ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 662 Rome and Carthage
His words successfully attracted the attention of the people around him. The ministers of the kingdom who didn't know much about Wolsey and didn't care much about him focused their attention on him: the envoy from the north was wearing a white short coat and a trousers. Wearing a belt, exposing arms and calves, their clothing is somewhat similar to that of the Samnites. The only difference is that they have shoes.

"Thank you to the Volscians for their generous donation!" Davos said calmly: "I have long heard that the Volscian League in central Italy is brave and good at fighting. Unfortunately, because Dionia is too far away from you, there has always been little contact. Master, I believe your visit this time will open a new chapter in the friendly exchanges between Dionia and Wolsi!..."

Davos said a lot about enhancing the friendship between the two countries, as if the arrival of the Wolsey envoy was just to strengthen exchanges with Dionia.

Metepora sounded a little anxious and said loudly: "Your Majesty the King, I am here to ask for help from Dionia!"

"Ask for help?" Davos put on a puzzled expression.

"The Romans in central Italy have always relied on their national strength to provoke wars everywhere. This time, the Romans invaded our Volscian territory in a large scale. We Volscians could not resist and specially attacked the most powerful kingdom in Italy - Dai Onia asks for help! I hope your Majesty can send reinforcements to help Volscian repel the Romans!" Metepola said sincerely.

"But I heard that it was because you Wolsey took the initiative to attack Rome's allies first and angered the Romans that they attacked Wolsey." Military Minister Xilos interjected.

Metepola glanced at Hilos, and then replied confidently: "Hundreds of years ago, we Wolsey have been living in the south of Latium, and we live in harmony with our neighbors. A hundred years ago, Rome was just Taiwan. A small city on the Bo River, through constant wars and killings, it has become a powerful force in central Italy! In order to resist the invasion of the Romans, we have been at war with the Romans for decades and have become mortal enemies.

In recent years, Rome has conquered most of the city-states in southern Etrunia and has become more powerful. Of course, we Volscians cannot sit still and wait for death!It's a pity... we failed..." Metepola sighed painfully, and then said loudly with a slightly resentful look: "The Romans regarded wolves as their ancestors. Wolves are greedy and violent animals. If Wolsi After being conquered, the swords of the Romans will definitely strike at the Campania League, which has more fertile land and richer people. Even after conquering them, it may continue to the south... So I implore Dionia to give us fertile land. Elsie lends a helping hand! "

Most of the ministers felt that the Volscians deliberately described Rome as so terrible and seemed to pose a threat to Dionia, but they just wanted to encourage Dionia to send reinforcements, but they did not take it seriously.

Only Davos, who sat high on the throne, knew that what he said might be the truth, but he remained calm.

"We sympathize with what happened to Volsey, but I believe you have seen it when you entered the territory of Dionia. We are suffering from a drought, so at least now Dionia does not have the ability to send troops to central Italy to fight the Romans. "Business Secretary Marijichi said regretfully.

"We in Wolsi have food! The autumn harvest has just ended, and we have enough food! As long as Dionia sends reinforcements, we are willing to guarantee the food supply for the Dionia army!" Metpola immediately answered.

After he said this, Minister of Finance Melses, Minister of Commerce Mariji, and Minister of Agriculture Burkos looked at each other, and they were all a little moved.

At this time, Antaoris, one of the rotating presidents of the Senate, said: "Your Majesty, in fact, we don't have to rush to send troops to assist Volsey. We only need to send envoys to Rome to persuade them to retreat. With our Dionia in Italian prestige is also possible.

But... whether you are sending envoys to negotiate with Rome or sending troops to help Wolsey, you need a valid reason!But now Wolsey has no diplomatic relations with our Dionia, and rashly interfering in the affairs between the various forces in central Italy will only be criticized. "

Antaoris' reminder made everyone's eyes brighten.

Davos looked at him with admiration and asked, "How do you think we should handle this matter?"

Before Antaoris could speak, Metepola immediately said loudly: "The Volscian Alliance is willing to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Dionia!"

"Alliance is a major matter, and I'm afraid it will require internal deliberations within your alliance before a decision can be made." Foreign Minister Ansitanos said tactfully. He was actually questioning Metepola's authority as an envoy and reminded him not to be blind. Talking big words.

"Please rest assured! Before I come out, the Volscian Alliance has given me full power to make any temporary decisions! And -" Metepola straightened his chest and said confidently: "And my Purlo family is here The Wolscians have always been an important political force in Circeii, and any decision I make here will be recognized by the Wolscian Alliance!"

Davos nodded slightly and said: "I have understood Wolsey's request. We will discuss this matter. Please go down and rest first. You will get Dionia's decision soon. "

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

After Metropola left the hall, Davos looked around at the ministers and asked: "What do you think of Wolsey asking us for help?"

"Your Majesty, we have just conquered Dauni, and now we are facing a drought. And I heard that Rome is a powerful force. Once a war breaks out with it, it will not be settled in a short time. With our current situation, we may not be able to support it for a long time. This war." Cornelus said worriedly.

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing for you to pay attention to." Lysias took over the conversation and said: "Rome and Carthage are allies. If we rashly agree to Wolsey's request, interfere with Rome's military operations, and finally resort to Regarding force, this is forcing Carthage to make a choice! Considering that our relationship with Carthage has not been very good in the past two years, Carthage is likely to choose to support Rome, thus making this conflict bigger! ... "

Lysias's shocking words surprised everyone in the hall.

"Carthage and Rome are allies?" Mariji asked the question that some people wanted to ask.

"A hundred years ago, Carthage and Rome concluded a friendly alliance." Ansitanos, a scholar, said: "About a hundred years ago, Rome initially conquered the Latium region and began to establish the Latin Alliance. The Carthaginians and a covenant was signed with Rome. I still remember the original terms of the covenant were

'...The friendship of the Romans and their allies towards the Carthaginians and their allies is based on the following conditions.The Romans and their allies should not sail past the Cape Bella...no trade in Libya, Iberia, Sardinia, Corsica...

… Nor could the Carthaginians harm anyone who belonged to any other Latin city belonging to Rome.The Carthaginians must promise not to capture any of this city...'"

"This is a friendly agreement, not a covenant," Senior Judge Terry Todemos questioned.

"I said this was just the original text. The agreement has been renewed many times and continues to this day. In the renewal two years ago, the following terms were added to the agreement..." Ansitanos is not worried. He said unhurriedly: "When Rome or Carthage goes to war against a third party, it can seek support from the other party, and the requested party can provide as much help as possible according to its own situation. After the victory of the war, both parties Let’s discuss the ownership of the spoils…”

"Two years ago?!" Cedorum's face suddenly changed, and he said in a voiceless voice: "The clause added to this agreement was probably set up by Carthage against our Dionia!"

Two years ago, it was Dionia who discovered the conspiracy of the Tanikian tribe, which was secretly supported by Carthage, to unify the tribes of the West Kells. The Eighth Legion defeated the Tanikian tribe in one fell swoop, and its leader led the remaining soldiers. He fled to western Sicily, which was controlled by Carthage, and was reportedly taken in by Carthage.Although Carthage later renewed the friendship agreement signed with Dionia, the relationship between the two countries became subtle, especially in terms of trade competition.

Did a Tanikan fall, and a Rome was built in northern Dionysia? !Everyone's expressions became a little complicated.

Hilos said solemnly: "Your Majesty, although Carthage has maintained peace with us for more than ten years, it is because it needs to recover from the trauma caused by the previous war with Syracuse. Even so, Carthage The Thagians are still quietly causing trouble for us. After all, the Western Mediterranean can only accommodate one overlord. This was the case with Carthage and Syracuse before, and it will be the same with us and Carthage now.

Carthage therefore formed an alliance with Rome, and this should not be a reason for us to fear aiding Wolsi.On the contrary, we should increase our efforts to form a strong alliance with Wolsey, otherwise we will allow Rome to conquer Wolsey and become even stronger.It and Carthage are in the south and north, sandwiching our Kingdom of Dionia in the middle. Our situation will be even more troublesome in the future!It's better to take advantage of the fact that the Carthaginians are still unwilling to go to war and the Romans are not strong enough. We unite with other forces in central Italy to encircle Rome and completely defeat and weaken it so that it will no longer be a threat to our Dionia and our allies. Danger! "

As the Minister of Military Affairs, Hilos said these words with murderous intent, and he meant what the military ministry meant.

The meeting hall suddenly fell silent.

Davos did not express his position immediately. Instead, he looked at Cornelus and Lysias and asked, "What do you think of Hilos's opinion?"

(End of this chapter)