Chapter 2
After the Peloponnesus War began, the two sides fought each other. Most of the time, Sparta dominated on land, while Athens dominated on the sea. Even when they were defeated by Sicily in Athens, Sparta could not force Athens to surrender because of their inferior navy. To defeat Athens, they had to first defeat the navy of Athens. However, whether it was in modern times or ancient times, the navy was a technical force that consumed a lot of money and resources. Sparta was a poor city-state with poor commerce. It could not produce a decent navy to compete with Athens, even if it collected donations from the Peloponnesus Alliance.
So, Sparta finally made the decision to ask for help from Persia, an old rival of the Greeks. Persia, who had been suppressed by Athens at sea, was of course more than happy to ask for help. So, the two sides reached an agreement. With the help of a large number of resources from Persia, Sparta quickly built up a large navy. That was how Lysander, the general of Sparta, wiped out the navy of Athens in the Battle of Ram, and finally forced Athens to surrender.
Nearly 30 years of war affected most of the Greek city-states. The economy was in decline, and the people were displaced. At the same time, thousands of Greek soldiers were dismissed from their positions. They were used to fighting and were unwilling to transfer to a peaceful profession. For example, Krylkus was a typical example. He was even exiled by Sparta because of this.
At this time, the king of Persia was seriously ill. As his second son, Cyrus the Younger, who was also the commander of the western region of Persia, had been responsible for Sparta's cooperation and had a good relationship with many Greek generals. He knew the strength of the Greek infantry. Out of ambition for the throne in the future, he gave some Greek generals a lot of money, hinting that they would hire these soldiers and maintain the army until he needed their help.
Three years later, in 401 BC, the king of Persia died. Cyrus the Younger began to take action. He summoned these Greek mercenary leaders to lead troops to join his army, deceiving the Greeks that he was going to attack a rebel force in Asia Minor. In fact, he was going to overthrow his brother, who had just ascended the throne of Persia, by force (many of these Greek mercenary leaders knew the truth). He didn't tell the Greek soldiers the truth until his army entered the hinterland of Persia. by then, the Greeks had already joined his chariots and had to follow him to Babylon.
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