Chapter 27 Davos in Action

"Sicily, controlled by Dionysius, was slightly smaller than Dionysius, but half of Dionysus was mountainous, unable to grow grains and other crops, and Sicily was a famous wheat-producing region in the Mediterranean. According to last year's Thira Judging by the volume of wheat traded in the city of Cuza, Sicily may produce twice as much wheat as we do.

Moreover, the port of Syracuse is easy to prosper. Compared with our city of Turii, it almost monopolizes the maritime trade between the Greeks and Africa. Even if it is at war with Carthage, it can still be seen in the port of Syracuse. to many Phoenician merchants. Although I can't be sure how much Syracuse's monthly business tax income is, it is much stronger than Turii in terms of port capacity and the number of merchant ships. This is not to mention the city-states of Agrigento, Catane, Naxos, and Messina, which were established 300 years ago, and their port trade is very prosperous! …”

Listening to Aristillas' words, Davos nodded involuntarily and said: "Not to mention the ability to mobilize war, since Dionysius is a tyrant, his biggest advantage is that he can concentrate his hands to the greatest extent possible. All resources, including the people, under the control of the city can suddenly start a war without the approval of the council. I remember last time I heard you say that this time Dionysius was fighting against Carthage on the north coast of Sicily. About 100,000 people were dispatched?!"

"Yes, my lord. To be precise, it should be nearly 80,000 infantry and 20,000 navy."

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

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

Davos sighed: "Yeah, Syracuse will launch a large-scale war of 100,000 people at every turn, and the key point is that he can support such a huge number of troops in a place hundreds of miles away from the mother country for more than half a year. Syracuse's war potential is truly amazing!" Davos sighed abnormally.

"My lord, although Syracuse is strong, it is not without weaknesses." Aristillas saw that Davos's tone revealed a little frustration, so he took the initiative to say: "Dionysius is fighting against the people of Syracuse. He ruled brutally to prevent the populace from rising against him, and he forced the populace to pay heavy taxes. The citizens of Syracuse paid 20% of their income to the treasury every year, and the people resented him. And the citizens of other Sicilian city-states hated him as well. , because they not only have to pay high tribute to Syracuse, but also in the previous conquest of Syracuse, their relatives were killed by the Syracuses in the battle, and their relatives were captured and used as slaves Sold far away...they have hatred for the Syracuses, for Dionysius! …”

Davos stared silently at Aristillas' face, slightly deformed by pain. After a long while, he said, "You are right. However, as long as Dionysius's army continues to win, as long as his forces do not suffer great losses, then the hatred of the Sicilian people can only be hatred. Can't hurt Dionysius in the slightest. He's got Spartan support—"

Aristillas said immediately: "But Sparta is now at war, and there is no extra strength to support Dionysius, and in the south of Sicily there is Carthage, the sworn enemy of Syracuse."

"This is indeed a good opportunity..." Davers rubbed his stubble under his chin: The Dionysian Union currently has a population of about 800,000 people, which is much different from Syracuse in terms of business and agriculture. , and Dionia's military power is relatively scattered because of its geographical location, and it is not easy to concentrate, and the navy is even weaker. Once we go to war with Syracuse, there will be a lot of pressure..."

Aristillas looked at Davos without speaking for a long time, his heart was anxious, but he didn't dare to show it, and subconsciously clenched the arms of the wooden chair with both hands.

"Aristiras." Davos finally spoke: "I allow you to send your men to Sicily from now on to learn more about the forces in the various Sicilian city-states against Syracuse and Dionysius, and initially to establish contact with them.

"

"Yes, my lord." Aristillas was refreshed, and couldn't help but ask further: "And then?"

Davos looked at him with bright eyes: "Before the war with Syracuse, there was no 'then' for the time being."

…………………………

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

Although various Greek city-states have also tried cases of citizens colluding with foreign countries and betrayal of the country, such as Xenophon, he was tried in absentia by the Athens government for "betraying Athens" a year ago because he had been serving for Athens. His execution made Xenophon even more afraid to return to Athens. But like Dionia, the crime of "treason" was written into the code at the outset, and different sentencing was carried out in detail according to its severity. The “crime of treason” alone occupies several pages in the code, which shows how seriously the Dionysian Alliance attaches great importance to this crime. Today's trial will be the first trial of treason by the Dionysian League with a history of only a few years. You must know that the maximum sentence for this crime is the death penalty. The citizens with high interest will wait and see.

Compared to yesterday, Polyxis’ mental state is much worse today. Obviously, yesterday’s trial hit him hard, but he had to cheer up today because he was convicted yesterday, and the most serious thing was deprivation of citizenship and deportation. But if found guilty today, the possibility is life-threatening.

The appearance of Aristocrates was warmly welcomed by the people. Although the young judge was a little hunched, he won the love of the people with his quick thinking, sharp words, and polite demeanor. Especially when he saw him debating the people they hated Polyxis and the others speechless, some people even began to inquire about his family situation, thinking in private: to marry his daughter to this promising young man. .

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

In particular, there are many Syracuse silver coins among the property found in his home. Because Syracuse has been engaged in expansion wars in recent years, the cost is huge, the treasury is almost empty, and heavy taxes are continuously charged to the people, and Dionysius disregarded the credit of the city-state and issued a kind of inferior silver coins to make up for the deficit of the treasury, Forcing the people of Syracuse to use a "four drachma silver coin" (that is, a silver coin that weighs four times as much as a drachma) in the past two years, which is doped with a lot of lead in the silver coin to make it shoddy . This kind of silver coin is rarely circulated in the market of Dionia, but many such coins have been found in the possessions of Polyxis, you must know that his family does not do sea trade. This coin is also found in the belongings of Orifices and Mathesacus.

What's more, Aristocrates showed the jury several letters found in Polyxis' home. Aristocrates picked out two letters and read them aloud: "... Sir Polyxis, I received your letter and learned that there has been a big discussion about the 'Convocation of Citizens' Assembly' in the Dionysian Senate recently. The progress of the plenipotentiary general (referring to Dionysius) was very pleased to hear this news. As for the amount of silver you requested, he immediately agreed, and will soon be transported to the port of Turii with the merchant ship. At the same time, he also Let me remind you that it is not enough to let those merchants and nobles come out to protest. The main body of the Dionysian Alliance is not them, but ordinary citizens who are legionnaires. If you can approach them, win them over, let them They also joined the protesting crowd, so..."

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

"Forged?! Then, look at this one—" Aristocrates picked up another letter and showed it to the jury: "This is the only letter from you that was searched, it was you It is also stamped with a seal. Look at the date, it happens to be the day you were arrested, so the letter has not been sent out in time, I believe the public will be very interested in the content of the letter."

Aristocrat sneered at the bottom, looking at Polyxis, who rushed over like crazy and wanted to snatch the letter, but was restrained by the guards maintaining order in the courtroom, and read aloud again: "... Philip Lord Stos - I want to explain here, everyone may not know that Philistos is the most important minister of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse... I don't agree with your previous suggestion. Winning the ordinary citizens of Dionia will not have much effect on the passage of the bill 'Convening a Citizens Assembly'. I have come up with a good idea. Davos is formulating 'governing Lucania, Bruti There are some places in the people's bill that can be used by me, I believe that after my instigation, those simple-minded so-called alien elders, I am afraid they will give up their support for that proud young man..."

"This is fake! This is someone trying to frame me!..." Polyxis shouted desperately against the flood of angry scolding from the audience.

Aristocrates immediately called witnesses.

After Hermes the Syracuse was detained, he was interrogated by some cruel methods beyond this era, such as: covering his mouth and nose with linen, and then pouring water on it little by little, etc., which made him live. Better to die.

Then, Matonis told him coldly: Either he would be sent back to Syracuse after telling the truth, or he would refuse to reveal it and continue the interrogation.

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