Chapter 1201
During this difficult period, a town in the south had a civil war. The king of the town led his loyal people to join Sparta. Sparta's strength was greatly increased, and with their help, they finally won the war against Laconia. Thus, Sparta established itself as the leader of the region.
The Lacidemonians of the surrendered villages were then known as Piriaci. They had personal freedom and the right to deal with local affairs, but they had no political rights in Sparta. They were also placed under the supervision of military commanders sent by Sparta to ensure that they could serve in the army and farm the royal estates.
The conquered villages, even if they were once compatriots, were mercilessly reduced to slaves. This was the origin of the Heliotrope.
From this time on, Sparta established a dual monarchy (one was a native Sparta king, who came from the Agidai clan, and the other was a former king from the south, who came from the Ulipontides clan).
Now, Cloto Catax wanted to use this great opportunity to conquer Sparta to completely overthrow the original political structure of Sparta and establish a new political system.
He sent messengers to the various Piriaci villages, inviting them to come to Sparta, and promised them that Diónia would not harm them, but would give them the right to participate in the establishment of a new Sparta.
In addition, he personally talked to the captured Piriaci soldiers and released them. At the same time, he also sent messengers to Messenia to summon a group of Heliotrope citizens of New Messenia. He asked them to meet the Heliotrope hiding in the mountains, and used their own example to persuade the frightened and starving Heliotrope to come down from the mountains and cooperate with Diónia.
At the same time, Cloto Catax did not talk to any Sparta people. Just as he finished arranging these tasks and quietly waited for the arrival of the Piriaci and the Heliotrope, he suddenly received a report from the garrison of the Trotas River. They intercepted nearly a thousand Sparta routed soldiers from the north. When these routed soldiers learned that Sparta had been occupied, they surrendered without a fight. Among the captured routed soldiers was the king of Sparta, Agesilaus.
When Cloto Catax heard the news, he was so excited that he almost jumped up. The capture of Agesilaus and his army had eliminated the last worry in his heart. He could now freely carry out his plan in this land.
To prevent any accidents, he also sent a heavy infantry brigade to escort these Sparta routed soldiers.
A day later, Cloto Catax saw the captives at the entrance to the north of Sparta. They were ragged, unkempt, and walked unsteadily as if they would fall at any time. Cloto Catax now understood why the garrison of the camp could easily capture nearly a thousand routed soldiers with only 200 people.
He and the generals' eyes were focused on the leader of the Sparta people: white hair, beard, gray face, thin as a stick, his left leg was curled up, and he was holding a cane. He staggered forward with the help of others. Only his eyes were full of spirit.
Seeing Cloto Catax and the others in front of him, the old man pushed away the people who were supporting him and stubbornly walked forward with difficulty.
"Dear King Agesilaus!" Cloto Catax did not put on the arrogant attitude of a victor. Instead, he said in a gentle tone, "Hello! I am the commander of Diónia, Cloto Catax. "
"I know you … the son of Devers." Agesilaus seemed to be calm at the moment. He said in a hoarse voice, "This time, Sparta has lost … I want to know how you are going to deal with … the people of Sparta?!"
His voice was trembling when he said the last sentence, but it still revealed the worry in his heart.
Cloto Catax's lips curled into a mocking smile. He said in a serious tone, "They have all been imprisoned. Many of them are still unwilling to accept the fact that they have lost. It seems that they still have hope in the coalition army led by you!"
Agesilaus was silent for a long time. Then, he looked straight at him and said in a deep and meaningful voice, "A loss is a loss. The city of Sparta has been occupied. What else is there to look forward to … However, for the past few decades, Sparta has been very influential in the whole of Greece. If Diónia wants to thwart Persia's conspiracy and dominate these cities in Greece, Sparta can still provide you with great help!"
This old man who was known as the toughest pro-war faction of Sparta actually showed an attitude of wanting to actively cooperate with him. This surprised Cloto Catax. He calmed himself down and replied, "Our plan to deal with Sparta has been confirmed. I believe you will know about it soon. When the time comes, I hope that you will lead the people to actively cooperate with us."
Agesilaus looked at him deeply, then turned back to look at the defeated soldiers who passed by him. "Okay, but before that, I hope that you can let us take a good bath and have a good meal."
"Don't worry, we will arrange it." Cloto Catax said with a complicated expression, "I have good news for you. Your son, Archidamus, was injured and escaped into the mountains. In the end, he fell into a coma due to the infection of his wounds. His guards carried him out of the mountains and surrendered to us. He is now being treated by our doctors in Tegea. When I left, he was still unconscious, but his physical condition is much better than before."
Archidamus was Agesilaus' only son and a direct descendant of the Agiddai royal family. Hearing this news, Agesilaus' worry was relieved. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and said calmly, "It is the glory of Sparta warriors to die on the battlefield. Too many Sparta warriors have died in this war! But no matter what, thank you for your rescue. The more Sparta warriors there are, the better! "
Cloto Catax looked at Agesilaus' back in shock. After a while, he turned around and said to Sekerian and the others in a deep voice, "This king of Sparta has probably been wandering in the mountains for a few days and is so hungry. It was not easy for him to walk back, and he learned that all of Sparta has been occupied. Yet, he can still be so calm. He is really not simple! But … I hope that he can still be so calm after knowing our plan to reorganize Sparta! "
There was a hint of resentment in Cloto Catax's words, which surprised Sekerian. Of course, he did not know that Cloto Catax blamed the death of Adoris on the commander of Sparta, Agesilaus.
Some of the Herodes who escaped to the mountains listened to the advice of the messengers from Mersenia and returned to Sparta. Just as the messengers said, not only did the Dionysian Army not capture them, but they also arranged accommodation for them and distributed food to them. This prompted more starving Herodes to run down the mountains.
After listening to the persuasion of the messengers from Diónia, the people of the villages of Piriasi doubtfully sent their representatives to Sparta to discuss matters.
A few days later, Cloto Catax invited the representatives of Piriasi and Herodes into the meeting hall of Sparta. He let them sit on the wooden chairs that the elders of Sparta used to sit on.
After everything was ready, Cloto Catax stood in front of the meeting hall and looked at the restless representatives. He said in a gentle tone, "Everyone, today is an important day for you. First of all, please allow me to call you the Lasidic Dream. Do not be surprised. Whether it is you Piriasi or you Herodes, you were once the same race as the people of Sparta. But a few hundred years ago, your ancestors were defeated in the war against Sparta's unification of Lagonia. Not only did you lose your land and rights, but you were also deprived of your true race name. Those who surrendered became Piriasi, and those who were captured became Herodes — "
At this point, Cloto Catax's words caused a huge commotion in the meeting hall.
Although the Piriasi had a bit of inheritance, the history of the Piriasi had long been blurred after a few hundred years. On the contrary, the Sparta people had been purposely spreading the story, and it became clearer and clearer in the memory of the generations of Piriasi: they were immigrants from outside, and after reaching an agreement with the people of Sparta, they were allowed to settle at the border of this land.
The situation of the Herodes was even worse. They were slaves for generations, and the people of Sparta would never let them learn to read. Therefore, most of them were illiterate. Under the education of the people of Sparta, they had no choice but to serve the people of Sparta for the rest of their lives. They did not know the history of their race, and they did not even know the names of their parents. They lived numbly, without hope …
But today, someone suddenly told them, "You are the same as the people of Sparta. You were once the masters of this land!" This completely subverted their previous understanding, and they were all shocked like never before.
They discussed with each other suspiciously, and even mustered up the courage to ask Cloto Catax.
"The scholars of Diónia have specialized in the history of Sparta, and we have obtained some very precious information that can prove that you were once the people of Lasidic Dream. If you want to see it, when the situation in Greece stabilizes in the future, I will invite you to the library of Turií to read these treasures.
Now, what I want to tell you is that the reason why the Dionysian Army attacked Messenia is to let the Messenians, who were once enslaved by the people of Sparta, regain their independence. You have communicated with them before, and you should know that we, Diónia, have done what we said.
Now, one of the important reasons why Diónia attacked Sparta is to let you, who are now enslaved, regain your lost land and rights, and become the real masters of Lagonia! "
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