Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 179: Athens participation in the war

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It turned out that although the Carthage Senate made the decision to make Marco the commander-in-chief of the Sicilian army, the elders headed by Hanno refused because of the heavy casualties of the citizens of Carthage in the last battle. The Carthaginian army then organized the army to expedition to Sicily, but suggested that the Iberian army, which had not suffered any casualties, led by Margo, should go on the expedition.

Of course, the elders headed by Preta Kuba would not agree to this proposal. While they strongly appealed to "request to be held accountable for the failure of the previous war", they also helped the allied envoys from Sicily to publicize the current situation in the city. The tragic experience of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in Sicily was an attempt to incite Carthage’s citizens to share the same hatred and anger and promote the Senate to pass the proposal of "reorganizing the army from the base city of Carthage and conquering Sicily."

Time slipped away day by day in the dispute between the two sides. Although Margo, who was far south of Iberia, was anxious, he declined the request of the Senate to urge him to send troops immediately on the grounds of "convening troops". After all, the consumption of Iberia's military strength alone allowed Hanno to get what he wanted, which was unacceptable to Margo now.

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At the time when the Italian peninsula and Sicily fell into war, a major event also happened on the mainland of Greece.

Spartan King Cleombrotus finally led the assembled Spartan allies, crossed the Isthmus of Corinth, entered Central Greece, summoned Spartan troops in this area, and prepared for another Conquer Thebes once and reshape the authority of Sparta in Central Greece.

But in the process, the Spartan general Sverdrias who originally stationed in Tespia did not send troops in time to assist in the suppression because of the previous riots in Thebes. He was afraid of being caught by the new Spartan The king’s accusation was motivated by his desire to atone for his sins and his ambition to gain glory and compete with Phoebe Das. He made a plan to attack the port of Piraeus at night.

He believes that by taking this important place of commerce in Athens, not only can he make up for the loss of Thebes, but he can even win the glory of not losing to Phoebe Das (although many Greek city-states secretly despise it, but Spartan Da citizens still believe that Phoebe Das’s successful attack on Thebes is a great feat).

Since the messenger of the new king of Sparta was already on his way, Sverdelias had no time to make more careful planning, so he led the troops to set off that night and headed towards the port of Piraeus in the southeast. , But the troops he led were unfamiliar with the terrain, and he underestimated the difficulty of this journey. As a result, the sky was already bright before reaching the port of Piraeus.

The Athenians in the port found their tracks and immediately mobilized to prepare for defense.

Sverdillas saw that the sneak attack had failed, so he had to return along the way. During the retreat, in order to get angry, the army ravaged the Athenian territory that it passed by.

Such unprovoked action immediately aroused the great anger of the Athenians.

Sparta once sent messengers to accuse the two generals of Athens of participating in the riots in Thebes. In order to prove their innocence, Athens executed these two generals who acted without permission. However, the Spartan messenger did not leave, but continued to stay in Athens, claiming to carry out the order of the Spartan Council of Elders and continue to supervise Athens' performance in the next period of time.

Now, the angry Athenians immediately arrested the Spartan messenger and asked angrily: Why did Sparta send troops to invade the territory of Athens and rob the people of Athens for no reason? !

The Spartan messenger, who was inexplicably overwhelmed by the anger of the Athenians, heard what happened in Piraeus in the morning and scolded Sverdrias for being bold. He immediately defended it loudly: this time The looting action of this Spartan general is a stupid action made by the Spartan general, and has nothing to do with the Spartan government!

Moreover, he firmly stated: The Spartan Council of Elders will quickly try Sfordrias and give Athens a fair account.

The defense of the Spartan messenger did not completely calm the anger of the Athenians.

Serasibulus, the leader of the Athens political scene, died in battle a few years ago, but in the outstanding Athens, another democrat named Callistratus came to the fore. He was not only an orator, but also He is a very capable politician who has been elected to the ten generals of Athens for several years. He persuaded the lingering Athenians and reminded them: If Athens is not ready for war with Sparta, then it is best. Believe what the Spartan messenger said.

Although the citizens of Athens were angry, they also knew the strength of the Spartan military, so they finally agreed to release the Spartan messenger.

The Spartan messenger rushed to the residence of King Cleombrotus of Sparta and reported to him what had just happened in Piraeus and the protests of the Athenians.

Cleombrotus learned of the folly of Sfordrias, and in his anger, he immediately sent someone to arrest him and send him back to Sparta.

At the same time that Sverdrias was escorted back to Sparta, the envoy sent by Athens also arrived in Sparta, which forced the Spartan Council of Elders and the prosecutors to expedite their response to this He did not obey the orders and arbitrarily provoked the trial of the generals in Athens.

Sverdelias seemed to be in a catastrophe, but his son was closely related to Archidamus, the son of Agsilius, so he urgently asked Archidamus for help.

Archidums did not hesitate to intercede with his father for his best friend.

Agsilous did not make a promise.

But during the interrogation, Agsilius spoke for Sverdillas.

He said: "Sverdrias is undoubtedly guilty, but we can’t put a good man to death. Whether it’s a child, youth, or adulthood, this heroic Spartan citizen lives A decent life, diligent and conscientious to contribute to Sparta, Sparta needs such fighters!..."

Nowadays Agsilius is very prestigious in Sparta. His speech made some neutrals in the council of elders choose to support the innocence of Sverdellas, and some elders thought that they should not Punish the Spartan general.

They believe: The Thebes' riots have damaged Sparta’s prestige in the Greek mainland. It is precisely when it is necessary to use war to regain its prestige. If Sparta punishes its generals at this time, it will not only hurt Sparta. The aggressive fighting spirit of the citizens of Bada and the self-talking approach will make other city-states look down on Sparta.

In the end, the Council of Elders passed the resolution "Sverdelias is not guilty" by a majority of votes, and the prosecutors who have the power to decide are originally selected from Spartan citizens, who are younger and more radical. Of course, I also agreed with this resolution.

The eagerly awaited citizens of Athens were shocked when they learned of Sparta’s verdict: Facing Sparta’s accusations, the Athenians executed two of their generals! Now, facing Athens’s accusation, Sparta easily acquitted the perpetrator!

The arrogance of the Spartans completely angered the citizens of Athens, and they strongly demanded that the Athens government must retaliate against Sparta.

Sparta’s approach was beyond the expectations of the Athenian generals. Since the signing of the agreement between the kings, the generals headed by Callistratus and Aristoteles considered that Sparta was on the mainland of Greece. It is tyrannical, so it adopts a neutral policy of waiting for changes. However, they did not sit idle, but continued to allow Athens to establish alliances with many city-states along the coast of Thrace, the Aegean Sea, and Asia Minor. Frequent economic and trade exchanges and diplomatic mutual assistance have led to the fact that Athens's current strength has surpassed Corinth. Before the war.

But now the anger of the citizens makes it impossible for Athens to continue keeping a low profile. Although this is not what Callistratus wants to see, most of the citizens at the citizen assembly Resolutely supported the declaration of war on Sparta, and Athens finally passed the resolution smoothly.

The declaration of war in Athens shocked the city-states in Greece. It not only made the Thebes happy, but also made the Spartan king Cleombrotus who was about to attack Thebes feel uncomfortable. He was afraid that he would do his best At the time of the attack on Thebes, the Athenian troops attacked from the east again, so they hesitated in the military action to attack Thebes.

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Camillos decisively led the army out of Rome, marching westward, attacking Ostia.

Of course, Daves couldn’t let his opponent’s plan succeed. He had to send soldiers of the First Army, Fourth Army, Sixth Army, and some of the Fifth Army, or take the cargo ship of the Chamber of Commerce to Ostia. Port, or march along the north bank of the Tiber River to the mouth of the river, and then ferry to Ostia on the south bank by warships. At this point, about 35,000 soldiers (including the temporary formation of Theis reserve) have gathered in Ostia to fully defend the siege of the Roman army, which is already less than 60,000.

Because Daves is still in Rome, he can only appoint Amintas as the temporary defensive commander of Ostia. After pondering over and over, he believes: Aminta, who has rich combat experience and old qualifications Si can make other commanders obey the command, and can also defend this small city.

However, in order to prevent him from getting hot-headed, Daves strictly ordered him to "only defend the city and not fight outside the city!"

In addition, Daves also appointed Cloto Kataks who was fighting in Ostia as Amintas’ personal staff. On the face of it, he asked him to study military affairs with Amintas, but secretly gave him With a warrant from him, once Amintas acted without authorization, Croto Kataks could take out the warrant to remove Amintas from his position and let Olivers act as the commander.

This is the first time that Croto Kataks has taken on an important task. He gladly accepted the task, which enabled Davers to achieve another goal: to cleverly keep his son away from the battlefield and protect his safety. .