Year Of Agothokles:Main

It is the Year of the archonship of Agathokles. You have just heard the news - Plato has died. The Sacred War is over, the Chalcidic League has been defeated by Philip (35) and Olynthus burned to the ground.

Syracuse is in anarchy, since Callipus stepped down six years ago. Most of the Sicilian cities are in the hands of petty despots, and Carthage is preparing to take advantage of the chaos. Dionysius the Younger is also vying to take back the throne.

It is 407, 43 years since the Gauls sacked Rome. Etruria has been defeated, the Samnites are allies to SPQR, and there is even a treaty with Carthage. But Rome is changing, and the plebians are becoming more powerful than ever.

The merciless Artaxerxes III rules Persia, having killed many of his family to secure power. But his distant satraps are in revolt, and Egypt remains indepedant. Maussollos is dead but his massouleum is attracting visitors from across the world, and Hydrites rules Caria and Rhodes. Hermeias the Eunuch rules the tiny state of Atarneus, his niece the wife of Aristotle.

The Zhou Kingdom is no longer a vast empire maintaining peace in China but just one of the many warring states. Qin is 12 years into it's legalist revolution, and a legless military advisor called Sun Bin has twice led Qi in defeat of an increasingly aggressive Wei.