ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1172 Pausanias and Tegea

Therefore, even though Pausanias was expelled for his crimes, the Tegeans still regarded him as an honored guest. In the following 10 years, Pausanias did not live a decadent life. He worked hard to become a member of the Tegeans and He serves as a bridge of communication between Sparta and actively integrates into Tegean society. Not only does he become friends with many Tegean councilors, but he is also elected to the Tegean Noble Council.

However, due to the long-term continuation of the Theban War in recent years, even Tegea, which is a close ally of Sparta, inevitably provides a large amount of military rations every year, and also sends citizens to assist in the battle, even with Pausang. Nias worked hard to bridge it, but the trend of more and more Tegeans dissatisfied with Sparta did not change, so after the Spartan army suffered a disastrous defeat at Leuctra, the Arcadians wanted to establish an alliance again , seeking to break away from Sparta. Many Tegeans were inspired by such a situation. In the end, the anti-Spartan faction gained the upper hand in the parliament, and Tegea joined the Arcadian League.

The pro-Spartan faction quietly told Sparta the news in time, and this was how "Sparta warned the Arcadians to cancel the alliance immediately, otherwise war will usher in."

The Arcadian Alliance headed by Mandinia flatly refused. Although a conflict broke out in the city of Tegea, in the end Tegea decided to follow the alliance and fight against Sparta. Seeing that the cloud of war was about to envelope Tegea. Asia, the Tegeans began to panic, and Pausanias prepared to take this opportunity to persuade the Tegeans to return to the embrace of Sparta. As a result, the Dionians suddenly invaded Messenia, and the entire situation was changed. Big changes.

Dionia... Pausanias vaguely remembers: It was a newly established city-state in Magna Graecia. After Phoebidas came back from his mission to Magna Graecia, he also said bad things about this city-state, which was criticized by many people. As a ridicule, Sparta, as the overlord of Greece, did not take that small colonial city-state seriously at that time.

After Pausanias lived in seclusion in Tegea, the news became even more obscure. Occasionally, rumors were heard, "The war between Dionia and Syracuse was won... The war between Dionia and Carthage, To win..." He only sighed at the time: "This city-state is quite warlike!" Then he threw it behind him and didn't take this city-state too seriously. After all, things in the Western Mediterranean were far away from Tegea. Inland city-states still seemed too far away, and Pausanias was more concerned with affairs in the Peloponnese.

But now the kingdom of the Western Mediterranean sent troops across the sea to attack Sparta, and hit Sparta's deathbed as soon as it came, Messenia was captured, Sparta suffered serious losses, and then Arcadia The alliance formed an alliance with Dionia, and the anti-Spartan faction in the city of Tegea completely gained the upper hand... Pausanias saw it in his eyes, felt pain in his heart, and once thought of leaving Tegea, but Where else can he go now that he is already senile? !
These days, he keeps his house closed. On the one hand, he is to prevent being attacked by the anti-Spartans, and on the other hand, he does not want to see a bad situation again and upset himself.

That night, after dinner, Pausanias was taking a walk in the courtyard to eat. The slave came to him and reported: "Master, there is someone outside who wants to see you."

"Who?"

"He said he was your old friend, but he was dressed a little mysteriously."

Puzzled, Pausanias himself came to the door.

Two people stood outside the door: a slave supporting another hooded man.

"What do you want from me?" Pausanias asked coldly, while widening his eyes to see the face of the hooded man clearly.

The man said: "Pausanias, I haven't seen you for more than ten years, you are getting old!"

"Who are you?" The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar, and Pausanias couldn't remember who it was.

The man suddenly lifted his hood, and Pausani Aston was startled: "Agesilaus, why are you here?!"

"If you shout any louder, my life will be over." Agesilaus reminded half-jokingly.

Pausanias immediately woke up and quickly looked at the street outside the door. Fortunately, there was no one. He quickly welcomed the two of them into the house, closed the door tightly, and then said in a deep voice: "Agesilaus, you are The king of Sparta, the commander-in-chief of the Spartan army, ignored the army during the war and actually took the risk to sneak in here. Do you think Tegea is still the same Tegea it was before? It is very dangerous here now! In case you are discovered, Being captured, what a blow this would cause to the Spartan army! Can they still defeat the Dionians!..."

Pausanias looked distressed and his words were full of rebuke, as if he was still the king of Sparta.

Agesilaus smiled: "Although you have left Sparta for more than 10 years, you are still a Spartan."

"I don't have time to gossip with you now." Pausanias said with a serious look: "You should get out of the city now! If the person who arranged for you to enter the city dare not help anymore, I will make arrangements for you."

Agesilaus suppressed his smile, looked at the old king, and responded with an extremely solemn expression: "I sneaked into Tegea just to save Sparta! Only by letting Tegea completely save Sparta Only by using it can we have a chance to defeat the Dionian army, otherwise Sparta will cease to exist!"

Pausanias was stunned for a moment, and then asked with concern: "Is the situation in Sparta very serious now?"

"Very serious!" Agesilaus immediately told the difficulties and dangers facing the Spartan army one by one.

Pausanias stood stunned for a long time, and when worry filled his face full of grooves, he sighed: "Now the anti-Spartan faction in Tegea has a clear upper hand. If Tegea is to It’s hard to become an ally of Sparta again in a short period of time!”

"As long as we have your help, we can do it!" Agesilaus replied confidently, and then he revealed his plan in full.

After hearing this, Pausanias had a gloomy expression on his face. Thinking of the upcoming disaster for the Tegeans with whom he had a good relationship, he couldn't help but say, "Isn't this too cruel?"

"If you don't do this, the fate that Sparta will face will be even more tragic than this!" Agesilaus said in a heavy tone.

Pausanias was silent for a moment, and then said with a resolute expression: "You wait here, and I will hurry up and contact all the closest and most trustworthy members of Tegea who are closest to Sparta..."

"Pausanias!" Agesilaus stopped him and said solemnly: "I believe that after we defeat the Dionysian army, the Council of Elders, the Inspectors and the people will forgive you for the crimes you have committed. ’s fault!”

At that moment, the eyes of the former King of Sparta, who was more than 70 years old, suddenly seemed to have tears in his eyes. He sniffed and said with emotion: "Agesilaus, you are getting old too! I didn't expect Sparta to be like this today." Bada...will be saved by us two old guys who are about to die!"

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Since the siege of Mantinia was self-resolved, the Dionysian army has been staying in the camp because Clotokatax adopted Printors' suggestion.

They had received news from Sekerian and learned that the First Fleet had begun patrolling the Aegean Sea, cutting off the main food transportation channel for the Spartan mercenaries.

Although Clotokatax was worried that the actions of the First Fleet would arouse the dissatisfaction of other Greek city-states, Printols was more concerned about the fact that the First Fleet's active attack would make the Spartan army In trouble, because at this time Sparta's national strength was severely damaged, and most of the former allies turned against each other. Unlike Dionia itself, which has an endless fleet of fleets to deliver supplies to Messenia every day, it does not There was probably enough rations to maintain such a large army.As long as the Dionysian army can't hold on, the Spartan army will collapse on its own or be forced to take some risky military actions. At that time, the Dionysian army will be able to win at a relatively small price .

So when the mountain reconnaissance soldiers discovered that about six to seven thousand soldiers from Sparta were converging with the Spartan mercenaries in Tegea, Printors not only did not feel nervous, but he felt very relaxed. Because the addition of the Spartan army will undoubtedly lead to a tighter supply of military supplies, and at the same time, the defense in Sparta will inevitably become empty due to insufficient troops.Therefore, he suggested to Crotokatax:
[-]. Continue to build defensive measures in the camp to prevent the Spartan army from attacking.

[-]. Order Sekerian to continue trying to land on the coast of Spartan territory to put pressure on the Spartans.

[-]. Send more reconnaissance cavalry and reconnaissance soldiers, expand the scope of reconnaissance to the north of Tegea, and try your best to destroy and cut off the possible food transportation channels of the Spartan army.

Clotokatax adopted them one by one, and then Printors persuaded the commanders of each legion to implement them accordingly.

Half a day later, Clotokatax received the messenger from Thebes again. The news from his mouth not only surprised Clotokatax, but also changed the mood of Printors. Too bad: the priests of Delphi and Olympia, and the Corinthians are running around, planning to form an alliance of Greek city-states, conspiring against Dionia!

Whether it was Clotokatax or Printors, from the day they set foot on the Peloponnese, everything went smoothly. Despite Davos's instructions, As well as Leoticides' warning before leaving, they still had the illusion that "they should be able to gradually complete the tasks assigned by King Davos." If it weren't for the reminder from the Thebans, they would never have thought that The arrival of the Dionysian army will cause strong resistance in the Greek Holy Land and prepare to set off huge waves to submerge them.

(End of this chapter)