Adrusbal looked at the excited Mago, but his heart remained unmoved, ‘Carthage's hegemony in Sicily? It should be your Magonids' hegemony of Sicily!’
The Carthaginians are true to their racial identity as Phoenicians, preferring business and trade over military aggression. For hundreds of years, the Carthaginians were mostly peaceful with their colonisation and trade in Sicily with the Greeks, apart from a few conflicts. But 80 years ago, Gelon, the tyrant of Syracuse, attacked Himera and forced Terillus, the tyrant of Himera, to ask the head of the Magonids of Carthage and his close friend, Hamilcar, for aid.
At that time, Hamilcar was also furious because his mother's clan* had been mistreated in Syracuse, so without the unanimous consent of the Senate, Hamilcar organised an expedition to Sicily with his own pocket. As a result, Gelon defeated them in Himera, and Hamilcar died. Thus the Magonids made it their mission to defeat Syracuse and dragged the Carthaginians down with them. From then on, the Carthaginians and Syracusans have been at war for decades… (Hamilcar's mother was from Syracuse.)
Although the Magonids had already lost their absolute rule in Carthage, they still wanted to encourage the people to participate in the endless war in Sicily…Adrusbal, who knew some inside information, sneered. After coughing a few times, he coldly said, “We needed people to fight a war, but the previous two wars against Syracuse that you and your brother launched have made Carthage lose too many citizens. I am afraid our citizens are unwilling and unable to join a new war!”
Adrusbal's words poke at Mago's sore spot, making him embarrassed that he could only angrily say, “I don't need the citizens to join the war! As long as there are enough mercenaries, I can lead them and my army to attack Syracuse!!!”
Adrusbal laughed and said, “Lord Mago, it's easy for you to say ‘As long as there are enough mercenaries’! Don't you know that we also need a lot of money to pay their salaries?! Your current mercenaries already strained Carthage's treasure, yet you want to recruit more soldiers? Not only the Senate would disagree, but the people would also oppose it as that would mean more taxation. Moreover, having too many mercenaries would be a cause for concern, just like what you had said earlier, Lord Mago, ‘Once we can't pay them in time, those mercenaries would revolt.’”
Mago couldn't respond for a moment. After a while, he reluctantly said, “Even if we don't increase our soldiers, I can certainly recapture the city-states and land we lost with our current army in Sicily! So I wish you, Lord Adrusbal, tell the Senate to reconsider this matter!”
Adrusbal, however, flatly refused, “Lord Mago, shouldn't you know the current situation of Carthage?! Carthage needed to recover its prosperity, and the people hoped to live a peaceful life; thus, no one was willing to sacrifice their lives for those lands and inexplicable reasons that had nothing to do with them! We have already made peace with Syracuse, yet you now want us to break the peace with them and restart the war? Not only will that anger the Syracusans, but also the Theonians, with whom we have just established some ties. And Carthage will not make such a reckless decision!”
Mago was incensed by his words, “Adrusbal, I used to think that you were strong-willed and have your own independent opinions and views in the Senate. But it seems that you are no different from those guys who cling to Hanno. Do you know what the people call them?!”
Faced with Mago's offence, Adrusbal held his anger back and said, “My opinions have always been in the interest of Carthage, and I will not think who would favour and who would be against. Rather, Lord Mago, have you really made this decision for Carthage?! I would like to remind you that, due to the sensitive period, the Senate will send an elder to serve as a judge in Sicily so that those mercenaries will not cause some accidents by disobeying our order!…”
The two then parted unhappily after the meeting.
When Adrusbal left the governor's residence, he could still hear the shouting of Mago inside. After finally making up his mind, he agreed to Hanno's private proposal to send envoys to reach an agreement with Theonia as soon as possible.
On the way to the port, he frowned after encountering mercenaries with different accents and clothes, ‘There is absolutely no need for the Sicilian military defence zone to exist! Why go through wars when we can obtain peace and benefits through negotiations…’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
At night, the port of Scylletium was silent, and only the sound of the tide’s gentle caress of the port could be heard.
In the sky was a full moon that dispels the darkness between heaven and earth with its soft silvery light, which also brought some safety to navigating at night.
Dionysius and Phidias came to the port quietly, and Leptines had already prepared a boat for them.
After patting Phacipessas on the shoulder, Dionysius solemnly said, “Phacipessas, there's no need to accompany us further, lest the soldiers notice something unusual. During this time, I will hand all the troops here over to you while I bring reinforcements as soon as possible!”
The heavy task Dionysius had given him made Phacipessas feel great pressure that only after half a day, his forehead already had a few more wrinkles. But at this time, he could no longer say his distress and only send his blessings, “Milord, may Apollo bless you with a successful return to Syracuse!”
“Don't forget to hide my departure from the soldiers for now. Otherwise, the soldiers would cause a commotion!” Dionysius reminded him again.
Phacipessas then nodded in understanding.
After watching Phacipessas turn around and leave, Dionysius quickly withdrew his gaze and said to Leptines, “What about the Theonians' blockade of the port?”
“From the report of the sentry on the lighthouse, there are only three or four Theonian ships outside the port. And with such a wide sea area, they couldn’t block it, especially at night! And with Lakteros' ship handling skill, he can easily break through their blockade!”
After listening to Leptines' confident words, Dionysius relaxed a bit. He then looks at his brother, whose mediocrity and incompetence often make him angry and helpless, but his loyalty and meticulous implementation of orders have often put him at ease. Although he had sent his several other brothers to serve as a tyrant of the other city-states, only Leptines was the only one left by his side…Looking at this simple and honest brother of his, he no longer complained inwardly and had instead whispered, “Pay attention to the city's movement. Once you find something wrong, immediately rush out of the port with the fleet and return to Syracuse!”
“Ah?!” Leptines almost shouted in his astonishment.
Dionysius glared at him fiercely, squeezed his hand hard and said, “Remember!”
Leptines nodded alertly, “Yes! Yes!”
Dionysius passed by him and, with the help of his guards, jumped onto the swaying boat.
“Are you done?” Phidias, who was already on the ship, asked.
Dionysius nodded.
“Will you return?” Phidias bluntly asked.
Dionysius' expression changed slightly. But instead of paying attention to Phidias, he said to Lakteros, “Depart!”
Lakteros immediately asked the sailors to untie the ropes and raise the sails. Although the east wind was blowing on the sea now and not the south wind, the experienced Lakteros didn't find it a problem as he skillfully steered the rudder and the boat to sail out of the port like an arrow.
After turning around, Dionysius saw Leptines still standing on the port waving.
Dionysius looked gloomy: He wanted to return to Scylletium with the reinforcements, defeat Theonia and regain his and Syracuse's reputation. Yet judging from the current signs, the difficulties he would encounter after this trip back to Syracuse wouldn't just be Theonia's thousand soldiers. But among all the possible troubles, the most important was ensuring his power's stability in Syracuse! Without power, he and his family would be dead!!!
Dionysius was very clear about this because, in order to achieve his goal, he could abandon all others!
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Syracuse's allied armies had surrounded the first legion of Theonia and the exiles. But just as they were about to crush them in one fell swoop, the successive news of revolts in their allied cities caused the Syracusan allied army to be in disarray and eventually had to choose to retreat. The first legion of Theonia then took advantage of this opportunity to counterattack and turned the Syracusan allied army’s retreat into a massive defeat.
Macias then stopped their retreat after leading the cavalries to the south for more than 10 kilometres and entered the vast Catanian plain. Afterwards, he began sending the cavalry to gather the defeated soldiers in all directions. Once dusk came, he managed to gather more than 4,000 men.
Suddenly, the scouts reported that the city of Catania had sent troops to attack and capture the defeated soldiers.
So for safety, Macias could only lead the defeated soldiers to the west.
They then passed through several villages that the Catanian mercenaries owned. But after the slaves attacked their former owners, they followed those who succeeded in their revolts into the city of Catania while taking away the food stored in the village.
So apart from seeing corpses, the defeated soldiers couldn’t find much food. Even though the Catanian mercenaries in the group were angry, they could not even protect themselves at this moment, so they could only shed tears inwardly.
As the demoralised soldiers endured hunger and fatigue, they staggered forward in the dark until they found a village on the southwest edge of Catania's territory that wasn't impacted by the revolt.
On the other hand, the villagers panicked as they faced so many soldiers.
