“The area near the ruins of Agyrium has now become the largest gathering place for the exiles from Catania, Naxos and other city-states. Agyrium was no longer a threat after the Sicels did not elect a new king since Agileus’ death due to Dionysius’ suppression, resulting in the various Sicel towns no longer united. Rather, the Sikurians, Tauromenians, and the mercenaries in Catania who became a threat as they occasionally raid them.” Seraphinus continued, “Milord, you can increase your soldiers by around 5,000 if we could gather all those exiles into Megalos!”
‘A group of untrained rabbles from various city-states are worse than a group of slaves in battle.’ Thought Antonios but did not say it aloud. He then looked at Agyrium’s position that Seraphinus pointed out: It was located on the western side of Mount Etna and could be reached from Megalos by going west through Alcantara gorges. However, Tauromenium's location threatens this passage, ‘Could 200 soldiers defend against Tauromenians’ attack?’
So Antonios asked, “Will the slaves and freemen there cooperate with us once I lead my troops to attack Tauromenium?”
Seraphinus shook his head and said, “I am afraid that would be difficult. Dionysius had given Tauromenium for the Campanian mercenaries to occupy. Although they numbered less, the city of Tauromenium was not large. Besides, with Tauromenium having little arable land, they didn't need many slaves, so they often sold the captured exiles to Catania and Sikuri. And since there was no port, the freemen didn't go to Tauromenium either. With neither a port nor arable land, what would they live on?”
Seraphinus recalled something with fear showing on his face, “I once visited the city of Tauromenium. It was located high up on the mountain with steep terrain, and the only way to reach it was a winding path. I am afraid our soldiers would pay a heavy price if they want to attack it, and also-” He didn't finish his words, but he obviously did not think that the first legion could capture the mountain city.
Antonios was slightly disappointed.
Seraphinus continued, “But if you were to attack Sikuri instead, milord. The slaves and freemen in there will surely be of help! Due to Dionysius destroying several city-states, the whole of southeastern Sicily now has spacious land but small populations except for Syracuse and the surrounding city-states. And as far as I know, most of the slaves and freemen in many city-states are exiles. So just like the case of Megalos, they are always eager to overthrow Dionysius' rule and rebuild their homes. However, even though they were aware of the situation, the citizens of these city-states did not take effective measures to stop it because their newly acquired lands and ports needed numerous people to take care of them…”
The situation that Seraphinus described was tempting, but Antonios had no intention of doing it. He wanted to capture Tauromenium because he wanted to fully focus on dealing with Syracuse's attack with his might, so he preferred securing the northern side of Megalos. Otherwise, once Syracuse attacked from the south, the mercenaries in Tauromenium would come from the north, and the colonists of Locri and Medma in Messina were to send reinforcements and completely surround Megalos.
Antonios then thought silently, ‘It seems that we can only strengthen Megalos' defence while waiting for the arrival of those exiles and decide on the next step after seeing the situation.’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When Cheirisophus, Sparta's envoy, returned to Sparta, Agesilaus had received the order of the Gerousia to go to Corinth and replace Praxitas to command the Spartan Allied Army and continue attacking the city of Corinth.
Cheirisophus came to the Gerousia to report about his mission.
The Spartan elders, who were over 60 years old, were surprised by Theonia's stubborn attitude of wanting to defeat Syracuse in such a dire situation. However, what surprised them even more, was that Theonia actually defeated Syracuse's navy.
After a while, elder Diopetus asked, “Cheirisophus, since the Theonians arrogantly refused our offer of friendship, the war in Magna Graecia will continue. Now that you have just returned from Magna Graecia and know the situation, what are your suggestions?”
“Esteemed elders, Dionysius is determined to conquer Magna Graecia while Davos is determined to avenge his people. The two sides are like a pair of red-eyed rams that words alone cannot make them stop fighting. So if we, Sparta, can't find other ways to mediate the war except for words, the war in Magna Graecia will continue until one side falls…”
The elders remained silent for a while: With most of Sparta's energy now committed to the war in Corinth while a small part of their army was still in Asia Minor, they didn't have spare energy to open up another battlefield.
After some time passed, elder Leucippus sighed, “It seems that Syracuse can't help us soon!”
Praxitas, the regent of king Agesipolis of Sparta, attended the Gerousia in his stead and said, “Cheirisophus, who do you think will win this war between Syracuse and Theonia?”
Once he asked this question, the other elders looked at him with a stunned gaze, and the meaning expressed in their eyes was, ‘Does this even need to be asked?!’ Although Theonia won the naval battle, they would still need to fight the final battle on land. However, the difference in strength between both sides is obvious, so the final winner will likely be Syracuse. Since Dionysius could lead an army of 80,000 that even Sparta didn't even have!
But Cheirisophus appeared hesitant. He thought for a while before saying, “Although Dionysius had a clear advantage in strength, Theonia has Davos. In every war that had taken place in Theonia previously, we thought they wouldn't win due to the situation before the war. Yet, they all won it, resulting in Theonia becoming a city-state union that we have to pay attention to just after a few years. And Davos, having repelled the Samnites in central Italia and returned to Thurii, was said to lead the Theonian fleet and have miraculously defeated the far more powerful Syracusan navy. Now that he is leading the Theonian army head-on against Dionysius' Syracusan army, it is tough to judge the victor and the loser!”
“You should not compare Dionysius to those foolish strategoi Theonia encountered before!” An elder retorted, “After all, Dionysius had defeated Carthage!”
“Davos!…” Diopetus sighed, “Cheirisophus, I remembered that you suggested for him to be a special guest of Sparta.”
“Yes, I proposed it previously.” Cheirisophus answered truthfully.
“It's unthinkable that the young man who was insignificant a few years ago would now become a headache to Sparta!” Diopetus faced the other elders and said with a grave expression, “We need to seriously consider Cheirisophus’ assumption and our response if Theonia really defeats Syracuse!”
Hearing this, the elders were surprised and fell into pondering. As a result, they were surprised to find that even though Sparta had little contact with Theonia Union, their relationship was not good. On the contrary, they heard that Theonia had signed a friendly agreement with Athens, Sparta's sworn enemy. Thus once Theonia won the war in Magna Graecia, the western Mediterranean that Sparta considered a safe area has now a huge hole. So while dealing with the traditionally powerful city-states such as Athens, Thebes, Corinth and others to its hegemony, Sparta would now need to guard against the hostility of this powerful city-state union in the west, which would sharply increase the pressure they face!
Many elders became sombre when thinking of this.
Then some elders feigned ease and said, “Those are just assumptions. Theonia chance of winning is small!”
“We could just eliminate Theonia’s chance of winning!” Another elder said angrily.
“And? How to do that? Send an army to support Syracuse in Magna Graecia?! We have already devoted most of our warriors in Corinth, so could we still send more troops?! Or do we gather our other allies to help? Unfortunately, we placed all our previous attention and investment on the western Mediterranean in Syracuse, so our understanding of Magna Graecia is not as good as that of Athens!” Infuriated that the elders had removed him as the commander of the Spartan Allied Army, so Praxitas indulged in mocking them, “Oh, right, there is still our colony – Taranto! Unfortunately, Theonia easily defeated them just after winning the naval battle against Syracuse! As you can see, this is the western Mediterranean you have planned out for decades – a pile of trash!”
The elders become tongue-tied for a moment.
At this moment, someone quietly said, “Maybe…we can have a friendly negotiation with Theonia?”
Everyone's gaze immediately turned to Cheirisophus.
