Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 663

[Chapter 8 Davos’ Ambition]

Cornelus hesitated for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, I am not against forming an alliance with Volsi and letting the Romans conquer Volsi. Instead, I feel that the situation of Dionia this year is not a good time. What’s more, we are very unfamiliar with the situation in central Italy, and we should be more cautious and more prepared to ensure that in the event of a war, we have full confidence to win!

” The ministers headed by Lysias nodded again and again.

“I also hope to wait until the kingdom’s troops are well-stocked and there are no external troubles around before I intervene in Rome. But good times never come, and the enemy will not be stupid enough to stay put and let us interfere. Davos sighed in his heart and said, “Everyone still remember the war with Syracuse that year. Our original idea was to attack Lokrie first and lure Syracuse’s army to Greater Greece. However, Onysius induced a sudden invasion of the Samonais. We hoped that the troops should be stationed in Coulonia – Trina’s front-line defense, to hold back the Syracuse army, to deal with the Samonais first, and then wait for the main force. When we came back for a decisive battle, Dionysius led his army to easily break through our southern defense line…

These lessons have deeply reminded me that good times do not come by waiting, but are won by our resolute actions. The Carthaginians also had wisdom no weaker than Dionysius. They had long known that our Dionysus would be their future enemy, so they not only supported the Tanikian tribe, but also long ago. We were supporting the Romans seven or eight years ago.”

Cornelus and the others were shocked, and Lycias hurriedly asked: “Your Majesty, is this true?!”

“Of course it is true. Because of the Tanikian tribe The incident made me wary of Carthage, so I increased my attention to the forces surrounding the kingdom. As a result, the personnel I sent quickly collected some information about the relationship between Carthage and Rome. There is evidence that these years Carthage Taiji has been supporting Rome again, providing food, weapons…” As Davos said, he nodded to the clerk Henepolis who was recording beside him.

Henepolis immediately left the council hall, and soon found some documents from the restricted area of the palace – the reference room, and handed them over to Davos, who handed it to Cornerus.

Cornerus, Lycias, Sedorum and other ministers passed on each other, and their expressions became more and more solemn.

“Before, I didn’t talk about Carthage and Rome, because we were busy managing the Dawney area that was newly incorporated into the kingdom, and there was no need to be distracted by Rome’s affairs for the time being. But—” Davos stood up suddenly , said loudly: “Now Volsi has come to ask for help, this is a good time! Helping Volsi and fighting the Romans will surely win the support of other powers in central Italy. The conspiracy to destroy Carthage is also conducive to possible future conflicts with Carthage will not be passive when there is a war. In addition, defeating the Romans will also help us to enter the same fertile land occupied by Rome in central Italy!”

Davos said here, the

ministers were surprised.

Davos looked at them and said in a deep voice, “My lord, this drought has covered most of the land in the Kingdom of Dionia, making our disaster relief so difficult. Deep memory! Why? Because our country is not big enough, our national strength is not strong enough, we need to acquire more land, in order to easily cope with every drought, every earthquake, every tsunami! In the south With Carthage standing in our way, we can only get the land from the north, so the arrival of the envoy of Wolsey is a good opportunity for us!”

Davos saw that the ministers fell silent for a while, slightly He smiled and said in a soft tone: “Of course this is a long-term strategy I set for the kingdom. The war with Rome may not break out immediately. With our help Volsi, maybe the Romans will give in on this, so the bread should be Eat one bite at a time, don’t worry, take your time, let the Senate pass the proposal of ‘forming an alliance with Wolsey’, and then carefully discuss the covenant with the Wolsey people. After everything is done, then Send messengers to see how the Romans will react to this…”

………………………

Dionia soon sent Foreign Secretary Ancitanos and Volsci messenger Metabola Negotiations about the alliance between the two countries.

The negotiation process was very smooth. It only took more than half a day to draw up a draft alliance. The main contents are: Dionia and Wolsey will form a friendly and equal military alliance; Under the law, its people can stay on the land of the allies freely; they will give each other preferential treatment and convenience in trade, no additional tax will be added, and no businessmen of the allied countries may be detained or arrested without authorization. If disputes arise, they shall be resolved by mutual arbitration between the two parties; When one side is invaded by an enemy or at war with a third party, the allies should try their best to provide military assistance, and even send troops to fight at the request of the other side…”

Metabola took the draft and immediately returned to Wolsey.

Ten days later, He came in a hurry with the Volsey messenger group, which included the consuls of several city-states in the

Volsey Alliance. Davos solemnly signed the alliance agreement with the Volsey people. The

agreement was just signed, The Volsci couldn’t wait to ask Dionia to send troops to help Volscy. It turned out that the Romans had already captured Villitre and repelled the reinforcements of Volscy, and began to attack the city of Satricum (Satricum). ) attack, the Volsi Alliance suffered consecutive defeats, and there were not enough soldiers to organize a huge reinforcement to stop the Roman army’s attack, they were facing an unprecedented crisis.

Davos decided to send messengers first according to Antaoris’ proposal. Go to Rome to mediate, and at the same time notify the Ministry of Military Affairs to prepare for war.

After careful consideration and selection by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the final messenger sent is Tapirus. More

than ten years ago, Tapirus was bought by Cristoia. A slave, who was quick-witted and hard-working, was promoted to the director of a restaurant within a few years, and was granted freedom by his master Davos. In the South-Italian War, he participated in the most important part of the war as a reserve citizen In the Great Battle of Crotone, as a spearman, he and his companions withstood the onslaught of Syracuse’s mercenary cavalry and defeated them, while assisting other troops in defeating the powerful right flank of Syracuse, It played a key role in the final victory of the entire battle.

After the war, their surviving spearmen became full citizens of Dionia.

In the following years, Tapirus also participated in the conquest of Messapi and Puchetti.

Perhaps it was the frequent battles that tempered his courage and broadened his horizons. He was no longer satisfied with serving as the regional head of Kristoya’s restaurant, but passed the finance department with his ability to read and count. Examination, became a tax officer.

It was not until the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Ancitanos recruited public officials. He did a good job, but was tired of this kind of daily accounting and bookkeeping. Tapirus applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ancitanos knew that the mission to Rome was not an easy task, and the envoy needed not only to be observant and eloquent, but also courageous.

Therefore, Tapirus, who served as a restaurant waiter and participated in many battles, became the best candidate.

………………………………

Dionysian 13th year (November 1, 380 BC), Dionysian messenger Tapirus boarded a train for Rome at the port of Laos. passenger ship.

It was a sunny day with clear skies.

Tapirus sat in the cabin, still reminiscing about the scene when he was received by King Davos before leaving Turii.

Saying it was an interview was actually inviting him to the Davos mansion for a banquet.

Because he was a private slave released by Davos, according to the popular saying of Dionys, Davos was his benefactor (a peculiar custom formed by Dionysian national conditions, slaves released by the master There is a special kinship-like relationship with the master. Under the circumstance that does not violate the law, if the freed slave is in difficulty, he can ask his original master for help, help him find a job or provide financial assistance; and the original master encounters difficulties When the emancipation of slaves who have become full citizens will also help, or when the original owner is running for local councilor or tribune, they will join hands to cast a valuable vote for the original owner, which is recognized by the society. For these reasons, the wealthier citizens of Dionia were only keen to treat their slaves kindly and give their slaves their freedom. private dinner.

At the banquet, he was surprised that the great King Davos cared so much about such a native city-state in central Italy, and was even more surprised by the request made by Davos…

At this time, the captain pushed the door and came in: “My lord, We

will soon arrive at the port of Ostia.”

Tapirus heard the words, put down his thoughts, and left the cabin.

Seagulls soared under the sky ahead, and ships of all sizes converged in one direction, which should be the mouth of the Tiber River and the Roman colonial city of Ostia.

After receiving the appointment of the envoy, Tapirus had a special understanding of the information about Rome, and knew that Ostia was originally a small town of the Latins, which was occupied by Rome decades ago, and the citizens migrated to settle here. Ostia became a Roman colonial city, and later became the only port city for sea trade in Rome. It was because of these benefits that Ostia remained loyal to Rome, even when Rome was captured by the Gauls. Nor is it betrayal.

Tapirus disembarked in Ostia with the accompanying members of the embassy.