ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 540 Dionysius’s Courtiers

The carriage, driven by slaves, slowly drove away from the fishing pier.

Micaresus watched the fishermen and laborers on both sides of the road watching him leave indifferently. Only then did he realize why he felt strange when he came to the dock before: usually when he came to the dock, the fishermen would fight him. He said hello and said hello, but today except for the few fishermen he hired, everyone else was silent, and the entire dock was shrouded in a strange silence...

It made him uneasy.

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

In fact, just as Micaresus rushed to the port, news of "the disastrous defeat of the Syracuse army in Magna Graecia" had begun to spread in the city.

After learning the shocking news, the people of Syracuse rushed to the city hall near the square with suspicion and panic to question Philistos, the interim supreme governor who was in Syracuse at this time, to confirm the news. Authenticity.

Compared with the increasing number of people gathering outside the city hall and the increasingly noisy noise, the city hall is extremely quiet. There are only a few people in the chief executive's conference room, but all of them look solemn, because they have not only received The news of the disastrous defeat of Syracuse's army also came with the order from Dionysius, the plenipotentiary general, asking "Syracuse to send reinforcements."

"It's unbelievable! 8 troops, more than 400 warships... Such a powerful force was defeated by Dionia, which is not as powerful as ours!" Herolis sighed, breaking the silence in the room.

"No one can always be victorious, especially such a difficult cross-sea expedition. As long as the final victory belongs to Syracuse, with the wealth and population of Magna Graecia, all sacrifices will be worth it. Hero Lord Leis, are you right?" Intelligence Chief Hyparinus looked at him and said coldly.

"Yes, if we can win!" Herolis did not avoid his compelling gaze and said with emphasis: "But this is only if! The current situation is that our Lord Dionysius and Syracuse The citizens are besieged in Xiliting, which is two or three days’ sail away from us, waiting for us to send reinforcements!”

"My lords, I have never doubted the final victory of this war!" Philistus spoke loudly to dilute the possible conflict between the two: "Dionia's performance really surprised me. , but I think they probably tried their best to win the battle. And we in Syracuse still have enough manpower and financial resources. As long as we can organize another army and invest in the war in Magna Graecia, it will not be What the Dionians can resist!"

"You are right, Philistus." Herolis softened his tone: "But it is not easy to build an army of 2 people and hundreds of warships in a short period of time. arrive."

"It's not easy." Philistos said firmly: "But we must do it, this is a matter of life and death for Syracuse!"

Having said this, he turned his attention to Mathias, the former Campania mercenary leader who was appointed by Dionysius as the left-behind general: "General, how many citizen soldiers do you think we can recruit in Syracuse?" ?”

Mathias thought for a moment and then replied: "At least tens of thousands of people. More than 5000 people can be mobilized just outside the city, but inside the city -" At this point, Mathias looked outside the hall unconsciously, showing Worry: "With the current situation, it may not be easy to mobilize for war again."

The "outside the city" that Macias refers to does not refer to the ports and bays, but to the mercenaries Dionysius placed on the outskirts of the city. He gave them citizenship and land, making them loyal to Dionysius. Si's loyalty is higher.Dionysius moved the populations of conquered city-states many times, and also placed mercenaries, mainly from Campania, on many occasions to occupy the land that neighboring city-states were forced to abandon.In recent years, Syracuse has built dozens of newly established villages outside the city, causing the territory actually controlled by Syracuse to expand rapidly. It has become the well-deserved number one power in Sicily and even the Western Mediterranean.But this has also led to increasingly serious conflicts between people in the city, people outside the city, and people in the port.

Philistos rubbed his eyebrows, obviously troubled by the growing public dissatisfaction, and said: "Herolis, it is up to you to recruit soldiers in the city."

"Let me go?" Herolis looked at Philistus in surprise.

"I can't help it. The people like you more. Only if you go can you succeed." Philistos said half-jokingly, but his expression was very serious.

Herolis was a little hesitant. He wanted to argue several times but hesitated. Finally, he helplessly spread his hands and said, "Okay, leave this matter to me."

With his promise, Philistos was half relieved, and he continued: "Last time we did not recruit troops from Gela, Camanlina, Agrigento...these city-states on the south coast, and now we have the remaining If there is a shortage of soldiers, please come from them. Lord Callidemus, the task of sending an envoy to these city-states and asking them to send troops will be left to you."

Callidemus, who had been silent, glanced at Hyparinus, saw him nodding slightly, and then said: "I will rush to these city-states immediately to ask for troops to go out!"

As a kinsman of Hipparenus and a confidant of Dionysius, Callidemus served as a courtier second only to Philistos in power. When Dionysius was not in the city, he actually had a The secret mission is to check and balance Philistos, so without the consent of Hipparenus, he will not leave Syracuse easily.

Philistus seemed not to have seen the silent exchange between the two, and continued: "The land troops can be easily solved, but the warships are much more troublesome. We don't have time to build new warships, but we don't have powerful ones." Fleet, even if we have more troops, we cannot send them to Magna Graecia, so when you go to these city-states in the south to recruit soldiers, you must also ask them for warships. I want to add the 50 that are anchored in the port. Multiple triremes can barely form a fleet of hundreds of warships. But this is not enough. We need more triremes to defeat the Dionian fleet, so I will send The envoys went to Cyrenaica to buy or lease their existing triremes..."

Herolis couldn't help but said: "We borrowed a large amount of gold and silver from Cyrenaica and haven't repaid it yet. How could Cyrenaica lend us warships?!"

"It is precisely because we did not repay the money that we were able to get their warship." Philistos smiled.

Herolis immediately understood what he meant: if Cyrenaica wanted to get back the capital and interest lent to Syracuse, it was best to help Syracuse win this war, otherwise Syracuse would be finished. Cyrenaica will only lose everything.

"Okay, my lords, please go and carry out your mission immediately. I hope that in five days, we will be able to form the reinforcements and fleets that Lord Dionysius needs!" Philistos spoke in a loud voice. Gentle, but firm in his orders.

Everyone said goodbye and left, but Philistus stopped Herolis again: "The people who are making trouble at the door still need you to persuade them."

Herolis smiled helplessly again: "Okay, I'll try. But even if I can persuade them to retreat this time, they will come back next time."

"The situation will change next time!" Philistos said confidently.

"I hope so." Herolis replied expressionlessly.

After these people left, Hyparinus said dissatisfiedly: "Master Philistus, I reminded you that during the time when Master Dionysius led his army to leave Sicily, Heroli He had close contacts with Philosanus and the people. He even declared at a banquet, "The power of kings is just a fancy shroud!", openly expressing his dissatisfaction with Lord Dionysius. I I hope you can temporarily imprison him until Lord Dionysius returns. But not only do you object, but you also give him power in case-"

"What Herolis said at the banquet was drunk, so there is no need to take it seriously. Besides, I know those people in Philosanus very well. Apart from drinking, chatting and saying dissatisfied words, they can't do anything big..." Philisto As a scholar, Siparinus was relatively familiar with that group. Considering Hyparinus's identity, he patiently persuaded him: "Although Herolis has some minor flaws, he has outstanding abilities, such as calming the grievances of the people outside. , and more importantly, recruiting citizen soldiers... Who else can do these things well except him! In such a bad situation, he is my best helper!"

"He has such a great influence among the civilians. Once he wants to cause chaos, the harm will be even greater!" Hyparinus said coldly.

"Did you find anything?" Philistus asked.

"Not yet. However, his slaves have been in and out of the port more frequently during this period than usual. The port is now in chaos and there are many rumors. I am afraid there are spies from Dionia causing trouble!"

Hyparinus's words made Philistus' expression become solemn: "It is your responsibility to monitor the abnormalities of the people and ensure the security of the city-state. I have no right to stop it. If I find that Herolis has done anything detrimental to Scylla, Kuza's abnormal behavior, I will not take into account the friendship with him, I will definitely imprison him! After all, once a riot breaks out in Syracuse, it will threaten the safety of all of us!" Philistos looked stern, and at the same time He also vaguely reminded Hipparenus: As the most loyal follower and relative of Dionysius, Hipparenus' impression among the people was not much better than that of Dionysius. on board.

"Lord Hyparinus, I have decided to send two hundred mercenaries to the port. I also hope that you can uncover Dionia's spies hiding in the port as soon as possible and restore order to the port as soon as possible!"

"I'll try my best!"

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(End of this chapter)