Thuriiâs narrow victory over Compsa could be attributed to the Daunian War taking away a lot of excellent players in the first legion. On the other hand, Uzentumâs victory over Rudiae was completely unexpected. And the invited Abellinum shocked many people by defeating Pyxous while Rhegium, who everyone regarded as a pushover, actually took out NaxosâŚthis yearâs game situation is really confusing, and even the veteran fans couldnât understand it.
While the wonderful matches drew the publicâs attention, the Senate held several emergency meetings in the past two days.
The first was about Ladician and Lasiperatus leading several Sicilian statesmen to protest against the Praetor of Naxos, Milo and the Praetor of Catania, Siprusâ unlawful behaviour of disregarding the Theonian Law by sending people to enter their houses and searched their belongings forcibly. Thus they demanded that the Senate immediately send someone to stop their madness and remove them from their positions.
Their proposal was, however, opposed by the statesmen Stromboli led and some of the statesmen from the former South Italian City-State Alliance led by Lysias(statesman).
Since Milo had already started his search operation and after getting the hint from Davos, Stromboli no longer needed to keep it secret. Thus he faced the statesmen in the meeting hall and loudly narrated his last tenure in Naxos, where his men investigated a murder case. Then the slave who voluntarily surrendered confessed another secret after getting interrogated.
The statesmen, who initially thought the matter about Sicily was strange and were asking around, had suddenly caused a commotion.
On the other hand, Ladician and the others denied it and accused Stromboli of framing them.
While the two sides argued endlessly, the other side felt that these Sicilian statesmen were somewhat panicking.
In the end, the meeting ended without any results.
After the meeting, Ladician, Lasiperatus and the others tried to explain to Davos in person. However, Davos refused to meet them, saying he was already exhausted and needed a rest.
Ladician then went to ask his son-in-law for help.
But Antonios, who was âsickâ and was idling at his home, heard about what had happened in Sicily and remembered King Davosâ reminder back then. Thus despite his wifeâs pleas, he finally hardened his heart and didnât open the door.
Without any other choice, Ladician and the others went to ask for help from the other statesmen with who they had good relationships.
Yet these statesmen arenât fooled. Back then, they made friends with the Sicilian statesmen such as Ladician for their interests or to request something for Antonios through Ladician. But now that they could see that Milo and Siprus are having a massive search that even the Supreme Judge Tritodemos had rushed over, who would believe they would do that without the instructions of King Davos? Thus these people had naturally shunned Ladician and the others.
The previously proud Ladician lost his desire to scold these peopleâs ruthlessness as he felt a strong sense of unease. He then sent his trusted subordinate to invite a lawyer who was well versed in the law. But after learning that his past actions would make him the second Pollux, Ladician could no longer sleep all night.
On the following day, the Senate meeting continued, and the Sicilian statesmen were no longer in good spirits, and the subsequent two reports from Sicily made them feel even colder.
In their respective reports, Milo and Siprus state about finding a lot of evidence in the residence of Ladician, LasiperatusâŚand other statesmen in Sicily that Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian tribe of the Sikelo, had bribed them to speak for the Tanikian tribe in the Senate. At the same time, many slaves testified that these statesmen had a lot of land in the Tanikian territory, which was farmed and harvested by their Sikeloi slaves and then transported one after another through the Sikeloi mountainsâŚ
The statesmen were shaken after they read the report.
Then some statesmen suddenly said, âWe thought Ladician and Lasiperatus were quite rich as we often see them held banquets, so thatâs where their money comes from!â
Ladician and the others immediately shouted that they were wronged and that Milo and Siprus were framing them.
Yet even after saying all of that, the Senate still passed the proposal of âtemporary barring the several statesmen, such as Ladician, Lasiperatus and Ikadas, and would hold a trial after Tritodemos escorted the evidence back to Thurii.â
. . . . . . . . . . . .
âYour majesty, Lord Antonios couldnât endure his wifeâs pleading as he sent someone to mediate for Ladician. However, he didnât come to you and instead sent someone to Lord Cornelius. But Lord Cornelius didnât accept his request. On the contrary, he recommended Lord Kunegalata.â the court herald Aristias reported to King Davos, âThe report states that Kunegalata didnât refuse and allowed Antoniosâ trusted slave to enter his house. And not long after, the slave received a letter, left the house, and went directly to the Akademia of TheoniaâŚâ
âIt seems that Antonios is really muddled! I already told him to stay still at his home, but he didnât listen and instead went to disturb Kunegalata, who was recuperating at his home!â Said Davos looking angry. Then he asked with slight curiosity, âWhy did Kunegalata have him go to the Akademia? Could it be thatâŚto look for Lysias(Orator)?â
âYour majesty, it is precisely to ask Lysias to act as Ladicianâs defence lawyer.â Said Aristias.
Davosâ eyebrows rose slightly, âDid Lysias agree?â
âHe should have. The report states that Antoniosâ slave was excited after coming out of the Akademia.â
Davos tapped his chairâs armrest with his finger and said, ââŚitâs good that Lysias would defend him in court. This should be Lysiasâ first time as a court lawyer, right?â
âYes, your majesty. I heard that he had passed the courtâs examination and was qualified as a lawyer for several years but has never appeared in court.â Said Aristias.
âGreat, we can take this time to watch the wonderful performance of Lysias, who was called the best rhetorician and orator in the kingdom. Anyway, the more they debate the truth, the clearer it becomes. And Theonia will not arbitrarily punish and suppress statesmen and officials; we will do everything according to the law. HoweverâŚLysias will find it quite difficult if he wants to absolve Ladician and the others completely.â
After hearing this, Aristias quickly observed Davosâ expression and saw that he looked relaxed as if he didnât care much about it.
It is natural for Davos not to care too much about it as he had already achieved his purpose. After all, it is impossible for Ladician and the other Sicilian statesmen, who had accepted bribes and sold the kingdomâs interest, to absolve them of their crime. And whether they stayed in prison for more years or fewer doesnât mean much to Davos. Instead, this event allowed Davos to purge the Sicilian group in the Senate and rectify the officials of the various places in Sicily. Furthermore, they also got the opportunity to step into the territory of the Sikeloi.
Davos then looked at Aristias, which made Aristias quickly lower his head.
âHas Garni, the chieftain of Abellinum, arrived?â Davos asked, changing the subject.
âHe is on the way.â
âI wonder what bad news this Samnite brought me again?â Davos said that, but his expression remained relaxed.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
After getting led by the slave, Lysias entered Kunegalataâs bedroom.
Kunegalata, a man of great influence in Magna Graecia in the past and the most important statesman of the kingdom of Theonia, was lying on the bed with a flushed face and barely breathing as if he was on deathâs door.
Lysias sat gently on the chair beside him as if a loud sound would aggravate Kunegalataâs illness.
Kunegalata looked at him with a pair of cloudy eyes as he weakly said, âI was just thinkingâŚcoughâŚwhether you wouldâŚcome here.â
âHow is your health?â Lysias asked with concern.
âI wonât die for a whileâŚâ Kunogelata, with a rather calm expression, slowly placed his left hand on his chest and said in a dull tone, âHerpusâŚcame to see me many timesâŚand said that I was suffering from theâŚtrauma caused by the incident that happened more than ten years ago(referring to his expulsion by the former Thurii)âŚcoughâŚto the point where my body wonât function properlyâŚcough.â
âThen rest well and donât talk too much.â Lysias felt uncomfortable hearing his constant coughing, so he stood up and said, âIâll head back first and come see you later.â
âI am afraidâŚyou might no longer see me next time.â Kunegalata barely smiled and asked, âYouâŚ.coughâŚcame to ask meâŚwhy you shouldâŚdefend them?â
Lysias looked at his lacklustre face and nodded sadly.
âLysiasâŚI know very well about your capabilityâŚunfortunately, as soon as you came backâŚcoughâŚyou entered the AkademiaâŚso except for the studentsâŚwho knew about your talentâŚmany of the people of the kingdomâŚdonât even knowâŚthat the hymn for every celebrationâŚcoughâŚwere written by youâŚso itâs now the time to show your talent to the citizensâŚto the statesmenâŚto his majestyâŚâ
Kunogelataâs words caused Lysiasâ heart to pound. After calming down, he couldnât help but ask, âJust for me?â
âItâs more than thatâŚcough coughâŚâ Kunegalata coughed violently, making the slave girl at his bedside hurriedly help him sit up, pat him on the back and then place a clean cloth towards his mouth.
Lysias was inwardly shocked when he saw blood covering Kunegalataâs thick phlegm on the cloth towel.
Kunegalataâs pained face seemed to ease considerably after spitting out the phlegm. He then leaned back against the bed and said weakly, âAlthough Ladician and the others have made mistakesâŚI hope they wonât get punished too severelyâŚbecause the kingdomâs rule in Sicily isnât yet firmâŚI hope it wonât cause the Sicilians to revoltâŚand cause unrestâŚandâŚâ
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