"Thank you, sir. I will try my best to cause as little trouble as possible to your country."
With that, Lysander rode out of the harbor and soon disappeared from sight.
Chapter 8: Completed City-State
The place where the Spartans lived was a place called Neapolis.
But it is also a densely populated area.
Syracuse is very large, to a terrifying degree, but the current range of the city wall only includes half of the current Syracuse city area. The city of Syracuse can be roughly divided into four parts. One is Ortygia Island, where the Corinthians landed and established a colony, and it is also the core area of Syracuse. The other is Akaradena, which is an area outside Ortygia Island. About sixty years ago, the Syracuse people at that time built a new city wall and included this area within the city wall.
Until now...Although Akaradena was already very large, it could not accommodate the large population of Syracuse, so many people built houses outside the city walls, forming two residential areas. One is Neapolis and the other is Epipolina. These two places are still large enough to accommodate the 40,000 Spartans who came to Syracuse.
However, the Spartans who had just arrived.
It would be impossible to live in a stone or mud house.
They could only set up tents here.
With the aid of supplies provided by Syracuse, more than 40,000 Spartans set up camps one after another near the wasteland close to the Syracusan settlement. The arrival of these Spartans did not cause the Syracusans to worry. The Syracusans knew that they came to Syracuse for refuge because they were protected by the gods. In addition, the Spartans had a great reputation and were allies of the Corinthians during the Peloponnesian War, so they had a much better impression of the Spartans.
The Spartans had never been so miserable. They lived on the basis of exploiting the helots, and when they came here, there were no slaves to provide them with food. Syracuse could provide the Spartans with food for a period of time, but it also arranged a piece of wasteland for the Spartans to cultivate and grow food. The Syracusans could not support tens of thousands of Spartans for no reason.
For the Spartans.
This is the most difficult moment.
Although they were grateful for the help of the Syracusans.
However, they had no idea how to farm, and they were confused when they looked at the farm tools and wasteland.
Finally, Dionysius arranged for people to help the Spartans cultivate the land. It was not far from the time to plant wheat. The Spartans would live here for at least a year, so they had to plant wheat seeds in the winter. The Spartans, who had to oppress the helots every day to survive, now had to plant the fields themselves.
The Spartans had just settled down in Syracuse.
On Hilde's side.
With the surrender of Argolis and other places.
Hilde's next target is Sparta.
Hilde was not in a hurry. She led the army and did not enter Laconia from Argolis, but took a detour and entered Arcadia. Arcadia is a basin terrain, relatively closed, and the residents here are almost all native Greeks who have existed since the Mycenaean period. Arcadia is a typical agricultural area with fertile soil. It is an important grain production area and the granary of the Spartans. When Hilde led the First Legion, the Second Legion and the Guards, a total of 40,000 people, to come here, the Arcadians also warmly welcomed Hilde's arrival.
Spartan oppression of Arcadia.
The Acadians could no longer bear it.
Now, the person who can save them from the fire and water has finally appeared!
There are no big city-states in Arcadia, but more villages and small city-states, which is in line with Hilde's ideal agricultural area. As long as the productivity of Arcadia can be improved, the food produced in this place is estimated to be enough for the people of the entire Greek region.
The boundless plains here made Hilde feel relaxed and happy.
This is very rare in mountainous Greece.
No wonder this place is called a utopia.
The pastoral scenery of Arcadia made Hilde feel relaxed and happy, so much so that he lingered there. The army stayed in Arcadia, and Hilde ate fresh honey toast and tender lamb, and had a good time here. Of course, the soldiers under his command also benefited from it. The 40,000-man army had a good meal. Of course, Hilde paid for all this. Although Arcadia was rich in supplies, it could not afford Hilde's waste.
After eating and drinking enough.
Hilde stayed in Arcadia.
Then he sent an envoy to Sparta.
What we need to do now is the ultimatum.
And a few days later.
Hilde was lying by the river, enjoying the quiet autumn scenery of Arcadia.
The wind blowing around, with the faint smell of the earth and the fragrance of the river, made Hilde feel like she was in a dream. The scenery and water in Arcadia are indeed better than any other place I have ever been to. Even Byzantium and Scythia cannot compare to the scenery of Arcadia, a paradise on earth. Of course, the main reason why Hilde was in such a good mood was that she could finally teach the Spartans a lesson. Now, the time left for the Spartans is running out.
Just waiting for the ultimatum.
See how the Spartans react.
"Sissi."
At this time, Sophia came quickly.
"The messenger has returned."
"Oh? Let him come over."
"No, you don't have to come..." Sophia said nervously, "Sparta is an empty city now."
"..."
Hilde sat up suddenly.
"Empty city?"
"Yep."
"No, that's impossible. How could it be an empty city?"
"The messenger said so, and he thought it was impossible, so he took his men to venture in and explore. As a result, he found that Sparta was indeed an empty city. There were messy things everywhere. Only the Spartan helots were still looking for food in the city. Later, the messenger captured a few helots and asked them about it. Only then did he know that the Spartans had evacuated Sparta half a month ago. Everyone had left."
"what???"
Hilde was completely stunned.
Spartans, ran away after only half a month?
Where can you run to!?
"No, no."
"That's true. I don't think the messenger would lie."
“This is not a question of lying…”
The eighth chapter, the ninth chapter, the devastated empty city
The messenger would not be bored enough to make such a joke.
Hilde is still aware of this.
But, did these guys really run away?
Hilde's mind was a little confused.
The population of Sparta was not large, but there were still 60,000 people. Sixty thousand people in a city all left the city within half a month. This was indeed absurd. However, since the envoy reported back that this was the situation, it meant that the real situation should also be like this... So, Hilde didn't care about so much. She stood up and hurried to her tent to summon the envoy who was on this mission to Sparta.
The messenger then told him everything he knew.
According to the feedback from the messenger.
When he arrived in Sparta, he could not see a single Spartan soldier. Instead, there were some scattered garbage on the road, such as broken pottery jars and discarded linen clothes, which looked messy. When he arrived around the city of Sparta, the flags hanging in the city had disappeared, leaving only bare poles. The iconic symbol of Sparta had also disappeared. If the messenger had not repeatedly checked the map, he would have thought that he had gone to the wrong city and had gone to a place that had become an empty city.
Afterwards, the messenger mustered up his courage and went directly into Sparta, only to find that the entire city had become an empty city. The doors and windows of those buildings were tightly closed, but many of the doors were broken, as if they had been destroyed by external forces. The roads were full of abandoned carts, cans, and all kinds of garbage. At this time, several ragged slaves rushed out of a house, and when they saw the fully armed messenger and his group, they turned around and ran away. In the end, the messenger caught these people and after some questioning, he learned the truth of the matter.
The Spartans were long gone.
Half a month ago, the Spartans suddenly began to move. They set out from Sparta in large numbers, carrying whatever luggage they could carry with them, heading south. All the Spartan flags were also taken away. In just a few days, the entire Sparta city became an empty city, and these enslaved helots came here to look for food and wealth, after all, their oppressors had disappeared.
"That's it..."
After listening to the messenger's words.
Hilde thought about it carefully.
"In that case, the Spartans ran away."
"But where can they go?"
"The south."
"The South? Where is that?"
"I don't know where it is. We can't escape to the island of Kythera. The Spartans shouldn't be that stupid."
Kythera is an island located at the southern tip of the Peloponnese Peninsula, an area controlled by the Spartans. However, the island is not big, and it is meaningless for the Spartans to escape there, which is equivalent to locking themselves up on the island. The island cannot support the entire Spartan city... So, after thinking about it, Hilde came up with a very bold idea.
"Could it be..."
"Do you have any ideas?"
Sophia looked at Hilde curiously.
"These people, are they not going to go to a far place by boat?"
"This……"
"That's impossible. There are 60,000 Spartans, and a galley can only carry 100 people at most. Even if the Spartans rowed the oars themselves and drove away the slaves, there would only be 300 people on a ship. For 60,000 people, at least 200 large triremes are needed. But the entire Peloponnesian coalition did not have so many large ships. If they had so many ships, they would not have been chased and attacked by the Athenian navy."
"Anyway, if we go there in person, won't we know?"
"Yes."
Hilde slammed the table.
"Then go there in person."
Now, Hilde was eager to find out what had happened that allowed these people to slip away from under his nose.
That’s tens of thousands of people.
So Hilde immediately gathered the troops, and she asked Tomyris to lead the second legion from Arcadia to Messenia to liberate the place. She herself took Rhodes and Sophia from Arcadia to Laconia and headed straight for Sparta.
Three days passed on the road.
Hilde's army is about to arrive in Sparta.
"My God..."
In the fields around Sparta, there were people busy, but the simple clothes of these people showed that they were helots left behind by the Spartans. They looked very thin and were looking for food in the fields. When they saw Hilde's army, these helots hid far away, their eyes full of fear and curiosity.
Helots, also known as Helots, were state-owned slaves of Sparta and were serfs. These people were the natives of Laconia and Messenia. When the Dorians from the north moved south and ruled this area, they turned the natives into serfs and have been ruling until today. Their lives were quite bleak, and the Spartans' exploitation of them was completely inhumane. However, it was precisely because of the large number of helots that the Spartans, who were afraid of helot riots, gradually turned into a system of universal military service in order to prevent helots.
And now, perhaps this has caused a certain degree of famine.
"When the Spartans left, they took all the food from the granaries."
"This should be."
"..."
Hilde looked at the hungry Helot and sighed helplessly.
"Even if you leave, please don't cause us so much trouble."
"Sissi, the city of Sparta is just ahead."
Sophia pointed forward.
Hilde could sense that there were no gods or oracles in the city.
This was Hilde's first time seeing Sparta.
It was the first time Hilde had seen a city without walls. If it weren't for the magnificent temple inside, Hilde would have thought it was a small village. However, this was the famous Sparta, the Sparta that the Greek world feared. Looking at this scene, Hilde couldn't help but be a little surprised, because the scene in sight was exactly the same as what the messenger described. Because this was just... an empty city.
Nothing at all.
The flag is gone too.
There is also garbage on the roads.
"I didn't expect that when we entered the city of Sparta, it would feel like this."
"Indeed." Sophia was still a little disappointed. "I thought we would be welcomed by the Spartans."
"You think we are in Argolis and Corinth? The Spartans will not welcome us." Hilde smiled. "Anyway, we are lucky that this city was not burned down by the helots."
Chapter 8: The Liberated Helots
These helots hated the Spartans, and if the Spartans ran away, they would probably destroy the city to vent their hatred, but at present, the famine situation made them have no extra energy to do this. Or they might think that the Spartans could come back anytime and anywhere, and if they did anything against the rules, they might be directly eliminated by the Spartans.
Hilde also felt sorry for these people.
Although Helots were serfs.
