Chapter 1152
These village chiefs were already grateful to Diónia for being able to gain their freedom. Now that they could also become the higher-ups of this new city-state, they were overjoyed and did not have any other considerations. Not only did they agree to all the suggestions from their fellow Diónia compatriots, but they also took the initiative to propose that the candidates for the council of generals should be from Diónia, as they were more knowledgeable and had more experience in governing a country.
Of course, the people from Diónia did not refuse. Five generals were quickly selected, and Tisias, a senator of the Kingdom of Diónia, became the chief.
Ionicus watched all this from the sidelines. Although he could see some clues, he did not dare to make trouble. He had witnessed Diónia's unusually strong military power, whether it was the navy or the army, and even its complete military logistics, which made him realize the horror of this kingdom from the Western Mediterranean.
Unexpectedly, Tisias quickly found him and made it clear that as long as he was willing to join Messenia, there would be a seat for him in the council.
Ionicus thought for a while and finally agreed. Although he grew up in Elis, he did not have much influence in the council, and had never held an important position. The reason was known to everyone, but it was not said out loud: he was a Messenian immigrant.
However, he also put forward a condition: he hoped to bring a few Messenian immigrants from Elis who he had a good relationship with to join the new city-state and become a member of the council.
Tisias agreed.
Ionicus immediately applied for a fast ship from the 1st Flotilla and hurried back to Elis.
The new Messenian government, headed by Tisias, continued to promulgate laws in full swing: all the Hercules in Messenia would not only be free, but they would also become citizens of New Messenia and would be given land. With the assistance of the village chiefs, the councilors from Diónia would confirm and register the population and land of each village for subsequent distribution.
In order to protect this hard-won freedom and independence, the citizens of New Messenia must receive strict training from the soldiers of Diónia in order to defend their city-state when the Sparta army attacked. New Messenia must also have its own city. The council quickly made a decision to rebuild the city of Messenia as the center of the new city-state. Other than that, no other cities would be built, so that the citizens could be more united. Thus, it was the turn of the soldiers of the 1st Diónia Legion. They would lead the new citizens of Messenia to expand the former Sparta barracks into a town.
A Greek city-state also needed a patron god. The original patron god of the Mercenians was Zeus, but Tisia and the others easily convinced the village chiefs not to believe in him. This was because the Mercenians had lost three wars in the past, which meant that Zeus did not bless them at all. Out of gratitude and trust to Diónia, the citizens of New Messenia finally decided to ask Hades for protection. At the same time, the council also decided to erect statues of the heroes Aristodemus and Aristomenes, who had once led the people against Sparta.
The council also decided to send messengers to the city-states of the Peloponnesus Peninsula to inform them of the independence of Messenia in order to gain their support. Of course, Sparta was not one of them …
… …
The Messenian Plains were filled with a joyous atmosphere, but the territory of Sparta across the Tegetos Mountains was gloomy. The defeat of Leuctra had not yet affected Sparta, but now, an even greater disaster had suddenly befallen them — Messenia had been taken away.
Messenia was extremely important to Sparta. Sixty percent of the entire city-state's agricultural output came from there. Half of Sparta's land was also there. In addition, more than half of Sparta's labor came from Messenia. Without Messenia, Sparta's strength would be reduced by at least half.
However, when the news of Messenia's capture came, the vengeful Sparta did not immediately organize an army to attack Messenia as usual, because Sparta was now in a precarious situation. Previously, Sparta was determined to send troops to attack the Mandinia-led Arcadia Union, but only a small number of Peloponnesus's allies responded to the call. So, until now, the coalition army to attack the Arcadia Union had not been formed, and there was a huge shortage of military supplies. In such a terrible situation, Sparta did not have the strength to fight against the stronger Dionysian Army.
In the Elder Council, the censor and the elders all cursed Diónia's treachery, but there was nothing they could do about the predicament Sparta was facing.
Agesilaus, who attended the meeting despite his illness, was also furious. He scolded them for being short-sighted. They knew that Diónia had been hostile to Sparta for a long time, but they still did not listen to his advice and ended the friendly agreement with Diónia prematurely. As a result, the Thebes took the opportunity to form an alliance with Diónia, causing the Devers' threat to Sparta to come true (Messenia was captured) more than a decade ago.
Some elders refuted, pointing out that Agesilaus was also an active promoter of Sparta seeking support from Persia and ending the war with the Thebes as soon as possible. Agesilaus should understand that if Sparta did not break off relations with Diónia, they would definitely not be able to gain the trust of the king of Persia. The Elder Council finally made this decision because they had no other choice.
Other than the censor, the elders were all old and would not waste their energy on meaningless curses and arguments. It did not take long for everyone to calm down and discuss how to solve the huge threat that Sparta was facing.
As the city-state in Greece that had the most dealings with Diónia, they more or less knew the strength of the kingdom on the Italian peninsula. They did not think that the current Sparta could fight against it. Naturally, they turned their eyes to Persia for help.
Therefore, the envoy of Persia, Datis, who was still in the city, was invited to the meeting.
When Datis heard the news that Diónia had sent troops to attack Messenia, he felt nervous. Instead of being arrogant, he was very proactive. After all, he had come to Sparta with a mission. Now, he had failed to realize the plan of Sparta to unite all the city-states in Greece. Instead, Diónia invaded Peloponnesus prematurely. This was very likely to ruin the strategic plan of the king of Persia. Therefore, he had to work hard to salvage the situation.
First, Datis comforted the people of Sparta not to be too nervous. A large amount of food supplies and 50 Talient Daleks were on the way from Persia. He also promised to ask the king of Persia to donate more gold and silver to Sparta. At the same time, he would allow Sparta to recruit soldiers in Asia Minor, so that it could build a large army as soon as possible to defeat the incoming Dionysian Army. (The battle of Leuctra had shaken Sparta's hegemony. Coupled with the establishment of the Arcadia Union, most of the allies of Sparta were not as active as before. Therefore, the people of Sparta had to recruit soldiers in Macedonia, Thrace, Ionia, and Asia Minor, which obviously cost money.)
The censor and elders calmed down a little, but they soon discovered the biggest problem. Recruiting soldiers and building an army required time, and now the Dionysian Army was west of Mount Tegetos. They could invade Sparta's territory at any time.
Agesilaus analyzed the situation seriously. If the Dionysian Army wanted to attack Sparta, they had three options. The first option was to take the middle route and cross Mount Tegetos. However, Mount Tegetos was steep and controlled by the Dionysian Army. The second option was to take the northern route and cross Arcadia Region to invade Sparta. However, the cities in Arcadia Region had never had any dealings with Diónia. Now that they had formed an alliance, they would not easily allow a large foreign army to pass through their territory. The third option was to take the southern route and allow the army to enter Lagonia Bay and land on the coast of Sparta. According to the information obtained from the defeated warriors of Messenia, Diónia had many transport ships and their army was fast and fierce. This route was the biggest threat to Sparta.
Everyone agreed that Agesilaus was right. After some discussion, the Council of Elders finally made a decision to temporarily suspend the military action against the Arcadia Alliance and send envoys to express their goodwill. At the same time, they urgently mobilized the territory's military, strengthened the defense of the coast, and quickly built facilities to prevent landing. They also recruited the young Pyriasis and Helaoshi in the territory into the army …
Moreover, the Council of Elders specifically passed a resolution to deal with the Helaoist soldiers. Only the Helaoist soldiers who performed well in the war would be granted freedom.
Agesilaus also requested Datis, the envoy of Persia, that Persia could send a fleet to help Sparta defend Lagonia Bay.
Datis agreed and promised to convey Sparta's request to the king of Persia.
In addition, the Council of Elders also decided to send an envoy to Messenia. In addition to taking the opportunity to find out the next move of the Dionysian Army, the main purpose was to delay the attack of Diónia as much as possible under the guise of a discussion, so as to buy time for Sparta to build an army.
This important meeting that concerned the life and death of Sparta only ended in the afternoon. Agesilaus dragged his tired body home and immediately summoned Xenophon, who had been waiting in his mansion. He briefly told him the contents of the previous meeting.
That night, Xenophon received the news that the Dionysian Army had landed on the coast of Elis. He felt very uneasy and rode to Sparta at dawn. Unfortunately, he lived far away from Sparta. When he arrived at Agesilaus' mansion, Sparta had already received the news that the huge fleet of Diónia had invaded Lagonia Bay. However, before Sparta could send reinforcements, the Dionysian Army had already landed on the coast of Lagonia Bay.
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