ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 98 Citizens’ Meeting
"It's Tulii again! Selfish Tulii! Damn Tulii! May the Goddess of Doom curse them!" Cornerus said through gritted teeth.

To make a good man who has always been kind to others hate him like this, Davos could guess the reason (Archita told him), but he pretended to be curious and asked: "Lord Cornelus, I remember Tuliyi and Amendolara is an ally, but you seem to hate Turiyi very much."

"The Turiyi people forced us to temporarily leave the city of Amendolara and help them defend the city of Turiyi. Otherwise, once the Lucanians besieged Amendolara, they would not provide any help. At that time, considering the Lucania People invaded from the south, and the north was safe. We had no choice but to open the city gate with a large amount of supplies and prepare to move to Turiyi. As a result... we were unprepared and were... drifted down from the Sinni River. The Lucanians took advantage of the opportunity to attack... In the past half year or so, we have suffered a lot... the temples were defiled, women were insulted, children were starved to death, and citizens were massacred..." At this point, Cornelus Already bursting into tears: "All this stems from Tuliyi's selfish decision, but their own city is still intact! Every one of us Amendolara hates Tulii more than we hate the Lucanians !”

"Oh!..." Davos sighed, not knowing what to say.

"I heard from your soldiers that taking back Amendolara was your own decision, not an order from Thurii?" Cornerus asked, wiping his tears.

"Yes."

"That's good, we don't owe Thurii anything anymore! How much money they used to hire you, we will pay you double, as long as you stay!" Cornelus said resolutely.

Davos said helplessly: "Why bother? We have 3000 mercenaries, and the monthly food consumption is not a small amount. Amendolara is not a rich city-state, and we accepted your employment. When the deadline comes, we will still leave. We are homeless people, and we have to go out to accept employment tasks and earn money to make ends meet..." Davos looked a little sentimental, but his words reminded Cornelus: "No Home..." He blurted out: "Then stay."

As soon as the words came out, he seemed to be encouraged, and said loudly: "Yes, stay here! Become a citizen of Amendolara!"

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

Previously, the square of Amendolara was used as a military camp by the Lucarians, and it was also the only place where the mercenaries encountered some decent resistance in the city last night.This afternoon, the square had been cleared, and only the remaining bloodstains on the marble floor revealed that a battle had taken place here.

Except for young children, the surviving people of Amendolara, including women and underage teenagers, gathered in the square.

At this moment, standing on the wooden platform in the center of the square were the five remaining prominent citizens of Amendolara, headed by Cornelus.Cornerus looked at almost all the people in Amendolara in the audience, old and young, and most of the others were women. Now most of them have not recovered their physical strength and even need the support of mercenary soldiers and doctors. He couldn't help but think again. Sadness arises from my heart: Think about it: a year ago, Amendola had 4000 citizens (citizens of Greek city-states could only be adult males), with a total population of more than 1, but now only the elderly, young, women and children are left. The poor 1000 people, not to mention defending their homes and country, even planting wheat and grazing cattle and sheep, could not complete these daily tasks smoothly, which strengthened his determination.

"Citizens, women, and children of Amendolara, I, Cornelus, a member of the Senate, have summoned you to the square today because there is an important matter that we need to decide together! 200 Many years ago, our ancestors left Sybaris and came here to build a city. For 200 years, nourished by the Cisno and Burano rivers, and protected by the Amendolara Mountains, our lives are stable and abundant. Even though our mother Bonsybaris was destroyed, and our land was never affected by the war. But...since our citizens followed Thurii into the Lucanian territory last year, we..." Cornelus was somewhat Choking up sobs, many people in the audience burst into tears.

"My wife did not want to be insulted by the Lucarians and committed suicide by hitting a pillar... One of my children also contracted the disease and died... You in the audience also have the same tragic experience as me... For 200 years, Amendolara We only encountered this war, and this time almost made Amendolara a thing of the past like our mother Bonsybaris. When we prayed for Zeus's salvation in the temple day and night, Zeus responded to our call and sent Our saviors, they are the mercenaries from the Ionia region of Greece, our compatriots!" Cornerus pointed to the back of the people, Davos led the team officers and some soldiers, and the witness Archita Wearing casual clothes, he was standing there, waiting quietly.

"They defeated the vicious Lucarians, saved us from suffering, and took care of us enthusiastically! To be honest, I have seen many mercenaries before, but they are completely different, they are like family members! ... "Cornerus' words won the approval of many people in the audience, especially those women who were full of sensibility.

"But they are about to leave us and leave Magna Graecia!" As soon as he finished speaking, many people began to panic.

"They're gone, what should we do? Who will ensure Amendolara's safety? Turiyi?" Cornelus paused for a moment, and there was a lot of curses in the audience.

"No! I would rather be destroyed by the Lucalians than be deceived by the Turii again!"

"Selfish Turiyi people are not allowed to enter the city of Amendolara again!"

……

Amid the anger of the people, Cornerus took advantage of the situation and said loudly: "This painful lesson has taught us that we can only rely on ourselves to defend our home! But Amendolara is very weak now, so what should we do? What to do?" Cornelus looked at the people in the audience and asked this question again, causing them to think deeply.

"The consuls of Amendolara are all dead. As a member of the Senate, I, Cornelus, now propose an important motion to convene a citizens' assembly and vote to decide whether to pass it. Since the number of citizens is too small now, and this matter This matter is related to the interests of each of us Amendolara people, so I specifically ask all Amendolara people to participate in voting." Cornerus had just finished speaking, and before there was any commotion in the audience, another person on the stage Four people spoke in support.

The majority of women in the audience were excited about voting for the first time in their lives. Naturally, those who opposed it could not make waves.

"I heard from others that although Cornelus of Amendolara is a good man, he doesn't seem to have many opinions in political affairs. I didn't expect that he would do such an amazing move today!" Archita was half surprised and half surprised. He said, treating Davos with suspicion.After all, letting women vote to decide city-state events has never happened before in Greek city-states. Perhaps it only appeared in ancient times. Legend has it that Athena could become the patron saint of Athens, and women's votes played a key role.

Davos smiled and said nothing.It was of course his idea to let women participate in voting. Compared to men who value more interests, women are more emotional and yearn for the protection of the strong. Faced with the mercenary soldiers who saved them and treated them affectionately, their choice One can imagine.

"Since everyone agrees to this approach, my next proposal is-" Cornelus glanced at Davos and the others in the distance: "Accept our benefactor-save all of Amendolara Mercenary soldiers become citizens of Amendolara, then we no longer have to worry about the security of the city-state!"

The people in the audience were in an uproar.After all, it is not easy for a free citizen to become a citizen of a Greek city-state, let alone to accept more than 3000 people as citizens of a city-state at one time, which is very rare (Greece is not Rome after all).

But after a commotion, when a woman first raised her right arm and shouted: "Agree!", then the sound of "agree" could be heard throughout the venue.

　Football tonight, updated in advance!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)