Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

The most relaxed mood is Tamagoras, who not only used the opportunity of an emissary to reach agreement with the Spartan emissary in certain aspects, and completed the entrustment of Calisstratus to him before leaving. Obtained a lot of wealth, this time the initial harvest is quite rich, will increase his influence among the people of Athens.

Whoever ran counter to his wishes, soon after returning to Athens, Tamagoras was reported by the public, saying, "He took bribes in Persia, betrayed the secrets of Athens, and betrayed the city-state...".In addition, there are many rumors in the city of Athens, mainly saying that "his behavior in Babylon is lascivious, it is not as good as Peropidas of Thebes, and he is scorned by the Persians, it is almost the face of the Athenians"...

It didn't take long for the Athens government to try Tamagoras, and although he tried to defend himself and hired a good lawyer, most citizens of the jury still found him guilty, and he was eventually sentenced to death.

After Lutikli returned to Sparta, the tough demands made by the Persians also caused great waves in Sparta.

Agassius, who has always been concerned about Dionysian, strongly opposed, he loudly reminded: "After Dionysian defeated Carthage, the national strength has become stronger, which has already constituted a great deal for us. The threat, fortunately, there is a friendly agreement, plus the kingdom has always advertised its commitment, so even if we have done something bad about it during the agreement, it still has a peaceful state of Sparta. .

But now we have to take the initiative to cancel the agreement, just to give the other party the truth. Once Dionysian troops are involved in this war, it will inevitably bring disaster to the Spartan army that is fighting against Thebes!"

Another Spartan king, Cliombrotus, stood up and strongly supported meeting the requirements of the Persians. His reasons are equally good: "This war continues until now, and our Spartan has been somewhat unsustainable. If we do not sever ties with Dionysia, we will not have the support of Persia, and if the King of Persia, as he said, turns to support our enemy, Thebes, then Sparta is in great danger of being defeated. And if we cancel the friendly agreement with Dionysia, we will get the full support of Persia, then we will be like the Corinth War, not only will this war be ended soon, but also become the hegemon of Greece.

At that time, even if Dionysia declares war on us, we can call on the whole of Greece to fight against it.What's more, from the fact that this time Persia threatened us to sever ties with Dionysia so eagerly, the King of Persia is hostile to Dionysia, and he will definitely support us to fight against Dionysia.We can take advantage of this favorable situation to defeat the Dionysians and completely solve this hidden danger that has always worried us."

"It is said that Dionia sent 100,000 troops in the war with Carthage. Peloponnese was across a narrow Adriatic Sea from Dionia. Once the friendship agreement was lifted, Dionia Ya really declared war on us Sparta, these 100,000 troops are likely to land on Peloponnese, how should we respond?" Teacher Agassi asked seriously.

Today Cliombrotus has no longer the fear and immaturity when he was hurried to the throne. He replied calmly: "Don’t forget that Dionysius also led 100,000 troops and attacked. The Carthaginians in western Sicily. But we all know that he really has the tens of thousands of mercenaries. Do you dare to say that the 100,000 troops of Dionysia are elite?! I don’t think it is necessary.

On the contrary, after we re-contracted with the Greek city-states, if Dionia really dared to send troops to land on Peloponnese, we could just call on the Greek city-states to resist the invasion of Dionysia, an outsider, in Persia With the help of human beings, a large army was formed and defeated, which not only completely resolved Sparta's long-standing worries, but also renewed Sparta's influence in Greece."

Agsilaus frowned, reminding: "Since the establishment of Dionysia, the war they have experienced has not suffered defeat, and their troops are not weak, even if they are not elite. And they are From the army of the same country, and even if we can call on various city-states to form a large army, this time the army will certainly not be as united as they are, which is not conducive to command—"

"Respectable Agsilaus!" Cliobrotus suddenly sneered: "Which of our Spartans in these years was not the command of the coalition forces of other city-states to fight the enemy, and won more and fewer losses, this It is the talent that our Spartan general must possess! You even commanded the Asia Minor to fight Persia more than 10 years ago. How can we say that we are not doing this right now?"

Before Agassius responded, Cliobrots looked around and suddenly increased the volume, saying aloud: "The so-called Dionysian army is victorious because they did not meet our Spartan! Remember the words that the King of Dionysia threatened us before signing a friendly agreement with Dionysia for the first time! He has watched like a viper in the West Bank of the Adriatic Sea these years We, let us always worry, not dare to slacken off, maybe now is the time to solve this problem! Dear elders and inspectors, whether Sparta can overcome this difficulty depends on your decision!"

Agassius looked at Cliombrotus, who gave a generous speech in the center of the venue, and somehow it appeared in his mind that he also defeated his nephew Leotizides by eloquently and won the throne more than 20 years ago. That scene.

But now that I am old, weak, sick, and disabled, do I really have no courage?...Agassius hesitated: breaking diplomatic relations with Dionysia and offending Dionysia may lead to war; but continuous diplomacy will offend Persia, it will turn to support Thebes, the current one Not only will the war not stop, but it will become more difficult... This is a dilemma.

Agsi Raus opened his mouth, and finally did not refute.

Then the 30 Spartan elders (including the two kings) voted on "whether to cancel the friendly agreement with Dionia".The Spartan nobles over 60 years may have rich life experience, but most of them are conservative, and everything is only for stability. Although Dionia is closer to Peloponnese, it has never been involved in the Greek mainland. Persia, thousands of miles away, has always exerted an influence on Greece. Whether it is the Peloponnesian War or the Corinth War, Persia’s help to Sparta is huge, and these elders are undoubtedly these wars. Those who experienced it felt deeply.

But the final voting result was 20:20. In fact, the influence of Agsilaus played a big role in it. Compared with Cliombrotus, which has not yet performed well in the military, many elders are more Willing to believe in Agassius who is wise and prestigious.

Now, the final decision rests with five inspectors.

The Spartan Ombudsman has a lot of power. He can review and supervise the kings and elders internally, and he is responsible for diplomacy and monitoring of the military expeditions, but they are selected from ordinary civilians. Difficult military training, continuous combat in adulthood, until the age of 30 before leaving the collective life, in addition to their mastery of military skills, most people do not know much about politics, diplomacy and other aspects, like Kerry Thorps There are not too many citizens with broad knowledge and political wisdom, so Sparta has always been relatively tough on the outside world. Only when it has suffered a lot of setbacks will it choose to retreat.

But the five inspectors selected this year have all chosen without exception-the break of diplomatic relations with Dionia, the reason is simple: the successive wars with Thebes have not made any obvious progress, but the country is increasingly troubled. The soldiers were constantly injured and killed, the people were miserable, and the war exhaustion was very serious. The choices of the inspectors reflected the public opinion at this time. The Spartan people urgently wanted to stop the war and restore peace.As for what might result in a stronger enemy Dionia, they will not think so far.

This result did not disappoint Agsi Laos, but let him relax: since the deity has already made a choice for Sparta, he does not need to tangle any more.

Cleome Brotus saw Agassius stand up again and couldn't help but say: "Now that the resolution to break diplomatic relations with Dionia has been passed, you are useless even if you want to refute."

Agsilaus ignored him and looked around the crowd and said, "Even if we decide to break diplomatic relations with Dionia, we should also send a messenger who can speak and euphemistically explain to King Dionysia why we must not keep in touch. If we have enough sincerity, I believe it will not provoke the Dionysians and declare war on us at the crucial time of our peace talks with Thebes."

"As I said, Sparta is not afraid of Dionysian combat, and I can take advantage of this good opportunity to solve this big trouble!" Cliobrotus dissatisfied reminded.

"King Agsilaus makes sense. If we can reach a peace agreement with Thebes and Athens, and we can temporarily avoid the onset of war by Dionia, of course it is the best." Not only the majority of elders In agreement, even the inspectors did not object, but they felt a headache for the candidates.

Because from the only few cases of dealing with Dionysia in the past, the King Dionysia was not a good talker, so he sent a familiar messenger who was good at diplomacy to Turui. The effect will definitely be much better, but whether it is Kirithorpes or Fibidas, they have been killed in battle, and the rest of the Spartans are completely new to Dionysian.