The spartan dagger A novel

Summary: A good old classic Greek revenge story In the 4th Century B.C., Sparta had established control over most of Mainland Greece, and nowhere was her despotic rule more brutal than in her own territory, where over three centuries before Sparta had conquered the original population, the Helots. Every year, to remind the Helots that they were slaves, the Spartans sent out their young men to murder their defenseless subjects. On one of those nights, after having seen his parents killed, a fourteen year old Helot boy named Protos escapes, killing one of his pursuers. The Spartans hunt him relentlessly, but Protos will not consent to be a helpless victim. The hunters find that their own weapons are turned against them as Protos fights to escape Spartan rule. With the help of a young half-Egyptian witch woman, Protos makes his way to Thebes, which is on the verge of a rebellion against Spartan domination. By an act of almost suicidal daring, Protos helps the Thebans regain control of their city, setting the stage for the long war between Thebes and Sparta.