"Ok."
The messenger was also very well-behaved. When he saw that Pericles was about to read the letter, he consciously went to the door and waited. Pericles unfolded the parchment letter, and he could see at a glance that the letter was indeed written by Hilde. Hilde wrote very few words, only a few words.
"...I know that when you read this letter, you will definitely not believe the messenger I sent, but I will never lie to you about such an important matter. Araeus has become a hell on earth. Tens of thousands of residents have not only been brutally killed, but also used as tools by the Spartan Oracle. However, I have resolved this matter and the remains of these residents have been properly disposed of. There are still some survivors in Araeus. These people have seen the truth with their own eyes, and I have no way to erase the truth. Therefore, what happened to Araeus is true. I was very upset that I did not send troops in time to prevent this tragedy. What is worth noting now is that the Spartans definitely have more than one oracle. Even after Cleopatra died, it is not certain whether Sparta still has more than two oracles. In order to win, the Spartans have now begun to do whatever it takes. Remember to be careful and don't let any problems arise."
Having written this, Hilde stopped writing.
Because everything that needed to be said had been said.
Hilde thought that was enough.
Even Pericles couldn't understand this.
He could just find a dagger and slit his own neck before going to meet Hades.
So, after reading all this, Pericles took a deep breath, because he could feel that Hilde was telling the truth. Hilde... Although Pericles did not like his daughter, he had to say that Hilde was better than many people in many major moral matters. Otherwise, when Hilde came to Athens with the envoys, the people around her would not have liked her so much.
Including when Hilde was in Athens before.
Those slaves.
Don't you also support Hilde very much?
Therefore, Pericles still completely believed in Hilde.
In this case, it seems that Eraeus was really murdered by the Spartans, so Pericles must go to the citizens' assembly to make it clear to all Athenians. So Pericles packed up his things and walked out of the house. At this time, the messenger was still standing at the door. When he saw Pericles coming out, the messenger smiled and bowed, then said, "Sir, do you have any questions?"
"I have read the letter. I believe in your king, but I must inform the Citizens' Assembly of this matter. In short, thank you for coming all the way here to pass on the information." At this point, Pericles bowed his head gratefully, "I also thank your queen. Regarding the matter of Eraeus, I know you have done your best to kill the murderer. I, Pericles, will remember this favor first."
"You are serious."
The messenger also bowed and responded:
"Our country will handle the affairs of the East properly."
"Well, thank you for your support."
Pericles also found it quite strange. Although he always thought that Hilde joined the Delian League just to cause trouble, the first thing turned out to be a big deal. An entire city-state was massacred. This kind of thing was very rare in Greek history, or it almost never happened. Therefore, the seriousness of this matter can be seen. Pericles could not sit idly by. The Spartans were so crazy that this matter must be taken seriously.
So, Pericles sent the messenger away.
I was planning to go out.
Rhodes stood aside with some concern.
"Lord Pericles, what happened?"
"…Things on the battlefield are fine."
"Is there anything I can help with?"
Rhodes seemed very positive.
Pericles smiled and shook his head, then reached out and touched Rhodes' head: "It's okay, I don't need your strength for now, just stay at home and I'll rescue you after I finish dealing with this matter. Don't worry, it will be quick."
"OK, all right!"
Rhodes also nodded considerately.
After Pericles said goodbye to Rhodes, he kept thinking on his way to the citizens' assembly.
There are various circumstances surrounding this matter.
Eraeus... the Oracle of Sparta, and Hilde...
Although he knew that the massacre could not have been done by Hilde, and Hilde would never do such a despicable thing, Pericles always had an indescribable feeling.
The eighth tune, the fourth section, the helpless choice
This feeling is also difficult to describe. Although Hilde is not the murderer behind this incident, nor is she the actual executor, Hilde even does not want to see this happen, so she directly killed the Oracle of Sparta. This shows that Hilde's current strength has almost crushed the level of the Oracle of Sparta, and the latter can directly massacre the city. How terrible is Hilde's current level?
On the other hand, he was curious.
What would the Byzantine Empire do next?
Hilde provided all of Eraeus's food and supplies to Athens, which was indeed a good thing for Athens.
But doesn't this mean that Hilde has emptied all of Ellaeus' granaries?
Pericles always had an indescribable feeling. He always thought that Hilde was returning the grain to Athens, which meant that all the things in Eraeus that belonged to Athens were returned to you, so now Eraeus belongs to me... Although Pericles had no direct evidence, he always felt that this was what Hilde meant.
Eraeus, for Athens.
The importance is naturally self-evident.
But at the same time, although Eraeus is very important, there is no living person in Eraeus now. Is it still important? In fact, it has become a question worth thinking about. Eraeus, which has no living people, is a crippled city that cannot even operate in the most basic way. And now Athens is absolutely impossible to migrate its population to Eraeus, because Athens does not have the power to do so, and the Attic people will definitely not be willing to migrate to an empty city that has been massacred.
Doesn't this give Hilde an opportunity to take advantage of?
Pericles was naturally very helpless.
There is nothing we can do about this situation.
It's better to take advantage of the loophole than fall into the hands of the Spartans.
Pericles brought this news to the Citizens' Assembly. When he told the people of the Citizens' Assembly about this, the Athenians were naturally very surprised, and some even said that Hilde was spreading rumors. At the same time, Pericles also asked the messenger to hand over Cleopatra's head, a letter from Archidamus representing her identity, the head of the Spartan commander, the helmet and the general's seal to the Citizens' Assembly.
In the face of this evidence.
It seemed as if the truth had been revealed.
The Athenians were immediately in an uproar.
All the Athenians felt sad for their fellow countrymen who were far away in Eraeus.
At the same time, this was also a very heavy blow to Athens' hegemony.
The reason why Athens was so powerful was that it had control over many places in the Aegean Sea. The Spartans had always fought fiercely on land, but Athens dominated the ocean. The Spartan navy could only prevent the Athenians from bypassing the Peloponnese and directly attacking Messenia where Sparta was located.
Now the Spartans have completely destroyed a very important overseas colony of Athens. Although Sparta also paid a more painful price in the form of an oracle, this shows that the Spartans have reached an almost uncontrollable level in destroying Athens' hegemony. Even if they do such a thing, even if they use any means, they will eventually destroy Athens' hegemony. The Spartans have really fought hard to do such a thing.
So faced with this situation, the Athenian Citizens Assembly also fell into an anxious state. They didn't know what choice they should make next to properly handle this matter. Athens was essentially still at a disadvantage. The advantage that the Spartans had gained on the Greek mainland did exceed that of Athens. Many allies that stood with Athens were now also captured by the Spartans and turned to provide troops and assistance to the Spartans.
On the other hand, the Delian League's most important ally, Ionia, is currently under pressure from the Persians, so they may not have enough power to come to Athens' aid. The problem faced by the island city-states in the Aegean Sea is that they are too weak. They can indeed provide Athens with a very powerful fleet in terms of the navy, but other than that, they can't help Athens much.
And the most deadly thing is.
Rhodes, the oracle of Athens.
He is an oracle with many restrictions.
Rhodes' ability requires the presence of water. The more water there is, the stronger Rhodes' ability will be. This means that if the Spartan navy dares to invade Athens at sea, Rhodes alone can swallow all those warships with the raging waves of the sea. However, once it involves a war on land, unless it is next to a lake or a river, Rhodes' ability will be greatly reduced?
Therefore, the Athenians were actually somewhat dissatisfied with such an oracle. They felt that a true oracle should be like Brasidas of Sparta, at least like Brasidas, who could lead the army to fight north and south and conquer a piece of heaven and earth for his city-state.
Now under this situation.
What fate awaits Athens.
No one knows.
But fortunately, the Byzantine Kingdom was able to give everyone some courage. At least the Byzantine Kingdom directly killed one of the other side's oracles, completely destroying Sparta's idea of cutting off Athens' retreat. At least the news that reached Athens was not the news that Eraeus was captured and Athens lost its granary. This can be said to be good news that can cheer people up among a pile of bad news.
After discussion, the citizens' assembly realized that Athens had no way to do anything about Eraeus now, so they decided to acquiesce to the Byzantine Kingdom's control of Eraeus and did not recognize the Byzantine Kingdom's legal occupation. However, they would not ask the Byzantine Kingdom to return Eraeus to Athens, because even if it did, Athens would not be able to digest it, so it would be better to hand it over to Hilde.
And according to the envoy of the Byzantine Empire.
Athens' food security will then be guaranteed by the Byzantine Empire.
The food that was brought over.
That is already a proof.
The Athenians could only agree, but they all knew the danger behind it. After all, it was very dangerous for a city-state's food security to be controlled by another country. So they could only agree to the Byzantine Kingdom's request for the time being, but finding a new food supply base became their top priority.
Chapter 8, Section 5: The Spartan's Choice
Of course, there is no need to worry about this matter for the time being. As for the issue of food supply, since the Byzantine Kingdom returned all the grain of Eraeus to Athens, Athens' food security is actually guaranteed. At least taking into account the local inventory of Athens and the grain that can be transferred from other contracts, Athens should not have a large-scale food shortage in the next two or three years.
Moreover, the Byzantine Kingdom is still an ally of Athens. They are all members of the Delian League, and the Byzantine Kingdom has also stated that it will provide Athens with sufficient food supplies to help Athens survive this difficult time. Therefore, there is not much pressure to find a colony worth developing in the next two or three years.
That was the tragedy of Eraeus.
It is indeed shocking.
The whole city of Athens was filled with a sad atmosphere. The Athenians could not help but worry. Now it was Eraeus, but what if it was Athens at some point in the future? If Athens encountered such a problem, what should it do? Eraeus had a population of about 40,000, but Athens had a population of nearly 200,000. This huge difference in numbers was no longer a simple difference in numbers. If Athens really encountered this, it would be one of the most tragic disasters in human history.
Pericles had a deep sense of mission. He knew that he could not allow such a thing to happen in Athens, so now he could realize that he must fulfill his duties as consul and minimize the possibility of such a disaster.
Next it's up to the Spartans, who still have a few cards to play.
They have already lost an oracle.
Will there be any new killer weapons?
If this is true, what will happen to Athens in the future?
This may have been the most distressing time for Pericles during this period.
Similarly, this news did not stay in Athens for long. It gradually drifted to the south of the Greek mainland with the merchant ships and came to Messenia on the Peloponnese Peninsula. In Messenia, the news of what happened to Eraeus and the killing of the Spartan oracle were spread by merchants to Messenia and soon entered the city of Sparta. At first, people thought it was just a rumor and even punished the merchants who spread the rumor.
But as more and more such news came, almost every merchant who came to Messenia brought this news with him. It was as if everyone spread the same information to Messenia at the same time. Only then did the Spartans realize that perhaps things were not as they thought. In the far east, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, something had indeed happened that caught them off guard.
Archidamos, one of the two kings of Sparta.
At this moment, he is sitting on his throne.
He listened coldly to the merchant in front of him and told him everything he knew. After the merchant finished speaking, a Spartan officer stood up and said indignantly: "This guy must be misleading the people, Lady Cleopatra, but how could the oracle of Lord Hades be killed so easily? They must be spies sent by Athens to disrupt our Sparta and Mycenae, Your Majesty, these people must not be let off easily, they should be hung on the pillars! Then stab them to death with spears!"
"Quiet."
I saw the businessman looked scared.
Archidamus thought about it for a while, then asked Pausanias, another one of the two kings of Sparta, "What do you think about this matter?"
"I can't be sure whether what this guy said is true or false, but there is one thing I can be sure of. There is indeed a country in the far east called the Byzantine Kingdom. This country was established less than three years ago. The king is Pericles' daughter Hilde. Some time ago, the Byzantine Kingdom also formed an alliance with Athens and officially joined the Delian League. You should know this. But in Sparta, no one knows the overall strength of the Byzantine Kingdom. I spent some time carefully investigating the Byzantine Kingdom. I was sorting it out during this period, and then this incident happened."
"It's you, I knew you would take the initiative to find a solution to the problem."
Ashidamus also nodded.
But his expression remained serious.
"So do you have any insights?"
"Yes, the Byzantine Empire is much more powerful than we imagined. First of all, its population, the population of the areas directly ruled by the kingdom, adds up to more than 70. In addition, it has an army of nearly 5 and a navy of more than 300 warships. It also has a vast territory and rules over almost all the Thracians."
"Thracians..."
Hearing this, many Spartans were moved.
Since ancient times, in the eyes of these Greeks, Thracians are barbarians, but all Greeks must admit that Thracians are brave and fearless, with high fighting qualities, but they are also very cunning and extremely difficult to educate. Now the Byzantine Empire actually rules the entire Thracian region, and also rules the Thracians there, which is indeed somewhat unexpected.
Archidamus continued:
"And were they able to kill Cleopatra?"
"I don't know the situation in this area, but the biggest difference between the Byzantine Kingdom and other countries is that the king of the Byzantine Kingdom, that woman named Hilde, is an oracle. And according to the rumors I have collected, Hilde is not only an oracle, but also the oracle of Lady Athena."
"Knew it."
Archidamus frowned and nodded.
"That would explain why the oracle of Athens was not Lady Athena's. It seems to be true. Lady Athena already had an oracle, but this oracle left Athens. This is really ironic."
"Yes, but although Hilde has now separated from Athens and established a new country, this new country is a member of the Delian League. And I think it was Hilde who killed Cleopatra this time. We all know that among the oracles, Cleopatra's strength in fighting one-on-one is the worst. Her ability does not lie in this kind of one-on-one combat."
Words of Pausanias.
Archidamus agreed.
Chapter 8, Section 6: Hilde's New Move
"So if Hilde is really the oracle of Lady Athena, then defeating Cleopatra is completely understandable. In this case, even if Hilde leaves Athens, she is still serving the Athenian group, so she is still our enemy."
"So... we lost an oracle, and then we confirmed that Athens also has an oracle who can help Athens. This means that the balance between our two forces has been reached. We have Brasidas and Lysander, and Athens has Rhodes and Hilde. It seems that... our advantage has been reduced a lot."
There was some helplessness in Archidamus' words.
Pausanias could only say:
"Not only that, our Cestus and Cardea have also been occupied by the Byzantine Empire, which means that we have completely lost our sphere of influence in the East. Now, although the entire Eraeus no longer has any ability to provide a stable source of food for Athens, we have also lost the stronghold in the East that can check and balance Athens."
