Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 568

[Chapter 235 Division of Powers (Continued)]

From the map, the territory occupied by Dionia in Sicily was the smallest among the three forces.

In fact, Davos played a little trick, he did not encircle the entire Catania plain, and the eastern part of this plain was actually under the control of Antraporis.

“Other city-states, such as Agrigento, Gera, and Tindarius… are neutral city-states, serving as a buffer zone for Carthage, Syracuse, and Dionia.” Davos wrote with a pen Pointing at the icons on the map, he said seriously.

Okleton looked at the map carefully, and suddenly a sentence came out of his mouth: “Does Messina also include these neutral city-states?”

Although Messina’s territory is not large, its location is important, so it is also in Sicily. It is a relatively important city-state.

“Of course not!” Davos said without hesitation: “The citizens of New Messina are all colonizers from Loclery and Medema, who are the accomplices of Dionysius. During the war, he assisted Syracuse in blocking the Strait of Messina, and also attacked the port of Lijim many times. Lijim proposed to us Dionia and decided to attack Messina to ensure his own safety, Elder Dionia The House has agreed to their request to send troops together…” Davos once again concealed the fact that “Dionia and Lijim decided to jointly manage Messina”.

Carthage is not a Greek city-state, and its two most important waterways do not need to pass through Messina, so it does not care much about it.

Okriton looked at the map while thinking about the suggestion that Davos had just made. After a long time, he raised his head and said, “Dear King Davos, the Carthaginian Senate sent me here mainly to revise Dio. The friendly treaty signed between Niea and Carthage, and at the same time find out how Dionia’s next war against Syracuse will proceed. I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect you to give me such a big one… um… …surprise! However, this is beyond my purview, and I must take your proposal back to the Senate and let them decide whether to accept it or not.”

Davos expressed his understanding, but at the same time he said unhurriedly: “I hope Carthage’s reply can be faster, because the Syracuse people in the city of Sirius may not last a few days and should surrender.” Davos confidently said these words with basis. The news of “Dionysius escaped” has been leaked, and the soldiers in the city panicked, and the Syracuses had to send someone out to make peace.

And Davos took the opportunity to tell the messenger the latest battle situation in Sicily. Whether he believed it or not, there would be a bigger disturbance in the city of Sicily.

Okriton was shocked when he heard this.

He understood what Davos meant. The surrender of the Syracuses in the city of Sirius would mean the basic end of the Southern Italian War. By then, Carthage would negotiate with Dionia, who had already slowed down. , the conditions may be different.

………………………………

Sending off the Carthaginian envoy who left in a hurry, Henepolis hurriedly asked: “Your Majesty, will the Carthaginians agree to your proposal?”

“From just now Judging from the performance of this messenger and the situation in Carthage that we have investigated during this period, the

war-weariness in Carthage is indeed serious. Even if the situation in Sicily is very favorable for Carthage, many people in the Carthage senate I’m afraid they will not approve of starting a war…” Davos recalled a lot of information about Carthage that he had read before, and said: “What can be obtained through negotiation, how can the Carthaginians who value efficiency? It’s too stupid to use force to solve it. What’s more, Carthage should understand that occupying the entire Sicily is not only not good for it, but it is very harmful.”

“Why?” Henepolis asked curiously.

“You can see why when you think about it.”

“… er… is it because that would make the whole Greek world angry at it?”

“Yes. Carthage has occupied Sicily. Not only our great Greece, but also the Greek mainland will be directly threatened by a foreign race. How can we Greeks accept this situation! Carthage used to have a relationship with Syracuse. In the war, you should be able to feel this, it is not only fighting against Syracuse, but also against the Greeks in Italy and the Greeks in Greece…” Davos said meaningfully.

“Oh, Carthage, of course, a city-state cannot overcome the power of the whole of Greece. No matter what, it will eventually fail.”

“Herny, your teacher has been interested in Carthage recently, and has collected a lot of information about it. Have you seen it?” Davers changed the subject and asked.

“Your Majesty, it’s not that you don’t know, I have been in Laos before, and I have no time to visit the teacher.” Henepolis felt a little uncomfortable when he mentioned Laos.

“I read these materials and discussed it with Ancitanos, and then I understood that the Phoenicians had quite a few colonies in the Western Mediterranean, and the colonies were much earlier than our Greeks, but why do we only know one What about Carthage?”

“Yes, why?” Henepolis asked with interest.

Davos explained in detail: “Because the way the Phoenicians colonized was different from our Greeks. The Greeks colonized because there were too many people and too few places to feed a larger population, and they were forced to colonize in order to survive in order to obtain new The land of the land, can survive… The Phoenicians colonized… No, it should not be called colonization, but a commercial act. The Phoenicians ventured to the Western Mediterranean hundreds of years ago in order to obtain high profits. As a result of their exploration, they discovered silver mines on the Iberian Peninsula and precious metal mines in Sardinia… In order to collect these precious metals and transport them back to the Phoenician soil, they built a lot of mines on the coast of Africa and western Sicily. business stack.

Please note that it is a store, not a town!

Most of the Phoenicians in the trading store were engaged in metal processing and transshipment trade. In order to meet their daily needs, they had to trade with the neighboring natives and our Greek city-states, so the Phoenicians were the most popular in the Western Mediterranean. A race that can integrate into the local environment and live in harmony with the surrounding aliens.

Even if there was a royal battle in the Phoenician soil, some members of the royal family of Tyre fled to Carthage, which led to the rise of Carthage, replacing Tyre, the mother state of the Phoenician soil, and becoming a new trading center for the Phoenicians in the Western Mediterranean. , Carthaginians and Greeks live in harmony—”

“Wait a minute, Your Majesty.

The Carthaginians were full of malice towards the Sicilian Greeks, and they repeatedly invaded the Greeks’ territory, and they also sacrificed children and behaved ugly!

Henepolis hurriedly interrupted Davos and said angrily.

Davos didn’t care, he smiled lightly: “It is their custom to sacrifice children in Carthage, and I will not comment.

However, according to your teacher’s conclusion after checking the information, it is, ‘It was precisely our Greeks who took the initiative to attack Carthage’s allies several times that led to its counterattack.

‘

A hundred years ago, the Spartan prince Dorias claimed that the land near Eryx in western Sicily was once the resting place of his ancestor Hercules, so he wanted to build a city there.

Eryx was the religious center of the Carthaginians in Sicily. How could it be possible for the arrogant Spartans to build a city, so Carthage launched a war to drive away the Greek coalition forces brought by Sparta.

Decades ago, the army of Syracuse’s tyrant Dillon launched an attack on Carthage’s friendly ally Himera, which attracted Carthaginian reinforcements.

After Dillon defeated Carthage, he portrayed the war as a great victory comparable to the victory of the Greek coalition against the Persians.

Over the years, most of the terrifying images of the Carthaginians have been deliberately spread by the Syracuses, so as to force other city-states in Sicily to unite around it…”

“Your Majesty, you mean that this is all Syracuse. Human tricks?

!

“Henepolis was amazed.

“The Carthaginians’ mother states, Tyre and Sidon, cannot provide new immigrants as continuously as the Greeks. The Carthaginians, who have a small population, may always be wary of the Greek immigrants coming from the Eastern Mediterranean. The coveted hearts of western Sicily show their coveted hearts, so they have to show their force from time to time to deter the greed of these people…”

After Davos finished speaking, Henepolis laughed: “Your Majesty, you are talking like this. , I feel like you are not a Greek.”

Davos said with a serious face: “Only from the standpoint of a neutral can you experience the true feelings of the Carthaginians. I think Carthage at this time will definitely Happy to accept a friendship from a powerful neighbor in Greece!” Davos said so, but what he thought was: At this time, Dionia can’t afford to provoke Carthage with strong war potential, don’t wake it up, Let him rest assured to continue business, trade, and farm operation.

…………………………

Dionysius’ ship used its familiarity with the east coast of Sicily to bring the pursuing Diorian Clippers into the reef area, thus getting rid of their pursuit.

When passing Taunis, the ship bypassed the blockade of the Dionysian fleet and finally reached the island of Ortigia.

Ortigia Island is surrounded by the sea on three sides and is full of cliffs.

It also has its own small port, but unless it is allowed by the people on the island, it is not possible to park the boat or go to the island.

com But for Dionysius, none of this was a problem.

As soon as Dionysius landed on the island, Hiparinus, Calidemus, and the leader of the mercenary mercenary Megicollis rushed over to receive the news.

“Blessed by Apollo! Lord Dionysius, you are finally back! While you were away, Haroris launched a rebellion, and he instigated…”

After listening to the long-winded narration of the minister Callidmus, Dionysius’ heart sank to the bottom. When he saw the Dionysian fleet on the sea near Taunis, he had a very bad heart. The hunch, and now the hunch has become a reality, he did not expect that the situation in Syracuse would be so bad: the coalition army led by Marcias was defeated by the Dionysian army, and almost all the city-states north of Syracuse rebelled. out of Syracuse’s control.

Except for Ortikia Island, the entire city of Syracuse has become the world of the rebels… The

more he listened, the more annoyed he became, and he couldn’t help shouting: “So much nonsense! Stop talking!”

Callidmus immediately Silent as a cicada.

Dionysius stood there, gasping for breath, straightening out his chaotic thoughts a little, and looked up at his father-in-law: “Where is Philistos?!”