Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1231: The Rebellion in Asia Minor

The temple of Zeus at Olympia was one of the oldest and grandest temples in the Mediterranean, and the Olympic Games were the oldest sporting event in Greece. Their inception had given the Greek World its own calendar, recording years by Olympiads. The games also drew the highest attendance and the broadest participation from the city-states. Together, Olympia and Delphi stood as the cultural symbols connecting the scattered Greek city-states across the Mediterranean Sea.

Logically, Crotokatax should have used the same approach he had taken at Delphi to pacify Olympia. However, Olympia worshipped the god king Zeus, while the Theonians firmly believed Hades was the true king of the gods. This fundamental clash of faith guaranteed that his visit would be anything but a gentle tour.

Davos had personally dispatched orders on how to handle Olympia. Crotokatax had found the instructions hard to accept, and Patroclus had even offered to carry out the plan in his stead. But after two days of agonizing deliberation, the Daionian prince chose to go himself. He kept his father's written words firmly in mind: "...A king should not merely enjoy flowers and wine, but must also shoulder infamy and slander when necessary. The path to a kingdom's prosperity is never smooth; iron and blood are indispensable!..."

Olympia sat in the southern part of the Region of Elis, at the confluence of the Alpheus and Kladeos rivers. Aside from the temple of Zeus, the temple of Hera, the priests' quarters, and an assembly hall for city-state envoys and champions to gather and celebrate, the rest of the sanctuary consisted of athletic arenas. There were no commoner villages. Sycamores, olive trees, willows, and pines flourished in the open spaces between the buildings, filling the area with a wild, rustic atmosphere. Without major sacrificial festivals, Olympia appeared sparsely populated, giving it a profound sense of isolation from the rest of the world.

The army accompanying Crotokatax to Olympia was more than twice the size of the force he had brought to Delphi. Over half of the soldiers were former helots from Messenia and Laconia. They completely encircled Olympia, radiating a murderous intent.

Crotokatax forcibly gathered the priests of Zeus. Putting on a fierce expression, he threatened them: the other city-states had already confessed that this war against Daionia had been deliberately instigated by the priests of Olympia, and therefore Daionia had come to hold them accountable. Unless they promised never again to publicly proclaim Zeus as the god king and agreed to accept the nominal supervision of the Main Temple of Hades of the Sacred Kingdom of Daunia, they would face severe consequences. If they complied, they would be pardoned, allowing them to retain their noble status to serve Zeus and continue hosting the Olympic Games. Otherwise, they would be branded as war criminals, stripped of their priesthood, and exiled from Olympia, and no city-state in the New Greek League would be permitted to take them in. (Originally, Davos had ordered Crotokatax to execute any uncooperative priests to make an example of them, but the kindhearted prince had changed the punishment to exile.)

Zeus was the king of the gods, but the priests of Zeus at Olympia were far from assertive; they were constantly pushed around. Elis and Pisa frequently went to war over control of Olympia, periodically demanding the priests step forward to declare their stance. The priests swayed like reeds in the wind, supporting whichever side held the advantage and immediately changing their tune the moment the situation shifted.

This was also the case during the Olympic Games. In the past, when Elis clashed with Sparta, Elis used its status as the owner of Olympia to expel Spartan athletes and ban them from competing, and the priests did not dare object. Shortly afterward, Sparta marched its army into Olympia, drove out the people of Elis, and declared that "all competition results are void until the games are held anew." The priests meekly agreed to this as well... Such ridiculous events had played out many times in the past.

It was precisely because he knew this history that Crotokatax dared to accept the task. He figured that among priests who had survived by constantly compromising in such an environment, there would be few men with any real spine.

From then on, the Greek Mainland's two great sanctuaries, Delphi and Olympia, bowed to the Sacred Kingdom of Daunia as their sovereign, just like the other city-states of the Greek Mainland.

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That day, after Timotheus finished patrolling the Near Eastern coast with his fleet and returned to Tyre, he stepped off his ship to find an envoy of the King of Persia waiting on the docks.

"His Majesty wishes to summon me?"

"Yes, His Majesty has a matter of great importance to discuss with you!" the envoy said solemnly.

"May I ask what important matter this is?" Timotheus could not help but ask.

"Do not ask questions. Hurry and come with us to see His Majesty!" the envoy urged impatiently.

Timotheus looked at the arrogant envoy and the squad of Persian royal guards standing tall in resplendent armor behind him, and grumbled inwardly:

Having lived in Persia for many years, Timotheus was well accustomed to this. Despite his lingering doubts, he did not hesitate to follow the envoy toward the King of Persia's encampment.

The King of Persia's headquarters was located to the east of Phoenicia, within the territory of Damascus. It was not in any town, but in a military camp. However, the bustling, noisy spectacle of a gathered grand army no longer existed here. Hundreds of thousands of Persian main-force troops had marched far away and had been fighting in Egypt for nearly two months. Only the King of Persia, his royal household, his entourage, and his ministers remained. Even with ten thousand elite Immortals serving as their guard, the soldiers still seemed far too sparse compared to the massive encampment.

Looking out at the sea of empty tents, a sudden thought popped into Timotheus's head: if the Egyptians sent a surprise force to bypass the Persian main army and strike this camp, a single fire could burn it to ashes.

Timotheus quickly pushed the strange thought down, as they were approaching the center of the camp. It was guarded by burly, well-equipped Immortals, who cast suspicious glares at anyone attempting to enter the grounds. Even with the envoy leading the way, Timotheus had to undergo several strict inspections before he was finally permitted into the King of Persia's enclosure.

The King of Persia's great tent stood in the very center of the camp, like a sprawling mansion. Its exterior alone was lavishly decorated, and high in front of it flew the Persian royal banner—the golden eagle.

The King of Persia frequently hosted banquets in the great tent, and Timotheus had attended one before. The sumptuous food, the slender dancers, the beautiful music... it was all deeply memorable. But at the time, Timotheus had still felt a bit uneasy, sensing that the King of Persia was overly optimistic about the war. It seemed as if the king believed that simply leading the army in person would quickly conquer Egypt.

Timotheus's premonition had been correct. The fighting had dragged on for nearly two months. The massive land army remained stalled on the eastern bank of the Nile, while the navy's warships had not yet found an opportunity to smash through the fortresses and water gates at the mouths of the Nile's tributaries and enter the heart of the Nile Delta.

At that moment, he heard furious roaring from within the great tent and immediately felt a surge of anxiety. Had the King of Persia summoned him to reprimand him because he had not achieved any major victories in his two months as fleet commander?!

The more Timotheus thought about it, the more unnerved he became, even feeling that the royal guards outside the tent were looking at him strangely.

"Your Majesty, Naval Commander Timotheus has been brought in!"

"Bind this treasonous Greek!" Artaxerxes roared. The prepared guards immediately pinned Timotheus to the ground, trussed him up tightly from head to toe, and dragged him before Artaxerxes.

Treason?!... Timotheus was completely bewildered as he was reduced to a prisoner. In a panic, he could only scream his innocence.

"Innocent?!" Artaxerxes bellowed. "Ariobarzanes has raised an army in rebellion! He had it planned all along; that is why he had you bring so few troops here to deceive me! I was blind to actually appoint you as commander of the Persian Fleet! In the end, you deliberately stalled the war, wasting two months of my time while giving that traitor ample time to prepare! You damned Greek barbarian, and to think I trusted you!..."

Artaxerxes grew more furious as he spoke. He stepped forward and viciously kicked Timotheus to the ground. "Drag him out and chop off his head!"

The guards stepped forward, grabbed Timotheus by the hair, and dragged him out.

Enduring the pain, Timotheus let out a tragic wail. "Ariobarzanes has doomed me!..."

Knowing he had no chance of survival, he simply shrieked curses at the top of his lungs: "Artaxerxes, you are a foolish and incompetent king! No wonder your brother tried to usurp the throne, and your ministers rise in rebellion! As long as you are in power, Persia will never know peace!..."

"Kill him! Kill him!..." Artaxerxes stamped his feet in a blind fury.

Moments later, Timotheus's severed head was presented. His anger still unquenched, Artaxerxes spat viciously, "Chop off his hands as well, and send them to Ariobarzanes along with his head!"

He ordered this punishment because Artaxerxes recalled that it was exactly how he had handled the corpse of his younger brother, Cyrus the Younger, an act that had so enraged their mother, who doted on Cyrus, that she had fallen gravely ill.

He even believed that this current rebellion in Asia Minor was also caused by his brother. Years ago, their father had appointed Cyrus the Younger as the military governor of western Persia. As a result, the charismatic Cyrus had not only used the wealth of Asia Minor to hire Greek mercenaries to fight for him, but had also garnered the support of the governors and nobles across almost all of Asia Minor, which had given him the confidence to contest the throne.