Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Sitalces sighed, “When the envoy of Agesilaus came here to ask for an oracle previously, he also requested that when a rival city-state of Sparta come here to ask for an oracle, we should tell Sparta what they came here to ask…”

“And that’s not all.” Patmos, the one in charge of the sacred treasury, said indignantly, “Polybiades came to my place after leaving the temple and said, intentionally or unintentionally, that they consumed plenty of supplies in their expedition to northern Greece, and they still owe payment to more than a thousand mercenaries…” .

“The Spartans are too arrogant!” Cabatas, the priest in charge of the Pythian game, shouted angrily, “We must dispel their ambitions for Delphi by teaching them a lesson!”

“Teach Sparta a lesson? They are now the hegemon of Greece and have the support of the Persians behind them. So if we anger them, it would be even worse for us…” Patmos said with some concern.

Then the chief priest, Sitalces, voiced an idea that had been on his mind for a long time, “Who says we need to go head to head against Sparta?! We can instead invite a powerful force to join the Amphictyonic league to balance the absolute dominance of Sparta in the alliance.”

All the priests’ eyes brightened up.

Patmos thought for a moment and said, “Who should we invite then? Macedonia?”

“Macedonia?!” Cabatas grunted, “With Sparta marching to northern Greece to help Macedonia, the Macedonians are now more grateful to Sparta, so how could they fight against them?! What’s more, although Macedonia’s territory is vast, they are not powerful enough to defeat even the barbarians, let alone possibly stand up to the mighty Sparta!”

Then another priest, Crataemenes, said hesitantly, “I fear the only Greek power than can stand up to Sparta right now is Theonia…should we invite them?”

As soon as Crataemenes said that, Cabatas loudly objected, “No! No! Theonia is a kingdom of barbarians; they are not a Greek power at all!”

“How can the kingdom of Theonia be a kingdom of barbarians? At the All-Greek Academic Symposium they held last year and this year, many scholars travelled to Thurii, and all praised the academic situation there. Furthermore, the cities like Thurii, Taranto, Locri, Krimisa, Rhegium and Catania… which are all under the kingdom of Theonia, were famous Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean a decade ago and they had even contributed a lot of riches to the Delphic treasury every year…” argued Crataemenes.

“The Amphictyonic league has never invited any Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean to join as they are all colonies.” Cabatas continued to oppose.

Crataemenes sighed, “Everyone, the situation now is no longer like decades ago. Traditions have been broken, and everything depends on the strength of the city-states. Our Amphictyonic league also states that no city-state in the league shall allow destruction. Yet looked at how Sparta destroyed Mantineia and Plataea! Currently, Theonia is the most powerful Greek force in the western Mediterranean and probably even in the whole of Greece, as even the Spartans had to take the initiative to negotiate their alliance in Thurii many times. Thus, only by inviting Theonia to join the league can we make the domineering Sparta afraid and restrain their behaviour.”

Crataemenes’ words made everyone ponder.

Patmos said awkwardly, “Even if we want to invite Theonia to join, would they even agree? You should remember that over the years, we, like Olympia, have been adamantly opposing Theonia’s participation in the Games. Furthermore, we have also covertly propagated the barbarism of Theonia because they never offered anything to the sacred treasury of Delphi and in the hope that the Greek freemen would not emigrate to Theonia…”

All the priests’ expressions became unnatural as they indeed did all those things.

Cabatas complained, “Theonia’s high regards to Hades made fewer and fewer Theonians come to Delphi to ask for an oracle…if this continues, I fear that all the Greeks in the western Mediterranean will regard Delphi as worthless.”

His words resonate with the other priests, causing them to begin complaining.

The chief priest Sitalces then spoke up and said, “It seems you all have decided Theonia be the Greek power to be invited. As for the Temple of Hades, there is no need for you to worry. I have learned about the weight of the Temple of Hades in the hearts of the Theonians. Moreover, it seems they do not place importance on divination and issuing oracles, which is precisely the only area in which we specialise!” Sitalces added emphasis to his tone.

Sitalces knew in his heart that Hades’ fast growth in Theonia was due to the mighty king who claimed to be his descendant. Thus Delphi should not be foolish enough to touch the tiger’s whiskers, “We, Delphi, and the Temple of Hades have no conflict with each other, and I think our centuries-old tradition would make the people of Theonia who are in trouble want to be guided by Apollo. And we can also guide the Greek freemen who are suffering difficult life situations to the Italian peninsula to find a new life…”

“But even if Theonia is willing to join the Amphictyonic league, I fear the Spartans will not agree. After all, we only have the right to suggest, not decide!” Patmos warned.

Sitalces sighed, “That is what worries me most. I have heard that in the agreement between Theonia and Sparta, there is a clause that Theonia must not involve themselves in the affairs of the eastern Mediterranean. This shows Sparta’s fear of Theonia and proves their wariness, so they would firmly oppose Theonia’s joining the Amphictyonic league.”

“But the Amphictyonic league doesn’t have the right to interfere in the affairs of other city-states; it is just an alliance to protect Delphi. Thus I don’t think Sparta will react so strongly.” Crataemenes said to relieve them.

Sitalces, at this point, came up with the idea that he had already thought of, “I suggest…we can send someone to covertly go to Thurii to discuss with the king of Theonia and ask them to take the initiative to make a request to the Amphictyonic league. At the same time, we should privately contact Athens, Corinth, Argos, Megara and other city-states at odds with Sparta. With that, the pressure would be applied on both sides, forcing Sparta to consider it carefully…”

When the priests heard this, they all thought it was a good idea, and not one of them raised an objection regarding ‘What if Theonia doesn’t want to join the Amphictyonic league?’ After all, they all think Theonia would be overjoyed to receive Delphi’s, the holy place of the Greeks, invitation.

Patmos looked at Pythia, the elderly woman who had kept her eyes closed, and asked with respect, “What does the oracle of Apollo say about this?”

For such an important matter, they needed to consult the oracle of Apollo. If there is no hope of success, they couldn’t put that matter forward at the priests’ conference.

The eyes of everyone focused on Pythia. Then the elderly woman, wearing the attire of a maiden(clothing required by the Temple of Apollo, which was a symbol of chastity), opened her cloudy eyes and said in her hoarse, low voice, “O scorching sun,

exhausted of its glory,

as it falls under the mountains,

the dark night descends,

and its clusters of raging bonfires,

illuminates the land like the day,

…”

Sitalces interjected while the priests pondered the meaning of the oracles, “Since Theonia worships Hades, a god who is the lord of darkness, as the patron deity of the kingdom, I think the oracle of Apollo meant was that the sun representing Sparta is on the verge of dying out and Theonia will take over. As for those bonfires, I still haven’t figured out if it refers to yet another emerging force…”

Since an oracle was always obscure, just like how the gods are mysterious themselves, the priests did not feel deterred from carrying out the matter even if they had difficulty understanding it for a while, as it seemed that the general direction was at least right…

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Last year’s hot summer killed a Spartan king, Agesipolis, while this summer is a great test for Theonia.

In the palace of Theonia, King Davos, the Chief Commercial Officer Marigi, the Chief of Finance Mersis and the five rotating speakers listened attentively to the report of the Minister of Agriculture Burkes.

“Last year, we had less rain than usual in the spring and summer. And this year, from February to now July, the south Italian region has gone from more than five months without a single rainfall, with areas like Lucania, Apulia (a region that includes Messapi, Peuceti and Dauni), Magna Graecia and Bruttii are all facing severe water shortages, with small rivers like the Sisno and Saraceno largely having bare beds and turning into small streams. While rivers like the Crati, Allaro and Neto are also narrowing and dropping in water level…

Had it not been for the widespread use of waterwheels, the Sybarite plain, the Crotone plain, the Ophemian plain and the Cosenxa plateau might have a massive withering of wheat seedlings. However, suppose this drought continues for another month. In that case, I fear the entire southern Italian region will have a severe crop failure by the autumn harvest in September. And from the looks of things, the chances of such a terrible situation happening are very high!…”

“It’s not just the problem of the grain failing. If the dry weather continued, the pasture in the mountains would wither, resulting in many livestock dying!” Vespa sighed.

“I still remember the last drought in south Italia twenty-five years ago. The kingdom and the people have benefited greatly from the good weather these years, and I fear many haven’t taken any precautions against it!” Lysias said solemnly.