Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"Oh, that cunning Fibidas!"

Among the Spartans most familiar to these ministers of military affairs, apart from the guest Krisops who had come to Turriy for negotiations many times, I am afraid that it was Fibidas.But in the mind of the Dionysians, his image is notorious. Not only did he participate in and command the military operation of Syracuse invading Dionysian in the battle of South Italy, he also designed the slaughter of Dionysius. The family.Although the Dionysian people hated Dionysius, Fibidas' betrayal and deception also made them feel very disdainful.

"Your Majesty, what is Piddas doing?" Tolmed asked curiously.

"He has just been appointed by the Spartan Council of Elders as the coach for the Kalkidike League." Davers said.

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At this moment, Fibidas, who was nagging by several Dionysian military chiefs, was leading a large group of people through the Corinthian isthmus.His task is to lead the main force of Sparta to the Kalkidike Peninsula, help Macedonia to recover the lost land, and defeat Olympus, to dismantle the Kalkidike League.

This is an extremely important task. The original round was not on Fibidas, because although the deception of Dionysius was the order issued by the Council of Elders, some Spartan elders still dealt with the Philippine who carried out this massacre. Bidas was disgusted and opposed letting him lead, but it was only Agsilaus's persistence that allowed him to get the appointment.

The army is about to enter the Pioxia area.

At this time, Fibidas repeatedly reminded officers at all levels of the army to be more vigilant and to proceed with caution.

Because after the end of the Corinth War, Thebes was the last city-state to accept the peace of the King, and after being forced to dismantle the Pioxia League that the Thebes had been working for, the Thebes were certainly very dissatisfied with the attitude of Sparta. Although, in the past few years, Thebes has not taken any provocative actions against Sparta, but Fibidas did not dare to take it lightly, so as not to live up to Agsilaus’ trust.

After passing through the ruins of Platia, the Spartan army was almost approaching Thebes.

Fibidas saw that it was too late and ordered the troops to camp on the spot.

Just as the soldiers began to get busy, a secretive man came from Thebes and insisted on meeting Fibidas.

When the guards led him into the big tent, he saluted Filidas politely, and then said: "Dear General Filidas, I am the confidant of Leon Tiadas."

Filidas certainly knows who Leon Tiadas is.

The Thebes hate Sparta, but not everyone is like this. Just as there are pro-Spartans among the citizens of Athens and Corinth, there are also Thebes, precisely because of their domestic promotion, Thebes Sicai finally accepted the king's peace treaty, and because of the strong Sparta in recent years, Thebes had to reuse the pro-Spartans who had been suppressed in order to not provoke it. The friendly meaning of Bada, Leon Tiadas is the head of the pro-Spartan faction, and he is also one of the military governors of Thebes this year (Thebes is also a dual-rule regime).

After confirming a Persian silver mask that Agassius gave to Leontiadas six months ago, Fibidas’s serious expression became gentle, and he asked: “The Leontiadas Do you have anything to tell me?"

The slave didn't speak, only looked back at the guards on both sides.

Phoebe met, but said aloud: "They are brave soldiers of Sparta, my good comrade-in-arms, nothing needs to be kept secret!"

When the slave saw Fibidas saying this, he had to bite the bullet and say, "General, my master wants to invite you to lead your troops to attack the Acropolis of Thebes."

It turned out that although Leon Tiadas was elected as the ruling officer, the anti-Spartans in the parliament and the civic assembly accounted for the vast majority. His rights were greatly restricted, and in fact became a decoration.Arrogant, he felt humiliated and determined to change this embarrassing political situation.

At this time, he saw that the large Spartan troops were near. Two days later, it happened to be the Mother Earth Day of Thebes (the celebration day of Demeter). The Acropolis will be undefended and handed over to the women. Celebrate the holiday.On the day of Mother’s Day in Thebes, the city-state women who have been doing housework can celebrate in the Acropolis Temple. Since they are required to stay at home all the year round, they will have some free-spirited actions on this day. Men should avoid it. This custom is similar to the Dionysus Festival.

So he made a risky decision: to unite with the Spartans, capture the Acropolis, capture the anti-Spartans, and completely control the power of Thebes.

After listening to the detailed description of the slaves, Fibidas was also surprised when he was surprised.

As he meditated, the Spartan adjutant next to him couldn’t help but say: “Pididas, the task assigned to us by the Council of Elders is to go to Karkidike and attack Olympus, not to get the elder With the permission of the council, we will rashly attack Thebes and start a new war."

Hearing this, the slave looked anxiously at the leader of the Spartan army.

If it is a general Spartan general, he may strictly follow the instructions of the Council of Elders, and will not have any extra branches, but Phibidas is different. He was already bold in his days with Dionysius in the Southern Italian War. Here, he learned more about being cunning and vicious for the purpose and at all costs, so he said with deep thought: "Solax, after the Peloponnesian War, Spartan troops can freely enter and exit Central Greece After the last war, when we led the army through here, we had to obtain the consent of several important city-states in Central Greece, otherwise we would have to go to Northern Greece by boat. Do you know why?"

The lieutenant named Solax said without hesitation: "It is because Athens, Thebes...these city-states in Greece oppose us."

"So you see that Sparta was blocked by Athens and Thebes on the Peloponnesian peninsula. The movement is very free. We need to make Thebes an ally of Sparta again, which is far more than a thousand miles away. Kalkidike is much more important! Now that we are close to the territory of Thebes, and the Thebes are about to celebrate, apparently thinking that we will lead our army to Northern Greece, so we are completely negligent. If we miss This great opportunity will be very regretful!" Fibidas said in a deep voice, his fists clenched, his eyes gleaming with greed.

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Thebes is on the plains south of Lake Jelica, and its city is just stuck on the main road leading to central Greece and northern Greece. Both sides of the east and west are mountains that stretch three to four hundred meters above sea level, although it is not too difficult. Yes, but it is far less convenient to go directly through Thebes.Thebes also relied on the prosperity of commerce and trade caused by the fertility and convenient transportation of the southern plains of Lake Jelica, making it among the major states of Greece.

The Acropolis of Thebes was built on the oval-shaped highland called Kademia, and it is also the best city of David among the city-states of Central Greece.However, due to terrain constraints, Thebes is a rectangular shape that is long from north to south and narrow from east to west. The Acropolis is almost next to the east wall near the mountain.

On the Mother's Day

Pfidas led a group of troops quietly lurking in the mountains on the east side of Thebes. After Leontiadas used his power as the governor to open the guards of the East Gate, Pfidas led the army. The influx quickly occupied the dangerous acropolis without defense.

The Thebes Council, composed of nobles, was threatened and blocked by the rogues employed by Leontiadas, and it was unable to summon citizens to resist in time.

Pro-Spartan elements have long formed an armed attack on the southern gate of Thebes, and opened the gate, put the remaining Spartan troops, and led them to arbitrarily kill anti-Spartans in the city. There were screams and chaos...

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When the Spartans entered Thebes, Pelopidas was attending the banquet held by Charon at home.

Charon is a well-known wealthy businessman in Thebes. He is bold and has a lot of friends. He invited many friends to visit his house on the grounds of "Mother's Day women carnival in the temple, and we men should not treat ourselves badly".

Ipa Minunda was not on the invitation list. At 37 years old, he has always been intoxicated, rarely participates in political affairs, and does not love making friends. He is not famous in Thebes, but Pelopidas is his best friend. , Forced him to come to the banquet.

At the banquet, Ipamunda deliberately sat in the corner, tasting the food quietly and listening to other guests talking quietly.

Pelopidas is the most striking. He is energetic, sharp-spoken, quick-thinking, and knowledgeable. In addition, he actively participates in politics as an adult. Although he is still young, he has already held important positions in the city-state. And he is the most active among anti-Spartans, so many people surround him and take pride in talking with him.

Halfway through the banquet, one of their friends broke in and told them: The Spartans had entered the city, and they were killing anti-Spartan MPs!

The shocking news caused chaos in the banquet.

Pelopidas responded first, and he cried out loudly: "We must gather the citizens quickly and drive the Spartans out! Who will go with me?"

But no one came out to respond.

Pelopidas was disappointed, turned around and walked away, but was stopped by Ipamunda: "My friend, please calm down! Filidas has already said very clearly,'It's Leonti The collusion between Yadas and the Spartans made it easy for the Spartan army to enter the city.'This is a carefully planned plan. The Spartans have occupied the Acropolis, and they have the help of traitors. It’s impossible to let the panic citizens fight against the murderous Spartan warriors without preparation, and it will also make you a delicacy at the mouth of a hungry wolf!"