"Dionysius controlled Sicily, which was slightly smaller than Dionia, but half of Dioonia was mountainous and could not grow cereals and other crops, while Sicily was a famous wheat producer in the Mediterranean. Based on the volume of wheat traded in Syracuse last year, Sicily could produce twice as much wheat as we did.

Moreover, the port of Syracuse was prosperous, and compared to our city of Turii, it almost monopolized the maritime trade between the Greeks and Africa, and even now at war with Carthage, many Phoenician merchants can still be seen in the port of Syracuse. Although I don't know for sure what Syracuse's monthly commercial tax revenue is, both in terms of port capacity and the number of merchant ships, it is much stronger than Turii. And that's not even counting the city-states of Agrigento, Catanay, Naxos and Messina, which were founded 300 years ago, and whose ports were thriving! ……”

Listening to Aristiras's words, Davers nodded involuntarily and said: "Needless to say, the ability to mobilize for war, since Dionysius is a tyrant, his greatest advantage is that he can concentrate all the resources in his control to the greatest extent, including the people, and can suddenly start a war without the approval of the council. I remember the last time I heard you say that this war of Dionysius against Carthage on the north coast of Sicily sent about 100,000 men?! ”

"Yes, sir. Nearly 80,000 infantry and 20,000 navy, to be exact. ”

"Last time...... How many men did he send to attack western Sicily? Davers asked again.

"It's rumored to be 100,000 people."

Davers sighed: "Yes, Syracuse can launch a large-scale war of 100,000 people at every turn, and the key is that he can support such a large number of troops to fight for more than half a year at a distance of more than 100 miles from his mother state...... The war potential of Syracuse is truly astonishing! Davers exclaimed.

"My lord, although Syracuse is strong, it is not without weaknesses." Seeing the slight frustration in Davers's tone, Aristilas took the initiative to say: "Dionysius ruled the people of Syracuse brutally to prevent them from rising up against him, and he also forced the people to pay heavy taxes, and the citizens of Syracuse had to pay 20% of their income to the treasury every year, and the people resented him. Moreover, the citizens of the other city-states of Sicily hated him similarly, because not only did they have to pay a high tribute to Syracuse, but also because they had relatives killed by the Syracuse in battle during the previous wars of conquest in Syracuse, and some of them were captured and sold as slaves to distant lands...... They have hatred for the people of Syracuse, for Dionysius! ……”

Davers stared silently at Aristiras's face, slightly distorted by pain. After a while, he said, "You're right. However, as long as Dionysius's army continued to win, and as long as his forces did not suffer major losses, then the hatred of the Sicilian people could only be hatred, and it could not damage Dionysius in the slightest. He also has the support of Sparta—"

Aristilas immediately said: "But Sparta is now at war, and there is no strength left to support Dionysius, and to the south of Sicily there is Carthage, the sworn enemy of Syracuse. ”

"This is indeed a good opportunity...... "Daversmo rubbed the stubble under his jaw: the current population of the Dionian Union is about 800,000 people, both commercial and agricultural are very different from Syracuse, and the military power of Dionya is relatively scattered due to its geographical location, so it is not easy to concentrate, and the navy is even weaker. In the event of a war with Syracuse, the pressure will be great......"

Aristias watched Davers remain silent for a long time, anxious, but he didn't dare to reveal it, and subconsciously clenched the armrests of the wooden chair with both hands.

"Aristiras." Davos finally spoke: "I allow you to send your men to Sicily from now on to learn more about the forces against Syracuse and Dionysius in the Sicilian city-states, and to establish contact with them in the first place. ”

"Yes, sir." Aristiras's spirits perked up, and he couldn't help but ask further, "And then?" ”

Davers looked at him with a blazing gaze: "Before the war with Syracuse, there is no 'then' for the time being. ”

……………………………

The next day, the trial continued, again attracting a large number of Dionian citizens. Because the content of today's trial is mainly about "whether Polyxis and others colluded with Syracuse to conspire to disturb Dionia".

Although the Greek city-states also tried cases of citizens colluding with foreigners and betraying the state, such as Xenophon, who was tried in absentia by the Athenian government for "betraying Athens" for his service to Athens a year ago, and wanted to execute him, which made Xenophon even more afraid to return to Athens. However, as Dionya did, "treason" was written into the code at the outset, and the sentence was imposed in detail according to the severity of the sentence. The fact that "treason" alone occupies several pages of the Code, shows how seriously the Dionian League took this crime. Today's trial will be the first trial of treason in the Ionian League, which is only a few years old, and the maximum sentence for this crime is the death penalty, and the citizens who are very interested will be waiting to see it.

Compared to yesterday, Paulixis is in a much worse state of mind today, obviously yesterday's trial hit him hard, but he has to cheer up today, because he was found guilty yesterday, and the most serious thing is to deprive him of citizenship and deportation, but if he is found guilty today, he may not be able to save his life.

Aristocratic was warmly welcomed by the crowd, and the young judge, who was a little rickety on his back, won the love of the people with his quick thinking, sharp words, and polite demeanor. Especially when he saw that he was dumbfounded by the debate between Polyxis and others, whom they hated, some people even began to inquire about his family situation, and privately pondered: to marry his daughter to this promising young man.

Polyxis is still trying in vain to save himself, but unfortunately there is too much evidence against him.

In particular, among the belongings found in his house were many silver coins of Syracuse. Due to the fact that Syracuse had been engaged in a war of expansion in recent years, the cost was huge, the treasury was almost empty, and the people were constantly being taxed heavily, and Dionysius disregarded the credit of the city-state, and issued an inferior silver coin to make up for the deficit in the treasury, forcing the people of Syracuse to use a "silver coin of four drachmas" (that is, silver coins weighing four times the weight of a drachma), which were mixed with a lot of lead and shoddy. This type of silver coin was rarely circulated in the Dionian market, but many of them were found in Polyxis's belongings, and his family did not trade by sea. This coin has also been found in the belongings of Oriffith and Masisacus.

What's more, Aristocratic showed the jury several letters that had been found in Polyxis' home. Aristocrates picked two letters and read them aloud: "...... Lord Polyxis, having received your letter of the recent progress made in the discussion of the Ionian Senate concerning the 'convening of a citizens' assembly,' the General Plenipotentiary (referring to Dionysius) was very pleased to hear the news. He immediately agreed to the amount of silver you requested, and it will soon be shipped with the merchant ship to the port of Turiyi. At the same time, he also reminds you that it is not enough to let the merchants and nobles come out to protest, and that the main body of the Dionian Alliance is not them, but ordinary citizens as legionnaires, and if you can approach them, win them over, and get them to join the protesters, then ......"

Polyxis once again refused to admit it, shouting: "This is a forged letter!" ……”

"Forged?! Look at this one, then—" Aristocrates picked up another letter and showed it to the jury: "This is the only letter you have written, and it is in your handwriting, and it is stamped. Look at the date, it happens to be the day you were arrested, so this letter has not been sent out yet, I believe the public will be very interested in the content of the letter. ”

With a sneer on his face, Aristocrates looked at Polyxis, who rushed over like crazy to snatch the letter, but was restrained by the guards who maintained order in the court, and read aloud again: "...... Lord Felistus—I will make it clear here that you may not know that Felistus was the most important minister of Dionysius, the tyrant of Syracuse...... I don't agree with your previous suggestion. Co-opting the ordinary citizens of Dionya did not do much to pass the bill of 'convening a citizens' assembly'. I have come up with a good idea, and there are some things that Davers can use for me in the bill for the 'rule of Lucania, the Brutians,' and I believe that after my instigation, the simple-minded so-called alien senators will probably give up their support for that proud young man......"

"It's a fake! This is someone trying to frame me! ......" Polyxis shouted desperately against the tide of angry scolding from the audience.

Aristocrates immediately called witnesses.

After being detained, Hermis, a native of Syracuse, was interrogated by some cruel methods beyond his time, such as covering his mouth and nose with linen and then pouring water on it little by little, which made him worse than dead.

Then, Matonis coldly told him that he would either be sent back to Syracuse after telling the truth, or he would refuse to confide in him and continue the interrogation.

Between the two options, he chose the former without hesitation.