Chapter 1130
Perópidas then looked at Lutiklis and said calmly, "Sparta, on the other hand, has never heard of you owning all of Greece. However, in recent years, whether it is Central Greece or Northern Greece, I have seen you sending troops to start wars everywhere. Thebes was once occupied by you, and the port of Piraeus in Athens was also innocently harmed by you. From this point of view, it seems that Sparta is the biggest obstacle to restoring peace in Greece! Do you think I am right, Temagoras? "
Temagoras was silent and did not respond.
Lutiklis was agitated and wanted to refute, but Teribasus said loudly, "Sparta indeed has a great responsibility for the wars in Greece! The king has given Sparta a lot of support, but Sparta has betrayed the king's trust. This is indeed a pity! "
At this point, Teribasus saw that Lutiklis' face was ashen and sneered in his heart, "Vulgar, rude, stupid, and incompetent Sparta barbarians! If it was not for the fact that we still need you and do not let the king's efforts over the years go to waste, we would have already united the other Greek cities to destroy you! Just you wait, one day, we will settle the score with Sparta! "
"But the king believes that Sparta will learn from the past and once again shoulder the heavy responsibility of maintaining peace in Greece. Of course, this will also require the full support of Athens, Thebes, and other cities! As for how you will negotiate and sign a new peace treaty, we, Persia, will not interfere. But the king hopes that the previous treaty will be used as a basis. For any city that does not negotiate seriously, or even intentionally obstructs, and still wants to continue the war, they will bear the wrath of the king. Persia will fully support its enemies to completely destroy them! "
Teribasus' last few words were spoken with great force, and it shocked Perópidas and the others. They could feel that the king of Persia was indeed very concerned about the restoration of peace in Greece.
Teribasus suddenly sighed and said, "The reason why the king is so concerned about Greece is because the Greeks have a small population and poor land, but you have always been able to fight against our powerful Persia. This has made him admire you very much! In his heart, he has always thought that the Greeks are the masters of the west of the Mediterranean Sea.
But now, the situation has changed. During the frequent wars, a country called Diónia appeared in your colony, Great Greece. It is like a monster. In a short period of 20 years, not only did it conquer many foreign races, it also annexed many Greek states. Even Carthage has become its vassal.
Now, it has become the ruler of the sea west of Greece. I am afraid that it will soon turn its greedy mouth towards the nearby Greece. If Greece does not quickly, and unite to defend against this powerful enemy, only death awaits for you,, and states, Crotone, Loe, Loch, Katarai, and Syracuse! Therefore, the king hopes that after peace is achieved, you can form a new alliance to protect the safety of Greece! "
It could be said that the war in the western Mediterranean Sea that happened thousands of miles away originally had nothing to do with Persia. However, the destruction of the Eastern Phoenician fleet and the subsequent refusal of Persia's envoy to Diónia to ask for a truce had greatly hurt the pride of the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. Even the most rebellious Sparta and Athens had to crawl under my feet in the end. How dare a small barbarian kingdom be so arrogant! 'They said that the western Mediterranean Sea is the territory of Diónia. If Persia wants to intervene, they should send their army!' This was how Artaxerxes felt when he heard the messengers' exaggerated story.
Although Diónia was thousands of miles away, Artaxerxes had always held a grudge against them. Now, he finally found an opportunity to fight back against the Kingdom of Diónia that dared to offend his dignity.
After listening to the words of Terebassus, the expressions of the three envoys were slightly complicated, and their minds were filled with thoughts.
I heard that in the war in the western Mediterranean Sea, Persia had sent a fleet to participate in the war, but they suffered a crushing defeat … It seems that this is true. No wonder the king of Persia received us so warmly this time, and was so eager for us to reach peace! But … to defend against Diónia, which is very aggressive in military and trade, this is in line with the interests of Athens and the demands of the people. But should we establish another alliance? But if this alliance is led by Sparta again, will it harm the interests of Athens? I am afraid that these decisions can only be made after going back to discuss … This was what Taimagoras thought.
Forming an alliance to fight against Diónia?! Lutikeri's mood was a little complicated.
As Sparta had participated in the expeditionary army of Persia, they had long noticed the establishment of Diónia by mercenary leaders. Compared to other Greek city-states, they understood the entire process of Diónia's gradual development from a weak city-state to a powerful kingdom. During this process, it was not that Sparta did not use stratagems to obstruct its development. This was because they remembered the threat that the king of Diónia had once said to them. Therefore, even though the peace agreement was still in effect, they were always worried about the retaliation of Diónia, especially now that Sparta was deeply involved in the war with the Thebes. Therefore, the proposal of Persia was very tempting to Lutikeri, because if it could be realized, it would undoubtedly give Sparta a guarantee of security. But at the same time, he was also worried that the establishment of this alliance would really anger Diónia. Could it really resist the possible attack of Diónia? After all, Sparta had some understanding of the strength of Diónia.
And Perópidas looked at Terebassus in surprise. He seemed to have heard another meaning from the words of the favorite minister of the king of Persia: Strange, the people of Persia seem to be afraid of Diónia?! Is the strength of the Kingdom of Diónia really that strong?! …
He pondered for a moment, then said, "Lord Terebassus, the suggestion of the king of Persia is very good, but I have a small question."
"What is it?" Terebassus looked at him.
"As far as I know, Sparta has always been in close contact with the Kingdom of Diónia that you just mentioned, and they have signed a long-term alliance agreement. Is it possible for such a city-state to lead the Greeks against Diónia?! — — "
"Shut your mouth! Don't spout nonsense if you don't know anything! " Lutikeri interrupted him and emphasized loudly, "The agreement that Sparta and Diónia signed is a non-aggression pact. In fact, the relationship between us, Sparta, and Diónia is not good! … "
"The king is aware of this situation, so the king still suggested that Sparta should lead the Greeks to defend against the possible invasion of Diónia, but in order to clear the doubts of the other city-states, it is best for Sparta to draw a clear line with Diónia as soon as possible and cut off all contact!"
Terebassus looked at Lutikeri coldly, then looked at the other two messengers, and said in a deep voice, "The king is very concerned about the safety of Greece, and will support you in restoring peace! He will also fully support you in forming an alliance to defend against Diónia! However, if there are any city-states that are still provoking war or refusing to join the alliance, defending against Diónia, or even secretly colluding with them, then we, Persia, will appeal to the other Greek city-states to unite and destroy them! If Diónia really invades Greece one day, the king promises that he will support the alliance of Greece with a huge amount of wealth and resources, and at the same time, a strong navy, to help the Greeks to repel the evil wolf in the west! … "
Terebassus' resolute words contained a strong threat, and at the same time, displayed the generosity and kindness of Persia. Perópidas and the other two were only messengers of the city-states, so they could not directly make a promise. They could only calculate and weigh the pros and cons in their hearts, so that when they returned to the city-state, they could persuade the people to make a certain choice. Therefore, the three of them unanimously maintained their silence.
However, for Terebassus, he had already completely conveyed the intentions of the king of Persia to the three messengers. His goal had been achieved, and he did not want to stay here with the Greeks any longer. So the banquet ended abruptly.
However, after the three of them returned to their respective rooms, the messenger of Athens, Taimagoras, who was the most silent during the banquet, quietly knocked on the door of the messenger of Sparta. When he saw Lutikeri, he said with a straight face, "Athens and Sparta need to have a good talk …"
Before the three messengers left Persia, Artaxerxes once again met with them. He once again reiterated his hope that Greece would restore peace and form an alliance to defend against Diónia. After that, he showed his generosity and gave the three messengers a generous reward. Among them, he even gave the Sparta messenger Lutikeri a floral crown soaked in perfume that he often wore. He also heard that Taimagoras, the messenger of Athens, loved to drink milk, so he specially gave him more than a dozen cows of good quality. Only Perópidas did not show any special treatment, which was somewhat different from his previous behavior when he met with the three messengers.
Other than that, he summoned Lutikeri one more time and specifically mentioned the matter of the "friendly agreement between Sparta and Diónia". With a serious expression, he reminded Lutikeri that Sparta must sever its relations with Diónia, or else Persia would turn to support its enemies — Thebes.
Due to the pressure exerted by the king of Persia, Lutikeri seemed to have a lot on his mind on the way back.
Perópidas was also uneasy. Although the king of Persia treated him well in Babylon, he could feel that the people of Persia trusted and supported Sparta more. Moreover, during the previous meeting, they specifically mentioned that it would be better to negotiate peace based on the great agreement. This made him very worried.
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