Chapter 206 The Port of Syracuse

This great news gave Alexis no worries at all.

At this time, the Campania Alliance in the north sent an envoy.

There was such a big war between Samone and Potentia and Dionia, but the city-state of Campania, the enemy of Samona, had been watching silently until the victory and defeat were decided, and Dionia's front was already there. Approaching Campania, they finally sent messengers.

The city-state from which this messenger came from is only separated by a small peninsula of Sorrento, just over 40 miles away from Heinona, next to Mount Vesuvius, which is Pompeii.

This messenger came to see if the Dionians had any intention of threatening Campania.

Alexis told him without hesitation: The Dionysians were only fighting back against the aggression of the Samonites, and they had the desire to get along with the Greek city-states of Campania, and had no malicious intentions of encroaching on them. .

The emissary from Pompeii returned happily, along with Alexis' small request: the hope of being able to exchange the spoils of Samona for grain.

…………………………

Micalisus is a citizen of Syracuse. As a native inhabitant who has lived here for generations, he owns ten acres of land and two fishing boats. He has his own shop in the city market to sell fishing goods. , If it wasn't for the high war tax that Dionysius levied every year in recent years, his family's life should be said to be quite rich.

When the news of the victory of the army of Syracuse in Great Greece came again and again and was announced in the Apollo Square, the people cheered with mixed emotions, and he always felt a little regret, because the citizens were mobilized in the square to go to war. At that time, the goddess of luck failed to favor him, he was not selected, and he lost a good opportunity to plunder the spoils of war in Greater Greece to improve the current situation of his difficult life in recent years. In his opinion, any hostile force would be vulnerable under the attack of such a large force in Syracuse.

But things have changed these days. After the bad news of "the Syracuse navy suffered two disastrous defeats and the warships were almost lost" came a pot of cold water to the excited Syracuse people.

The Dionian Fleet, which has never been heard before, actually defeated the Dionian Navy that roamed the Ionian Sea? ! The people of Syracuse couldn't believe their ears, they scolded the naval commander Leputines, and angrily believed that it was his stupid command that led to the fiasco! After the failure of the naval battle with the Carthaginians, this defeated general should have been replaced!

As a result, some people shifted the responsibility for the failure to Dionysius, who believed that it was Dionysius' cronyism that kept his mediocre younger brother from being replaced!

Compared with the indignation of the people in the city,

Ports are another story. To know that more than 400 warships require a huge number of sailors of 80,000 to 90,000 people, more than half of these sailors are from the allies of Sicily, and the other half are from the poor and free people of Syracuse. Whether the warship was sunk or captured, those sailors would not have a good outcome.

The bad news spread to almost every household in the port and the bay. Out of concern for the safety of their relatives, these poor people were weeping, and they were even more resentful of Dionysius who oppressed them. In the past few months, some dissatisfaction with Dionysius has been circulating in the port and the city, such as: "We are so poor because of those outsiders (referring to Dionysius's) The mercenaries) took away the land that should have belonged to us, and occupied the city-state public office that should have belonged to us!"

"Even if we earn more drachmas, we can't keep up with the speed of Dionysius' taxation!"

"Dionysius likes mercenaries more than the citizens of Syracuse. He should not be the plenipotentiary general of Syracuse, but is more suitable to be the leader of the mercenaries!"

...

But in the past few days, a new rumor quickly circulated in the port: "The Dionysians only hated the tyrannical Dionysius, and as long as his dictatorship was overthrown, Syracuse and Dionia could achieve Peace agreement, the 14,000 Syracuse sailors held in Dionia can go home safely!  …”

This rumor was said with nose and eyes, and many people in the port believed it, so it quickly spread throughout the bay, and it was said that it spread to the neighboring city-states.

When Micalisus heard this rumor, he was taken aback: this is a public demand to overthrow Dionysius! I'm afraid the Dionysians are playing tricks in it!

Even he could see that the intelligence department in charge of Hiparinus would not remain indifferent, not only increased patrols in the port, but also sent a lot of secret agents to walk around the whole bay area to interrogate the people... This kind of practice It further exacerbated the disgust and anger of the port people towards the upper classes of the city-state. They looked at the patrolling soldiers with undisguised anger, which made these soldiers tremble with fear. They always patrolled in groups of more than 20 people and did not dare to hang out alone. To avoid causing death.

The quiet confrontation between the port people and the city-state gradually began to emerge. The most obvious one is that the work efficiency of port laborers is decreasing, the speed of unloading of merchant ships is slowing down, and the goods are piled up at the wharf, and it takes a long time to be moved into the warehouse. The accumulation of more and more almost caused the dock to be blocked, and the merchants did not dare to get angry, because it is likely to anger these poor people who work with grievances, leading to a conflict, and they are the ones who suffer in the end.

Of course, Micalisus doesn't have to worry about this. He travels between the port and the market for many years. He is humble and has a good relationship with the fishermen in the port.

His fishing boat was entrusted to the fishermen he hired and went out to sea early in the morning to fish. When he drove to the pier in the morning, the fishing boat had returned to the fishing pier.

The fishing pier is built in the most remote location on the outermost part of the port. This is for the cleanliness of the port, because the stench of the pier is too heavy, and flies, mosquitoes and insects often gather on the dead fish and shrimp.

Of course, Micalisus didn't feel this disgusting feeling. On the contrary, walking on the pier and watching the baskets of fresh fish unloaded on both sides of the road gave him a sense of satisfaction.

"Testis, how's the harvest today?!" He waved to his moored fishing boat from a distance.

Tecitis was a very experienced old fisherman. Not only did he operate a boat and had first-rate fishing skills, but he was also good at judging the presence of fish. Mycalesus paid nearly double his wages to hire him.

At this moment, Testis was sitting on the bow, enjoying the gentle sunshine, and said in a calm tone: "It's just spring, the sea is still cold, the fish don't come out very much, and Poseidon doesn't come out much. Bless, how could there be a good catch!"

Micalisus looked down at the two baskets of fishing goods lying on the shore: one was half full of mackerel and cod, and the other was full of shrimp and squid.

Micallethus was quite satisfied with this kind of harvest. Of course, he knew that Testis had higher requirements for him, so Micallethus jokingly said: "While there is still time and the weather is warm, Now, how many nets will you go out to sea to cast?"

Testis poked at the mud stains on his fingers and reminded him, "I'll be fine with one more trip to the sea, but will you sell them all in time? Waste will be punished by Poseidon!"

In this era, because there is no refrigerator, freshly caught sea fish must be sold on the same day, otherwise they will be thrown away due to rotting the next day. Although the Greeks like to live on the seashore, the staple food is still grains, and fish is only a supplementary food. In recent years, the tax burden of Syracuse has increased, and the purchasing power of ordinary citizens has declined, which has naturally affected the sales of marine fish. Not to mention casting a few nets, it is all about whether these two baskets of fish can be sold before the market closes in the evening. The problem is, when the time comes, you may only be able to take the rest home, cook fish porridge for slaves to eat, or use it to feed pigs and dogs.

Micallethus sighed, did not speak, turned around and instructed the slaves to load the wooden basket into the carriage.

At this time, another fisherman on the fishing boat shouted: "Hey, Micallethus, have you heard that Dionysius' army was defeated by the Dionysians!"

"How is this possible?! Where did you get the news?!" Micalisus was shocked and couldn't believe it.

"How impossible! Our navy can be defeated by the Dionysians, and of course our army can be defeated by them!" The fisherman not only did not feel sad at the defeat of the city-state, but had a strange look of schadenfreude on his face. Expression: "Now the whole port has spread, and some merchants from Greater Greece have also confirmed the news. It is said that in this battle, our Siracusa was defeated very badly, this time it is the city's turn to cry. !"

"Whether it's the people in the city crying or the people in the port crying, the defeat of Syracuse is not a good thing for us." Thestis said lightly.

"We are defeated, and Dionysius should stop the war and talk to the great Greeks." The fisherman said expectantly: "Without war, naturally there will be no war tax!"

"I'm afraid that Dionysius will continue this war! Not only will the tax burden be raised, but... like you, like me, may even be recruited to serve as sailors." Testis' face Finally, there was a trace of concern.

"I will never die for Dionysius! This war should be stopped!" shouted the fisherman.

Micalisus didn't have the heart to listen to what they were saying. He walked back with heavy steps, and he didn't feel the joy that he escaped because he didn't participate in the expedition. "The army of Syracuse was defeated in Great Greece." The news weighed heavily on his heart, reminding him of the huge storm that broke out in the city of Syracuse when the Carthaginian troops came under the city a few years ago...

Luckily it was in Greater Greece this time! ... But he thought about it, if these tens of thousands of soldiers were trapped in Great Greece and couldn't come back, the anger raised by the people would probably be difficult to calm down by the officials appointed by Dionysius!