Chapter 293 Teacher Ancitanos

Because young and middle-aged citizens were dispatched to fight and did not return for a long time, there was a shortage of labor in the people's homes, and many families needed to buy more slaves to ensure that the farmland was planted and harvested, and the family workshops could be successfully completed... Therefore, this led to the prosperity of the slave market.

There are only two places in Turii that were basically not affected by the war: one is the Turii School, where the teachers still attend classes as usual. Even if the father of a student is killed in battle, he will still be guided by the teacher and taught by his companions. Gradually come out of grief in the frolic; the other is Dionia Academy, whether it is a highly learned teacher or a student who is engaged in high-level learning, continue to focus on their own research and learning, but this does not mean They turned a deaf ear to the current situation.

In the back of the classroom of the Faculty of Letters, Ancitanos is sitting under a big tree, telling the history of Egypt, surrounded by more than 20 students, sitting casually on the grass, listening to him carefully, while Use a pen to jot down key points on the board you carry with you, and keep raising your hands to ask questions, creating a relaxed and lively atmosphere.

Ancitanos looked up at the sky and said, "This is the end of today's class, and in the morning two days later, we will continue."

As he was talking, he saw a student's raised hand, so he asked gently: Ionicus, what else do you have a problem with? "

"Teacher, now His Majesty King Davos is leading an army to fight against the mighty Carthage in Sicily. Can we win?"

Ancitanos frowned: "This is not something to teach"

"Teacher, tell us about it!"

"Teacher, don't you always say 'to learn history is to find experience from the past, and to make more wise choices in times of crisis'? And now we are at war with Carthage, isn't it the worst thing the kingdom has ever encountered? Difficult time! So, can we win this important war? Can you give us an analysis of this war in the way you analyze history?!”

"Ever since I heard that 'the Carthaginian army has invaded our territory in Sicily', I have been very worried, and I can't even study with peace of mind! Teacher, you are very knowledgeable and know more than we do, whether your analysis is good or bad , I can calm down and work harder to prepare for the future!"

"Teacher, tell us about it!"

...

The students' request made the good-tempered Ancitanos sigh helplessly: "Okay, then I'll tell you about this war."

The students suddenly cheered.

Ancitanos didn't speak immediately, he pondered for a while before he said: "I'm sorry, I can't disclose some details about this war because it involves the kingdom's secrets, and I don't know much about the military. I can't understand and analyze the strategies and tactics adopted by the two sides, so I can only talk about some of my views based on what I have learned about the current situation of the two sides and my analysis of the past history of the Mediterranean..."

The students immediately sat upright, ready to listen.

Ancitanos cleared his throat and said slowly: "I just mentioned that Egypt was once conquered by the Assyrians from the Mesopotamia, and Egypt has always been a powerful kingdom in the Eastern Mediterranean before that. Come again. Talking about Assyria, Assyria, which dominated the eastern Mediterranean region, was later destroyed by the rising Persians, which was also mentioned in the book "History" written by Herodotus. And the mighty Persians tried vainly to The west conquered the entire Mediterranean Sea, but was defeated by the city-states headed by Sparta and Athens in the Greek mainland, which they despised. Herodotus described this in more detail. After that, Athens, Sparta Begin to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean...

What am I saying this to illustrate? If you read the history of these countries carefully, you will find that they all have a process from weak to strong, and from strong to decline. A country is like a person, it has to experience children, teenagers, youth, prime years, old age... It is also possible to die in the middle of the whole period.

In his youth, because of his weakness, he had to endure bullying, was forced to sign various unequal agreements, and tried his best to befriend the strong men around him; in his youth, he had a strong physique and exuberant energy. , it wants to compete with strong players; in middle age, its strength and energy decline, and its character becomes stable, it will strive to maintain the various honors it has won; , not only the wealth they possess is easily robbed by others, but even their lives are difficult to preserve... Tell me, which period is the most terrifying for a kingdom?

"Of course it's youth!"

"No, I think it's middle age!"...

The students competed to speak.

Ancitanos waited for them to express their opinions before saying: "My view is the youth, because this is the time when you are most energetic, enterprising, and united, like the gathering of mountains. The rising stream, even if it is blocked by tall rocks in front, will rush down until it merges into a wide river... Assyria and Persia basically all made a big effort at this time, eliminating the powerful countries that hindered them and expanding rapidly. established a dominant position.

In the middle-aged period, there are not only strong external enemies, but also many internal contradictions. The whole country has to spend more energy to solve these problems, and the country's property is also wasted in internal friction, so it will not only stop External expansion, and even sometimes forced inward contraction, which country do you say belongs to this situation? "

"Teacher, is it Persia?!" A student said first: "More than 20 years ago, Persia had civil strife because of the fight for the throne. His Majesty Davos also participated in that war. After that, Sparta invaded Asia Minor, and the Persians actually There was no ability to push them back, although the Spartans finally asked for peace, and that was because of the Corinthian war. And a few years ago, the Persian army attacked Egypt again, and it was pushed back... Isn't that exactly what you want, teacher? That's what you said!"

"That's right, Asidatis! My opinion is the same as yours." Ancitanos praised loudly without hesitation, and asked the other students: "So what period do you think the kingdom is in now? ?"

"It's a boyhood!" Some students said in unison, while others hesitated.

"Our kingdom has only been established for more than ten years. If we start from the establishment of the alliance, it is only twenty years. If we look at time, the kingdom of Dionia, which has a history of only a dozen years, really looks like a teenager. ." Ancitanos first analyzed the reasons why the students made this judgment, and then said: "But in other respects, it is not so. Our kingdom directly owns far more land than any other. A Mediterranean city-state, including Carthage, our kingdom has far more citizens than these countries, and the kingdom’s annual income is far from what they can compare, only a little less than Carthage. We don’t need to take the initiative to pay Be good to the surrounding forces and races, because they either come to form an alliance on their own initiative, or seek the support of other powerful forces fearfully.

The kingdom is still expanding outwards, our territory is still expanding, and we just won a lot of land by defeating Rome and Samonay not long ago. Although our citizens fear death, they are more eager to win honor in war, and their relatives will do their best to support them, not hinder them. Our great king and our senate will never succumb to external pressure, but respond to the provocation of the enemy with more active actions... The whole kingdom is full of vigor and vitality, full of vigor and hope. Like the sun rising in the sky in the morning... I believe you feel the same way, isn't this your youth! "

The students nodded excitedly in agreement.

"Teacher, what about Carthage?" Someone asked impatiently.

"The situation in Carthage is a bit complicated." Ancitanos said ponderingly: "Carthage has been established for 200 years, and the time is long enough. It suffered many defeats in the contest with Syracuse before. , but it later conquered Numibia and southern Iberia.

There is no unified country in the Numibia region, and the tribes have been under the influence and control of Carthage for a long time. It is actually very easy to conquer it, and its resistance is also very weak. Carthage has a small population, and its citizens occupy a large amount of Numibian land. Many Numibian slaves are used to farm for them, and they can easily enjoy a luxurious life without any effort...

His Majesty Davos once said, 'Life is too easy, and it will lead to the corruption of the Carthaginians'. Your Majesty's judgment is correct, so when the Carthaginian army fought us for the first time, we defeated them easily with less...

But the Carthaginian conquest of southern Iberia was different. As far as I know, Carthage didn't have much influence there originally, and there were a large number of fierce indigenous people living in that area, and the Carthaginians were able to conquer southern Iberia eventually, taking its land resources and population into It is really not easy to use it for yourself, and it also shows that the Carthaginians there have a strong enterprising spirit. So when the Carthaginian army attacked Sicily again, and it was dominated by the Iberian army, we only relied on the Sicilian army to fight, and we were no longer an opponent...

If I look at the Carthaginian soil and southern Iberia together, I think Carthage is neither in its youth nor in middle age, but in the period of youth to middle age. However, you must know that southern Iberia is actually ruled by the Margonid family of Carthage alone, and they have a lot of contradictions with other nobles of the Carthaginian soil. In such a scene, it may be In the long and arduous war, it is difficult to say whether the two sides can unite without any differences and fight with all their strength.

So, on the whole, Carthage is a young and middle-aged man. It seems to be strong and powerful, but its development is not sound, and there are many hidden diseases. And our energetic, healthy, and enterprising kingdom is at war with it. I believe that even if there are a few defeats in the middle, the final victory will be ours! "