ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1171 Confident Agesilaus
Agesilaus was not surprised. The reason why he led his army at this time was because he had received a report from the messenger Archidamus sent to Sparta. Now the situation has only become more serious. , he thought for a while and asked: "How many days can the food stored in the camp be supplied?"

"If you count the troops you brought -"

"Don't count them yet. After getting the news from you, I asked the soldiers to bring five days of rations."

"It can probably be supplied for seven days, so I have sent people to collect food in Tegea's territory these two days. Unfortunately, the Tegea people have long since hid in the city, and we haven't harvested much."

"Immediately stop the requisition of grain from the Tegea territory. At the same time, it is forbidden for anyone to destroy the Tegea people's villages and fields, or to rob the property in their houses!" Agesilaus said in a stern tone.

"Father, why do you do this?! We trusted the Tegeans so much, but they betrayed us. We must severely punish them and let the city-states in the Peloponnese know that betraying Sparta What will happen!"

Agesilaus looked at the confused Archidamus and sighed secretly: His son was brave in battle and good at making friends. He had a great reputation among the people of Sparta, but there was one who was the biggest. Problems - unwillingness to use more brains, not being precise enough in doing things, and not looking at problems comprehensively enough.Of course, this was also a common problem among most Spartan citizens.Sparta could do this when it was strong, but when the people rebelled and strong enemies invaded, doing so would not only fail to deter them, but would have the opposite effect.

However, Agesilaus understood his son's stubborn personality, and he did not intend to persuade him with words, but let the later facts give him a deep impression, so he said in a tone that could not be refused: "This is an order! "

Although Archidamus was almost 40 years old and had led the army to fight many times independently, he still showed awe in the face of his old father. He did not express his objection clearly, but reminded: "Those mercenaries may not accept this." Order."

"They will accept it!" Agesilaus said firmly.

Archidamus could not say anything more on this issue, so he brought up another matter: "Father, the elders should have met the messengers from Corinth, right? Regarding their suggestions, the censors and the council of elders What’s the decision?”

Agesilaus said unhurriedly: "Although the Corinthians have always been cunning and capricious, and they once brought disaster to us Sparta (referring to the Corinthian War), they almost also failed in the war with Thebes. Remain neutral, but the Council of Elders is still willing to believe the words of the Corinthians, not only because, as the Corinthian envoy said, 'The Dionian fleet raided their port and gave them great humiliation, and they want revenge.' But also because of the Dionysian envoy. Onia has seriously harmed the interests of the Corinthians, and they have long held a grudge——"

"Wait...Dionia harmed Corinth's interests, what interests?" Archie Damus couldn't help interjecting.

Seeing his son's puzzled expression, Agesilaus covered his forehead with his hand, but he still explained patiently: "Our fundamental interests of Sparta are in the Peloponnese, and the fundamental interests of the Athenians are The Aegean Sea, and the Corinthians developed westward very early. They had many colonies in the Western Mediterranean, including the well-known Kercyra and Syracuse. Relying on trade with these colonies, they were once very Wealthy, but now...hehe..."

Archidamus suddenly realized: Dionia annexed all the city-states in Magna Graecia, which made Corinth resentful. No wonder they easily agreed to open the ports on the eastern isthmus and allowed us to transport troops and food...

"The Corinthian envoy said that they will unite all the Greek city-states to fight against Dionia, and we also believe that they can do it. The Corinthians are not good at fighting, but they are quite good at this..." Agesilaus said this When he spoke, he did not speak with ridicule like other Spartans, but with a bit of admiration.

He still clearly remembered: when he was still a young man and the Peloponnesian War had been going on for almost 10 years, Sparta encountered a crisis. Not only did Sparta suffer a disastrous defeat in both naval and land battles, but the helots in the country also suffered a heavy defeat. With continuous defections, Sparta's prestige was greatly lost. They were troubled by domestic affairs alone, let alone sending troops to fight.To make matters worse, the alliance between Sparta and Argos expired. Argos refused to renew the agreement and instead formed an alliance with Athens. The Peloponnesian League also faced fragmentation, especially Mantinia and Elys. He has his own interests and conflicts with Sparta.

As a result, Sparta's power was severely weakened and it was forced to sign the "Nicias Contract" with Athens. However, because Sparta did not strictly implement the contract, the war may break out again at any time, and the Argos are also ready to make a move. Da is facing a huge crisis.At this moment, the Corinthians stood up and performed some magical diplomatic operations, which not only stabilized the Peloponnesian League, but also prevented Athens and Argos from cooperating well. Instead, a gap was created, making Sparta overcame this difficulty and finally won the war...

Agesilaus breathed a sigh of relief, blew away the past, and said seriously: "Dionia is a force in the Western Mediterranean. It has only risen by annexing our colonial city-states in Greece for more than 20 years. For these local city-states, Not only is it a bit unfamiliar, but it also has more or less conflicts of interest.

Now this outsider not only sends troops to run rampant in the Peloponnese, but their fleets also roam the Aegean Sea at will. This will definitely make many city-states feel angry and threatened. Therefore, the Council of Elders analyzed that Corinth wanted to form A temporary alliance against Dionia should be possible. "

Having said this, Agesilaus breathed out again and said softly: "But this alliance that the Corinthians talked about... we can't count on it for the time being."

"Because such an alliance that wants to include most of the city-states in Greece and form a powerful army cannot be done in a short time, and what we lack now is time, right, father?" With the number of years leading the army, Archidamus guessed the reason for this based on his experience fighting other Greek city-states.

"The Council of Elders verbally agreed to the suggestion of the Corinthian envoy, but we all know that we cannot count on this non-existent alliance at this stage, but the Dionian army has reached our doorstep, and we are because There is a lack of food and it is impossible to maintain such a large army for a long time..."

Agesilaus lightly beat his stump with his hand and said seriously: "I'm afraid there is one thing you don't know yet. In the past two days, the Dionysian fleet has not only been cruising in the Aegean Sea, but some warships are also full of soldiers. They approached our coast many times and pretended to land again. This put a lot of pressure on the Council of Elders. I made great efforts to persuade the Council of Elders and the Inspectors to agree to risk sending these 7000 men. Soldier.

Today, there are less than a thousand young warriors left in Sparta. They mainly rely on old people, Pileasians, and some helots to defend the territory. The troops are insufficient and there is great danger. So what we need to do now That's it - defeat this Dionysian army as soon as possible, and then return to defend the Spartan territory!
As long as we win this victory, we can win more support from the Persians, revive Sparta's prestige in the Peloponnese, and buy us more time to wait until what the Corinthians say The Greek Alliance is established, and we will fight against Dionia with them, that way we will have a greater chance of winning! "

As Agesilaus spoke, his mood gradually became more intense.

"However, the commander of the Dionian army seems to be more cautious." Archidamus reminded again with some worry: "Those Dionian soldiers have been building camps these days, and it seems that there will be no one in a short time. The attempt to engage in a decisive battle with us may be to wait until we run out of food before attacking. Are we going to attack the Dionian camp by force?"

"The Dionians will come out!" Agesilaus replied confidently.

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Pausanias, the former king of Sparta, broke out in the Corinthian War more than 10 years ago. He and Lysander were ordered to each lead an army to jointly attack Thebes.

The Spartan Council of Elders and the censors made a fatal mistake. They only considered the abilities and positions of these two people when selecting their commanders, but they forgot that these two people had already regarded each other as enemies due to their opposing political ideas. As a result, Pausanias, who should have joined Lysander's army in time during the war, failed to arrive with his army, leaving Lysander alone to resist the Theban attack, which ultimately led to a disastrous defeat. The Spartan hero He also died in battle.

The news was sent back to Sparta, and the people were extremely sad. Under the instigation of Lysander's supporters, they strongly demanded that Pausanias be tried. In the end, Pausanias was expelled from Sparta and would never return.

For a Spartan king who loved his hometown deeply, this punishment was far more cruel than killing him. In the end, Pausanias chose to settle in Tegea because it was very close to Sparta. .

Tegea is an ally of Sparta. Due to its very important geographical location, Sparta's attitude toward it is much better than that of other allies, so the two sides have always had close contacts.Pausanias has been in power for decades and has dealt with the Tegeans a lot. He himself is a rare moderate among the top leaders of Sparta, so most of the allies respect him.

(End of this chapter)