Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

“Go ahead, lord Pollux.” Cornelius, the rotating chairperson, could not express his position, so he can only nod his head to signal the other party to speak.

“When the tribes of Lucania and Bruttii joined our city-state union, we had a formal agreement with them of ‘not interfering in the internal affairs of their tribes, and ensuring their independence and integrity.’ However-”

Pollux waved his arm and said in a loud voice, “However, a few years passed, and the independence of those tribes has been seriously affected that even many smaller tribes became no longer exist. What's the reason for it? It’s because the young and strong men of those tribes have asked for independence and live alone, resulting in a sharp decline in the population of those tribes. And without having enough labour to sustain themselves, they have no other choice besides to dissolve their tribes…the agreement we signed with the tribes of Lucania and Bruttii was done under the watchful eyes of Hades. But now, the survival of these tribes within the union has been seriously threatened, seriously affecting our reputation in Theonia and causing hesitation and suspicion among the other races in Magna Graecia who want to get closer to us. Thus, in order to be worthy of the support and trust of these tribes, I propose that the Senate should legislate the ‘prohibition of the tribal people from leaving their tribes in order to preserve the tribes' integrity.’”

Some of the statesmen looked at each other and wondered, ‘What's going on?’ Pollux, who does not care about the affairs of those not Greeks to the point of indifference, began to care about tribal matters.

Vespa, Hemon, Baripiri and the others felt strange, while Sedrum, Bodiam, Petaru, Burim and the others were lost in their thoughts.

At this moment, Plesinas stood up, “I don't agree to this proposal! The adult men of Lucania and Bruttii are either Theonian citizens or preparatory citizens. As citizens of the union, they have the right to enjoy the freedom of choice, while the Senate has no right to make such provisions! Don't you think so as well, lord Tritodemos?”

The current chief justice, Tritodemos, nodded, “The first rule of the Theonian Law is ‘to protect the citizens’ rights and freedom of choice.’ No new law can violate this! I think that both the tribe and the members of the tribe are hoping that everyone can lead a stable and prosperous life. And from the current situation, they already have a good development in Theonia Union. Thus it is not necessary to make any amendments.”

Davos just listened quietly to their arguments while tapping his fingers on the wooden chair…

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

Cariades came to the Temple of Hades and asked the Grand Priest, Plesinas, to explain his aspiration.

Plesinas readily agreed to his request. Thus the young man from Scylletium entered the Temple of Hades to learn as a follower.

Every day at dawn and dusk, Cariades had to study the teachings of the Temple of Hades, while during the day, he would follow the priests in the temple’s affairs. (Davos was the one who put forward the main teachings of Hades, and it mainly preaches that when people do good and punish evil, love their city-state, family, abide by the law and help others will ascend to Elysium after death, while those who behave the opposite way regularly will go and be punished in hell…he also elaborated on the formation of heaven and earth, the strife of the gods, Elysium and hell basing it on the original Greek gods’ myth. Naturally, it is favouring Hades and establishing him as a good god similar to the eastern Bodhisattva for the sake of mankind. Then it was further interpreted and compiled by Plesinas and several priests. And now, there are several thick books about Hades and his temple alone, not including the deeds of his wife, Persephone.)

Early in the morning, there is an endless stream of people coming to the Temple of Hades.

Farmers, fishermen and merchants who want to go to work, go to sea and do business…as long as it is convenient for them, they will come to the temple to pray before leaving with confidence. At the same time, those who came to wish and have their wishes fulfilled would throw some coins into the donation box, light a small oil lamp and place it in front of the statue to express their wishes. And those who came to beg for divination would also draw wooden sticks and ask the priests to answer their questions (the sticks are engraved with mysterious sentences, and whether the answer is good or bad will depend on the level of the priests.) Of course, some who had been helped by the priests of the Temple of Hades would bring some gifts to thanks the temple…

Today, Cariades' duty was to meet people who come to give gifts. From morning to now, he has hardly stopped, and even though he was tired, he felt content.

Just now, when he had just sent a white-haired old man down the hill, he suddenly heard someone shouting, “Help! Help!…”

Hearing this sound, he saw a man covered with blood running towards him in panic, while another two men chased after him.

Although he only stayed in the Temple of Hades for a few days, he had the consciousness of a priest of Hades to help the poor. So he immediately went up and wanted to help the man and asked him what happened.

Seeing someone standing in front of him, the man became more anxious, as the only thing echoing in his heart was the words of that man, ‘Only by running to the Temple of Hades and asking for his help would he be able to get out of his current predicament and become an official citizen of Theonia!’

He reached his hands out and pushed Cariades away as he continues to run to the Temple of Hades.

Cariades, on the other hand, staggered a few steps and almost fell.

As he stood up, the two men chasing the man arrived right in front of him. So he immediately questioned them loudly, “Who are you?! What is happening?!”

The two muscular men looked at Cariades, who was in a white robe of the Temple of Hades, with hesitation.

Just as they began to hesitate, the man had rushed to the temple. Seeing the crowd and priests that are coming and going in the temple, they could only leave.

The man broke into the temple, and with a “plop”, he fell on his knees in front of the statue of Hades, kneeling and pleading, “Merciful Hades! Please help me! Help me!…”

The crowd inside and outside of the temple heard his miserable cry. Not knowing what happened, they came over to see the situation.

At this moment, the priest in the temple had also come over in a hurry…

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

This proposal of Pollux was not passed as he had only won the support of several people such as Petaru, Burim and Bodiam.

However, after a while, he brought up and asked for the resumption of the ecclesia again.

The statesmen started voting again, however this time, the number of people supporting him was close to 15, which includes some statesmen who served in the army such as Enanilus, Eurypus and Pleitinas, as well as the former chieftains of Bruttii tribes, such as Bodiam, Petaru and Burim…the result was still less than half, but together with the statesmen who abstained, Pollux' supporters surprisingly accounted for one-third of the total number of voters.

This is definitely a huge victory for Pollux, so after the voting, he declared with a bit of pride, “The result of this voting shows that more and more statesmen are aware of the importance of the ecclesia. If Theonia wants to achieve the same glory as Athens, then we should let more citizens participate in the decision-making of the union so as to truly realise the equality and freedom of the citizens for all the races in Theonia! As time goes on, I believe that the other statesmen who oppose this will also realise it because all of you are the leaders of Theonia and the wisest among the people! I look forward to the day when the ecclesia will once again be held!” The speech of Pollux resounded and powerful.

The faces of the statesmen changed a bit as they looked at Davos, who was sitting at the front.

Baripiri now realised the purpose of Pollux' previous proposal. Pollux knew that his proposal would not be passed, but he wanted the statesmen to see that the plight of the tribe would not be changed as long as the authority of Davos was not restricted, while he could turn the problem for the better. At present, the Bruttian and Lucanian tribes, who are relatively independent, have been greatly impacted in the Theonia Union, so much so that after several years of subtle influence, the youth in each tribe began yearning for the life of a free citizen in the union and are unwilling to be bound by their tribe's rules…

Baripiri knew about this as his tribe was in the city of Besidice, which is just next to Thurii. The year before last, Davos, on the grounds of making the management easier, directly transferred Besidice under the jurisdiction of Thurii, making it more closely linked to Thurii both politically and economically. Naturally, they got more affected to the point that his tribe almost existed in name only.

However, Baripiri was very open-minded, and he understood that this was the trend, not to mention that this is not a bad thing for the Bruttian, as his confidence came from the young man in front of him. But at this moment, the authority of the young archon was being challenged, and he could not help but worry about him.

However, Davos calmly said, “Esteemed statesmen, Pollux had just mentioned about the ecclesia just now and said, ‘only by holding an ecclesia can we realise equality and freedom of the people.’ Pollux, if you have a good memory, then you should remember how Thurii had rapidly declined a few years ago? How was it burned? What's the role of Thurii's ecclesia and your so-called ‘equality and freedom’? Can you tell me?”

Hearing this, Kunogelata, Ansitanos, Burkes and the others became gloomy.

Pollux had not expected Davos to mention this. He immediately became tongue-tied and could only argue as if he were lying, “The burning of Thurii was only a short oversight, and Nianses was too careless and allowed the Crotonians to succeed in their sneak attack. And the rapid decline of Thurii's strength is due to the tragic defeat against the Lucanians, which is the result of the incompetence of Asikulodox and Friis and has nothing to do with the ecclesia!”