Chapter 364
"Sicily, which Dionysius controls, is slightly smaller than Diónia. However, half of Diónia is mountainous and unable to grow grains and other crops. Sicily, on the other hand, is a famous wheat producer in the Mediterranean Sea. Based on last year's wheat trade volume in Syracuse, Sicily's wheat production may be twice as much as ours.
Moreover, the port of Syracuse is prosperous. Compared to our city of Turií, it almost monopolizes the maritime trade between the Greeks and Afrika. Even though we are currently at war with Carthage, many Phoenician merchants can still be seen in the port of Syracuse. Although I don't know exactly how much the monthly commercial tax revenue of Syracuse is, whether it is the port capacity or the number of merchant ships, they are much stronger than Turií. This does not include Agrigento, Catanai, Naxos, Messina, these city-states that were established 300 years ago. Their ports are very prosperous! … "
Listening to Aristiras' words, Devers nodded involuntarily and said, "Let's not talk about the war mobilization ability. Since Dionysius is a tyrant, his biggest advantage is that he can maximize the concentration of all the resources under his control, including the people. He can suddenly launch a war without the approval of the council. I remember you said last time that Dionysius deployed about 100,000 people in the war against Carthage on the north coast of Sicily this time?! "
"Yes, sir. To be exact, it should be nearly 80,000 infantry and 20,000 navy. "
"Last time … how many people did he send to attack the west of Sicily?" Devers asked again.
"It is said that it was also 100,000 people."
Dyvers heaved a sigh of relief. "Yes, Syracuse can launch a large-scale war with 100,000 people at every turn. The key is that they can still support such a large number of troops to carry out a campaign for more than half a year at a place a hundred miles away from their motherland … Syracuse's potential for war is really shocking!" Dyvers exclaimed.
"Sir, although Syracuse is powerful, it is not without weaknesses." Seeing the frustration in the Devers' tone, Aristiras took the initiative to say, "Dionysius tyrannized the people of Syracuse to prevent the people from rising up against him. He also forced the people to pay heavy taxes. The citizens of Syracuse had to pay 20% of their income to the national treasury every year. The people hated him. Moreover, the citizens of the other cities in Syracuse also hated him. Not only did they have to pay a high tribute to Syracuse, but their relatives were also killed by the people of Syracuse during the conquest of Syracuse. Some of their relatives were captured and sold as slaves to faraway places … They hated the people of Syracuse and Dionysius! … "
The Devers gazed silently at Aristirath's face, slightly distorted by pain. After a long while, he said, "You are right. However, as long as Dionysius's army continues to win, as long as his forces do not suffer major losses, the hatred of the people of Syracuse can only be hatred. They can't hurt Dionysius at all. He still has the support of Sparta — "
Aristiras immediately said, "But Sparta is now in a war and has no extra power to support Dionysius. And in the south of Sicily, there is Syracuse's mortal enemy, Carthage."
"This is indeed a good opportunity …" The Devers stroked the sparse stubble on his chin. The current population of the Diónia Alliance is about 800,000 people. Whether it is commerce or agriculture, it is far behind Syracuse. Moreover, the military forces of Diónia are relatively scattered due to their geographical location. It is not easy to concentrate, and the navy is also weak. Once the war with Syracuse starts, the pressure will be great … "
Aristiras looked at the Devers for a long time without saying a word. He was anxious, but he did not dare to show it. He subconsciously clenched the armrests of the wooden chair.
"Aristiras." The Devers finally spoke, "I allow you to send your men to Sicily from now on. They will have a detailed understanding of the forces that oppose Syracuse and Dionysius in the city-states of Sicily, and establish preliminary contact with them."
"Yes, sir." Aristiras was refreshed. He could not help but ask further, "And then?"
The Devers looked at him with bright eyes, "Before the war with Syracuse, there is no 'then' for the time being."
… …
The next day, the public trial of Turís continued, and it still attracted a large number of Diónia citizens to watch. Because the content of today's trial was mainly about whether Polyxis and the others colluded with Syracuse and conspired to disturb Diónia.
Although there were also cases of citizens being tried for colluding with foreign countries and betraying the country, such as Xenophon. A year ago, because he had been working for Athens, he was tried in absentia by the government of Athens for "betraying Athens" and was to be executed. This made Xenophon even more afraid to return to Athens. However, Diónia wrote the crime of "treason" into the codex, and according to the severity of the crime in detail, different sentences were given. The crime of "treason" alone took up several pages of the codex, which showed how much importance the Diónia Alliance attached to this crime. Today's trial would be the first time that the Diónia Alliance, which had only a few years of history, would try a crime of treason. The highest sentence for this crime was death. The excited citizens were all waiting to see the result.
Compared to yesterday, Polyxis was in a much worse state of mind today. Obviously, the trial yesterday had a great impact on him, but he had to pull himself together today, because if he was found guilty yesterday, the most severe punishment would be deprivation of citizenship and deportation. But if he was found guilty today, his life might be in danger.
The appearance of Aristiras was warmly welcomed by the people. Although the young judge was a little hunched, he won the hearts of the people with his quick thinking, sharp words, and courteous demeanor. Especially when they saw him debating with Polyxis and the others, who they hated so much, until they were speechless. Some people even began to inquire about his family situation, and privately thought that they should marry their daughters to this young man with a bright future.
Polyxis was still trying to save himself, but unfortunately, there was too much evidence against him.
In particular, there were a lot of Syracuse silver coins among the belongings found in his house. Because Syracuse had been fighting wars for expansion in the past few years, the treasury was almost empty, and they constantly collected heavy taxes from the people. Moreover, Dionysius disregarded the credit of the city, and issued a kind of inferior silver coin to make up for the deficit in the treasury, forcing the people of Syracuse to use a kind of "four drachma silver coin" (that is, a silver coin weighing four times one drachma), which was mixed with a lot of lead, making it a shoddy product. This kind of silver coin was rarely circulated in the market of Diónia, but many of these coins were found in Polyxis's belongings, even though his family didn't do sea trade. This kind of coin was also found in the belongings of Orpheus and Masisakus.
More importantly, Aristocles Cradle showed the jury the letters which had been found in the house of Polyxis. Aristócrates picked two letters and read them aloud: "... Sir Polyxis, I received your letter and learned that the Senate of Diónia has recently made great progress on the issue of the 'Citizens' Assembly '. General Quan Quan (referring to Dionysius) is very happy to hear this news. As for the amount of silver you requested, he immediately agreed, and will soon ship it to the port of Turií on a merchant ship. At the same time, he also asked me to remind you that it is not enough to just let the merchants and nobles come out to protest, because the main body of the Diónia Alliance is not them, but the ordinary citizens who are soldiers of the legion. If you can get close to them, rope them in, and let them join the crowd of protesters, then... "
Polyxis once again refused to admit, and shouted: "This is a forged letter! ... "
"Forged?! Then, please take a look at this letter... "Aristócrates picked up another letter and showed it to the jury:" This is the only letter we found written by you. It is in your handwriting, and it is also stamped. Look at the date, it happened to be the day you were arrested, so this letter was not sent out in time. I believe that the people will be very interested in the contents of this letter. "
With a sneer on his face, Aristócrates looked at Polyxis, who was madly rushing over, trying to snatch the letter, but was restrained by the guards who were maintaining order in the court. Aristócrates read the letter aloud again: "... Sir Felistos. You may not know this, but Felistos is the most important minister of the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius... As for your previous suggestion, I do not agree with it. Roping in the ordinary citizens of Diónia will not be of much use to the passing of the 'Citizens' Assembly 'bill. I've come up with a good idea. I can make use of some parts of the 'Governing the Lucanians and Bruttians' bill that Dyvers has formulated. I believe that with my instigation, those simple-minded so-called elders of the foreign races will probably give up their support for that proud young man … "
"This is a forged letter! Someone is trying to frame me! " … "Polyxis endured the torrent of curses from the audience and shouted desperately.
Aristotle Cradle immediately called the witness.
After Hermes the Syracuse man was arrested, he was interrogated in some cruel ways that were beyond the standards of this era. For example: first, his mouth and nose were covered with linen, then water was poured on him, and so on. It was a living hell.
Then, Matonis coldly told him that he could either tell the truth and be sent back to Syracuse, or refuse to tell the truth and continue the interrogation.
Comments