Greco-Bactria:Plan

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Greco-Bactria
Features Assets Timeline Plan Notes Ideas


Quick notes to organize later:

  • Bring lots of Homing Pigeons with me from Greece. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homing_pigeon
    • Roughly 95% reliable, used all the way to WWII, their usage dates back to 3000 BC in Egypt as well as 2000 BC in Southern Iraq.
    • The outcome of the Olympic games (around 776 BC) was sent by homing pigeon.
    • Genghis Khan, ruling over this very mountainous region, would later use homing pigeons.

Preparation

  • Born 344 BC
  • Spend part of formative years practicing fighting. Reason: Needed to inspire confidence in me from troops.
  • Also spend part of formative years studying practical engineering skills. Reason: Will be needed for building cities and defenses later.
  • Eat lots of meat and drink lots of milk growing up (healthier diet and grow taller).
  • Ask my father Cleitus to hire a medical professional that studied the ways of Hippocrates (who died in 370 BC). Reason: Will be needed for my health (and soldiers') later.
  • Might need to generate my own income, to fund some research and acquire needed help.
    • Though Cleitus is the equivalent of a General, and they seem quite wealthy.
  • Ask my father Cleitus to hire a personal scribe for me, who will be used to copy scrolls of science or to record knowledge. Reason: I need a lot of science and knowledge in order to prosper.
    • Between my scribe and myself I need to cover:
      • Siege craft
      • Parchment and Papyrus making
  • Develop a rigid saddle (a "tree saddle") for my own use only, and disguise its purpose as being merely ornamental.
  • Develop some horse barding for my own use only, and disguise its purpose as being merely ornamental.
  • Acquire 2 strong Nessian horses, ideally.
  • Develop efficient ways for transport animals (donkeys/horses/cattle) to carry loads without carts.

Departure with Cleitus on Alexander's campaign

  • Need to be old enough to take along, but ideally but kept away from most combat.
    • Alternatively with my steeds, barding, and saddle I would be safer.
  • Bring Olive seeds (lots of them!) when I accompany my father in Alexander's campaign.
    • So that we can plant them later. Olive oil is a big part of a Greek's diet.
    • Dry out seeds (lay out in sun) before packing them in air-tight containers. Add some dry charcoal as well. Otherwise mold develops.
  • Acquire lots of Papyrus seeds as we pass through Egypt, so that we can plant them later for use in writing.
    • But see below about how this might be a lost cause.
  • Pick up a hand drill with roller bearings as we pass through Egypt (for later technology advances).
  • Pick up recipe for soap in either Egypt or Babylon, for practical medical purposes.

Day 1

328 BC, 16 years old (or should I be 20 years old?)

Events

  • Cleitus departs with 17k soldiers to root out dissidents.
  • I'm left behind, with 13k stationed troops, to manage day-to-day affairs.

Personal

  • Spend 1-3 hours every day training with the troops. Reason: Need to build rapport with the troops.
    • Garrisoned troops, but potentially not mercenaries, would spend 3 hours every morning training in hard physical exertion. //TODO: Provide source//

Economy

  • Issue an order to expand on the mining of Lapis Lazuli in the mountains. Reason: Wealth to fund efforts
    • Nationalize the mines, but keep the same people in charge.
    • Hire and send out prospectors.
    • Note: The silver mines near Athens was largely done by slaves, and was brutal.
    • The same might not be done here. In any case long-term it's better to make it more attractive to actual salaried workers.
    • As such improve conditions for mining.
  • Issue an order to protect trade caravans arriving and departing to Bactria. Reason: Encourage traders to pass through Bactra
    • Use my mercenaries to patrol the silk road route.
  • Build more (or better) caravanserai as well, in anticipation of more traffic. Reason: Encourage traders to pass through Bactra

Agriculture

  • Experiment with planting Olive seeds and Papyrus seeds in different conditions. Bactria is dry, floods, and can reach extreme low temperatures of -20 C.
    • Need to confirm that they can grow in this climate.
    • Olive
      • Olive trees take 20 years until they develop. Nonetheless plant half the seeds the first year, then 1/4 for the next two years, since the seeds won't last forever.
      • They can live for centuries, love lots of sun, and have sturdy and extensive root systems.
      • Olive trees are drought-, disease-, and fire-tolerant. But they do die in temperatures below -10 C.
      • They can regenerate from cold damage though.
      • They also don't take well to long-continued rains (but even Bactria's "rainy" season isn't that rainy...).
    • Papyrus
      • Not much hope for this. It's an aquatic plant, and doesn't tolerate frost.
      • But we can perhaps plant anew every year, collecting seeds from harvest for next year's re-planting.
  • See about transplanting some deep-rooted, drought-tolerant, and flood-tolerant trees to some non-agricultural areas, for firewood and so on. Recall that Bactria only gets about 176 mm of rain per year on average.
    • Afghan Pine, or Eldar Pine, is very drought-, heat-, and cold-resistant and is native to modern-day Afghanistan. Used today for timber, firewood, and as part of creating honey.
    • Deodar Cedar, aka Himalayan cedar, grows East of Bactria and can survive cold winters.
    • Himalayan birch is native to the Himalayas and can grow at quite high elevations. Its bark was used as paper, and its wood for many practical purposes. Might require warmer temperatures though.
    • Chir Pine is native to Afghanistan and is used for timber. Once established it is drought tolerant. Not sure how well it tolerates cold though. Doesn't play well with other plants, and drops lots of needles on the ground.
    • Haloxylon is a desert shrub/tree being used to stop desertification in Aral Sea. Lives on 150 mm of rain.
    • Tamarix is another desert shrub/tree in Afghanistan being used to stop desertification. Lives on 150 mm of rain.
    • Also see Crop Watch for recommended species in Afghanistan. Deodar Cedar (450mm of rain though?) and Afghan Pine (400mm of rain?) are mentioned! Look into:

Military

  • Start a horse breeding program to create stronger warhorses. Reason: Needed for Cataphracts later.
    • We'll be fighting other Hellenistic armies later, and we'll need both heavier cavalry and longer phalanxes.
    • They're also good against horse archers (but only in pitched battles).
  • Start building rapport with the mercenaries stationed in Bactria and Sogdia. Reason: Need to stop mutiny that occurs in next couple of years
    • Many of them are forced to settle the land, and they're unhappy.
  • Start planning and building garrisons. Reason: Need to stop mutiny, and need strong military
    • Rather than have the mercenaries settle the land, keep them employed (and busy) as long as I can afford them!
    • The mercenaries that settle mutiny twice in the next 5 years because they wish to return to familiar lands.
    • So we need to convince them to stay in Bactria/Sogdiana by: building Greek amenities (bath houses, theaters, gymaniums), conveniences (heating, millstones/water wheels), finding them wives (Ministry of Hegemony), giving them slaves (?), and keeping them employed (or at least busy).
  • Start equipping and training most Peltast-style mercenaries as Thyreophoroi, mixed light troops, which allows them to either skirmish or to form phalanxes. Reason: More flexible then Peltasts, and almost as fast.
  • Take some of the stationed troops and convert them to Macedonian Phalanxes. Reason: Parts of Bactria are very flat, so they will be needed.
    • Equip these Macedonian Phalanxes with slightly longer spears, since they'll be fighting other phalanxes.

Building

  • Establish the Ministry of Water Use
    • Start building hidden qanats (underground water supply tunnels) from the hills (or the southern river?) to the capital city of Bactra. Reason: Defense, better source of water, and keep Greeks happy
    • Start building irrigation canals for agriculture.
      • In the past the seasonal River Balkh ran through the city (or next to it?) and would empty into a delta to the river Oxus in the North.
      • That's a waste of water. Once the river riches the city of Balkh it should empty into irrigation canals.
  • Task some engineers and architects to experiment with different types of building heating, such as masonry heating (which dates to neolithic times) or Roman hypocausts (350 BC) or ondol heating (1000 BC in Korea).
    • All of these use a chimney or flue of some sort, and hence can serve as a way for the engineers/architects to develop and discover the principles of a chimney (narrow heated flue which pulls up smoke).

Political

  • Start learning the Bactrian language. Reason: Need to build empathy and community with the locals
  • Have my scribe also learn the Bactrian language, and have him use the Greek script to create a written version of it. Reason: We'll need a way to communicate with the locals
    • Historically the Bactrian language is unique among Indo-Iranian languages in that it uses the Greek script in its writings.
  • Plan a tour of all the settled towns and villages, which are home primarily to the Greeks. Reason: Need to keep Greeks happy.
    • I also need to understand who the local movers and shakers are.

Education

  • Make sure city kids go to school at age of 6, like in Greece, if that isn't already the case. Reason: Need an educated populace and keep Greeks happy
  • Promote the views of Aristotle (who was a mentor to Alexander) and in particular his thoughts on the four causes. Reason: Need the correct basis for scientific discovery.
    • In particular Aristotle and his followers would not accept mere description or prediction as science.
  • Establish the Ministry of Medicine. Reason: For myself, the soldiers, and the citizens.
    • Appoint the medical professional, hired during my formative years, that was taught in the way of Hippocrates.
    • His purpose is to teach the future medical professionals and also to advance the science of medicine.

Miscellaneous

  • Put in place a system similar to the Persian mail system, or expand on it. Reason: Intelligence gathering and communication system
  • Begin a census of all citizens in the towns, cities, and farmers. Reason: ???
  • Establish the Ministry of Hegemony (//TO DO: Need new title//). Reason: Get troops loyal (and not mutiny)
    • The soldiers that settle on the lands need to be kept happy and have roots in this land, and part of that is to be married.
    • Alexander does a mass-marriage of (supposedly) a thousand of his officers to Persian women in Susa, years later. Very few of them last a year (most officers divorce their Persian wife when Alexander dies).
    • Provide a way to have those divorced women brought back to Bactria. Perhaps just providing an armed escort (under the excuse of delivering messages) to and from wherever Alexander's campaign is currently located is sufficient.
    • Then we need a way to convince soldiers to (re-)marry someone else's divorcee:
      • Care is provided to the kids of any widows of officers (and any orphans).
      • Note that it's not actually for the widows, but for the kids.
      • Both boys and girls (rational: still their blood)
      • We do want to encourage widows to (re-)marry, in particular to the Greeks.
    • Benefits for kids include:
      • Boys: Educational supplies (and education if that isn't already provided)
      • Girls: Dowry (when they marry)
      • Clothes, health care, housing (two widows to a house), fire wood.

Year 2

327 BC, 17 years old

By this point I should be fluent in the Bactrian language.

Political

  • In addition to a tour of the cities and towns, do a tour of all the pacified pastoral nomad tribes. Reason: Need to forge alliances and loyalty, and help pacify the insurgents to the South in the Hindu Kush mountains
    • Bring gifts to them, especially things they cannot craft or easily trade for, and teach them different farming or other knowledge. Reason: Show benefits of alliance.
    • Need them to provide permanent horse archer troops. Reason: Horse archers are critical to control region.
    • Count tents (in order to establish a rough census). Reason: Need to know how many men can be called upon.

Education

  • Establish the Ministry of Dentistry. Reason: For myself (and citizens)
    • In particular don't lose knowledge of teeth extraction (for wisdom teeth)
    • Expand on Hippocrates study of anesthesia (opium is known to Persians)
    • Question: Should it be a sub-ministry of the Ministry of Health?

Miscellaneous

  • Sponsor horse archery competitions. Reason: Encourage horse archery and build community.
  • In the cliffside at Lat 36.546 Long 66.964 (see https://www.arcgis.com/) dig out a large opening that will hold ice (for me).
    • It is roughly 900 meters above sea level
    • At the bottom of the cliff is the river that goes to Bactra/Balkh.
    • Collect water there and keep it cool (out of sunlight and deep in cool ground).


General

  • Need Force Multipliers
    • Defensive fortifications
      • The defense of Bactra against Seleucid shows this can work. There were few siege weaponry, especially from nomads.
    • Siege weaponry (for offense from fortifications)
    • Technology (see below)
  • Build Bath houses to get the Greeks to settle and not mutiny.
    • Have local Greek aristocrats sponsor it, and get their name on it, so that they invest money and feel invested.
    • Use the Greek mercenaries to build the bath houses (and the fortifications).
    • Repeat this for other types of things in the Agora (gymnasium, theater, ...)
  • Also create sports teams to get the Greeks to settle and not mutiny.
    • Sports team are in per-city, which builds a sense of ownership.
  • After Seleucid has been repelled, consider a line of outposts and other defense projects to protect against the nomads that will arrive later.
  • Likewise, at that time pivot to Learning and Technology.
    • Teach writing and arithmetic, up to teaching how to calculate interest.
    • Start with soldiers, who learn for 3 hours a day (1 shift).
      • Also learn specialist skills.
    • The goal is another military force multiplier, to have them develop things like onagers and trebuchets.
    • Historically Sogdia would become a center of scholarly Islamic learning much later.
  • Leverage wealth as another military force multiplier.
    • Pays for construction and training.
    • But also for expensive armor, which nomads lack.
  • Adapt military force to counter Cataphracts (heavy cavalry) from Seleucid and Horse Archers from nomads.
    • Bigger shields and heavier infantry with spears have actually proved useful against both.
    • But I'll need mobility as well, especially in the guerrilla style fighting that occurs in the hills and mountains.
    • Build my own Cataphracts?
      • If so then start breeding heavier mounts immediately.
      • Great force concentration, which worked really well for Alexander the Great.
      • Good mobility, but not sure if later on (vs nomads) they can catch horse archers.
    • Train my own horse archers?
      • That's what the locals would do anyway.
      • Very handy for the hills and mountains, and getting the forces to where they are needed the fastest (in essence another form of force concentration).
  • Establish banking to help economy.
    • The Greeks had a strong banking system back home.
  • Try to expand or make deals to protect your trade route west.
  • Expand east into India. The Indo-Greek kingdom lasted the longest. Also adds to the trade route.
  • Protect the passes in the Hindu Kush mountains. Worst case it protects your Indian holdings.

Undecided...

  • Continue to be tolerant of all Faith's, except Islam?
    • They arrive much later though, and only then convert everyone.
    • If they were singled out would that just make the area a target of a Jihad?
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