Great Punic War

**The Great Punic War** was the struggle from **SY 204** to **SY 241** fought between the forces of the nascent Anthroperium under the chief command of Anthrarchos Hypervincijovus Epiphanes and the Carthaginian Alliance formed by Titus Andronicus.

It was the first major war fought on Earth soil since **351 BSC** and officially brought a close to the great peace Earth had enjoyed for five centuries, the *Pax Consortia*. Both sides underwent periods of tremendous social change, economic upheaval, and rapid industrialization and technological innovation. In the initial movements of the war, they were producing military equipment based on three-century-old plans and wildly differing strategies. As the war drug on, both grand strategy and military tactics became more predictable.

Until the **SY 215** death of Titus Andronicus at Moscow, the war was marked by rapid mobility in open regions and brutal entrenching tactics around dense urban environments. After **SY 215**, the Carthiginian Alliance fell to the general allied command of Vercingetorix II who fought a war of attrition; several logistical mistakes in Germania cost him both his life and mainland Europe in **SY 233**. Hannibal the Ultimate would continue to wage unrelenting war as a despot warlard until he and his remaining consolidated forces were decisively defeated at the Siege of Jerusalem in 241.

The war ended in a decisive victory for the Anthroperium and resulted in billions of casualties.

## Principal Combatants

### Anthroperium

* **Anthrarchos Hypervincijovus Epiphanes**, Commander in Chief
* **Scribonius Epiphanes**, Chief Minister of Propaganda
* **Uilleam Alexandross,** the Celtic traitor, Roman Legions
* Nikolaisha "Nicanor" Varkosky, leader of Novarussia

### Carthage

* **Titus Andronicus**. Commands the First Army of Carthage
* **Hannibal the Ultimate**. Commands Second Army of North Africa
* **Vercingetorix II**. Commands the Gaulish Free Forces.
* **Republic of Anatolia**. Anatolian Free Forces
* **Scythia**. The Scythian Horde
* **Iberia**.
* **Gaul**.
* **Germania**.
* **United Kingdom of Brittania**
* **Nyorsk**

## Timeline of Campaign

### Early War Movements

* **SY 204**: Roman forces bring Marseilles, Montpelier, and Catalonia under Anthroperian control. A second Roman Legion under the command of Uilleam Alexandross takes Alexandria; previously he had been a loyal Briton, but was offered command in a private meeting by Anthrarchos himself, who desired the man for his ability to govern and lead Scotland.
* **SY 205**: Titus Andronicus raises the First Army of Carthage and makes a lightning campaign through North Africa to the Pillars of Heracles; he builds deep fortifications around vital cities, conscripts local militia and former Consortium forces, and appoints local governors. Many of the Old Earth families pledge support to Andronicus. In Gaul, the remains of the Consortium military forces are united under Vercingetorix II; a ceremony is held at Gergovia (Clermont-Ferrand, Arvemi). The Scythian Pact declares independence from the Soviet Union and joins the Carthiginian Alliance.
* **SY 206**: Army of Carthage arrives in Brittany to a raucous welcome and draws alliance with Vercingetorix II and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which has so far remained neutral in the continental conflict. The alliance allies with Nyorsk. Nyorsk forces fortify the Baltic Sea and Denmark. Vercingetorix moves his forces into Switzerland and digs in for a siege. Hannibal the Ultimate raises the Second Army of Carthage and sweeps east to Alexandria with the same strategy as Andronicus.
* **SY 207**: Germania raises a military and unites with the northern provinces. Denmark is dissolved into Nyorsk. Germanian forces begin a long and hellish trench war against the Anthroperium in the mountains of Switzerland and Austria. Alexandria is liberated. The occupying Roman Legions flee east to the Suez Canal and Port Said; they take control of both cities and the Sinai Peninsula and cut of all trade from the Red Sea and the Nile to the Mediterranean.
* **SY 208**: Macedonia and Bosnia fall to Anthroperian Greek forces. The collapsed Turkish states unite as the Republic of Anatolia in response to this Greek aggression. Throughout the Middle East, a Caliphate is declared and Scythia unites politically for the first time and raises it's own military forces under the Scythian banner, drawing alliance with Anatolia, the Caliphate, and Andronicus. The collapsed USSR is reformed as Novarussia under the ironfisted leadership of Technocracy leader Nikolaisha Varkosky, who claims sole leadership of the Technocracy now that Feingold is gone and Kegel is dead. Novarussia pledges support to Anthrarchos as a vassal state and dissolves Prussia and Romania. Novarussian forces begin a massive campaign west into Germania.

### Trench Warfare

* **SY 208** to **215**: BATTLE OF BRITTANY. The First Army of Carthage under Andronicus puts up a valiant defense of Brittany while the majority of his force evacuates across the English Channel. Gaul falls as the Second Army of Carthage is forced to make a choice to defend the North African coast or push into the Middle East. They choose the former.

* **SY 209:** Germania and Nyorsk falls into a very long and protracted, hellish seige/trench war in the Alps. Hannibal the Ultimate moves his forces into the mountains dividing Iberia and Gaul. Antharchos begins a long seige from Greece and Italy of Carthage itself. Titus Andronicus takes the large part of the Britannian and Nyorsk forces to form a gigantic military fleet.

### Invasion of Novarussia

* **SY 210**: They invade Novarussia as Novarussian forces are brought to a halt by the dug-in positions in the mountains of Czech Republic and Slovakia. Andronicus takes St. Petersburg and strikes Novarussian production deep in Western Russia with the idea that if they collapse Novarussia, they will be able to bring the fight to the Anthroperium in both Italy and Greece, with support from Anatolia, Scythia, and Caliphate.

* **SY 211 - 14:** The Siege of Moscow. Titus Andronicus loses the siege when Anthroperian reinforcements arrive and break their siege and supply lines. No treaty or term of unconditional surrender is offered. Nikanor is taken prisoner by Anthrarcos for requiring this bail-out. Novarussia is dissolved and annexed.

### Leadership of Vercingetorix II

* **SY 215**: First of the orbital weapons falls to Antharchos' control and he begins to personally lead his military forces in the Germania campaign; both morale and shock-and-awe are on their side.
* SY 216
* SY 217
* **SY 218:** The Anthroperium dissolves most of its internal borders and renames vast tracts of territory as single administrative regions based on the extent of trenchlines. He awards governorship of these vast regions directly to the generals who have fought for him since the beginning of the war. Nikanor is pardoned and allowed to live as a private citizen within Anthroperian borders. Most of East Germany falls to the Anthroperium. Vercingetorix II nationalizes all industry under his command and conscripts every able person over the age of 23 and retreats to a heavily fortified pan-Switzerland. In their retreat, they collapse their trenches and slash/burn as much as possible to prevent anything from being utilized by the enemy. Istanbul falls to the Anthroperium and the remainder of Anatolia joins the Scythian Pact.
* **SY 219 - 225**: Military command of British forces is ceded to Hannibal. Using the British navy, he invades Italia from the Mediterannean. In a carefully planned strategy, the Carthaginean Alliance forces Anthrarchos to choose between defending Italia, continuing the siege of Switzerland, and the war in North Africa. Hannibal the Ultimate conquers and unites North Africa; he nationalizes most of the former territories there as well in a policy of brutal total war. but does not enforce conscription. Armies from North Africa invade Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and the Grecian Islands. Hannibal the Ultimate enters the city of Rome, largely untouched by the war, in late SY 225.
* **SY 226**: Uilleam Alexandross is captured in Egypt, taken back to Britain, and publicly tried and executed. Scotland is annexed by Britain and they reaffirm their commitment to the Carthaginian Alliance's war effort. The Anthroperium is unable to respond due to their commitment on three fronts. Much of Nyorsk's civilian population is conscripted and shipped to defend Switzerland. During evacuation, they follow the scorch-and-burn strategy of the Germanic armies; the Anthroperium annexes and occupies the now-largely empty territory. The Anthroperium begins an economic blockade of Scythian Pact nations; as a result, the Pact begins trading exclusively with the Carthiginian Alliance.

### Resistance of Hannibal the Ultimate

* **SY 233**: The Anthroperium unleashes biological weapons, tactical weapons of mass destruction, and fields several other breakthroughs in military technology. The Anthroperium finally conquers Switzerland and the remains of the vast Consortium government complex falls to Anthrarchos' control. During the battle, Vercingetorix II is captured. Armed with complete control of orbital weapons platforms, global mass media, and global communications, the Anthroperium reunites the entire continent and now focuses on its North Africa campaign, the only front left. He devestates Hannibal's navy and forces them into a general retreat from Italy. With Hannibal's forces in ruins, he takes the remainder of his military and flees to Jerusalem.
* **SY 234 - SY 241**: The Anthroperium declares victory over its enemies and publicly proclaims itself the legal and rightful successor to the Consortium and the rightful ruler of all of Earth. Anthrarchos begins a slow program of restricting information, introducing propaganda, and hunting down rebel cells within its territory. The Anthroperium restricts access to the devestated regions of northern Europe to use them for weapons testing; they officially begins rebuilding. Hannibal the Ultimate becomes the most wanted man on Earth. He and his forces embrace guerilla warfare, traveling freely between North Africa and Scythia both on foot and using a single ship as mobile base of operations. Scythia begins to starve. The Anthroperium annexes Anatolia as recompense for Scythia's indirect participation in the war, but offers pardon and self-rule in return for dissolusion of its navy and a pledge of loyalty. Local authorities obstensibly begin to comply, but many common persons remain resistant.
* **SY 241**: As millions of Scythians begin to starve, Hannibal urges compliance for the sake of the people. After eight years of hiding, Hannibal the Ultimate comes out of hiding and raises a final army that fortifies Jerusalem. Anthrarchos publicly televises the ensuing conflict. He shows up with the most massive army the world has ever seen, but instead of a general engagement, Anthrarchos uses his "divine powers" to utterly obliterate Jerusalem in a single blow; Hannibal the Ultimate is killed and his body never recovered. Nikanor renounces Anthroperian citizenship and flees to North America, where he is recieved by Technocracy veterans.

## Aftermath

A century of civil strife and forty years of total war left great swathes of two continents devestated and uninhabitable for many years to come. Tens of billions of people on both sides were casualties of direct conflict, disease, and attrition. Most of the ethnic populations of Northern Europe were destroyed, with only 1% of their pre-war population remaining. The Anthroperium was accepted uncontested as the ruling authority of Earth; the Americas, the remainder of Africa, and the PRC came into communion with the Anthroperium and accepted trade, diplomatic relations, and missionaries.

The economy of the entire European continent was geared for military production, but there were no enemies on Earth left to fight. This was a great pragmatic influence on Anthrarchos intiating the Great Cultural Purge, which simultaneously crafted the world he so desired as well as use up the surplus war material to ensure his people remained both disarmed and full of fear and wonder.

Anthrarchos' military conquest finally ceased in **SY 270** with the Fall of Mars. The Purge ended in **SY 315** and was declared successful.

## Legacy

The Anthroperium irrevocably altered the history and fate of humankind. In many ways, centuries of human progress was undone during their centuries long rule as mankind largely became shrouded in fear and superstition. Entire ethnic groups were wiped out virtually overnight and countless millenia of human history, art, culture, thought, and labor was wilfully destroyed.

During their rule, adherence to Old Earth religion was virtually nonexistent and punishable by death.

Second Dominion scholars labored for almost a standard century to separate fact from fiction and reconstruct a true (i.e. - demythologized) history of the Anthroperium. These scholars relied largely on the records preserved in the original *Progress / Dominion* as well as the two Vaults discovered in Rome and Siberia respectively.

Ultimately, they declared the Anthroperium to be both a historical tragedy and mistake in the general direction of humankind. The cultus largely collapsed in the absence of it's central figure and the restoration of free access to information. Most of the most devout adherents of the cultus chose to embrace classical Terran Humanism instead, and Old Earth religion began to flourish once again. The great majority of Old Earth religious priests, as well as the Orders of Architecture, wrote prolifically against the cultus as both blasphemous and heretical and explained the centuries of destruction as being collective punishment for failing this 'test'.

## Behind the Scenes

The Great Punic War is inspired principally by figures of classical antiquity as well as the Biblical eschaton prophesied in the Revelation to St. John. The destruction of Jerusalem is mirrored on the final Battle of Megiddo and is also a foreshadowing of the much later Last War. The figure of Anthrarchos himself is based variously on the False Prophet, the Beast, and the Dragon.