Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 632

[Chapter 51 The Carthaginian Controversy]

It was only after the ten-year alliance agreement was re-signed that Kerethorpes mentioned in a private conversation with Davos that the Spartan council of elders was concerned about Dionia’s frequent wars in Apulia. dissatisfied.

Davos’s response to this was: “The affairs of Apulia belong to the affairs of the Western Mediterranean. According to the covenant, there is absolutely no need for Sparta to worry about it. Even in the later period of the Corinthian War, Thebes and Corinthian messengers have come to plan Like Li, who hoped that Dionysus would intervene in that war and prevent the alien Persians from using Sparta to control Greece, Dionysus strictly obeyed the demands of the covenant and refused their request. Although many Greek nationals in the kingdom The citizens were very dissatisfied with the fact that the ally Sparta actually succumbed to Persia, the former enemy of Greece, and obeyed the bullshit contract they made, and flooded Mandinia in Sparta, destroyed a Greek city-state by brutal means, and made a The atrocities committed by the Sicilian tyrant Dionysius made the Dionysian people very angry. However, the Dionysian Senate has repeatedly rejected the proposals put forward by many tribunes at the tribune conference at the end of the year.” “Condemn and punish Sparta”.

Dionia has strictly abided by the Covenant in the past ten years and respected its ally Sparta. After signing the Covenant this year, it will continue to implement the Covenant. I hope the 18th National Congress can also Handle the relationship between the two countries in strict accordance with the content of the agreement, especially on the issue of ‘accepting the indigenous people who escaped from Apulia’, please reconsider and deal with it. Dionia keeps her promise, but The city-states that violate their promises will also be treated as enemies…”

Davers’ remarks made Clethhorpes both ashamed and alarmed, and he immediately said solemnly: “Your Majesty King Davers, Sparta cherishes the two countries. friendship, so I took the initiative to

send

me to renew the contract. Sparta will continue to abide by the requirements of the covenant as before, and there will always be peace between the East and the Mediterranean! …”

One day, Turiyi welcomed the Carthaginian messenger Okriton.

He came not to renew the contract, but to protest.

The Carthaginians protested that Dionia violated the covenant this time and waged war on Sicily’s free force, the Sikelians, and demanded that Dionia immediately stop this stupid act of “destroying the peaceful environment of Sicily”.

The Dionysian Senate refuted the Carthaginian demands. They presented facts, presented evidence, and reasoned, and told the Carthaginian messengers: It was not Dionysus who wanted to invade the Sikaers, but the West. The Tanikian tribe in the Kyle conspiracy to disturb Dionia and wants to be unfavorable to Dionia. For this reason, Dionia has already tried several Sicilian elders such as Laodician and arrested them at the same time. Many officials of the kingdom have to take revenge on the culprit of this incident. This is the punishment for the Tanikian tribe who took the initiative to provoke Dionia!

Dionysian’s tough rejection of Carthage’s protests thwarted Okleton’s return.

……………………………………

A few days later,

in the senate of the city of Carthage, the elders of Carthage had a heated debate on this matter.

“Lord Hanno, now the Dionysians refuse to stop the war against the Sikelians, I don’t know what measures you have to deal with this?! Otherwise, if no action is taken, the weak Sikelians will not be able to resist Dai. How many days has the Onia army been here!” The elder Pretakuba got up and asked.

Hanno looked coldly at the elder who questioned him.

Since Margo was removed from the position of governor of Sicily, he did not return to Carthage, but angrily took some mercenaries to Iberia. The leader of the Margonid family in the senate and even Carthage became. Pretakuba, he is Marco’s distant relative, but he is much more cunning than Marco. He has caused some trouble for Hanno to control the Senate in recent years.

There was no need for Hanno to answer, and another elected Sophie Pantilak had already taken over the conversation and said, “This matter was caused by the Tanikian tribe of Sikel provoked Dionia first, Dio It is understandable that Dionysus punishes him. What we should do now is to monitor this war at all times to prevent Dionia from taking this opportunity to expand it and damage our Carthaginian interests.”

“Oh, With just such a simple sentence, you gave up the Sikelians! I still remember, it was your proposal, Lord Hanno, to ‘support the unification of the Sikelians’ by Tanikian!” Another Margo The Nide senator Santipur immediately made a sarcastic statement.

Hanno looked at him unhappily.

Okleton immediately refuted: “You are really good at forgetting! At the beginning, the Tanikians came to Carthage in the name of ‘the former allies who fought alongside Himilko’, and the first thing they found was you , is also the first suggestion you put forward in the Senate to ‘help the Tarnians’, and Lord Hanno is just following your wishes, hoping that the actions of the Tarnians can better control Sicily for Carthage. Provide help, but I didn’t expect that they would dare to provoke Dionia, and I didn’t expect that you, who had the support of Lord Hanno at the beginning, are now falsely accusing Lord Hanno! , In order to win over the Sikelians to deal with the Syracuses together, he built the Tauromenion fortress and gave it to the Sikels, so he and the king of Sikels, Agilis, who is the leader of Tarekan, Ako Nice’s father formed an alliance, but when Similco was defeated and committed suicide, when Dionysius counterattacked Carthage’s forces in Sicily, Argyles fell to Syracuse, and was eventually killed by Dionysius Syracuse murder.)”

Pretakuba immediately changed the subject and put on a worried look: “Master Hanno, Syracuse has lost a lot of strength in recent years, and most of the Greek city-states in Sicily are friendly with Dionia. , they not only often send messengers to attend various celebrations in Dionysian, some even send teams to participate in Dionysian football games, and now let Dionysian control the Sikers, then the situation in Sicily Isn’t it going back to the time of Dionysius, which is very bad for Carthage!”

Hanno looked at him coldly, and suddenly said: “Lord Pretakuba, in view of the current situation in Sicily, then your suggestion is What? Continue to support a dying Sikai tribe with gold, silver and supplies?! Or send an army to support the Sikai?!”

“Since Dionysus refuses to truce, of course we have to send an army to get the They realize that Carthage will never only protest with words, we are serious!” The elder Santipur said in a stern tone.

The elders were in an uproar.

“That means war!” Pantilak warned loudly.

“Since Dionia recklessly expands his power in Sicily and refuses to obey our Carthage warnings, then show them the war!” Santipel waved his fists vigorously.

Many elders exclaimed, and the voice of controversy suddenly rose.

Hanno felt vigilant in his heart, and he immediately realized that this was definitely the idea of the Margonid family patriarch who was thousands of miles away. He wanted to provoke a war between Dionia and Carthage for the sake of Return to Carthage yourself and take control of the political situation to provide a good opportunity!

Thinking of this, Hanno stood up abruptly and shouted loudly: “Would Carthage want to tear up the covenant and intervene in this war where Dionia punished the Sikelians, and a battle with Dionia might be protracted and exhausting? Huge war? Now the Senate has voted, agreeing with the proposals of Pretakuba and Santipur, and the elders who sent troops to fight in Sicily, please raise your hand!”

Except for a very small number of elders from the Margonid family, raise their hands In addition, the other elders did not even hesitate.

In the past ten years, the Carthaginians followed Hanno’s proposal and turned their target to the inland area south of the Carthaginian territory-Numibia. There are many indigenous tribes in this vast land, but not one A unified country and organization, the Carthaginians controlled most of the land of Numibia by directly sending troops to conquer, bribing with money, dividing and other measures, and Carthage citizens also shared a large amount of inland land. , and hired the Numibians to farm, and the elders of Carthage multiplied the wealth, and also multiplied Hanno’s prestige in the city of Carthage.

The only concern of the Carthaginians was the occasional rebellion by the Numibians, and for this reason several units of Carthaginian citizens rotated among several important troops stationed in Numibia. stronghold.

Let Carthage go to war with the mighty Dionia, not only the majority of the elders are unwilling, but the citizens of Carthage are also unwilling. Concerned about the increased land harvest in Numibia and the control of numerous Numibian slaves and Numibian farm laborers.

Hanno looked around at most of the silent elders, and then glanced at the few elders who supported the war. He had foreseen such a powerful advantage: if there were no unexpected accidents, the Carthaginians would never be willing to cooperate with them. When Dionia was at war, Margo’s conspiracy could not be realized at all.

Of course, Margot now occupied that piece of Iberian land, and he also felt a headache when he violated the orders of the Carthaginian Senate.

At this time, Hanno put his hand into his arms, took out a scroll, held it high in his hand, and said loudly: “This is a letter written to me by King Dionysus! In the letter, he promised, ‘Dionysian Ya has always kept in mind the covenant with Carthage, only punishing the Tanikian tribe, and will never expand the territory of other Sikelians, please rest assured.’ In addition, he also asked me to consider the issue of the renewal of the covenant. “Speaking, he handed the letter to the elder next to him to read.

The elders present were obviously relaxed.