“Why don't we support another one…” Suggested Phidias.
Agesilaus' eyes brightened. However, he thought of something, raised his head and smiled at Phidias self-deprecatingly, “It's no longer up to us, Sparta, to decide whether to support Dionysius or the Syracusan rebels.”
It took Phidias aback, and he subconsciously asked, “So who would decide?” Then he understood.
Agesilaus looked at him seriously and said, “With Theonia defeating Syracuse and Syracuse suffering a disastrous defeat, Theonia has now become the dominant force of Magna Graecia and eastern Sicily…
And just as you said, Theonia has a massive army of at least 50,000, and its military organisation that forms this army, which they call the ‘Legion’, has a strong fighting capability. Moreover, they also had a huge fleet that could defeat Syracuse's navy, so how could I not worry about the rise of such a powerful force behind Sparta?!
Apart from that, when Cheirisophus visited Thurii earlier, the new king of Theonia was quite dissatisfied with our assistance to Syracuse's invasion of Magna Graecia! What if after finishing their war with Syracuse, Theonia, which is hostile to Sparta…joins in the war in Corinth, for us Sparta…”
Even though Agesilaus didn't finish his words, Phidias could sense the Spartan king's hidden fear of Theonia from his eyes that had lost their sharpness. After all, Sparta, hampered by the war in Asia Minor and Corinth, could not stop tens of thousands of troops from landing on the coast of Sparta under the leadership of a powerful fleet.
But Phidias' mind jolted as he hurriedly said,
“When the Theonians besieged Syracuse's army in Scylletium, I went to meet the Theonian King Davos. And he implicitly said that as long as Sparta isn't an enemy of Theonia, Theonia has no intention of being Sparta's enemy.”
“Really?! Tell me about your meeting in detail!” Agesilaus became excited.
After listening to Phidias' narration, Agesilaus pondered for a long time and sighed, “I am afraid that Theonia wants to be the second Syracuse, but a Syracuse that is not bound by Sparta, which makes it difficult for us…Phidias, did you know that Taranto sent a messenger to Sparta yesterday, hoping to get our help because Theonia was planning to integrate Taranto.”
“What?! Theonia wants to annex Taranto? We must not allow it! Taranto is our colony!!!” Phidias was startled that he objected without hesitation.
“The young new king of Theonia has great ambition. Unfortunately, there is no Greek city-state that could stop him!” Agesilaus helplessly said as he pondered again.
Agesilaus then made up his mind; with one hand on his left leg and another hand on the wooden table, he said to Phidias, “Now, we must first stop Theonia from further suppressing and even occupying Syracuse and its allies! Tomorrow, I will propose at the Gerousia…that due to Dionysius losing control of Syracuse, we can only temporarily support the rebels first and quickly restore Syracuse's strength to counter Theonia in the western Mediterranean. Thus once the time comes, you will go to Syracuse as Sparta's envoy to solve its civil unrest as soon as possible!”
“I understand!” Phidias nodded immediately.
“What's more, since the new king of Theonia expresses no hostility to us, we will send Cheirisophus to Magna Graecia again to discuss with him, hoping to make an agreement that would bind Theonia and reassure us!”
After hearing Agesilaus, Phidias felt a slight unease and wanted to remind him. However, he didn't even know where to start.
But Agesilaus didn't notice Phidias' expression as he was still immersed in his thoughts, “…alas, our war with Persia…Corinth, Thebes, Athens, and Argos had gone too long! If this continues, Sparta would only weaken and reduce our prestige in the Greek world. Instead, it would only benefit forces like Theonia! We must do something to end this pointlessly long war!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After the siege failed, Hielos learned from his experience, rebuilt the siege weapons and drafted a siege plan.
Two days later, Hielos attacked Medma again and fought a fierce battle until they breached the city by the afternoon, allowing the Theonian-Rhegium allied troops to capture Medma.
Following Davos' order, Hielos decisively turned all the captured Medmaeans into slaves and sent them back to Thurii with the soldiers.
Hielos’ act of killing the chicken to scare the monkey* shocked Locri and Taranto, especially Locri. After all, the fall of Medma means that there is nothing blocking the Theonian army from entering Locri's territory through the mountain path, making Locri face both Theonia and Caulonia. (Note: 杀鸡儆猴 is an old Chinese idiom that refers to punishing one person to warn others.)
But what worried Locri even more was that after understanding the battle situation in the north, they sadly found that the Syracusan army had a hard time protecting themselves, let alone saving Locri!
So under the coercion of most council members, the polemarchos Demodokas had decided to betray his brother-in-law and send envoys to Scylletium to seek peace with Theonia.
Yet now that Davos had the absolute advantage, how could he easily spare Locri? Thus he put forward two conditions: First, they must expel Demodokas and his subordinates; Second, Locri must be integrated into the Theonia Union.
When the Locrians received the reply, the people went into an uproar.
But Davos didn't even care about Locri, who had been stirred up by his words, as he was about to accept the Syracusan army’s surrender in the city of Scylletium.
At first, Phacipessas sent an envoy to Theonia's camp to seek a truce.
However, Davos flatly refused. Instead, he decisively proposed to the envoy: Only by unconditionally surrendering will Theonia guarantee the lives of the Syracusan army in the city of Scylletium!
He also promised they would send them safely back to their hometown in no more than three months. However, it does not include the mercenaries who killed countless Theonians!
At the same time, Davos also took the initiative to tell the envoy about the current situation in eastern Sicily. Moreover, he even showed him letters from Catania, Sikuri, Leontinoi, and other city-states asking to come under Theonia.
The envoy was so shocked that he returned to Scylletium in despair.
But as soon as he entered the city, the impatient soldiers stopped him to ask about the negotiation.
In the face of the soldiers surrounding him, the envoy could only tell the truth of the negotiation.
The soldiers had never imagined a revolt happening in their hometown while they had gone thousands of kilometres away to fight. It was no wonder Dionysius decided to leave them and flee back to Sicily alone!
Unlike the Syracusan strategoi who stayed behind, such as Phacipessas, who were sceptical about the news brought back by the envoy, the soldiers were completely panicking. Then they gathered again in front of the commander's residence and began shouting, “Agree to the Theonians' demand so that we can go home” slogan, and even wounding several guards as they forcibly tried to enter the residence, which frightened Phacipessas and the others.
On the other hand, the Numidian cavalries, who learned the Theonians wouldn't let them go, tried to escape Scylletium to survive by suddenly launching an attack on the defenceless Syracusan soldiers.
At the same time, Leptines, who was aware of the situation, led more than 20 ships willing to follow him and left the port but was intercepted by the Theonians, who were prepared in advance.
After a chase at sea, only seven ships escaped while the rest were either captured or sunk, including Leptines' ship. The Theonian sailors then rescued Leptines from the sea and turned him into a prisoner.
On this day, a scene of chaos and commotion happened in the city of Scylletium.
Outside the city, Theonia's cavalry was 100 metres away from the city when they heard sounds of fighting and screaming in the city.
So they immediately reported back to Davos.
However, Davos didn't do anything, and the unrest in the city lasted for a day.
On the following day, the gates of Scylletium opened wide. Phacipessas and the other strategoi led the soldiers, who took off their armour and threw away their arms, as well as more than 30,000 freemen and slaves, to surrender to Theonia. In addition, they also presented the heads of several hundred Numidians who had created chaos in the city yesterday but were eventually surrounded and killed.
As a result, the whole Theonian camp thundered with joy. After several months of bloody and brutal battle, they finally defeated the invading Syracusan army!
Davos then ordered the imprisonment of these tens of thousands of prisoners while leading the army into the city. Afterwards, he arranged for the people to start cleaning and repairing this city that the Syracusan army ruined.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Philoxenus, the Syracusan rebel's envoy, originally planned to land in Crotone and then rush to the Theonian camp. Unexpectedly, a Theonian fleet intercepted him on the sea near Scylletium.
He was shocked when he heard the entire Syracusan army had surrendered to Theonia. What's more, he originally planned to negotiate with Theonia about persuading the Syracusan army as a bargaining chip, but it was now useless.
Feeling a sense of uneasiness, he landed at the port and soon met Davos.
Davos once heard of Sicily's famous poet from Ansitanos. However, as Davos doesn't have the talent for poetry, he bluntly said to Philoxenus, who wanted him to give back the Syracusan captives, “Theonia and Syracuse are currently at war, so it is impossible for Theonia to release them at this time as they could take up shield and spears to fight Theonia again after they are returned!”
