Chapter 1144
In the early years of the kingdom, the senators went to the Senate and various departments to attend meetings and deal with political affairs every day, often bringing only one or two servants. Later, there were several incidents of pedestrians harassing the senators, forcing the senators to bring guards with them every day to avoid accidents.
According to the law, slaves were not allowed to carry weapons, and freedmen who carried weapons on the streets in Turín would be strictly checked and interrogated by the inspection team. Only citizens were relatively lenient, so a special industry was born in Turín — the Senators' Guard (in fact, some wealthy merchants and officials also hired guards).
To establish a guard company, not only did one have to obtain a business permit from the Commercial Department, but they also had to obtain the approval of the Tuliyi Inspection Office. Furthermore, it had to be supervised by the Tuliyi Military Camp. As the majority of the guards were soldiers from the Legion or the Reserve Forces, it had to be well coordinated with the military training in the Military Camp. Therefore, it was often funded by retired team officers from the Legion, and at the same time, it also solved the livelihood problems of some injured retired soldiers, so it was also supported by the Military Department.
When Leotychides passed through the east gate of the inner city, the city guards respectfully saluted the famous military commander of the kingdom.
Leotychides's mansion was located on the side of a relatively lively street. It was a typical double-storey house in the shape of a "Japanese" that was most often built by the rich in Diónia. There were several shops on the street side of the mansion that were rented out to vendors.
A servant stood at the main entrance with a big yellow dog on a leash, staring at the door like a tiger watching its prey. Passersby did not dare to linger for long. But when Leotychides arrived at the door, the fierce-looking dog wagged its tail and pounced on him excitedly, licking and rubbing against him.
Leotychides patted the dog's head hard, and the big dog immediately quieted down. Then, Leotychides strode into the mansion.
The mansion looked decent from the outside, but it was simple and crude from the inside. The surrounding corridors were not covered with mosaic flooring, and there was no pond or statue in the center of the front courtyard. There was also no garden in the backyard, and there was no kiosk in the middle for chatting and drinking. Instead, the front and back courtyards were completely connected, forming a large muddy playground in the middle.
On one side of the field, his youngest son, who was seven years old, was practicing riding. On the other side, his oldest son, who was seventeen years old, was practicing fighting skills with a servant with a sword and shield (Leotychides originally had three children, but his second daughter died a few years after she was born).
His wife sat on the veranda beside the sports field and watched. Two dogs lay at her feet. The dogs, who were originally sleepy, suddenly stood up and ran toward the door.
Hearing their excited cries, the wife realized that her husband had returned home. She immediately greeted him. "Why are you back so late today?"
"The Ministry of Military Affairs has important matters to discuss." As Leotychides spoke, he tore off Bolton's coat and shouted towards the field, "Tyltotis, I'll practice with you!"
"Alright!" The eldest son, Tyltotis, stopped attacking and replied loudly, "Father, I won't admit defeat so easily this time!"
Leotychides strode into the field, took the wooden shield and sword from the slaves, got into position, and said in a deep voice, "Come on."
Seeing the father and son fighting on the field, Regina revealed a puzzled expression. Having lived with Leotychides for so many years, she could feel that her husband was a little excited. This was too rare, and she could not help but feel puzzled. What happened?
At this moment, the youngest son, Pagondas, dismounted and quickly ran to the side of the field. He picked up a jug of water and gulped it down.
Regina hurriedly said, "Pagondas, don't drink too much, it's not good for your health! I soaked a big watermelon in the well, I'll cut it for you later to quench your thirst. "
The decoration of Leotychides's residence was very simple, unlike the residence of an elder. The only extravagant thing was that Regina had spent a lot of money to hire someone to dig a private well at the beginning of the house. The bottom of the well was relatively deep, and the water was bone-chilling. Usually, it was used to keep vegetables and fruits fresh.
"Oh." Pagondas obediently put down the jug of water and sat on the ground, watching his father and brother fight. Regina pulled him up and kicked him hard in the butt, "Look at you, you're all sweaty. Hurry up and take a bath!"
After driving the youngest son away, Regina shouted to the two female slaves beside her, "It's going to be dark soon. Don't just stand there, go to the kitchen and tell them to get dinner ready as soon as possible!"
Twenty years had passed, and even though Leotychides had already entered the upper echelons of the kingdom and had a noble status, the Bruti Regina's shrewish temper was still the same.
At the dining table, when Riffina asked again, "What happened today?" "His Majesty has decided to support the Thebes and send troops to the Peloponnese to attack Sparta. I will be the commander of this expedition army." Leotiades finally put down the ox bone in his hand and said with a serious expression, "His Majesty has decided to support the Thebes and send troops to the Peloponnese to attack Sparta.
"Father, you're going to lead an army to conquer Sparta?!" The youngest son exclaimed. His eldest son, Tyltotis, was also shocked.
In the past, Leotychides did not spend much time at home. Every time he did, he would either train them or tell them stories after training. Most of the stories were about the legends and heroes of Sparta. He hoped that the children would gradually develop a sense of admiration for Sparta. However, the effect was not very obvious. The children were more eager to defeat Sparta, the treacherous villain. After all, they spent more time in school.
Although Regina was careless, she was actually very smart. When she first got married, she was completely unfamiliar with the affairs of Greece. But after so many years, she had some understanding of Greece. Her husband was from Argos, so he should hate Sparta. However, he did not do so in his daily life, which made her feel puzzled. But since Leotychides did not say anything, she did not take the initiative to ask. But now, she could not help but ask, "You didn't accept the appointment, did you?"
"Of course I did." Leotychides looked at his wife and seemed to understand what she was thinking. He added, "I'm very happy to teach Sparta a lesson!"
This was his true thought. When he escaped from Sparta, he swore that one day, he would lead his army back to Sparta and kill all the people of Sparta who humiliated him and forced his mother to commit suicide!
The reason why he was behaving so strangely in the palace hall was that he did not expect the opportunity to fulfill his vow to suddenly come to him. He was desperately trying to suppress the excitement in his heart.
"Tyltotis," Leotychides continued, "This time, you will come with me."
"That's great!" Tyltotis was so excited that he almost jumped up.
Regina suddenly reminded him, "Tyltotis is not 18 years old yet. He can't serve in the army!"
"He will be with me as my errand boy. He doesn't need to fight in the army." After Leotychides finished speaking, he buried his head in his food. This caused the mood of his family to become restless.
… …
Although the Devers had held many meetings to analyze and judge the possible changes in the situation in Greece after the battle of Leuctra, the development of things still exceeded their expectations.
First of all, the armistice agreement between the Thebes and Sparta caught Diónia off guard. However, this did not affect their preparation for the war. The matters of the expedition were still carried out in an orderly manner.
Second, Iazon's series of actions after the battle had aroused the vigilance of the Devers. They specifically ordered Aristiras to strengthen the monitoring of the territory of Thessaly.
Then, the Devers originally thought that the failure of the battle of Leuctra would cause Sparta to desperately retaliate in order to restore its prestige. However, they did not expect that Sparta would quickly sign the armistice agreement and really did not make any hostile moves against the Thebes in the subsequent period. The reason was that the impact of the battle on Greece and the entire Peloponnesus peninsula was so great that the higher-ups of Diónia did not expect it.
After all, the Devers did not live in Greece, and they had almost never suffered a defeat in any war. Therefore, they could not understand how the Greek people felt about Sparta. After the Messenian War and before the Hippocratic War, the Sparta had dominated all of Greece. Its long-term dominance had created an inherent concept in the Greek people: unless the enemy had a great advantage in terms of military strength, the heavy infantry of Sparta was simply invincible in battle. This was an unbreakable principle.
However, in this battle, which was considered a grand scale for the Greeks, the Thebans actually defeated the Spartans despite being outnumbered. Furthermore, the Spartan king had died in battle. It should be noted that ever since Leonidas sacrificed himself at the Hot Spring Gate of Greece, no Spartan king had died on the battlefield. Therefore, when the details of the battle spread throughout the Greek mainland, many city-states suddenly realized that the Spartans weren't that scary after all. If the Thebans could do it, perhaps they could do it too.
Therefore, many city-states were stirred up. Two months ago, after the signing of the Treaty of Kallias, according to the content of the treaty, Sparta was supposed to withdraw the military commanders stationed in the city-states. However, the Sparta people had been dragging out the implementation of the treaty. Now, these city-states had boldly expelled the military commanders sent by Sparta.
To make matters worse for Sparta, as an oligarchic city-state, it had always implemented and supported oligarchic systems in the city-states and allied city-states under its control. These oligarchs who held the power would then persecute the democrats in the city and increase the exploitation of the ordinary people in the country (on the one hand, it was also to satisfy the military needs of Sparta). Now, encouraged by the victory of the Thebes in the battle, the exiled democrats of the city-states had returned to their motherland, inciting the already dissatisfied people and setting off a wave of riots.
Comments