“Marigi, thank you for reminding me. It seems that while we send envoys to Carthage, we should also send people to contact Cyrenaica. After all, having one more channel to buy food will give us more insurance!”
“Your majesty, regarding this purchasing of grains that you are talking about, I would like to ask you where would this money come?! As we couldn’t even take out a single drachma from the treasury!” Mersis asked loudly without any regard for Davos’ new identity.
Davos naturally doesn’t care about such petty things. He had thought about this problem on the way back to Thurii, so after understanding Theonia’s current financial situation, his idea became firmer, “Mersis, do you remember when our treasury was depleted during the second war with Crotone? What measures did we take to tide over our difficulties?”
Mersis slapped his head and exclaimed, “Ah! How could I forget about this?! War bonds! We can issue war bonds again!”
“No! We are not going to issue war bonds! The consumption of this war is huge, so if we were to issue bonds, then even if we win this war, Theonia would be saddled with huge debts and seriously affects its future development!” Davos stood up with his eyes and tone becoming firmer, “This war is not only related to my interests, nor is it just about the interests of you statesmen of the Senate, but about the survival of tens of thousands of people in Theonia, whether we are wiped out, killed or enslaved by Syracuse, or beat Syracuse thoroughly and pull them down from the throne of the Greek hegemon in the Western Mediterranean, and win a broader and more glorious future for the people of Theonia!!!
This war is in the interest of our nation! It requires us to give our all and gather together for the final battle with Syracuse! Whoever can hold out to the end will win this battle for supremacy!
Thus I propose that the Senate encourage the people of Theonia Union to raise money, and I will be the first to do so! Apart from maintaining the normal supply of three meals a day for my family and slaves, I will donate all the remaining grain reserves! And besides the expenses needed to maintain them, the profits from my wife’s banks, restaurants and shops in the past few years will be donated to Theonia’s war effort!”
Davos’ words shocked the four people that were present.
Kapus shouted excitedly, “Your majesty, I would like to be the second to donate!”
“And me as well, your majesty!” Marigi followed and then said, “Theonia is my home, so I am willing to dedicate my loyalty to Theonia, as once it disappeared, all my wealth left will be useless!”
“Don’t forget us Besidisians, your majesty!” Baripiri then continued with sincerity, “We, Besidisians, have become inseparable from Theonia, so not only will I donate myself, but I will also go back to Besidice and call on others to do the same!”
Seeing the other three take their stand one after another, Mersis only hesitated for a while before gritting his teeth and said, “Fine, I will donate as well.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In the afternoon, the Senate passed a resolution that called upon the people of Theonia to unite and donate money and food to Theonia, which was already short of funds and supplies, to help Theonia overcome this difficult time and win this great war against Syracuse!
This news soon spread all over Thurii, Amendolara, Besidice…
As the people debated fiercely, another shocking news soon came: The new king of Theonia, Davos, was the first to step forward with a generous donation to Theonia. Ribaso – the head servant of Davos’ residence, led a transport team consisting of several loaded carts and brought it to the Nike Square. The carts contain 51 talents, 3,500 drachmae, and more than three tons of wheat and dozens of livestock…which were then received by the public officers of the State Treasury led by the chief financial officer – Mersis.
Seeing the transport team pass by, the crowd was greatly moved.
However, such stimulation continued because immediately afterwards, Kunogelata, Cornelius, Scambras, and Raphias…all the statesmen of the Senate announced to donate money and grains to Theonia.
So when they saw loaded carts filled with goods entering through the city gate of Thurii and heading towards the square one after another, the people finally couldn’t stop themselves and spread the slogan that had come out at some point: “Theonia is our Theonia. If Theonia prospers, our families will prosper; If Theonia perishes, our homes will disappear!” “We don’t want to be the slaves of those vicious Syracusans! If we unite and dedicate ourselves to the end of the war, the final victory would definitely belong to Theonia!”
The day before yesterday, the people were somewhat confused and pessimistic about the war, but after these two big victories, they have regained their confidence. And with their new king – Davos and the statesmen leading the donation, and the slogans that quickly spread had made the people aware of the difficulties Theonia was facing, waking them up of their sense of responsibility as Theonians. Thus they began to act.
Not only them but even the soldiers in the camp were willing to return to their homes to prepare their money and food to donate to Theonia.
Davos agreed and announced that the first, second and seventh legions were temporarily dissolved and to report back to the camp before noon tomorrow. And anyone to be late would be punished by the Military Law.
The gloomy and desolate Thurii region had finally come alive again on this day. The people together with their slaves carried boxes and bags of money, while leading pack animals carrying the grains they stored in their homes from Amendolara, Besidice, the outskirts of Thurii, the port of Thurii, the city of Thurii…and from all directions, had all flocked to the square…
“Periandorus, you had come so quickly!” Shouted Aguilas after seeing Periandorus and his son, Patroclus, who was in front of him in the line.
“Uncle Aguilas!” Patroclus waved his hand in excitement.
“Young Clus, I heard that you helped the village that your father is managing in repelling the surprise attack of the Syracusan sailors. You did a good job! You have now become a soldier of Theonia!” Aguilas was pleased to see the previous mischievous youngster performing so well.
“But the legion still won’t let me join!” Patroclus complained.
“You do not meet the rules of the Military Law as you are not yet 18 years old. Just wait two more years.” Aguilas reassured Patroclus after remembering his age.
“Wait?! Wait until this war ends?!” Patroclus said aggrievedly.
“Don’t worry too much. After this war ends, you will still have another war to participate in the future!” Aguilas said emotionally.
At this moment, Periandorus had handed over the things he was carrying to the slave, turned around and made a military salute.
Aguilas returned the military salute.
Aguilas is a veteran legionary, Periandorus is also a legionary. Although they withdrew from active service due to injury, a lame foot and a disabled hand, the imprint of the Theonia Legion has been branded in their bones.
In such a crowded and noisy environment where two disabled people saluted each other, the people around them did not find it funny or feel amuses. On the contrary, they looked at them with respect.
“Lord Aguilas, it is inconvenient for you to move. You should’ve just ordered the slaves to send your donations to the square.” Periandorus said with concern.
Why did he call him Lord Aguilas? That’s because Aguilas was promoted to a demarchos.
With the continuous influx of immigrants and the rapid development of Theonia Union in the past few years, the outskirts of the cities, especially Thurii, are no longer the initial sparse few villages on the vast plains. Not only had they become densely populated, but the number of villages is also increasing. Due to the emerging village’s location being far from the urban area or the market, the villagers who are busy with their work would usually just buy what they need nearby or go to some nearby places to have fun and play sports during the slack season.
More importantly, in order to facilitate the management of these scattered farms, the Praetors of various cities in the union successively suggested to the Senate that some of the administrative tasks can be completed by these villages, such as tax collection and military training, etc.
Coincidentally, after the Senate passed Davos’ proposal of “establishing local councils in each city”, Sesta inspected the situation in the outskirts of each city. Then he referred to the governments of other city-states, especially Athens, and finally put forward a proposal to the Senate to add – Demos (i.e. Towns).
It’s just that the demos to be implemented in Theonia is not like the composition of the demos in Athens, where a demos must include a coastal village, a mountainous village, and an urban area, which are not adjacent to each other and thus too complicated to manage. The demos in Theonia has the surrounding villages under its jurisdiction, which is more convenient to manage and thus improves administrative efficiency.
At the same time, the Praetor of the city would nominate someone among the village chiefs of the villages under the demos with good performance and be appointed by the Civil Servant Management Committee of Theonia Union to be the demarchos*. But compared to the village chiefs elected by the villages, the demarchos has already entered the roster of a civil servant of the Senate, and its administrative power in the region is only lower than that of the city’s Praetor. Furthermore, a demarchos can already be considered a middle-ranking official in Theonia, so it is not too much to call him “lord”, and the village of Periandorus just happens to be under his jurisdiction.
“What lord?” the Demos System was just starting when it was soon stopped temporarily due to Syracuse’s invasion. Thus Aguilas has not yet adapted to this change of identity, “Both you and I were soldiers of the legion and had participated in battles, so we know the importance of military rations to the army. Without food, it would cause even the most powerful army to lose, so I have to come! I have to lead a good example to the people! Except leaving enough food for my family and me to last until next year’s autumn harvest, I have donated it all in hopes that lord…his majesty Davos can use these donated supplies to organise a powerful army to completely defeat the Syracusans and free our lands from those cursed enemies!”
“You are right, lord Aguilas! Who would support the legion if we don’t support it first?!” As soon as Periandorus said it excitedly, shouting sounded around him.
