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Chapter 175

After some discussion, they decided to wait and see how the situation would develop. After all, in the history of the Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean, there had never been a successful precedent for the Greeks to leave the coast and occupy the mountains of the indigenous people. Even if the Tua Alliance seized Niutum, how could they suppress the Lucanian rebellion in the mountainous region full of Lucarians with their small number of people? How could they deal with the subsequent attack of the Lucanian army? This was the next big problem.

At the same time, the City Hall decided to send merchant ships to establish trade relations with Pixian, so that they could keep abreast of the movements of Lucania Municipality.

… …

Ephesus, located on the coast of the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor, was a famous city of the former Kingdom of Lydia, across the bay from Samos Island. It was said to have been built by the colonists of Athens around 900 BC. After hundreds of years of development, it, together with Miletus and Samos, which were not too far from it in the south, became the three most dazzling pearls of the Greek states in Asia Minor.

In the center of the triangular area formed by these three prosperous cities was Mount Micale. On the mountain, there was a sanctuary called "Panionion", which meant the temple of all the Ionians. It used to be the place where the Greeks of Asia Minor gathered to celebrate their union. Although it was no longer as glorious as it used to be, it was still a place of worship for the Greeks of Asia Minor. At the same time, the influence of another temple was growing day by day. This was the amazing masterpiece built by Ephesus, the Temple of Artenis.

A hundred years ago, when Ephesus was still attached to Lydia, it had become the trade center of Asia Minor. Citizens of various cities flocked to it, and in addition to doing business and working, they naturally had to worship in the temple for spiritual comfort. As a result, the people of Ephesus found that the original altar of Artenis could no longer meet the demand. Believers often had conflicts in order to occupy a good place to worship. Therefore, building a temple became a top priority. At that time, the rich king of Lydia, Croesus, generously donated money to Delphi to seek an oracle, but was misled into a war with Persia, and finally perished. A new temple was built on the original altar. The most famous architects and sculptors of that time were invited to participate in the design of the new temple.

The completed temple was 100 meters long and 55 meters wide. There were 127 huge pillars 18 meters tall supporting the temple's huge roof. The entire temple was basically built with huge stone slabs that were five to eight meters long, giving it a grand and dignified appearance. In the temple, the bronze statue of Artenis was two meters high, wearing a crown on its head and holding a precious bow in its hand. It had a kind face, and its form was vivid and exquisite. There was no roof on top of it, so the believers could also look up at the sky from inside the temple and be with their god.

After the Temple of Artenis was built, it quickly became another sacred place for the Greeks of Asia Minor. Even after the fall of Lydia, the outbreak of the Greco-Persian War, and many other events, it did not diminish its status. Every day, Greeks came to worship it, and it had been like this for hundreds of years.

On this day, a strong Greek hurried in from outside the temple. He looked around as he followed the crowd to the entrance of the temple.

The temple was too big. The stairs alone had dozens of steps. After walking up the stairs, he was a little out of breath, even though he had been training for a long time.

"Timason!" a somewhat familiar voice yelled in front of him.

He followed the voice and saw a man in purple Bolton standing at the entrance of the temple, waving at him.

"Agatha?!" Timason walked up to the seemingly extraordinary man in disbelief.

"Please call me Master Agatha! I'm now an elder of the Senate of the Tua Union! " Agassia shook his sleeves and revealed his left hand. He then held his sleeves lightly and put half of them around his waist (this was the so-called noble gesture that Grand Elder Tuliyi often did in meetings) before saying jokingly.

"Are you really like the rumors say, the masters of a city?!" Timason looked at him and asked with a trembling voice.

"Not just one city, but the master of two cities!" Agatha raised two fingers and explained seriously, "The Devers are the lifetime archons of the two city-states!"

"Lifetime archons?! It's hard to believe … "Timason mumbled to himself. It had only been half a year, and his memories of parting with Dyvers and the rest were still very clear. Yet, the difference in status between him and Dyvers was like heaven and earth?!

"I'm telling the truth! If you don't believe me, Artenis is in there. I'll go in and swear to her! "Agatha was a little anxious. He pointed at the temple behind him and said seriously.

Timason shook his head and looked at Agatha thoughtfully, "I believe you! What business do you have with me this time? "

"Although we've successfully changed our identities, we haven't forgotten our comrades who fought with us through fire and water!" Agatha extended his hand and said sincerely, "The Devers sent me to invite you to Greece!"

… …

Tiburon had been holding his breath recently.

Ever since he was sent to Asia Minor by the Sparta Council of Elders to serve as Sparta's governor in Asia Minor, he led the army against Persia's governor, Tisaphnis. He captured many Persia's cities and forced Tisaphnis to stop attacking the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. He thought he had done a great service to Sparta. However, when he attacked Larissa, he encountered some difficulties and failed to take it down after a few months. Instead, he suffered some small losses. That damn inspector actually asked him to give up Larissa and attack Caria! Although he was angry, he did not dare to disobey.

After Lysander gained great fame after defeating the navy of Athens at the end of the War of Peloponnesus, he proposed some proposals to the Council of Elders in order to strengthen his power. These proposals were passed, and one of them was to expand the power of the inspector. These inspectors, who were born as commoners, could follow the army into battle. If they found any problems, whether it was an ordinary general or a king, they could question them at any time. If the problem was serious, they could also propose to the Council of Elders to punish them.

Tiburon had no choice but to lead his army back to Ephesus. He planned to rest here for a while before setting off to attack Caria. However, a few days later, he received a piece of bad news. Several Greek city-states in Asia Minor sent messengers to Sparta, accusing him of allowing his soldiers to plunder Sparta's allies in Asia Minor.

At first, he was so angry that he smashed all the valuable statues in his living room. Then, he became worried because what the messengers of Asia Minor accused him of was true. At first, he brought 5,300 soldiers to Asia Minor, including 1,000 liberated Helots, 4,000 other Peloponnesus, and 300 Athens cavalry. Of course, this small number of soldiers could not fight against the powerful Persia. After arriving in Asia Minor, with the help of their allies, he recruited many more soldiers, most of whom were mercenaries who had participated in the expedition to Persia with Cyrus the Younger, increasing the total number of soldiers to 15,000. There was almost no real Sparta soldier in this huge army. The salaries of so many soldiers could not be sustained by the donations of the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. Therefore, it was necessary to plunder and plunder the cities and territories of Persia. However, when the army passed by their allies, the mercenaries who had become accustomed to plundering could not control themselves and often robbed their compatriots' belongings. Tiburon did not use military discipline to restrain himself. Instead, he thought that since they fought for their lives, it was only right for them to pay the price!

Now, the revenge of the Greeks in Asia Minor had come.

That night, Tiburon could not sleep.

The next day, the inspector, Kelethorpes, came over and told him coldly, "Tiburon, the council of elders has sent Dekiridas to take over your position, and you must return to Sparta for investigation! You must stay in this house now, and you are not allowed to leave without permission until Dekiridas arrives! "

Tiburon sat down and looked at the soldiers Kerrissops had arranged to guard his door. He could not help but shout, "Don't worry, I won't run away like Krylkus! Even if I return to Sparta for investigation, I will be acquitted! "

Kerrissops did not even look at him and replied, "I hope so!"

Kerrissops walked out of Tiburon's house and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He welcomed the Senate's investigation of Tiburon, because he was the mastermind behind it!

The reason why Kerrissops did this was because he knew very well that Sparta had made a great decision and paid a great price to go to war with Persia. There was a strategic consideration. The radicals of Sparta, led by Lysander, believed that they should take advantage of the defeat of Athens and regain the hegemony of Greece to go out of the narrow Greek mainland and extend their power to the wider and richer Asia Minor. They should defeat the Persia and become the protector of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor, and then become the hegemon of the Eastern Mediterranean, fulfilling the dream of generations of Sparta. It was because Kerrissops followed the expeditionary army to the hinterland of Persia and saw the vastness and richness of the plains of Mesopotamia that he agreed with the radicals and deeply understood the painstaking efforts of Lysander and the others. However, Tiburon was a pure Sparta warrior. His mind was filled with nothing but fighting and killing. While fighting the Persia, he connived with his soldiers to plunder in the allied states. This caused the allied states of Asia Minor to complain about his troops, and at the same time, they began to feel dissatisfied with Sparta.

Seeing that more than half a year's effort was going to waste, Kerrissops advised Tiburon several times. At first, Tiburon pretended to listen, but he did not carry it out. Later, he simply refused to listen.