Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Iphikrates followed the direction of his finger and then had a sympathetic look on his face, "He must have only arrived in Turii yesterday, so we didn't see him at the hotel. His son, who was badly wounded in the Greek war, died last year, and the Spartans, who are all four-legged, simple-minded fools, were no match in that new Spartan government for the cunning Pyriacians and the black laborers with the support of Merceria and Arcadia. Mandinia is well-connected as an Arcadian ally), so at almost 80 years old he continues to keep attending the New Spartan Council ......"

"If it weren't for his constant running around, we'd have forgotten about the Spartans." Callistratus sighed with a sigh, "What a respectable old man!"

Agesilaus was unaware that two acquaintances were talking about him behind his back not too far away, the reason he had only arrived yesterday was because he had been ill earlier and his health had just improved, he had ignored his doctor's advice to come to Turei, how could he pass up such a good opportunity to meet King Davos to gain some advantage for the Spartans. And also to fulfill his long-held wish to stroll through Deionia, which he had been desperately trying to deal with for decades, before he died.

It was dusk when the passenger ship had arrived at the port of Turii yesterday, and already exhausted, he had disembarked in the carriage that had been sent to the port by the Turii City Hall and dedicated to transporting dignitaries, and he had fallen asleep in the carriage, not enjoying the view of the city of Turii.

When he had been taken into the main arena of Hades by his guide early this morning, he had been struck by the enormity of the structure, despite having seen countless grand spectacles in his life. He looked up as if the frog at the bottom of a well could only see a small circular patch of sky above the tall building, but the boisterous noise from the gradually filling audience made him feel small.

He had attended all four of the major games on Greek soil, and he had also led troops to interfere with the games a few times, but this was the first time he had ever seen a venue of such magnificent scale, and he was taking a serious look at this particular arena when a voice came from the side, "Agesilaus, it is a pleasure to meet you!"

Agesilaus looked back, but it was Peropidas, the current military governor of Piosia, and standing next to him was the same acquaintance that Agesilaus remembered so well, Ippamilonda.

Peropidas was all smiles, and Impamilonda nodded to him, though his face was quiet.

Agesilaus, however, twitched his cheek a few times, sank his face, and said coldly, "I am not happy to see you!" After saying that, he turned away from the two.

It wasn't surprising that Agesilaus had such a reaction, because over the past few years he had been regretting that Sparta shouldn't have started the Thebes War, otherwise it wouldn't have come to such a bad situation today. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ended up in such a bad situation today. The two Thebans who led the Thebes to fight against Sparta for many years and defeated the Spartan army at the Battle of Leuktra were the ones in front of him, how could he give them a good face?

Agesilaus' response was slightly embarrassing to Pelopidas, who smiled to himself, shrugged at Epaminondas, and deliberately said aloud, "I didn't think he'd still hold a grudge against the past now that we're all in the same league."

"Comparing the current situation of the Thebans and the Spartans, it's a wonder he can see past it." Epamilonda said softly, understandingly.

Before the Thebes War, Sparta was the Greek overlord, and many city-states in Central Greece had garrisons, including Thebes, where Thebes government officials went to meet the Spartan garrison generals and groveled as if they were slaves meeting their masters, not to mention the general public.

But Thebes, with the strong support of Dionysia, not only unified the entire region of Piochia, but also developed Oropolis and the port in the Gulf of Corinth, and promoted maritime trade with Dionysia, thus greatly improving the shortcomings of Piochia and making it the second largest power in the Greek alliance! (The first power was the Holy Kingdom of Dionysia, Athens, after the dissolution of the maritime alliance and the loss of the daughter states, lagged behind the Pythian League in terms of land area and number of citizens, but still had a larger population and more trade than Piochia, but most Greeks believed Piochia to be stronger than Athens because Thebes was closer to Dionysia), which greatly strengthened its position in the League. The discourse of the Thebans also led to a dramatic rise in the status of the Thebans on Greek soil.

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, the position of Sparta and Thebes was now completely reversed.

"Indeed!" Pelopidas laughed out loud in a cheerful manner.

Agesilaus in the front row heard the laughter quite harshly, but could only pretend not to hear it.

"Sit down, and don't block the audience in the back," Epamilonda warned, feeling completely unnecessary for his friend's small revenge on Agassilaus. He was a man of quiet nature, who had voluntarily resigned from all of his duties since the New Greek League was established and Thebes unified the region of Piosia, and would still be secluded in his home if it weren't for the fact that this time the letter of invitation from Dionysia to the Piosian League had specifically designated that Epamilonda be present as well.

After sitting down, Pelopidas looked around with interest and then said excitedly, "The letter of invitation from Dionysia to us said that they would be hosting a different sporting event, and I see that this arena is so different that at least none of the Greek city-states, including us in Thebes, were able to build it!"

"Yes!" Epamilonda is also exclaiming, "Do you remember the time when we were young and watched the games in Corinth, only to see the Dionysian racegoers expelled? Who of us would have thought then that the Dionysian who was humiliated by the entire audience would, just 20 years later, become the overlord of all Greece and invite city-states and nations throughout the Mediterranean to attend the games it hosted!"

"This thing you're talking about reminds me." Pelopidas said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "I heard that even after Deionia became an ally of the Greek Union, the athletes of different races that Deionia participated in the various games over the past few years would still be discriminated against by the Greek population, and that's why King Deionia was so angry that he wanted to hold the games and allow all the races of the Mediterranean to participate, that's how great a country is! Not stubborn and conservative and petty like those city-states in our Greece!"

"Do these Greek city-states you speak of also include our Thebes and Piochia alliance?" Epaminondas asked a faint question.

Pelopidas, however, did not respond, and pointing a short distance to the side, said gloomily, "Look, there's General Creon of Corinth! I wonder what kind of mood he would sit in this arena in, would he be worried about the Deionian Games surpassing the Corinthian Games and becoming the most popular Games with the Greek public?!"

"It's not just Corinth who'll be worried, I think Ellis and Delphie will be equally worried, and look, aren't their messengers sitting there!" A voice came from beside them both.

Immediately Epaminondas stood up, "Good morning, Lucomides!"

"Good morning, Pelopidas, Epaminondas! It was a pleasure to sit with you!" Lucomedes raised the ticket in his hand, and, pointing to the number on the stone bench, said, quite impressed, "What amazes me most when I come to Tullye is not the greatness and prosperity of the city, but the fact that it is so crowded, and yet so well managed! Now, I'm afraid this is because the officials of Dionysian are very serious and meticulous about governing the country~

As you can imagine, even the entrance to the arena (each entrance has a number that corresponds to the number written on the ticket), the stone staircase (there are wooden rails on the side of the stone staircase to prevent falling), and the seats are carefully and thoughtfully designed so that there is no confusion when so many spectators enter the arena. This shows that they have infiltrated this careful management into every aspect of the people's lives ......"

"Yes, think of all the previous games where there wasn't a clash over spectators jostling for seats, and those of us who are mother-states should not only be ashamed, but we should also be open to learning from Daonia!" Pelopidas said seriously, and then made a polite gesture of invitation, "Lucomedes, you must sit down!"

After the Greek wars, it was not Thebes that benefited the most among the native Greek city-states, but rather Mandinia, who not only acquired the fertile lands of the former Tegea, but also established the Arcadian League with Mandinia as the main power with the strong support of Dionysia.

Pelopidas once privately said to Epaminondas enviously, "We in Thebes fought hard with Sparta for many years and sacrificed many people in order to establish the Piochian League ...... while Mandinia simply because it was lucky enough to follow Dionysia in the Greek wars, and finally reached an easy conclusion! With this goal, Apollo is so eccentric!"

However, Pelopidas, who was cheerful on the outside but proud on the inside, showed his heartfelt respect for Lycomedes, because he was the one who had first proposed the "establishment of the Arcadian Union", and had been working tirelessly for it for many years, and he had also been the President of the Council of the Arcadian Union (the highest position in the Arcadian Union Council, which could only be held by a Mandinarian) for five consecutive years.

"I just heard you say that Deionia is having a different kind of sporting event ......"