Chapter 1136
Agesilaus was taken aback by Epamelonda's forceful words and fearless expression.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Kalistratus was about to speak to resolve it.
However, he heard the Persia envoy, Datis, say sternly, "Since you have signed the contract, you must act according to the contract. Stop all wars and restore peace to Greece. This is the desire of the Greek city-states and the urgent request of the great Persia King! From now on, if any city-state dares to start a war or invade another city-state, Persia will strongly support the other city-states that have signed the contract to form an alliance and severely punish them! Thebes, I advise you to obediently fulfill the contract! "
Ipamilonda sneered a few times and looked straight at the Persia envoy. His eyes were cold and threatening. "Previously, because we believed Persia's words, we signed the Great Contract and disbanded the Pioscia Alliance. In the end, Sparta violated the contract and ambushed Thebes, captured our citadel, and enslaved our people! What did Persia do about this shameless violation of the contract? Nothing at all! So … hehe, what peace! What independence! Let them all go to hell! We Thebes only believe in ourselves now! "
As Ipamilonda spoke, he even clenched his fist, causing the Persia envoy to subconsciously take a few steps back.
However, Ipamilonda did not punch the Persia envoy in the face. Instead, he resolutely turned around and walked out of the venue. The other Thebes also followed him out of the venue.
The Thebes envoy group left, and no one stopped them. For a moment, the venue was silent.
"Does this signature of the Thebes still count?" Kalistratus' voice broke the silence.
"Of course not!" Agesilaus said angrily with a sullen face. "Since the Thebes have no intention of signing the contract, there is no need for us to drag them in. I suggest that this signature be deleted!"
The envoys from the various cities expressed their approval one after another, and so did the envoy from Athens.
"The Thebes are rude and unreasonable. I'm afraid they will continue to wage war when they return. The King of Persia will never allow such a thing to happen!" At this time, the Persia emissary, Datis, roared angrily, "We of Persia will strongly support you in building an army to punish the Thebes and uphold the sanctity of the peace treaty!"
"Datis is right. We should do this!" Agesilaus immediately looked at Callistratus. "What do you people from Athens think?"
Callistratus said without hesitation, "We of Athens also support this decision. If Sparta wants to punish the Thebes, we will provide naval support, just like how we helped the Thebes in the past."
The Thebes do not have a navy at all. The navy provided by Athens is completely useless … Agesilaus knew this, but he did not object because he felt that regardless of whether the navy provided by Athens was of practical help to Sparta or not, this action by Athens itself was of great significance. It allowed the other cities in Greece to see that Athens was on the side of Sparta. And with this first support, there would be a second, a third … There was still a long way to go.
Therefore, Agesilaus immediately expressed his gratitude to the Athens envoy group.
While the envoys of the various cities continued to discuss the contract, the Thebes envoy group had already ridden out of the city of Sparta and went straight to the port by the sea.
At this time, a Thebes emissary finally had time to complain, "Ipamilonda, although your speech at the meeting just now was exciting, it will inevitably anger Sparta and strengthen their attack on us Thebes!"
Ipamilonda looked back at them and said in a deep voice, "Before this, some of us still had some illusions about this peace treaty. I believe that now they will completely give up! Our ally Athens has betrayed us. Like Sparta, they do not want us Thebes to unify the entire Pioscia region! "
"You are right, Ipamilonda!" Another Thebes emissary said angrily, "Although it is stated in the contract that 'to ensure the independence and freedom of each city-state, to dissolve the established alliances or alliances', it also said that 'each city-state can help each other voluntarily'. Even if Athens and Sparta disband their alliances, with the influence and strength of their city-state, the original alliances will still voluntarily rely on them and be ordered around by them. Once we disband the Pioscia alliance, we will soon become a pile of loose sand!"
"Athens and Thebes are worried that after we unify the Pioscia region, we will have the ability to fight against them. That is why they are trying their best to stop us. We must not give in!" Ipamilonda's tone was firm.
"But this time, Sparta has the support of Athens and Persia. They will attack us even more fiercely!" The Thebes emissary said worriedly.
"We are not fighting alone. Thessaly will fully support us, and we can also seek help from the Kingdom of Diónia," Ipamilonda comforted them.
"Diónia and Sparta have been friendly for more than ten years. Will they choose to help us?"
"I have discussed this issue with Perópidas, and we agreed that Persia and Diónia must have a grudge against each other. Since Sparta broke the friendly agreement with Diónia and chose Persia, it is very likely that Diónia will accept our proposal and form an alliance with Thebes."
Ipamilonda's words made the other Thebes emissaries fall into deep thought.
"But no matter who we form an alliance with, we, Thebes, must rely on our own strength to become stronger!" Ipamilonda looked forward with determination.
… …
Two days later, the Athens emissary delegation also left Sparta and returned to their motherland.
On the way, Kalistratus was very satisfied and said to Kalistratus, "In this peace negotiation, we, Athens, have gained the most benefits and the greatest harvest."
Kalistratus was a little puzzled. "Under the partiality of the Persia emissary, we have to help Sparta attack the Thebes. This is actually a re-recognition of Sparta's position as the leader of the alliance. It should be Sparta who has gained the most."
Although Kalistratus somewhat despised this mediocre emissary from Athens, as the torchbearer of the Eleusis Ritual, Kalistratus not only had a lot of influence in Athens, but also in Peloponnesus. Otherwise, the contract would not have been named after him: the Kalistratus Contract.
Since Kalistratus agreed to help Sparta attack the Thebes, when he returned to Athens, he would definitely be criticized by some political enemies. He needed Kalistratus' full support, so he patiently explained to him, "Ever since the War of Peloponnesus, the strength of our Athens has been completely weakened. Not only have we been under the control of Sparta, but we have also been forced to disband all of our alliances. For Athens, which relies on the prosperity of sea trade, this is undoubtedly an extremely heavy blow. When the War of Corinth broke out, the national strength of Athens was restored, but the signing of the Great Contract forced us to disband the alliances that relied on us again, until the signing of the contract this time — "
Kalistratus said in a serious tone, "Sparta has recognized the existence of the Athens Maritime Alliance, in fact, has placed Athens on the same level as Sparta. As for the fact that we agreed to help Sparta in the war, it is just to give Sparta a false reputation. In fact, the war against the Thebes does not require the use of the navy. Even if Sparta wants us to send the army in the future, we can find a way to do it perfunctorily.
Sparta is now our ally, but in the future, there will be a conflict of interest with Athens. The Thebes have become our ally because of Sparta, but don't forget the reason why they were the enemy of Athens for a long time.
This time, the Thebes did not sign the contract, which will inevitably lead to the continuation of the war between them and Sparta. This is a good thing for us. The national strength of the Thebes has now greatly increased, and Sparta will not be able to defeat them easily. The continuation of the war will consume the strength of both sides. When the time is right, we, Athens, will intervene and decide the final outcome, so that we can reap the greatest benefits! … "
Kalistratus was convinced by him.
When the emissary group returned to Athens, Kalistratus received an urgent notice from the council: There was a secret message from the city of Thebes, and they had sent Perópidas as an emissary to Diónia in an attempt to form an alliance with them!
Kalistratus was shocked.
… …
Although they had been kings for many years, experienced many things, and met many famous people, the Devers could not suppress their curiosity. They looked at the emissary of Thebes standing in the middle of the palace hall, because this person was too legendary.
When Sparta conquered Central and Northern Greece, and almost all the Greek city-states succumbed to Sparta's force, this young man, who was not famous at that time, bravely sneaked back to the Thebes with a few like-minded friends, assassinated the puppet that the Sparta supported, and called on the people to drive away the Sparta army in Thebes. When many Greeks thought that the resistance of the Thebes was just a flash in the pan, the Thebes government, led by him, was not destroyed by the continuous attacks of the Sparta army. On the contrary, the Thebes gradually grew stronger during the war, and in the end, they were even able to stand up to the Sparta.
"Perópidas …" the Devers repeated this name in his heart. In his previous life, he did not know much about the history of ancient Greece. He only remembered one of the Thebes, Ipamilonda. Now, he thought that this person in front of him was also a great person.
Perópidas was also curiously looking at the King of Diónia. He thought that he had done something great so far, but compared to this person in front of him, it was nothing. When he had just become an adult and was still keen on attending banquets, competitions, and plays, this person had already led the mercenary army through many dangers and returned from the hinterland of Persia, winning a great reputation. Then, he went to Great Greece, defeated the natives with less than a thousand troops, occupied Turií, and founded the Kingdom of Diónia. He defeated Crotone, Syracuse, and Carthage. In just over 20 years, this kingdom became the real overlord of the Western Mediterranean Sea!
He had been to Persia and seen the prosperity of Babylon. When he set foot on the land of Diónia, he carefully observed along the way, especially the magnificent size of the city of Turií and the prosperity of the port, which made him feel that it was not much worse than Persia. Therefore, he was surprised and excited, thinking that he had come to the right place.
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