Chapter 115: The invitation of Syracuse

After the mass wedding, Davos did not go home immediately. As he and the elders met with the envoys of Metapontum and Heraclea in the council.

One is the ally of Taranto, and the other is the affiliated city-state of Taranto, and now, Amendolara has become an ally of Taranto, and so their discussion went on smoothly and friendly. Davos put forward the proposal of Amendolara wanting to get along with Metapontum and Heraclea, and help each other. In which the envoys of the two city-state had readily accepted. The three sides also discussed on strengthening their exchanged and trades…

Davos finally returned to his home after a busy afternoon. However, he did not expect to have a guest waiting.

The sharp-eyed middle-aged envoy presented a rich gift, and he then politely introduced himself, “Greetings, honorable archon, Davos! I am Herolis of Syracuse, the envoy of the great strategos, Dionysius.”

Davos was shocked when he heard the two words “Syracuse” and “Dionysius”.

In his previous life, when mentioning Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse, he could only think of the story of the sword of Damocles*. This story reminded Davos that it is very dangerous for him to be a tyrant in the Greek city-state. Besides that, he had no deep impression on Dionysius or even Syracuse, and he is just like other ordinary people where his gaze were focused on Athens, Sparta, and Rome. And the only thing that he knows is that during the Peloponnesian war, the Athenian army was completely destroyed in Syracuse, the philosopher Plato stayed in Syracuse, and the mathematician Archimedes died in Syracuse…that’s it. (T/N: Damocles)

However, when he came to this era, specially after coming to Magna Graecia, he often went to find Burkes, Cornelius and others to talk about the local conditions and customs of Magna Graecia, so he knew that Syracuse was not an ordinary big city-state. If the Greek city-states manage to successfully resisted the invasion of the Persian army with Athens and Sparta as their allies, then under the leadership of Syracuse, the city-states in Magna Graecia and Sicily had defeated the Carthaginian army to the south (coincidentally, the day of their victory was the same as the Battle of Salamis in the east), and helped the Greek city-states in the Apennine Peninsula to fend off the aborigines’ invasion. Therefore, several decades ago, Syracuse was the Hegemon of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, and ruled with tyranny at that time. This time, Syracuse had once again implemented the system of tyranny, and the one in the throne is Dionysius, the so-called great strategos.

After having a brief understanding of how Dionysius usurped the power from others, he can see that he is not only skillful in using his power, but is also ruthless. His military and political abilities are not weak, and his luck is also good (Carthage took advantage of Syracuse’s civil strife and attacked Syracuse and its allies, and even to the extent of them managing to siege the city of Syracuse. As a result, a plague broke out and Dionysius repelled them). What’s more, he also knows the truth that “whoever muster a powerful army can be the emperor*” as he vigorously trained and employed private troops to consolidate his power…so Davos has labeled this tyrant of Syracuse as “dangerous”. Even if he doesn’t know what happened to this man in his previous life, but he had read something from a book in his previous life, and one of the words in it that had impressed him deeply, ‘from the very start, a rising country will consciously or unconsciously wants to firmly hold in its hands the power and land it once acquired when it was strong.’ Syracuse used to be the hegemon of Sicily and the city-states of Magna Graecia! What about the current Syracuse? It must be known that people with little ambition won’t even dare to be a tyrant… (TL Note: Original is “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun” is a phrase which was coined by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong. Both are same thing with the latter is just a modern reiteration, and I think the other one is much more in line with the settings.)

Davos fell into deep thoughts, but his face was full of smile, “Oh, I can’t believe that the distinguished Syracuse will come to our small mountain city! Please have a seat!”

When Herolis sat down, Davos asked him, “Lord Herolis, is there anything that Syracuse has sent you to do?”

“I was given an order, and when I set out to Thurii, I didn’t know that you had already become the archon of Amendolara. So the original order is no longer applicable, but I think that I should still say it.” Herolis cleared his throat and said, “When the story of you and your army wiping out the Lucanian alliance with only a small number of troops in Thurii spreads to Sicily. The Greeks in Sicily were very happy, and they all said that this was a brilliant victory over the aborigines in Magna Graecia in these years! When Dionysius learned about it, he had immediately decided to hire you to Sicily with a generous salary to fight against Carthage, the enemy of the city-states in Magna Graecia and the dog of the Persians.”

Davos was relieved and pretended to be curious and ask, “Good pay?! How good is it?”

“A soldier will receive 4 daric a month, and you will get 20 daric a month.” Herolis then looked at Davos.

Davos looked surprised, “4 daric gold coins…that is more than double than the payment of Thurii to us! Is Syracuse so rich?!”

“Being able to invite the heroes of the Persian expedition and the famous strategos that wiped out the Lucanian alliance’s troops, is a glory for Syracuse and no amount of money is worth it!”

‘It seems that I have now become a famous general!’ Davos rubbed his stubble on his chin with a bit of pride in his heart. He greatly like the envoy, but he still said with regret, “It’s a pity that we are no longer mercenaries, but a citizen of Amendolara.”

“Yea, I didn’t expect that you and your army would recapture Amendolara without even resting after wiping out the Lucanian alliance. This is another brilliant victory!” Herolis sincerely praised him, as it was more difficult to attack a city than fight in a field. And of course, he did not know that Davos and the mercenaries had attacked the Lucanians at night, and so, he sincerely said, “Amendolara is lucky to invite you to become their citizens! However, I would need to abandon the order that I have accepted. And now, I want to make a new request on behalf of the great strategos, Dionysius of Syracuse.”

Davos gestured for him to say it.

“I would like to invite you to lead the army of Amendolara and Syracuse to fight back the invasion of Carthage and to bring peace to the Greek city-states in Sicily! Of course, Syracuse will pay your army the same generous reward. And at the same time, I know that Amendolara had just experienced a war, and so, Syracuse is willing to provide you with your urgently needed supplies free of charge, so that Amendolara could recover as soon as possible!”

Davos dodged the question and had instead asked, “I heard that Syracuse and Carthage had signed an agreement for truce the year before last. Did Carthage tear up the agreement and start the war again?”

Herolis was a bit embarrassed, but soon said seriously, “Carthage chose a truce because their army had suffered from the plague at that time, which was the punishment of Apollo! However, Carthage had still occupied many Greek city-states in Sicily, from Selinus in the westernmost part, to Agrigento the southern coast of Sicily, then to Gela and Kamarina near Syracuse. Thousands of Greeks lived a life worse than death under the slavery of the Carthaginians. Moreover, the huge army of Carthage is stationed in Kamarina, which threatened Syracuse. Whether it is for the sake of Syracuse’s safety or to rescue the people of Gela and Agrigento, Syracuse must deal a heavy blow to Carthage in order to stop the city-states that was established by the Phoenicians from coveting the Greek city-states in Sicily, and restore the Greek’s former territory in Sicily!”

Davos thought about it for some time(in fact, he had already made a decision), then he shook his head and said, “I would like to help the people of Sicily, but I am already the archon of Amendolara, and I have to be responsible for them. You see, I am always busy all day, and I don’t even have the time to rest, let alone travel far away. And the citizens of Amendolara are currently busy reorganizing their homes, restoring the agriculture and order of the city-state, as well as its security, and they are unlikely to follow me to Sicily. So I could only give you and the great strategos, Dionysius, my thanks for your invitation. However, I can only apologize!”

Herolis had only a bit of hope in getting a favorable answer. Therefore, he didn’t feel too disappointed, and he just sighed and said, “What a pity! I just hope that we would have a chance to cooperate in the future.”

Davos then said politely, “Please convey my apology and thanks to Dionysius, the great strategos!”

Davos then sent out Herolis.

When they approached the gate, Herolis stopped then turned around and said, “Lord Davos, can you allow me to ask a personal question?”

“Say it.”

“As far as I know, when you recaptured Amendolara, you could have let your men take over Amendolara, because the citizens of Amendolara were almost wiped out…what made you choose to let the people of Amendolara hold a voting to decide whether you will stay or not?” Asked Herolis earnestly.

Facing the probing gaze of Herolis, Davos secretly wondered whether this envoy was dissatisfied with Dionysius’ seizing of Syracuse using mercenaries and ruling it with an iron fist.

After looking at each other for a while, Davos then said, “We, mercenaries, are tired of war and death, and we just wanted to live a peaceful life, and not to loot wealth and gain power. If we don’t want Amendolara to fall into riots again and again, then every soldiers who wants to become a citizen of the city-state should follow the laws of Amendolara and follow the legal procedures of the city-state to become a citizen of the city-state. Then the original citizens won’t have any complaints against us, and we will also have a peace of mind, so that the whole city-state can remain stable…”

Herolis was silent for a moment, and he looked at Davos with a lot more respect, “It’s my pleasure in knowing you!”