanwhile the Liezue confederation has largely turned on one another amid fighting the Khaltia. Alexarchus sought to re-affirm Makedonian dominion over Mansuriyyah by reforming the border so that the Sahrat al-kabir desert provided a capable bulwark against the nomadic empires of southern Siduri, while the west coast of Siduri remained in firm Makedonian hands.
Between 455 and 457 Alexarchus fought a series of inter-related conflicts against the Liezue peoples and the Khaltia, forming alliances with some and subjugating others. By 457 Alexarchus has pushed Makedon's borders closer to the extent of modern Mansuri territory, but the monarch had little desire for an extensive conflict within southtern Siduri, who's complex ethnic and cultural makeup was a daunting geopolitical barrier. Alexarchus poured most of his effort into establishing a stronger Makedonian presence along the western coast of Mansuriyyah and Nalaya where Makedonian trade routes were more significant. In 456 he also dispatched emmisaries to the court of the Ridevan Maharani Keshinirideva I in an effort to establish bilaterial ties and negotiate a trade agreement and treaty.
Details of Alexarchus' wars south of Mansuriyyah are largely lost to history, but what is more known is that the resulting carnage was a major trigger for the Hayren Migration, a period of mass movement by somewhere between 250,000-500,000 Hayren who were forced out of their traditional lands in Nalaya by the fighting. Alexarchus initially fought with the Hayren tribes in 457 before news of a rebellion by the Bosrei required his attention, resulting in the proposal of a treaty by Alexarchus to Gosdantia, Chieftan of the Armavir to allow a number of Hayren to settle in southern Ruvelka and Syara in exchange for loyalty, troops, and a conversion to Zobethos. Approximately 150,000 Hayren agreed and migrated north into southern Syara and Ruvelka, forming Hayren regions around present-day Hayreniky and Aszód.
Eracura
In 456 CE the warlord Jarpr began gathering Bosrei tribes from across Boreas to oppose Makedonian expansion across the Hrimhal River. Jarpr's efforts proved more succesful than the Makedonian officials in Boreas originally realized, allowing Jarpr to gather a force of over 70,000 warriors by years end. In 457 he sacked the Makedonian cities of Sephatateous and Alkininya along the border, prompting the local forces under Telephos of Chryse to respond. The resulting Battle of Prothiam resulted in a Makedonian defeat, and soon the Makedonians were abandoning the interior of Boreas as Jarpr's numbers swelled to over 100,000.
Alexarchus learned of the developments and promptly abandoned his efforts in southern Siduri, returning to Syara in early 458. Having disacharged his Mansuri levies, he attempted to rally troops from Makedon, Scitaria, Galania, and Ruvelka with mixed success. Many of the Empire's distant provinces with ties to the Makedonian nobility were reluctant to dispatch troops to support the campaign under the fear that they would be wasted and leave their home provinces ungarrisoned. Unable to wait long enough to enforce his request, Alaexarchus was forced to embark for Boreas with 40,000 troops with only a few Makedonians among them. He arrived in Illisium in April 458 and marched north towards the lands held by Jarpr. Excess funds from the treasury were able to purchase an additional ten thousand mercinaries. Overall his forces were weak; he lacked the professional troops necessary to form a pike phalanx that was the standard of Makedonian armies, and his troops were of dubious quality. In keeping with the aggressive streak that he had established in Siduri, Alexarchus nevertheless opted to pursue battle against Jarpr rather than let the warlord gather more strength.
Alexarchus set an ambush for Jarpr's forces at a crossroad near the town of Iselo, making extensive use of his Mansuri and Erani levies and cavalry. Jarpr's vanguard was annihilated, and 2,000 Bosrei were taken prisoner, but the early attack allowed for Jarpr to withdraw most of his army back west rather than fight unprepared. Jarpr marched, leaving behind small garrisons along the way to delay Alexarchus, who was unable to pursue fast enough to catch Jarpr. The delay allowed Jarpr to besiege the Makedonian fortress at Eptimalgos, the main base of operations for Makedonian forces along the western coast. Alexarchus pursued and arrived near Eptimalgos in October, forcing Jarpr to dispatch forces to prevent being pinned against the Makedonian fortress.
How many troops Jarpr sent is uncertain; he was still able to maintain the siege against 10,000-15,000 Makedonians at Eptimalgos, and while the forces under Alexarchus claimed they faced 100,000 men. The real number was almost certainly smaller, but the Makedonian King was most likely still noticeably outnumbered. Without his phalanx, Alexarchus formed up his Karvelebi and Ruvelkan infantry in the center, with Mansuri and Erani levies along the flanks and his Tennaiite mercenary cavalry on his left wing, with his own bodyguard and additional Eracuran mercenaries on the right. Jarpr's army most likely formed up with warbands of infantry, both light and heavy, in the center with light infantry, skirmishers, and cavalry on the wings.
Alexarchus moved first to draw off Jarpr's cavalry on the Bosrei left wing, moving forward with his bodyguard and Eracuran horsemen. Jarpr's left wing of horse expectedly gave chase, with Alexarchus conducting a giant sweep in a circular pattern to bring the Bosrei within range of his Mansuri levies, who pelted the Bosrei with javelins and arrows, before dragging some of them from their horses and killing them. Alexarchus' subsequent charge scattered the remainder of the Bosrei left wing, opening up their flank.
In the center, however, the King's Ruvelkan and Karvelebi infantry began to falter under the weight of the Bosrei, forcing Alexarchus to conduct numerous charges against the Bosrei in an attempt to wear down their flank. After more than a dozen charges many of the Makedonian central infantry were beginning to retreat, but urged on by Alexarchus the Mansuri levies managed to hold their ground and wheel into the increasingly exposed flank of the Bosrei center. Just as Jarpr's men were beginning to break through the Makedonian line, the main body of Bosrei infantry began to collapse and entire line fell into disarray. Jarpr fled with the remainder of his forces, but Alexarchus's depleted cavalry were in no position to give chase.
Death
With Jarpr momentarily defeated and Eptimalgos safe, Alexarchus had gained enough gravitas to force the disgruntled Makedonian nobility to dispatch reinforcements, including 20,000 professional Makedinian pikemen and cavalry. After stopping for the winter, Alexarchus assembled his newly reinforced army at Tellmus and began a push into northern Boreas with the goal of destroying Jarpr's army. The ensuring campaign never happened; when stalking Jarpr's army near Selmentaris, the Makedonian King led his bodyguard in a recon in force and was ambushed by a Bosrei warband, during which Alexarchus was wounded (either be falling from his horse or an arrow wound) and captured.
Alexarchus was brought before Jarpr, who informed him of his intention to ransom the King in exhange for recognition of Jarpr's sovereignty over northern Boreas. Alexarchus refuted, stating that the Royal Court would not oblige and would not refuse an opportunity to rid themselves of him. Unable to extract a ransom, Jarpr had Alexarchus executed by having his throat slit and the body thrown into the Borean River, where it floated downstream and was recovered by the Makedonians the next day. It was returned to Parilla and buried near the Royal Palace grounds amid a sparsely attended funeral.
Legacy
Alexarchus was succeeded by his brother Eurymedon until Deinokrates was old enough to take the thrown. Eurymedon managed to rally an army to launch a campaign against Jarpr to finish his brothers work, and succeeded in defeating Jarpr in 461 CE. Jarpr would eventually be killed by his own people after his defeat, after which the rebelling Bosrei would fall into disarray and allow the Makedonians to re-assert their domain over Boreas by the end of the century.
Alexarchus was generally unpopular during his rule; apart from his homosexuality, he frequently went against the Royal Court and took a direct hand in things, frequently interceding on what was traditionally the affairs of local lords and barons. His marriage to a Karvelebi woman led to a mixed reaction within the Court, some of whom were glad to see the King subdue his sexuality, while others recoiled at the presence of a foreigner in the court, although Alexarchus had not been the first to take a foreign wife. His decision to break up the ruling estates in Galania further angered local nobles and land owners, while his security enterprises in Ruvelka were more popular with merchants and tradesmen.
Alexarchus was known for his aggressive nature and hands-on approach, which many scholars attribute to his lack of support from Makedonian nobility. Unable to rely on traditional venues of power, he was frequently forced to make do with scant resources and act unilaterally with little oversight or assistance. His actions nevertheless earned some admirers; he is typically ranked highly by ehtnic Hayren in Hayreniky for his role in their settlement of southern Ruvelka and Syara and his conversion of them to Zobethos.
Despite the immense changes he brought to Syara and Ruvelka in the form of the Hayren Migration, memory of Alexarchus was suppressed in the decades following his rule, and for most of history his reign was largely relegated to minor mentions and inscriptions. Alexarchus rose to greater prominence in the 20th and 21st Centuries owing to increased focus on the early age of Zobethian Syara, and in contrast to his time he is generally held in high regard among modern Syarans.