Chapter 369
In Syracuse, only Ferosanus would dare to praise another city's governor in public. "Unfortunately, I heard that Deves of Diónia was born into a lowly family and used to be a shepherd," Masias interrupted.
"Unfortunately, I have heard that Daves of Dionysia is of humble birth, and that he used to be a shepherd (referring to Daves's work as a shepherd in Thessaly before he became a mercenary)," said Marcius before he could finish.
Henepolis could not help but retort, "Is Lord Dionysius born into a noble family?! I heard that before he became a general, he was just an ordinary clerk in Syracuse. Lord Devers once said to me, 'True heroes do not care about their family background, because they rely on their own abilities, not the gifts of their family.' "
"Well said! This is what I admire the most about Lord Dionysius! " Philistos praised loudly to cover up Masias's slip of the tongue. "Everyone here has achieved their distinguished status through their own hard work."
"Yes! Yes! … "Masias quickly agreed to cover up his awkwardness.
"Everyone —" Philistos hurriedly stood up with his glass of wine, looked around, and said loudly, "As I have been accompanying Lord Dionysius to negotiate with Carthage's people for the past few days, I have been so busy that I have neglected our esteemed guests from Diónia! With my friends here, I will punish myself with a glass of wine to express my apology! "
"Good!" Helolis raised his glass, and so did Leptinius, Masias, and Ferosanus.
Ancitanos did not stand up to stop them, because he knew that Philistos was speaking on behalf of Dionysius, and the wine naturally contained Dionysius's apology.
After Philistos and the others finished their wine, Ancitanos stood up with Henepolis, raised his glass, and said, "I am very grateful for Lord Philistos's gracious invitation. At the same time, I congratulate Lord Dionysius for defeating the powerful Carthage many times with the help of everyone else. This is a great victory for Syracuse, and the most exciting news the people of Greece have ever heard! Because the greatest enemy of the Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, Carthage, has been dealt a heavy blow, the people of Sicily and Greece will enjoy a long period of peace! "With that, the two drank their wine.
"Well said!" Philistos raised his glass again and shouted, "To Lord Dionysius! Long live Syracuse! "
When the others raised their glasses to congratulate him, Ancitanos noticed that Helolis's expression was not as serious and enthusiastic as the other two, and Ferosanus did not follow suit. Instead, he shouted, "To the peace of Sicily!"
Then Philistos made a gesture, and the musicians and dancers walked into the hall, and the banquet officially began.
In the beautiful melody, under the gentle swaying of the gentle dance, everyone toasted each other and ate heartily …
When the music stopped and the dancers left, Henepolis was unknowingly full under the coquettish voice of the beautiful female slaves. He saw that Marcias had already kissed and slept with the female slaves, and Leptinus was also flirting with the female slaves. Only Helolis was still eating slowly and elegantly, and Ferosanus had even dismissed the female slaves on his left and right. He then turned his head to look at his teacher Ancitanos, who was eating very little and watching the dance with a smile on his face … Henepolis suddenly felt ashamed of his poor self-control.
At this time, Philistos, who was sitting on the main seat, coughed twice and attracted everyone's attention. He then said, "Lord Ancitanos, since the establishment of the Diónia Alliance, there has been no formal diplomatic contact between our two sides. This time, did Diónia send you to Syracuse for the sake of friendship?"
Here it comes! Ancitanos had been gathering his strength for a long time, waiting for this moment. He immediately smiled and said, "Of course it's for the sake of friendship. Syracuse is a large state of Sicily, and Diónia is also a powerful alliance of Great Greece. Before this, one of them was busy dealing with Carthage, and the other was busy fighting off the natives in the mountains. Due to various reasons, the two great Greek forces that were so close to each other did not establish friendly contact and communication, which led to a regrettable incident — "Ancitanos purposely stopped talking.
The people in Syracuse did not speak, but it was Ferosanus who asked curiously, "What's the regrettable incident?"
Ancitanos seized the opportunity to continue the conversation, "Several senators in the Senate of Diónia were accused by the people of corruption and other crimes. When we were collecting evidence of their illegal acts, we found a large number of 'silver coins of four Drachmas' from Syracuse in their mansions and some letters. These letters — "Ancitanos looked at Philistos.
Philistos seemed to be listening attentively.
"The main content was to communicate with Polyxis, the convicted senator of Diónia, about 'how to disrupt the order of the Diónia Alliance, cause riots among the people, oust the Consul Devers …' and so on. These letters were signed by Philistos." Ancitanos looked at the host of the banquet again, "The letters also mentioned that he was ordered by Lord Dionysius. Polyxis himself also admitted that he was supported by Syracuse, which was why he dared to carry out these actions that betrayed the alliance. "
"There's such a thing?!" Philistos looked shocked, "I've never written a letter to anyone called Bo … Polyxis. This is really … Lord Ancitanos, did you bring the letters you mentioned?"
"I did." Ancitanos was already prepared. He took out a letter from the bag he carried and handed it to the female slave next to him.
Philistos couldn't wait to take the letter and read it. Then, he put on a relieved smile. "Lord Ancetanos, if the handwriting and signature of every letter in your hand are the same, I can tell you for sure that these letters were not written by me!"
"Oh?!" Ancitanos pretended to be surprised.
"Go and get a few copies of the letters with my signature from my study," Philistos immediately ordered his slave.
"Let me see this letter," Harolis said, and Philistos handed the letter to him.
Just when the slave went to get the letter and the banquet fell into a temporary silence, Harolis took the letter and said, "Well, Lord Ancitanos, I was very shocked when I heard the news you just said. But I would like to try to stand on the sidelines and say my own judgment. Philistos is a proud and virtuous man of letters. He would not stoop to such despicable things as a despicable man would do, nor would he ever have a p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — p — "
"Polyxis," Leptinus reminded him.
"For Polyxis, it is impossible for Philistos to write to him. And Lord Dionysius, as a general with full authority, is very happy to see that Diónia has a governor like him, so that he will feel that he is not alone in this vast western Mediterranean. How could he do anything to undermine the rule of Lord Devers? "
"Yes, my brother would never do such a thing!" Leptinus emphasized loudly.
"I think it might be like this —" Philistos pondered for a moment, then analyzed seriously, "Lord Dionysius single-handedly created today's powerful Syracuse and united the Greek city-states of Sicily, but he was also hated by many people. I think you all know that when Carthage's army came to Syracuse a few years ago, some people in the city incited the people to riot, trying to oust Lord Dionysius from power. Although the situation was finally settled, there have been rumors circulating in Syracuse over the years, and even small disturbances and assassinations have occurred. Otherwise, Lord Quanquan would not live on this island and be so heavily guarded.
These people are like poisonous snakes, hiding in their caves, ignoring the peace and stability of Sicily, and seizing every opportunity to attack Lord Dionysius and us, his supporters. Carthage's army was defeated, but there is an alliance of Diónia in Greece that is as powerful as Syracuse. If a war breaks out between Syracuse and Diónia, they will have a chance to come out from the shadows again and create chaos in Syracuse to achieve their goal … "
"Are you saying that Lord Dionysius's opponents did this, and then framed you, Lord Philistos?" Ancetanos asked with a faint smile.
"That's very possible," Philistos replied seriously.
"Then, we have also captured a Syracuse citizen named Hermes in Turín. He has fully admitted that he was sent by Lord Dionysius to go to Turín and bribe Polyxis and the others to destroy Diónia. How do you explain that?" Ancetanos sneered.
"Hermes?" Philistos was a little confused. He asked the others, "Does Syracuse have such a citizen?"
Henepolis could not help but say loudly again, "Stop pretending, we have investigated him thoroughly. Hermes is a citizen of Syracuse, and he lives in the center of the city, in the merchant district next to the Temple of Apollo. He has two sons, and he is also Lord Harolis's clerk, am I right?"
"Is that true?!" Philistos was shocked, but Harolis was even more shocked. He turned to look at Philistos, and when their eyes met, he said hesitantly, "… I do have a clerk named Hermes, but … a year ago, I went to Cyrenaica, and when I came back, I heard that he was punished for corruption and lost his position … If the same person was captured in Turín, I really did not expect him to go to Turín. If you don't believe me, you can check the court records. His criminal record from half a year ago …"
"This is going to be troublesome!" Philistos suddenly said loudly, and his expression became extremely serious.
"What's wrong?" Leptinis asked in confusion.
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