Greek and Roman one-shots

[isabella]

I will use this thread for posting some material/scenarios on the ancient world, who I have started but is unlikely I will develop more so they do not deserve their own thread for me. I will post here also the trees and the link for the trees for scenarios in the same timeframe…

Trees:

1. Alexander the Great’s Queens Thread
2. Alexander the Great‘s royal brides Thread
3. Julia Caesaris lives

Scenarios:

1. Alexander has a son by Stateira before dying
2. Craterus is already regent of Macedonia at Alexander’s death
3. Craterus is in Babylon at Alexander’s death

The thread for discussions and development of scenarios and ideas in this time frame is here

 

[isabella]

Stateira, the very young queen of Persia was practically in despair: the death of her husband Alexander had left her alone to try to hold up her husband's kingdom just a couple of months after the birth of their only child, little Achilles. True, she and her younger sister Drypetis, widowed almost a year earlier by Hephaestion, Alexander's best friend and second in command, to whom she had given a posthumous daughter, named Cleopatra in honor of Alexander's sister, could count on the support of her elderly grandmother Sisygambis, who though devastated by the death of Alexander, whom she had adopted as her son well before his marriage to Stateira, was well determined to protect the legacy of little Achilles.

And Alexander's undoubtedly ambitious generals could hardly exclude them from power or regency for the infant king, at least as far as Asia was concerned. Craterus, whom Alexander had appointed regent in Macedonia but had failed to seize control of the area before his death, had taken in marriage one of the daughters of Antipater, the man he was to replace, repudiating his Persian wife Amestris, cousin of Stateira and Drypetis, who had refused to leave the role of principal wife to the newcomer.

Two more of Alexander's generals, Demetrius and Perdiccas had married Antipater's remaining daughters, while the ambitious Leonnatus had taken as wife Cleopatra, Alexander's sister and widowed queen of Epirus. Of Alexander's remaining commanders, Seleucus, Eumenes, and Nearchus had retained their Persian marriages, and Ptolemy had added a marriage to Berenice, Antipater's niece, to his Persian wife. Stateira had been joined in Asia by Alexander's mother Olympias, whom she had not had a chance to meet while her husband was still alive, and she had found in her a valuable ally, since Olympias had added her knowledge of Macedonia and Epirus to that of Sisygambis and Ada of Caria about Asia, giving Stateira and Drypetis a full view of the situation.

Of the other wives left behind by Alexander, Parysatis was a cousin of Stateira, who would have nothing to fear from her, while she was grateful for the fact that Alexander's other wife, the very ambitious Roxana of Bactria was childless having miscarried both times she had been pregnant.

Amestris however had remarried another Macedonian general, Lysimachus, ensuring a new ally for her cousins, who could already count on Leonnatus, Seleucus, Eumenes, Nearchus, and at least the respect of Craterus, Ptolemy and Perdiccas

 

[isabella]

POD is who Philip II decided to marry his son Alexander to Attalus’ niece Cleopatra Eurydice instead of marrying her himself (as OTL) . The thread is here
Amyntas III, King of Macedonia married Eurydice

1. Alexander II, King of Macedonia (r 369-367) died without issue
2. Perdiccas III, King of Macedonia (r 365-360) married ?
   1. Amyntas (IV, briefly King of Macedonia in 360) (a 365-336) married Cynane of Macedonia (b. 359/7)
      1. Adea Eurydice (b. a 340) married Philip IV, King of Macedonia (b. 336) with issue
3. Eurynoe married Ptolemy of Aloros
4. Philip III, King of Macedonia (r 359-336) married a) Audata Eurydice of Illyria, b) Phila of Elimeia, c) Nicesipolis of Pherae, d) Olympias of Epirus, e) Philinna of Larissa, f) Meda of Odessus
   1. a) Cynane (b. 359/7) married Amyntas of Macedonia (b. a 365) with issue
   2. e) Arridhaeus (b. a 359)
   3. d) Alexander III, King of Macedonia, High King of Asia (b. 356-321) married a) Cleopatra Eurydice (b. a 356), b) Stateira of Persia (b. a340), c) Parysatis of Persia (b. b 338)
      1. a) Philip IV, King of Macedonia (b. 336) married Adea Eurydice (b. a 340) with issue
      2. a) Olympias (b. 335)
      3. b) Alexander IV, High King of Asia (b. 323) married Berenice (b. 323)*
   4. d) Kleopatra (b. 355/4) married Alexander I, King of Epirus (371-331) with issue
   5. c) Tessalonike (b. a 352)

*daughter of Hephaistion and Drypetis

 

[isabella]

POD is Alexander living longer than OTL, returning in Macedonia and adding his niece Adea Eurydice to the number of his wives. The thread is here

Amyntas III, King of Macedonia married Eurydice

1. Alexander II, King of Macedonia (r 369-367) died without issue
2. Perdiccas III, King of Macedonia (r 365-360) married ?
   1. Amyntas (IV, briefly King of Macedonia in 360) (a 365-336) married Cynane of Macedonia (b. 359/7)
      1. Adea Eurydice (b. a 340) married Alexander III, King of Macedonia, High King of Asia (356-311) with issue
3. Eurynoe married Ptolemy of Aloros
4. Philip III, King of Macedonia (r 359-336) married a) Audata Eurydice of Illyria, b) Phila of Elimeia, c) Nicesipolis of Pherae, d) Olympias of Epirus, e) Philinna of Larissa, f) Meda of Odessus
   1. a) Cynane (b. 359/7) married Amyntas of Macedonia (b. a 365) with issue
   2. e) Arridhaeus (b. a 359)
   3. d) Alexander III, King of Macedonia, High King of Asia (356-311) married a) Roxana of Bactria (b. a 347), b) Stateira of Persia (b. a340), c) Parysatis of Persia (b. b 338), d) Adea Eurydice of Macedonia (b. a 340)
      1. b) Achilles, High King of Asia (b. 323) married Helen (b. 322)*
      2. b) Olympias (b. 322)
      3. c) Berenice (b. 322)
      4. d) Philip, King of Macedonia (b. 321)
      5. d) Kleopatra (b. 319)
      6. b) Alexander, King of Egypt (b. 318)
      7. c) Arsinoe (b. 317)
      8. d) Cynane (b. 315)
   4. d) Kleopatra (b. 355/4) married Alexander I, King of Epirus (371-331) with issue
   5. c) Tessalonike (b. a 352)

*daughter of Hephaistion and Drypetis

 

[isabella]

POD: Julia do not see Pompey’s blood stained toga so she do not miscarry her first child

Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 100 BC) married a) Cornelia Cinna Minor (97-69) in 84, b) Pompeia Sulla (?) in 67 div 62, c) Calpurnia (b.76) in 59

1. a) Julia Cesaris (b. 76) married Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (b. 106 BC) in 59
   1. Gaius Julius Caesar Pompieanus (b. 55)
   2. Pompeia Magna Minor (b. 53)
   3. Pompeia Magna Tertia (b. 50)

 

[isabella]

Cleopatra of Macedon, Queen Mother and Regent of Epirus was seriously considering her prospects now that the terrible news of her brother Alexander's death had reached her... Oh, Craterus, one of her brother's most important generals, who had just replaced the old Antipater as regent of Macedon had wasted no time in proposing marriage, believing that as the royal princess of Macedon and the only true sister of Alexander, she was a better way to the power than his current wife, the Persian princess Amestris , from which he would have to divorce to marry her since neither of them would have agreed to be a second wife. Cleopatra knew Craterus well enough to know that he did not share Alexander's orientalization, and that he would gladly give up his Persian wife to marry her and consolidate his power in Macedonia. She also suspected that, if she refused, Craterus would propose to her half-sister Cynane, who as Philip's eldest daughter and Amyntas’ widow could be almost as useful to his plans, unless he aimed directly at the very young Adea, the only daughter of Amyntas and Cynane. This was something she had no intention of discovering, Cleopatra told herself, especially as she herself was not without ambition, and marrying Craterus would be an excellent way to become Queen of Macedon ... If that throne was a common goal, and she had no doubt about it, then marriage was the only means that would allow them to achieve it, and wasting more time would be useless and likely counterproductive. As soon as the regent of Macedonia returned to visit her, she would accept the proposal: Thinking better and considering also that she, by her uncle and deceased husband, had already a son and a daughter, still children and in danger, especially the boy, currently king of Epirus, Cleopatra decided who waiting would be useless and so the queen took a piece of paper and wrote a short message for the regent Craterus, asking him to go to her as soon as possible, and together with it she sent another note to her mother Olympias in Epirus, with consolations and encouragement not to break down, because she had a plan to not to lose control of Macedonia.
Craterus was really happy to receive first Cleopatra's invitation and then her consent to the wedding, since Alexander's blood sister was undoubtedly the most convenient wife for him and his plans…

Notes: Cleopatra is 31-32 years old at this point so she could still have children by Craterus and so is likely who Macedonia will be ruled by their descendants (as Craterus, once married to Cleopatra, will be likely able to get the crown over Arridaheus and Alexander’s still unborn son)

 

[isabella]

Craterus was one of the most valiant of Alexander's generals and one of the most important, and by all accounts the one who had benefited most from the death of Hephaestion, his great rival and Alexander's best friend, a few months earlier. Now the Macedonian king had ordered him to prepare to return to Macedonia with the veterans to be discharged, but his departure for Europe had been delayed and he had been recalled to Babylon by Alexander, who wanted to give him further instructions on the construction of the fleet for the forthcoming campaign in Arabia, at least officially, for Craterus had little doubt that Alexander actually wanted to give him further instructions on how to deal with Antipater, the regent of Macedon whom he had orders to replace because the old general and his queen mother Olympias hated each other fiercely, and Alexander who already did not trust the old general too much had completely sided with his mother (currently regent of her native Epirus on behalf of her infant grandson while her daughter Cleopatra replaced her in Macedonia) by opting for a retirement of General Antipater. In any case he had been in Babylon for two days and had not yet had a chance to talk to Alexander, who was caught up in a thousand things and absolutely had to speak to him privately, when word spread that Alexander had fallen ill and shortly thereafter found himself in the room of his dying king, along with the other generals, and he would have to thank the fate for being there at that moment because knowing Perdiccas and the others he doubted that they would hand him Alexander's ring and the regency, at this point of the whole kingdom, which the king had handed over to him just before he expired. From the looks of Perdiccas and also Leonnatus and Ptolemy, was crystal clear that they would agree to exclude him from power, doing who knows what damage in the process. In the meantime he was now in power and the Persians would accept his rule since Alexander had made him marry a Persian princess, Amestris, who was the daughter of the late King Darius' brother and therefore a cousin of Stateira, Alexander's queen. And talking of her Craterus hoped that the news sent to him by Amestris that Stateira suspected she was expecting a child would soon be confirmed because the pregnancy of Alexander's young queen would solve several problems for him, especially after Stateira’s younger sister Drypteis had recently given birth to the late Hephaistion's posthumous daughter, who had been named Olympias, in honor of Alexander's mother.

Stateira's pregnancy and the fact that Alexander's secondary bride, Roxana of Bactria, had again lost the child she was expecting made it clear that an eventual male child of Stateira was Alexander's only possible successor, at least in Asia, since part of the army had already acclaimed King Arridhaeus, Alexander's idiot half-brother, as Philip III and Antipater, who was clearly one of Arrideus's supporters, had already persuaded Cynane, eldest daughter of Philip II and his first wife, the Illyrian princess Audata Eurydice (and thus also Alexander's half-sister) and widow of Prince Amyntas (Philip's nephew as the son of his older brother and predecessor) to give Arridhaeus as wife the very young Adea, her only daughter, who had taken the name Eurydice in honor of her grandmother and great-grandmother. However, Craterus had no doubt that only death would prevent Stateira's child from ruling over Asia, reason for which he was also putting a lot of effort into trying to impregnate Amestris, hoping to have from her soon a child of the opposite sex to Stateira's (with the idea that the two children would be able to marry once they became adults). But luck would not be on Craterus's side in this because while Stateira had given birth to a son, named Alexander after his father, Amestris in five years had given him only a boy named Alexander, clearly making impossible his plan to give the young king a daughter of his own in marriage and making Olympias the natural candidate for the role of future queen. At Antipater's insistence among other things, Craterus had taken as his second wife his daughter Phila from whom he had had two more sons named Orestides and Craterus (and still no daughter)…