There were also slaves in other parts of Greece.
However, the treatment of helots was much worse than that of slaves in other places. Other slaves were generally protected to a certain extent, and as long as they worked hard, there would be no problem. But helots were also murdered regularly. The Spartan secret forces would regularly murder some threatening helots. They lived in fear and exploitation every day. They were coolies in life and had to assist the Spartans on the battlefield, serving as light infantry, rowers, and other roles.
However, their hard days are over!
Because Hilde is here!
Thinking of this, Hilde puffed out his chest proudly.
Then, Hilde, Sophia and Rhodes entered the city. As the messenger said, the whole city was in a mess. There was a mess of garbage everywhere. The Spartans retreated too hastily. Many things were not taken away. Even some weapons such as daggers were left behind. Hilde went directly to the most luxurious place here. According to the guide of the Helots, this building was the palace of the Spartans.
Hilde walked in.
As expected, it was empty inside.
Knew it……
The damage to the palace was relatively minor.
Maybe it was because of the heavy door that the helots could not destroy or enter. Therefore, this place is well preserved. There are all kinds of simple but exquisite furniture in the palace. The documents inside have been emptied, and not even a flag is left. The Spartans are really concerned about their flags and will never let them fall into the hands of the enemy.
Now that it is confirmed that the Spartans have left.
Hilde also has to take action.
"Rod."
"exist!"
Rhodes stood up holding the trident.
"Now, have the troops stationed outside Sparta and keep an eye on the movements of the helots. At the same time, use part of our supplies to help the helots and send messengers to Arcadia to gather food. At the same time, inform the legion commander to send detachments to various places in Laconia to investigate the local situation, including the number of local helots, the food reserves, and so on."
"understood."
Rhodes nodded seriously.
"At the same time, send a scout cavalry to the south to investigate the situation."
"Yes!"
After the order was issued.
Just have to wait.
The Greek Empire troops distributed the rations they had to the hungry helots. After seeing that there was food to be collected, the helots gathered cautiously, fearing that the food was poisonous or that they would be killed by the soldiers. However, when they found out that it was really for their stomachs to be full, the helots spread the word and soon gathered together.
Sparta had a population of 60,000 people, and these 60,000 people were supported by hundreds of thousands of helots. This was an extremely exaggerated ratio. After knowing the specific numbers, Hilde understood why Sparta wanted to mobilize all its people, because if it didn't mobilize all its people, it would be impossible to suppress hundreds of thousands of helots. The famine situation was less severe than Hilde saw. The helots in the Messenian region basically had no shortage of food, and in the Laconian region, only the helots around Sparta were short of food, and the granaries in other villages were not taken away.
If it were true, hundreds of thousands of Helots would starve.
Hilde couldn't solve it either.
A few days later, food urgently transferred from Arcadia arrived in the Sparta region one after another.
The helots were already familiar with Hilde's arrival. Every time they saw Hilde parading outside Sparta, they would run to her, kneel on the ground, kowtow repeatedly, and speak a language that Hilde could not understand. Of course, they also spoke Greek, but it was a rare dialect of Greek. Because they were all survivors of the Mycenaean era who lived here, and their lives were out of touch with the Spartans, the language they spoke inherited many words from the Mycenaean era.
This is a Greek language similar to the Arcadian dialect with many archaic sounds.
However, if you try hard to make out Hilde can still understand.
It's nothing more than gratitude for Hilde's kindness.
Then they said that Hilde was a god who came down to earth, a messenger of God or something like that.
Perhaps no one was so kind to the helots. When they were able to have enough food and not be whipped or insulted, they naturally felt a strong sense of gratitude. In order to let the helots know their slave status, the Spartans would whip them every year to leave marks on their bodies to remind them that they were lowly helots.
But such a system.
There was no way Hilde could follow through.
Therefore, Hilde also sent Acadians who were familiar with the Helot language to promote it here.
All the helots were liberated on the spot and restored to their status as freemen, from slaves to freemen of the Greek Empire - a status lower than that of citizens, also known as "foreigners". They did not have the political rights of citizens, but were not enslaved, guaranteed freedom, and protected by the empire. They could own property and intermarry with citizens. Hilde did not plan to grant helots citizenship for the time being, because if hundreds of thousands of helots were suddenly transformed from slaves into citizens, other citizens would definitely be dissatisfied.
For example, the slaves in Athens became free citizens after they were liberated.
But even so.
It is also a great thing for Helots.
Since the Spartans had left, Hilde generously gave up the city of Sparta and provided it to the helots. The homeless helots were allowed to live in Sparta. Thus, this lifeless city gradually became popular. The liberated helots were renamed Laconians and Messenians by Hilde, who cleaned up the city of Sparta and then moved into their new homes.
Looking at the brightly lit city of Sparta.
Hilde was also relieved.
The Mystery of the Spartans
Free the Helots.
This is something Hilde had thought about a long time ago.
But I didn’t expect it to be so easy to implement.
If the Spartans were still here, it would be difficult to liberate the helots. The hatred between the Spartans and the helots was deep, and the helots who had regained their status as free citizens would most likely cause harm to the Spartans. This would cause a lot of trouble for Hilde, because if the Spartans surrendered peacefully, Hilde would have to guarantee the interests of the Spartans, and liberating the helots would harm the interests of the Spartans. After all, the Spartans needed the helots to feed them. The helots who regained their freedom would most likely retaliate against the Spartans...
In short, the Spartans are now gone.
This is really great.
Directly solves this difficult problem.
Besides, the Laconians were the original inhabitants of this land.
Moreover, interestingly, Naupactus, located on the coast of Achaea, was the small city-state that had previously requested to become the capital of the province. Hilde later learned about the history of that city-state and found out that it was actually founded by Helots. Decades ago, when the Spartans were weakened by a major earthquake, the Helots launched the Itomu Mountain Rebellion, and then spent ten years fighting with the Spartans, finally forcing the Spartans to compromise and allow the rebels to leave Sparta.
And these were the helots who left Sparta.
So I went to Naupactus.
If you say this.
Hilde discovered that he and Helot had a lot of connections.
If from today on, their identity as helots will be completely swept into the garbage dump of history, and the new name will replace their previous insulting name. Even if the Spartans come back in the end, they can't change the current situation. Hilde will never allow the helot system to continue to exist in her land.
After Hildes took control of Sparta and Tomyris's troops took control of Messenia, Hildes controlled all of the Peloponnese, except Elis. It was only a matter of time before Elis was controlled by Hildes. Although the largest city-state in the area, Olympia, was famous, it was only famous because it was the venue for the Olympic Games. Its military and political strength could not cause any trouble to Hildes in the Peloponnese.
and so……
That's it.
Hilde had almost achieved her goal of conquering Greece.
When Hilde saw the name on the map that bothered her the most, which was already right under her feet, she felt a little emotional. She had imagined many ways to defeat the Spartans and how the Spartans would submit to her, but she didn't expect that the Spartans would run away with their tails between their legs.
This is really too dramatic.
However, a full 60,000 people escaped.
Hilde thought to herself.
Considering the productivity of this world, it is incredible that so many people could leave Sparta in a short period of time. No matter how high the execution ability of the Spartans was, it was unlikely that they could do such a thing. Therefore, this matter should have the help of God.
Hilde knew that the gods would never be idle. After Ares and Hera's plan failed last time, the gods did stay quiet for a while, but Hilde believed that they would find an opportunity to make a comeback. If they really directed the Spartan withdrawal, this left Hilde with a big question.
Why did the Spartans evacuate?
A god that even Athens didn't care about.
Why are you so concerned about the Spartans?
The Athenians would cry out that it was unfair.
The investigation team sent to the south soon learned the local situation. The reconnaissance cavalry did not encounter any ambushes or obstacles along the way. The Spartans discarded a lot of things on the road. They might have been forced to discard some unnecessary things on the way to speed up the march. The remains of some Spartans were also seen, which were simply placed on the roadside and not even buried.
This high-intensity and high-speed march made some older Spartans unable to bear it. Perhaps these Spartans did not want to slow down the team, so they stopped at this place, but they did not survive this period of time. When Hilde's reconnaissance cavalry passed this area, they were all dead.
This brutal and barbaric march also reflects the haste of the Spartans' retreat.
From Sparta to the southern port, it was only 100 kilometers away, but thousands of Spartan bodies were dumped along the way. Most of them were elderly people and children. According to the footprints and related information left on the road, it took the Spartan team only two days to complete the 100-kilometer journey.
This is approximately 50 kilometers per day.
This is an unimaginable journey for the elderly and frail children.
The footprints disappeared after reaching the southern port. It can be seen that there was a very messy environment at the port. A large number of Spartans came here, stayed for a short time, and built temporary residences here. After that, these people all disappeared, which proves that these people did leave by boat.
The port, which was supposed to have thousands of people, is now empty, with only the panicked Helots left here.
After confirming safety.
Hilde led a cavalry unit himself.
Follow this path forward.
Due to the large amount of corpses piled up, these corpses would only lead to possible epidemics. As the troops advanced, Hilde could only order the infantry of the follow-up troops to bury the corpses along the way on the spot to prevent the corpses from excessive decay and producing germs, which would affect the safety of people around them.
Similarly, the policy of emancipating serfs was also being implemented very firmly.
Wherever Hilde went, these Helots knew the title of Hilde the Liberator.
All the way to the southernmost port.
Riding a white horse, Hilde came to the beach. Looking at the blue sea, Hilde couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"You escaped by boat..."
That is really a big project.
Where did Sparta get so many ships?
Among Sparta's allies, Corinth had the most ships, but all of Corinth's ships were controlled by Hilde, and it was impossible for them to be distributed to Sparta.
The ninth tune, the second section, the Athens Mansion in the capital
"They really escaped from the sea."
Rhodes looked at the vast ocean, feeling a little confused.
"so many people……"
"Yeah, that's outrageous."
"Could there be an oracle like me? After all, I can make the ship move quickly."
"It is possible. For example, Lysander is the oracle of Hermes. Hermes' ability is to use the wind. From what I know, Lysander inherited Hermes' ability to use the wind. He can make the ship move quickly by controlling the wind. But the problem is that there are not enough ships. How many ships can Sparta have together? One ship can only carry 100 people, which is the limit. If more people are put in, it will be overloaded."
"yes……"
So this becomes a confusing area.
Even where did the Spartans go.
Hilde didn't know.
“This is the first time I’ve encountered such a situation.”
"But at least we know that these Spartans moved away, and did not disappear into thin air or hide."
"Yes, if they hide in the mountains and fight guerrilla warfare for us, it might be more troublesome."
Hilde breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
She looked around, and the helots here were looking at Hilde curiously, obviously not knowing who Hilde was. Hilde saw these poor helots and shook her head helplessly.
It seems that it will take a long time for the issue of Laconia to be resolved.
Spartans, let's put them aside for now.
The liberation of the helots was given top priority by Hilde. There were hundreds of thousands of helots in the entire Laconia and Messenia region. How to break their slave shackles, arrange the fields, and replan the villages was a series of tasks that made people crazy. Hilde also felt a headache when he saw these messy things. The workload was much greater than that in Athens.
Fortunately, the people of Laconia and Messenia were relatively honest, especially since Hilde had done them a favor, so they naturally obeyed all of Hilde's orders. The bureaucrats of the Greek Empire ran around in Laconia and Messenia, slowly pushing the serfs here to turn over and become masters.
Hilde also sent troops to Elis.
And she herself returned to the city of Sparta.
Now, she was standing in the Temple of Athena in Sparta, looking at the exquisite temple in front of her, lost in thought.
Now, the whole of Greece has been conquered, and a certain stage of the goal has indeed been achieved. However, Hilde's heart could not be at peace. The disappearance of the Spartans was like a thorn in her flesh. No matter how Hilde planned the future, she felt very unsafe. And now, the navy has not yet been dispatched, so Hilde is not clear about the situation on Kythera Island. So Hilde asked Rhodes to lead the troops back to Corinth, and then let her bring the Corinthian fleet to land on Kythera Island.
At this time, more than a month passed in the blink of an eye.
