RR’s Report: The Peloponnesian War

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Sparta 1, Greece, 496BC

Sparta, supported by our Allies Corinth and Thermopylai, has gone from nothing to a bustling metropolis in only 4 years. Standing by the docks, I saw Phoenician bronze coming in and sculpture heading out to Corinth – presumably, this is how they city was able to turn a profit each year.

My contacts in the Trade Ministry report that not all was so smooth however, with landslides regularly disrupting trade with Athens. It is also worthy of note that we were able to help out our neighbours during hard times. We ensured that Thermopylai was kept from going bankrupt, and that the people of Athens did not starve.

Sparta 2, Greece, 494BC

Those interfering busybodies at Olympia are not bound to us in eternal subjugation. Serves them right for daring to assault fortress Sparta – having fought them off with heavy losses, Mayor Rodentos decreed that we should pay respect to the glory of Ares and build him a Sanctuary. This was achieved in less than a year, with Athenian marble, Phoenician wood, and Spartan sculpture. Some of this was imported, but I noticed some gifts arriving at the dockside from both Athens (marble) and Phoenicia (bronze).

Ares’s heavenly soldiers were sent to teach the Olympians a lesson – a lightning raid brought back 2400 drachmas and an invasion easily brought them to heel. Once again, we were able to provide Athens with food to prevent starvation, and our explorers even reached the other side of the Aegean, where they discovered Sardis, the capital of a strange Empire. Rumours abound that this Empire is seeking to extend its influence into Greece. If they do, then they’ll surely find out the hard way that people don’t beat Sparta on the battlefield!

Sparta 3, Greece, 484BC

The puny Persians have nothing on our military prowess. Sardis launched a ferocious assault on us, and we were only just able to survive. However, we soon taught them a lesson, taking both Sardis and their ally Delos. Amidst all this, we were able to respond to requests from other Greek cities for military assistance, fleece, food and olive oil (getting, I might add, nothing but wine in return).

2 more sanctuaries adorn our city – Artemis and Hephaestus. Oh, speaking of gods, we were invaded by that fool Dionysus, but he happened to come upon Ares, who quickly sent him packing back where he came from.