ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 454 Spartan Mediation
Agesilaus only invited a few friends as his honored guests to return to his long-lost motherland, including Xenophon.

While Agesilaus was healing his body, he also kept an eye on the war in Corinth and the news from Magna Graecia.

On this day, Xenophon visited Agesilaus at his house.

Agesilaus enthusiastically introduced him to the living room.

As soon as he sat down, Xenophon expressed his heartfelt thanks to him: "King Agesilaus, today the Council of Elders informed me that they will accept me as an honored guest of Sparta and give me Sisilus ( Scillus). Thank you very much for your selfless help, allowing me, an exile, to finally have a home!"

"Sicilus, that's a great place! The land is fertile and it's close to the forest. You can often see herds of wild deer. It's also near Olympia in Ellis. It will be much more convenient for you to attend sports meets in the future." Agesilaus smiled and expressed his congratulations, and then said seriously: "Xenophon, this is Sparta's compensation to you. If you hadn't fully helped us Sparta, how could Athens have expelled you. Sparta will not let down any friend who has truly helped it!"

Although Agesilaus said it sincerely, Xenophon no longer wanted to mention being accused of "treason" by Athens. He changed the subject and said: "I don't know the progress of our war in Corinth. How about it?"

"According to the latest intelligence, the Corinthians suffered too many casualties and the land was barren. Many people began to get tired of the war. Some people even quietly contacted Praxitas in an attempt to negotiate a truce..." Agesilaus said.

"This is a good thing! As long as we continue to strengthen our offensive, I believe that the peace factions in Corinth will definitely grow stronger, and Corinth will eventually fall to Sparta." Xenophon said happily.

"But there is also bad news." Agesilaus said with a serious expression: "The Corinthians and the Argives quietly established an alliance!"

"Alliance? What kind of alliance?!" Xenophon asked curiously. Corinth and Argos were already members of the Anti-Spartan Alliance. They formed a separate alliance, which seemed to be unnecessary.

"Just like your good friend did in Magna Graecia, Corinth and Argos moved the boundary monument between the two cities so that the citizens of the two city-states could enjoy the same citizenship rights. They merged..." Ageselao Si said in a heavy tone.

You must know that Sparta and Argos have been feuding for hundreds of years. Unlike Athens, even if the Peloponnesian War failed, Sparta only destroyed Athens' hegemony and still gave it a way to survive.If Argos is defeated, he will peel off his skin if he is not dead, because Argos has always been against Sparta.Even as far back as the Greco-Persian War, all the city-states in the Peloponnese Peninsula joined the anti-Persian coalition and regarded Sparta as the leader to fight against Persia, except Argos. It preferred to secretly become an internal agent of Persia. The reason is Sparta.Therefore, Sparta does not want to see a slight increase in Argos' strength.

Xenophon was very aware of the complicated relationship. He thought about it and smiled: "Actually, you don't have to worry. The establishment of an alliance between these two city-states may be a good thing for Sparta."

"Oh, tell me." Agesilaus's heart moved and he leaned forward, assuming a posture of listening carefully.

"Now the anti-Spartan alliance joins forces to fight against us Sparta. Thebes, Corinth, Athens, Megara, and Argos all send troops to participate in the war. The merger of Corinth and Argos only allows Argos to assist Corinth's enthusiasm. It is higher, but Argos is already a mortal enemy of Sparta, so its pressure on Sparta has not increased much. On the contrary -" Xenophon organized his language and said: "Corinth and Argos As two city-states with a long history of founding, their respective political traditions, customs, and interests are deeply ingrained and very different. For example, Corinth is dominated by nobles, while Argos is more like Sparta—"

Agesilaus nodded, understanding that Benophon was talking about "oligarchy."

"Corinth believes in Poseidon, and Argos respects Zeus and Agamemnon (the ancient city of Mycenae is located in Argos, and the Argosians often boast that they have ancient Greek royal blood and are nobler than the Spartans) ; Corinth is mainly about commerce, and Argos is about agriculture and animal husbandry; the Corinthians are shrewd and tactful, and the Argos people are conservative and straightforward... These are two completely different city-states. Now that they have been merged together in a hurry, they must be two city-states. The decisions made by those in power under the pressure of our Spartan army's attack may cause more conflicts and contradictions between the people of the two city-states, causing the resentful Corinthian people to move closer to Sparta. …”

Agesilaus's eyes lit up: "Xenophon, what you said makes sense! I will tell the other elders your opinions at tomorrow's elders' meeting."

He stood up excitedly, paced back and forth, and said: "In addition, I will write a letter to Proracita, telling him not to attack Corinth too hastily, but to send more people to alienate and contact the opponents of Corinth... …”

Xenophon nodded secretly, which is why he was willing to follow Agesilaus.There was no shortage of power struggles between the two kings of Sparta, the most famous of which was the struggle between Cleomenes and Demaratos before the Greco-Persian War.The reason why Pausanias acted against Lysander was not only because he was worried that he would threaten the king's power, but also because Lysander fully supported another Spartan king Agesilaus.This time, the Council of Elders used the excuse of "recuperating from illness" to transfer Agesilaus, who was leading the army on the front line, and replaced him as a confidant of the new king Agesipolis. The reason may be worthy of further investigation.But Agesilaus still gave Proracitac advice regardless of past suspicions, which shows his magnanimity.

Therefore, Xenophon said sincerely: "King Agesilaus, your suggestions will be of great help to Sparta in conquering Corinth!"

Agesilaus smiled: "Xenophon, you are right. The integration of city-states cannot be so easy. It also took Sparta and Messenia decades to become one, but -" He faced Showing doubts: "Dionia can not only merge different Greek city-states such as Thurii, Amendolara, and Crimesa, but also the Lucanians and Brutians. Come in, and keep basically stable in the past few years, how did your old friend do it?"

After the rise of Dionia, due to Davos, Xenophon also briefly thought about the reasons for the rapid growth of this city-state alliance through the information he learned. However, based on the fact that Helots were the foundation of Sparta, some He couldn't say anything, so he did not answer directly, but sighed: "The establishment of the Dionia City-State Alliance is still too short, and a rash war with Syracuse will make it troublesome! "

"I'm afraid it's not just trouble, it's already a disaster for Dionia!" Agesilaus said seriously, and then briefly told Xenophon about the series of battles that took place after Syracuse invaded Magna Greece. .

After Xenophon returned to Greece, he was first busy leading mercenaries to fight against the anti-Spartan coalition, and then followed Agesilaus to Sparta. He was busy settling in and had neither the energy nor the channels to go there. Understanding the war in Magna Graecia, he did not expect that the situation in Magna Greece had undergone earth-shaking changes in just one month. Dionia was surrounded by enemies on all sides and was already in danger.

Agesilaus continued: "In fact, we did not expect that the war in Magna Graecia would progress so fast. We originally thought of mediating the war when the two sides fell into a confrontation, so that Syracuse could send out troops as soon as possible. Reinforcements are invested in our war against Corinth, especially its fleet, which can alleviate our blockade by Athens at sea. But judging from the current battle situation, Dionysius, who has the absolute advantage, will never cease the war. , so I am wondering if I can get Dionia to surrender voluntarily..."

Xenophon really thought that Agesilaus hoped that the war in Magna Graecia would end soon so that Syracuse could assist Sparta.Of course he didn't know that there was another important reason in Agesilaus's mind: a more powerful Syracuse was not what Sparta wanted to see, because it was very likely that it would not want to compete with Sparta anymore. cooperate.Therefore, retaining a Dionia that can pose a threat to Syracuse is conducive to the balance of power in the Western Mediterranean and can also prevent the situation in the Western Mediterranean from falling out of Sparta's control.

Xenophon thought of the days when he and the young mercenary leader fought and escaped in Persia a few years ago. The more difficult the situation, the stronger his fighting spirit became, and he could often think of good ways to help the mercenaries out of trouble.Therefore, he reminded Agesilaus: "Based on my understanding of Davos, he will not accept the suggestion of 'Dionia surrenders to Syracuse'. He will definitely fight to the end!"

Agesilaus sighed: "No matter what, I have to give it a try. What do you think of sending Chrysops to Thurii?"

Cleethorpes!Xenophon could no longer conjure up a clear image of this Spartan censor who had fought with him in Persia. After Chrysops returned to Sparta with Tibulon, three or four years passed, and Xenophon He never saw him again, and he said with emotion: "When we were in Persia, Chrysops had a good relationship with Davos."

"Yes, he also proposed to the Council of Elders to absorb Davos as a distinguished guest of Sparta!" Agesilaus also sighed with emotion: "So for the young commander of Dionia, it is a guest Lee Thorpes would be a great messenger.”

(End of this chapter)