When looking at the map, Theonia occupied the smallest territory among the three powers. However, Davos played a small trick as he did not circle the entire Catanian plain even though Antrapolis controlled its east.
âThe other city-states, such as Agrigento, Gela, TyndarisâŠwould become neutral city-states, serving as buffer zones for Carthage, Syracuse and Theonia.â Said Davos seriously as he pointed at the icons on the map with his quill.
After checking the map carefully, Eshmounadon suddenly said, âDo these neutral city-states include Messina?â
Although Messina isnât large, it is also part of Sicilyâs important city-state as its location is crucial.
âOf course not!â Said Davos without hesitation, âThe citizens of new Messina were from Locri and Medma, who were accomplices of Dionysius in this war by blockading the Strait of Messina and attacking the port of Rhegium several times. Thus for their safety, Rhegium proposed to us to attack Messina, and the Theonian Senate has agreed to their request for a joint attackâŠâ And once again, Davos concealed the fact that âTheonia and Rhegium have decided to share control of Messinaâ.
But as they arenât Greek and their two most important waterways donât pass through the straight, the Carthaginians donât care much about Messina. After looking at the map again, Eshmounadon thought about Davosâ suggestion for some time. Then he looked up and said, âDear king Davos, the Carthaginian Senate sent me here to revise the friendly treaty between Theonia and Carthage and find out how Theonia would proceed on your war with Syracuse. But I never could expectâŠthat you would give me such aâŠerrâŠsurprise! However, I could only take your proposal back to the Senate as it is beyond the scope of my authority.â
Davos expressed his understanding. Then he unhurriedly said, âI hope Carthageâs reply could arrive quicker because I am afraid that the Syracusans in the city of Scylletium wouldnât last for a few days before they surrender.â Davos could confidently say those words as the news of Dionysiusâ escape leaked, and the defending soldiers were already panicking. Moreover, the Syracusans had sent a messenger to negotiate peace again, so Davos took the opportunity to tell him about the latest situation in Sicily. Thus whether they believed it or not, a bigger disturbance in the city of Scylletium was bound to happen.
Hearing that considerably shook Eshmounadon as he understood what Davos meant: The surrender of the Syracusans in the city of Scylletium meant the end of the war in south Italia. By then, Carthage would have to negotiate with Theonia on different terms.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After seeing off the Carthaginian envoy who had left in a hurry, Henipolis asked, âYour majesty, would Carthage agree with your proposal?â
âJudging from the envoyâs behaviour just now and what we investigated on Carthageâs situation over the past few days, we can see that they are seriously against war. So even though Sicilyâs situation is very favourable for Carthage, many elders in the Carthaginian Senate may not agree to start another warâŠ.â Davos recalled much of the information about Carthage that he had read before and continued, âSo as long as they could negotiate, the Carthaginians, who value efficiency, wouldnât be foolish enough to use force. Whatâs more, Carthage should understand that occupying the whole of Sicily would be harmful to them.â
âWhy?â Henipolis asked curiously.
âYou can understand the reason after thinking about it.â
ââŠummâŠis it because they would arouse the wrath of the entire Greek world against them?â
âCorrect. If Carthage were to occupy the entire Sicily, a foreign force would threaten not only our Magna Graecia but also Greece. So how could the Greeks accept such a situation! Carthage shouldâve realised it during their past wars with Syracuse as they hadnât only fought the Syracusans but also with the Greeks in Italia and GreeceâŠâ
âOh, Carthage, which is just a city-state, naturally couldnât overcome the strength of the whole of Greece. Either way, they would fail. â
âHeni, your teacher was interested in Carthage recently and had collected a lot of information. Have you seen them?â Davos asked to change the subject.
âYour majesty, itâs not like you didnât know I was in Laos. So how could I have the time to visit my teacher?â Henipolis felt slightly uncomfortable mentioning Laos.
âAnyway, after reading those materials and discussing it with Ansitanos, I realised that the Phoenicians had quite a few colonies in the western Mediterranean and colonised much earlier than we Greeks, but why do we only know about Carthage?â
âYes, why?â Henipolis asked with interest.
Davos explained in detail, âIt is because the Phoenicians had a different way of colonising than us Greeks. We Greeks colonised because we had too many people but too little land to support a larger population, so we were forced to colonise to survive and gain new landâŠwhile the Phoenicians colonisedâŠno, it shouldnât be called colonisation but commercial activity. The Phoenicians ventured into the western Mediterranean hundreds of years ago to make huge profits. But as a result, they discovered silver mines on the Iberian Peninsula and precious metal mines in SardiniaâŠthus in order to collect these precious metals and transport them back to Phoenicianâs land, they built many trading posts on the coast of Africa and in the west of Sicily.
Take note that it is a trading post, not a town! And most of the Phoenicians in the trading posts mainly were engaged in metalworking and transport trade, so to meet their daily needs, they had to trade with their neighbours, the aborigines and our Greek city-states. And as they could integrate into the local environments of the western Mediterranean, the Phoenicians became an alien race that could live in harmony with its neighbours. So even though there was strife in the royal family in the Phoenician land that led some members of the city of Tyreâs royal family to flee to Carthage, they still managed to lead Carthage to rise and replace Tyre, the mother city-state of the Phoenicians, into becoming the new trade centre for the Phoenicians in the western Mediterranean. At the same time, the Carthaginians and the Greeks lived in harmony-â
âWait a moment, your majesty. But the Carthaginians had evil intentions toward the Greeks in Sicily as they repeatedly invaded the Greeksâ territory! Moreover, they sacrificed the children and had repulsive behaviour!!â Henipolis rashly interrupted Davos with a look of displeasure.
Davos didnât mind his interruption and just gently smiled, âI wonât comment about that as sacrificing children is their tradition. But from what your teacher had gathered, he concluded that it was precisely our Greekâs several attacks on Carthageâs allies that led to their counterattack.
A hundred years ago, the Spartan prince Dorieus claimed that the land around Eryx in western Sicily was the resting place of his ancestor, Heracles. Thus he wanted to build a city there. But Eryx, the religious centre of the Carthaginians in Sicily, would not allow the arrogant Spartans to build a city, so Carthage went to war and drove out the allied Greek forces led by Sparta.
Then decades ago, the army of the tyrant Gelon of Syracuse launched an attack on Himera, a friendly ally of Carthage, which led to the Carthaginian reinforcements arriving. But after Gelon defeated Carthage, he portrayed the war as a great victory comparable to the Greek allied forceâs victory over Persia.
Thus I think it was Syracuse who deliberately spread most of the terrible images of the Carthaginians over the years in order to force the other city-states in Sicily to unite against themâŠâ
âYour majesty, do you mean that all of those are the plots of Syracuse?!â Henipolis asked with astonishment.
âThe Carthaginians had to make a show of might from time to time to deter these peopleâs greed. After all, the Carthaginianâs mother states, Tyre and Sidon, could not provide a constant flow of new settlers like the Greeks, so the Carthaginians, whose population was smaller, were probably constantly on guard against the avarice of the Greeks, who came from the eastern Mediterranean to the west of SicilyâŠâ
After Davos finished speaking, Henipolis chuckled and said, âYour majesty, you donât seem to be a Greek when explaining.â
Davos then sternly said, âOnly from a neutral standpoint can one understand the true feelings of the Carthaginians. Hence I think Carthage would be happy to accept the friendship of a powerful Greek neighbour at this time!â Said Davos, but he had other thoughts: At this time, Theonia could not afford to provoke Carthage, so itâs better just to let it sleep and have them continue to do their business, trade and tend their farm.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dionysiusâ ship took advantage of its familiarity with the east coast of Sicily to bring the pursuing fast-sailing ship of Theonia into reefy areas, thus escaping their pursuit. And when passing through Taunis, they bypassed the Theonian fleetâs blockade and finally reached the island of Ortygia.
The island of Ortygia had a tight defence as it was surrounded by the sea on three sides, with cliffs everywhere and a walled city on top. The island also had a small port, but neither could a ship stop nearby nor get onto the island unless allowed. But it wasnât a problem for Dionysius.
As soon as Dionysius landed on the island, Hipparinus, Kaladmus, and the mercenary leader Megakorlis rushed to welcome him.
âThank Apollo! You are finally back, Lord Dionysius! Milord, Herolis launched a rebellion after you left, and he instigatedâŠâ
Dionysiusâ heart sank when he heard Kaladmusâ long-winded narration. Moreover, Dionysius could already feel something amiss when he saw the Theonian fleet in the sea near Taunis, and now that feeling had come true as he couldnât even believe that Syracuseâs situation would be much worse: The Theonian army had defeated the allied forces led by Macias and almost all the city-states north of Syracuse rebelled and broke away from their control. Even the whole city of Syracuse, except for the island of Ortygia, had become the territory of the rebelsâŠ
So the more he listened, the more annoyed Dionysius became that he couldnât stop himself from shouting, âCut the crap!!!â resulting in Kaladmus becoming as quiet as cicadas in late autumn.
Dionysius just stood there panting heavily. After straightening out his disordered thoughts, he looked up at his father-in-law and asked, âWhere is Philistus?â
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