Chapter 584
"Dion, I heard that you've saved us a lot of trouble by organizing the kids to play games these days. Well done!" Dionysius praised.
"I can't help you with your business. I can only do what I can to help you," Dion said in a tone that was neither humble nor arrogant.
"What a good 'do what you can'!" Dionysius praised loudly. He turned to his father-in-law and said, "I think in 20 years, Dion will become an outstanding minister of Syracuse!"
Hipparinus, who was usually serious, cracked a smile.
Minister? Philistos curled his lips imperceptibly.
"Stop! You can't go in! " The guard's shout came from outside the door. Dionysius's heart skipped a beat. He was about to ask who it was when he heard the sound of fighting outside.
Angry roars and miserable screams reached the ears of everyone in the cabin. Everyone's expression changed drastically.
Hipparinus quickly shielded the two kids behind him.
"I'll go out and see what's going on," Philistos said nervously.
"No need! Mejicolis should be here with the mercenaries by now. It's not that easy to threaten me, Dionysius! " Dionysius was still relatively calm, but his expression was extremely unsightly. He had roughly guessed who the attacker was, and his heart was like a raging storm.
With a loud bang, the cabin door was kicked open. Little Dionysius was so scared that he started crying.
Dionysius, Philistos, and Hipparinus turned pale. They saw a Sparta warrior in a scarlet cloak, with long hair, a thick beard, and covered in blood rushing into the cabin with a shield and spear in hand.
Dionysius and Philistos looked at each other with shock written all over their faces.
When he saw the mastermind also step into the cabin, Dionysius roared angrily, "Phoebidas, what is the meaning of this?!"
"That's what it means." Phoebidas's eyes were cold. In front of him, five or six Sparta warriors were in combat positions, pointing their spears at them.
The mature Di Ang had never seen such a terrible scene. His hand that was holding his father's hand was trembling.
"I … I said I won't go to Sparta. Are you going to force me?!" Dionysius screamed, trying his best to suppress the fear in his heart.
"I never said I would take you to Sparta." Phoebidas's cold words sent a chill down their spines.
"Phoebidas, you swore to Hercules that you would send us safely out of Sicily to where we want to go!" Phoebidas anxiously reminded him, "Sparta is the overlord of the Greek city-states! The bloodline of Hercules! Always an example to all Greeks! Do I have to go against my oath? "
"I didn't." Phoebidas showed a smug smile, which made his whole face look a little strange. "I promised to send you to Sparta safely, but you refused to go to Sparta. So, of course, this oath doesn't exist anymore."
"So … so you had a plan all along." Dionysius suddenly realized.
"Weren't you planning to lie to me from the beginning?!" Phoebidas sneered.
After the initial shock and fear, Dionysius regained some of his calmness. He asked, "Even if I didn't want to go to Sparta and went against the will of the Elder Council, you wouldn't have to use your spears against me. Why?"
Phoebidas looked at him and didn't answer him directly. Instead, he showed a look of understanding and smiled. "I know you are stalling for time, waiting for the mercenaries to come and save you."
Phoebidas's calm expression made Dionysius feel that something was wrong.
"Mejicolis!" Phoebidas shouted. Soon, the figure of the mercenary leader appeared at the cabin door.
Dionysius and the others looked pale.
"Compared to going to a remote place to suffer and not enjoy a good life, they are more willing to follow Sparta to win glory and land," Phoebidas said proudly.
"But … Mejicolis, are you stupid? Sparta is poor and can't afford to pay you! But we can. If you think the money is too little, we can increase it! " … "Hipparinus shouted in exasperation, trying to change Megicolis's mind.
Phoebidas laughed. "Sparta doesn't have money, but you do. Those cargo ships are full of silver coins. The mercenaries have been eyeing them for a long time!"
The situation was critical. Dionysius finally lowered his proud head and begged in a low voice, "Phoebidas, for the sake of our past friendship, let us go! … Ah! … You can take the silver and gold coins, as well as those warships and cargo ships, as long as you let us go … let us go! Believe me, I can retake Syracuse and provide greater help to Sparta's hegemony! … "
Phoebidas stared at him.
After a moment, he said in a low voice, "I am sorry, Dionysius, I am only acting according to the orders of the Elder Council …"
"Why?! Why?! You know that the people of Harrolis can't control Syracuse at all! They can't even deal with the more powerful Diónia! Only me! Only I can suppress the expansion of Diónia! I can help you stabilize the Western Mediterranean! " Dionysius lost control of his emotions and roared. His ferocious expression frightened little Dionysius even more.
"… Sparta has signed a long-term friendship agreement with Diónia …" Although this matter was not allowed to be made public, Phoebidas felt that it did not matter if they heard it. "One of the terms is to take your life, Dionysius …"
"… So that's how it is … Devers … Devers who should go to Hades!" Dionysius was completely disheartened. Suddenly, he felt his legs go weak. His body swayed a few times and he fell to the ground.
"Woo! Woo! Woo! … Dad! … "
"Brother-in-law!"
"Dionysius!"
…
These concerned voices entered his ears and made him feel extraordinarily warm. In the past, he was obsessed with his hegemony and did not pay attention to these things. Looking at his son with tears on his face, the trembling Dior, Felistos who was forcing himself to be calm, and Hipparinus who was pale, he suddenly turned to Phoebidas and said, "Phoebidas, you can kill me and give my … head to the Devers! But I think the agreement you signed must not include my family and my friends, so … so please let them go! … Even if they have to follow you to Sparta! Ah! … "
"Dionysius, my best friend!" Felistos shouted emotionally.
Dionysius raised his hand to stop him from speaking and said in a low voice, "Feli, I'm afraid I'll have to leave my family in your care!"
Felistos' eyes were filled with tears as he nodded hesitantly.
"The agreement does only require your life." Phoebidas said, "But in order to convince the mercenaries, I agreed to Mejicolis's request."
"What request?!" Dionysius was shocked again as he looked at Mejicolis who had his head lowered.
At this moment, Mejicolis had already raised his head, and his face that was usually respectful and flattering was now filled with ruthlessness. "Lord Dionysius, every time you ordered us to massacre a city, you would clearly remind us to not let any of our enemies go, lest they cause trouble for Syracuse in the future! Today, I am doing as you instructed."
Dionysius did not expect that what he had done over the years would be repaid to his family. At this moment, he had no time to repent to the Goddess of Vengeance. He took a few steps on his knees and begged, "Mejicolis, you know how I have treated you mercenaries all these years! Not only do I pay you handsomely, but I also give you land and treat you far better than I treat my own brothers! I trust you so much, and this is how you repay me! Think about it, when you first came to Sicily, you didn't even have enough to eat every day … "
Phoebidas was a little impatient with Dionysius's emotional narration. He glanced at Mejicolis and said, "Decide what to do as soon as possible!"
Mejicolis looked at Dionysius, who was kneeling helplessly on the ground, and what came to his mind was that after the tyrant repelled Carthage's army, he immediately broke his promise and ordered Mejicolis to lead the mercenaries to arrest 127 families of the democrats and their relatives and friends who wanted to oust him. Dionysius did not hesitate to issue an order to "execute them regardless of their age or gender", and it was Mejicolis who executed it. At that time, Dionysius's cold eyes were firmly imprinted in his heart.
We are not those Syracuse democrats who lost their lives because of stupid compromises! Mejicolis made up his mind and immediately shouted, "Brothers, do it!"
A dozen heavily armed mercenaries rushed into the cabin.
Seeing this, Phoebidas said, "Let's go."
The Sparta warriors crowded around him and retreated out of the cabin. He did not want to see Dionysius killed with his own eyes, and he did not want the warriors of Sparta to be stained with the blood of Dionysius and his family.
Unexpectedly, the desperate Dionysius jumped up, and the mercenary who had just rushed in was caught off guard, and the spear in his hand was snatched away by him.
Holding the spear, he quickly retreated and protected the little Dionysius behind him. At the same time, he laughed like a night owl, "Hahaha … Phoebidas, Sparta thinks that everything is safe after signing a peace treaty with Diónia. Bah! I bet that in less than 30 years, Sparta will be destroyed by the growing Diónia! By then, there will be no more Sparta in the world, and I will wait for you in Inferno! Mejicolis, if you betray me today, the people of Sparta will abandon you tomorrow! The people of Sparta will even deceive me, let alone you lowly mercenaries! … "
Phoebidas's expression changed slightly. He did not expect that Dionysius was still trying to sow dissension in the face of such a disaster. At this time, Mejicolis subconsciously looked at him. Phoebidas immediately shouted, "What are you waiting for? Kill them now!"
"Yes! Yes! "Mejicolis immediately gave the order.
More than a dozen mercenaries rushed forward with shields and spears. It was not something that Dionysius could resist.
He was shot three times and fell to the ground.
In his dying moment, the screams of his son and friends could no longer stir up the ripples in Dionysius's heart. In a trance, he saw his respected teacher, the great commander of Syracuse, Hermocrates, who defeated the army of Athens and Carthage, and Hermocrates' daughter, his most beloved wife, both smiling at him …
He stretched out his hand happily …
… …
At this time, the new King of Diónia, the Devers, led the first batch of troops to return to Turií, passed through the triumphal arch in the city and headed to the Victory Square.
The road was crowded with people on both sides. They threw petals and waved ribbons, cheering excitedly for the warriors who saved the Alliance and protected their homeland.
The carriage pulled by four white horses stopped at the west side of the square, under the steps of the Grand Assembly Hall. The Devers walked up the platform steadily.
"Your Majesty!" The elders led by Cunogorata and Cornelus saluted respectfully.
"You have worked hard!" The Devers returned the salute and turned to face the square.
Before he could speak, there was a wave of cheers from the audience.
"Long live the King of Devers!!! … "
"Long live the Alliance of Diónia!!! … "
Note: 1. Dionysius.
According to history, Dionysius died in 367 BC. He won the first prize in a Greek poetry competition. In order to celebrate his victory, he drank to his heart's content. As a result, he suffered from a fever due to excessive alcohol consumption. The doctor prescribed him a sedative and hypnotic drug. After he took the drug, he fell into a deep sleep and never woke up. Hence, there was a saying that he was poisoned by the doctor.
After conquering Sicily, he waged war against Greece several times. He conquered Toulon, destroyed the cities of Corunna and Hibernian, and occupied Crotone. He also instigated the Lucanians to attack the Turií territory, but they were repelled by the Turií. However, the Turií led a large army to counterattack the Lucanian territory, and the entire army was annihilated (this was the event described in the second volume of this article, but it happened more than ten years earlier). In the end, the weakened Turií surrendered to Syracuse.
After Dionysius conquered Greece, he then focused his attention on the Adriatic Sea. He built many colonial cities on the east and west coasts of the Adriatic Sea, attempting to make the Adriatic Sea the inner lake of Syracuse. Among these colonies was Ancona, as we know it, and Hadrian, the forerunner of Venice.
At the height of Syracuse's power, its direct rule included most of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian peninsula, with a population of about 2.2 million. In Greece, many knowledgeable people even put Syracuse and Persia on the same level, believing that they were a threat to Greece. During several Olympia Games, there were many scenes of Greek people besieging the Syracuse athletes' camp, protesting, and even clashing with them. Of course, this was also related to Dionysius and the mercenaries robbing the Delphi Sanctum, although they did not succeed in the end.
In the latter half of Dionysius's life, he had been fighting with Carthage, who had recovered his strength, and he lost more than he won, which limited the further expansion of Syracuse. For this reason, Dionysius even transferred his hatred to Carthage's ally, Rome.
In 390 BC, the Gauls of northern Italy went south and attacked the Etruscans. Under the instigation of Dionysius, they defeated Rome's reinforcements and continued to accelerate south, crossed the Tiber River, and captured the city of Rome. This became one of the most painful memories in the history of Rome. It could be seen that Dionysius was very good at dealing with foreign races, so it was not surprising that he incited the Samonians to go against Diónia in this article.
Dionysius had groundbreaking political wisdom. He implemented different ways of ruling the areas under his jurisdiction according to the different conditions of each area, which was very similar to the later system of Rome. He subdivided the army and carried out professional training, which later benefited the Macedonians a lot.
He was very temperate in his living habits and strictly restricted his children's misdeeds, but his rule of the people of Syracuse was indeed very strict. Perhaps it was because his mentor and father-in-law, Hermocrates, was deceived and killed by the democrats of Syracuse, and his wife was raped to death by the mob. He was seriously injured and luckily escaped by hiding in a pile of corpses … These tragic experiences in his early years had caused his temperament to change greatly.
Dionysius was a complicated historical figure, and he hoped that the description could be one-tenth of this ambitious and ruthless person.
Two, Dion.
He was a famous historical figure written by the famous historian of ancient Rome, Plutarch, into the biographies of famous people in Rome. According to the time in the book, he should be less than ten years old, and little Dionysius had not been born yet. The author forced the two of them to show up at the last moment, because there would be no more chances after that.
As the "prime minister" of the next tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius was specially trained by Dion. He was also sent to Athens to study. Plato was his teacher, and the two of them had a deep friendship. Perhaps influenced by the democratic atmosphere in Athens, while he was trying his best to assist little Dionysius, he also hoped that the young tyrant could be more democratic and wise, so he invited Plato.
Plato used "virtues" to educate little Dionysius, hoping to cultivate a "philosophy king". But not long after, little Dionysius grew tired of the two of them, and because of the persuasion of others, he invited back Philistos, who had been banished to Hadrian for many years.
As soon as the wily Philistos returned, he made it clear that Plato and Dion's methods were not suitable for Syracuse. After some of his manipulations, little Dionysius even suspected that the two of them had ulterior motives.
Plato returned to Athens resentfully, and Dion was also expelled from Syracuse. A few years later, he led his army back to Syracuse and overthrew the tyrant's rule. When the newly established council wanted to democratically elect a general, he believed that centralization of power was the only way to be efficient, and any city-state decision had to be approved by him!
Therefore, his obstinacy caused the chaos in Syracuse to not be pacified. In the end, he died in the riot, and the strength of Syracuse was greatly damaged, and it went into decline.
I feel that he is a bit like Yeltsin. I don't understand why Plutarch chose him and not other more famous figures who had a greater impact on ancient Greek history, such as Epaminonda. Was it because Dion advocated democracy and carried out a coup?!
Three, Harolis.
In the information that I have gathered, there is very little information on this historical figure. I only know that in the early days, he was a supporter of Dionysius, and later he opposed Dionysius's dictatorship. This can be seen from his later famous phrase, "the power of a monarch is nothing more than a gaudy shroud."
Before Dionysius's large-scale invasion of Greece, he escaped from Sicily and united the various city-states in Greece to form an allied army to defend Greece. As a citizen of Syracuse, he actually became the commander-in-chief of the allied army. I don't understand why an outsider would become the commander-in-chief of Greece? Was it because he was famous, or was it because choosing a general from another city-state would cause conflict, and everyone would accept him?
Harolis led the allied army to invade Syracuse's army, and he was in the vanguard, at the forefront of the army. He didn't send scouts or spies to patrol the battlefield in advance. Under the circumstances where he didn't know the exact location of the enemy, he rashly advanced. As a result, near Sirium, he was attacked head-on by the well-prepared Syracuse army.
Harolis wasn't afraid at all. While he stubbornly resisted, he also sent messengers to inform the troops behind him to hurry over as soon as possible.
Thus, the allied army continuously entered the battle with the "fueling tactic," and was defeated wave after wave by Dionysius. Harolis died in battle, and the strongest armed force in Greece was forced to surrender. Greece could no longer stop Dionysius's ambition to conquer.
Sometimes, the author really suspected that Harolis was a traitor. His military command was too lousy! Therefore, everyone could understand that it was very likely that Diomiras, the Consul of Tarantum, was easily ambushed by the allied army of Mecca and Prussia. This was because the commanding ability of many Greek city-states in this era was indeed very poor, and their tactics were also backward. In order to increase the excitement of the war, the author also deliberately raised their level. Otherwise, the Dionysian Army formed by Devers using the advanced military theories of his previous life would be …
Four, Fedun
Many readers probably didn't remember who this name was. Fedun was the general of Ligim. Why specifically mention him? For he is one of only two persons (the other being Archita) whose name is recorded in the history of this period in Magna Graecia which the author has collected. Some people would ask what about Cunogorata and Cornelus? These were all fictional characters by the author. It could be seen that there were too few historical records of this period in Greece.
There weren't many records about Fedun. It was only known that after the allied army of Greece was defeated, he still led the army of Ligim to fight against Dionysius, and he fought again and again. He was tenacious and caused a lot of trouble for Dionysius. Therefore, after the city of Ligim was breached, Dionysius killed his entire family, including his relatives and friends. He could be considered to have "killed the three tribes."
Alright, that's all for the nonsense. I suspect that I'm trying to cheat the word count, but I've collected so much information about Sicily and Greece. At the end, this summary and summary should be worth some money, haha!
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