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After a discussion, they decided to first observe the development of the situation. After all, the Greeks leaving the seaside to occupy the mountains of the indigenous people, has no successful precedent in the history of Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean. Even if Thua Union captured Nerulum, how will they suppress the resistance in a mountainous area full of Lucanians? That is the big question.

At the same time, the city hall decided to send merchant ships to establish trade relations with Pyxous as much as possible, to keep up to date of the developments in Lucania.

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

Ephesus, located on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, is a famous city of the kingdom of Lydia. It was said that Ephesus was built by the Athenian colonists around 900 B.C. after hundreds of years of development, it, along with Miletus in the south and Samos, became the three most dazzling pearls among the Greek city-states in Asia Minor.

At the center of the triangle formed by the three prosperous city-states is mount Mykale, on which there is a sanctuary “Panionium”, which means the sanctuary of all the Ionians. It was once the place where the Greeks of Asia Minor gathered to celebrate their alliance. Although it has lost its former glory, it is still a place where the Greeks of Asia Minor often go to worship. At the same time, the influence of another temple is increasing day by day. This is the temple of Artemis, the masterpiece built in Ephesus.

A hundred years ago, when Ephesus was still attached to Lydia, it had become the trade center of Asia Minor. Citizens of various city-states flocked to Ephesus. After they finished doing their business and work, they would naturally pay homage to the temple for spiritual comfort. As a result, the Ephesians found that the original altar could no longer meet the demand, and the believers often had conflicts in order to occupy a good place to pray. Therefore, the construction of a temple became a top priority. At that time, the rich king of Lydia, Croesus, donated generously (this king, who later donated a large sum of money to Delphi to seek the Oracle, and was misled into fighting with Persia and finally perished.) And a new temple was built on the original crude location of the altar, and the most famous architect and sculptors at that time were invited to design the temple.

The temple that was built is 100 meters long and 55 meters wide, with 127 huge columns of 18 meters high supporting the huge roof of the temple. The whole temple was basically made of huge stones with a length of 5~8 meters high, which is magnificent and heavy. In the temple, the bronze statue of Artemis is 2 meters high, with a crown on her head and a bow in her hand, she had a kind face and a vivid expression. There is no roof above her, so the believers can look up to the sky and be together with the goddess in the temple….

After the completion of the temple of Artemis, it soon became another holy land for the Greeks in Asia Minor. Even though the destruction of the kingdom of Lydia and the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war and many other events happened successively, it did not diminish its status. And there are still an endless stream of Greeks who came to worship every day for hundreds of years.

On this day, a brawny Greek came to the temple in a hurry. He looked around and went straight along with the crowd to the temple’s entrance.

The temple is too big, and the steps alone consist of dozens of steps. After climbing the steps, he was a bit short of breath even though he is physically trained.

“Timasion!” He heard a familiar voice shouting in front of him.

As he went along the flow of people, a man in purple chiton stood at the entrance of the temple and waved at him.

“Agasias?!” Timasion walked towards this man, who had a seemingly extraordinary bearing, in disbelief.

“Call me lord Agasias! I am now a statesman of the Senate of Thua Union!” Agasias shook his sleeve, which exposed his left hand, then gently held his sleeve*, (this is the so-called aristocratic action often performed by the statesmen of Thurii in their meeting.) jokingly.

“You really have become a…master of a city-state?!” Timasion looked at him and asked in a trembling voice.

“Not just a city-state, but a master of two city-states!” Agasias held out two fingers and carefully explained, “Davos is the archon for life of these two city-states!”

“The archon for life?! This is hard to believe….” Murmured Timasion, it must be known that it has only been more than half a year, and the memory of their parting from Davos was still very clear, and yet now, there is a big difference between himself and Davos!

“I am telling the truth! If you don’t believe me, Artemis can be the witness. I will go inside and pledge an oath to her!” Said Agasias seriously, while pointing to the temple behind him.

Timasion shook his head and looked at Agasias thoughtfully, “I believe you! What do you want that you have come all the way here to see me?”

“Although we have successfully changed our status, we have not forgotten our comrades, who had brave countless dangers together!” Agasias held out his hand and said sincerely, “Archon Davos had sent me to invite you to Magna Graecia!”

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

Thimbron has been holding his anger back lately.

Since the time he was sent to Asia Minor by the Gerousia(Spartan council of elders) as the harmost of Asia Minor, he had led the army against Tissaphernes, the Satrap of Asia Minor, and had captured many Persian cities. And had forced Tissaphernes to not dare attack the Greek city-states in Asia Minor, and had thought that he had done a great job for Sparta, but because he had encountered some difficulties when besieging Larissa, and had failed to attain victory after a few months, and had instead, suffered some small losses, and in the end, that damned inspector had actually asked him to give up Larissa and attack the Kairan area instead! He was indignant; however, he didn’t dare to not obey.

Since the end of the Peloponnesian war, Lysander had gained great prestige because of him defeating the Athenian navy. In order to strengthen his power, he had put forward a number of bills to the Gerousia and had it passed. One of them was to expand the power of the inspector, so that these civilian-born inspectors could go out with the army and find faults, whether they were ordinary strategoi or kings, and to question them any time. If the problem is serious, they can also propose to the Gerousia for punishment.

So Thimbron was then forced to return to Ephesus, where he was going to rest for a while, and then set out to attack Kaira. However, within a few days, he had received bad news: Several Greek city-states in Asia Minor had sent messengers to Sparta, accusing him of allowing his soldiers to plunder the allies of Sparta in Asia Minor.

At first, he was angry and threw all the valuable statues in the living room, and then he was worried about the gain and loss because what the messengers of Asia Minor had complained about was true. At the beginning, he brought 5,300 soldiers to Asia Minor, including a thousand liberated Helots, 4,000 other Peloponnesian people, and 300 Athenian cavalries. After arriving in Asia Minor, with the help of the allies, many soldiers were recruited, and most of them were mercenaries who had participated in the expedition to Persia with Cyrus the Younger, which made his troops reach 15,000 soldiers. However, there was hardly any real Spartan soldier in this huge troop, and the salaries of so many soldiers cannot be sustained for a long time with only the donations of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor. Therefore, it is inevitable to plunder the occupied Persian cities and territories. However, when the troops passed through their allies, the mercenaries who had become accustomed to plundering couldn’t control their limbs, and started looting their compatriots’ property, which had happened frequently. Thimbron, however, did not use military discipline to restrain them, and had instead thought that, ‘Since we are fighting hard for you, it is proper to have you pay a price!’

And now, the revenge of the Greeks in Asia Minor is coming.

That night, Thimbron couldn’t sleep.

The next day, the inspector, Cheirisophus, came over and told him coldly, “Thimbron, the Gerousia has sent Dercylidas to take over your position, and you have to go back to Sparta for a trial! You must stay in this house for now, and you are not allowed to leave until Dercylidas arrives!”

Thimbron sat down and watched as Cheirisophus arranged soldiers to guard his door. He couldn’t restrain himself from shouting, “Don’t worry, I won’t run away like Clearchus! Even if I go back to Sparta for a trial, I will be acquitted!”

Without looking at him, Cheirisophus replied, “I hope so!”

Cheirisophus came out of Thimbron’s house and was finally relieved. For the Gerousia to investigate Thimbron, he is very welcome, because he was the one behind it.

The reason for why he did this was because he knew very well that Sparta had made great determination and had spent a lot of money to fight against Persia, which includes strategic considerations. The radical faction in Sparta that was led by Lysander, believed that they should go out of the narrow Greek territory and extend their influence to the more vast and rich Asia Minor, defeat the Persians, and become the patron of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor, and then become the hegemon of the eastern Mediterranean and fulfill the dream of the Spartans from generation to generation. It was precisely because Cheirisophus had traveled with the expeditionary forces to the interior of Persia, and had seen the vast and rich Mesopotamian plain, that he was in favor of the radicals and deeply understood the hard work of Lysander. But Thimbron was a pure Spartan soldier, he did not think anything except fighting and killing. He attacked the Persians while conniving at the soldiers plundering their allies. And so, the allies in Asia Minor had complained about Thimbron’s troops and began to feel dissatisfied with Sparta.

Seeing that more than half a year’s effort would be in vain, Cheirisophus had admonished Thimbron several times, but Thimbron first pretended to listen, but did not carry it out. Later, he just simply refused to listen.

In desperation, Cheirisophus secretly encouraged the allies in Asia Minor to file a complaint in Sparta, and now, his goal has been achieved. As for the coming Dercylidas, he has always been known for his resourcefulness. He is a Spartan strategos who can think with his head, and Cheirisophus believes that he will not make the same mistake as Thimbron and will cooperate well with himself.

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