“It is possible that they…they are secretly cutting down the trees…or secretly reclaiming lands to farm, or violated the rules by hunting…” Gabrinus guessed.
The Theonian Law forbids citizens from cutting down trees unless they obtain permission from the local agricultural office. In addition, secretly reclaiming land in the kingdom's territory without approval from the Ministry of Agriculture isn't allowed. They are also not allowed to overhunt, especially young animals. Otherwise, they would get fined highly by the Ministry of Agriculture. Naturally, the Ministry of Agriculture doesn't have so many people to supervise these illegal things, so they had to rely more on the people's report, especially the tribunal officers who are the most eager to punish those who violate the law.
Kabanus didn't speak as he thought it was excessive for his colleague to make wild assumptions just to please their superior while offending Ladician's household in Naxos.
While Galademus pondered, he swept his gaze over the mountainside, just in time to see Ladician's servants standing at the edge of the field, supervising the work of the hired labourers. When the housekeeper, who was quietly looking this way, met Galademus' gaze, he hurriedly looked away.
Feeling something amiss, Galademus came over.
After bowing to Galademus, the man took the initiative to promise that he would pay the taxes at the tax office in time after the harvest.
It seems that Ladician had warned them after the disturbance last year that they must be very respectful every time they see Galademus.
Galademus didn't come to make a fuss but to ask politely, “Are the two slaves who just came down from the top of the mountain yours?”
“Of course not. On the contrary, I was just about to call the labourers to catch those two slaves who came out of nowhere and tried to break into the field. But I didn't expect you would chase them away, Milord. Thank you for your help!” The housekeeper said gratefully. He then continued, “Milord, you must be tired and hungry after working throughout the day in this hot weather. Thus on behalf of our young master, Phragres, I invite you and your men to join us for dinner at our home to show our gratitude. Young master Phragres would also be delighted once he knows you are coming!”
After hurriedly expressing his thanks, Galademus politely declined. He then looked at the Sicels working in the field and the few Greeks he didn't know about and then thought these hired labourers wouldn't know anything about the two slaves. But despite his suspicions, he was, after all, only a taxation official and not a constable, and it wasn't his responsibility to track down law violators.
Galademus then went down the mountain. But after arriving at the foot of the mountain, he looked back at the golden wheat field as he vaguely felt that the housekeeper was still looking at him.
“That man should be Anteros.” Said Gabrinus with uncertainty.
“Yea, Anteros is the most trusted servant of Ladician, and even Phragres would listen to him.” Kabanus said affirmatively.
“I heard Phragres is a wicked person, so it's no wonder Ladician placed Anteros in charge of his home in Naxos. Milord, is it true that Phragres even dared molest a statesman's daughter when he was in Thurii, resulting in him getting driven back to Naxos?” Gabrinus asked curiously.
“It's naturally just a rumour!” Galademus immediately denied it as he has no interest in spreading rumours about others. Still, the conversation between his men made him secretly pay attention to the matter. Moreover, he didn't expect the smiling slave just now to be the same Anteros that Stromboli mentioned, who had secretly exerted his connection during last year's trouble and made him struggle for some time.
‘You really can't judge someone by his appearance!’ Galademus became alert and decided to remind the agricultural officer to look into the matter once he returned to the office in the demos.
It was already 6 in the afternoon when they began their journey back. But since it was currently summer, the sun was still hanging in the sky as Galademus' group headed east along the north bank of the Alcantara.
On their right side are the surging river and the swaying turquoise grasses. On the left side is a never-ending wheat field with the golden sunset shining on the golden wheat, the farmers returning from the fields, and the bustling town ahead…enveloping the people and all with the joy of harvest.
Speaking of it, the town of Megalos is even larger than the city of Sikuri and has a larger population. Ten years ago, the Naxosian exiles rebuilt the old city near the bay in Naxos, but some people who lived in Megalos didn't want to move because their fields were on the banks of the Alcantara. And if they were to move to the new city of Naxos, it would take them a lot of time on the road just going to and fro from their work in the fields. As a result, the city of Naxos and the town of Megalos had split the population by half.
A year later, the Sikurians sent an envoy to Thurii requesting their integration into the kingdom of Theonia.
Why was Sikuri, who had just joined the Theonia Alliance, so eager to become a part of Theonia's territory? It is relatively simple: In Sikuri’s north, there is Naxos, and in the south, there is Catania, both Dionysian cities. With Sikuri sandwiched between the two cities on the coastal passage (there is Mount Etna in the west), Sikuri’s territory is rather small. Furthermore, the Naxosian had also taken back the town of Megalos they occupied, which resulted in more than half of the Sikurian citizens becoming landless. So how could they not become envious watching the people of the two cities in the north and south each have a share of land and live a prosperous life?! As a consequence, the Sikurians held an ecclesia and unanimously demanded to become citizens of Theonia.
Afterwards, many Sikurians who became citizens of Theonia went to Catania and received a portion of the land. On the other hand, some Sikurians came to the familiar Megalos and made the town even more populous than not only Sikuri but also the new city of Naxos.
Following that, a statesman proposed to simply upgrade Megalos into a city and dispatch a praetor to manage it.
However, the statesmen from Naxos strongly opposed it for a simple reason, ‘Megalos was in Naxos' territory.’
And Antonios, who was the praetor of Naxos at the time, also objected. After all, if they separate Megalos, the annual tax income Naxos could receive would be drastically reduced. (The kingdom of Theonia had a tax-sharing system where the central government and the cities shared the tax 50-50.)
These disputes only became fewer when the continuous influx of new citizens from Theonia had managed to make the new city of Naxos catch up with the population. However, the people of Theonia still dubbed them “The Twin Cities of Naxos”.
So to better manage Megalos, every praetor of Naxos would send their vice praetor to take charge of Megalos and manage this town that isn't a city but is better than a town.
The city's vice praetor is a new official position in the kingdom of Theonia. Depending on the size of the city, a city's praetor would have 1-3 vice praetors who would assist the praetor in managing the city's government affairs. And once the praetor was away on an important business or too sick to manage the city, the vice praetor would then assume the heavy responsibility. What’s more, Megalos also became a place for the Theonian senate to train the administrative ability of statesmen with insufficient administrative experience by making them serve as the vice praetor of Naxos and the head of Megalos. There was also another “Twin Cities” in the kingdom of Theonia; it was Krimisa and a town smaller than Megalos that was built on the marshy area in Krimisa.
Although the new city of Naxos' population grew, Sikuri didn't increase. Thus some statesmen suggested that since Sikuri was a small city with few people, it is better to downgrade it to a town from a city, just like Tauromenium, which would also save a lot of administrative costs. (Davos classified Tauromenium as a military fortress in Sicily and a military camp to train the eight legions because of its dangerous and barren land.)
Naturally, such a proposal was vehemently opposed by the statesmen from Sikuri as no one wanted to see their motherland downgraded. Hence this matter was left alone.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Galademus walked into the town while thinking about these happenings in Megalos. His office is in the government hall in the centre of the town. Rather than working in their own demos, the civil servants of the five demoi that covered the entire middle and lower reaches of the Alcantara river are working here, which was considered another administrative feature of Naxos within the kingdom of Theonia.
Ten years ago, the first legion stood its ground on the square around Megalos' city hall. After a hard struggle, they finally defeated the Syracusan allied troops and laid the foundation for Theonia to own the Catanian plain finally. Thus to commemorate this outstanding achievement, Theonia erected a memorial obelisk in the centre of the square next to the city's hall. On the obelisk’s top was a statue of a legionary soldier holding the first legion's flag and marching forward.
Not far from the government office are two small temples, one is the Temple of Hades, and the other is the Temple of Demeter. Although there are already temples of these two gods in the city of Naxos, the people living in Megalos proposed to build two more in Megalos due to the temple being too far away and not convenient to go there to pray. However, the praetor and the local council rejected the proposal. As a result, the people of Megalos collectively raised money to build two small temples, which became another characteristic of Naxos.
Although it is now dusk, many people are still going in and out of the two temples, most of whom are farmers who had just returned from the fields and are praying for the upcoming harvest.
When Galademus entered the government hall, most of the civil servants had already finished their day's work and were leaving the building. After looking around, Galademus couldn't find the agricultural officer, so he instead said goodbye to his two men and prepared to return to his house.
