ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1151 Meeting Uncle and Nephew
But Agesilaus had remained silent ever since he learned of this.

Some people proposed to change the envoy and send a relative whom Leoticides was familiar with; others who knew the situation at that time objected, believing that this would only be counterproductive.

The two sides argued endlessly and could not reach a consensus, so they had to temporarily turn to another issue: the crime of Dolios for retreating without a fight and abandoning Messenia.

At this time, Agesilaus spoke, and he supported Dolios, so that in the end Dolios was only deprived of the right to eat in public and reduced to a lower class.

On the way home, Agesilaus had a different feeling in his heart when he saw the people greeting him again.

Back home, he was alone in a room, pondered for a long time, and finally made a decision.

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In Messenia, soldiers of various Dionysian legions, led by team officers and engineers, are busy every day: building the city of Messenia, building simple docks, building important defensive camps...

The helots in this land were quickly organized by the village chiefs of each village, and took turns going to the military camp of Dionia. These Messenian citizens of Dionia, headed by Tisias, registered them. In the name of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia and New Messenia, they were officially declared citizens of the new city-state, and land was also allocated to them, and they were also briefed on the political system and laws of New Messenia...

These helots, who had been used as cattle and sheep by the Spartans since childhood, were confused, but they knew one thing very well: they were free!They became the masters of this land!
After being in darkness all year round and suddenly seeing the light, the Helots were extremely grateful to the Dionians.At the same time, Tisias and others reminded them that they would never want the happiness they had just obtained to be snatched away by the Spartans in the blink of an eye, so they all glowed with endless energy.They actively participated in the construction of Messenae and other facilities, and in addition to heavy labor, they also participated in military training organized by Dionian soldiers. At night, when they returned home, they were almost exhausted. We try our best, but few people complain about being tired...

The helots' high-spirited and selfless mental state also infected the Dionian soldiers, so the entire Messenia was full of vitality.

Only Leoticides felt more and more depressed. Not only did he have to give detailed explanations to the various legion commanders, senior team officers, and even Sekerian who came to inquire one after another, but also in the past two days, he had to explain "he is The rumor of "Prince of Sparta" has spread throughout the Dionian army. Whether he is wandering in the camp or going out for inspection, he faces strange looks from the soldiers. He learned from his son that the soldiers were The most discussed sentence behind the scenes is "Since Lord Proseus is the prince of Sparta, will he lead us to fight against the Spartans with all our strength and destroy them?"

Leoticides understood in his heart that the entire army has remained in order so far because of the deterrence of military law and the influence of his past impressive achievements. However, if this continues, it will inevitably affect his control of the army and lead to Combat effectiveness declined.

However, in a short period of time, he could not express his determination to the soldiers. At this time, he was really helpless and regretted that he had been too generous before, so he simply stayed in the big tent behind closed doors.

"Commander, a small boat is coming from the east, saying that it is a messenger sent by Sparta and asking to see you." Staff officer Muklu walked into the big tent and reported to him.

The Spartan envoy...Leotichides thought this was a good opportunity: "Bring him here! Inform several legion commanders and the captains of the three legions to come to the big tent to discuss matters! Uh, also There is a military judge!”

After hearing this, Muklu, who had been Leoticides' partner for many years, probably guessed what he wanted to do and immediately replied: "Okay!"

Leoticides is the commander of several legions. According to the provisions of the "Dionysian Military Law", his military account must be spacious enough to conduct military meetings, so a staff officer and a military judge , two legion commanders, and 24 battalion captains stood together in the military tent. There was still a passage in the middle, and it did not seem too crowded.

"Report, bring the Spartan envoy!"

"Let him come in." Leoticides sat upright with a stern expression.

The generals on both sides also stood up straight, but there was a hint of curiosity on their serious faces.

The curtain opened, and a white-haired old man walked in. Not only was he slightly stooped, he was very thin, but he also walked with a limp...

The generals were surprised: Sparta actually sent a disabled old man as an envoy. What does this mean?
Only Leoticides, who was sitting in the middle, suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the man who walked in.

The Spartan envoy was holding a wooden staff and staring straight at Leoticides with his eyes. He staggered forward unconsciously. It was not until he was stopped by the guards that he suddenly came to his senses and said in a sad tone. : "Dolios did not admit his mistake, you are indeed my nephew Leoticides..."

As soon as he said these words, the surrounding generals were shocked. Based on the age and appearance of the envoy, some people quickly came up with an incredible answer in their hearts.

"Are you... King of Sparta Agesilaus?!" Olivers couldn't help but asked.

There was a commotion in the military tent. The people present were basically senior Dionysian officers who came to Greece to fight against Sparta. According to past practice, they would naturally read the information in the military camp in advance to strengthen their understanding of Sparta. Understand, in order to know yourself and the enemy, and the most mentioned figure in Spartan information is Agesilaus. In his decades of military career, this Spartan king conquered Persia and other Greek city-states. It has made impressive achievements and is famous in the Eastern Mediterranean.

At this time, in the eyes of everyone, he was just a frail old man with no trace of the temperament of a Spartan warrior. No wonder some Greeks who were hostile to him called him "the King of Sparta who is least like a Spartan." ", but he dared to come alone, his courage is indeed admirable!

Muklu subconsciously looked at Leoticides, and saw the Dionia commander resting his right elbow on the table, his left hand pressing his thigh, leaning forward, his face gloomy and terrifying, and his eyes full of coldness.

Although Agesilaus's appearance had changed a lot at this time, Leoticides still recognized him at a glance. At that moment, a surge of anger rushed to his forehead, and he couldn't help but want to rush forward and kill him. The stabbing allowed him to calm down decades of resentment, but the cold temper he had developed over the years and his status at this time suppressed the impulse in his heart, allowing him to remain somewhat calm. He let out a breath, but wanted to see Seeing that this coward, who rarely goes into battle to kill enemies in person, took the risk and came here, what kind of tricks did he want to play?
Agesilaus ignored the inquiries of the people next to him. He saw the man in front of him was gloomy and silent, and his expression gradually became a little sad: "I know you must have hated me very much these years, thinking that I took away your throne... ...After your father passed away, I really longed to become the king of Sparta...I am somewhat similar to you. We have been discriminated against by the people since we were young, so we are always eager to make some achievements to prove ourselves. You broke the royal family The tradition of participating in Agege’s training, and because of my physical reasons——”

Agesilaus patted his stump, and his words were a little more frank: "I can't win honors through fighting like a normal Spartan citizen, so I am more eager to become a king and command the army." To win... At that time, Sparta's situation in Greece was not very good, and I confidently believed that I could bring Sparta out of trouble better than you, who were young and energetic, so... Hey!"

Agesilaus sighed from the bottom of his heart, and his eyes became a little lonely: "But Sparta's situation today is even worse than it was then. It shows that I have not done well in these years. Maybe I was really wrong at the beginning. I shouldn’t compete with you for this throne..."

Leotichides stared at the earnest Spartan king in front of him. The aggressive, confident and arrogant image in his mind had now become old and lifeless. He loosened his fist and clenched it again. , Squeezed out a sentence in a cold tone: "You forced my mother to death."

Agesilaus did not avoid his nephew's knife-like hateful gaze. He said calmly and sadly: "In order to become the king, I used some despicable methods, but I never expected that I would force your mother to death. I forced you away... Whenever I think about this over the years, I feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe Sparta will be reduced to what it is today because Zeus is punishing me for my sins!"

As Agesilaus spoke, he slowly squatted down with his whole body, holding the wooden staff with his right hand, his healthy right leg bent to the knee, and his left leg dragged behind him, and he actually knelt on the ground.

Everyone was shocked: the majestic King of Sparta actually knelt down in public!

Leotychides was also surprised, but his dull expression effectively concealed his emotions.

The next words of Agesilaus were even more surprising: "If killing me can eliminate the anger in your heart, I am willing to die by your sword! I only hope that my death will make you no longer resentful of life. You raise your Agidai family! No longer resent the Spartan people who have the blood of Hercules like you! Think of the towering Taygetos Mountain, the rushing Eurotas River, the ancient The Temple of Arthenis, the arduous Agego training... That beautiful land was created by the great gods. We Spartans received the guidance of the gods and lived there for hundreds of years, even if it will be destroyed one day , and it should not be carried out by you, a pure Spartan royal family, because when you grow old one day and look back on the past, you may feel pain and regret like me-"

(End of this chapter)