Chapter 601
"Now, the senators who want to be the governor of Enona, please sign up."
As soon as Cornelus finished speaking, someone quickly stood up and said in a loud voice, "I want to run!"
The Devers narrowed their eyes slightly.
It was Myron, the former chief general of Crotone who had once fought with the Devers.
After Crotone merged into the Kingdom of Diónia, he first assisted Cornelus, the governor of Crotone at that time, in rebuilding Ciudad Crotone. He then held several middle-level positions in Ciudad Crotone: construction officer, agricultural officer, administrative adjutant …
After Diónia conquered Mesapi, because of Myron's outstanding performance in Crotone, the Devers personally appointed Myron as the governor of Udier, the central town of Mesapi, to show their complete trust in him. Myron did not disappoint. After taking office, he was swift and decisive, quelling several riots and finding out several tribes who were unwilling to surrender, including the family of Pachimerus (Pachimerus died suddenly shortly after the defeat in the Battle of Brindisi. There were different opinions about the cause of his death. Some thought that he committed suicide because he felt that the future of Mesapi was hopeless, some said that his family assassinated him in order to seize power, and some thought that the other tribes in Udier had long been dissatisfied with his dictatorship and took the opportunity to kill him.) Myron showed no mercy to them. He either executed them, imprisoned or expelled them, causing the order in the entire Udier region to be strict. Even the people in the nearby towns of Mesapi became much more well-behaved.
Half a year ago, Myron ended his term and returned to Turií. He did not ask for another term.
At this moment, Myron applied to go to Enona, but the Devers were not very optimistic about him. After all, what Enona needed was a senator who could handle the relationship with Campania and Sammonet, and who was politically flexible and tough. Myron, who was called the "executioner" by some of the people of Udier, was too radical.
At this time, another senator stood up from the crowd.
Adrianx! The eyes of the Devers blinked again.
After the Southern War, many city-states merged into the Kingdom of Diónia. Although the Senate had absorbed many new senators from these city-states, they could not be sent out immediately to manage a city independently. This was because their loyalty needed to be verified, and they did not understand the political system and laws of Diónia, so they needed some time to familiarize themselves with it.
However, there were not many senior senators in the Senate, so these new senators became the majority. Therefore, the Senate urgently promoted many outstanding mid-level public officials to become senators, such as Asistes, Olivers, Matonis, Giogris, Sexlian, Aristocrates, Fraukelion, and even Mattikris, Mentotic-Els, Stesicordas, and so on from the Diónia Academy.
But at that time, there weren't many elders who had the experience of being a city administrator, and there were many cities within the kingdom that needed to be filled by the elders. For this reason, Dyvers and Kunogorata had no choice but to mobilize the former mercenary elders to take up the heavy responsibility, volunteering to be the administrators of these new territories, and using the newly promoted elders as assistants. This way, the old elders would learn to govern in practice, and the new elders would understand the workings of the kingdom's system through assistance. Dyvers believed that this was a win-win situation, and that was why there were many situations like "Antonius became the administrator of Naxos, Alexis governed Enona, and Hyros took over Rockley." Although there were some problems, overall, it was a good way to ensure the stability of the Kingdom of Dionia and the good functioning of the political system.
Adrianx was also one of the senators who was forced to do more than he could chew. Because of the incident where he "became a laughing stock in the Isthmus Tournament", he learned from it and strengthened his study of knowledge and culture. He even went to the Diónia Academy to listen to Lysias' eloquence. Therefore, when he became the first governor, he did not ask the Senate to send a new senator from a local town to assist him. Of course, this town that was newly annexed to the kingdom was the easiest to manage. Castellón, a small town next to Turín, had always been influenced by Diónia. Its people admired Diónia, which made Castellón, which had not yet joined Diónia, look like a satellite town of Turín.
Therefore, Adrianx successfully governed Castellón for three years. His greatest achievement in Castellón was to lay the foundation for Castellón to become a real satellite town of Turín (the other satellite town of Turín was Abyssinia). From the convenience of transportation to the expansion of the port, to letting the people of Castellón join Turín's city rugby and football matches, and so on, Adrianx made a lot of efforts. He also wrote several letters to the Senate to apply for the transformation of the tidal flat north of Castellón into a military port, and invited the First Fleet of Diónia to settle there.
At that time, it coincided with the expansion of the urban area of Turín, and the temporary military port built downstream of the Crati River for the war in Southern Italy was no longer suitable for the fleet to dock. Adrianx took the initiative to provide a place for the fleet, which was equivalent to asking for funds from the Senate to transform the troublesome tidal flat for free. At the same time, he also promoted the development of the port of Castellón and small businesses. Later, due to the continuous expansion of Diónia's territory and the strategic needs of the kingdom, the main force of the First Fleet later moved to the main port of Tarantum. However, the military port of Castellón was still one of the important military ports in the Taranto Bay, so the people of Castellón still remembered his good deeds.
Later, Adrianx was transferred to the governor of Heraclea, another great Greek city-state that had long been under his control. It was not difficult for Adrianx to govern, but he was not idle either. During his three years in office, he led the people to dredge the river, build bridges, and fill in the swamps. By the time he left, the annual floods suffered by the people of Heraclea had been greatly reduced.
Then, he became the governor of Ujentum. Ujentum was a seaport town in the Mesapi region, across the sea from Crimissa. Due to the small population in the city and the frequent sea trade with the Greek city-states in Magna Graecia, the people of Ujentum were not as wary of the Greeks as the people of Urdière. Therefore, Adrianx's administration did not encounter any major problems. He took advantage of Ujentum's geographical location close to the Taranto Bay and Urdière to vigorously expand the port and build the road to Urdière, making Ujentum a transit point between Turín and Urdière (because Turín — Ujentum — Urdière had become the most convenient route, usually only a day's journey), thus bringing benefits to the people of Ujentum.
Adrianx's achievements as the governor three times were dazzling. The Kingdom's Officials Management Committee gave him "excellent" marks for his administrative work during his tenure, and they also said that he was good at town construction and could improve the lives of the people.
However, Enona's situation was more complicated than Castellón, Heraclea, and Ujentum. The Devers were not sure if Adrianx could handle it well.
Then, another senator raised his hand. Most of the senators around him had a complicated look on their faces. It was Nicomachus, the senator from Lochli.
During the Great Hellenic War, Lochli, as a city-state in Magna Graecia, became an accomplice of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse. It was also rumored that Lochli was once suspected of assassinating the Devers. Therefore, the people of Lochli became the rats on the streets and were spurned by the people of Magna Graecia. After Lochli surrendered to Diónia, in order to stabilize this once powerful Magna Graecia and its allies, several senators with high prestige in the council of Lochli were elected as senators of Diónia. Nicomachus, who was the first to propose the surrender to Demodoras, was naturally one of them.
Nicomachus and Myron stayed in Lochli to assist Hilos in governing Lochli. The people of Lochli quickly accepted the rule of Diónia. This was partly due to Nicomachus' efforts. Of course, it was also because the culture of Lochli was compatible with Diónia. Because the people of Lochli regarded Persephone, the wife of Pluto, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, as the patron saints of the city, they had a natural sense of closeness to the people of Diónia. In addition, the harsh laws of Lochli made it easier for the people of Lochli to obey authority.
In the sixth year of Diónia, the Devers appointed Nicomachus as the governor of Odrum.
Odrum was also a coastal city in the Mesapi region. Unlike Ugentum, Odrum was located at the southeast end of the Italian peninsula. Because of the fertile land around it, the town had a large population. Moreover, it was located at the exit of the Adriatic Sea. It was the closest place in the Italian peninsula to the mainland of Greece. Two hundred miles across the Adriatic Sea was the famous island of Kerkyra. Therefore, Odrum was also the town in the Mesapi region most influenced by Greek culture. Sometimes, merchants from Athens and merchants from Pytheas, who represented the people of Sparta, could even be seen operating in its port.
After the people of Mesapi were conquered, Odrum became the second most turbulent city after Udiae. This showed how difficult it was to govern. However, within three years of Nicomachus taking office, the political situation in Odrum was stable, and the people gradually submitted to him. This showed how capable he was.
In fact, the Devers thought that Nicomachus was the best candidate for the governor of Enona. However, he had stated in advance that he would not appoint a candidate. Therefore, the possibility of Nicomachus being elected was slim, because the people of Lochli were not welcomed by the Greek senators.
There was another senator who participated in the election. He was from Sicily, but unlike the other Sicilian senators, he came from Syracuse.
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