ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1150 Agesilaus knows the truth

When Sparta faced danger, Xenophon chose to stay.At this moment, he felt a little surprised after hearing what Agesilaus said: "Let me serve as an envoy to Messenia?"

"This is my proposal, and other elders also expressed their approval." Agesilaus said solemnly: "It can be seen that everyone agrees that in such a difficult situation, only you can fulfill the mission of the messenger. Duty!”

Xenophon did not feel complacent about this, but looked ashamed: "But the last time I sent an envoy to Thurii... the effect was not good. The Dionians still declared war on Sparta..."

"It's not your fault!" Agesilaus comforted him, and then said in a deep voice: "In the period since we announced the end of the friendly agreement with Dionia, Dionia has seemed calm. , there is nothing unusual, it is only when Thebes takes the initiative to form an alliance with it that it is possible for Dionia to have the idea of ​​sending troops to Peloponnese, of course..."

Agesilaus sighed and said with a heavy heart: "If we can defeat the Thebans at Leuctra, maybe Dionysia will not send troops to invade Messenia... When the Lion Disease On the contrary, even wild dogs will come to bully me, not to mention Dionia is a terrifying beast... Hey! I should have taken the initiative to ask for the command of the army at that time! "

Xenophon knew that the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Leuctra had a huge impact on Sparta. Many people resented Cleombrotus for his incompetence. The Council of Elders has not yet held a funeral for him, and naturally it has not given any favors. A new king was elected from the Lipontides royal family. Of course, this was also related to the urgent situation and no extra time.

"Now that things have happened, any regrets will not help. We must face reality and do our best to solve the current crisis. Don't worry, I will do my best to complete this mission!" In order to comfort the depressed Agesilaus, Xenophon immediately made a promise, but at the same time he said with a serious expression: "You and I both know that the Kingdom of Dionia is powerful. It shocked me a lot, even if this time we can finally defeat the Dionian army and recapture Messenia... But Sparta is not far from the Dionian Kingdom, and Dionian has complete Ability to continue to send troops to invade the Peloponnese, does Sparta want to keep fighting Dionia? Even with the support of Persia, this is probably unbearable for Sparta, right? "

Agesilaus laboriously stroked his forehead with his hand, and after a while he whispered: "...For Sparta, the most important thing now is how to overcome the current difficulties... There is no time to think about the future... …”

Xenophon was stunned. He looked at Agesilaus, who was half lying on a wooden chair, and found that the wrinkled face of this king who had been fighting for half his life looked particularly old at this moment, and there was also a little helplessness in his eyes. help……

Xenophon suddenly realized that Agesilaus, whom he had always considered wise and wise, was also powerless against the invasion of the Dionian army.

He hesitated for a while, and finally plucked up the courage to suggest that Agesilaus should carefully consider making peace with Messenia after repelling the Dionysian army.

But at this moment, Archidamus walked into the living room: "Father, the Council of Elders invites you to a meeting."

"I just came back from the meeting, why do I have to have another meeting?" Agesilaus was stunned.

"Dolios is back and said he brought important information."

"Dolios did not die in battle?!" Agesilaus was surprised: because according to the soldiers who retreated, Dolios had the will to die in battle, so he stayed alone in Messenia... ...how are you still alive?

"I heard that he was released by the Dionians." Archidamus had a look of contempt. Like most Spartan warriors, Dolios did not lead the soldiers to fight to the death with the enemy, but ordered The army was very angry when they voluntarily abandoned Messenia. However, Dolios later bravely chose to stay, which made them less angry. But now they learned that Dolios did not die in the battle and became Dio. The Nian captives were even more disdainful of this man.

Agesilaus once agreed with Dolios's approach. When the enemy is too strong and lacks preparation, it takes great courage and wisdom to dare to abandon Messenia to preserve strength instead of fighting head-on. , so he also regretted that Dolios finally chose to die in battle.

"Go and get my staff!" Agesilaus said immediately, standing up with difficulty.

"Father, don't be too anxious. They will wait patiently for you to go to the venue." Archidamus hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

Agesilaus wanted to arrive at the meeting venue early in order to protect Dolios and try to avoid him being criticized and punished by the censors. After all, these young censors who were ordinary citizens were not as mature and prudent as the elders and were too radical in their actions.

Given Agesilaus's current physical condition, it might be better to travel in a sedan chair, but in Sparta, where all the people were martial, there was no habit of riding in a sedan chair. Fortunately, Agesilaus's residence was not far from the council. , with the support of his son, he staggered towards the venue.

I met many Spartan people along the way, and they all said hello to the respected king. Most of them anxiously asked Agesilaus: When will the citizens be summoned to fight against Messenia and rush to Messenia? Where are the enemies going? !

Although they already knew that the Dionian army in Messenia was large in number, most of them, including old people and women, were not afraid, but full of fighting spirit.

However, despite the excitement of the people, although they were a little dissatisfied after hearing Agesilaus's perfunctory words, they did not dwell on it, nor did they like other city-states, where whenever major events occurred, the citizens gathered to present their complaints to the council. protest.

Before Agesilaus stepped into the meeting, he heard the censor's voice: You are sophistry!Too many Dionian soldiers landed is not a reason for you to retreat without a fight!Why don't you learn from Bernacida!When the Athenians landed in Messenia, even though the number of soldiers they led was far less than the opponent's, he still chose to fight without hesitation, and finally won a complete victory!Compared with him, you are not only weak, but also incompetent!I don’t know how you were selected into the King’s Guard…”

Agesilaus hurriedly walked inside. The moment he entered the venue, he immediately felt that the whole atmosphere was abnormal: the venue suddenly became quiet. Both the elders and the censors focused their eyes on him, and their eyes were very serious. strangeness.

"What did you say?! The commander of the Dionian army in Messenia is Leoticides?!" After listening to Dolios's story, Agesilaus shouted in disbelief.

Looking at King Agesilaus, who was rarely distracted, Dolios said in a deep voice with complicated emotions: "Although those Dionysian soldiers called him Proseus, he is indeed Leoticid. Si! I have been training with him since he was a child, and he will never admit his mistakes, and he admitted it himself!"

"Proseus..." Agesilaus was in a daze. He now knew why everyone in the venue looked weird.

"According to what we have learned before, Proseus was once the commander of the Eighth Legion of the Kingdom of Dionia. He once led the army to defeat the Carthaginians many times in the war between Dionia and Carthage. Dionia made great contributions to its victory over Carthage, so after the war, he became the commander of the first legion of the Dionysians' self-proclaimed 'strongest army'...

He also led an army to conquer the fierce indigenous Gauls in northern Italy, so he was called by the Dionysian people as 'the most victorious general after King Davos and Alexis'. Unexpectedly, he He is actually a Spartan, and he is also the son of Agis! "The speaker was Praxitas. This Spartan elder who was almost 70 years old had once been the regent of the Eulipontides royal family. He had always been against Agesilaus in the past, but the Battle of Leuctra The failure made many people complain about the royal family of Eulipontides. Praxitas was also much quieter in the meeting. It was rare for Agesilaus to be frustrated by such a strange thing, and he was impatient. He stood up and spoke patiently, with a look of gloating: Our Eulipontides family is in a bad situation right now, and your Aguidai family can't even think about where to go!
"Since Dolios said that Leoticides grew up in Sparta since he was a child and left only when he was 23 years old, he should still have some feelings for us Sparta. I wonder if we can send envoys to try our best. Convince him to take some actions that are beneficial to us?" A censor glanced at Agesilaus and then suggested.

"You are still young and do not understand the situation at that time." One of the senators said, "Spartan citizens will not leave their hometown unless they are expelled for making mistakes. Leotychides must have extremely serious intentions." He fled Sparta out of resentment, and I even think... The reason why Dionia declared war on our Sparta, I'm afraid he played a big role in it." After that, he also looked at Agesilaus. .

"I don't think...Leotichides will actively encourage Dionia to attack Sparta..." Dolios also looked at Agesilaus and said hesitantly: "But he did tell me personally He said he came for revenge..."

Almost everyone in the venue would subconsciously take Agesilaus into consideration when discussing this topic.They knew that Leoticides became what he is today and was closely related to Agesilaus, but no one dared to point it out directly to his face, including Praxitas.This is related to the huge reputation that Agesilaus has established in Sparta over the past few decades. It is also because Cleombrotus died in battle and another new king has not yet ascended the throne. The people are more dependent on Agesilaus, who has outstanding abilities. Sri Lanka related.

(End of this chapter)