ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1080 Tactical Assessment
"How can there be money?" Gorgeon belched wine, his face turned red, and he said with a little excitement: "Look at the roads in the kingdom, are they all smooth and wide! Are every bridge made of stone? Made, both strong and durable! Isn’t the arena in each town very spectacular and luxurious! ... But does it cost money to build them?! Does it cost money to maintain them?! The kingdom’s territory is vast and there are many towns. In order to manage it well They require the full dedication of many officials, so do they need to be paid?!... The maintenance costs account for a large part of the national treasury expenditure, where is the extra money! The kingdom works hard to maintain such a good environment for the citizens. An environment, but how much tax do citizens pay?”

"Only 1% of the annual harvest!" a diner shouted: "These Dionian citizens are so happy! I am from Delos, and my mother state was once again incorporated into the Maritime Alliance of Athens. Athens forcibly We provided monetary donations, which accounted for [-]% of my income! That’s why I had to leave my motherland and come to live in Dionia.”

"My motherland, Melos, is not the same. It was forced to join the Peloponnesian League before and had to pay a lot of tribute to Sparta every year so that Sparta could cope with the Corinthian War and this time Thebes. During the Spartan War, the tax I paid every year was no less than 20% of my income. In a naval battle last year, Athens won a great victory and won the dominance of the Aegean Sea. My mother state took advantage of the opportunity to break away from Sparta and join the Athenian Sea. Alliance, I originally thought that life would be easier, but I didn’t expect that the Athenians also wanted money, and the tax rate remained unchanged. I really had no choice, so I came to Thurii, alas..." Another diner also took up the conversation and expressed his bitterness. .

Their experience also resonated with other diners.

After complaining to each other for a while, the man named Gorgeon said loudly: "Compared with our former mother state, Dionia is indeed a good place worthy of us living here, even if the treasury is so tight, His Majesty King Davos and his ministers still have no intention of raising taxes on the people. But the 1% tax is indeed too little, and the lives of those formal citizens are so comfortable. Why not take the initiative to pay more taxes to help the kingdom solve this financial problem? difficulties, so as to be able to form a border defense army composed of free people, which also solved their own problem of being sent to the border for a long time."

"Gorgion is right. These formal citizens own so much land anyway. A little more tax won't have any impact on their lives?"

"If they don't even dare to pay more taxes, how can they have the face to claim to be the warriors who protect the kingdom!"...

The topic among the diners quickly turned to the question of "whether citizens should be allowed to pay more taxes to help the kingdom form a border defense army", and the atmosphere of the discussion became increasingly heated.

Maximus didn't care too much about this topic, but he noticed that every time the man named Gorgeon opened his mouth, the discussion became more continuous and intense.

Maximus actually wanted to hear them talk about "why the household registration office suspended the registration of free people applying for citizenship." But until he took the wheat porridge and haggis soup from the cook, the diners were still talking about this. The topic was talked about non-stop, and since he was new here, it was obviously impossible for him to stir up a new topic in an unfamiliar environment.

Finally, when Gorgeon left, he turned his attention to Maximus, who was staring at him from time to time, and smiled and nodded to him.

Of course, Maximus nodded politely in return.

Seeing him walking away slowly, Maximus picked up the bowl and pot, stood up and handed it back to the cook behind the counter, and asked intentionally or unintentionally: "The person who left just now said hello to me, but it's a pity that I didn't even Know who he is."

"His name is Gorgeon. He works as a clerk at the Thurii City Hall. I heard that he will become an official citizen soon. Although he has a high status, he is very friendly to people and knows a lot of things. Moreover, he is We are a regular customer here. He often says that although our store is small, the quality of the wine is good and the food is also very good..." The cook was not wary at all, and talked a lot enthusiastically, and also praised herself in passing. 's small shop.

After hearing these words, the first thought that came to Maximus' mind was: Should he also apply for a job at the city hall as a scribe or writer?

Of course it is necessary to consider how to earn money to support the family in the future, but the most important issue now is to decorate the home first.But when the family walked out of the street pub, it was already dark.

Maximus judged from his experience in Rome and slave camps that all the shops in the outer city of Thurii must be closed, but what he saw surprised him: many shops were lit with candles, and the people on the street were There are still many pedestrians, and the patrol team is still patrolling...

Seeing each block being lit up by countless candlelights, the Maximus family was overjoyed. They bought a bed and some fabrics from a furniture shop not far from where they rented, and then went to a nearby candle shop to buy some more. Candles, I went to a pottery store to buy some earthen jars... Finally, I spent a little money and entrusted the labor of a furniture store to move these things to my home.

After a busy period, the room has a new look.

Although Fulvia looked a little tired and kept wiping the sweat from her forehead, her eyes were shining with happiness: "Maximus, we finally have a new home!"

Maximus looked at the two children making noise on the bed, feeling equally filled with emotion, and nodded wordlessly...

................................................

There are more than a dozen military camps in the Kingdom of Dionia. They are not only bases for military training for citizens, but also military fortresses.Among these military camps, Turiyi Military Camp is unique, not only because it is the largest in size and has the most citizens participating in each training, but it also has a unique function-training officers.

In the past, the staff of the Ministry of Military Affairs mainly conducted actual combat training and study here. After the Western Mediterranean War, Davers ordered that all mid-level officers who want to be promoted to senior officers must undergo training and pass assessments before they can be promoted.

The location of this training is also set at the Turiyi Military Camp, which makes the Turiyi Military Camp's aura among the Dionian army even more dazzling.

On this morning, the tactical training room in the Turiyi military camp was full of people. In the center of the field were the two most outstanding students among this group of senior students-Sextus and Patroclus. The two will conduct a practical deduction and assessment.

Chief of Staff Tomid, who was the chief referee (after the Western Mediterranean War, Felicius resigned as Chief of Staff and was replaced by him) coughed and said: "I announce the start of the assessment!"

The room suddenly fell silent.

The referee and commander of the second legion, Matoni, held a wooden plate in front of the two people who were about to be assessed and asked: "Which one of you will throw the ball?"

Sextus said humbly: "Cross, you come first."

"Okay." Patroclus simply grabbed a square dice carved from sheep bone on the wooden plate and tossed it lightly.

"It's an even number." After seeing the result of the color roll, Matonis immediately issued an order: "Patroclus, you will launch the attack next, and Sextus, you are mainly responsible for defense. Next, you will roll the color. .”

Sextus carefully picked up the two dice and threw them upwards with all his strength.

The two dice spun around on the ground several times. After seeing it clearly, Matonis said loudly: "It's nine!"

Another referee next to him, former chief of staff Felicius, immediately picked up a table to check, and then said: "The tactical map No. 9 is a mountain ridge with an average height of more than 300 meters, and there is a strip with a width of 50 meters. of big rivers.”

As soon as Felicius finished speaking, he immediately caused a small discussion among the surrounding team officers watching the battle. Obviously, such terrain is very beneficial to the defensive side.

At this time, a large wooden map was placed between Patroclus and Sextus.

While the two of them were carefully observing the map and beginning to think about possible tactics, the chief referee and the four referees (at least they were all legion commanders, all with rich battlefield experience and outstanding military exploits) were also seizing the time to discuss in low voices. .

After a while, the referee Tormid stood up and said loudly: "In view of this tactical map, we finally decided after discussion that the defensive force will be 4000 people, including 500 medium Samnite infantry and 1500 Samnite infantry. Monet light infantry, 1500 Samnites harpooneers, 2 Samnites spearmen... The attacking force had 18 troops, the two Dionian legions had 000 troops, and the siege force had 200 troops. , 500 Dionian cavalry, 500 mountain reconnaissance brigade, 500 baggage battalion... The defending side has a supply advantage, but the attacking side is deep into the enemy's territory, and the baggage is a one-time carry, which can only be supplied for 30 days, and cannot be decided after 30 days. If there is a winner, the attacking side will be deemed the loser!"

As Thormedes spoke, both Patroclus and Sextus picked up the wooden boards in their hands to record the data.

After he finished speaking, the two of them looked at the map, compared the data on the wooden board, and thought about it.

"This is imitating the Kingdom's attack on the Samnite Mountains. Although the terrain is complex and the march is difficult, Patroclus has two legions of the Kingdom under his command. As long as he can find the main force of Samnite, he should be able to win."

"I don't think it's that simple. Didn't the instructor say it before when he gave a lecture? The Samoni people are not weak in combat effectiveness, especially their javelin throwers, and they are good at mountain warfare. The reason why we were able to conquer them is because we There has never really been a mountain battle with the Samnites, and they have wiped out their main force on the plains several times, but now that Sextus can fully defend in the mountains, the battle situation must be very different."

(End of this chapter)