Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 78: Spartan’s decision

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The most relaxed mood is Tamagolas. He not only used the opportunity of the mission to reach agreement with the Spartan messenger in some aspects, and completed the entrustment of Callistratus to him before leaving. , And also obtained a lot of wealth, this time the initial harvest is quite good, will increase his influence in the people of Athens.

Who knows what went against his wishes, shortly after returning to Athens, Tamagoras was reported by the people, saying, "He accepted bribes in Persia, betrayed the secrets of Athens, and betrayed the city...". In addition, there are many rumors in the city of Athens, mainly saying that "he behaved wickedly in Babylon, not as good as Peropidas of Thebes. He was despised by the Persians, and he simply lost the face of the Athenians."...

It didn’t take long for the Athens government to try Tamagolas. Although he tried his best to defend himself and hired a good lawyer, most of the citizens on the jury still considered 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.

Strongly opposed to Agassilaus, who Dionia has always been more concerned about. He reminded loudly: "After Dionia defeated Carthage, the national power became stronger and it has constituted Sparta. Fortunately, there is a friendly agreement. In addition, this kingdom has always advertised that it will keep its promises. So even if we did some bad things to it during the agreement, it still keeps on Sparta. In a state of peace.

But now we have to take the initiative to cancel the agreement, just to give the other party a word of truth, once Dionia sent troops to intervene in this war, it will inevitably bring disaster to the Spartan army that is doing its best to deal with Thebes! "

Another Spartan king, Cleombrotus, stood up and firmly supported meeting the demands of the Persians. His reasons were equally good: "This war has continued until now, and we Spartans have some It is difficult to continue. If we sever contact with Dionian, we will not get Persian support, and if the Persian king turns to support our enemy Thebes, as he said, then Sparta will face defeat. Great danger. And if the friendly agreement with Dionia is cancelled, we will get the full support of Persia. Then we will be like the Corinthian War. Not only will this war be ended soon, but also the hegemon of Greece will be regained.

At that time, even if Dionia declares war on us, we can summon the forces of Greece to fight against it. What's more, from the situation in which Persia has threatened us so eagerly to sever contact with Dionia this time, the king of Persia is hostile to Dionia, and he will definitely support us in the war with Dionia. We can just rely on this favorable situation to defeat the Dionians 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. The Peloponnese is separated from Dionia by a narrow Adriatic Sea. Once the friendly agreement is lifted, Dionia really declared war on our Sparta, and this 100,000 army is likely to land on the Peloponnese. What should we do then?" Teacher Agassi asked with a serious expression.

Cleombrotus nowadays has long lost the fear and immaturity when he was hurriedly pushed to the throne. He calmly replied: "Don’t forget, Dionysius also led over 100,000 The army, attacked the Carthaginians in western Sicily. But in fact, we all know that the tens of thousands of mercenaries he really has combat effectiveness, do you dare to say that Dionian’s 100,000 army is elite?! I don’t think so. .

On the contrary, after we renegotiated the contract with the Greek city-states, if Dionia really dared to send troops to the Peloponnese, we could just call on the Greek city-states to resist the invasion of Dionia, a foreigner. , With the help of the Persians, forming a large army and defeating it will not only completely solve Sparta's long-standing worries, but also re-enhance Sparta's influence in Greece. "

Agsilius frowned and reminded: "Since Dionia was founded, they have not suffered defeat in the war they have experienced. Even if their army is not all elite, their combat effectiveness is definitely not weak. Moreover, they are troops from the same country, and even if we can call on each city-state to form a large army, this time the army will certainly not be as united as they are, which is not conducive to command—"

"Honorable Agsilius!" Cleombrotus suddenly sneered: "In these years, hasn't our Sparta commanded the coalition forces of other city-states to fight against the enemy, with more wins than losses? , This is the talent that our Spartan generals must have! More than 10 years ago, you even commanded the Asia Minor people to fight Persia, why now you say that it’s wrong for us to do this!"

Without waiting for Agsilius’ response, Cleombrotus looked around, suddenly raised his volume, and said loudly, “The so-called Dionian army is victorious in all battles because they didn’t meet our Sparta. Dah! Everyone still remember the words that threatened us that King Dionian said before signing the friendly agreement with Dionian for the first time! He lived in the Adriatic Sea like a poisonous snake over the years. The West Bank is watching us. Let us always be afraid and dare not slacken. Now maybe it's time to solve this problem! Dear wise elders and inspectors, whether Sparta can survive this difficulty depends on your decision. !"

Agsilius looked at Cleombrotus, who gave an impassioned speech in the center of the venue. For some reason, it appeared in his mind that he was also here to defeat his nephew Leotizides through eloquence more than 20 years ago. The scene of winning the throne.

Now that I am old, weak, sick, and disabled, do I really lose my courage? …Agsilus hesitated: breaking off diplomatic ties with Dionian, offending Dionian, may lead to war; but continuing to confess, offending Persia, it will turn to support Thebes, the current situation Not only will the war not stop, but it will become more difficult...This is a dilemma.

Agsilius opened his mouth, but did not refute in the end.

Then the 30 Spartan elders (including the two kings) voted on "whether to cancel the friendly agreement with Dionia". These Spartan aristocrats over 60 years may have rich life experience, but most of them have conservative personalities and only seek safety in everything. Because Dionia has never set foot in Greece despite being closer to the Peloponnese. On the contrary, Far away, Persia is always exerting influence on Greece. Whether it is the Peloponnesian War or the Corinthian War, Persia's help to Sparta is huge, and these elders are undoubtedly the cause of these wars. Those who have witnessed it have deep feelings.

But the final result of the vote was 20:20. In fact, Agcilius’ influence played a big role in it. Compared with Cleombrotus, who has not yet performed well in the military, Many elders prefer to believe in the wise and prestigious Agsilius.

Now, the final decision rests with the five inspectors.

Spartan inspectors have great powers. They can inspect and supervise the king and elders internally, and externally, they are responsible for diplomacy and supervising the troops on the expedition. However, they are selected from ordinary civilians who have grown up. They received arduous military training and continued to fight as adults. They did not leave the collective life until the age of 30. In addition to being proficient in military skills, most people did not know much about politics, diplomacy and other aspects. There are not too many citizens with knowledge and political wisdom like Puth, so Sparta has always been tough on the outside world in recent years, and only when he has suffered a serious setback will he choose to retreat.

However, the five inspectors selected this year chose all without exception. They broke off diplomatic ties with Dionia for a simple reason: the years of war with Thebes did not make any significant progress, but the country did not make any significant progress. Increasingly distressed, soldiers continued to suffer casualties, the people were miserable, and war exhaustion was very serious. The choice of the inspectors reflected the public opinion at this time. The Spartan people desperately wanted to stop the war and restore peace. As for the possibility of resulting in a stronger enemy Dionia, they would not consider that far.

Such a result did not disappoint Agsilius, but instead let him breathe a sigh of relief: Now that the **** has made a choice for Sparta, he doesn't need to worry about anything.

Kleombrotus saw Agsilius standing up again, and couldn't help but say with satisfaction: "Now that the resolution to sever diplomatic relations with Dionia has been passed, it is useless for you to refute it. ."

Agsilius ignored him, looked around and said: "Even if we decide to sever diplomatic ties with Dionia, we should send a messenger who can talk to the King Dionia to euphemistically explain that we must not continue. The reason for the friendship, if we have enough sincerity, I believe it will not anger the Dionians and declare war on us at the critical moment of our peace talks with Thebes."

"As I said, Sparta is not afraid of fighting against Dionia, and can take advantage of this good opportunity to solve this big problem!" Cleombrotus reminded dissatisfied.

"King Agsilius made a point. It would be best if he could reach a peace agreement with Thebes and Athens and temporarily prevent Dionia from starting a war." It is not just the majority of the elders. They agreed with this, and even the inspectors had no objection, but they felt a headache for the candidates.

As seen from the only few cases of dealing with Dionia in the past, the King Dionia was not a good talker, so he sent a diplomatic messenger he knew well to the map. Lee, it certainly had a much better effect, but both Kelithorpes and Phoebe Das had already died in battle, and the rest of the Spartans were completely new to Dionia.