He remembered that Theonia was still in danger under the threat of Dionysius' army on his last mission to Thurii. Yet just after a few months, he didn’t expect the Syracusan soldiers would need Theonia's approval for them to return home alive…everything happened so fast that it was like a dream.
After bracing himself, Cheirisophus walked into the city.
In this war, only a few Scylletians remained as they either got killed or sold as slaves. But now, the city was quite populated, not only by the soldiers of the second, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh legions but also by the troops led by Hielos and Hieronymus that had just returned after their conquest of Locri and its allies.
Now that they sent back the captive Syracusans, Theonia's legion should also have disbanded and returned home in batches to alleviate the pressure of the logistics supply and the union's labour shortages. However, since the war in Magna Graecia had just ended and the hearts of the people from the city-states that had just surrendered were not yet obedient, Davos was afraid of problems arising. Thus he concentrated his troops in Scylletium to deter those with evil intentions and to smoothly implement a series of governing plans for Magna Graecia that Theonia would subsequently implement.
Besides them was a special group of nearly a thousand engineers and craftsmen in the Syracusan army, who Davos had been yearning for a long time. Thus as soon as the Syracusan army surrendered, he ordered their protection and didn't even hesitate to break his promise to Philoxenus by not counting these people as part of the captives he would release. In addition, he also forced Philoxenus to agree to his demands for the Theonian fleet to bring back the families of the engineers and craftsmen.
Davos also made various promises to these people, such as citizenship, land, a good research environment, etc. Only after promising all of those did he finally manage to ‘retain’ these people.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
The Theonian soldiers wandered and chatted in the streets in groups of twos and threes with a relatively relaxed expression. Hence even when they saw Cheirisophus, they just looked at him curiously for a moment, neither going up to the patrol captain, who was leading them, to ask questions nor showing the slightest respect. It's as if they were just seeing an ordinary person despite his distinctive appearance that is unique to Sparta in all of Greece: Scarlet cloak, long hair, thick beard.
Compared to when Cheirisophus went to Thurii a few months ago, the Theonians were much more relaxed now.
It made Cheirisophus think that it might be because they had defeated the powerful Syracuse, turning Theonia into the Greek hegemon of the western Mediterranean, so there were no more Greek city-states to make them afraid…
Thinking of this, Cheirisophus felt that this was the point why Sparta's Gerousia was so eager to send him to Theonia again, which made him feel he had a great responsibility.
The Theonian soldiers began gathering in the arena to participate in or watch the rugby match organised by the senior officers, resulting in the venue's noise spreading several blocks away. However, even though Cheirisophus was curious, he didn't have the time to watch.
Soon, he was taken to the city hall but was informed that King Davos was meeting with a visitor, so they asked him to wait in the waiting room.
Cheirisophus had to wait for more than ten minutes, and if it were other Spartan envoys, they would have gotten angry and would think it was an insult to Sparta. And the reason Cheirisophus could restrain himself was that he saw those visitors, which showed that the Theonians were not lying and were not deliberately making trouble. However, they also did not regard the Spartan envoy as the most important like other Greek city-states. In that regard, Cheirisophus can only endure, after all, this is not Greece, not Ionia, not Asia Minor, but Magna Graecia, where Sparta had weak influence, and Theonia, who was never afraid of Sparta!
“Cheirisophus, it's nice to see you again!” Upon meeting him, Davos showed his enthusiasm and then made a point by saying, “I apologise for keeping you waiting just now. Several strategoi from Caulonia came earlier, which had taken me some time.”
‘Caulonia?!’ Cheirisophus' heart jolted: Caulonia was a city-state of the South Italian Alliance, which first betrayed Theonia and joined Syracuse and then returned to Theonia again after Syracuse was defeated…
After Theonia almost conquered Magna Graecia, Cheirisophus could imagine why this shameless city-state sent envoys here for. So after calming down, he said, “Davos, congratulations on defeating Dionysius and winning this war!”
“Did Sparta send you to congratulate me?” Davos, with a smile on his face, went straight to the subject.
“King Davos, You have defeated Syracuse, an ally of Sparta. But you had sent troops to Sicily to occupy some Greek city-states…so the Gerousia was concerned about the aggression shown by Theonia, so they sent me to…understand if Theonia would be hostile to Sparta?!” Cheirisophus gazed at Davos and spoke his last words in a deep tone.
Cheirisophus' words made Davos serious as he said, “I had already told Phidias, who assisted Dionysius in his invasion of my Magna Graecia, that as long as Sparta has no ill will toward Theonia, Theonia wouldn't be hostile toward Sparta. Besides, I have no interest in the lands across the Adriatic Sea.”
“Sparta certainly has no hostility towards Theonia!” Cheirisophus immediately declared with seriousness, “Sparta only helped Syracuse because we had an alliance with Dionysius, an alliance made back when there was no Theonia Union in Magna Graecia. Thus we had to act in accordance with the oath we made under Heracles, but this will not happen again from now on!”
After noticing something from Cheirisophus’ words, Davos raised his eyebrows as he asked, “Sparta gave up Dionysius?”
Cheirisophus, however, didn't directly reply to it. Instead, he suggested, “Davos, since neither of us is hostile, do you think that both city-states could sign an agreement to prevent Sparta and Theonia, the two powerful city-states and the city-state union, from going into war because of some meaningless frictions and conflicts?!”
Henipolis, who would rarely interrupt Davos when receiving a guest, looked at Cheirisophus and then at Davos while showing an excited expression, ‘Could it be that Sparta recognised Theonia as an equal, so they took the initiative to seek a peace agreement from Theonia?!!’
Davos, on the other hand, remained calm as he didn't consider this so-called honour at all. Instead, he asked, “What kind of agreement?”
As it was always the other Greek city-states that would beg Sparta for agreements and treaties, the Spartan Gerousia would put forward harsh conditions according to the situation to obtain benefits for Sparta. Thus Cheirisophus felt unfamiliar with taking the initiative to seek a treaty and having to show their cards first. But Sparta's terrible situation now forced them to bow their heads, so even though he felt stifled in his heart, he still had to show a friendly expression on his face, “Sparta hopes to sign a long-term peace agreement with Theonia to maintain peace on both sides, such as not invading each other and not participating in other city-states' hostile actions against each other!” Then Cheirisophus paused for a moment.
Davos understood why Sparta proposed this; it probably was because they were worried about Theonia joining the anti-Spartan League, and it seemed that Sparta's situation wasn't wonderful.
Seeing Davos' expression remained unchanged and couldn't guess what he was thinking, Cheirisophus took a deep breath and continued to say the terms set by the Gerousia, “Sparta will force Syracuse to accept the truce and pay war compensation to Theonia. However, we hope Theonia wouldn't force Syracuse and its allies too much and stop encroaching on Syracuse's interest further. After all, Sparta is also Syracuse's ally and has been friendly ties for decades…” Cheirisophus then stopped and looked at Davos again.
Davos' face still showed no joy nor anger, but the clerk Henipolis next to him couldn't s endure as he said, “Syracuse already signed a peace agreement with us, so what right does Sparta…Sparta have to interfere with our, Theronia's, handling of the aftermath of the war!”
Cheirisophus, however, ignored Henipolis. But after seeing Davos remain silent, he continued, “Furthermore, Syracuse had instigated Taranto to launch a war against Theonia and are now getting punished by the gods. Currently, foreign races are besieging this great city-state and occupying the land of the Greeks! Taranto was now acknowledging its earlier mistakes and was willing to pay substantial war reparations to Theonia to receive your forgiveness. And as Taranto's mother state, Sparta must protect this city, which is connected to our blood. Hence I hope Theonia could release the Tarantine captives so that Taranto could defend itself against the invasion of foreign races and become Magna Graecia's barrier to the east again!”
“So the Spartans are now concerned about the safety of Magna Graecia!” Henipolis sneered and retorted, “But when Dionysius led his army to invade Magna Graecia to burn, kill, plunder and even massacred the people of Scylletium, why didn't you Spartans come to dissuade him?! Where were you when Taranto broke our treaty and suddenly attacked Theonia's land?!…”
Cheirisophus acted oblivious to those words and continued to say to Davos, “These are the conditions of the peace agreement drafted by the Gerousia after many discussions. For the specific details would need to be further negotiated with you, King Davos.”
“If this is Sparta’s sincerity, then there is no need to discuss anymore.” Davos' tone was like the calm before the storm. He gazed at Cheirisophus with eyes that were like sharp blades shining with cold glint, “Cheirisophus, you and I were comrades in Persia that braved countless dangers together. If you came to visit me personally today, I would treat you warmly. But as Sparta's envoy, I can only apologise!”
