Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 919: Sacred Band of Thebes

Although Xenophon disagreed with Agesilaus's decision to shield the selfish, foolish general who had attempted to plunder Athens, this was simply who Agesilaus was—a king who deeply valued his friends. Thus, Xenophon could only offer him comfort: "Cleombrotus, the other King of Sparta, has been leading the allied forces in Central Greece for months without making any significant progress. If this stalemate continues, it will not end well for Sparta. The city-states that are already dissatisfied with Sparta will likely join the Athens-Thebes alliance one after another, swelling the anti-Spartan resistance. When that happens, the Spartans will probably remember you again."

Agesilaus did not respond. On one hand, he had no desire to see Sparta fall into such a predicament; on the other, he did not want to judge the other King of Sparta's performance in Central Greece and appear narrow-minded. Instead, he changed the subject. "Xenophon," he said, half-joking and half-serious, "you are an Athenian. Do you truly want Athens to lose?"

Xenophon replied earnestly, "I want neither Athens nor Sparta to lose. Athens and Sparta each have their own strengths, and they complement one another. We should never have become enemies. If our two city-states united, all of Greece could unite, and we could rival the other great powers of the Mediterranean Sea."

"...A wonderful thought," Agesilaus finally said, looking at Xenophon.

After seeing Xenophon off, Agesilaus returned inside and stared blankly at the book resting on his desk. He had not been entirely truthful with Xenophon regarding Sparta supporting the exiles in their counterattack on Apulia, as he had not actually voiced any opposition during the Council of Elders.

"Over 500 Warships, an army of 100,000..." Agesilaus muttered to himself, a trace of shock still lingering in his voice. When he first heard the sheer scale of forces the Kingdom of Daunia had deployed since the outbreak of the war—numbers matched equally by Carthage—he had genuinely been startled. He had done the math: even uniting every city-state across the Peloponnese, Central Greece, and Northern Greece would barely scrape together such a massive force. Yet Daionia had mustered it with relative ease. It left him apprehensive. He knew very well that while Sparta and the Kingdom of Daunia were currently allies, their proximity and shared ambitions guaranteed they would clash over conflicting interests one day. Deep down, he hoped Carthage would win this war. Even though Carthage was a foreign nation, Persia was foreign too, and their current cooperation was going perfectly well. After all, the political landscape of the western Mediterranean was vastly different from the era when Dionysius reigned supreme over Sicily.

Thinking of this, Agesilaus felt a sudden sense of urgency. It was exactly as Xenophon had pointed out: Cleombrotus had led the army in Central Greece for so long without making any real headway. If this dragged on, it would be disastrous for Sparta. Was it time for him to take action?

...

Because of the Spartan general's attempted plunder and his subsequent acquittal, Athens declared war on Sparta and allied with Thebes. Soon after, city-states like Chios, Byzantium, Rhodes, and Euboea joined this new coalition. It was named the Second Athenian League—since Athens was its primary founder, and most of its members had already been allied with Athens in recent years. To distinguish itself from the Delian League established by Athens during the Peloponnesian War, the coalition declared its core purpose: to protect the autonomy of the Greek city-states and to oppose Spartan oppression.

Meanwhile, the newly established Theban government focused entirely on military affairs. Relying on their sturdy city defenses, they successfully repelled the first wave of attacks from the Spartan Coalition.

As autumn arrived, the soldiers of the Spartan Coalition returned to their respective city-states to prepare for the autumn harvest. The King of Sparta, Cleombrotus, was left with fewer than 3,000 Spartan Warriors under his command. Unwilling to squander his precious Spartan Warriors in a grueling siege, he temporarily withdrew his army and camped at Plataea.

The Theban government seized this valuable truce period to mobilize the entire city's population. They dug trenches and built ramparts around Thebes, taking every possible measure to strengthen their defenses against the Spartan Coalition's next assault. At the same time, they actively allied with neighboring Boeotia city-states that had already declared independence, taking the initiative to help them bolster their defenses in order to keep Sparta out of Theban territory.

Meanwhile, the Theban government also gathered the citizens within the city for daily military training. The man in charge was Epaminondas. His outstanding performance in the previous battles had earned him the recognition and respect of the entire city. Everyone eagerly participated in his training regimen without a single voice of doubt.

But Epaminondas was not content with merely defending Thebes. He realized that the only way to permanently eliminate the Spartan threat and usher in the true rise of Thebes was to defeat the Spartans in a pitched battle. Thus, while pushing the citizens through rigorous training, he pitched a new proposal to Pelopidas and the others: the creation of an elite heavy infantry company capable of rivaling Sparta's famous Royal Guard. Noting the high number of homosexual couples among the Theban citizens, he even suggested that this unit be composed of male lovers. He believed that the intimate bond between these couples would drive them to encourage and protect one another on the battlefield, willing to face life and death together.

While homosexuality was well-regarded on the Greek Mainland, an army composed exclusively of homosexual couples had never been seen before in any of the Greek city-states. Had this proposal been raised in other city-states, or even in Athens, it would have faced intense skepticism. However, the newly established Theban government was composed of radical factions led by Pelopidas. They were young, vibrant, deeply passionate, willing to take risks, and bold enough to innovate. Realizing that Epaminondas's plan would drastically increase the combat effectiveness of their citizen soldiers, they approved the proposal without hesitation and put it into immediate effect.

Pelopidas and Epaminondas personally selected candidates from the city's citizens. Soon, they formed a 300-man heavy infantry company consisting of 150 couples. These soldiers were all around twenty years old and born into Theban nobility. Almost all of them had undergone long-term training in wrestling schools, making them tall, robust, and exceptionally agile.

Epaminondas began subjecting them to even more rigorous heavy infantry training.

...

Over in Sicily, the Carthaginian army officially launched its offensive on Daionian territory.

Hasdrubal led 30,000 soldiers straight north from Gela, launching an attack on Hena.

At the same time, Mago personally led over 50,000 soldiers out of Camarina territory. They marched into Syracuse and established a camp in the northwestern part of its lands. Their target was Palagonia, located not far from their encampment.

Syracuse also rallied over 10,000 soldiers. Led by General Phalecus, they marched through Ixamen to attack Taunis, situated just to the north.

The southern border of Daionia's Sicily Territory faced successive attacks from three separate armies. However, the Daionian cities in Sicily and their allies had long been prepared. They did not panic, methodically executing their defenses according to their prearranged plans.

After a long trek, Hasdrubal's army finally arrived at Hena, only to find themselves in a difficult position. The city of Hena was not only built atop a hill, but its northern and southern flanks were also bordered by two sizable lakes. This geography made it extremely difficult for the Carthaginian army to surround the city. During an assault, they would not be able to fully deploy their troops, rendering their numerical advantage useless.

Furthermore, right at the onset of the war, Hena's administrative official Clerus had taken Leotychides's advice and mobilized the citizens. Utilizing the two lakes, they dug a wide moat at the base of the hill, creating a massive obstacle that prevented the Carthaginian army's siege weapons from approaching the city walls.

With the 3,000 soldiers from the Eighth Legion that Leotychides had dispatched, combined with Hena's own citizen soldiers, the total defending force inside the city numbered over 5,000 men.

After several days of meticulous preparation, Hasdrubal launched a full-scale assault. Yet, despite a full day of fierce fighting, they failed to even reach the top of the walls. His attacks over the following days met with similar failure. With his soldiers taking significant casualties, Hasdrubal had no choice but to halt the offensive and rest his troops.

Mago's army was also facing difficulties. For months, the Daionian soldiers stationed at Palagonia had been working alongside the citizens of Catana to construct defensive fortifications. They laid trap zones outside the villages, built watchtowers past the traps, dug trenches beyond the towers, and set up even more traps past the trenches. These interlocking layers of defense stretched several miles to the south, completely choking off the only flat pass through the mountains connecting the Southern Coast to the Plain of Catania.

In their attempt to carve a path through, Mago's massive army suffered heavily from the traps and the constant harassment of archers stationed in the watchtowers. Days passed, and they managed to clear less than a third of the barricades, leaving the soldiers' morale plummeting.

After taking two days to rest, Mago finally decided to change his route of attack. He would lead his forces over the mountains and head toward Leontini.

Over on the eastern coast, the Syracuse army had long since arrived outside Taunis. However, they had spent five entire days just constructing their camp. Following the failure of their first siege attempt, they holed up inside their camp and made no further moves.

...

Satricum. Ever since this unfortunate Volsci town was breached and occupied by the Romans last year, it had been engulfed in the flames of war once again this year. It had been besieged by the Daionian Army for nearly two months. Recently, family members of Roman citizens had been brought to the base of the walls under the guard of the Daionian Army every single day, shouting out to the defending soldiers and urging them to surrender.