Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1137: Jason's Decision

By the time Jason arrived at the Leuctra Heights, the battle had already been over for seven days.

The messengers from the Spartan Coalition soon arrived in Sparta. News of the defeat sent shockwaves through the Spartans. After years of endless foreign wars, the number of true Spartan Warriors had plummeted from a peak of over 3,000 to fewer than 2,000, forcing them to increasingly rely on the perioikoi, the Helots, and allied armies. Losing 400 Spartan Warriors in a single battle—including a King of Sparta—was an undeniably devastating blow.

The citizens were consumed by grief, and tradition dictated a grand funeral for Cleombrotus. But the situation was critical. The Spartan Coalition trapped within Boeotia urgently needed rescue. The Council of Elders, led by Agesilaus, alongside the Ephors, had no choice but to implore the public to temporarily suppress their mourning. They issued an emergency mobilization of all able-bodied men within their borders—including the perioikoi and a portion of the Helots—to form a new army. With Agesilaus too ill to take command, leadership fell to his son, Archidamus. Neighboring allies soon answered the call with their own reinforcements.

Datis, the Persian ambassador residing in Sparta, was equally stunned. He had never imagined the vast Spartan army could suffer such a defeat. It made him question if Persia's continued support for Sparta was a mistake. However, with Thebes already allied with Daionia, Persia could not easily shift its backing to another Greek city-state on such short notice. Furious, he stormed into the Council of Elders to demand answers.

Many of the elders were inwardly furious, but Agesilaus swallowed his pride and offered a guarantee: "This was merely an accidental defeat. The Spartan army remains strong. We will soon crush Thebes once more and reforge our hegemony over Greece."

Datis remained noncommittal to the answer, but made them an offer: "Persia is willing to provide not only money and supplies to support Sparta, but also to dispatch an army to aid you."

Agesilaus quickly expressed his gratitude but tactfully declined the offer of Persian reinforcements.

Sparta desperately needed the money and supplies to hire mercenaries, swell their ranks, and continue the war against Thebes. However, not a single Persian army had set foot on the Greek Mainland in the decades since the Greco-Persian Wars. If Sparta dared to invite a Persian army, it would undoubtedly incite the fury of all the Greek city-states and make them the target of universal outrage. Even their former allies would likely turn on them.

Archidamus led this newly formed army swiftly northward, boarding ships at Corinth to make landfall at Port Creusis.

By this time, however, Jason had lost the excitement he felt when first hearing the news of the victory. His most important minister, Acidamas, had also rushed to Leuctra. After analyzing the current political landscape of Greece with him in private, Acidamas made Jason realize a crucial point: the defeat at the Battle of Leuctra had already dealt a severe enough blow to Spartan prestige, genuinely weakening their ability to obstruct Thessaly's bid for hegemony over Greece. At the same time, it revealed the true potential of the Thebans. If he fully committed to helping Thebes annihilate the Spartan army right now, crippling Sparta's strength, the undeniable primary beneficiary would be Thebes. They would swiftly inherit Sparta's legacy in Central Greece, their power skyrocketing until they became the greatest obstacle to Thessaly's own supremacy.

Having figured all this out, Jason rejected Epaminondas's request and instead offered a word of caution: "The Boeotian Coalition Army fought hard for this victory. There is no need to take further risks. After all, assaulting a camp is vastly more difficult than fighting a pitched battle in the open field. With Spartan reinforcements capable of arriving at any moment, failing to quickly breach the camp will only plunge the coalition into danger. It would be far better to leverage your current advantage to force the Spartans into signing a truce, allowing both armies to withdraw safely."

Jason's words sounded reasonable, but in their hearts, Epaminondas and Pelopidas still wanted to press their advantage. The two sides argued for a while longer. Seeing that Jason's stance was uncompromising and he had no desire to fight, Epaminondas knew that relying solely on the Boeotian Coalition Army to storm the Spartan camp without Thessalian aid would come at a horrific cost. Weighing the pros and cons, he ultimately had no choice but to agree to Jason's proposal.

Thus, Jason acted as a mediator between the two factions, arranging for peace talks.

Uncertain of when their rear reinforcements would arrive, and facing a visibly bolstered and formidable Theban force backed by Thessaly, the demoralized Spartan Coalition quickly signed a truce with the Boeotian Coalition Army.

That very night, the Spartan Coalition quietly withdrew.

Successfully mediating a war between the former overlord of Greece, Sparta, and the rising power of Central Greece, Thebes, earned Jason massive renown. For the first time, the might of the Thessalians stepped onto the political stage of Greece's core region, drawing the gaze of numerous Greek city-states.

Reveling in his success, Jason did something on his march back to Thessaly that profoundly shocked the southern Greeks. He led his army to attack Heraclea, situated just west of Thermopylae (not the City of Heraclea belonging to the Sacred Kingdom of Daunia). This city-state had long been under Spartan control and served as a crucial bulwark for the defense of Thermopylae—after all, the narrow terrain of the pass made it impossible to garrison large numbers of soldiers there long-term.

Jason not only conquered it with ease, but completely razed it to the ground. On the war-torn Greek Mainland, capturing or even destroying a city-state was a relatively common occurrence. But Jason's actions carried far darker implications. In the eyes of the Greek populace, it was an insolent trespass by northern barbarians trying to step into the core territory of the Greeks.

Upon hearing this news, Epaminondas and Pelopidas—the Theban commanders who had just led their army home to streets lined with cheering crowds—furrowed their brows. They had already felt a sense of unease when Jason persuaded them to call a truce with the Spartans. Now, they were entirely certain of the Thessalian Tagus's true ambitions: 'The Spartans haven't even been completely defeated yet, and our former ally is already turning into our new enemy?!'

Even more anxious than the Thebans were the Phocians. Since the Thessalians had razed Heraclea and occupied Thermopylae, any southward march would hit the region of Phocis first, long before it reached the Boeotia Region. Consequently, the priests of Delphi were gripped with panic. Shaken into proactive action, they prepared to invite the various Greek city-states to convene an assembly of the Sacred League. Their goal was to discuss how to handle the Thessalian threat from Northern Greece, ideally resolving the war between Sparta and Thebes so that the two sides could maintain a relatively lasting peace.

The premonitions of the Delphic priests were dead on. Jason had indeed already formulated a plan to conquer the Phocis region. Since the coming year was when Delphi would host the Pythian Games, he intended to use the event to showcase his overwhelming might before the citizens of the other Greek city-states. Thus, he decided that upon returning to Pherae, he would issue decrees ordering every Thessalian city-state to prepare cattle and sheep for the fast-approaching Delphic sacrifices. He even promised to award a Golden Crown for the strongest bull. Simultaneously, he demanded that the city-states undergo military mobilization, assembling a massive army that he would lead in person to preside over the festivities at Delphi.

Jason was determined to use military force to strip the Sacred League council of its authority, violently installing himself as the chairman of the Pythian Games...

In the history of his previous life, Jason had proceeded with this plan without any concealment, sending the people of Delphi into sheer terror. Rumors that he intended to plunder the sacred treasury of the Temple of Delphi ran rampant, igniting the fury of Apollo's most devout followers. Several months later, after completing an inspection of his army, Jason sat down to hear the petitions of his subjects. Seven red-faced young men, feigning a bitter dispute, approached to present their case for him to judge. Once close enough, they suddenly struck, assassinating Jason right in his seat. That assassination permanently altered the course of history. Jason died before his grand ambitions could be realized. The Thessaly he had united through brute strength quickly fractured, ultimately benefiting the Thebans, and later, benefiting Macedonia even more.

But in this life, Jason's plans had barely been set into motion before they were forced to an abrupt halt. A monumental event had just occurred far to the south, on the Peloponnese Peninsula.

...

Because Port Creusis, originally controlled by Thebes, had been seized by the Spartans, Thebes no longer had a port in the Gulf of Corinth. As a result, the messengers sent to Daionia had no choice but to travel to the bay north of the Boeotia Region to board a ship. This meant the passenger vessel had to sail a massive detour to reach Daionia, all while carefully evading Spartan naval patrols. Therefore, by the time the Theban and Spartan armies reached their truce, the messengers had still not arrived in Thurii.

However, Daionia had been keeping a close eye on this war all along. Spies dispatched by the Intelligence Department were hidden among the merchant ships trading with the various Greek city-states. The moment the Battle of Leuctra concluded, the Daonian Merchant Ships docked at the Port of Corinth swiftly set sail, speeding westward. The Spartan patrol warships didn't dare to intercept them. Thus, at the exact same time Jason received news of the battle, the battle report had already been delivered into the Royal Palace of Thurii.

Consequently, Davos summoned the Minister of State, the principal department ministers, and the key military generals to convene an important war council within the Royal Palace.