Chapter 191
"The Diónia Alliance has no intention of starting a war with any Greek city-state, but if any city-state wants to start a war, humiliate us, or invade our land! Everyone, what is our answer? "The Devers looked around and asked loudly.
"Fight to the death! Destroy the enemy! "
"Fight to the death!" The former mercenary elders shouted in unison.
… …
Phoebidas walked out of the meeting hall with a pale face. Dorobisis went up to him and asked anxiously, "How's the situation?!"
"Go! Get on the ship! Go back! "Phoebidas said angrily.
Under the "escort" of the patrol team, Phoebidas and the others hurriedly returned to the passenger ship and sailed towards the sea under the surveillance of the two patrol ships.
"Say, if my ship crashes into them!" Phoebidas pointed at the patrol ships that sandwiched his ship in the middle and asked angrily, "Will they sink?!"
"Ah? … "Dorobisis was shocked. Before he arrived at the meeting hall, he had a premonition that this mission would fail, but it actually made Phoebidas so angry. What exactly happened in the meeting hall? He did not dare to ask.
Phoebidas looked at the city of Turín that was about to disappear from his sight and buried the humiliation he suffered in his heart. He said coldly, "Let's go to Castellón!"
… …
"Lord Consul, I'm afraid that chasing away the Sparta emissaries will be detrimental to the Alliance," Cornelus said worriedly.
"I've said it before, chase away those mercenaries! You guys insisted on staying, and now trouble has come! "Polyxis said with dissatisfaction.
In the face of criticism, Capus, Agathia, and the others, who were once comrades of these mercenaries, could not refute. At this moment, Plesinas stood up and said, "Didn't those mercenaries receive the punishment of the Alliance's laws?! Didn't the other freedmen make mistakes?! Why did they have to chase away those mercenaries?! Everyone, our Union is currently lacking in manpower. It is precisely because of the Union's open, free, and equal attitude that we have attracted so many foreigners and freedmen. There is no reason to chase away those who seek refuge with the Union. It will only destroy the image of the Union and make all the Greeks who wish to seek refuge with us suspicious! "
"But what if Sparta declares war on us?" Oliphus asked worriedly.
"So what? Are you going to agree to Sparta's unreasonable request and let Lord Devers lead our citizens to Asia Minor?!" Pleasinslass shouted angrily.
"I … I …" Orpheus glanced at Devers guiltily and didn't dare to speak.
"Sparta might not dare to declare war on us!" The Devers smiled confidently. "We are not a small city-state, but a powerful force in Greece! If Sparta wants to win, I'm afraid it won't be that easy! But now most of its energy is focused on Asia Minor. The war with Persia is not an easy task, and it won't end so easily! I also heard that not long ago, Sparta had a war with the city-state of Elis, which is responsible for hosting the Olympia Games … It can be seen that even on the Peloponnese Peninsula, there are many city-states that are dissatisfied with Sparta. At this time, if it dares to start another war in Greece, I doubt it! " Although Devers said so, in his heart, he already regretted that he didn't think carefully and rashly agreed to Agathia's request. There was never an absolute thing in the world. If Sparta went crazy and insisted on war with the Diónia Alliance, although the Devers were not afraid of fighting with Sparta, the expansion plan of the Alliance that they had originally planned would be ruined again.
… …
The movement of Sparta's warships toward Castellón was beyond the Alliance's expectation. The patrol ship immediately reported this discovery to the Senate.
After an urgent discussion with the senators, the Devers decided to send a messenger to Castellón immediately to bring the Senate's order: Castellón must refuse to receive the messenger of Sparta.
When the messenger rode a fast horse and arrived at the city of Castellón with the convenience of the newly built Turií – Castellón Avenue, the chief general of Castellón, Amicles, had already led other generals and some members of the Council of Hundred to the port, ready to welcome the messenger of Sparta. After all, the messenger of Sparta, the ruler of the Greek city-states, had arrived. As a small and remote city-state, they naturally did not dare to neglect the arrival of the messenger.
When they saw Phoebidas disembarking from the warship, they were about to introduce each other and greet each other. Suddenly, one of Amicles's subordinates rushed over and handed Amicles a papyrus. Amicles's expression changed after reading the papyrus. He immediately said to Phoebidas, "Dear messenger of Sparta, there is an urgent matter that we need to discuss. Please wait for a moment!"
Then, without waiting for Phoebidas's reply, he led the generals and the councilors away.
"Something seems to have happened?" Dorobicius said curiously when he saw them standing in a circle and arguing about something.
Phoebidas did not speak. He stared into the distance and felt that something was wrong.
Amicles returned to him with a determined look on his face. "Dear messenger of Sparta, I'm sorry to inform you that Castellón, as a member of the Diónia Alliance, has just received a strict request from Diónia. They cannot allow you to enter Castellón City! So … "Amicles waved his hand apologetically, and a group of soldiers walked over.
"You are humiliating Sparta! Have you thought about the consequences of this?! " Filidas threatened angrily. He had originally planned to sow discord between Castellón and Diónia after entering Castellón City. It would be best if he could make Castellón break away from the Diónia Alliance. According to his understanding, Castellón had only joined the Diónia Alliance recently. Other than that, he had also planned to stay here for a few days and send soldiers to infiltrate the port of Turií to capture a few mercenaries who had escaped here. He would then be able to report to the Council of Elders and take revenge on the Diónia Alliance at the same time. However, it seemed that it was impossible now.
Seeing Phoebidas leave angrily, Amicles temporarily heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he became worried again. The Diónia Alliance was too bold to provoke the people of Sparta. If they really led their troops to attack, what would Castellón do?!
… …
Phoebidas was still unwilling to give up. He turned the ship around and sailed towards Tarantum.
Tarantum was a powerful state in Greece. Phoebidas did not think that the Diónia Alliance could affect it. Moreover, Tarantum was a state of Sparta, and the two sides were on good terms.
The establishment of Tarantum was somewhat dramatic. A few hundred years ago, Sparta coveted the fertile land of Messenia to the west of Turagonia, so they started a war. The war lasted for nearly a hundred years, and Sparta finally completely annexed Messenia, turning the Messenians into Hercules. However, because the men of Sparta had been away from the war for a long time, the women of Sparta could not bear the loneliness at home. As a result, they had sex with the Piriaci in Sparta and gave birth to a group of babies. When they grew up, they were not recognized by Sparta. So, after much effort, their leader, Fransosus, obtained permission from Sparta to ask for an oracle from Delphi. In the end, the oracle from the Temple of Apollo was confusing: to find a place where rain could fall from a clear sky and build a city. So, Sparta agreed to let Fransosus lead the bastards and the exiles away from Sparta to build a colony.
Fransosus led the group westward in search of a place to settle. Their fleet crossed the Adriatic Sea and went to the Gulf of Taranto. Along the way, they saw many places that did not meet the requirements of the oracle. The long sea voyage made the people who accompanied them complain, and Fransosus was also very depressed. He told his wife about his troubles, and she put his head on her lap to comfort him. As a result, his sentimental wife became depressed. When Fransosus felt her tears splashing on his forehead, he suddenly realized the true meaning of the oracle, because his wife's name meant "clear sky." So, he immediately ordered the people to disembark at the Gulf of Pulia, which later became Tarantum. Here they built a city and named it after Taras, the son of Poseidon.
Although the founders of Tarantum had left because they could not obtain citizenship in Sparta, and later, Tarantum had developed into a democratic city-state (but with a double archon, Senate, and Assembly, similar to Amendola, which was born out of Sparta's double king, council of elders, and assembly, except that it did not have an overseer and was less oligarchic) and was a prosperous commercial city, very different from its mother state, Sparta, which had always clung to its agrarian traditions, but with which it had always maintained good relations. In the War of Peloponnesus, Tarantum stood firmly on the side of Sparta, and when the Athens fleet passed through Magna Graecia on its expedition to Sicily, it refused to allow it to dock or provide food or water. As a result, Athens retaliated by vigorously supporting the Messapians against Tarantum.
Tarantum welcomed Phoebidas, of course, but after greeting the leaders of Tarantum, Phoebidas immediately mentioned the insolence of the Diónia Alliance and its lack of respect for traditional Greek city-states. He also reminded the senators of Tarantum that the Diónia Alliance advocated force and aggression, and was a danger to the Greek city-states!
He also suggested that Tarantum should no longer ally with the Diónia Alliance, and instead limit its expansion.
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