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The fact that Theonia did not sign an agreement with Taranto made Histiaeus uneasy, so he reluctantly reminded, “So you are confident of defeating Syracuse?! I have heard that Dionysius’ army still has the absolute advantage on land!”

“Isn’t that what you are hoping? For Syracuse to defeat us!” Kunogelata said sarcastically, “After all, you will no longer have to worry about the safety of your city-state and the survival of your citizens.”

Histiaeus was unable to respond for a moment. In the end, he couldn’t help but ask, “If this war continues, wouldn’t we Tarantines keep sending food to Thurii even though you know that our food reserves aren’t enough?”

“Since you already know it, then why did you still dare tear up our alliance and go to war with us?!” Kunogelata sneered.

Ansitanos then interjected, “There are many wars of such magnitude that have occurred throughout Greek history, and it definitely won’t last long.”

Histiaeus hesitated and said in the end, “Alright, I will convey Theonia’s offer to our council. However, I hope that you understand that Taranto is the child of Sparta.”

Kunogelata and Ansitanos glanced at each other. Kunogelata then lightly said, “So what? Is Sparta about to join the war?”

Histiaeus no longer spoke as he noticed that the Theonians did not fear any threat. Perhaps it is what the other side said that Taranto could only hope Syracuse to win…

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

Just as Kunogelata, Ansitanos and the Tarantine envoy negotiated post-war matters, Davos discussed the food issue with Baripiri, Kapus, Marigi and Mersis.

“Your majesty, Thurii’s granary is almost empty now as we have transported the grains to the troops in the south for some time. Although I estimate that there is still half left in the granary in Consentia, transporting it would be difficult. In addition, we are about to attack Laos, so the granary in Consentia would need to provide the food supply. As for the current situation of the granary in Grumentum, I don’t know anything about it…” Baripiri, the chief agricultural officer, detailedly told Davos the current food situation in Theonia.

“I am quite clear about the situation of Grumentum’s granary. The war with the Samnites ended quite quickly, so we didn’t consume too much, and we also managed to take the enemy’s supply. However, Grumentum’s grain production is low, and they do not have good storage capacity in the first place. Instead, they have a lot of livestock, and the price is low, so they could barely support the third legion’s counterattack on the Samnite region. Hence it is unlikely for the Lucanian region to squeeze out grain to supply Thurii. Besides, transportation would also be a big problem. Thus it is better to not think of Grumentum’s granary.” Davos briefed them on what he had learned after leading his army through Grumentum.

“Your majesty, it seems we urgently need to solve the food problem if we want to organise a campaign against Syracuse of more than 50,000 troops!”

Kapus, who took over the position of quartermaster in place of Hielos during this period and had a detailed understanding of the situation, said worriedly,

“Three days ago, Aprustum and Krimisa sent back a message saying they are tight in food. But due to the fear of the harassment of the Syracusan fleet in the past few days, the logistic teams kept increasing their escort to avoid getting attacked by enemy sailors, so there was no large-scale transportation of grain to these two cities where the legions were station. Currently, I don’t know about their situation.

Furthermore, Thurii now has the first, second, and seventh, a total of three legions, as well as the logistics team and the 6,000 men that your majesty has newly assembled. Your majesty, there are now nearly 32,000 men, and the daily consumption of grain is enormous, so if we could not solve the food problem, we would need to disband these armies in a few days because we are running out of grain.”

“Everyone, don’t forget that there are also the prisoners from Syracuse and Taranto; I am afraid they totalled to about 25,000 men!” Mersis loudly reminded everyone, “So even if we give them just a bit of food every day to sustain their survival, it would still not be a small consumption. Hence I think it is better to treat them all as slaves and sell them for money.”

Davos did not feel disgusted looking at Mersis’ impatient greed. With the war consumption and the suspension of the port market, the treasury’s money only goes out and not in. So he can fully understand Mersis’ impatientness as the treasury was already bottomed out.

However, he only shook his head and said, “We can not sell the Tarantine captives as they are the most important tool for us to control Taranto. With them, Taranto will obediently and continuously deliver us food. And if we were to combine the supplies we seized in Heraclea yesterday; I think we could at least alleviate the food shortage in Thurii. As for the Syracusan sailors…Marigi, now that we cleared up the blockade of our port by the Syracusans, I believe that we could slowly resume our trade, so can we sell these Syracusan sailors?” Davos, a man from modern times in his former life, had always abhorred the trading of slaves, but for the survival of Theonia, he wouldn’t hesitate.

After Davos said that, Mersis had also changed his previous attitude of hating Marigi as he looked at him eagerly.

Marigi nodded and greeted Davos. Then he slowly said, “Your majesty, although we defeated the Syracusans at sea, we still have not yet completely wiped out their maritime strength, and they still controlled the Strait of Messina, our most important trading route.

But the situation on the eastern Mediterranean is a little better, as we have completely wiped out the Tarantine fleet, and the combined fleet of Sparta, the ally of Syracuse, is now held down by the Athenian fleet, which is friendly with us. So if we could not clear away the blockade of the Strait of Messina, we could only recover our sea trade to the eastern Mediterranean in the future. Unfortunately, the eastern Mediterranean trade does not occupy a major position in our market.”

Instead of talking about the slave issue, Marigi – the chief commercial officer, briefly estimated the situation of the port market.

Davos immediately said, “I understand what you mean. That’s why I would urge Seclian to lead the fleet to seize control of the Strait of Messina as soon as possible! But can you guarantee our port’s normal operation with the arrival of merchant ships?”

Davos asked about this point as the arrival of merchant ships during wartime requires a lot of management staff, numerous porters and sailors, patrols to maintain law and order…and so on, and the more prosperous the port is, the more manpower is needed. But in order to cope with the war, Theonia recruited and transferred a large number of young and strong labourers, which included official citizens, preparatory citizens, registered freemen, and even unregistered freemen. The once-bustling port and market are now desolate, with more women, elderly and even children busily attending the market stalls, which shows the lack of labour.

Marigi was undoubtedly aware that adequate labour is also an equally important issue. But in this regard, he had no better solution than to reluctantly say, “Your majesty, I would find a way to solve this problem…as for the Syracusan captives, it is indeed hard to find a city-state that can afford to pay for such a large number of slaves in a short time and is not afraid of Syracuse and dare to take…well, I do have a place in mind.” Marigi emphasised said, “We can try Carthage, and we could even exchange these slaves for Carthage’s grain.”

As soon as Marigi uttered these words, Mersis began to mutter, “Carthage is already scared of the Syracusans as they refused to ally with us before. Thus I don’t think they will agree to buy these prisoners.”

Marigi, however, ignored him as he waited for Davos’ reply/

‘Carthage!’ After Marigi’s reminder, Davos eyes brighten up: Before the war, Carthage was opposed to an alliance with Theonia, But with the war continuing to this day, it is not certain whether the Carthaginians would maintain their previous attitude. After all, Syracuse and Carthage were enemies. Although they have maintained peace during this time, it does not mean that the Carthaginians would just watch Syracuse continue to expand their power in Magna Graecia and even turn Magna Graecia into their backyard. Because by then, the more powerful Syracuse would only pose a greater threat to Carthage’s sphere of influence in Sicily.

Thinking of this, Davos made up his mind and said, “It seems that we need to send another envoy to Carthage immediately and probe the Carthaginian’ attitude towards this war. If they are willing to buy these slaves, we can further put forward some of our requirements to Carthage, such as grain trade. After all, this war is not only related to the survival of Theonia but also related to the rise and fall of Syracuse. I don’t know how long this war would last, but the grains of Taranto alone is not enough to ensure the sufficient food supply of the Theonian army being formed! Carthage is also known for its abundance of grain and is not far from Theonia, which can meet our needs. Otherwise, where else would we buy our needs? The black sea? Or Egypt? These places are too far away from us to guarantee its timely arrival, and accidents are prone to occur…”

“Your majesty, we could also consider Cyrenaica.” Marigi added.

‘Cyrenaica?’ Davos was taken aback for a moment as he really hadn’t thought of this Greek city-state situated in Africa and adjacent to Carthage and Egypt as Theonia had never had any contact with them before. Although Cyrenaica has a good relationship with Sparta(because it is the child of Sparta), they have always maintained neutrality among the Greek city-states, and it is a city-state dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry. Silphium is only one of its special commodities, but besides that, they are also rich in horses, cattle, sheep, wheat and linseed.

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