CHAPTER 56 THE DECISION OF ATHENS

Athens was liberated, and Thalassibos and others, who regained control of power, restored the original democratic system of Athens, but did not retaliate against the supporters of the original oligarchic tyranny, but issued a political amnesty announcement and strictly enforced it. Trying to bridge the contradictions and hatred between the commoners and the rich, the democrats and the nobility, makes Athens today more united than it was during the Peloponnesian War. Externally, Thrasiblos also adopted a cautious and moderate policy, forgetting the betrayal of the former allies in the Delian League, and treating and interacting with each city-state equally, so that these city-states gradually gathered to Athens through trade and diplomacy. On the other hand, Athens is not as domineering as it was during Pericles' reign, but its national strength is rapidly returning to its former glory.

This is exactly what Isocrates admired Thrasybulus, and despite his great contribution to the revival of Athens, the people deliberately did not elect him as a general for several years out of fear of his dictatorship. Advice for the city-state.

"Isocrates, I believe you already know about Dionia's declaration of war on Lokri some time ago." Thrasibulus asked with concern: "You have been to Turii, in your judgment, do you think wearing Will Onia go to war with Syracuse?"

"There will be war!" Isocrates said flatly without hesitation.

"Oh?" Thalassibos was amazed at Isocrates' certainty.

"I haven't been to Syracuse, but judging from Dionysius' brutal performance in Sicily, he successively destroyed several Sicilian Greek city-states such as Catane and Leotine. Greed, and once sent people to disrupt the political order of Dionia. I am afraid that he was the mastermind behind the assassination of the Dionia consul not long ago. It can be seen that Greater Greece is the next target he wants to annex, so Dionia wants to scorn his only ally in Greater Greece, how could he ignore it, and he will definitely send reinforcements to fight against Dionia! And Dionia—"

Isocrates considered his words and said slowly: "I don't think it will be afraid to go to war with Syracuse. Although its strength is weaker than Syracuse, the citizens of this city-state alliance are like cats seeing the war. As eager as mice, they will actively participate in the war, and they also have the assistance of Crotone, Lijim and other South Italian gangs... Maybe they are preparing to give Syracuse a heavy blow in Greater Greece."

"It's like cat and mouse... Hehe, Isocrates, your words are too exaggerated, no one loves war." Thalassibolos smiled, and the expression on his face relaxed: "Listen to you. , I'm relieved. If Dionia can go to war with Syracuse, then the pressure on our anti-Spartan allies will be less. I hope Dionia can defeat Syracuse and completely Cutting off Sparta's backup allows us to focus more on Sparta."

"Therasibos, my thoughts are exactly the opposite of yours. You'd better pray to Athena, so that these two city-state forces will lose both." Isocrates said with a serious expression.

"Why?" Thrasiboulos was surprised.

"I don't deny that I have a very good impression of Dionia." Isocrates said in his unique hoarse voice: "But this kind of good impression, when you think about it, is shocking... It's no joke that the citizens of Dionia love to fight, because the Law of Dionia states, 'Citizens who have military merit can get better land'. What crazy things can the Greeks do for the land, believe you I can understand. In fact, it is this Dionysian law and another immigration act 'willing to accept freedmen as Dionysian citizens' (the Davers Immigration Act) that has attracted thousands of Freedmen and foreigners flocked to Dionia, and in turn these former freemen who became citizens of Dionia, or 'pre-citizens' as they called it, drove Dionia's dramatic outward expansion to obtain More lands. Dionia, though not as reckless as Syracuse devoured the lands of her fellow Greeks,

But the rapid expansion of its territory is also obvious. In addition to absorbing free Greeks as citizens of Dionia, they even made aliens citizens of their alliances..."

Thalassibos nodded: "I've seen Aristophanes' "The Dionysians"."

"The Dionysian Alliance not only made the aliens citizens, but also made the leaders of these aliens become the elders of the Dionysian Senate, and became the senior generals of the army! Because of this, the Bruti Mountains and Lucania regions After successively becoming the territory of Dionia, the land area of ​​Dionia may now exceed the sum of our Athens and Sparta.

And under the advocacy of their consul, Dionia vigorously built roads and bridges, promoted the belief in Hades, and even built temples for aliens, built schools, built academies, absorbed scholars and doctors, and the whole A football game is popular in Dionia... If there is no interference, according to the development trend of Dionia, a powerful city-state alliance may appear on the Italian peninsula after more than ten years. In terms of population, it far exceeds the city-states of Greece, and it is not weaker than our Athens in terms of trade and culture, but it is already very different from the traditional culture of Greece..."

After listening to Isocrates's words, Thrathibulos' expression also became solemn, he pondered for a while, and said, "Isocrates, are you thinking too much? You must understand any rapid expansion. Power cannot expand forever, it is either disintegrated by internal problems or frustrated by external forces, Argos long ago, Persia before the Hippo war, including us before the war with Sparta It's all like this, people eat too much and they'll break their stomachs, and so does the country."

"But Thrasybulus and Dionia may be an exception." Isocrates reminded him eagerly: "Because this alliance adopts a political system that is completely different from any country and city-state in the Mediterranean. "

"Oh? What kind of political system is Dionia?" Thrasiboulos asked with interest.

"According to my observations there, Dionysus said it was a city-state alliance, but in fact those city-states that belonged to it were not city-states at all, but cities directly ruled by the Dionysian Senate. Dionysius The Asian Senate holds the highest power. It sends the elders to serve as the chief executives of various cities such as Tuurii, Cosenza, Grummentum, etc., and is responsible for the internal affairs of the city. The army is managed by an organization called the 'Military Department' under the Senate, and these cities have no independent administrative capacity, and completely obey the command of the Dionysian Senate..."

"It's...a bit like Persia." Thalassibulus pondered and just said a sentence, but was interrupted by Isocrates: "Dionysus is not the same as Persia. As far as we know, the city lords of Persia are not the same as Persia. And the governor has considerable autonomy. Except for paying taxes and providing troops, the Persian king has no stronger control over them. So a few days ago, the Persian governor of Asia Minor Farabazos can make his own decision and will use Persian The fleet built with people's money was given to us in Athens, and we agreed to let us rebuild the city wall to protect the port of Piraeus. If it was the governor of any city in the Dionysian League, it would be impossible to do this. The decision, because the Dionysian Senate firmly controls everything. In my opinion, it can effectively concentrate all the resources, population, gold and silver in the territory to do some things that other city-states and countries can't do. "

After hearing this, Thrathibulos thought for a long time with a dignified expression, and finally let out a long sigh and said with a smile: "Isocrates, I originally asked you to talk about whether Dionia can go to war with Syracuse. I didn't expect you to tell me about the threat of the Dionysian alliance. Since Dionia is so powerful, it seems that we don't have to worry about Syracuse anymore, and we need to talk to Dionia more. Strengthen diplomatic ties and hopefully it will help us against Sparta."

When Isocrates saw that Thraxiblos didn't seem to take his words to heart, and wanted to say something else, Thraxibolos said sternly: "Isocrates, you have to understand that what Athens is focusing on now is to Taking advantage of the support of Persia and the whole situation in our favor, concentrate on defeating Sparta as soon as possible and weakening this mortal enemy. Only then will Athens develop better! There are so many city-states and races in the Mediterranean, each with its own uniqueness. There are certain systems, and we don’t need to worry about this or that at all. Only the goddess of fate can control the future, and no one can tell. As long as we in Athens can maintain the unity and stability of our city-state, and handle the relationship with other city-states well, Develop our trade, strengthen our armed forces, and Athens will still be the glorious Athens, and we fear no one!"

The words of Thrasybulus just hit the heart of Isocrates, a speech educator who believed in the concept of "Athens first", he said convincingly: "You are right, Athens will surely recreate its splendor. !"

…………………………

At the beginning of August, the great leader of Potentia, Puamote, received an invitation from Dionia to participate in the Hades celebration. As in previous years, he politely declined, and still sent his younger brother Polet. Go and participate.

Not because he had any other thoughts about Dionysus, but because he had never left Potentia's territory since he was a child. He just likes to stay in his own territory, guard his clan, and live a comfortable life.