Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Afterwards, Lysias said thoughtfully, “This time, Athens sent Isocrates to Theonia, and due to him knowing that I had stayed here for many years, Athens invited me to accompany him to Thurii-”

“Athens sent you here to Theonia?” Kunogelata showed a surprised looked. Obviously, he didn’t hear anything in advance and thought that Lysias had come here to visit his old classmates.

“You should already know that my father is not an Athenian citizen, so even if I lived in Athens for so many years, I still can’t become an Athenian. Thus I am not the envoy, and I can only assist Isocrates.” Lysias could not understand why Kunogelata was surprised, so he explained.

“In that case, you’d better take these potteries back with you. I can’t accept them!” Kunogelata immediately refused.

“Why?” Lysias was surprised.

“Previously, Thurii’s trial of the traitors had caused a commotion, and I believe that you have also heard of it.” After seeing Lysias nod, Kunogelata continued and said firmly, “I don’t want to be the second Pollux!”

“But…Athens just wants to express its friendly will to your Theonia Union and conclude an alliance at the same time.” Lysias said hurriedly.

“So since Athens is at war with Sparta, who will be the target of this alliance?” As a veteran of politics, Kunogelata immediately guessed Athen’s motive, “Sparta? Impossible, Theonia is still not powerful enough to face the wrath of the Greek hegemon. Sparta’s staunch ally Syracuse? Unfortunately, we have just signed a friendly agreement with Syracuse.”

Kunogelata’s words made Lysias at a loss. Unlike Isocrates, even though Lysias lived in Athens, he was excluded from politics because he was not an Athenian citizen, so he had little political experience. Even in terms of court defence, he could not even go to court to defend someone as he was not an Athenian citizen. Thus he could only write a defence speech for others after careful preparation and planning. As a result, he lacked a bit of quick wit, so he didn’t know what to say for a while.

Kunogelata sighed, “Firstly, take back these Panathenaic potteries. And since the Athenian envoys had come from afar, the Theonia Union would naturally meet you. While I make a proposal to the Senate, you should have the Athenian envoys get prepared.”

“That’s great, that’s great…” Lysias breathed a sigh of relief.

“Lysias.” Kunogelata looked at him and suddenly asked, “You used to be a citizen of Thurii. Have you ever thought of returning to Thurii and becoming a Theonian citizen?”

Lysias was startled.

“In Athens, you are an outsider, so even if you have great talents, you will not have a great stage to use them. Come back to Thurii…” Said Kunogelata, then he changed the subject, “Do you know Ansitanos?”

The words of Kunogelata made Lysias uneasy, causing him to murmur, “…uhm, I know him…he is a student of Herodotus, and we often hang out with each other when we were young.”

“Our archon, lord Davos, had proposed the establishment of a Theonian Akademia in Thurii, where the best scholars from all over the union would gather, whether it is to study mathematics, medicine or rhetorics…and they will all enjoy the special salary given to them by the union, continue to do their own research at their own pace while teaching what they have learned and theories to excellent students, allowing them to spread their reputation in Magna Graecia and even in the Mediterranean!…” Kunogelata then smiled once he saw Lysias listening carefully.

“And in the Akademia, there is a branch specialised in teaching literature to students. Besides being a statesman of the Senate, Ansitanos was also the dean of the literature branch. While he taught rhetorics, he also wrote his book about history, for which he enrolled a dozen students and imparted his knowledge. The Senate had also allocated funds for him to hire some people to collect information throughout Magna Graecia for his book…however, even though I think that Ansitanos was unmatched in historical stuff, rhetorics is not his strong suit, which is what exactly you are good at. If you were to stay in Theonia, our talent-loving lord Davos would surely ask the Senate to grant you special permission to become a Theonian citizen and also become the dean of the Institute of Literature, teaching the students and writing your works. Which will make your reputation to be as famous as that of Ansitanos in Magna Graecia!…”

Kunogelata dared to say such a promise due to his understanding of Davos. But these words struck Lysias’ heart like a rock hitting the water and causing countless splashes and ripples…

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

Davos glanced at the study material given to him by Ansitanos, and he showed a surprised expression, “There is also a large altar of Heracles in the city of Rome? Are you sure?”

“Yes, milord. This great altar is close to the livestock market in Rome. Initially, we heard it from the Capuani merchants who came to trade in Pyxous. Afterwards, we sent someone to confirm it. Milord, as you should know, Heracles once stole the cattle of Geryon and brought them to Eurytheus after a long journey, so many races in the western Mediterranean who live by raising livestock have made Heracles their guardian of livestock…” Ansitanos did not think that there was anything remarkable about Rome’s devotion to Heracles. Rather, he kept on talking about Heracles.

In fact, Davos had entrusted Ansitanos to research the activities of Heracles in the western Mediterranean. Because after conquering Bruttii, Davos found it strange that there are many altars and statues of Heracles in the Bruttian region, and the Bruttians even claimed that they are the descendant of Heracles, and their ancestor Brutus, was the son of the hero Heracles and their queen Valentia.”

This statement surprised Davos. But with an alien race claiming that they are the descendant of a famous Greek god, this allowed Theonia Union to find common ground for the assimilation of the Bruttian since they were all ‘of the same race.’

However, this has caused Davos to pay attention to Heracles, a powerful god of Greek mythology. And from what he learned from Ansitanos and the others, he realises that Heracles was very famous in the western Mediterranean, as half of his “12 Labours” had taken place here. The Greek god spent most of his time wandering in the west Mediterranean; he had been to Sicily, travelled north through Italia, crossed Gaul, and to the Iberian Peninsula. But before he could steal the golden apples in the garden of Hesperides (the 11th labour), he needed to cross the Atlas Mountains. Therefore, he used his divine power to divide the mountain range, linking the Atlantic Ocean with the western Mediterranean. And that is the origin of the “Pillar of Heracles”.

Heracles then reached the mysterious island of Erytheia in the Atlantic Ocean at the westernmost end of the world, killed Geryon, took the herd, retraced his steps through western Europe, and finally returned to Greece…and the story of his adventures was widely spread due to his heroic deeds of upholding justice and chivalry, getting the love and recognition of many people of different races. Thus in many parts of the western Mediterranean, there is a legend that he fathered many children from distinguished women of different races, and the Bruttians are just one of them…

Davos then picked the study material again and read it carefully.

On the other hand, Ansitanos was not in a hurry. He leaned leisurely against the back of his chair, closed his eyes and began conceiving his own book.

After some time passed, Davos closed the pages, placed the study material on the table, rubbed his tired eyes and asked, “Lord Ansitanos, as a historian, what do you think after wiping away the dust of those myths and legends through this information you have collected?”

Ansitanos opened his eyes as he found Davos’ question interesting. However, this wasn’t a historian is good at, so he thought about it for a while and said, “What I see is the strong attraction of the elegance of the Greek culture to these mountain races who were still in the stage of ignorance. So they all want to associate with Greece to show that their origins were not barbaric.”

“Yes, and this is what we want to see.” Davos stroke his chin and said in a deep voice, “It seems that there is a need to build a magnificent Temple of Heracles in Thurii and hold annual celebrations in his honour to strengthen the sense of connection of alien race to Theonia.” 𝗼𝐯𝐥.𝗻𝐭

“Milord, that is a wise decision!” Ansitanos complimented.

“But-” Davos picked up the study material on the table and changed the subject, “Lord Ansitanos, you have only scratched the surface while you have not yet uncovered the deeper meaning.”

‘There is a deeper meaning?’ Ansitanos looked at Davos with suspicion, as he had read the study material many times before giving it to Davos.

“Look here-” Davos turned the page and read it aloud, “On Heracles’ journey back to Greece with his herd of cattle, a lost bull swam across the Strait of Messina and reached a place called Eryx, where a local ruler captured it. After discovering it, Heracles killed the ruler, recaptured the bull and agreed to return the land to the oppressed natives, while making an agreement that ‘once his descendants appear in Sicily, the natives have to return the land to them.’”

“There is indeed such a legend about Heracles in Sicily.” Ansitanos nodded.