Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1229: The Surrender of Athens (2)

With the siege platforms brought closer to the walls and towering over the defenses, the attack range of all the ballistae drastically increased, covering nearly half the city of Athens. The artillery fired not only stone projectiles but also hurled burning oil jars into the city, sparking fires everywhere and plunging Athens into chaos.

The Daionian Army then brought up nine massive siege towers. Guarded by Mobile Mantlets, wooden enclosed wagons, and other siege weapons, with light and heavy infantry marching tightly in their wake, the towering structures advanced slowly toward the Western Wall of Athens.

The defenders on the walls watched in terror as these behemoths, taller than the ramparts themselves, closed in on them. Iphicrates and Chabrias rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, only to stare in stunned silence.

Just then, fifty meters from the wall, the massive siege towers ground to a halt. Light infantry swarmed the top levels, raining arrows down on the defenders. Simultaneously, the wooden shutters on the lower deck fell open to reveal the menacing forms of the gastraphetes. Massive iron bolts shrieked through the air toward the ramparts, skewering several soldiers at a time in a horrific display of carnage.

Had his guards not pulled him away just in time, Iphicrates would have been impaled by a flying bolt. Heart pounding, he stared at the towering siege platforms nearby and the colossal siege weapons arrayed before them, and a crushing sense of helplessness suddenly washed over him...

For several days, Patroclus had been attacking Athens using these exact tactics. Even without launching a full-scale assault, he inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders and sowed panic and chaos throughout the city. He was demonstrating the terrifying siege capabilities of the Daionian Army while sending a thinly veiled message to the Athenian leadership: the Sacred Kingdom of Daunia possessed immense national strength, easily capable of sustaining the enormous consumption of a 100,000-man army for a protracted siege.

For Athens, these past few days were an unmitigated disaster. Daionian ballistae bombarded a fifth of the city, reducing nearly half of that area to smoldering ruins. Even the meeting grounds of the ecclesia on Pnyx Hill suffered damage. (Pnyx Hill was situated close to the southern wall, right near the avenue leading to Port Piraeus, placing it well within range of the ballistae on the nearest siege platforms outside the city. It had been one of Patroclus's primary targets; the only reason it had not suffered greater destruction was because Crotokatax had explicitly requested that his men hold back.) Nearly a thousand families lost their homes. They wept day and night, pleading with City Hall for relief, and their suffering deeply shook the rest of the Athenian populace.

The Athenian government dispatched a massive amount of manpower to manage the aftermath in the bombarded districts. At the same time, they had to reinforce the wall defenses to prevent the Daionian Army from launching a full assault amid the internal turmoil. However, given the vast sprawl of Athens, combined with the Long Walls and Port Piraeus, the required number of Citizen Soldiers was immense. As a result, the patrols left to maintain order within the city were severely depleted. To make matters worse, the artillery bombardment's destruction of the city's infrastructure strained the food and water supplies. Tensions between the city's residents and the refugees from the countryside were aggravated, sparking numerous clashes.

While the exhausted patrols scrambled to respond, over two thousand mine slaves took advantage of the city's unrest and weakened oversight to secretly coordinate a sudden uprising. They slaughtered their foremen and guards, broke out of their prison-like camps, scavenged for weapons, and razed the manors of the mine owners. As they marched toward the city gates, they killed Athenians in the houses along their route and liberated the slaves inside. By the time they neared the western gate, their numbers had swelled to over six thousand.

Though Iphicrates had fewer men, his soldiers were fully armored and well-rested. The slaves boasted overwhelming numbers, but their equipment was rudimentary—many fought completely bare-handed. Years of abuse at the hands of the mine owners had left most of the miners frail and sickly. Cramped within the narrow streets, they could not fully bring their numerical advantage to bear. It was not long before the slave mob began to buckle under the Athenian soldiers' advance.

At that moment, Chabrias arrived from the rear with another unit. Caught in a pincer attack, the slave army swiftly collapsed and scattered in defeat.

Outside the city, the Daunian Allied Forces continued their long-range bombardment with their siege weapons just as before. Consequently, the light infantry atop the siege towers noticed the abnormal situation within the city and hurried back to notify the commanders in the rear camp.

Patroclus made a swift decision: they would launch a formal assault on the Western Wall.

However, just as the Daionian soldiers formed their ranks and blew the horns to advance, the uprising inside the western gate was quelled. Upon receiving this news, Patroclus hesitated for a moment before ultimately canceling the assault order. He had missed what was arguably a golden opportunity to breach the city of Athens.

Nevertheless, the slave uprising had a profound impact on Athens. Though the rioting slaves killed fewer than three hundred Athenians across two city blocks, the event ignited widespread panic. Citizens who owned large numbers of slaves were especially terrified. Some demanded that City Hall dispatch patrols to help guard their households, while others simply handed their male slaves over to the city-state for free. A few Athenian citizens, driven by excessive fear, preemptively slaughtered their own slaves, which naturally provoked desperate resistance. Horrific domestic tragedies began to play out repeatedly in homes across the city, drastically heightening the conflict between slaves and their masters...

Besieged by an enemy army without and riddled with internal conflicts, Athens was like a city perched atop an erupting volcano, liable to be reduced to ash at any moment. Finally, during an emergency session of the Council of 500 convened by City Hall, a majority of the councilors clamored over one another to propose a resolution: accept Daionia's demands and immediately sue for peace.

Because Pnyx Hill remained under the threat of Daionian ballistae, the subsequent ecclesia had to be temporarily relocated to the Theatre of Dionysus.

The Athenian citizens had once burned with unanimous fury, declaring they would "rather perish with the city than surrender to Daionia." But after enduring grueling shortages of food and water, turning on their compatriots, suffering through slave riots and fires, and buckling under the immense psychological pressure of facing the daily threat of Daionian Bows and Arrows and stone projectiles, their resolve had crumbled. When Callistratus announced the proposal from the Council of 500, the vast majority of them looked like they had been granted a reprieve, their faces washing with profound relief.

Only a small minority, led by Isocrates, expressed staunch opposition. Isocrates even took the rostrum to deliver an impassioned speech, his hoarse voice booming: "...Sons of Theseus! Your ancestors were once the finest, bravest citizens in the world. When hundreds of thousands of Persian soldiers invaded Greece and the other Greek city-states cowered in fear, your ancestors bravely stepped forward. At Salamiga, vastly outnumbered, they severely crippled the mighty Persian navy and ultimately secured victory in the Greco-Persian Wars. Through that great triumph, the other city-states witnessed the greatness of Athens and looked to Athens as their savior. From then on, Athens forged a legacy of unparalleled brilliance! You still remember the words of Pericles of Athens, do you not? 'Athens is the school of all Greeks!' Yes, that was the golden age every single one of us here yearns for!

"And today, history repeats itself! Yet another powerful invader has encroached upon Greece, bringing their slaughter right to the gates of Athens! Citizens, our time has come! It is time to act as our ancestors did! When the other Greek city-states tremble and surrender, we must bravely step forward! For your freedom and dignity, you must fight an unyielding battle against the Daionian Army!

"Athena favors heroes! She will only bless those of us who fight without yielding. We will ultimately drive back the Daionian Army, and when we do, we will be the saviors of all Greece! Without the constraints of Sparta, we will forge a future even more glorious than our previous golden age! ...

"But if you choose to surrender—if you submit to these barbarians who cannot even speak fluent Greek—you will be forced to abandon the democracy that was our pride and allow a king to issue orders. The sharp, witty theatre you love will be replaced by their seemingly grand but utterly ridiculous square dances. The athletic sports you revere for their beauty of strength and skill will be supplanted by terrifying, brutally violent competitions. More importantly, we will no longer be able to sacrifice to the beautiful, wise Athena and the other Greek gods, but will be forced to kneel before their heretical deities. In the end, the magnificent culture and history of Athens will be forcibly erased, leaving nothing to show future generations but their history of conquest!

"Citizens, when that day comes, the great Athens will be dead! Truly dead!..."

By the end of his speech, Isocrates was weeping openly, choking on his sobs.

A deathly silence blanketed the theatre. Slowly, stifled whimpers broke the quiet, soon swelling into a chorus of weeping.

However, while ideals were beautiful, reality was cruel. When the time came to vote, the resolution still passed by an absolute majority.

Athens surrendered!!! When the Athenian envoys, their faces etched with dejection and despair, walked into the camp of the Daionian Army, the joyous news rapidly swept through the Daunian Allied Forces, erupting into thunderous cheers everywhere.

Patroclus repeatedly insisted that Crotokatax preside over the surrender ceremony of Athens. Unable to decline any longer, Crotocatax was forced to accept. The mutual humility and seamless cooperation displayed by the two army commanders throughout the war in Greece quickly became a celebrated tale.

As the Athenian envoys agonizingly signed the armistice agreement, a fishing boat took advantage of the celebrating Theonians and the relaxed blockade outside the harbor. It slipped quietly out of the port and nimbly turned west into Salamiga Bay.

Just then, a tall, burly man emerged from the rudimentary boat cabin.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? Hurry up and hide! If a Daionian patrol boat spots us, we'll be in deep trouble!" the boat owner yelled anxiously.

"Don't worry. Your Athens has already surrendered, and the Theonians are probably busy celebrating. Who would care about your tiny fishing boat?" the man said dismissively.