Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece
chapter-424

Hearing this, Sesta hurriedly advised him, “Lord Baripiri, there is no need for you to worry too much. Philesius is the commander of the southern front that Davos' recognised and approved, and he is also a veteran on the battlefield. Furthermore, he is honest, so his battle report should not be exaggerated, and we have a good chance to win the battle! Besides, the report that the wise Lord Ansitanos sent along affirmed Philesius' report, so we should not worry too much…and the election of the local council may be postponed for a while, and held it after we expelled the Syracusans.”

“Yes, yes, you are right.”

Both of them comforted each other as they climbed the stairs of the Grand Senate Hall.

Then, Sesta saw Petaru coming up from the other side, acting as if he didn't see Sesta as he hurried inside.

Naturally, Sesta didn't have the habit of warmly greeting unfamiliar people. Instead, it was Baripiri who sighed, “It seems that Petaru still has some opinions on your last questioning of him. Don't worry, just give it some time, and everything will be fine.”

Sesta coldly said, “I am just performing my duty. Whether they are happy or not, it has nothing to do with me.”

Baripiri had stopped talking after hearing his words.

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“Esteemed statesmen, our maritime trade channels were cut off by the warships of Syracuse, whether it is to the eastern Mediterranean or other areas of the western Mediterranean. Furthermore, more than 20 merchant ships of our union have been captured and detained by the Syracusan navy, while the merchant ships of other city-states that come to trade with us have also been forcibly expelled. Now, almost no merchant ships entered the port of Thurii, and all the ports in our other cities have stopped their operation besides the port of Pyxous, which is in a remote area and can still normally operate.

Now, the soldiers at the frontline needed to consume a lot of supplies every day because of the war. So if this situation continues and we can’t get any material through maritime trade, the grain supply of the whole union will become stretched! Thus, I suggest that the Senate take measures now to remind the people to save food and forcibly control food consumption. For example, the restaurants are temporarily closed, and everyone should change from three meals a day to two…” After Marigi finished speaking, the statesmen caused an uproar.

“Is our situation really that bad?” Cornelius asked nervously.

“Yes, the grain consumption has already exceeded our previous expectations!” Baripiri, the Chief Agriculture Officer, added, “Although we still have our grain reserves, this is the first time we have supplied ration to five legions, totalling more than 40,000 men. Moreover, we have already transported two granaries of grain, and according to the statistics of the Ministry of Military, these rations can only last for ten days. As you know, we have only built six granaries in the union's territory in recent years, so if the war continues for another two months, I am afraid that our grain reserve will be at the bottom!”

All the statesmen became tense.

Kunogelata hurriedly got up and said, “Although Syracuse has blocked the sea, we could still buy grains from Taranto by land.”

Mersis shook his head and said, “Mersis and I have long thought of this and had even sent some officials to Taranto to discuss it, but the Tarantine Council said that they are also equally strapped for food and have no surplus to sell.”

“Damn Tarantines! Ungrateful bastards, they have forgotten who helped them drive out the Messapians! We should take the alliance agreement and question them!!” Scambras, the current Praetor of Amendolara, shouted.

“Ehem…Now is not the time to settle our accounts with Taranto. After all, we are already having a difficult time dealing with the Syracusans and the Samnites. Besides, our relationship with Taranto has not been very harmonious in the past two years, so if we were to force the Tarantines…we would be in trouble as what Davos had been worrying about!” Cornelius said anxiously.

“What is our fleet doing now?! The union has spent so much money on warships every year, and now is the time we need our navy!” Shouted Tritodemos.

“Navarch Seclian is making every effort in reorganising the warships from the various alliances and training them with the new tactics created by Lord Davos together with the newly formed legions.” Answered Hieronymus.

“New tactics created by Lord Davos?!” Tritodemos became excited, “Can they defeat the Syracusan navy?!”

“I don't know anything regarding their training as they have tightly closed Thurii's military port, not allowing any outsiders to enter.” Hieronymus replied and kept silent.

“It seems we couldn't count on the navy for the time being… I just hope that the army of the South Italian Alliance led by Lord Philesius could defend against Syracuse's attack.” Although Scambras was nearly 60 years old, his character was more radical, but he also had a cautious side towards the upcoming war in the south. It can be seen that the others were also worried; after all, the army of the South Italian Alliance are not all Theonian soldiers, and in the minds of the statesmen, Philesius, who was the commander, couldn't be compared with archon Davos.

“What's the latest report? Has Lord Davos led his army to fight the Samnites?” Asked Sedrum.

“The only thing we received was yesterday's report of ‘Lord Davos leading the army to Elea’, while we still haven't received today's report.”

The answer of the rotating chairperson – Kunogelata, disappointed the statesmen that were present. Then someone among them sighed and said, “The transmission of our battle report is still too slow.”

“It's already fast! You should know that the Lucanian area is mountainous, so if it were still the previous speed, it would take more than four days for it to arrive. But now, it has shortened a lot.” Heracleides the Younger, who had been in the Senate for a long time and rarely spoke, retorted.

“Everyone!” Kunogelata shouted, “Although the battle report shows that our allied force has a good chance of defeating the Syracusans, we must still prepare for the worst. Therefore, we must once again strictly order Lord Agasias of Aprustum and Asistes of Clampetia to fully prepare for the city's defence as soon as possible according to the decision we discussed yesterday. Just in case…we are defeated in the battle, we must do everything possible to stop the enemy from entering Theonia's territory! At the same time, we should also be prepared to assist the Crotonians so that we can hold the defensive line of Clampetia – Aprustum – Crotone and stall the enemy until Lord Davos returns with our army!”

“Lord Kunogelata is right! We must be prepared for both.”

“The army that Lord Philesius is leading now has more troops than the enemy. Moreover, our legion is the main force, so they should be able to repel the enemy.”

“Have you sent out all the scouts? Ask them to send back the battle situation in Scylletium to Thurii every half an hour! ”

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

Everyone in the Senate expressed their opinions, but they still felt a sense of tension and worry…

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After the meeting, the statesmen did not disperse as they sat idle in the Senate Hall and chatted together in groups of twos and threes, waiting for the news regarding the southern battlefield so that they could make a quick decision. They even asked their slaves to bring lunch to the Senate.

Kunogelata went straight to a corner, where Plesinas and Marigi were chatting something in a low voice.

Seeing Kunogelata coming, they immediately stopped talking.

“Lord Plesinas, I heard that something bizarre has happened in the Temple of Hades these days.” Kunogelata straightforwardly said in a low voice.

“Oh? What is this bizarre thing? Why didn't I hear anything about it?” Plesinas looked puzzled.

“Handwriting suddenly appearing and disappearing in the temple, and the statue of the gods are making sounds from time to time…” Kunogelata said word by word, closely staring Plesinas.

Plesinas suddenly realised, “Oh, so that's what Lord Kunogelata is talking about. That is not a bizarre thing; it’s a miracle of Hades! This has happened before already, but it is only recently that the frequency increased, which shows that Hades is protecting our union!” Plesinas said with a devout expression.

Seeing this look on his face, Kunogelata wanted to say something several times, but in the end, he only tactfully admonished him, “This is a time of crisis for the union. Thus we need to ensure the stability of our internal affairs and work together to deal with a powerful enemy! As the Praetor of Thurii, I don't want to see any major disturbance happening in the city! And I believe Lord Davos is also the same!”

Seeing Kunogelata's serious expression, Plesinas was taken aback.

Marigi, who was nearby, immediately interrupted, “Lord Kunogelata, I am curious about the ‘suddenly appearing and disappearing handwriting’ that you just said.”

Kunogelata glanced at him with vigilance and said, “You can ask Plesinas.” After that, he turned around and left. The rumours about the ‘take my blood as the king, and the peace of the union will be ensured’ has gradually spread that it even reached Amendolara, Besidice and Roscianum, making Kunogelata uneasy. He was anxious to know whether this is Plesinas' own volition or the order of Davos, ‘What should I do if it is the latter?’

“He's aware of it.” Said Plesinas as he watched Kunogelata leave.

“Anyone with a mind can figure it.” Marigi shrugged in disdain, “But even if they know, what could they do? Just now, Kunogelata didn't even dare to say what was written, so when things really happened, I am sure he will be the first one to raise their hands in favour. Don't worry, Kunogelata is a smart man!” Marigi's words relieved Plesinas.

“In fact, I hope we will lose in today's battle…” Marigi's voice became even smaller, but it once again surprised Plesinas.

“Lord Davos led the citizens of the union to win wars and victories; only then did we get such a big territory today! But they have forgotten the taste of defeat, so they don't know the value of victory…” Marigi faintly said…

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Unlike the cold and cheerless city of Thurii, the clouds of war filled the territory of Scylletium…

Thousands of soldiers came out of the city of Scylletium, the city of Terina, the camps outside the city and the Syracusan camp as they surged like tides towards the north of the Syracusan camp.