The Trailarii

The First Age: Foundation

The Trailarii are the proud decendents of an obscure tribe that flourished in ancient Mycenaean Greece. Their culture found it's foothold in a small series of islands south of Rhodes in the.Mediterranean sea. Though weak militants compared to their Hellenic neighbors, they maintained a booming naval trade with Carthage, Egypt and the Pontic states. Due to their location, it took but a few centuries for the Traileric people to develop into a minor economic power. Despite a decent population for the small amount of space alotted to them, and traditional hoplite training that they inherited from the Athenians and Spartans, they were a peaceful nation in their early days. Invasion was unlikely, as there was little to gain from their land, and the retribution of larger nations would be fierce and efficient. In fact, the first formal military engagement the Trailarii took part in was the infamous siege of Troy.

The Walls of Troy

Though a people ruled by a warrior-king, and cousins of the warring Greeks, the Trailarii had not the manpower to mount imperialistic activities, and thus, kept to themselves outside of the naval trade. But, in 951 AD, the Greek Kings Agmemnon and Menelaus called upon all the sons of Greece to take up the spear and attack Troy. Bloodloyalty and a wish to take home treasure looted from the infamous polis of Troy lured many Trailarii to answer the call. At the time, the Trailarii had no fixed military or professional navy, but trade barges could be refitted for war needs, and every able man would gladly take up the spear to defend his land and family. A decade of fighting followed, attrition drained Greek and Trailarii alike, the economy ground to a halt, the walls of Troy seemed impregnable. On the verge of implosion and certain assimiliation, the Traileric warrior-king Xyphiliptus quickly volunteered to take part in a daring plan to attack Troy from the inside. He and his brothers (whose names have been lost in the annals of time) hid inside a giant wooden horse that the Trojans took into their city assuming that the horse was a gift of surrender. In the dead of night, Xyphiliptus and a handful of other Greek heroes, burst from the belly of the beast and opened the gates of Troy. Slaughter was nearly absolute, and the Trailarii had tasted victory.

A New Order

Not 300 years later, the Trailarii had fully rebuilt from the excursions of the Trojan war, and had in fact expanded outward. The small, trade rival city-state of Hentrotolis located on the southern coast of the island of Rhodes had been annexed by force into the growing Traileric Empire. In this section of Traileric history, peace, war, and prosperity walked hand in hand for half of a millenium. The Carthaginians trade routes enriched the island nation, as did free trade with the Greek mainland via Rhodian ports. Currency went from units of food to proper gold coin, a steady monarchy was established, the phalanxes of Traileric Hoplites swelled from a few thousand to over ten thousand, weapons went from copper to bronze, and all was well.By 350 BC, the Trailarii had conquered another series of islands to the south, known as Libanria or the Libanni Isles, a conquest which more than doubled their territory. It was in this first golden age of the Trailarii that Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia, a man who would grow into the conqueror of the known world.

The Second Age: Conquerors, We Are Conquered

Alexander culled nearly every single able soldier from the Traileric Isles and incorporated them into his grand Hellenic army, which, though it empowered Greece as a whole, would ultimately strip the Trailarii of it's defenses. Alexander and his army conquered much of the known world, eliminated Persia, took much of Egypt and established the Seleucids. Given but a few years and another thousand phalanxes, he would undoubtably ruled the world. Unfortunately, this Greek hero died of illness and his empire fell apart. The Trailarii were spared the bickering and infighting of the various generals who sought to pick up where Alexander the Great had left off, most of the fighting being between Macedon, Thrace, the Greek city-states, the Pontic States, and the Seleucid Empire. The men who had journeyed far from home to fight for Alexander were never permitted to return to the Isles, as they were garrisoned in Persia Minor and claimed as soldiers of Seleucus after Alexander's death. Seleucus's empire did not prosper, and within forty years, it had been devided up between Egypt, Armenia and the Pontic states. Decendents of the Traileric soldiers who died in a foreign land were of reduced quality, equipment and training; weaknesses evident in the handful of military encounters the Trailarii underwent.