“No one saw him since the uprising began. And from what my men reported, Herolis probably imprisoned him.” Said Hipparinus.
“Damn Herolis! I should have removed his head and hung his body on the top of the city wall to warn those with evil intentions! This time, I will definitely kill his whole family and get the temple's priests to place a curse on his soul for him to sink in the River Styx forever!…” Dionysius cursed loudly and furiously to vent his anger and frustration. Without Philistus, it would be like cutting off one of his arms, as he could no longer implement many of his plans. And due to him quietly returning to Syracuse, Dionysius did not intend to make a public appearance to avoid the people's criticism and planned to leave many things for Philistus to carry out. But without Philistus, who could he rely on now?
“Herolis is out there with an army of tens of thousands of men! Go out and defeat him! If possible, kill him!!! What's the use of you just yelling here?!” Said Hipparinus coldly. Among these people, he was the only one who dared to rebuke Dionysius in person. Although Philistus sometimes criticises Dionysius, he would never be as harsh as Hipparinus. Hipparinus could do it simply because he was not only Dionysius' father-in-law but also his staunch supporter. And in Dionysius' most difficult times, it was Hipparinus who paid out using all his family's money to support Dionysius to run the election. Moreover, he gathered numerous citizens for him to be elected as the supreme commander of Syracuse and led the citizens against the Carthaginian army, thus allowing him to embark on the path of a dictator.
Dionysius glared at Hipparinus while his chest heaved sharply. But just as he was about to vent his anger, Kaladmus retreated a few steps back in fright. In the end, Dionysius held his anger back and, with a heavy grunt, turned his gate at Megakorlis. He then asked him in a grave tone, “How is the island of Ortygia's defence?”
“The rebels tried to attack the walls of the isthmus. However, after suffering heavy casualties but failing to reach the top of the city wall, they no longer attack here again. Instead, they built a new wall at the exit of the isthmus, trying to block us out of the city.”
“Have you tried leading your soldiers to the isthmus?”
Megakorlis didn't reply. Instead, he turned his gaze to Hipparinus.
“I told Megakorlis' mercenaries not to attack!” Hipparinus said without shirking responsibility, “With the dangerous and chaotic situation, the first thing I had to ensure was the safety of Ortygia!”
This time, Dionysius didn't get angry. After staying silent for a while, he loudly said, “Hmm…Lord Hipparinus, you did the right thing! Megakorlis, thanks to you and your mercenaries’ effort in holding the island of Ortygia, we still have a place to take shelter!”
“Milord, it's the duty of our mercenaries to guard the island of Ortygia!”
“What's Macias' situation now?” Dionysius asked about the whereabouts of his other right-hand man.
“From the scout's report, he led the defeated soldiers and fled to those villages and towns owned by the citizens who were former mercenaries. But Herolis didn't allow him to rest as he immediately sent tens of thousands of soldiers to attack the former mercenaries and their families. And as Macias could not defeat them, he could only lead his men to retreat to the western mountains.” Hipparinus said expressionlessly.
“As long as he isn't dead…” Dionysius didn’t consider contacting Macias for a while as he paid attention to another question, “Where is our fleet?”
“The port's sailors were involved in the rebellion. After imprisoning Paronisus, they took the ship and joined forces with those rebels to defeat the mercenaries guarding the city gates. They were also the ones clearing the mercenaries outside the city…but these sailors began arguing with the rebels in the city.”
“About what?!” Dionysius became interested.
“From what the spies had seen, it seemed the port sailors hoped to obtain all the lands of the former mercenaries and wish to obtain more political right, which Herolis and the others opposed…”
Dionysius took note of this matter and asked the question he was most concerned about, “Where is the Theonian army now?”
“They headed to Taunis to assist the rebels but went north after taking control of the whole city. Now that all the passage between Syracuse and the north are blocked, we could no longer find out the situation in detail.” Said Hipparinus.
‘The Theonians were cautious!’ Dionysius became slightly anxious when he thought of this. After all, he left tens of thousands of Syracusans in Scylletium to block Theonia's main force for him. Hence if he could not retake Syracuse before the Theonians conquered Scylletium, he would be in grave danger once Theonia's main force made an expedition across the sea!
“What about the cities on the south coast? Did you go there to ask their aid?!” Dionysius asked anxiously, as that was where he would most likely get reinforcements.
“When the large-scale uprising broke out in the cities of Syracuse, Catania, Leontinoi, Taunis and other cities, there was also unrest in the cities of the south coast. Lord Kaladmus even risked his life to go to Gela, Agrigento…to ask for their help, but was refused.” Said Hipparinus.
“Milord, those city-states even said, ‘In order to help lord Dionysius to attack Magna Graecia, we had sent out many of our soldiers. And in order to repel the Theonians who landed in Sicily, we had sent even more young and physically fit citizens. Yet most of them did not return! And now that our city-state is in turmoil and the political situation is unstable, we won't be able to send reinforcements again.’” Kaladmus explained helplessly.
“Even Kamarina refused to send troops?!”
Faced with Dionysius' fierce gaze, Kaladmus trembled and nodded, “Ye…yes…”
“Damn it!” Dionysius cursed. He would understand it if it were other city-states, but the tyrant of Kamarina was his own brother, Leptinus, whom he personally supported. ‘Yet he remained indifferent in Syracuse's predicament? Does that fool think that if I fall, he will remain fine?!’
Although he was angry at his brother's short-sightedness, Dionysius could only feel a sense of powerlessness. The whole of Syracuse rebelled, he lost many soldiers, also lost the support of the sailors, and even his allies ignored him… but could two thousand mercenaries enough to regain his throne of power?
Dionysius was in a daze as he felt like a big fish stranded on the beach. Although he had enough energy, he couldn't use it and was in danger of drying up and dying at any time.
At this moment, Kaladmus asked, “Milord, what happened to the army that went to Magna Graecia?”
Dionysius' eyes widened as he stared straight at him.
Everyone knew that Dionysius had become a deserter, so no one sane enough mentioned it. Yet Kaladmus said the most taboo thing about Dionysius.
“I…I…I mean…if the troops in Magna Graecia can return, they can recapture…recapture…” Under Dionysius' cold gaze, Kaladmus gritted his teeth.
“You have a point.” Dionysius remained expressionless and calmly said, “In that case, I am sending you to Scylletium to negotiate with the new king of Theonia. And I authorise you the ability to grant whatever he asks so long as you quickly and safely bring back the soldiers! Thus, you better depart now!!!”
“Ah?! Me??? Now?!-” Kaladmus incoherently said in a panic. To evade the patrol ships of the Syracusan rebels, then break through the Theonian fleet's block and reach Scylletium…that is simply risking his life!
But Dionysius no longer allowed him to speak and just let Megakorlis and the guards take him to Lakteros, the ship's captain.
Although Dionysius doesn't believe that the cunning king of Theonia would make such a mistake, he still has a tiny hope in his heart. After all, thousands of elite soldiers and mercenaries were left in Scylletium! So as long as they return, he could easily seize back Syracuse!!!
“I’m a bit tired as I've stayed on the ship for two days now, so I'll take a rest first. But make sure to keep my return a secret-” Dionysius, who was somewhat weary, admonished those around him, “Keep it a secret not only from the rebels in the city but also from the people on the island. After all, the rebels captured most of the officials of the city hall, so their families would certainly worry about them!”
“Have a good rest. You should go comfort Aristomache and the children as they've been terrified these days!” Hipparinus sighed.
Dionysius turned to Phidias, who had remained silent all this time, “I still have something to discuss with you, so come with me.”
“Alright!” Phidias replied simply.
On the way to his palace, Dionysius frankly said, “You are now aware of Syracuse’s situation and, naturally, Sicily as a whole. I'll be honest with you, the situation now is much more dangerous than before, and those rebels in the city might still be colluding with the Theonians. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be simultaneous uprisings on all the city-states on the east coast of Sicily on the same day and at the most crucial moment at that! Don't you think so as well?”
“That's very likely.” Phidias squeezed out a sentence with indifference.
Note: In history, the possible reasons why Dionysius eventually chose his son, Dionysius the Younger, born to the beautiful Lady Doris of Locri, as heir to the tyrant of Syracuse, rather than two sons born to Aristomache, daughter of Hipparinus, were: On the one hand, these two sons of his were of mediocre talents and had terrible personalities. On the other hand, it was also out of fear of Hipparinus' kinsman monopolising the government and also as a form of revenge for Hipparinus' years of insults. However, Hipparinus was already dead by the time he appointed his heir.
