Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 27: Davers is in action

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"The area of ​​Sicily controlled by Dionysius is slightly smaller than that of Dionysian, but half of Dionysian is mountainous and cannot grow grains and other crops. Sicily is a famous wheat producing area in the Mediterranean. According to In terms of the volume of wheat trade in Syracuse last year, Sicily’s wheat output may be twice that of ours.

Moreover, the port of Syracuse is prosperous. Compared with our city of Turri, it almost monopolizes the sea trade between the Greeks and Africa, even though it is at war with Carthage at the port of Syracuse. Many Phoenician merchants can still be seen. Although I cannot be sure of the monthly commercial tax revenue of Syracuse, both the port capacity and the number of merchant ships are much stronger than Turíy. This is not even the city-states established 300 years ago such as Agrigento, Katane, Naxos, and Messina. Their port trade is prosperous! ……"

Listening to what Aristilas said, Daves nodded involuntarily, and said, "It goes without saying that the war mobilization ability is. Since Dionysius is a tyrant, its greatest advantage is that it can maximize All the resources controlled by the centralized hands, including the people, can suddenly start war without the approval of the council. I remember hearing from you last time that Dionysius’s action against Carthage was in northern Sicily. About 100,000 people were dispatched in the war on the coast?!"

"Yes, sir. To be exact, it should be nearly 80,000 infantry and 20,000 navy."

"Last time... how many people did he dispatch to attack western Sicily?" Davers asked again.

"It is also rumored to be 100,000 people."

Davers sighed: "Yes, Siracusa will launch a large-scale war of 100,000 people at every turn. The key is that he can support such a large number of troops to carry out long distances hundreds of miles away from the mother state. Fighting for more than half a year... The war potential of Syracuse is really amazing!" Daves sighed abnormally.

"My lord, although Syracuse is strong, it is not without weakness." Seeing Daves's tone revealing a little frustration, Aristilas took the initiative to say: "Dionysius told Syracuse The people of Zaza carried out a brutal rule to prevent the people from rising up against him. He also forced the people to pay heavy taxes. The citizens of Syracuse must pay 20% of their income to the treasury every year. The people resent him. Moreover, citizens of other cities in Sicily also They also hate him, because they not only have to pay high tribute to Syracuse, but in the previous Syracuse war of conquest, their relatives were killed by the Syracuse in the battle, and some of them were captured. , Sold as slaves to faraway places... They have hatred towards the Syracuses and Dionysius!..."

Daves stared quietly at Aristilas's face that was slightly deformed in pain. After a while, he said: "You are right. But as long as Dionysius’s army continues to win, as long as his power does not suffer a major loss, then the hatred of the Sicilian people can only be hatred. Don’t hurt Dionysius at all. He still has the support of Sparta—"

Aristiras said immediately: "But Sparta is now in war, and there is no extra force to support Dionysius, and in the south of Sicily, there is Syracuse’s mortal enemy Carthage. ."

"This is indeed a good opportunity..." Daves rubbed his sparse stubble under his jaw: The Dionian League currently has a population of approximately 800,000 people, regardless of business or agriculture compared to Syracuse. They are all quite different, and Dionia's military power is relatively scattered due to geographical location, and it is not easy to concentrate, and the navy is even weaker. Once war with Syracuse, the pressure will be great..."

Aristilas looked at Daves without a word for a long time, feeling anxious, but didn't dare to show it, subconsciously clenching the armrest of the wooden chair with his hands.

"Aristiras." Daves finally spoke: "I allow you to send your hand to Sicily from now on, and learn more about the opposition to Syracuse and Dionysius in the cities and states of Sicily. And establish contact with them initially."

"Yes, sir." Alistairs was refreshed and couldn't help asking further: "What then?"

Daves looked at him with piercing eyes: "Before the war with Syracuse, there was no ‘then’ for the time being."

……………………………

The next day, the public trial in Turri continued, still attracting a large number of Dionian citizens to watch. Because the content of today’s trial is mainly about "whether Pollux and others colluded with Syracuse and conspired to disturb Dionia."

Although there are cases in Greek city-states that tried citizens for colluding with Gentiles and betraying the country, such as Xenophon, he was tried by the Athens government in absentia for "betraying Athens" because he had been serving for Athens a year ago. , To execute him, which made Xenophon even more afraid to return to Athens. However, like Dionia, the "crime of treason" was clearly written into the code, and different sentences were carried out in detail according to its severity. The "crime of treason" alone occupies several pages in the code, which shows how much the League of Dionia attaches importance to this crime. Today's trial will be the first trial of treason by the Dionian League, which is only a few years old. You must know that the highest sentence for this crime is the death penalty. Interested citizens will wait and see.

Compared with yesterday, Pollux’s mental state is much worse today. Obviously yesterday’s trial hit him a lot, but he has to cheer up today, because he was convicted yesterday, and the most important thing was the deprivation of citizenship. Deported, but if you are found guilty today, your life will not be guaranteed.

The appearance of Aristocrates was warmly welcomed by the public. Although the young judge had a rickety back, he won the favor of the people with his quick thinking, sharp speech, and courteous demeanor. . Especially when he saw his debating Pollux and others speechless in the debate, some people even started to inquire about his family situation and wondered privately: they want to marry their daughter to this promising young man. .

Polyxis is still trying to save himself, but unfortunately, there is too much evidence against him.

Especially many Syracuse silver coins were found in his house. Since Syracuse has been engaged in expansion wars over the past few years, the cost is huge, the treasury is almost empty, and heavy taxes are constantly being collected from the people, and Dionysius, regardless of the city-state’s credit, issued a low-quality silver coin to make up for the deficit of the treasury. The people of Syracuse are forced to use a "four drachma silver coin" (that is, a silver coin weighing four times a drachma) in the past two years, which is doped with a lot of lead in the silver coin, which is shoddy. . Such silver coins are rarely circulated in the Dionian market, but many of these coins have been found in Pollux’s belongings. You must know that his family does not engage in sea trade. This coin was also found in the belongings of Orifis and Massisacus.

More importantly, Aristocrates showed the jury several letters found in Pollux’s house. Aristocrates picked out two letters and read them aloud: "...Master Pollux, I have received your letter. I learned that the Dionian Senate has recently been discussing the issue of'convening a citizens' assembly.' The general (referring to Dionysius) was very happy to hear the news. He immediately agreed to the number of silver coins you requested and will soon be shipped to the port of Turri with the merchant ship. At the same time, he also Let me remind you that it is not enough to let those businessmen and nobles protest. The main body of the Dionian League is not them, but ordinary citizens as legionaries. If you can approach them, draw them, and let them They also joined the protesting crowd, so..."

Polyxis refused to admit it again, and shouted: "This is a forged letter!..."

"Fake?! Then, please look at this one--" Aristocrates picked up another letter and showed it to the jury members: "This is the only letter you found. , Is your handwriting and stamped. Look at the date, it happens to be the day you were arrested, so this letter has not had time to be sent out, I believe people will be very interested in the content of the letter."

Aristocratic sneered, watching Pollux, who rushed frantically, trying to **** the letter, but was restrained by the guards maintaining the order of the court, and read aloud again: "... …Master Philistos——I want to explain here. You may not know that Philistos is the most important minister of Dionysius, the Tyrant Lord of Syracuse.... Regarding your previous suggestion, I will not I don’t agree. Winning the ordinary citizens of Dionia does not have much effect on the passage of the bill “convening a citizen’s assembly”. I came up with a good idea. I believe that after my instigation, those simple-minded so-called alien elders will give up their support for the proud young man..."

"This is a forgery! This is someone who wants to frame me!..." Pollux screamed desperately against the flood of anger from the audience.

Aristocrates immediately summoned witnesses.

After Hermes, a Syracuse, was detained, he was interrogated by some cruel methods beyond this era, such as: first covering his nose and mouth with linen, and then watering up little by little, etc. Let him die.

Then, Matonis told him coldly: Either he was sent back to Syracuse after telling the truth, or he refused to confess and the interrogation continued.

Between the two choices, he chose the former without hesitation.