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Another power in Magna Graecia is Rhegium in the far “tip” of Italia and has remained neutral to the strife in Magna Graecia, and they cared much more about shipping and trade than to seek hegemony; While Locri now has a grudge against Theonia, but they are separated from Theonia by the South Italia Alliance and Crotone alone was enough to make them suffer, it would be enough to defeat Locri just by Theonia sending small reinforcements. As for Syracuse, the backer behind Locri, they are still tangled up with Carthage and had no spare energy to focus on the land north of Sicily. Therefore, the only force that Davos had to consider from making South Italia into the most stable base of Theonia Union were the Bruttians.

The area in which the Bruttians live was not coveted for its high terrain, as its land is not fertile and it is not near the sea. However, due to its existence, the territory of Theonia from Aprustum to Grumentum has changed into a long, thin “S”-shape. Especially in the east, as cities such as Aprustum, Krimisa, their ally – Roscianum, Thurii and Amendolara are lined up along the coast and formed a narrow passage. For the sea-loving Greeks, this is not unusual, but for Davos, who has been influenced by more than 2,000 years of history, had felt a deep sense of uneasiness with such a territory being too flat and without a depth. And with an excessively long coastline, any place would be an easy target for an enemy’s attack in the event of a powerful foreign invasion. And while the army of Theonia is marching, it will lengthen the army’s supply line and become another extremely vulnerable target, a disadvantage that had already been shown in the war with Crotone. Therefore, at the same time as the formation of the Theonian Navy, Davos had set his eyes on the Bruttian mountains.

Although the transportation between the Bruttian mountains and the territory of Theonia is not very convenient, if they were to have it, the Theonian territory in south Italia would then be united. The river valley paths north of Aprustum, the mountain path to the north of the southern city of Thurii and the mountain paths on the southern bank of the Crati River could all be transformed into a passage between Theonia and Brutti, not to mention that the soldiers of Grumentum and Nerulum can directly cross the west coast of the Bruttian mountains and reach Terina more quickly. Besides, the Bruttians are weak and not united, which made it easy to conquer them.

Davos’ original plan was to wait until Theonia’s three new territories, Aprustum, Krimisa and Grumentum had stabilised before launching his plans against the Bruttians. Hence why Davos had asked Izam to send some people to the Bruttians to collect information some time ago, but he didn’t expect that the Bruttians to be heavily on guard, and Izam’s people could barely speak their language, so instead of getting information, they lost several people. Therefore, Davos had to suspend his reconnaissance, but to his surprise, the envoy of Terina – Siprus had brought him alarming news.

“The Bruttian region is different from Lucania, as they are surrounded by Greek city-states.” Said Siprus seriously, “Therefore, every year, some Greeks or slaves flee for a range of reasons such as crime and persecution by political enemies to the Bruttian region and gradually formed a unique tribe…many years ago we, Terina, have become closely associated with this tribe, to whom we secretly sold some of their much-needed goods, while they passed on to us some news from the mountains, and by Terina relying on this tribe, we have prevented many times in advance the invasion of the Bruttians.

And this time…they have contacted us for several days in a row because the coalition of Bruttian tribes has threatened their survival, so there should be no doubt about its authenticity!” Siprus emphasized once more.

Davos was surprised, “What’s the name of this tribe?”

“Siro, which means ‘Heron’”

Davos nodded, as he didn’t need to ask Siprus as he could already guess that the reason such a tribe made up of Greeks could survive in that mountainous region was by taking advantage of the tribal disputes, and had even perhaps played the role of mercenaries or a black market, but now that the Bruttians had completed their integration, this foreign tribes would lose their ground.

Then came another question in Davos’ mind, “Why haven’t the Bruttians formed an alliance like the Lucanians, but had instead centralized their power? Won’t the other tribes object?”

Siprus said with a wry smile as he looked at Davos, “I don’t know much about the specific reasons…but maybe…it had learned from its neighbours. So far, at least, no major disturbances have been heard in the Bruttian region.”

Davos noticed the teasing in Siprus’ words, and was shocked, “Back then, the organization of the Lucanian tribal alliance was loose and each tribe had their own interests, which made it impossible to concentrate all the power, hence why the danger to Theonia was much less. But if like Theonia, they could concentrate their power to a higher degree, then it would be worthy of Theonia’s vigilance!”

Davos sat back in his chair and looked at Siprus and said solemnly, “Terina has sent you to tell me this news, so do you have any suggestions?”

Siprus had managed to understand Davos’ style of speak from the last time, so he stopped beating around the bush and frankly said, “The council of Terina hopes that Theonia will lead the South Italia Alliance in an active offence against the Bruttians and wipe out this tribal union before they can become a real threat and return peace to the people of the city-states in Magna Graecia.”

“South Italia Alliance….” Davos murmured, then he touched his chin and started pondering for a moment and then said, “Starting a war would be a huge event, especially against a big force like the whole Bruttians! Moreover, Theonia has just ended a war not long ago, so it may take some time for the Senate to make a decision on this issue….”

Siprus nodded in understanding.

“In that case, Siprus, you better stay in Thurii for a while and get a good feel for the life of a Theonian, while making it convenient for us to discuss the attack on the Bruttii with you at any time.”

When Davos sent out the invitation, Siprus immediately agreed and said with a smile, “Thurii is a city-state completely different from the other Greek city-states! I love the architecture and the tidiness, and more importantly the food that can’t be found anywhere else!”

Davos smiled and didn’t ask Siprus about what he had said in Cheiristoya’s Restaurant about ‘the flaw in the political system of Theonia’ even until he had sent Siprus away. For he did not want anyone to know that Davos had eyes and ears all over Thurii, because no one likes to be watched at all times.

In fact, this practice of Davos was not the first of its time. As early as 70 years ago, Hiero, the successor of the Tyrant of Syracuse, Gelon, had implemented the “secret police” which caused great public disgust. Of course, Davos, who cares about his reputation, will not be stupid enough to expose these dark sides, and in fact, he himself knows the biggest problem of the Theonian government.

After the Senate of Theonia had deliberately refrained from holding the ecclesia, ordinary citizens no longer have the opportunity to participate in politics. In Persia, this would not have been a problem, but this was Greece, and the Greek citizens were notoriously enthusiastic about political participation among the Mediterranean countries and city-states, and even Sparta, the most conservative oligarch had allowed its citizens to express their opinions on the laws and proposals that were made, not by voting of course, but by using the strength of their voices to either support a “yes or no”. The reason why the political situation of Theonia is still stable was due to the population of these Greek cities in Theonia Union dropping sharply after the war, and the rest of the people are still busy reconstructing their homes, and the fear of war had made them eager for the protection of the strong, and the army under the command of Davos can give them this great sense of safety; While the majority of the former freemen, who were the majority of the population, had always been on the edge of the city-states and are busy with their livelihoods and at the same time, they have no right to participate in the affairs of the city-states, and therefore had neither developed the habit of participating in politics nor have shown much enthusiasm for it; Not to mention the Lucanian citizens, who were formerly at the mercy of the elders and chieftains in their tribes, but now, in the union, these are all the things that are now decided by the Senate, and they are not in any way out of place.

And Davos knew that such a stable situation would not last forever. Once the union becomes stronger and the people become richer, they would then have higher demands. But Davos was not worried about this, as he had already taken corresponding measures to deal with it. For now, it is better to let the people of Theonia continue familiarizing themselves with the existing system until they become accustomed to it…

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

At the end of July, Dionysius had led the Syracusan army to launch a full-scale attack on the core city of Carthage in Sicily, Motya.

The causeway they have built from the coast has connected the small island in the bay, and with this, they are now able to directly transport the siege equipment near to the city, and so, the fierce siege war began; The people of Motya used bows and javelins, and throwing burning tar to kill the Syracusan soldiers, while the Syracusan used dozens of ballista to bombard the walls of Motya, forcing the defenders to stand on top of the walls…

After several days of fierce fighting, the sieging ram used by the Syracusans broke a big gap in the city wall of Motya, and the Syracusan army rushed in and the city wall of Motya fell.

Dionysius became very excited as he thought that victory was in his hand, but the bloody battle had just begun.

When the residents of Motya saw that the Carthaginian reinforcements were defeated by the ballistas in the bay, they had realized that they would have to fight alone. They also understand that the conflicts and wars between Carthage and the Greeks in Sicily for decades had accumulated countless hatred, and so there was no way out for them even if they were to surrender, hence why they decided to fight to the death.

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