Chapter 835
It turned out that although the Carthage Senate made a decision to let Brother Mago be the commander of the Sicilian army, the senators led by Hanno refused to allow the Carthage citizens to organize an army to go to Sicily on the grounds that the citizens of Carthage suffered heavy casualties in the last battle. Instead, they suggested that Mago should lead the Iberian army that had not suffered any casualties.
Of course, the senators led by Pretacuba would not agree to this proposal. They strongly called for "further investigation of the blame for the failure of the last war" while helping the emissaries of the allies from Sicily to publicize the tragic experiences of the Phoenicians and Carthage people in Sicily in an attempt to incite the common hatred of the Carthage citizens and push the Senate to pass the proposal that "the city of Carthage once again organize an army to go to Sicily".
Time slipped away day by day in the dispute between the two sides. Although Mago, who was far away in the southern part of Iberia, was anxious, he still declined the request of the Senate to urge him to send troops immediately on the grounds of "gathering troops". After all, it was unacceptable for Mago to consume the military strength of Iberia alone and let Hanno get what he wanted.
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While the Italian Peninsula and Sicily were at war, a major event also happened in Greece.
The Sparta king, Cleombrotus, finally led the assembled Sparta allies across the Isthmus of Corinth and entered Central Greece. He summoned the various garrisons of Sparta in this area, preparing to conquer the Thebes again and restore Sparta's authority in Central Greece.
But in the process, the Sparta general, Svidellas, who was originally stationed in Thespia, was afraid of being blamed by the new Sparta king because he did not send troops to help suppress the Thebes riot. Out of the mentality of atoning for his mistakes, and out of the ambition to gain glory and compete with Phoebidas, he made a plan – to attack the port of Piraeus at night.
He believed that by seizing Athens as an important trading place, not only could he make up for the loss of the Thebes, but he could even win glory that would not lose to Phoebidas. (Although many Greek city-states secretly despised him, the citizens of Sparta still think that Phoebidas's sneak attack on the Thebes was a great achievement).
Since the messenger of the new king of Sparta was already on the way, Svidellas did not have time to make a more detailed plan. He led his troops and set off at night, heading southeast to the port of Piraeus. However, his troops were not familiar with the terrain, and he underestimated the difficulty of the journey. As a result, it was already dawn before they reached the port.
The people of Athens at the port discovered their traces and immediately mobilized for defense.
Seeing that the sneak attack had failed, Svidellas had to turn back along the way. During the retreat, the army ravaged the territory of Athens in order to get rid of the Ki.
This unprovoked provocation immediately aroused great anger in the people of Athens.
Sparta once sent an envoy to accuse two generals of Athens of participating in the Thebes riot. In order to prove their innocence, Athens executed the two generals who acted without authorization. However, the envoy of Sparta did not leave. Instead, he continued to stay in Athens, claiming that he was carrying out the order of the Sparta Council of Elders and would continue to monitor the performance of Athens in the coming days.
Now, the angry people of Athens immediately arrested the envoy of Sparta and questioned him angrily: Why did Sparta send troops to invade the territory of Athens and plunder the people of Athens for no reason?!
The envoy of Sparta, who was puzzled by the anger of the people of Athens, learned about what happened in Piraeus in the morning. In his heart, he cursed Svidellas for his audacity. He immediately explained in a loud voice that the plunder was a stupid decision of the Sparta general, and it had nothing to do with the government of Sparta!
Moreover, he firmly stated that the Council of Elders of Sparta would quickly put Svidellas on trial and give a fair explanation to the people of Athens.
The explanation of the envoy of Sparta could not completely appease the anger of the people of Athens.
The leader of Athens' politics, Thrasybulus, had died in battle a few years ago. However, in Athens, a democratic figure named Callistratus rose to prominence. Callistratus was not only a good orator, but also a very capable politician. He was elected as one of the ten generals of Athens for several years. Callistratus persuaded the people of Athens, reminding them that if Athens was not ready to go to war with Sparta, then it was better to believe the words of the envoy of Sparta.
Although the people of Athens were angry, they also knew the strength of Sparta's military. So, they finally agreed to release the envoy of Sparta.
The envoy of Sparta immediately rushed to the residence of the king of Sparta, Cleombrotus, and reported to him what had just happened in Piraeus and the protest of the people of Athens.
Only then did Cleombrotus know the stupidity of Sfordelas. In a rage, he immediately arrested Sfordelas and sent him back to Sparta.
While Sfordelas was being escorted back to Sparta, the envoy group sent by Athens also arrived in Sparta. This forced the Council of Elders and the prosecutor of Sparta to speed up the trial of the general who disobeyed orders and provoked Athens.
Sfordelas seemed to be doomed, but his son had a close relationship with Agesilaus' son, Archidamus, so he urgently asked Archidamus for help.
Archidamus did not hesitate to ask his father for mercy for his friend.
Agesilaus did not make a promise.
But in the course of the trial Agesilaus spoke for Sverdras.
He said, "Sfordelas is undoubtedly guilty, but we can't put a good man to death. Whether as a child, a young man, or an adult, this brave citizen of Sparta lived a decent life and contributed his strength to Sparta. Sparta needs such a warrior! … "
Agesilaus now had great prestige in Sparta. His speech made some neutral people in the Council of Elders choose to support Sfordelas' innocence. Some of the elders originally felt that the Sparta general should not be punished.
They believed that the riot of the Thebes had damaged the prestige of Sparta in Greece, and it was time to restore it with war. If Sparta punished its own general at this time, not only would it dampen the fighting spirit of the citizens of Sparta, but it would also make the other city-states look down on Sparta.
In the end, the Council of Elders passed the decision that Sfordelas was not guilty by a majority vote. The prosecutor who had the right to make the decision was elected from Sparta. They were younger and more radical, so of course they agreed with the decision.
The citizens of Athens were shocked when they heard the verdict of Sparta. In the face of Sparta's accusation, Athens executed two of their generals! Now, in the face of Athens' accusation, Sparta easily found the perpetrator not guilty!
The arrogance of Sparta completely enraged the citizens of Athens. They strongly demanded that the Athens government retaliate against Sparta.
Sparta's action was beyond the expectations of the generals of Athens. Since the signing of the treaty, the generals led by Callistratus and Aristoteles had adopted a neutral policy in view of Sparta's tyranny in Greece. However, they did not stay idle. They continued to establish alliances with many city-states along the coast of Thrace, the Aegean Sea, and Asia Minor. The frequent economic and trade exchanges and diplomatic assistance resulted in the strength of Athens now exceeding that of before the Corinth War.
But now, the anger of the citizens made it impossible for Athens to continue to keep a low profile. Although this was not what Callistratus wanted to see, the majority of the citizens firmly supported the declaration of war against Sparta, and Athens finally passed the resolution smoothly.
Athens' declaration of war shocked the Greek city-states. Not only did it make the Thebes feel joyful, but it also made Cleombrotus, the king of Sparta, who was preparing to attack the Thebes, uncomfortable. He was afraid that when he attacked the Thebes, the army of Athens would attack from the east, so he became hesitant to attack the Thebes.
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Camillus decisively led the army out of the city of Rome and marched west to attack Ostia.
Of course, the Devers could not let the opponent's plan succeed. He had to send the First Legion, Legio IV, Legio VI, and some soldiers of the Fifth Legion to the port of Ostia by taking the cargo ships of the Chamber of Commerce, or march along the north bank of the Tiber River to the mouth of the river, and then be ferried by warships to Ostia on the south bank. At this point, about 35000 soldiers (including the temporary reserves formed by Teris) were gathered in Ostia to defend the city from the Roman army, which had less than 60,000 soldiers.
Since the Devers still had to stay in Rome, he could only appoint Amyntas as the temporary defense commander of Ostia. After careful consideration, he believed that Amyntas, who had rich combat experience and seniority, could make the other legion commanders listen to his command, and he could completely defend this small city.
However, in order to prevent him from being impulsive, the Devers strictly ordered him to "only defend the city, and not leave the city to fight!"
In addition, the Devers also appointed Cloto Catax, who was fighting in Ostia, as Amyntas' personal staff officer. On the surface, it was to let him learn military affairs from Amyntas, but secretly, he was given a warrant. Once Amyntas acted on his own, Cloto Catax could take out the warrant to remove Amyntas from his position, and replace him with Olivers as the commander.
This was the first time Cloto Catax took on such a heavy responsibility. He gladly accepted the task, which also allowed the Devers to achieve another goal: cleverly keep his son away from the battlefield, and protect his safety.
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