There were no strategoi who didn't want to win. If Antonios could completely capture Syracuse, the greatest Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean, not only would he garner the attention of the Theonian populace but also the whole Greek world. By then, who else would make fun of him for being ordered by a spy?
But after seeing through his thoughts, Antrapolis hesitated and said, “Lord Antonios, I hope…oh no, I suggest that the first legion don't head south and enter Syracuse's territory for now.”
“Oh?” Antonios stared at him. Although he was unhappy, he knew that Antrapolis, who stayed long in Sicily and could start this massive revolt, must know more about the situation here than he did. Thus he asked modestly, “Why?!”
“The Syracusans have one peculiar characteristic. During peacetime, they would reject any ambitious and powerful politician and choose democracy; However, once they encountered danger and faced their end, they would voluntarily choose a tyrant and accept dictatorship…” Antrapolis continued with a severe expression, “Moreover, its citizens are prideful as Syracuse has been the largest Greek city-states in Sicily and even the whole western Mediterranean for many years. And they would become sensitive to any foreign army entering their territory! What’s more, those Syracusan officials, who had prepared the revolt, refused my request to enter the city and assist them. They feared the people resenting them once discovered, while the people became wary of us.
Lord Antonios, if the first legion were to appear near Syracuse, the rebelling Syracusans won't see us as reinforcements but most likely as enemies! And if Dionysius' men take advantage of this opportunity to provoke them, Dionysius' forces will likely regain their authority and work together against us!…”
Antonios was lost in his thoughts for a while: Before coming here, he had a basic understanding of Syracuse's situation. Unlike the small town of Sikuri, Syracuse is a huge city with a population of around 400,000. So if it's really like what Antrapolis said, it would be impossible for him to capture the city of Syracuse and completely end the war even if he led his thousands of men over there and took advantage of the chaos. On the contrary, they could even wipe out his entire army!
He then gazed at the soldiers chasing the defeated enemy on the battlefield: From landing in Sicily until now, they had been fighting with their life for three days in a row. Earning today's victorious result was already hard, and as their legatus, he wanted to take them to enjoy the glory of a victor instead of plunging them into unknown danger…
Thinking of this, Antonios slowly said, “What do you suggest?”
Antrapolis was waiting for those words and hurriedly said, “It would be the best for Theonia and the other city-state in Sicily for the revolt in Syracuse to not cease and just let them kill each other and consume Syracuse's strength.” Antrapolis, who was a former Catanian, revealed his deep hatred for Syracuse and said, “So while Syracuse deals with their internal problem, we should seize this time to make Sikuri, Catania, Leontinoi and-”
He then pointed to Taunis, not far away and continued, “Let all these city-states regain order and identify themselves with our Theonia Union. His majesty mentioned it in his last letter to me that the Catanian plain is wider and fertile than the Sybaris plain, so he hopes for Theonia to manage this area directly…”
After hearing this, Antonios gulped, ‘I am still thinking about how to defeat the powerful enemy, but Lord Davos was already considering how to gobble this land?! Is this the gap between Lord Davos and me?!’
Looking at the astounded Antonios, Antrapolis' was equally unsettled when he first caught onto Davos' thoughts in the letter. After all, he was a Catanian, and he had always hoped that the exiled Catanian could return to their homeland after overthrowing the puppet ruler of Syracuse. So it had never come to his mind that Catania would have to accept the rule of another powerful force, even though this force was now the country he was part of.
But along with Davos' letter was the letter of Aristias. In the letter, his brother said, “Even if Catania and Leontinoi regain their independence in this war, they would be too weak to face either Syracuse or Carthage and would inevitably suffer the same disaster again in the future. But if they were to come under Theonia's rule, Catania's protection would be guaranteed. Moreover, with Theonia's current system of government, the Catanians wouldn't need to worry about getting oppressed, and they will have more political rights…
Brother, the most important thing is that the defeat of Syracuse is inevitable after judging the current progress of the war. Although Theonia paid great sacrifices, we will gain a lot of land! Thus his majesty's biggest headache afterwards wouldn't be how to get more towns but how to obtain more people to fill the vacant land in Magna Graecia. Hence there wouldn't be too many Theonians immigrating to the Catanian plain. Instead, the Catanians would still be the actual owners and occupy certain positions in Theonia's political arena.
And as a former Catanian citizen, now a Theonian citizen, and after gaining the approval and respect of many exiles during your more than half a year of infiltration in Sicily, you would certainly play a considerable role in Catania's integration into Theonia if you want to enter politics after the war! What's more, you will also have a brighter future!…”
After reading the letter, Antrapolis became tempted. And after getting stimulated by Antonios, he felt for the first time that he wanted to get the title of ‘Theonia's statesman’. So rather than refusing Catania to join Theonia, he was now determined to make every effort to promote it!
“What about the cities in the south?” Antonios asked with reluctance.
“Those city-states southeast of Sicily have close ties with Syracuse. So even if they overthrew the tyrant supported by Dionysius, their friendly relationship with Syracuse wouldn't change that much.” Antrapolis recounted his conclusions after six months of careful analysis to Antonios. Then he continued, “As for the city-states on the south like Gela and Agrigento, his majesty wishes to maintain friendly relations with them and has no desire to have them join Theonia Union so as not to alarm and displease Carthage…”
Antonios nodded thoughtfully, “It seems that we can finally have our brothers take a good rest.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In Corinth's port of Lechaion, some of the occupiers commanded by Sparta, the Amyklaians of the Peloponnesian coalition army, were returning to their home to celebrate Hyacinthia* according to their tradition. (The death of Hyacinthus)
But considering these soldiers needed to pass through the city of Corinth on their return journey, the cheerful Agesilaus sent 300 Spartan heavy infantry to escort them to show Sparta's care to their allies.
After escorting these soldiers to the port of Sicyon, they became careless on their journey back. So when passing near Corinth's wall, the Athenian strategos, Iphicrates, led his light infantry out of the city and launched an attack on them.
Although the Spartan heavy infantry had fewer numbers, they were not afraid to fight and charged at the enemy as they thought it was a great opportunity to wipe out the city's defenders.
However, the Athenian light infantry did not engage them in a close-range battle. Instead, they took advantage of their lightness to maintain their distance from the Spartans and carried out long-range attacks by throwing javelins.
So even though the Spartan soldiers tried charging at the enemies many times, they still couldn't close the distance. On the contrary, their stamina kept getting consumed, and the javelins raining on them resulted in their comrades falling to the ground…
But such a way of battle resulted in the Spartan soldiers being unable to take advantage of their bravery. Instead, the groaning of their comrades tortured them, resulting in the Spartan’s morale plummeting to the bottom after an hour of fighting. And the Spartan warriors turned around and fled even though they regarded dying in battle as honour and fleeing as shameful.
However, how could they outrun a light infantry while wearing heavy armour? Thus they were almost wiped out by the Athenians.
After the battle ended, even the Athenians couldn't believe what happened, while Iphicrates and his men became more confident.
As words of this victory spread in the anti-Spartan Alliance, the people shrouded with fear of losing erupted into enthusiastic cheers. Although it was only a small battle, the nearly 300 heavy infantry they wiped out were genuine Spartan citizens*. (Without counting the Perioeci and Helots, Sparta only has about 3,000 to 4,000 trained citizens.)
When the news reached the Spartan allied troops, Agesilaus was currently receiving Theban envoy with the arrogance of a victor and was making harsh demands. But after learning about the situation, Agesilaus' arrogance instantly turned into anger, and the entire army fell into grief.
Upon hearing the news, the Theban envoy quickly left Sparta's camp and no longer proposed a truce.
While Agesilaus was thinking about how to avenge his fallen warriors and restore the prestige of the Spartan army, Iphicrates was still not satisfied with his victory. So after two days of preparation, he led his light infantry troops, boarded the Athenian ships, detoured the northern end of the isthmus, and made a surprise attack on Koroneia, which the Spartans occupied. He still used the same tactics to defeat the defenders and recapture Koroneia.
