Prologue: A Joyful Day
The Gods' Bloody Tune: A Classical Greek TL
''In those days some hoped that the days of strife might soon come to an end in Hellas. The gods, however, had other plans and mens will long continue to dance to their bloody tune...''
Xenophon, Hellenica
Prologue: A Joyful Day
Demetrios Lysandros, The third day of the month of Hekatombaion of the second year of the 83rd Olympiad (1):
Demetrios, son of Lysander, wine merchant and proud Athenian felt sorrow. It should have been a joyful day. A few months ago Athenai had believed herself on the brink of destruction, her once mighty and glorious having either been sunk or besieged in the harbour of the island of Mytilene. To build and crew another fleet to relieve the surviving ships the citizens of Athena’s city had to go as far as far to melt some of the golden statues of Nike (2), in her temple on the Acropolis and to offer citizenship to slaves willing to row in the city’s new fleet.
It was on this inexperienced fleet with a low morale that that the hopes of Athenai layed. It was this cash starved fleet who was sent to face a Spartan fleet made confident by recent victories, kept well paid and supplied by Persian gold and, for the first, time more experienced than their Athenian opponents. It was this fleet that, to save their poleis and her empire, needed to not only win a great victory but to do so quickly, for the depleted Athenian treasury could only keep them at sea for so long. And, against all expectations, they did, the brilliance of their admirals having overcome all obstacles.
At the Battle of the Arginusae Islands more then half the Spartan fleet had found its doom, their commander, the young and daring Navarch Calitrades, among them. Out 120 spartan triremes 77 now lay the at the bottom of the Aegean. The siege of Mytilene was lifted and what remained of the Spartan fleet, often in rather bad shape, retreated to Chios. The Athenians, for their part, had lost 25 of their 150 triremes. Significant loses, by all accounts, but nevertheless light ones, especially considering what had been achieved. And now the victorious fleet had returned home. Really it should have been a joyful day.
But a storm had raged in the hours following the battle, preventing any attempts to rescue stranded sailors and recover the bodies of the dead. Enraged at the thoughts of brave sailors abandoned to the tender mercies of the sea, and of mens who had died for the Poleis to be denied proper burials (3), the Athenian peoples soon began to scream for vengeance and look for those responsible. Demetrios and some likeminded individuals had attempted to make their voices heard at the Eklesia, arguing for calm and clemency considering the circumstances and what the mens commanding the fleet had accomplished, but their words had been drowned by the outrage felt by so many.
Demetrios was thus forced to stand there, powerless as the generals in command of the fleet (4) and the captains who had, at first, been charging with recovering the stranded and the bodies of the dead, accuse his each other. He felt despair rise inside his soul as he could imagine a trial depriving Athenai of some of her most brilliant warriors (5), no matter who prevailed, through the execution of those deemed responsible, just as Sparta was no doubt busying herself rebuilding her fleet with Persian gold! Silently, Demetrios begged the Lady Athene Pelle to help her city…
And then it came, first it seemed to be simply a whisper in the wind, coming from Piraeus, but then it grew loulder and louder, as it travelled along the Long Walls and toward Athenai's Walls. Soon all in Athenai had heard of the news from the east and, from uncountable throats, rose the same chant of relief and hope. ‘’The Great King is dead! The Great King is Dead! The Great King is Dead! (6)’’
Soon Demetrios, joined in the chanting. It did, after all, proved to be a joyful day!
(1) Sometimes in July of 406 BC
(2) Greek goddess of victory
(3) Very much a big deal according to ancient Greek religious beliefs and practises.
(4) Ancient Greece didn’t have the same concept of separation between land and naval forces we have and in Athens the commanders of military forces where usually those elected to the Board of Generals.
(5) Theramenes and Thrasybulus, the two captains having been put in charge of the rescue mission, had both been generals in the past and had served brilliantly.
(6) The POD, in OTL Darius II died only two years latter.
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