ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1052 The Holy Team of Thebes shows its strength for the first time

The Spartan envoy asked Dionia to make a guarantee: he will not support Sparta's enemies next time.

Antaoris still responded with the exact words of King Davos, but his words were more angry: "You can all make it easy for the Apulian rebels who fled to the Peloponnese to return. When traveling within the kingdom, why can’t we sell some grain to Thebes? Sparta should be glad that we in Dionia only sell grain, not anything else!”

The Spartan envoy returned angrily, and the words of the Dionians made all the Spartan elders and inspectors more vigilant, making them realize that the Dionians had always had a grudge against Sparta.

This made them feel even more urgent, but in the new year, when spring returned to the earth (376 BC, the 18th year of the Kingdom of Dionia), Agesilaus was ill in bed and could not go on an expedition. The censors were not allowed to go to war. Refusing to accept his fate, Cleombrotus, another Spartan king, became the commander-in-chief of the entire army and continued to attack Thebes.

After the allied forces gathered together, Cleombrotus decided to take the path that Agesilaus took in his first attack on Thebes - sail across the Gulf of Corinth, land in the west of Boeosia, and meet Thespia. People meet.

However, the Thebes had already suffered once, so how could they be fooled again? They had ambushed in the mountains south of Tespia in advance, and when the Spartan army passed through the valley pass after landing, they suddenly attacked and shot them down. retreat.

Cleomebrotus saw that the Thebans had occupied the main road and believed that it was impossible to enter Thebes through this way again, so he led his army back to the Peloponnese.

Afterwards, envoys from all the allies gathered in Sparta. They were dissatisfied with the fact that Sparta had been recruiting its citizens to fight against Thebes all year round, but no obvious progress had been made. They complained that the citizens were becoming more and more lazy about this war. If the fight continues like this, I'm afraid they will refuse to fight anymore.

They put forward a new suggestion: The Thebans have heavy defenses in the south. It is indeed difficult to break through. However, the number of coalition warships exceeds that of the Athenians. Why not use a fleet to transport an army and bypass Athens from the sea? Landing in the north of Central Greece, joining forces with the Phocians, and attacking Thebes from the northwest?

In the end, Sparta adopted this suggestion and sent a fleet of 60 triremes. However, while sailing around the waters near Athens, they also robbed grain ships from the Black Sea to Attica.

Athens almost fell into famine, and immediately sent 80 warships to catch up with the Spartan fleet near Naxos (the city of Naxos in Sicily, not the Kingdom of Dionia). The two sides started a fierce battle, and the Spartan fleet was captured. Defeated, resulting in the failure of previously planned military operations.

Inspired by the victory, and because of the Thebans' request, the Athenians decided to also send a fleet of 50 triremes around the Peloponnese Peninsula to attack the Spartan Alliance Navy. Harassing its allies.

The Council of Athens appointed Timothy, the son of Conon, one of the heroes who revived Athens and who had served Persia, as the commander of the fleet.

In 375 BC (the 19th year of the Kingdom of Dionysia), Timothy led his fleet to set sail. He did not land on the Peloponnese Island, but he did an important thing, which was to land on Corcyra. Island, but he neither enslaved the local residents nor forced them to change their political system. As a result, all the city-states on the island were willing to join Athens' maritime alliance.

You must know that the island of Corfu is the Greek land closest to the Kingdom of Dionia, which means that Athens' maritime power has extended to the vicinity of the Adriatic Sea, but the Kingdom of Dionia has not said anything about this at this time.

As the Athenian fleet circled the Peloponnese Peninsula, the Spartan coalition had to be wary of it, so they did not launch a large-scale attack on Thebes. The Thebans seized this favorable opportunity and boldly attacked everywhere in an attempt to liberate and conquered the neighboring city-state of Boeotia, which was controlled by the Spartan army.

Among them, a military operation commanded by Pelopidas is the most famous.

When the Thebans received information that the Spartan troops originally stationed in the city of Orchomenos were transferred, Pelopidas thought this was a good opportunity to conquer their neighbors to the north (Orchomenos There is Lake Copais across from Thebes), so he led 300 infantry and dozens of cavalry to march north around Lake Copais in a hurry.

As a result, when he approached the city of Orchomenos, he received depressing news: the Spartan garrison had returned to the city.

Pelopidas was unwilling to forcefully attack the city because it would lead to increased casualties among the soldiers, so he had no choice but to lead his army back without success.

Unexpectedly, when the army was passing through a place called Thesia, they suddenly encountered a Spartan army coming from the north.

The incident occurred in a hasty manner that Pelopidas had not expected, and the Spartan army outnumbered the men he led.

There is a strong enemy blocking the way ahead, and the city of Olhomenos is not far behind. The Spartan garrison in the city may attack at any time, and the side is blocked by Lake Copais. The Thebes army is in a desperate situation and cannot To escape, Pelopidas could only lead his army to fight to the death.

He placed 300 infantry in the center and cavalry on the wings.

As soon as they got into position, the Spartans stormed over.The two sides fought not long before the Theban cavalry on both wings were defeated.

But in the middle, the Spartan army, which had more soldiers than its opponents, fell into a bitter battle. This was because they faced Thebes who were specially formed by the Theban government and specially trained by Ipaminondas. holy army.

These 150 pairs of Thebes gay youths were not afraid of a strong enemy. They not only attacked fiercely, but also cooperated very tacitly. They also encouraged each other during the battle, so their morale was always high.

After a period of fierce fighting, the Spartan army actually began to retreat step by step under their impact. To make matters worse, their commander died in the battle, and the Spartan army was finally defeated.

Because he was in danger, Pelopidas did not dare to order a pursuit and led the victorious army back to Thebes in a hurry.

In this battle, the number of people on both sides did not exceed 1000. Although the scale was small, it was of greater significance.Different from the battle that killed Phoebus, this time the victory was achieved in a face-to-face battle. There were many real Spartan warriors in the defeated Spartan army, so the victory shocked the entire Central Greece. , inspired many Central Greek city-states controlled by the Spartan army to rebel, and also made the fledgling Theban Holy Army famous in mainland Greece.

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"Beep! Beep! Beep!..." In the early morning, the manic copper whistle sounded in the Turiyi slave camp.

At the urging of the foreman, the slaves quickly got up, washed, and then lined up into the canteen for breakfast.

The canteen building in the slave camp is somewhat similar to the canteen in the Turiyi military camp, except that it is smaller in size. It is a square tetrahedron building with more than 20 columns supporting a 4-meter-high stone flat roof. Three sides are open and smooth. On one side is the kitchen, and the spacious hall is neatly and densely arranged with dining tables and benches, which can accommodate two to 300 people at one time.

Smelling the smell of food in the air, the slaves did not swarm up. They still lined up in a long line and walked to the steaming window in an orderly manner.You must know that these slaves were not so disciplined at the beginning, and they only knew the rules after many severe punishments.

"Uncle, what's delicious for today's breakfast?" A slave asked impatiently as soon as he stood in front of the display window and handed his wooden plate and earthen jar in.

Most of the cooks and helpers in slave camps were also slaves or freed slaves, so they often had a good attitude towards the slaves who came to eat in the canteen, and sometimes gave them extra care.

The middle-aged chef holding a wooden spoon in his hand said with a smile: "You are in for a treat today! Breakfast not only includes bread, wheat porridge and broth, but each person also has a piece of pastrami, and each piece of bread is also spread with honey! "

"real?!"

"Do I need to lie to you anymore?" The chef held the breakfast on a wooden plate and handed it to him: "Take a good look at it yourself."

"Wow, it's really meaty!" the slave shouted excitedly.

Hearing his shout, the slaves in the back row started to commotion.

"What's going on! Quiet!" The foreman shouted, and the team immediately returned to silence, but every slave's face was full of desire.

"After receiving breakfast, leave quickly and don't get stuck here!" the foreman urged in a stern tone.

The slave bit the honey bread and carried the wooden tray, and hurriedly sat down at the nearest table.

The cook was a liberated slave and was not afraid of the fierce foreman. Instead, he tapped the copper pot filled with broth with a wooden spoon and said loudly to the slaves: "Do you know why today's breakfast is so rich? I heard it was Because more than 20 slaves fainted at the quarry site yesterday, and...several slaves were injured (actually 7 slaves died). When the doctors were treating them, they found that the reason why they fainted was because I'm so hungry... Later, somehow, His Majesty found out about this and issued special instructions to make you eat well and ensure your health.

After receiving the order, Lord Aikarus did not have a good rest at night. He immediately came to discuss with us and urgently sent people to Turiyi Market to buy food... From now on, not only will your breakfast be rich, but your dinner will also be rich. Rich, we will also transport food to the construction site at noon to give you extra meals! "

The slaves immediately cheered, and the whole canteen was boiling.

The foremen's expressions changed and they were about to shout angrily.

The chef had already shouted loudly: "Let us thank the merciful Majesty Davos together!"

"Thank you to the merciful Majesty Davos!!!" The cafeteria cheered.

More than half of these slaves came from the Western Mediterranean War a few years ago. Each of them has their own gods believed in by their own race. However, under the long-term influence of other slaves and the environment in the camp, most of them began to believe in Hades.

　Brothers and sisters, I'm back, updates continue!

　　Due to the raging coronavirus, my family and I almost couldn’t come back, but luckily we were lucky!
　　I will go to work tomorrow, and I will spend most of my time in the outpatient clinic. I will fight with the medical staff all over China, accompany the patients to overcome the disease, and help the motherland overcome this difficulty in 2020 as soon as possible!I also hope you will protect yourselves and stay healthy!

　　God bless China!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)