Just a word of warning. The next few chapters has a lot of diplomatic activity, so I'm really sorry if you do get a bit confused.
Sorry for the double post!
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Chapter One: The Unravelling Of Peace.
Sparta basked in a warm spring afternoon, as a special meeting of the assembly was taking place in the grand city of Sparta. Throughout the agora many men were in attendance sitting in an oval arena, with the attending citizens and speakers numbered several thousand. The gerousia: thirty men elected from the aristocratic nobles and citizens of Sparta were in attendance as they awaited Clearidas' arrival.
“How come we have been called in for a special session?” asked a grizzled man. A tall, but stocky person next to the one eyed Spartan, turned to look at him.
“It’s supposed to be something about the treaty, I guess,” was the reply. The disfigured Spartan who had asked the question was bemused.
“Treaty?” he coughed. “I thought that business had already been approved? Both Athens and Sparta agreed to peace and now we can enjoy life,” The skinny man sighed and shook his head. This grizzled man epitomized the warrior Spartan: brave, but sometimes not very smart.
“There has been trouble regarding the peace of Nicias,” he replied. The one eyed person looked confused.
“The peace treaty, you damn fool!” the tall man replied.
“Don’t call me a fool,” the one eye man growled. “My name is Ajax. I lost my eye at Naupactus. So tell me, why is the apella discussing the peace treaty?” The tall man looked at Ajax’s eye with some unease. But he began to speak knowing if he kept on staring at the man’s eye then blood would be split very quickly.
“Well, Ajax,” he began. “A few weeks after the treaty was approved by both sides, a lot of complications have seemed to arise. The Thracian towns have refused to hand over the towns to Sparta and Clearidas is rumoured to not want to force those rebelling towns to be handed over to Athens.
“If Brasidas was here he would know what to do,” Ajax chuckled. “He would draw his sword and smite any Athenian in his way!” The tall man smiled in agreement.
“Aye, he would,” he replied. But before Ajax could tell tales of his memories at sea a loud hush descended across the agora. From the mob of Spartans that surrounded the arena a man came forward to address the crowd. He wore his military uniform, with his helmet perched along his hand and his sword sheathed. As he walked forward the dull sound of his gear clinking reverberated across the silent room. As he stopped he saluted to the ephors of Sparta.
“Clearidas, commander of the Spartan forces at Thrace!” boomed the lead ephor. “You are hereby called to Sparta to answer charges that you are deliberately inciting the towns in Thrace to rebel against the treaty that stipulates all Thracian towns are to be handed over to Athens. Why is this?”
“I have no control over the Thracian towns!” Clearidas replied defiantly. “I only control Amphipolis for I was ordered to go there during the attack on Thrace. All the commanders that were sent to the Thracian towns so to administer it are now dead,” There was the usual murmuring amongst the Spartan citizens. They did agree with Clearidas’ case and so did the ephors.
“But I also ask of you to change one of the points in the treaty. The Athenians did allow us to mediate if there were things that we did not mutually agree on?” Clearidas enquired. Many were now intrigued at this suggestion. There were those in Sparta who knew that peace had to be sought, but there were a small minority that were committed to the destruction of the Athenian Empire.
“You may ask your request,” said one of the ephors.
“Thank you,” Clearidas replied curtly. “I know the peace of Nicias says I must hand over Amphipolis. But what if the other Thracian towns are against it? If the presence of the Peloponnesian army in Thrace is gone then violence could flare up once again. I move that if I cannot restore Amphipolis to Athens then Peloponnesians are not permitted to leave the city,” There was a small hush and then a crescendo of cheers. The ephors looked at one another.
“Your request is agreed,” was the reply. Clearidas smiled. He wanted Amphipolis to be under Spartan control, but knew he had to tread carefully for Athens could unleash war. However his bluff had worked. But by deciding not to restore Amphipolis immediately to Athens Sparta had broken the treaty.
The allies of Sparta also were furious at the treaty and completely rejected the agreement. The Megarians were angry that the Athenians could keep the town of Nisaea, a lucrative trade route to the rich lands of the east. Elis rejected the peace for they still had a dispute with Sparta. Corinth had lost considerable power during the war with their colonies of Potidaea in Thrace along with Sollium and Athens with her allies had captured Anactorium in the northwest.
The Boeotians led by the powerful Thebans rejected the handover of the border fort along their frontier with Athens or even exchange prisoners. Theban prestige had risen since the start of the war after their victories at Delium and wanted Athens’ power to be destroyed. To do this they would need to be at war and not peace. The Spartans were worried. Their allies didn’t want peace and were eager to bear arms to Athens. It was here that the people of Sparta adopted a radical solution.
A dispatch rider arrived on horseback as he surveyed the magnificent city of Corinth. The horseman galloped through the paved streets, past the city guards and to the rich quarter where the elites of Corinth resided. It was here that his master lives, a Corinthian magistrate and a veteran who fought at Sybota as a naval captain. The rider would make sure he would tell the Corinthian of what had happened.
“What did the Spartans do!” said a Corinthian envoy spluttering his wine. “They offered an alliance to the Athenians?” The rider nodded.
“A fifty year defensive alliance,” he answered. “Both states are to defend each other from attack against an enemy, which will be viewed as a opponent of the alliance. The Athenians have agreed to it and even have handed over the prisoners they took at Pylos,” The Corinthian shook his head ruefully. The Spartans were trying to wriggle their way out of the problem of the Argives and internal problems within the Peloponnesian League. The envoy had been one of the witnesses to the signing of the peace. He had been annoyed by Sparta’s willingness to peace when Corinth had suffered greatly and had lost colonies to the wretched Athenians.
“So, Sparta tries to hark back to the days when Greece was united with alliance against their once close ally, the Athenians?” he chuckled, taking a large swig of wine. “Wait one moment, will you?” The envoy ran into the main villa, for both of them were outside enjoying the radiant sun. After a while he arrived with a letter.
“You have done your job well, rider!” he replied to the messenger. “But I have another task for you. I need you to ride to Argos,”
“Argos?” the rider grumbled, tired after his journey into Athens. “What would you have me do there?”
“To rendezvous with the magistrates of Argos,” the Corinthian replied, handing him the letter. “The seal that binds this scroll is important, rider! Do not open it while you journey across the Peloponnesus,”
“My name is Aromas!” the young rider said impatiently. “So you can stop calling me rider,” The envoy growled. He didn’t have time for this.
“I don’t care if your name is Xerxes, master of the Persians!” he imploded. “This seal when you show it to the Argive assembly will inform them that the scroll is from the highest echelons of Corinth. So if you do your business you will get your pay!”
“Why can’t you pay half now, half when I finished the task like last time?” Aromas said annoyingly. The envoy gritted his teeth. The rider was close to being dead.
“Because the last person who tried to spin me that line found himself castrated after he double crossed me,” the Corinthian said viciously. Aromas gulped.
“I’ll be on my way then,” the rider said, as he scampered onto his horse.
******
Liras, the envoy who had handed Aromas the letter, was waiting in the outskirts of Argos. The scroll that Aromas had sent to Argos had been a request to meet with the magistrates of Argos to discuss what to do about the Peace Of Nicias. Liras knew his countrymen were deeply opposed to the treaty. He was well aware that Argos’ treaty with Sparta was expiring and the possibility of renewing it had proves so far elusive. Liras had written this before Aromas had informed him of the Spartan-Athenian alliance. The reply from the Argives had pleased Liras for they were willing to meet with Liras and a few of his fellow Corinthians, but in a secluded place. Now he was outside a one-floor shanty house on the outskirts of Argos with one of his fellow men.
“When are they going to arrive?” moaned Aris.
“They’ll be here!” Liras replied irritatingly. “Patience isn’t one of your strong points,” Aris shook his head, but before he could reply they heard the sound of hooves clattering along the dirt road. Both Corinthians looked to their left and saw a rider heading towards them. He was cloaked in black and Liras shuddered for a moment, as he looked menacingly. The rider pulled back the reins in front of the Corinthians, as the horse neighed wildly. The horseman dismounted and saluted at Liras.
“Greetings, Liras,” he smiled. “I’m sorry that we have to meet privately, but this is important business,”
“I understand, Dexos,” Liras replied. “May I introduce Aris, a friend of mine,” Dexos courteously nodded at Aris. All three men went into the shack that was deserted apart from three wooden seats that had been carved out of a tree.
“So what brings you here to Argos?” Dexos asked. “We already know about the Spartan alliance with Athens,”
“Then you know that is a grave mistake,” Liras said. Dexos nodded.
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Dexos said. “But what are we to do?”
“There is a way,” Aris grinned. The Argive looked at the Corinthian.
“Oh?”
“The Spartans plan to enslave the Peloponnesus with this alliance and we do not want that at all,” Liras explained. “The Spartans only wanted to ally with the Athenians so to isolate you in the Peloponnesus. They feel by coshing up with Athens you will be by yourself. But they’ve forgot one minor detail,”
“What?” Dexos said, eager to see the grand Corinthian plan.
“That Argos is not a pushover,” Aris blurted out to Liras’ annoyance. But he allowed Aris to continue. “To counter the Spartans Argos should launch a new power bloc: a coalition to champion the freedom of the Peloponnesus. Your people will drive a wedge straight through the two power blocs: the Peloponnesian League and Athenian Empire. The Argive League it shall be called, but we need to get the states of Peloponnesus to join in a defensive alliance so to protect the region from Sparta,”
“Interesting,” Dexos replied. “A new league would definitely worry the Spartans. But apart from you Corinthians, what states in the Peloponnesus would join?”
“The Mantineans,” Liras answered. “They are in dispute with Sparta over their expansion of their lands, fighting a war against Tegea. They would feel by joining the League, it will provide Mantinea the protection they need, for you share a frontier with them, do you not?” Dexos nodded.
“Very well!” he said, standing up so to end the meeting. “I shall go to the Argive assembly and try to push this plan,” Liras nodded, as the two Corinthians accompanied Dexos outside the house.
“Have a safe journey,” Aris smiled, as Dexos mounted on his horse.
“The same to both of you,” Dexos said, as he rode his horse down the road. As the Argive magistrate rode out of view the Corinthian envoys looked at one another.
“Do you think he’ll persuade the Argive assembly?” Aris said. “They do have a democratic constitution and that can be a stumbling block,” Liras sighed.
“I think they will agree,” he said. “It just depends on the states of the Peloponnesus and whether they agree to join the League. But we’ll have to wait and see. But one thing is for sure. If we do destabilize the peace of Nicias the towns that we have lost in the northwest and at Potidaea will be in Corinthian hands or under our influence,”
******
Mantinea agreed to join the Argive League and their defection from the Spartan Alliance caused great worry, as the ephors and gerousia of Sparta were furious at their ally Corinth trying to wreck the Nicias peace. They warned Corinth that their new collaboration with Argos violated the oaths that bounded them with the rule of Sparta in the Peloponnesian League. The Argive assembly agreed with Dexos’ plan of a new pact with the states of the Peloponnesus. They appointed twelve men with powers to make an alliance with any state apart from Sparta and Athens, who could only get an alliance with the consent of the assembly.
Many Argives felt that war was certain with Sparta. Their demand that Cynuria be ceded to them had been refused. Many now felt there was no chance to renew the Thirty Years Treaty and so they took steps to prepare for war. They created by public expense an elite corps of a thousand young men that would be able to stand up to the notorious Spartan phalanx. Argos shared Corinth’s vision of the Peloponnesus. Despite the Corinthian envoys trying to persuade the Corinthian state to enter the Argive League, the conservative base in Corinth was reluctant.
Although the Corinthian envoys had been trying to get their state to secede from the Spartan Alliance their superiors told them that Corinth would not join the Argive League, along with the Chalcidice towns in Thrace that were pro-Corinthians, until other oligarchic states would join. However the state of Elis whose values were oligarchic, but their constitution democratic, joined the Argive League. This was done only because Corinth had allied with Elis and the Eleans were ordered by the Corinthians to join the league. It was from the admission of Elis into the Argive League that Corinth along with some of the Chalcidice towns entered it as well.
But in summer 421 Corinth’s efforts to try and get the Argive League up and running suffered a severe blow when Boeotia and Megara refused to join, as they were put off by the democratic constitution of Argos. The state of Tegea that was purely oligarchic also refused because they were afraid that if Sparta declared war on the Argive League, the Tegeans who bordered Laconia where the city of Sparta was would be the first target of Sparta’s armies. Corinth were now thinking that the Argive League would flounder before it even started and made one last ditch attempt. They tried to persuade Boeotia to join the alliance while get Athens to implement a series of ten days truces that Athens had embarked on with Boeotia.
The Boeotians were cautious on joining the League, but did ask Athens to get a series of ten-day truces with Corinth. Athens brushed them off stating if Corinth were in the Spartan Alliance then they already were in a state of peace with Athens due to the Peace of Nicias. The Corinthians were not pleased for they tried to trick Boeotia into angering the Athenians and breaking off the ten-day truce agreement with Boeotia. It would leave Boeotia unprotected and would force them to go into the Argive League.
However that hope was extinguished. For Athens meanwhile there was grumbling about the volatile Chalcidice region. The siege of Scione that had been under siege since 423 ended with Athenian victory, but it did little to calm down the anti Athenian sentiment in Thrace. In addition Sparta still hadn’t ceded Amphipolis to Athens, but they couldn’t attack it, for it would erupt once again.
However the Spartans were annoyed at the dissident states in the Peloponnesus and clamped down on the Mantineans by destroying a border fort. They also proceeded to secure the helot country. But there was one problem: the arrival of Brasidas veterans under the command of Clearidas who were helots and had been promised their freedom for their service.
These were the
neodamodeis: the liberated helots.
General Rawlinson- This is most unsatisfactory. Where are the Sherwood Foresters? Where are the East Lancashires on the right?
Brigadier-General Oxley- They are lying out in No Man's Land, sir. And most of them will never stand again.
Two high ranking British generals discussing the fortunes of two regiments after the disastrous attack at Aubers Ridge on the 9th May 1915.[This message has been edited by Legion Of Hell (edited 01-28-2010 @ 11:00 AM).]