Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Dionysius' dejection was swept away as he loudly said, “We need a victory to restore the soldiers' morale!”

“Milord.” Phacipessas reminded with caution, “The Theonians have the sea advantage, so they will not necessarily be willing to clash with us!”

“That's not up to them!” Dionysius sneered.

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

At dusk, Theonia's reinforcements arrived at the city of Krimisa.

Protesilaus, the Praetor of Krimisa, and Olivos, the legatus of the sixth legion, led a group out of the city to meet them.

“Your…your majesty, you have finally arrived!” The Senate already informed Protesilaus a few days ago about “Davos becoming the king of Theonia.” Although he was surprised, he did not object. On the contrary, he was relieved to see Davos now.

“Lord Protesilaus, although you were under the greatest pressure among all the Theonian cities during this war, you have done well! Even with Syracuse's heavy pressure, you still stabilise the city of Krimisa. On behalf of the Senate, I thank you for your effort during this period!” Said Davos with sincereness. Aristias' intelligence reported that Protesilaus' lax governance of Krimisa led to the city’s political turmoil. If not for the timely arrival of Olivos, the situation in Krimisa would have been worse. But after realising his mistake, he followed the advice of Olivos and assisted the sixth legion in supervising the whole city. Afterwards, he was kept busy arranging the accommodation and food of the large number of people who fled into the city and promptly handling all kinds of affairs, which significantly alleviated the conflict between the people outside the city and the city residents, ensuring the city's stability. Therefore, Davos’ remark was not perfunctory but heartfelt praise.

“It is all thanks to legatus Olivos's full assistance!” Protesilaus discreetly glanced at Olivos, who was beside him.

“Yes, your majesty, our sixth legion became a patrol for Krimisa's safety!” Olivos' said half-jokingly.

“It seems that you being a patrol captain was not in vain.” Davos teasingly said, “How about becoming a patrol captain of a city once the war is over?”

“Your majesty, it seems that you weren't concerned about me these past years. You didn’t even know that I was no longer a patrol captain!” Olivos pretended to be aggrieved and said, “I am now a deputy Quartermaster in the Ministry of Military. And according to the regulations, I should take up a higher position after the war, such as an intermediate ranking inspector.”

“What intermediate position? You would need the assessment and recommendation of Theonia's Civil Servant Management Committee for it.” The seemingly casual words of Davos made Protesilaus excited, ‘It seems that Davos would still let the Senate exercise its power as before even after becoming a king.’

“Personally, I don't think that position is suitable for you. Instead, you should consider the post of intermediate judge.” Davos' following remark was obviously a joke, so Olivos shook his head immediately, “I would die trying to remember all the countless laws of Theonia. On the contrary, the position of patrol captain is much more suitable for me.”

With that, Davos laughed, and the crowd soon followed.

Amidst their laughter, Davos turned his head and asked Protesilaus, “What difficulties does Krimisa is facing now?”

“It's mainly food and accommodation.” Protesilaus blurted, “The city doesn't have much food stored left, and the people that came from outside the city only brought little food when they fled into the city, while some had even brought only rations because they were in too much of a hurry. In addition, there are so many soldiers from the sixth legion. Your majesty, if you had not arrived today with your army…I would have discussed with lord Olivos and asked him to send the soldiers to the Senate and ask for emergency food aid to Krimisa!”

“The city is indeed tight in food now!” Olivos interjected, “Lord Protesilaus even tried to persuade the residents to share their grain reserves with the people who fled to the city, but…a few of them expressed strong dissatisfaction with this.”

Davos gazed at the two of them, then looked around at the other officials of Krimsia and said with a serious expression, “Our war with Syracuse determines the survival of Theonia, so all the people of Theonia should do everything to defeat Syracuse and win a better future for the union at such a critical time! Therefore, anyone who does anything to destabilise Theonia and hinder our war preparation at this time is not a Theonian but Theonia’s enemy! The Senate and its subordinate city government departments have the right to impose heavier penalties, including death, in accordance with the Wartime Act! So you shouldn't worry; rather, you should boldly manage the city!”

After listening to Davos, Olivos winked at Protesilaus, ‘See, I war right.’

Davos' words revealed his murderous intent, which made Protesilaus shudder. So he and his men said one after another, “We understand.”

“There's no need for you to worry about the food.” Davos said to relieve them, “In the next few days, there will be a large amount of grain coming from the port of Thurii. And with the army leaving for the Crotone Plain tomorrow and the enemy cavalry no longer roaming here, you can arrange for the people who have taken refuge in the city to return, rebuild their homes, take care of the destroyed farms and prepare for the next year's spring sowing…Lord Protesilaus, you must arrange all these things.”

“You can rest assured, your majesty.” When Protesilaus' heard Davos' words, he was greatly relieved and immediately promised.

“Your majesty, will our sixth legion go to Crotone Plain as well?” Olivos hurriedly asked.

Davos laughed and said, “Aren't you going to continue to be Krimisa's patrol captain?”

“Our sixth legion wishes to settle accounts with those mercenaries and avenge the dead Krimisians and our brothers who died in battle!” Olivos said in a serious tone. After the sixth legion entered Krimisa, he did not send his troops to try expelling the cavalries rampaging in the Crotone Plain. However, the inexperienced soldiers of the sixth legion were unable to stop themselves from getting provoked, resulting in a platoon getting lured away from the main force and was killed by the Celtic and Numidian cavalries. So Olivos was forced to withdraw his troops to the city, not daring to leave easily.

Feeling the fire in his eyes, Davos nodded and said, “You'll get what you want!”

Accompanied by military music, the long marching column has almost reached the city gates. So Davos stopped talking and entered the city with a group of people such as Protesilaus, followed by his personal guard.

“Although we will transport a lot of food, we will need to distribute it to many places and a large number of people. Thus, the amount of food allocated to the city of Krimisa will not be too much, so you should still control the food quota allocated to each household and try to make it last longer while being fair until the next transportation.” Davos whispered to Protesilaus as they walked.

Protesilaus tensed up as it seemed that the food situation in Theonia wasn't as optimistic as Davos had just said in front of everyone.

So he cautiously nodded, “I understand.”

“Can the city of Krimisa accommodate more than 30,000 people?” Davos asked again.

“After getting informed in advance, we had made some preparations by reserving the open space in front of the Temple of Hades and Temple of Apollo. Furthermore, we also can squeeze some on the square occupied by the sixth legion. In addition, we had also negotiated with some people who have large residential areas to accommodate some of the officers and soldiers. After all, the army will only stay for a night, so the city of Krimisa could still do its best to accommodate all the soldiers.”

After Protesilaus detailed the arrangements they made, he hesitated and said with seriousness, “Your majesty, there is one thing I would like to report to you.”

“Go on.”

“Recently, the marsh area near the Crucoli River had gradually transformed into a plain, so Krimisa's population has increased rapidly. At the same time, the number of preparatory citizens reaches nearly 15,000 while there are more than 20,000 registered freemen, most of whom now live outside the city to farm, graze livestock…and since we had not yet allocated the land in this plain, more people might pour into Krimisa in the future. With such a large population and the fertile land of the Marsh Plain and Crotone Plain, Krimisa's agriculture will certainly prosper, so will the port and trade. By then, the people living outside the city will want to live in the city, but the current city of Krimisa's area is too small, so we must expand it outward…”

“You are thinking long term, which I agree. So you can write a proposal and submit it to the Senate for assessment, approval, and cost allocation. However, it would only be considered after we repulse Syracuse and the end of this war.” Davos said with satisfaction. With Thurii and Krimisa's expansion…he was surprised by the rapid development of the Theonia Union.

“Your majesty, we will leave it to you to repel those damn invaders and restore the peace and tranquillity of Theonia!” Protesilaus said sincerely.

Davos smiled slightly. But after passing through the gate and into the streets, his expression changed.

In his vision: crude tents filled the streets; roads scattered with dishevelled and dirty refugees, who were either sitting or lying, including young men, elderly, women and children, squeezing the spacious streets and turning them into small paths for only one-two people to walk.