Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

The Spartans knew the strategic importance of the Chalkidiki Peninsula in Northern Greece, nicknamed ‘Poseidon's trident’ from its trident-like shape. It’s stuck in the middle of an important route from Greece to the Black Sea. So when the Gerousia heard the messenger say, ‘Olynthus is actively sending people to contact Thebes and Athens.’, the Gerousia had almost unanimously passed the resolution of ‘rescuing Macedonia.’

But they also had another important point, which the kings and the elders of Sparta tacitly understood and didn't say: That is, they needed Macedonia, an ally in the north, to cooperate with Sparta to squeeze out the space of Thebes and Athens, the two powerful city-states in central Greece. At the same time, Macedonia's massive source of troops and powerful cavalry was exactly what Sparta needed.

After deciding to send troops, Agesilaus stood up and said solemnly, “I think we'd better confirm another crucial matter before sending troops to Chalkidiki.”

When he said that, the elders in the meeting hall’s expressions changed as they all knew what Agesilaus meant by a crucial matter: The ten-year treaty with Theonia would end in a few months. Hence the Gerousia had been discussing the issue of whether to continue or conclude their treaty with Theonia, which resulted in an intense debate in the past few days.

On the one hand, the radical elders, led by the young Spartan king, Agesipolis, believed that after the end of the Corinthian War, Sparta no longer needed to worry about Theonia becoming a problem after re-emerging as the hegemon of Greece. On the contrary, they should restrain Theonia's expansion and not let it conquer Apulia, which was only separated from the Peloponnese by the Adriatic Sea. Since they would threaten the security of Sparta's territory, as they are, after all, a ‘Greek’ kingdom that disregards Sparta's authority and even dared threaten Sparta.

On the other hand, the conservative elders led by Agesilaus(who are more cautious on issues involving Theonia) believed that: Although Sparta became the hegemon of Greece again, they had relied on ‘The King's Peace’ and unlike before the Corinthian War, Sparta had not only weakened, but their prestige had also declined. Hence Thebes, Athens and other city-states may rise to fight Sparta at any time. So before completely suppressing and integrating the cities in Greece, they should not provoke this powerful kingdom but also prevent Theonia from interfering with Sparta from exercising the authority they got in ‘The King's Peace’ in Greece. Hence they must renew the treaty!

“King Agesilaus, our treaty with Theonia won't end until January next year, so there is no need to hastily decide as we still have a full four months to think this important issue through.” Agesipolis' uncle, Praxitas, calmly said, “After all, this matter is too crucial that concerns Sparta's development in the following ten years. Thus we must be careful!”

“It is precisely because of its importance that relates to Sparta's development in the next ten years and the war we are about to launch that I want us to make a decision as soon as possible!” Agesilaus frankly said.

“What we are about to wage against the Chalkidian League isn't a war but just a battle. Once our army sets foot on Chalkidiki Peninsula, only a crushing defeat awaits the Olynthians.” The already 30 years old, Agesipolis said confidently. He had grown up from a young and new king to a king that the Spartan warriors recognised. After experiencing a lot of battles and having even led an army to destroy Mantineia, it allowed him to win a lot of praise. And his youthfulness was particularly conspicuous while standing in the middle of a group of elders in their sixties and seventies.

Unlike the highly spirited Agesipolis, the already more than fifty years old Agesilaus, who was lame, with grey hair and a bent back, said calmly, “War is unpredictable. Otherwise, the battle to help our ally, Phocis, ten years ago wouldn't have unexpectedly turned into a war that lasted for ten years that made us rely on our former enemy, Persia, to end the war that consumed too much of our strength…”

Agesilaus' words caused the elders to look back on the past and then sigh from time to time.

“Now, our warriors will leave the Peloponnese to the Chalkidiki Peninsula, a region north of Greece where we have never fought before. I also heard the situation there is quite complicated, not only with internal rivalries between city-states, but it also involved the two populous regions, Macedonia and Thessaly. Even Thebes and Athens have relations with them, so will our intervention trigger a new war? Thus we must stay alert!” Agesilaus' words made the elders think.

“Since going to Chalkidiki might produce such terrible results, why did you support it just now, King Agesilaus?” Praxitas sneered at Agesilaus.

Unfortunately, Agesilaus remained unperturbed as he retorted, “I supported the expedition out of Sparta's interest. If the Chalkidian League continued to grow unchecked, then other Greek city-states would follow its example and ally with each other, which would not only turn our ‘The King's Peace’ ineffective but also shake Sparta's prestige in Greece. Moreover, by enlisting Macedonia and conquering the Greek city-states on Chalkidiki, we would be able to occupy the maritime route towards the Black Sea, which would allow us to frighten Athens from opposing Sparta in the future. So to be on the safe side, we must continue our treaty with Theonia before setting out to ensure that Theonia won't intervene when the war in northern Greece expands.

And even after conquering Chalkidiki, there are still Argos, Athens, Thebes…these city-states that harbour resentment against us. It would also take time for us to return Sparta's prosperity it had after the Peloponnesian War. Thus, I don't want… another ‘Persia situation’ similar to that in the Corinthian War to appear in the western Mediterranean while we strive for great developments in Sparta during this time! And once we renewed our treaty with Theonia, judging from the previous ten years, the Theonians would continue keeping their promises…”

“Although we want to renew our treaty, Theonia might not agree to its renewal.” Praxitas said coldly.

“That would be enough to detect if Theonia harbours malice against Sparta, and we can also take precautions in advance.” Agesilaus calmly replied.

“It's detrimental to Sparta's prestige if we take the initiative to go to the colonies to renew the treaty with Theonia! So why don't we ask Theonia to send someone to Sparta for the treaties' renewal?!” Agesipolis said with reluctance.

After watching the Spartan king, who was side by side with him, a faint smile appeared on Agesilaus as he persuaded him in an elderly tone, “We have an old saying that ‘A splendid garment isn't as durable as a sturdy, coarse cloth.’ Since we have already taken the initiative to make peace with Persia, the sworn enemy of Greece for decades that caused us to garner criticism, then why should we care about such things when making a trip to Magna Graecia?! Wasn't we the one who took the initiative to ask for a treaty with Theonia during the Corinthian War?!”

Agesilaus' words caused the elders to nod, while Agesipolis could not refute them. Although Agesilaus had narrowly taken the throne back then and his biggest supporter, Lysander, died in battle just after a few years, the Gerousia hadn't abandoned him. On the contrary, his influence in Sparta continued growing after more than a decade of management, especially in the Gerousia. And even though these Spartan elders were brave soldiers when they were young, they are now elderly in their sixties and seventies, so most prefer stability than taking risks.

And since Agesilaus is a king who prefers tactics over fists and is the first to propose peace with Persia, the Gerousia had mostly agreed on ‘going to Theonia to immediately discuss the renewal of the treaty’ when voting on this matter.

Then they quickly selected the delegate responsible for signing the treaty with Theonia, which was Cheirisophus.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

In the Sikeloi town in central Sicily, many Sikeloi tribal chieftains gathered again.

And the one sitting at the top was Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian tribe. After glancing at the crowd, he loudly said, “Chieftains, news had come from Thurii that Theonia caught Ladician, Lasiperatus and the others and would soon be tried. Hence those things we did before must also be known by the Theonians, so they might start preparing their army and declare war on us!”

As soon as he said that, a huge commotion arose in the crowd.

The chieftains were shocked, causing one of them to stand and ask uneasily, “Chieftain Archonis, is this news accurate, or it's just a rumour?”

“If I said it is accurate, what would you do? Chieftain Zemathis!” Archonis fiercely stared at him as if he was about to eat him.

“It is, of course…of course, send someone to explain to Theonia's Senate…” Zemathis said hesitantly.

“Explain what?!” Apides, another chieftain closely related to Archonis, said with scornful sarcasm, “Explain why you want to annex the other tribes and take their wives to be your concubines?!”

Then scornful laughter came from the chieftains next to him.

“It's no use to beg the Theonians for mercy!” Archonis slammed his fist on the armrest, stood up and looked at the chieftains. He then loudly said, “Look at how Theonia treated alien races! They annexed Lucania! Annexed Bruttii! Forcefully annexed Messapi! Annex Peuceti! Now they are even annexing Dauni! Theonia will not allow alien races to exist independently! Maybe we, Sikelois, are the next target for annexation in the eyes of the greedy king of Theonia! And since we had violated the treaty and attacked and annexed the other tribes, he already had an excuse to wage war. Maybe, Theonia's troops are already on their way to Sicily!…”

The chieftains were in an uproar again as everyone discussed anxiously.

Then a chieftain immediately asked, “Archonis, what should we do then?!”