Read Novel Full Chapter 1106: Thessaly in Action
Chapter 1106: Thessaly in Action
To show his sincerity, Jason halted his siege and led his army back to Pherae.
Facing a difficult choice, the people of Pharsalus ultimately decided to make one last effort, dispatching Polydamas to Sparta for help.
Before the Council of Elders in Sparta, Polydamas detailed the situation to the Spartan Elders and ephors. He also warned them, "If Sparta decides to save Thessaly, you must send your most elite troops. If you only plan to send an army of freed Helots commanded by ordinary officers up north, it would be better not to act at all. Jason not only commands a powerful army, but he is also a shrewd and visionary general. He has never lost a battle, making him a formidable rival for Sparta!"
After Polydamas finished speaking, the Spartans withheld an immediate decision, but they clearly took the matter seriously. Over the following days, they dispatched envoys to Thessaly to assess the situation while carefully tallying their overseas troop deployments.
Finally, the Council of Elders gave Polydamas a clear answer: "Respected Polydamas, Sparta's main forces are currently fighting either the Athenian Navy or the people of Thebes, so we cannot provide Pharsalus with sufficient reinforcements at this time. However, we hope the Thessalian allies led by Pharsalus will not easily surrender to Jason. If you can stubbornly resist the Pheraean army's invasion, we will dispatch powerful reinforcements to aid you the moment our war with Thebes ends!"
Noting how sparsely populated the territory was upon arriving in Sparta, Polydamas had already anticipated this outcome. When he received the Council of Elders' definitive reply, he showed no surprise or disappointment. He calmly thanked the Spartans for their frankness and set off for home.
Upon returning to Pharsalus, he immediately convened the ecclesia and informed everyone of Sparta's decision.
The disheartened citizens of Pharsalus engaged in a fierce discussion before finally reaching a decision.
Acting as envoy once more, Polydamas traveled to Pherae to meet with Jason. He presented their terms: "As long as you promise not to harm the people of Pharsalus, encroach upon our land, or destroy our acropolis, the citizens of Pharsalus are willing to become your sincere allies and help you establish your rule as tagus."
Overjoyed, Jason immediately swore an oath of alliance with Polydamas.
Afterward, Polydamas even sent his own son to Jason as a hostage.
Not long after, the people of Pharsalus, led by Polydamas, successfully persuaded their close allies one by one. In the spring of 374 BC (the nineteenth year of the Kingdom of Daunia), envoys from the various city-states of Thessaly gathered in Pharsalus and jointly elected Jason as the tagus of the Thessalians.
After becoming tagus, Jason began integrating the various city-states of Thessaly. While promising not to interfere in their internal affairs, he enacted new laws for his regime: no wars were permitted between the city-states, and any disputes had to be submitted to him for mediation and ruling; no city-state could sign treaties or join alliances, as all diplomatic affairs would be decided by him; every city-state had to pay tribute on time each year, with the exact amount determined by him based on their financial capacity; and every city-state had to provide a specific quota of cavalry and hoplites based on their respective strength. During peacetime, he would regularly train these soldiers, and in wartime, he would lead them into battle...
Additionally, adopting Polydamas's advice, he unified and reduced commercial taxes between the city-states to allow the free flow of goods. This significantly strengthened economic ties across Thessaly, allowing inland trade to gradually prosper.
By the end of that year, Jason had conscripted over 8,000 cavalry and no less than 20,000 hoplites from across Thessaly, alongside an equal number of peltasts. With his power further enhanced, he immediately issued orders to the various races and tribes in the mountains surrounding Thessaly. He demanded they pay tribute according to the amounts established decades ago during the Greco-Persian Wars by Scopas, the tagus of the Thessalians. Any who failed to pay would face a punitive expedition from his army.
Fearing Jason's terrifying might, some tribes chose to submit, but a few untamable and rebellious tribes refused his demands.
Consequently, Jason decisively led his army out to subjugate them, igniting the flames of war in Northern Greece as well.
...
At the same time Jason was elected the Thessalian Tagus, the Athenians encountered a dilemma of their own. On one hand, they watched their former enemy and neighbor, Thebes, steadily grow in power with Athenian help, yet Thebes still refused to pay tribute to support the Athenian Fleet. On the other hand, Athens's own finances were stretched to the breaking point by various military expenditures. Even under such circumstances, however, the Athenian citizens were unwilling to cut their theater subsidies.
Thus, following the proposal of chief general Callistratus and others, the ecclesia passed a resolution to independently seek peace with Sparta.
Athens quickly dispatched envoys to Sparta.
This was exactly what Sparta had been hoping for. Over the past few years, their army had been continuously fighting in Boeotia. Although they had won some minor victories, they had never managed to defeat Thebes. Instead, Thebes grew stronger while Sparta's prestige declined year by year, making the war increasingly difficult. The Athenian Navy was an even bigger headache; Sparta was completely unable to challenge it at sea. Furthermore, they could not stop Athenian warships from cruising through the waters of the Peloponnese as if strolling through their own backyard, wantonly attacking Spartan allies and posing a severe threat to Sparta's rear security.
As a result, a truce agreement between Sparta and Athens was quickly signed.
Upon receiving notification from the Executive Committee of Generals, Timotheus, the commander of the Athenian Navy fighting abroad, prepared to lead his fleet back to Athens. On the return voyage, however, he unilaterally landed on Zakynthos, took control of the island's city-state, and announced that its exiles were allowed to return. (After Zakynthos had become an ally of Sparta, it had expelled the Democratic Faction with Spartan support.)
Upon learning this news, Sparta concluded that Athens had violated the truce. They called upon their allies to jointly fund a fleet to protect the interests of all allied states within these waters.
At the same time, Sparta ordered their newly appointed commander to lead this fleet on an expedition against Korkyra.
Under attack, the people of Korkyra hastily pleaded with Athens for help.
Athens could not allow Korkyra, which had just joined the Maritime Alliance, to be bullied by the Spartans; otherwise, as the leader of the Maritime Alliance, Athens would inevitably lose the trust of its member states. Moreover, Korkyra boasted a uniquely advantageous geographical position. It controlled the Gulf of Corinth as well as the coastal city-states south of Corcyra Island, making it the perfect stronghold for launching western raids against the Peloponnese. It was also a mandatory waypoint on the vital trade routes between the western Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean, meaning Athens absolutely could not give it up.
For various reasons, the citizens of Athens did not elect Timotheus as the fleet commander this time, but instead chose Iphicrates, one of the Athenian generals.
Consequently, the truce reached between Athens and Sparta lasted only a few months before war broke out once again.
...
While the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea was continuously ravaged by war, the western side presented a scene of peace and prosperity.
Entering September, after celebrating the autumn harvest, the Theonians eagerly looked forward to the rapidly approaching Festival of Hades. Every day, tens of thousands of people flooded into Thurii, the largest city in the western Mediterranean, keeping the heart of the Kingdom of Daunia bustling and boiling with constant cheers.
It was amid this lively, stiflingly joyful atmosphere that Ocreton entered the Inner District of Thurii.
He had not served as an envoy to Daionia since the Western Mediterranean War. The only reason he had come to Thurii this time was that the Theonians had sent an invitation demanding Carthage send a representative. Because the Hanno faction had urgent matters to discuss with Daionia, they had forcefully assigned Okriton—who was somewhat familiar with Daionia—to attend the Festival of Hades.
Although Ocreton had represented Carthage in negotiations with Daionia many times in the past, he had never actually been to Thurii. The shock this massive city of hundreds of thousands delivered to him was even greater than what Haca had experienced when he first visited, considering the transient population during the festival was far higher than usual.
Standing at the bow of the ship and gazing at the bustling docks along both banks of the Crati River, he could not help but wonder: if Carthage had won that war, would the City of Carthage also look like this?!
But facts could not be altered; overthinking it would only add to his frustrations. Moreover, the more prosperous Thurii grew, the more it highlighted the dominance of the Kingdom of Daunia, which would undoubtedly add considerable difficulty to the upcoming negotiations... Frowning, Okriton sank into deep thought.
His ship sailed toward the Inner District of Thurii but stopped outside the harbor. Since many ships were already docked inside and busy unloading their cargo, there were no spare piers available for the moment. Consequently, quite a few passenger ships were lined up waiting outside the docks. Arriving last, the Carthaginian passenger ship had no choice but to wait at the back of the line.
An attendant beside Okriton took a small boat ashore to gather information. Upon returning, he reported, "My lord, I've found out what's going on. The ships currently unloading belong to the Etruscan fleet. They arrived with twenty ships. I heard that most of their vessels are loaded with bronze wares, blankets, fabrics, gold and silver goods, olive oil, wine, and other merchandise. I even overheard a few Iberian sailors bragging on the docks that their alliance forged a Golden Crown for the King of Daonia, inlaid with quite a few gemstones..."