Back at the guesthouse, Henipolis was still excited as he followed Ansitanos into his room and couldn’t help ask, “Teacher, that Syracusan spy, Hemis, was sent by Dionysius or those who opposed him?”
“Why are you confused?” Ansitanos laughed.
“I initially firmly believed that Dionysius was the one who gave the order, but after hearing Philistus’ explanation…” Henipolis scratched his head.
“I can only say that Philistus’ acting was too good that it had fooled you. I am afraid that a man of Philistus’ status has several clerks working under him, so he naturally had different handwriting. Besides, he has already made precautions by having his signature signed by someone else. So it’s normal for Pollux, who has never met with him before, to be kept in the dark.” Ansitanos smiled with contempt, “In fact, their acting is not perfect. If you carefully observed them, you will notice that the minister named Herolis looked a bit unnatural when Philistus argued. Obviously, they did not fully communicate…”
“Oh, so that’s the case!” Henipolis recalled what happened and came to a realisation. He then angrily said, “But teacher, why didn’t you expose him on the spot?”
“Why expose him?” Ansitanos smiled and continued, “The fact that Philistus and several others took such great pains to perform just shows that they dare not fall out with us, which is a good thing. The following step is to see if Dionysius is willing to sign the alliance that we propose…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The next day, Ansitanos went to meet Dionysius himself.
In a wide, but not splendid, and even somewhat modest palace, the tall and handsome Dionysius met with Ansitanos.
The rumoured ruthless Sicilian host had warmly welcomed the arrival of the envoys of Theonia with amiability. He had also apologised for not being able to meet them in time and said, “I have learned from Philistus that Theonia wants to sign an alliance with us, Syracuse? This is really a wonderful thing! You should already know that the successive wars have caused great losses to Syracuse’s Treasury, food and population, and needs to recuperate urgently. So I am very grateful that Theonia can lend a helping hand at this moment! Hence as my representative, I will send Philistus to discuss the alliance with you in detail, and I hope that Syracuse and Theonia can have friendly exchanges from now on and set a good example for other Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean!”
The meeting was short, and soon, Ansitanos left the island of Ortygia with both some doubts and joy.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
After sending off the Theonian envoy, Philistus returned and asked Dionysius with suspicion, “Milord, are you really gonna ally with Theonia?”
“Phili.” Dionysius then said in a deep voice as he affectionately called the nickname of his important minister, “At your banquet last night, what the Theonian envoy had said is a fact, ‘although Carthage has suffered heavy losses, they are still powerful in Africa, and now, they are exploring the Iberian Peninsula. I heard that they also sent a fleet to sail westward through the pillar of Heracles to explore unknown lands…I am afraid that the next time Carthage makes its comeback, its power would be much stronger than before. On the other hand, Syracuse is limited to this small Sicily, and our territory won’t increase much unless we expand outward!”
This issue was already discussed by Philistus and Dionysius many times, so he certainly knew where Dionysius was aiming his expansion at. However, Philistus reminded with concern, “Still, the strength of Theonia is not weak, and they have basically united the city-states and aborigines in South Italia.”
“You are right.” Dionysius nodded cautiously, “Back when you help me take the position of the supreme military commander, I already had the idea of conquering Magna Graecia, so I married Doris (the daughter of a Locrian noble). However, I never expected that in such a few short years, a Theonia Union would emerge in Magna Graecia!”
Dionysius became annoyed as he gritted his teeth and said, “Perhaps Hades had indeed favoured Davos, but so what! Although the western Mediterranean is large, it can only accommodate one Greek hegemon!”
“We have just finished fighting Carthage, and we still need to rest…even if it is temporary.” Philistus warned.
“We can’t delay any longer!” Dionysius then shook his head, “It is a fact that Theonia Union has rapidly developed and gotten a bit stronger every year. After carefully studying Theonia, I have to say that the young man called Davos has a way of dealing with the aborigines, and we could learn some of his methods to deal with the Sicels. However, at their current rising pace, the Samnites in the north of Theonia may not be able to block their expansion, allowing them to spread further to the north until they own the whole of Italia. So what should Syracuse do at that time? Just become their accessory?!” Dionysius, with cold eyes, clenched his fist, swung it down and firmly said, “No, we must concentrate on destroying them while they are unstable and not strong!”
“Then the talk about the alliance with Theonia?” Asked Philistus again.
“Discuss, why not?! We can sign a non-aggression pact of friendship which is good enough to let their vigilance down. But as for the alliance – hmph, Syracuse does not have the habit of signing an equal agreement with other Greek city-states!” Dionysius said coldly.
Philistus thought that he had forgotten about Sparta. However, he was certainly not stupid enough to correct Dionysius’ mistake. So he just nodded and said, “I understand.”
“Furthermore…we need to accelerate the negotiations with Carthage…hmm…” Dionysius paced back and forth, pondering something. Finally, he made up his mind, “We can return the land west of Selinus and Palermo, but they must pay a lot of compensation, open the grain market to us, provide affordable grain trade and sign a long-term peace treaty…this is the price they should pay for breaking the agreement and starting a war again (the truth is, it was Dionysius who have provoked this war). That’s roughly the plan, so you should take someone to discuss it and negotiate with them as soon as possible!”
Philistus nodded in understanding.
“That’s all.” Dionysius hinted Philistus to carry out his orders immediately.
Philistus hesitated and then said, “Uh…milord…about Hemis, the Theonian envoy said that they could return him to us, you see…”
“What do we need him for? What could he even do when he comes back?!” Dionysius’ expression fell and then said, “Look at his cowardly performance at the public trial in Thurii. That had made me sick! Tell them that Syracuse respects Theonia’s law, and since this man has committed a crime in Thurii, we support them to punish him according to the Theonian law!”
Philistus sighed and walked out of the main hall. He then remembered Ansitanos, with who he had a good conversation last night due to a common hobby. Then a sense of guilt surfaced in his heart as he looked at the distant sea. He then said apologetically in his heart, ‘Ansitanos, I’m sorry! The things I would do is for Syracuse’s sake…’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While Ansitanos and Philistus negotiate, Davos met Seclian in his study at his home in Thurii.
“Lord archon!” Seclian did a military greeting as soon as they met.
“Our hero, Seclian! I have already told you countless times that this is not the training ground, so you do not need to be so formal.” Davos looked at the young sub-fleet commander. The years of training had made his face more firm. Davos then nodded secretly, then smiled and said, “Sit down! Sit down, and let’s talk!”
Seclian then sat upright and faced Davos.
“Could the sailors of the navy be impacted due to the sentencing of Enanilus?” Instead of greeting him back, Davos immediately inquired.
“There is nothing to worry about.” Seclian immediately replied, “The soldiers knew about the crimes of Enanilus through the public trial, but the good thing is that Enanilus seldom participated in training and rarely lead the navy. However, could the triremes to be built this year arrive on time?”
“Rest assure. The violation of Enanilus did not involve his family’s shipyard, and the Senate had already sent someone to appease them and had gotten their assurance. And following the Senate’s plan for the navy of launching five triremes a year will not only remain the same but will only increase in the future and not decrease!”
“That’s wonderful!” Seclian then excitedly suggested, “The Senate had made the right decision! Although we now have 30 triremes, it is still much safer to at least double the number of warships to protect our coasts.”
Davos nodded, stroked his chin and began thinking.
Seclian then became a bit nervous as he thought that his request had made the archon, who appreciated him, embarrassed.
Then Davos said, “What do you think of our naval strength, including the warships of our allies that are part of Theonia Alliance such as Metapontum, Heraclea, and Rhegium, as well as the warships of the South Italia Alliance such as Crotone and Scylletium?”
