Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

In the market, Cheiristoya’s Restaurant is still packed every day, where the preparatory citizens and freemen of Theonia, as well as merchants and sailors from all other places, taste good food, drink good alcohol and talk about current events. Of course, there are also some gossips, such as rumours about Davos’ mother having s*x with Hades in her dream and became pregnant. There are also debates regarding the patrol captain of Thurii that everyone loved and hate, Olivos and his Persian wife, whether they are doing Greek position or Persian position when making love…and so on.

Of course, the war with Bruttii is the most discussed during this time. The preparatory citizens and the freemen, who had participated in military training, had seen the might of the Theonian soldiers and were convinced that Theonia would win. On the other hand, many foreign sailors and merchants expressed doubts because the war had been ongoing for more than ten days, yet there was still no progress. In the end, the two sides either quarrel or fight, making the restaurant become the most frequented place of the market patrol.

Dicaeapolis and Tios sat in the corner eating mutton and drinking beer while listening to the others talking loudly about the war that was going on.

Dicaeapolis sighed, “This is the only bad thing about Theonia Union. There are too many wars. So far, there have been three wars just this year, and my business had gotten affected,”

Tios comforted him, saying, “There is no place in this world now where there is no war! Even in Corinth, the people are worried about when a war will break out with Sparta due to their deepening conflict. Theonia is still pretty good. At least they haven’t lost so far, and they are always the one attacking other city-states…” There was a look of envy on Tios’ face.

“You are now running a weapon workshop and buying and selling weapons, so of course, you hope that there are more wars! I heard that the archon of Theonia visited your workshop some time ago.” Dicaeapolis also expressed envy.

“That’s right.” Tios was rather smug as he leaned his head in and whispered, “You are my friend, so I am not afraid to tell you that Theonia is improving its weapons and equipment. They have a huge number of soldiers, but their own weapon production is too low that even if they were to produce for five years, they still wouldn’t be able to give every soldier new weapons and armours. And my weapon workshop is the only large weapon workshop in Theonia, so the archon who likes war naturally favours me!”

“I am afraid this…has to be tens of thousands of sets of weapons and armour. You are going to be rich!” Dicaeapolis said enviously.

“I won’t make that much money.” Tios shook his head and said, “The archon, Davos, though young, is a shrewd man. He proposed to replace old weapons and armours with new ones and pay slightly more for the production at most.”

“Old weapons? You mean even those that are rusting?”

“No, the Theonian soldiers no longer use the traditional Corinthians helmets, bronze shields and shin guards of the Greek city-state, but had designed a leather helmet inlaid with iron pieces and with jaws, the shield is wood covered with cowhide, but it is half a human height, and it had to be curved. Making this kind of shield was too difficult that I don’t even know why they want to design it like this…” Tios described his doubts and complaints.

“The archon of Theonia is a famous strategos of Magna Graecia, so he naturally has his reasons for this design, and you only need to do what he says, so why think so much. And listening to you say so, you can resell those traditional Greek weapons and equipment to other city-states, which is also profitable.” Dicaeapolis reminded.

“But you did not include the shipping, the taxes and the time spent in selling it in other cities…” Tios took a sip of the alcohol, then a puzzled expression appeared on his face, “In fact, I don’t care much about these as it is a rare opportunity to have a good relationship with the archon while earning some money! But Davos said something to me when he left the weapon workshop that made me unable to sleep for some time…”

“What is it?” Asked Dicaeapolis curiously.

“He said, ‘unfortunately, you are not a Theonian citizen, else we could have further cooperation with you.’”

Dicaeapolis was stunned and pondered over the sentence. Then his eyes suddenly lit up, “He meant for you to be a Theonian citizen.”

“I think so as well.” Tios sighed, “But according to the Theonian Law, if I want to be a citizen of Theonia, then I will no longer be a citizen of Corinth, and it would also take me a long time to become a citizen of Theonia.”

“What’s so great about being a Corinthian citizen anyway? Do you even own a land?”

“I have no land in Corinth.”

“According to what you have said, Corinth is likely to have a war with Sparta. Can Corinth defeat Sparta?”

“No.”

“Then it’s better for you to prepare now than lose your family. You are not too old, and waiting for a few years in Theonia wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Moreover, becoming a citizen of Theonia allows you to own your own land and further your business. With such a good thing, the goddess of luck is blessing you. So why do you hesitate?!”

Dicaeapolis’ words wakened him up, and after a contemplation, Tios finally made up his mind, “My dear friend, thank you for reminding me! You are right. I really should have decided earlier!”

Dicaeapolis laughs, “Actually, I also want to be a citizen of Theonia. The longer I live in Theonia, the less I want to go back to Crete, which is small, barren and boring. Here, I can watch wonderful rugby and football games, eat delicious food, and have a physician treat you if you get sick. If you have nothing to do, you can go hunt in the mountains or fish in the lake. Theonia is a vibrant city-state union where the political situation is stable. Even though it is already strong, it is still becoming stronger that no other city-state dares to invade it, and only it bullies others!”

Listening to Dicaeapolis, Tios raised his mug and said, “Shall we go register at the census office of the city?”

Dicaeapolis was stunned, then laughed, “Okay, let’s go together!”

The two drain their mug, wiping away the knots in their hearts as they talk and laugh, feeling more cheerful.

However, the guests at the next table were arguing. When Dicaeapolis listened carefully, it turned out that it was because of the Isthmian Games, so he snicked, ”Tios, be careful. Don’t mention that you are a Corinthian here.

Speaking of this, Tios said angrily, “Most of the Council of Corinth are fools, I am afraid that this is the first time they have heard of the name Theonia, so they simply looked down on this new city-state union, but they do not know that this new city-state union is several times stronger than Corinth, and offending it will not do Corinth any good!”

Dicaeapolis felt the same way, “Not only Corinth, but most city-state citizens in Greece have a disdainful attitude towards the city-state in the western Mediterranean. They always think that the city-states here are just colonies and treat them as country bumpkins from remote areas. In fact, they don’t know that not only Syracuse but also Theonia is as powerful as Sparta and Athens, while city-states such as Taranto and Crotone are even among the top powers even in Greece itself.”

“Yea, offending a powerful Theonia would make the future of Corinth bleak…” Tios said with some worry.

“Why do you even need to worry about that? You have already decided to become a Theonian citizen anyway.”

“But I still have a lot of relatives and friends in Corinth!”

As the two discussed, a deafening cheer suddenly rang out from the market.

The people in the restaurant didn’t know what was going on and were curiously asking each other. A patrolman then came in and said excitedly, “All hail Theonia! Our brave soldiers, under the leadership of the great archon, Davos, has captured the city of Besidice in Bruttii!”

“Great! We won again!”

“Isn’t Besidice the small city on the south bank of the Crati River, next to our Thurii?! No Greek has even been there before. I heard that the terrain there was very perilous, yet we actually captured it?!! It has only been a few days since the war started!!”

“Brave soldiers, attack! Keep on your offence and try to capture Consentia as soon as possible!!”

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

Cheering filled the whole restaurant.

At this time, the waiter came out and said, “To celebrate this victory, my madame decided that the food and drink you want today are free!”

“Hooray for the generous wife of the archon, the beautiful Cheiristoya!” The guests stamped their feet with joy and cheered.

“Wonderful, please give me something to drink as well!” The patrolman said happily.

“Wine or beer?” Asked the waiter.

“Look how I am sweating, so of course I would drink beer to quench my thirst.” When he got handed a full cup of beer, the patrolman raised it high and said loudly, “Everyone, to our omnipotent archon, Lord Davos! And to our brave citizens who are fighting in the war!”

Everyone in the restaurant, including Dicaeapolis and Tios, raised their cup while the guests at the next table came to have a toast with them and said, “Congratulations to you both for joining the ranks of Theonia’s citizens! This is certainly the correct decision!”

Dicaeapolis looked at him in surprise, “You heard everything?”

The man blinked, “Otherwise, why do you think I cursed the Corinthians?”

Tios laughed with relief at this moment, “This is the arrangement of the goddess of Fate that we could usher such good news after making our decision!”

“Yes.” Dicaeapolis nodded in agreement.

“Cheers!” Several wooden mugs collided, and the liquor splashed all over.