ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1129 Xenophon’s mission to Dionia

"I recommend a person to serve as our Spartan envoy to Dionysia. I believe he can definitely complete this mission!" Agesilaus looked at the doubtful eyes of everyone and said loudly: "This person is Xeno Fin!”

Cleombrotus was stunned and immediately retorted: "You are out of your mind! Xenophon is not a Spartan, how can he serve as the Spartan envoy!"

Agesilaus was not angry because of Cleombrotus' impolite words. He said calmly: "Xenophon has lived in our territory of Sparta for more than 20 years and participated in many battles with the citizens. Even facing his own mother-state, Athens, he did not stop wielding the spear in his hand, and his military exploits were no less than those of our soldiers. Moreover, he also used his pen to promote our Spartan political system to the Greek city-states. The excellence has enhanced our influence on our allies, which is something we Spartans cannot do!
In addition, his son has also been serving Sparta and is still fighting in the Boeotian region. Such a Greek scholar who has made so many contributions to Sparta, even if he does not have the status of a Spartan citizen, But what he did has proved that he is a Spartan and an excellent Spartan citizen!

As for why I recommended him as an envoy to Dionia, it is because he participated in the Persian expeditionary force that year and later became a mercenary leader of the expeditionary force. I once heard Cleethops say that during the Persian expedition At that time, Xenophon had a deep friendship with Davos, the current king of Dionia. I believe that when he is sent as an envoy to Dionia, the effect will definitely be stronger than others! "

Despite Agesilaus's full recommendation and Xenophon's reputation in Sparta, conservative Spartan elders and censors still had a heated debate.

Finally, at the end of the 22nd year of the kingdom (372 BC), the Spartan Council of Elders finally made a strange decision: to appoint a Spartan general as the envoy, and Xenophon as the deputy envoy to Dionia. , but all negotiations with Dionia were left to Xenophon.

This was Xenophon's first trip to the Western Mediterranean. The moment he stepped onto the passenger ship, he couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.

In the past few decades, it is not that he has never had the idea of ​​"visiting Dionia". Even after Dionia held a conference of Greek scholars, he invited him many times, but in the end he did not One of the reasons for going there is that he knew that Sparta, where he settled, was hostile to Dionia, and King Agesilaus of Sparta, who had always cared for him, was even more wary of him. If he goes there rashly, it will definitely make the Spartans feel grudge; and another reason is that Davos once invited him when he went to Magna Graecia, but he refused. Now Davos has created a new record in the Western Mediterranean. He couldn't rush into a big undertaking, after all, he was also arrogant.

Now, Sparta has given him this task, giving him the opportunity to finally see with his own eyes the Kingdom of Dionia established by his former friend Davos.

Xenophon's route to Thurii was almost the same as that of Chrysops's mission, but after more than 10 years of development, the situation was completely different.

After passing through Corfu Island, the passenger ship encountered a patrol fleet from Dionia not long after crossing the center line of the entrance to the Adriatic Sea.

This is a fleet composed of four triremes and eight small and medium-sized warships. When the captain of the passenger ship told him that this was a patrol fleet from Dionia, he even couldn't believe it. , because the strength of such a fleet is close to the naval configuration of some medium-strength city-states in Greece, and some city-states are even worse than it, and this is actually just a patrol fleet of Dionia?
So Xenophon asked twice, and after getting a definite answer, he was still skeptical, and even believed that Dionia intentionally expanded the size of its patrol fleet in order to intimidate surrounding forces.

Passenger ships land at the port of Audrum.

Today's Port of Odrum has expanded several times compared to when Cleethorpes was on mission, and its sea trade scale has also increased several times. The main reason is that Dionia's conquest of Alpine Gaul in recent years has shocked the country. The forces in central and northern Italy, the Venetians, the Umbrians... have taken the initiative to show their goodwill and alliance with Dionia, and even Dionia's influence has spread to some Ili people on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. Coastal city-state of Asia.When these forces took the initiative to move closer to Dionia, Dionia certainly lost no time in strengthening its ties with them through trade and cultural penetration.

The Adriatic Sea is a natural maritime transportation route. Maritime exchanges between many Dionian towns near the sea and these newly joined Dionian allies have become extremely frequent, and Odrum is just one of them. one.It's just that its geographical location is special, not only can enjoy the benefits of trade in the Adriatic Sea, but also some merchant ships from the Eastern Mediterranean also dock here...

In order to meet the growing needs of trade and tourists, Odrum not only expanded the port, but also later built two additional ports next to it.Its urban area is also expanding, and the size of the entire city of Odrum has even approached Udia, the center of the region, and it has long ceased to look like the small town of Messape.

When the administrator of Odrum learned of the arrival of the Spartan envoys, he specially sent people to greet Xenophon and his party, and even held a banquet to welcome them.

Xenophon declined politely, and also praised him: Odrum port trade is extremely prosperous, and it must be one of the best towns in the Kingdom of Dionysia. If it continues to develop like this, it will be entirely possible to compete with the Piraeus Port of Athens. Comparable.

The administrator of Odrum quickly said modestly: There are many port towns like Odrum in the Kingdom of Dionia. If Odrum wants to become a top port town, it still needs to pay more. s hard work.

Many? ...When Xenophon heard this, he couldn't help but blinked. He felt that he seemed to have discovered a characteristic of the Deolians: they like to exaggerate the strength of the kingdom to outsiders.

After bidding farewell to the officials of Odrum, Xenophon and his party got into the carriage and headed west.

Along the way, Xenophon saw the roads built by the Dionysians. They were flat, wide, solid and beautiful, and the carriages drove smoothly on them at very fast speeds. He was amazed by them.

But when he learned from the coachman that roads like this had already been laid all over the kingdom and connected various towns, his previous prejudice made him subconsciously think that the other party was bragging again, because in his impression: even in mainland Greece , such a road can only be compared with the section from Piraeus Port to Athens City. The trade of Odrum Port is prosperous, and it is understandable that the roads connecting it to the outside are better, but other places are not as good. Hard to say.

But Xenophon gradually began to feel that this excellent avenue was too long, because the carriage had been driving for a long time, passing through one or two towns, and the avenue was still extending forward, and the prejudice in his heart was shaken .

When passing Tarentum, Xenophon couldn't help but look at it. The Spartans who had been friends with him over the years also talked angrily about this Spartan that was forcibly taken away by the Dionysians from time to time. Zi Bang, this is one of the reasons why the Spartan people are hostile to Dionia.

At this moment, he wanted to go in and see what Tarantum, which had become the Free City of the Kingdom of Dionia, was like now, but the head of the Odrum fleet responsible for transporting them refused, thinking: Spartan will be It is their responsibility to send the envoys to Turui safely as soon as possible, and there should be no delay in the middle to avoid accidents.

Xenophon was a little dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do.

The convoy finally arrived at the naval base not far from Tarantum. It was already dusk. The guards at the base carefully checked the official documents of the Spartan envoys and Odrum before letting them in.

Since it was getting late, the Spartan envoys and their entourage could only rest for one night in the camp.

Xenophon learned that this was the naval base of Dionia, so he wanted to take the opportunity to visit and get a glimpse of the armaments of the Dionia navy.

Unexpectedly, the guards in the camp restricted them to stay in the house and not to move around.

Of course, the accompanying Spartans were dissatisfied, but Agsilaus solemnly warned them before leaving: try to befriend the Dionysians during the mission, don’t provoke them, and avoid giving Spartans Brings disaster.

So the Spartan envoys chose to endure.

Unexpectedly, the second day happened to be the training day at the Tarantum Naval Base. The two squadrons of the Dionia 2st Fleet sailed into Dagang early, conducting array and confrontation training.

When Xenophon and the others left by speedboat at the pier, they happened to be able to see a corner of the fleet training: amidst the high-pitched bugles, nearly 200 warships were spread out in the wide bay. During the fast sailing, they were constantly The boat array is changing, and the scene is very spectacular and lively.

Naval battles were not what the Spartans were good at (Xenophon himself had never participated in naval battles), and they could not see any clues from this training, but they were still staggered by the number of three-layer propeller warships.

The size of such a fleet is close to the level of Athens' navy at its peak, so it is understandable that the patrol fleet has such a configuration... Xenophon thought in his mind.

Seeing that they were so surprised, the captain of the Clipper couldn't help but proudly remind them: "There are more than these naval warships in Dionia. In addition to the naval base in Tarantum, there are also Brindisi and Kata. There are several naval bases such as Niya, Lilibi, etc., with more than a thousand warships!"

Xenophon's heart moved. Although this time he still felt that the Dionians were a bit boastful, but some of what they said may be true. Although Xenophon didn't know much about other naval bases, Brindisi was close to the Peloponnese. , the Spartans had a certain understanding of it, so Dionia, which has multiple naval bases, is likely to really have multiple naval bases.

　Thanks to the other side of remembrance and YellowCH4 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)