Chapter 32

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of several people present changed. Complimenting the consuls of other city-states in public is more powerful than their own tyrants, and in Syracuse only Ferrosanus dared to do so.

"Unfortunately, I heard that Daves of Dionia came from a humble background. He used to be a shepherd (referring to Daves herding sheep and horses in Thessaly before he became a mercenary)." Marcias said first. .

Henepolis finally couldn't help but retort: ​​"Is Lord Dionysius of noble birth?! I heard that before he became a plenipotentiary general, he was just an ordinary clerk in Syracuse. Lord Davos once said to me, 'Real heroes don't care about their origin, because they rely on their own abilities, not the gifts of their families.'"

"Well said! This is what I admire the most about Lord Dionysius!" Philistos praised loudly, to cover up Marcias' gaffe: "Everyone here is also by their own efforts. today's prestige."

"Yes! Yes!..." Macias echoed repeatedly to hide his embarrassment.

"Everyone—" Philistos hurriedly took the wine, stood up, looked around, and said loudly: "Because I have been accompanying Lord Dionysius to negotiate with the Carthaginians these past few days, I am too busy to spare. Time, so that I neglected the distinguished guest from Dionia! With my friends here to accompany me, I punished myself for a cup to express my apology!"

"Okay!" Herolis raised the glass, and Leputines, Marcias, and Pherothanus also raised the glass.

Ancitanos did not get up to dissuade him, because he knew that Philistos said these words on behalf of Dionysius, and of course Dionysius' apology was also contained in the wine.

When Philistos and the others drank the wine in the glass, Ancitanos stood up with Henepolis, raised his glass and said, "I am very grateful to Lord Philistos for his gracious invitation, and also Congratulations to Lord Dionysius for defeating the mighty Carthage many times with the help of all the adults. This is a great victory for Syracuse, and it is also the most exciting news that the entire great Greeks have heard! Because Carthage, the biggest enemy of the Greek city-state in the western Mediterranean Sea, has been hit hard, the people of Sicily and Greater Greece will enjoy peace for a long time!" After speaking, they both drank.

"Well said!" Philistos raised his glass again and shouted: "To Lord Dionysius! Syracuse is victorious!"

When the others raised their glasses to congratulate, Ancitanos, who was on the opposite side, noticed that the expression of Hololis was not as serious and enthusiastic as the two next to him, and Ferrosanus did not follow suit, but shouted. : "For peace in Sicily!"

Then Philistos made a gesture, and the musician and dancer entered the hall, and the banquet officially began.

In the beautiful melody, under the swaying soft dance, the crowd staggered and feasted...

When the music stopped and the dancers withdrew, Henepolis was almost full before he knew it, under the tender voice of the beautiful slave girl. He saw that Marcias, who was on the opposite side, had been kissing and talking with the slave girl, and it was extremely unbearable; Leputines was also flirting with the slave girl; only Haroris was still chewing elegantly; Pherothanus even He dismissed the female slaves on the left and right; he turned to look at the teacher next to him, Ancitanos, who ate very little, and was always watching singing and dancing with a smile on his face... Henipoliston felt ashamed of his poor self-control.

At this time, Philistos, who was in the main seat, coughed twice, attracted everyone's attention to him, and said, "Lord Ancitanos, since the establishment of the Dionysian Alliance, our two sides have basically There is no official diplomatic contact yet, is this time Dionia sent you to Syracuse to be friendly?"

coming! Ancitanos has been accumulating energy for a long time, waiting for this moment, he immediately smiled and said: "Of course it is for friendship. Syracuse is a big state in Sicily, and Dionia is also a powerful alliance of Great Greece. Before, one of the two sides was busy dealing with Carthage, and the other was trying to repel the natives in the mountains.

For various reasons, the two major Greek forces so close have not established friendly contact and communication, so that regrettable things have happened-" Ancitanos deliberately stopped his words.

Everyone in Syracuse didn't speak, but Ferrosanus asked curiously, "What is the regrettable thing?"

Ancitanos took advantage of the situation to pick up the conversation: "Several elders of the Dionysian Senate were accused of corruption and bribery and other crimes by the public. 'Four drachmas', and some letters. These letters—" Ancitanos looked at Philistos.

Philistos looked attentively listening.

"The main content is to communicate with the convicted elder Polyxis of Dionia, 'how to disturb the order of the Dionysian alliance, cause the riots of the people, and oust the consul Davos from power...' and so on. The signature of these letters is - Philistos." Ancitanos looked at the host of the banquet again: "The letter also mentioned 'he was ordered by Lord Dionysius.' Polyxius Syracuse himself admitted 'it was the support of Syracuse that he dared to carry out these acts of betrayal of the Alliance so boldly.'"

"Is there such a thing?!" Philistos looked astonished: "I have never written a letter to someone called Po... Polyxis, this is really... Sir Ancitanos, can you? Bring those letters you speak of?"

"I brought it." Ancitanos was ready, took out a letter from the baggage he was carrying, and gave it to the female slave beside him.

Philistos couldn't wait to take the letter, unfolded it, and then showed a relieved smile: "Master Ancitanos, if the handwriting and signature of every letter in your hand are the same, I can tell you for sure. You, these letters were not written by me!"

"Oh?!" Ancitanos looked surprised.

"Go and get a few copies of the letters in my study with my signature." Philistos immediately ordered his slave.

"Show me this letter," said Heroris, who was next to him, and Philistos handed the letter to him.

Just when the slaves went to get the letter and the banquet fell silent for a while, Hololis took the letter and said, "...Well, Lord Ancitanos, I was very shocked to hear the news you just said. But I want to try my best to stand on the sidelines and tell my own judgment. Philistos is a self-reliant and relatively noble literati. He disdains to do such despicable things that only despicable people can do. It is also impossible to go to the greedy and filthy elder Dionian Bo... Bo..."

"Polyxis." Leptines reminded.

"As for Polyxis, it is impossible for Philistos to write to him. And Lord Dionysius, as a plenipotentiary general, is very happy to see Dionysian have a consul of similar status to him, It makes him feel that he is not alone in this vast western Mediterranean Sea, so how could he do something to undermine the rule of Lord Davos!"

"Yes, my brother would never do such a thing!" Leptines exclaimed.

"I wonder if this is the case—" Philistos pondered for a while, and then analyzed seriously: "Master Dionysius single-handedly created today's powerful Syracuse, and transformed the Greek city-state of Sicily into They are united, but they are also hated by many people. I think you all know that when the Carthaginian army came to the city of Syracuse a few years ago, some people in the city incited the people to riot and wanted to put the Lord Dionysius was ousted from power. Although the situation finally subsided, in fact, rumors have been circulating in Syracuse over the years, and even small riots and assassinations have emerged one after another, otherwise the plenipotentiary general would not live on this island. , the defense is so strong.

These people are like vipers, hiding in their caves, ignoring the peace and stability of Sicily, and taking every possible opportunity to attack Lord Dionysius and our supporters. The Carthaginians were defeated, but there is a Dionysian alliance in Greater Greece that is similar in strength to Syracuse. If there is a war between Syracuse and Dionia, then they can have a chance to fight from the shadows again. Come out and create unrest in Syracuse for their purposes..."

"You mean this was done by the opponents of Lord Dionysius, and then framed the blame on you, Lord Philistos?" Ancitanos asked with a half-smile.

"It's very possible." Philistos replied seriously.

"Then, Hermes, a citizen of Syracuse, who we also captured in Turui, has fully admitted that he was assigned by Lord Dionysius to buy Polyxis and others in Turui and engage in How can this be explained for Dionia's sabotage?" Ancitanos sneered slightly at the corner of his mouth.

"Hermes?" Philistos asked a few others, confused, "Do we have such a citizen in Syracuse?"

Henepolis couldn't help but said loudly again: "Don't pretend, we have all investigated in detail, Hermes is a citizen of Syracuse and lives in the central area of ​​the city and the merchant gathering area next to the Temple of Apollo. He has two sons, and he is also the secretary of this Lord Hololis, am I right?"

"Is this true?!" Philistos was shocked, and Haroris' expression became even more surprised. He turned his head to look at Philistos, and after their eyes met, he hesitated and said: "… ...I do have a clerk named Hermes under my command, but ... a year ago I was on a mission to Cyrenaica, and when I came back, I heard that he had been punished for corruption and lost his position ... If Turiyi If it was the same person who was caught, I really didn't expect him to go to Turiyi. If you don't believe me, you can check the court records, his criminal record half a year ago..."

"This is troublesome!" Philistos exclaimed suddenly, his expression becoming extremely serious.

"What's wrong?" Leptines asked in confusion.

"If the former secretary of Hermes and Lord Herolis mentioned by Lord Ancitanos is the same person, it means that those opponents may begin to consciously lurk to become public officials of the city-state of Syracuse!" Listos said solemnly.