ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1137 Jason’s decision
By the time Jason arrived at the Leuktra Highlands, the battle had ended for seven days.

The messengers from the Spartan coalition also arrived in Sparta subsequently. The news of the failure of the battle shocked the Spartans. You must know that Sparta has been engaged in constant foreign wars in these years, and the real Spartan warriors have grown from 3000 at their peak. The number of people has dropped to less than 2000, relying more on the Piliasians, Helots and allied armies to fight. Now 400 Spartan warriors have died in the battle, including a Spartan king. It was undoubtedly a huge loss for Sparta.

Not only were the people grieving, but according to tradition, a grand funeral was held for Cleombrotus. But now the situation was critical, and the Spartan coalition forces trapped in Boiosia were still in urgent need of rescue. The army headed by Agesilaus The Council of Elders and the censors had to implore the people to temporarily suppress their grief, and urgently mobilized the young men in the territory (including the Piliasians and some Helots) to form an army, led by the son of Agesilaus. Archidamus took command (because Agesilaus was unwell and could not lead the army), and nearby allies also provided support.

The Persian envoy Datis who stayed in Sparta was also shocked. He did not expect that the large Spartan army would suffer a defeat. This made him doubt whether Persia's support for Sparta was a mistake, but now Bis had already formed an alliance with Dionia, and it was impossible for Persia to change its support to a Greek city-state in a short time, so he rushed to the Council of Elders to question him.

Many elders were angry, and Agesilaus reassured him: "This is just an accidental defeat. The Spartan army is still strong and will soon defeat Thebes again and reestablish Greek hegemony." .”

Datis was noncommittal about his answer, but asked them: "Persia is not only willing to provide money and materials to support Sparta, but is also willing to send troops to support it."

Agesilaus quickly expressed his thanks, but politely refused the request for "Persia to send reinforcements."

Money and material, Sparta is in urgent need, because it can be used to hire mercenaries, expand the size of the army, and continue to fight Thebes.However, since the Greco-Persian War, no Persian army has set foot on Greek soil for decades. If Sparta dared to invite the Persian army, it would undoubtedly arouse the indignation of the Greek city-states and become the target of public criticism. Even its former allies would There will be betrayal.

Archidamus led this army quickly north, then took a ship through Corinth and landed at the port of Chryses.

However, the speed of the Spartan reinforcements was still a bit slow. While they were still heading north, all Thessalian reinforcements had arrived at Leuctra. The strength of the Boeotian coalition forces had been greatly enhanced and had exceeded The Spartan Allied Forces, so Ipamironda proposed: "Take advantage of this favorable opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the Spartan Allied Forces' camp and completely eliminate the Spartan Allied Forces in Boiosia!"

At this time, Jason lost the excitement he had when he heard the news of victory in the battle, because his most important minister, Archidamas, also came to Leuctra and analyzed the current situation in Greece with him in private. Afterwards, Jason realized that the failure of the Battle of Leuctra had dealt a big enough blow to the prestige of the Spartans. It indeed weakened Sparta's obstacle to Thessaly's dominance of Greece, but at the same time Let him see the potential of the Thebans.If the Thebans completely help the Thebans completely annihilate the Spartan army at this time and severely weaken the strength of the Spartans, the real ones who will benefit the most are undoubtedly the Thebans. They will quickly take over the Spartans' control in the center. Greece's legacy and strength will be rapidly improved, and it will become Thessaly's biggest opponent in dominating Greece.

After thinking about this, Jason did not agree to Ipamilonda's request. Instead, he persuaded: "The Boeotian coalition finally won the battle. There is no need to take further risks. After all, attacking the camp is more difficult than fighting in the wild. More. With Spartan reinforcements arriving at any time, if the attack fails for a long time, it will put the coalition forces into a dangerous situation. It is better to take advantage of the advantage now and force the Spartans to sign an armistice agreement, allowing Troops from both sides were able to evacuate safely."

It sounds like what Jason said is reasonable, but Ipamilonda and Pelopidas still hope to pursue the victory, so the two sides continue to argue for a while. When Ipamilonda sees Jason, his attitude is always firm, Unwilling to fight, and without the help of Thessalian reinforcements, if the Boeotian coalition forces alone wanted to capture the Spartan camp, they would inevitably pay a high price. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally agreed to Jason's suggestion.

Therefore, Jason acted as a mediator between the two parties and arranged peace talks between the two parties.

The reinforcements in the rear did not know when they would arrive, and the Thebans were obviously stronger after receiving reinforcements from Thessaly. Therefore, the demoralized Spartan coalition quickly signed an armistice agreement with the Boeotian coalition.

That night, the Spartan coalition quietly withdrew.

Being able to successfully mediate the war between Sparta, the former Greek overlord, and Thebes, the emerging power in Central Greece today, Jason showed his face in a big way, and the power of the Thessalians also came to the fore for the first time. The political stage in the core areas of Greece has attracted the attention of many Greek city-states.

The proud Jason led his army back to Thessaly and did something that shocked the southern Greeks.He led the army to attack Heraclea (not the city of Heraclea in the Holy Kingdom of Dionia), which was west of Thermopylae and not far away. The city-state had been controlled by Sparta before and was defended by Thermopylae. Strong guarantee, after all, the terrain of Hot Spring Pass is narrow and cannot allow too many soldiers to be stationed for a long time.

Jason not only attacked it easily, but also completely destroyed it.In today's war-torn Greece, it is common for a city-state to be captured or even destroyed. But what Jason did was not simple. In the eyes of the Greek people, it was a barbarian from the north who wanted to enter Greece. Discourtesy in one's core area.

The Theban commanders Epamilondas and Pelopidas, who had just returned to the city and were welcomed by the crowd, frowned when they heard the news. Jason had been persuading them to carry out the plan with the Spartans. They had felt uneasy during the armistice, and now they were even more certain of Thessaly Taggus's ambitions: The Spartans have not been completely defeated, but will our former allies become our new enemies? !

Even more anxious than the Thebans were the Phokis people, because the Thessalians destroyed Heraclea and occupied Thermopylae. If they led their army south, the Phokis area would be the first to suffer, followed by Pio's turn. Xia region, so the priests of Delphi were very anxious and finally became proactive, preparing to invite various Greek city-states to hold a Holy Alliance Conference to discuss how to deal with the threat of the Thessalians in Northern Greece. It would be best to resolve Sparta and Delphi. The war between Bisi can allow both sides to maintain a longer-term peace.

The premonitions of the Delphi priests were correct; Jason had indeed already conceived a plan to conquer the Phokis region in his mind.Since the coming year will be the year when the Pythian Games will be held at Delphi, he has already planned to show his great power in front of the Greek people of other city-states at this games. Therefore, he decided to issue an order after returning to Philae, requiring The Thessalian city-states prepared cattle and sheep for the soon-to-arrive Delphi sacrifice, and promised to award a golden crown to the strongest bull.At the same time, he also asked all city-states to mobilize military forces and form a huge army, which he would lead to Delphi to host the celebration.

Jason has made up his mind to use force to deprive the Holy Alliance Committee of its rights and force himself to become the chairman of the Pythian Games...

In the history of his previous life, he made unabashed preparations according to this plan, causing the people of Delphi to panic. Even rumors that "he planned to rob the holy treasury of the Delphi Temple" were rampant. The anger of Apollo's most devout followers.So one day a few months later, after Jason completed his inspection of the army, he sat down to listen to the petitions of his subjects. Seven young people with red faces in argument came forward, pretending to submit the dispute to him for resolution. .As they approached, they suddenly burst out and killed Jason in his seat.This assassination incident completely changed the course of history. Jason died before his ambition was fulfilled. Thessaly, which was united by his force, quickly split. As a result, the Thebans and later the Macedonians were benefited.

But in this life, Jason's plan had to be temporarily stopped as soon as it started to be implemented, because a major event happened in the Peloponnese Peninsula in the south.

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Since the port of Cleucis originally controlled by Thebes was occupied by the Spartans, Thebes had no port in the Gulf of Corinth, so the messenger sent to Dionia had to rush to the bay north of the Boeotian area to take the Boat.As a result, if the passenger ship wants to reach Dionysia, it must make a large circle and carefully avoid the patrols of the Spartan fleet. Therefore, when the Thebes and Spartan armies reached an armistice agreement, the messenger still Unable to reach Thurii.

But Dionia has been paying close attention to this war for a long time. The spies sent by the intelligence department are hidden in the merchant ships that trade with various Greek city-states. Therefore, as soon as the Battle of Leuctra ended, Dionysus stayed in the port of Corinth. The Asian merchant ship quickly left the port and headed west quickly. The Spartan patrol warships did not dare to stop it. So at the same time that Jason received the news of the battle, the battle report of the battle had been sent to the palace of Thurii.

Therefore, Davos summoned the auxiliary ministers, major department ministers, and important military generals to hold an important meeting in the palace.

(End of this chapter)