When Cheiristoya was about to take little Cro away, he held on to his father's knees and started crying and making a fuss.
However, Davos couldn't take care of him at the moment, so he turned to Athelycus and said, “The Theonian Senate will be pleased to hear this, and I hope that-”
Athelycus waved his hand and hurriedly said, “However, Rhegium also has a small request that we hope Theonia could agree!”
The Greeks of South Italia has a saying that the Rhegians are all merchants that haggles over every penny. And Athelycus is the best among them. Sure enough, Davos couldn’t get anything for free! Thus he could only brace himself as he said, “Go ahead.”
“You should already know that the tyrant of Syracuse has rebuilt Messina. And now, Messina has completely yielded to Syracuse and are now opposing Rhegium at every turn. Moreover, they have an accomplice – Tyndaris. It is the colonial city where the tyrant of Syracuse had settled the exiled Messenians, which is not far from Messina. The two city-states joint forces and often disrupt the trade routes of the Strait, and sometimes even detain the merchant ships that come to trade with Rhegium…if this were to continue, there would be no one that will dare to come to Rhegium by sea to trade!” Athelycus said with melancholy.
“We even protested to Messina many times, but it all failed. We even sent envoys to Syracuse, but the tyrant would not even meet our envoys! Therefore, after our Council discussed it, we decided to build a colonial city on Peloritani to accommodate the exiles of some Sicilian city-states such as Catania, Naxos and Leontinoi…”
“Wait.” Davos looked at the slaves who were waiting on him and said, “Go to the study and get me the map of Sicily.” Although Davos has the habit of reading maps every day, he only has a poor memory of Sicily’s terrain and city-state locations compared with his familiarity with South Italia.
“Dionysius destroyed the city-states such as Catania and Naxo, so those exiles must be full of hatred for Syracuse.” Davos knew that many city-states in Magna Graecia had taken in Sicilian exiles because they were wary of Syracuse, so they did not have a problem helping those exiles that Syracuse banished. And Davos naturally thought of Aristias at this moment.
“That's for sure, which is why they won't easily submit to the tyrant!” Athelycus said in hatred.
After the slave brought the map, Davos unfolded it on the table.
“This is Messina…this here is Tyndaris…” Davos looked at the map carefully.
Athelycus also leaned over as he looked at the map. He then noticed that the specially drawn map was large and meticulous in its details, which was no less than the one stored in Rhegium's city hall. Obviously, his son-in-law paid no less attention to Sicily as even the newly built city-states, such as Lilibaeum, the new city of Messina and Tyndaris, were clearly marked, and even some of those city-states that were destroyed were also marked with an explanation. For example, the city of Himera, on the north coast, has an explanation that it was “Destroyed during the Sicilian war launched by Carthage's commander – Hannibal, fifteen years ago.”
“This Peloritani…” Davos' finger stopped in the northeast corner of Sicily. It's located between Messina and Tyndaris, making its location excellent as it can cut off the connection between the two cities. After all, Messina and Tyndaris are both new cities (Carthage destroyed the old Messina), so they are not that strong. And even with the support of Syracuse, Syracuse had too many city-states under it that it is impossible for them to support Messina and Tyndaris fully. Although Rhegium is not as strong as Syracuse, they are still a powerful and wealthy city-state. Thus if they were to pour a lot of resources into this new city, it would soon surpass both Messina and Tyndaris, thus achieving the purpose of restraining and deterring the two cities.
But there is a serious problem.
“Have you taken into account Syracuse's attitude?” Asked Davos.
“Following the ancient tradition, any Greek city-state has the right to establish a colony. Furthermore, the location of our new city is not within the territory of Messina and Tyndaris…” Said Athelycus.
“Dionysius wouldn't care about Greek tradition with his personality.” Davos didn't think much of it and said with a serious expression, “He had just managed to control the western Sicily, but if there is an outsider that wants to put his hands in his sphere of influence, do you think he will agree?”
“That's why I have come to Thurii this time. Rhegium hopes to get your support!” Athelycus eagerly continued, “For this reason, Rhegium is willing to hand over the command of our fleet to Theonia.”
Initially, the city-states in Theonia Alliance did not have such freedom to bargain with Theonia. However, unlike the other small affiliated city-states, Rhegium was the only powerful Greek city-state in Magna Graecia to join the alliance. Thus the Theonian Senate showed enough tolerance and respect to them that Davos even invited Rhegium to join the South Italia Alliance in order to strengthen Theonia’s voice. On the other hand, the other city-states such as Crotone did not strongly oppose it due to Rhegium's influence. Hence, Rhegium is the only Greek city-state in Magna Graecia that belongs to both the Theonia Alliance and South Italia Alliance.
However, Davos remained silent: Support? That is easy to say, as this would mean that it is a war. However, Theonia is trying to avoid war. Otherwise, why would they sign a friendship agreement with Syracuse? Rhegium just wants to drag Theonia into the water!
“I need to discuss such an important matter with the Senate and even with other city-states in the alliance.” Said Davos ambiguously, without giving an immediate answer.
It took Davos a good deal of time to send the unhappy-looking Athelycus away. And even after that, Davos still paced back and forth in the living room, thinking about the Strait of Messina.
In the end, he called Aristias.
“A war would break out!” Aristias affirmed, “The reason why Messina and Tyndaris dared to invade Rhegium so boldly was due to the support of Dionysius. Perhaps what Rhegium wanted to do is exactly what Dionysius hoped for, as he could launch a war against Rhegium, not only will they get their revenge on Rhegium-” Said Aristias as he looked at Davos.
Davos didn't care what he was hinting at and just said, “Continue.”
“Syracuse would then occupy Rhegium and control the whole Strait of Messina, allowing Dionysius to collect taxes on passing merchant ships to support his huge army. Milord, according to the intelligence we have gathered, Syracuse claimed a lot of war reparation in their negotiation with Carthage. Afterwards, they used the money to buy food, build more warships and pay the mercenaries. This is definitely not just to threaten Rhegium!” Said Aristias worriedly.
Davos remained silent as he already knew all this information.
Aristias continued, “In addition…milord, from the intelligence that was recently gathered across Theonia, I have discovered a situation that I hope will attract your attention.”
“Oh, what is it?” Davos looked at him.
“There is currently a growing concern among the preparatory citizens and registered freemen. That is, they are worried that they will no longer be able to obtain land even if they become an official citizen of Theonia…”
Indeed, Theonia Union has basically divided the land under its territory. And the only places that they have spare lands are the Lucanian mountains and the Bruttii regions, but that is not enough for so many preparatory citizens.
“So, do they want to leave?” Davos' mouth curled up slightly as he said half-jokingly.
“Theonia is a paradise for freemen, so how could they leave?!” Aristias paused then continued, “They hope for a war, use war to win more land, use battles to shorten the years they need to wait to become a citizen and use their achievements in war to get land!”
Davos' mood became a bit heavy. The military merit system he designed for Theonia is basically their way of attracting Greek freemen to flock to Theonia. And it is also the motivation for the citizens’ desire for battle and bravery.
“Those who forget war will be in danger, but those who are militant will die…” Davos silently recited these words. He affirmed to himself that he must firmly control the commanding power of Theonia’s army in his hands. Otherwise, once it gets out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable. However, Theonia is still weak right now, and it still needs this system to grow.
“Land…” Davos stroked his chin. Now, Theonia has indeed reached a bottleneck in its expansion. To the south, there is a powerful Syracuse. To the north, there is the Samnites, and Davos knew that the Romans had spent decades conquering this warlike race and had even suffered several disastrous defeats. That's why Theonia would not easily provoke them before they are ready.
Further east is the territory of Messapi and Peucetti, and in terms of distance, it is the closest place to Theonia, but these two races are not easy to deal with, and if they were to join hands, Theonia would need to fight them with all its might to conquer them. However, the current situation does not allow them, and there is also Taranto between them, and even though their relationship with Theonia is not harmonious, but without its full support, Davos does not dare to send an army to attack Messapi.
