Athens was liberated, and Thrasibulus and others, who regained power, restored the original democracy of Athens, but did not take revenge on the supporters of the tyranny of the original oligarchy, but issued a proclamation of political amnesty, which was strictly enforced, and at the same time tried to bridge the contradictions and jealousies between the commoners and the rich, the democrats and the aristocracy, so that Athens today is more united than it was during the Peloponnesian War. Externally, Thrasibros and the others also adopted a cautious and moderate policy, forgetting the betrayal of the allies of the Delian League in the past, and treating and interacting with each city-state equally, so that these city-states gradually gathered around Athens through trade and diplomacy, Athens was not as domineering as it was during the reign of Pericles, but the national power was rapidly regaining its former glory.

This is where Isocrates admired Thrasibulos, and despite his great contribution to the revival of Athens, the populace, fearing his dictatorship, deliberately did not elect him a general for several years, and he continued to advise the city-state without complaint.

"Isocrates, I believe you already know about Dionia's declaration of war on Lockry some time ago." Thrasiblos asked with concern, "You have been to Turii, and in your judgment, do you think that Dioonia will be at war with Syracuse?" ”

"There will definitely be a war!" Isocrates said categorically with almost no hesitation.

"Oh?" Thrasiblos was amazed at how sure Isocrates was.

"I haven't been to Syracuse, but judging from the brutal performance of Dionysius in Sicily, he has destroyed Catanay, Leotinius and several other Sicilian Greek city-states, this person is extremely greedy for land, and has sent people to disrupt the political order of Dionia, the assassination of the Dionian consul not long ago is probably the mastermind behind it, it can be seen that Great Greece is the next target he wants to annex, so Dionya wants to disdain his only ally in Great Greece, how can he ignore it, Reinforcements will be sent to fight Dionia! And Dionia—"

Isocratic pondered his words and said slowly: "I don't think it will be afraid to go to war with Syracuse, although its strength is weaker than that of Syracuse, but the citizens of this city-state alliance are as eager for war as cats see mice, they will enthusiastically participate in the war, and they also have the assistance of the Southern Italian League gangs such as Crotone and Lijim...... Perhaps they are preparing to deal a heavy blow to Syracuse in Greater Greece. ”

"It's like cat and mouse...... Hehe, Isocrates, you're exaggerating your words, no one is a war lover. Thrasibros smiled, and the expression on his face relaxed: "Hearing you say this, I am relieved." If Dionya can start a war with Syracuse, then our anti-Spartan allies will be under less pressure, and I hope that Dionia can defeat Syracuse and completely cut off Sparta's support, so that we can focus more on dealing with Sparta. ”

"Thrasibulos, I think the opposite of yours, you had better pray to Athena so that the forces of these two city-states will be defeated." Isocrates said with a serious expression.

"Why?" Thrasiblos was surprised.

"I don't deny it, I have a good impression of Dionia." Isocrates said in a deep voice in his peculiar hoarse voice: "But this good impression, when you think about it, is shocking...... It is no joke that the citizens of Dionya were fond of fighting, for the Dionian Law states that 'a citizen must have military merit in order to obtain a better land'. What crazy things the Greeks can do for the land, I'm sure you can understand. In fact, it was this Dionian law and another immigration act that 'willing to accept freemen as Dionian citizens' (i.e., the Davers Immigration Act') that attracted thousands of freemen and foreigners to Dionia. In turn, these former freedmen who became Dionian citizens or 'reserve citizens' as they called them pushed Dionya to expand dramatically outward in order to gain more land. Although Dionya did not encroach on the lands of its fellow Greeks as brazenly as Syracuse, the rapid expansion of its territory was also evident. In addition to absorbing Greek freedmen as citizens of Ionia, they even made aliens citizens of their alliance......"

Thrasiblos nodded: "I've seen Aristophanes' "The Ionians." ”

"The Ionian Alliance not only made the aliens citizens, but also made the leaders of these aliens the heads of the Dionian Senate the patriarchs of the Ionian Senate and the senior generals of the army! Because of this, the Bruti Mountains and the Lucania region have successively become the territory of Dionia, and the land area of Dionya is probably more than the sum of Athens and Sparta.

And at the initiative of their consul, Dionya vigorously built roads and bridges, popularized the belief in Hades, and even built temples for aliens, built schools, built schools, built schools, recruited scholars and doctors, and a kind of rugby game was popular throughout Dionia...... If left undisturbed, according to the development trend of Dionia, in a dozen years, a powerful alliance of city-states may appear on the Italian peninsula, which not only far surpasses the city-states of Greece in terms of territory and population, but also is not weaker than our Athens in trade and culture, but it is already very different from the traditional culture of Greece......"

After listening to Isocrates' words, Thrasibulos's expression also became solemn, pondered for a while, and said, "Isocrates, are you thinking too much? You have to understand that any power that expands dramatically cannot expand forever, it will either collapse due to internal problems, or it will be thwarted by external forces, as was the case with Agos a long time ago, Persia before the Greco-Persian Wars, and us before the Spartan War, people who eat too much will break their stomachs, and the same is true of countries. ”

"But Thrasibros, Dionya will probably be an exception." Isocrates anxiously reminded him: "For this alliance adopts a political system completely different from that of any other country or city-state in the Mediterranean." ”

"Oh? What kind of polity was Dionia? Thrasiblos asked with interest.

"From what I observed there, Dionya was said to be a union of city-states, and in fact those that belonged to it were not city-states at all, but cities directly ruled by the Dionian Senate. The Dionian Senate held the supreme power, and it sent the senators to serve as the administrators of various cities such as Turiyi, Cosenza, Grummentum, etc., responsible for the internal affairs of the cities, and the city's finances and taxes were to be paid to the senate, and the city's army was managed by an organization called the 'Ministry of Military Affairs' under the senate, and these cities had no independent administrative capacity and were completely under the command of the Dionian senate......"

"This ...... It's a bit like Persia. Thrasibulos muttered and just finished when he was interrupted by Isocrates: "Dionya is not the same as Persia, as far as we know, the lords and governors of Persia have considerable autonomy, and the king of Persia has no greater control over them except for paying taxes and providing troops. So the other day, the Persian governor of Asia Minor, Farabazos, could decide for himself to give us the fleet built with the money of the Persians to Athens, and agreed to let us Athens rebuild the walls to protect the port of Piraeus. If it were the prefect of any city in the Ionian Union, it would have been impossible to make such a decision, since the Ionian Senate had a firm grip on everything. In my opinion, it can effectively concentrate all the resources, population, gold and silver in the territory to do things that other city-states and nations can't. ”

After hearing this, Thrasibros thought for a long time with a solemn expression, and finally let out a long breath and said with a smile: "Isocrates, I originally asked you to talk about whether Dionya can start a war with Syracuse, but I didn't expect you to talk to me about the threat of the Dionian Alliance. Since Dioonia is so powerful, it seems that we don't have to worry about Syracuse anymore, and we need to strengthen diplomatic ties with Dionia, hoping that it can help us deal with Sparta. ”

Seeing that Thrasibulus didn't seem to take his words to heart, Isocrates wanted to say something more, and Thrasibros said solemnly: "Isocrates, you have to understand that the key issue for Athens now is to take advantage of the support of Persia and the whole situation to help us concentrate on defeating Sparta as soon as possible and weakening this long-standing enemy, so that Athens will have a better development!" There are so many city-states and races in the Mediterranean, each with its own unique system, we don't need to worry about this or that, the future is only in the hands of the goddess of fate, and no one can tell. And as long as we in Athens can maintain the unity and stability of our city-states, handle the relations with other city-states, develop our trade, and strengthen our armament, Athens will still be the glorious Athens, and none of us are afraid! ”

Thrasibulus's words hit the heart of Isocrates, an orator and educator who believed in the idea of "Athenian supremacy", and he said with great convincingness: "You are right, Athens will be recast to its glory!" ”

……………………………

At the beginning of August, the Grand Chieftain of Pothenia, Puammut, received an invitation from Dionya to attend the Hades celebration, and as in previous years, he politely declined, sending his brother Paulette to attend.

It wasn't because he had any other thoughts about Dionia, but that he had never left the territory of Portetia since he was a child. He just likes to stay in his territory, protect his people, and live a comfortable life.