ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 17 Dancing With Wolves
Just as Davos was busy preparing for his field hospital, the Persian envoy came to the Greek military camp. The envoy who came this time was none other than the Persian general the leaders were most familiar with—Tissaphernes, the governor of Asia Minor. It brought hope that the Greeks could return home safely: they were willing to convey to the Persian king that the leaders did not want to fight and just wanted to go home.

The chiefs received him gladly.

After Tisaphonis left, the mercenary leaders saw that there was hope for a peaceful settlement, and they all eagerly looked forward to his coming again.

After waiting anxiously for two days, Tissaphernes came to the Greek military camp again and read out the latest decree of the Persian king to the leaders: The king had accepted the apology of the mercenaries. Although many ministers objected, he decided to Tissaphernes led the Greek mercenaries back to Greece and agreed to provide markets for the Greeks on the way for their supplies.At the same time, Greeks must also abide by local order along the way and must not destroy or rob...

Of course the leaders couldn't wait for it, and they quickly reached an agreement with Tisafonis, and both parties made an oath in the name of God.Then Tisafnes exhorted the chiefs to be patient while he returned to report to the king and make arrangements for the return of the army.

Soon after Tissaphernes left, the news spread throughout the camp, and the soldiers cheered.

Davos still did not relax his vigilance.Although listening to Serofin's words last time made him realize that there were many discrepancies between the actual situation in Persia and his guess based on Chinese history.

Just yesterday, Serofin visited again. After a few days of buffering, he finally adjusted his mood and wanted to talk to Davos about the city-state's democratic system again.Davos did not want to continue to struggle with this issue, but cleverly led the topic to the customs and customs of various Greek city-states.

Most of the time, it was Serofin who talked endlessly, and Davos listened carefully.In the meantime, Davos asked about Tissaphernes, so Serophan told some things about Tissaphernes that he had heard from Proxenus, which impressed Davos in his memory.

When Tissaphernes was the governor of Asia Minor, it was during the Peloponnesian War that Tissaphernes chose to form an alliance with Sparta. He hoped to use Sparta's power to attack Athens and restore Persian love. The Greek city-states on the Eonia coast, and Sparta's reward was that he would fund Sparta in building a fleet large enough to fight Athens.As a result, it didn't take long for him to stop the financial support he had promised to Sparta, causing the Spartans to protest to Darius II, the king of Persia at the time. Darius then appointed his second son Cyrus the Younger to take charge of the entire Persia. Military commander in the west, fully supporting Sparta against Athens.

Tissaphernes was relieved of his military power, but he seemed not to care. He got along well with Cyrus the Younger and soon became Cyrus the Younger's friend.When the new king Artaxerxes came to the throne and Cyrus went to the capital to attend his eldest brother's enthronement ceremony, Tissaphernes reported to the new king that Cyrus was planning to rebel, which led to Cyrus being arrested. The Queen Mother repeatedly begged for mercy. Only then was he released.

After Tissaphernes returned to Asia Minor, he began to confront Cyrus the Younger everywhere.Therefore, when Cyrus the Younger rebelled, he was the first person he wanted to capture. As a result, he escaped long ago and then appeared in the king's crusade.When the left wing of the king's army was defeated by the Greek heavy infantry, Tissaphernes dared to lead his cavalry to bypass the heavy infantry phalanx and attack the Greek rear column.Although he failed, his courage and determination naturally stood out among a group of defeated generals. Therefore, he was able to represent the king and conduct peace talks with the Greek army as a Persian envoy. This was obviously a tribute to him from the king.

What Davos heard about Tissaphernes was what Xenophon heard from Proxenus, and Proxenus got most of the information from Cyrus the Younger, regardless of its influence on Tissaphernes. Whatever Savnis's likes and dislikes, the facts are the facts.Therefore, after analysis, Davos believed that Tissaphernes was a typical politician who was used to double-dealing, good at assessing situations, and daring to seize opportunities.It would be difficult to expect such a person to keep his promise!
When Davos told Xenophon of this concern, Xenophon sighed and said: "Proxenus and the others knew very well that they would not relax their vigilance towards Tissaphernes, but if they do not give up their relationship with Tissaphernes, If the King of Persia fights, we may not be able to return home. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers alone can cause us huge trouble, and we cannot successfully cross such a wide river in front of the enemy. Another big difficulty is that there are not enough Food. Once we go to "gather" food, scattered soldiers are easily attacked by the enemy...

You see, the Persian king has such a great advantage. If he really wants to destroy us, there is no need to give us gifts and ask Tissaphernes to swear on his behalf in the name of the gods.Because once he breaks the contract in the future, he will not only be ridiculed by the Persians and Greeks, but also abandoned by the Persian gods. Does he really want to become an unfaithful king as soon as he takes the throne?Therefore, we can only trust them and only cooperate with them to ensure that we return home safely! "

Davos saw that Xenophon said this, more like trying to convince himself, and secretly sighed: the Greek mercenaries were in a weak position, so even if the other party gave them "poison", they had to swallow it.

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As the days passed, the field hospital in Davos began to take shape. After careful care and treatment, seven of the twelve wounded people improved significantly.

In the remaining time, Davos learned Greek writing from Xenophon, and entrusted Mersisch, who went out to buy, to bring back some pieces of linen, cut them into long and thin strips of cloth, and began to experiment with how to wear leggings.At the same time, pull teammates to practice against him, learn fighting skills, so that consciousness and body memory can be unified.

Due to the recovery of Asistes and the incident of Menon's remonstrance, his relationship with Antonios became closer. He visited Antonios many times and asked him for advice on the formation and command experience of heavy infantry... In order to understand the long-handled reverse He also learned the skills of using the bladed sword from the light shield soldiers and gained a deeper understanding of the characteristics of this unit.

The success of the field hospital made Davos's reputation as "God's Favorite" deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and his humility and studiousness also won everyone's favor.As he traveled throughout the Menon Army Camp, almost no one did not recognize him.

As time passed, the Persians never showed up, and uneasiness and suspicion gradually enveloped the entire Greek military camp.Davos used his busy days to dilute the worries in his heart. He was unable to change the plight of the Greek mercenaries, which prompted him to change and enrich himself as much as possible.

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After more than 20 days of long waiting, Tissaphernes finally arrived with his army, accompanied by Orontas, the governor of Amelia, and his army.

The Greek mercenary leaders who had waited anxiously for a long time led the army to return home with them almost without doubt.

But as soon as we started marching, the situation changed.Alireus's army, which originally huddled together with the Greek mercenaries for warmth and intimacy, began to walk together with the Persian army, not only marching together, but also camping together.In the past 20 days, the Persians were not idle. They continuously sent Alireus and other generals’ relatives and friends in and out of Alireus’s camp, promising not to hold him responsible for his crimes. Finally, Xiao Ju The generals of Lushi were convinced.

This undoubtedly increased the suspicion of the Greek mercenaries. They followed far behind the Persian team, acted alone, and brought their own guides.When they set up camp at dusk, the Greek army and the Persians were ten miles away from each other, and they set up sentries to guard each other as if they were enemies.

Tisafonis did indeed fulfill her promise, offering daily markets to the Greeks.Of course, mercenaries have to pay for them themselves.

Menon also wanted to retaliate against Davos by giving less food to Hilos' team, but Melses objected.Melses was very reluctant when Davos asked him to take away two Egyptian slave girls.
Unexpectedly, not long after, Davos used a trained Egyptian slave girl to give him a Chinese massage. As a result, he became addicted and went to the field hospital every day to ask for massages. He even said it was for the slaves who owed him money. Fees pay off debt.He was still looking forward to having Davos teach this unique technique to the prostitutes he purchased after returning to Greece, so his brothel would definitely be overcrowded.Therefore, not only will he not offend Davos now, but he will also try to meet most of Davos's requirements.

(End of this chapter)