Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

In the Western Mediterranean War, Dionysian Army’s fierce battle in the defense of the city made Hasdrubal suffer a lot, and although there was only one fight in the frontal battle, Leotizides led Dai The Onia coalition was defeated, but on the right wing against the real Dionysian Army, Hasdruba’s heavy Phoenician infantry was beaten back and forth, which made him a strong opponent of the Diorian Army. interest.

The Ministry of Military Affairs is busy with the formation of the Border Corps, and the Ministry of Finance has also been busy. The new "Taxation Act" has been announced and is gradually accepted by the people of the Kingdom. Although it is still months away from the direct taxation across the country, the new finance Minister Archibades has begun to urge the tax offices of various towns to estimate the income of the people under their jurisdiction this year in advance, so as to calculate the total possible tax according to the new tax rate, and then based on this number, formulate new The financial allocation plan and submit it to King Davers for reference.

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The new "Immigration Act", the new "Tax Collection Act", the formation of new legions, the formation of new administrative divisions... A series of new measures are being implemented in an orderly manner, which means that the development of the Kingdom has entered a new Track, more efficient rule, more affluent finances, and more guarantee of military security.

And also in this year, the war on the Greek mainland entered a new stage.After the battle of Tiesia, the Thebes gained a great reputation. They seized the opportunity and drove the Spartan garrison around Thebes, gradually uniting the neighboring Pioxia city-states around themselves, and their strength was further enhanced. , And also sent troops to try to occupy the north of the Corinth Bay and the southern area of ​​Piosia to support the Spartan city of thisbe (thisbe), thereby preventing the Spartans from landing from here and directly threatening the security of Thebes from the south.

After receiving this news, Sparta had to send the army of King Kriomblotus again, cross the Corinth Bay by boat, help the Tispis, and repel the invading army of Thebes.

Just as the two sides started a new round of fighting, a messenger from the city-state Fasalus in Thessaly came to Sparta.

This messenger is called Polidamas and has a high prestige in the city of Fazarus.Whenever Fasaluz falls into internal strife, the people will unanimously agree to let the Acropolis be managed by him, and entrust him to be responsible for the city’s fiscal revenue and expenditure, whether it is religious affairs or administrative revenue and expenditure. , He can act in accordance with the law, orderly arrange all aspects.At the end of each year, he will also submit a detailed account of the city-state's finances. If there is a deficit, he will pay for it by himself.Therefore, he is not only respected by the people in Fasalus, but also enjoys a high reputation throughout the territory of Thessaly.

Such a person came to Sparta, naturally received a grand reception by the Council of Elders, and agreed to his request, specially held a meeting for him.

And at this meeting, Polidamas mentioned one thing.

Thessaly is located in the north of Central Greece. In the north, it is separated from the territory of Macedonia by the continuous high mountains. Mount Olympus, the god kingdom of Zeus respected by the Greeks, is in it.The west borders the mountains of Epirus, the east borders the Aegean Sea, and the south borders the Mali region, where the hot spring pass is located.

Geographically, Thessaly is surrounded by mountains, and countless streams flow down from the mountains, converging into rivers, encasing the mud in the valleys, and alluvial to form a fertile plain, thus raising a lot of people.In addition to the developed agriculture, Cesari’s many sloping hillsides provide natural high-quality pastures for raising horses, and the flat principle under the mountain provides a wide open space for horses to gallop, so Cesari is famous for its horses and cavalry throughout Greece .(Note: Historically, Alexander the Great’s famous warhorse Bucefalas came from Macedonia, and most of the 5,000 cavalry brought by his expedition to Persia also came from Cesari.)

Although Thessaly has such good geographical conditions, the city-states of Thessaly are full of contradictions and continuous wars, so they have never become an important force in the entire Greek mainland.

However, this split has begun to change in recent years.Philae is the only coastal city-state with a prosperous port trade in Cesari. Coupled with its developed agriculture and animal husbandry, it is also the richest city-state in the whole Cesari.

There is a citizen in the city of Philae called Jason. His father gave him the name of this ancient hero when he was born (Jason is the protagonist of the golden wool legend), hoping that he will grow up and have some As.Jason did not live up to his father's hopes. After growing up, he eventually became the tyrant of Philae through various means.But he was not satisfied with this. He used Philae's wealth and recruited 6,000 mercenaries to train them rigorously. He gave generous rewards to soldiers who showed bravery in battle, and gave good care to wounded soldiers. Healing, if it is killed in battle, a grand and grand funeral will be arranged for it, so the mercenaries are loyal to him and willing to fight for him.

Thessaly’s cavalry is well-known, and the heavy infantry here are also quite famous, and they are already in his newly formed team, but Jason is still not satisfied because he has been concerned about Greece that occurred south of Thessaly in recent years. The war made him aware of the importance of light shield soldiers (the Athenian general Iphitrax was good at commanding Thracian light shield soldiers, and had repeated achievements), and the mountains around Cesari also produced excellent light shield soldiers.

Therefore, he commanded this well-trained and brave army, conquering the Malachi, Donops (ethnic race in the mountains north of Cesali) and Epirus in the mountains northwest of Cesali. People, thus expanding his mercenary ranks.

Under his powerful rule, Philae's strength became stronger and stronger.He also took advantage of the Greek overlord Sparta to deal with the war between Thebes and Athens, and was unable to look north, and forced several cities in the north of Cesari, such as Larissa and Krannon near Philae, to submit to him. Then he turned his attention to Fasarus.

Fasalus is located in the center of the Thessaly region. It has always been a strong state in this area. Many Thessaly city-states have only been the first to look at it and conquer it.

As a result, Jason led the army of tens of thousands of people to march towards Fasalus to the south.

Fasalus also hurriedly summoned other allied forces to fight against the incoming enemy forces.

After winning the first battle, Jason did not immediately attack Fasarus, but sent a messenger to enter the city to persuade the surrender, and also specifically found Polidamas, the then coalition commander, to bring him A letter from Jason.

In the letter, Jason told Polidamas bluntly: With the powerful force in his hand, he can completely wipe out Fasalus and his allies in one fell swoop. The reason why he did not do this is because he wanted to The city of Cesari headed by Fasalus can join the Cesari alliance he established with joy, so that they will not always be prepared to plot rebellion, but will do their best to jointly safeguard the interests of the alliance.

He also hopes that Polidamas will assist him with all his strength and help him to become Tagus (the name of the Cesarians overlord of the whole Thessaly), and he will also give Polidamas thick Newspaper, let him be under one person and above ten thousand people.

In the letter, he also showed his ambitions like Polidamas: as long as Cesari was under the rule of a Tagus, years of war would be subdued, sufficient food, a large population, Well-trained mercenaries...so that he can dispatch an army of 6,000 cavalry and more than 10,000 heavy infantry at any time, and can form an alliance with the cities of Pioxia headed by Thebes if he can Liberate them from Spartan control, they will obey him; at the same time, he can also control Macedonia north, because the Athenians are here to obtain shipbuilding wood, he can build a lot based on this The ships of the Greek city-states in the south formed a strong fleet... and his real goal was not the barren land in the south, nor the small projectile islands in the Aegean Sea, but the Persia on the vast mainland in the east. The Greek mercenaries and later the army of Agsilaus were able to kill in and out of the Persian territory, and he had a more powerful army. He was fully confident to conquer the Persian kingdom and obtain unprecedented glory and wealth!

Polidamas was completely stunned by the ambition revealed in his letter.

After Polidamas calmed down, he returned a letter to Jason: He believed that the issues mentioned in Jason’s letter were indeed worthy of his consideration, but let Fasalus and the like be Spartan allies. (After Sparta helped the King of Macedonia defeat the Kalkidia Alliance, it increased its influence on Central and Northern Greece, and many Cesare city-states such as Fasalus also formed an alliance with Sparta).Without any excuses, it is unethical and will not be blessed by gods to break away from the alliance and turn to their enemies.

Jason responded quickly.

In the letter, he praised Polidamas Damascus, believing that he was a person who kept his promise, and that such a person was more trustworthy.

And he suggested that Polidamas could send a messenger to Sparta to request assistance from Sparta.

At the end of the letter, he said very confidently: "If the gods allow you to persuade Sparta to send an army strong enough to fight me, then I can only watch the changes and accept any consequences of this war. ; But if they can't provide you with sufficient assistance, then you'd better perform according to my previous requirements, the whole Cesari will unite under me-a new Tagus!"