ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 699 Syracuse Ten Years Past
On the surface, Hanno agreed to send an army to Sicily, but he thought that Dionia's current military strength was strong, and the strength of the basic city of Carthage alone was not absolutely sure of winning. Therefore, he needed to gather the military power in the hands of Iberian Governor Marco , because they have a large army all year round, often fight against the natives of Iberia, and have rich combat experience.

Logically speaking, Hanno's request was reasonable and many senators agreed. However, Pretakouba and other Magonid senators firmly opposed it. They believed that although Mago had an army in Iberia, , but this time the army was used to defend against the invasion of the indigenous Iberians. If they were transferred, the newly occupied land by Carthage in Iberia might fall into the hands of the indigenous people again.

Hanno sneered at this reason. He taunted loudly: "Does Mago still need to guard against the attack of the Iberian natives? I heard that the leaders of the Iberian natives often go to the city of Sexi to visit him. , he scolded them like slaves. And I also know that officials from Malaga and Cadiz went to Sisi to see Mago more often than they came to Carthage! Iberian colonies It is very stable now, but the military expenses that Mago applies to the Senate are increasing year by year, and his army is getting bigger and bigger. I don’t know who he is using this army to defend?! Shouldn’t he use this? Does the army supported by Carthage's gold and silver serve Carthage?! If he doesn't agree, does he have other ideas?!"

What Hanno said was so heart-breaking that Preeta Kuba found it difficult to refute it, and many senators who had accepted Mago's bribes were unable to speak for him at this time. Hanno's proposal was even approved. Support from centrist elders.

In the end, Hanno even said harsh words: "If Mago doesn't send troops, Carthage will not send troops to Sicily!"

The meeting broke up.

Soon, rumors began to spread in the city of Carthage: "Hanno was afraid of Dionia and did not dare to send troops to fight. He was determined to violate the agreement with his close ally Rome!"

However, another rumor was even more widely spread: "Mago refused to send an army recruited with tax money from Carthage citizens to fight against Dionia because he wanted to be the king of Iberia!"

This rumor caused an uproar in the city of Carthage. Many people gathered in front of the Senate to protest, calling Mago a traitor and strongly demanding that the Senate revoke his position as governor of Iberia and transfer him back to Carthage. Guy, go to trial.

The news spread to southern Iberia. When Mago and others found out, they felt somewhat depressed.

They knew very well: This was the disadvantage of not being in Carthage, the center of power, so it was difficult to control the situation.Although the Magonides family has a relatively stable foundation in Iberia, once it breaks away from Carthage, it will become a rootless tree.

Of course, they didn't want to be abandoned by the people of Carthage. Hanno's actions could be said to hit their weakness hard.

After Mago discussed with Haka and the others, they quickly made a decision.

Therefore, Pretacuba proposed at the Senate meeting a few days later: "My lords, as a citizen of Carthage, Mago, the governor of Iberia, is of course willing to send his troops to fight, but he hopes to be able to serve as the commander of the attack on Sicily. Commander!"

It is true that with Mago's status and military qualifications, no one among the citizens of Carthage dared to compete with him for the position of commander of the expedition, but how could Hanno let him get his wish? Taipanlaco immediately stood up and expressed his opposition: "Iberia. The situation in the Asian Peninsula is complicated, and there are many fierce natives. Once Mago leaves, the newly sent governor is unfamiliar with the situation there, which may lead to instability in the newly occupied Iberia region, and the efforts over the years will not be successful. Is it all in vain! Therefore, Lord Mago is better off staying in Iberia and just needs to send the army over."

Preeta Kuba immediately retorted: "My lords, you should all know that the members of the Iberian army are complex, and most of them are foreign mercenaries. If they are led by outsiders, I am afraid they will not obey the command. If the Senate is really worried about the security of the new territory of Iberia, I would recommend Hasdrubal, son of Himilko, to be the commander-in-chief of this expedition. He led an army to defeat the incoming natives for the first time. He has rich combat experience and is an equally rare general in Carthage!"

Changing from Ma Ge to Hasdrubal, the effect is not the same!Great idea Marco!Hanno sneered in his heart.

As a result, the elders of the Hanoi faction expressed their opposition one after another, and even Okerton shouted excitedly: "The army supported by Carthage's tax money does not obey the orders of Carthage, but only obeys the command of one person. Isn't this dangerous! How dare we hand over the command of the army to such a man and put the city of Carthage in possible danger!..."

Okleton’s words were quite heartbreaking, but he hit on the concerns of many elders: the main members of the Magonide family had all gone to Iberia, and they would not be able to return to Carthage for a few years. Once again, he held a large number of troops that were hardly composed of Carthaginian citizens, which already worried the Senate. Obviously not what the elders expected.

On this issue, the leader of the neutral faction, Aisharuba, was in agreement with Hanno.

Finally, with the support of the majority of senators in the Senate, a resolution was passed: Let Milephio, the military governor of Numbia, serve as the commander of the army. Mago did not need to go to the army, but Iberia must send no less than 2 troops. Human armies fight.

This resolution was not only completely opposite to the results expected by Mago and others, but also greatly harmed their interests. Therefore, Mago, who received the news, delayed the implementation of the resolution and instead sent envoys carrying heavy sums of money to Carthage to lobby the senators.

In the back and forth between the two sides, the dispatch of troops to Sicily has been delayed.

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

While the Senate of Carthage was debating the expedition, the Council of Syracuse was also having a heated debate.

More than ten years ago, Syracuse was the largest Greek city-state in Sicily, and even the most powerful city-state in the entire Greek world. Under the rule of the tyrant Dionysius, the Syracuseans defeated the powerful Carthage. The Ji people conquered most of Sicily's land and became the overlord of Sicily.Dionysius even led an army of nearly [-] north to attack Great Greece across the sea in an attempt to expand his territory.

However, after half a year of war with the newly-emerged Dionian Alliance at the time, the Syracuseans, who were obviously superior in strength, finally suffered a disastrous defeat in both naval and land battles, and even the Dionian army attacked. Going to Sicily led to the Syracusans launching a rebellion and overthrowing the rule of Dionysius. Dionysius and his family were eventually betrayed by Sparta and murdered.

The people of Syracuse, liberated from the dictatorship of Dionysius, decided not to repeat the past mistakes. The people entrusted Herolis, who played a major leading role in overthrowing Dionysius's rule, to form a new Democratic government of Syracuse.

However, Herolis had other ideas.During the reign of Dionysius, he held an important public office in the city-state. At the same time, he also seriously studied the political system of Dionia, so he opposed Dionysius because Dionysius was too cruel. And the oppression of the people is too heavy, does not mean that he fully agrees with democracy.On the contrary, he believes that the democratic system is too free and loose, inefficient, and prone to chaos. Especially when Syracuse has experienced a disastrous defeat and urgently needs to quickly restore its national strength, it is more important to concentrate power and make various effective decisions quickly. Decisions that are beneficial to the development of the city-state.

Therefore, he delayed forming a new government. Instead, he used his status as the supreme leader during the war to frequently promulgate various resolutions. These resolutions were often decided by him alone without consulting other people. This was met with public disapproval. criticism.

During this period, two things happened that greatly reduced his popularity among the people.

The first thing was that Theagenes, an important figure in Syracuse’s former democrats, was arrested because he strongly opposed the rule of Dionysius. He was supposed to be sentenced to death, but he escaped because of the help of his friends. was imprisoned and fled Sicily.After the rule of Dionysius was overthrown, he actually returned to Syracuse with several warships and some soldiers.

Based on his previous heroic deeds against Dionysius, the people warmly welcomed his arrival and elected him as a general in the citizens' assembly, hoping that he could enter the executive committee of the wartime generals of Syracuse. A check on the growing power of Herolis.

However, Herolis actually vetoed the election results of the Citizens' Assembly and emphasized that "any resolution requires his approval." This incident made the people very angry.

However, in a previous resolution promulgated by Herolis, a large amount of fertile land that Dionysius once allocated to the mercenaries was allocated to the civilians of the port, and they were given full citizenship rights, thus gaining the support of the people of the port area. and the full support of the freedmen.

In addition, in the executive committee of the generals during the war, Falaikus, Staxicos... and others were all friends and supporters of Herolis, so it seemed that his power was unassailable.

The second thing is that although Dionia agreed to release the captured Syracuse soldiers and sailors, Davos put forward conditions and required Syracuse to pay war compensation to compensate for the Syracuse army's The damage caused by Magna Graecia was at the same time the ransom money for these captives.

　Thanks to Yijian 68 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)