ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 377 The Current Situation of Carthage
"Yes, this is the original manuscript of "History" written by Herodotus as well as the diary and information recorded by him during his travels. When Thurii was burned, his family brought nothing with them, but they took these precious The materials escaped the fire. Now they have donated them all to the library!" Ansitanos said excitedly.

"I...can I take a look?" Lysias never asked anyone for help even though his family was in poverty when he was in Athens, but now he looked at Ansitanos with a longing look on his face.

Ansitanos shook his head: "I'm so sorry, Lysias. Herodotus's "History" manuscripts and materials are Dionia's most precious treasures, and precious materials like this are stored on it. Special personnel to guard it." Ansitanos pointed to the top of his head, which was the second floor of the library: "Only the elders of the Senate and scholars of the Dionysian Academy will be allowed to enter due to their duties and research needs. Above, check out the precious and confidential information, and you can't take the books out yet.

"If you join Dionia, according to Lord Davos's promise, you will become the dean of the School of Liberal Arts. Then it will be easy for you to check any books and materials in the library."

Lysias stood where he was, his face changing. Although he only stayed in Dionia for about two days, he was greatly shocked: this city-state alliance with a short history is not only vibrant and developing rapidly, but also has a strong demand for knowledge. We attach great importance to culture and culture, and have formulated many systems and built many facilities to highlight its importance and ensure its development and inheritance, such as the Dionysia Academy, the Pantheon, and this newly built library... Even Athens, which has a splendid culture, does not have such systems and facilities, nor does it place respect for knowledge and scholars in such an important position like Dionia. This is the paradise for scholars to give full play to their talents!

After thinking about it, Lysias finally made up his mind: "After I return to Athens, I will discuss with my family before deciding when to come to Thurii."

"That's great!" Ansitanos was overjoyed and stepped forward to hold Lysias' shoulders: "When Lord Davos finds out, he will be very happy that Dionia has another scholar who is famous throughout Greece. ! Believe me, you will only be better in Dionia than in Athens!"

"Shh!" The librarian poked his head out from behind the registration desk and made a silencing gesture.

Ancitanos nodded apologetically.

At this time, Lysias said with a complicated expression: "Ansitanos, as far as I know, you are the dean of the Faculty of Arts."

"Studying history is my interest. I only reluctantly agreed to the Archon's request to serve as the head of the Faculty of Arts because no one was qualified at the time. This has wasted too much time that I should have spent writing books. Now you have someone who is more capable than me and has a deeper literary attainment than me to take over. I am not happy enough..." Ansitanos said a lot of things without thinking.

"Thank you, my friend!" Lysias smiled and saluted Ansitanos. He finally made a decision, and his heart suddenly became extremely relaxed.He looked at the countless rows of bookcases in front of him extending into the depths of the hall, and the air was filled with the peculiar aroma of wood and scraps of paper. He took a deep breath, feeling a little intoxicated: he was going to spend the rest of his life here!
"Ansitanos, if it is convenient, please take me to see what you call the 'God's Favorite', the undefeated general Davos. I want to see the man who created the Dionia Academy and built the library. What kind of great person should the person in the museum be?" His eyes were full of curiosity and yearning.

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

When the Carthaginian envoy's ship sailed into Carthage's circular military port, which is famous throughout the Mediterranean, and when the envoys came out of the pier, the Carthaginian people swarmed them and surrounded them to understand the status of the negotiations.

When the people of Carthage learned that the peace agreement had been signed, Carthage only had to pay a certain amount of food, gold and silver to continue to own several cities including Lilliput, Eryx, and a small town in Sicily. In the western part of the country, many people cheered and some shed tears...

The Sicilian War, which lasted for several years, not only cost Carthage a large amount of gold and silver, but also thousands of citizens died in this long and cruel war.

Especially in the first war with Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, Sophie Thimilco led his army to a great victory at the beginning and even attacked the city of Syracuse, but due to the outbreak of the plague, However, their strength was greatly reduced and they were ultimately defeated. Only a dozen or so ships were left struggling to sail back to the port.

At that time, the people of Carthage who heard about this tragedy gathered at the port to inquire about their relatives.When it was learned that [-] to [-] soldiers (excluding mercenaries) were either dead in Sicily or captured, the cries and screams of the bereaved resounded throughout the entire coastline. It was Carthage's darkest day. Johto was in mourning.

Everyone criticized the black veil, every house closed its doors to thank guests, commercial activities were suspended, and the temple was closed...

Correspondingly, the nobles among the nobles in Carthage's political circles - the Magonides family from the mother state of Carthage and the royal family of the famous Phoenician city of Tire - have monopolized the dominance of Carthage's politics for nearly 200 years. Finally, there was a real threat.After the disastrous defeat of the Carthaginian army organized by Hamilcar, the patriarch of the Magonid family, and Dilon, the tyrant of Syracuse, in the great battle of Himera more than 70 years ago, the name of the Magonid family was once again associated with overseas expeditions. The defeat was linked together, and this time the situation was even more serious. The Carthaginian army was almost wiped out, but Himilco did not die on the battlefield like his ancestors, but abandoned his comrades and soldiers and fled back alone.According to Carthage law, such an act of escaping should be punished with the death penalty of "crucifixion". Due to the king-like status of the Magonid family in Carthage, the Magonid patriarch was temporarily exempted from the death penalty. criminal law.But the storm was not over. The Carthaginian elites, who were already dissatisfied with the Magonides, used the grief and anger of the citizens to promote institutional reforms.

Himilko, the loser who brought shame to the family, realized that the situation was extremely unfavorable to the Magonides family, so he wore a cheap and worn linen robe every day and wandered around the main temple of Melkat in Carthage, paying tribute to God accused himself of his blasphemy and prayed to God to punish him, hoping to redeem something in this way.But in the end, the pressure of the situation and the ridicule and humiliation of the citizens finally caused him to have a mental breakdown. Six months later, he locked himself in his home and committed suicide.This public act of atonement was still not enough to secure the Magonides' power.

Soon after, a new Carthaginian political body was established - the Tribunal of 104. This was a body composed of members of the aristocratic class. Its duty was to supervise the behavior of Carthage officials and military governors, as well as high-ranking officials. responsibilities of the court, but no one from the Magonides family was elected to this institution.

In order to revive Magonid's declining power in Carthage and regain his prestige among the people, Magonid's new patriarch Mago, who is Himilco's younger brother, took advantage of the fact that the family still had power in the Senate. He had great influence and took advantage of the opportunity of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, to attack Bonsolus, the son of Carthage, and once again promoted Carthage's Third Sicilian War against Syracuse.

However, things are different now. The greatly reduced Carthaginian army resisted the attack of Syracuse, whose army became stronger and stronger, but lost more than it won.Mago was still insisting, but Carthage was tired of war. With no chance of victory in sight, they were even more afraid of another tragic defeat, so "truce negotiations" became the unanimous voice of the citizens.

An agreement was finally reached, but the responsibility for the defeat still had to be shouldered by Mago.When the Carthage envoy responsible for negotiating with Syracuse returned, the whole city was cheering for the arrival of peace, except for one family who looked deserted, even sad.

In a huge mansion not far from Mount Bielsa, the Acropolis of Carthage, members of the Magonid family were paying their respects, because today happened to be Himilko’s memorial day. However, there was constant loud music outside the mansion. And the cheers of the people obviously seriously damaged the sad atmosphere.

Hasdrubal knew: it was the Carthaginians worshiping and celebrating the Greek goddess of harvest Demeter and her daughter Persephone.

Citizens of Carthage worshiping Greek gods? !Yes, in Sicily, the Phoenician colonial city, which has a deep relationship with the Greek city-state and Carthage, is intertwined with each other. They have lived together for hundreds of years and have a profound influence on each other. Demeter and Persephone This goddess was not only popular with the Greeks in Sicily, but also gradually accepted them by the Phoenicians. The Sicilians even believed that Hades, the king of Hades, was Persephone who was abducted in Sicily.This cultural influence penetrated into Carthage. There were originally temples of these two goddesses in the city of Carthage, but the reckless actions of Himilco's army made their status among the Carthaginian gods more prominent, because When Mirco led his army to attack the city of Syracuse, his soldiers looted the temples of the two goddesses located on the southern slope of Epipolae. As a result, a plague broke out in the Carthaginian military camp shortly after, leading to the final It failed miserably, so the people of Carthage believed that this was the goddess's punishment for blaspheming the Carthaginians. You must know that Persephone is the queen of the underworld.

The extremely frightened Carthage people even strongly requested the Senate to formally pass a bill to conduct large-scale worship of the two goddesses.To this end, they also specifically sought out Greeks who settled in Carthage and assigned them to serve the two goddesses, especially Persephone, and stipulated that their worship rituals must be performed in accordance with Greek methods.As a result, this religious ceremony continued year by year, making the two Greek goddesses occupy an increasingly important position in the hearts of Carthage citizens.

　Thanks to book friend 20170214135030192 for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　I will go back to Chongqing to spend the New Year with my parents from February 2th to March 12nd. During this period, I will try my best to update every day, but the update time may not be fixed because there will be various New Year greetings, dinners, etc.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)