Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

This great news has made Alexis completely without worries.

Just then, the Campania League in the north sent messengers.

Samonah had such a big war with Potentia and Dionia, and the city of Campania, the enemy of Samona, has been watching silently until the victory and defeat have been divided. The warriors of Dionia have already Approaching Campania, they finally sent the messenger.

The city-state of the messenger and Enona were separated by a small Sorrento peninsula, only 40 miles apart, next to Mount Vesuvius, it is Pompeii.

This messenger is to explore whether the Diaonians have the intention to threaten Campania.

Alexis told him without hesitation: the Diaonians are only countering the aggression of the Samonais, and they have a desire to get along with the Greek city-states of Campania, and there is absolutely no malicious intent to violate them. .

The Pompeii messenger was happy and returned, along with Alexis’s small request: I hope to exchange the trophies of Samonay for the exchange of grain.

....................................

Mica Lessus is a Syracuse citizen who has lived here as a native inhabitants. He has ten acres of land and two fishing boats. He owns a shop in the city market to sell fish. If it were not for the years that Dionysius imposed a high war tax every year, his family’s life should be quite rich.

When the news of the victory of Syracuse’s army in Great Greece came again and again and was announced at Apollo Square, the people sent a complex cheer, and he always felt a little regret because they mobilized citizens in the square. At this time, the goddess of fortune failed to care for him. He was not chosen, and lost the opportunity to plunder the spoils of the Great Greece to improve his current situation in recent years. In his view, any hostile force is vulnerable to such a large force attack in Syracuse.

But things have changed in the past few days. After the bad news of "the two defeats of the Syracuse Navy and the almost loss of the ship", the excited Syracuse people poured a can of cold water.

The Deonian fleet that I have never heard of actually defeated the Dionya Navy in the Ionian Sea. ! The people of Syracuse couldn't believe their ears. They yelled at the commander of the Navy, Leptinis. They were angry and thought that it was his stupid command that led to a fiasco! After the failure of the naval battle with the Carthaginians, the defeated army should be removed!

As a result, some people have transferred their responsibility for failure to Dionysius. They believe that it is Dionysius's cronyism that has made his mediocre younger brother unchanged!

Compared with the indignation of the people in the city, the port is another scene. It is necessary to know that more than 400 warships require a large number of sailors of 890,000. More than half of these sailors are from Sicily's ally, and half are from Syracuse's poor and free people. The Syracuse Navy is no matter what. Whether the warship is sunk or captured, the sailors will not have any good results.

The bad news has spread to almost every household in the port and the bay. Out of fear of the safety of their loved ones, these barren people are more resentful of Dionysius who oppressed them. In the past few months, there have been some words of dissatisfaction with Dionysius that have begun to spread in ports and urban areas, such as: "We are so poor because of those outsiders (referring to Dionysius's The mercenaries have taken away the land that should belong to us, occupying the city-state public service that should belong to us!"

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

“Dionysius likes mercenaries better than citizens who like Syracuse. He should not be a full-fledged general in Syracuse, and more suitable to be a mercenary leader!”

......

But in the past few days, a new rumor quickly spread in the port: "The Diaonians only hate the tyrannical Dionysius, as long as he overthrows his dictatorship, Syracuse and Dionia can reach Peace agreement, 14,000 Syracuse sailors detained in Dionia can go home safely!..."

This rumor said that there were noses and eyes, which made many port people believe in it, so they spread quickly throughout the bay and were said to have spread to neighboring city-states.

When Micalesus heard the rumor, he was shocked: this is an open request to overthrow Dionysius! I am afraid that the Diaonians are among them!

Even he saw it, and the intelligence department in charge of Hipparinus would not be indifferent. Not only did the patrols increase in the port, but also sent a lot of secret agents to travel around the entire Gulf area to interrogate the people... It further aggravated the port people's resentment and anger against the upper level of the city. They looked at the patrol soldiers' eyes full of undisguised anger, and made these soldiers tremble with fear. They always patrolled on a scale of 20 or more and did not dare to hang out alone. So as not to lead to the murder of the body.

The quiet opposition of the port people to the city-state has gradually begun to appear. The most obvious thing is that the efficiency of port labor is decreasing. The speed of unloading of merchant ships is slowed down. The goods are piled up at the docks. It takes a long time to move to the warehouse. As a result, the goods are more and more The more the product, the more the terminal is blocked, and the merchants are still afraid to get angry, because it is likely to anger these poor people who work with grievances, leading to a conflict, and ultimately they are suffering.

Of course, Mikalesus does not have to worry about this. He has been traveling between the port and the market for many years. He is modest and has a good relationship with the fishermen in the port.

His fishing boat was handed over to the fishermen he hired, and he went fishing in the early morning. When he drove to the dock in the morning, the fishing boat had returned to the fishing pier.

The fishing pier was built in the most remote and remote location of the port. This is for the cleanliness of the port, because the dock is too odorous, and there are often flies, mosquitoes and insects gathering on the dead fish.

Of course, Mikalesus did not feel this disgusting feeling. Instead, he walked on the dock and looked at the basket of fresh fish from both sides of the road. He had a sense of satisfaction.

"Tethis, how is the harvest today?!" He waved far away to his moored fishing boat.

Tessitis is a very experienced old fisherman. Not only does he have a good boating and fishing skills, but he is also good at judging the presence of fish. Mikalesus has spent nearly twice as much money on hiring him.

At this moment, Tessitis sat in the bow and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. He said in a calm tone: "This is just spring, the sea is still cold, the fish are not coming out, plus Poseidon. Bless, how could there be a good catch!"

Mika Lessus looked down at the two baskets of fish on the shore: half a basket full of squid and squid, and another basket with a lot of sea prawn and squid.

Mikalesus is quite satisfied with this kind of harvest. Of course, he knows that Tessitis’s request for himself is relatively high, so Mikalesus joked and said: “There is still time and the weather is warm. Now, go out to sea to spread a few nets?"

Tessitis poked the mud stains on his fingers and reminded him: "I have no problem once again when I go out to sea, but do you have time to sell them? Waste is to be punished by Poseidon!"

In this era, because there is no refrigerator, the newly caught sea fish must be sold on the same day, otherwise it will be thrown away the next day because of the decay. Although the Greeks like to live on the waterfront, the staple food is still cereal, and the marine fish is only a complementary food. In recent years, the tax burden of Syracuse has increased, and the purchasing power of ordinary citizens has declined. Naturally, it has also affected the sales of marine fish. Don’t say that in the few nets, the two baskets of fish can be sold out until the market closes in the evening. The problem may be that you can only take the rest home, squid porridge to the slaves, or take the pigs and dogs.

Mikalesus sighed and did not speak. He turned back and directed the slave to move the wooden basket into the carriage.

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

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

"How impossible! Our navy can be defeated by the Dionyrians, and our army may of course lose to them!" The fisherman not only did not feel sad because of the failure of the city-state, but a strange gloating on his face. Expression: "Now the entire port has been spread, and some businessmen from the big Greek have confirmed this news. It is said that this time in the battle, we Syracuse defeated very badly, this time it is the turn of the city people crying !"

"Whether it is the city people crying ~ www.novelmtl.com ~ or the people in the port cry, Syracuse defeated, is not a good thing for us." Tessitis said faintly.

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

"I am afraid that Dionysius will continue this war! Not only will it raise the tax burden, but... like you, like me, may even be called to be a sailor." Tessis' face There was finally a hint of concern.

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

Mikalesus didn't have the heart to listen to what they said. He walked back heavily, and he didn't feel like he had escaped from the expedition because he didn't participate in the expedition. "The Syracuse army was defeated in Great Greece." The news was heavy in his heart, reminding him of the huge storm that was set in the city of Syracuse when the Carthage was under the city a few years ago...

Fortunately this time is in Great Greece! . . . But he thought about it. If these tens of thousands of soldiers are trapped in the big Greece, the anger that the people are screaming may be difficult for the bureaucrats appointed by Dionysius to calm down!