Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

To prepare for this huge war, Dionysius had not only increased taxes to the people of Syracuse and used up all his treasury's wealth, but he had also borrowed money from the city-states of Cyrenaica in Africa. Furthermore, he had even thought of looting the Temple of Delphi because they do not only have thousands of silver coins but hundreds of thousands of coins that were donated to the Temple of Delphi by various Greek city-states over the centuries. (In history, Dionysius had truly sent mercenaries to pose as bandits to loot Delphi during their occupation of Magna Graecia, only to fail in the end).

And if he could capture Rhegium, he would not only directly obtain a large amount of wealth and make up for the treasury's deficit but also completely monopolize the Strait of Messina. And just from the taxes he gets from the passing merchant ships alone, he would be able to maintain his long-term occupation of Magna Graecia. As for the purely military view of pulling out the “nail” that is Rhegium before the army head north, he didn't care too much.

Phidias is not in the same position as Dionysius, so it is naturally impossible for him to consider the war from an economic level to under Dionysius' hesitation. As an orthodox Spartan, and even though he had already stated his reasons for choosing Caulonia before setting out, he still decided to say it again to strengthen Dionysius' resolve, “Although Rhegium was isolated from the South Italia Alliance due to getting cut off by Locri, it is still not easy to attack! After seeing the map you gave me, the northern side of Rhegium has a mountain where it is hard to pass, while you can only reach the east coast by passing through a narrow mountain path. On the other hand, you need to pass through the Montalto river to reach the west coast and capture Taurania before opening a path to Rhegium. That is why the Rhegians will do their best to defend the south bank of the Montalto river with Taurania, and the narrow area is not favourable to Syracuse's large force, forcing us to take some time to attack the territory of Rhegium. While you are busy attacking Rhegium, the South Italia Alliance will use this moment to form a strong army and defend Caulonia and Terina. They might even attack Locri, leaving us vulnerable…and if we were to delay, the archon of Theonia might return from the Lucania region with their main force, making it difficult for us to fight this war in Magna Graecia!”

Phidias' last sentence shocked Dionysius. But he still said, seemingly indifferent, “It won't be that easy for the Theonian army led by Davos to rush back from the Lucanian mountains. After all, his troubles are just beginning!”

“We will be able to completely defeat this alliance as long as we seize the time and continue attacking north while they are not ready for war. At that time, Rhegium is just a fish caught in a net and can't escape. And even if Theonia's main force could return from Lucania, they would no longer be able to change the whole battlefield.”

Even though Dionysius remained silent, Phidias' persuasion had made him make up his mind.

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

At dusk, the gate of the South Italia Alliance's base was suddenly pushed open, and the attendant of Eulipatos came in and shouted, “Milord, Milord! The Theonian army has arrived!”

Eulipatos, who was tired and sleepy, couldn't believe what he heard, ‘So fast?!’

In the afternoon, he urged the Scylletium city hall to send cavalry to the city and outside to inform all citizens. After all, according to the common practice of Greek city-states, the citizens of Scylletium will not finish their family matters until they receive the notice of participating in the war, then pick up the weapons and equipment stored at their homes and rush to the square in Scylletium. It would already be relatively fast if they could complete the gathering and roll call of the soldiers the day after tomorrow, while the formation of troops, the preparation of supplies…and everything else would be ready by the time when they were about to march… Scylletium's Polemarchos – Phrytinas, promised him that he would lead his troops in three days as fast as possible.

Compared with the previous preparation of his city-state, Eulipatos was already quite satisfied with the performance of Scylletium. Therefore, he has only taken Ansitanos' words as a scholar's desire to show Theonia's positive attitude and inwardly did not think that Theonia could really accomplish it. The surprised Eulipatos then thought that Theonia had indeed dispatched their army on the day they learned of Syracuse's invasion and arrived at Scylletium.

“Lord Ansitanos, this is wonderful! Thank you so much!…” He hurriedly thanked Ansitanos, who was also exhausted.

Ansitanos then waved his hand and said without arrogance, “This has nothing to do with me. The ones you should thank are the soldiers of Theonia who rushed all the way here. You should know that it's more than 50 kilometres from Aprustum to Scylletium! So it is really not that easy to reach here in one day!”

“You are right!” Reminded by Ansitanos, Eulipatos hurried out of the city.

By the time they arrived, the soldiers of the fourth legion of Theonia had begun building a simple camp beside the southern road of the city of Scylletium. When Eulipatos saw that they were all half-naked and sweating, he couldn't help but feel sorry.

Under the guidance of the soldiers, they found the commander – Philesius, who was sitting on the grass discussing matters with the legatus – Epiphanes.

“Lord Ansitanos, what are you doing here?” Epiphanes, who had a sharp eye, shouted first.

“I naturally have come to see you after you have rushed here so hard.” Said Ansitanos seriously. Since the fourth legion had quickly arrived, which shocked Scylletium and other city-states in the South Italia Alliance, it means that they have done a good example and allowed Ansitanos to have more weight in the alliance.

“You have come here, yet you didn't even have the time to bring something!” Said Epiphanes half-teasingly and half-seriously.

“Epiphanes!” Philesius winked at him and motioned him not to talk too much.

Ansitanos didn't care as much. After all, He often met Epiphanes in the senate and knew what kind of personality he had, so he also smiled and said, “What do you want me to bring?”

“It's not me, but these soldiers who had worked hard. They are now thirsty and have no time to find water as they are too busy constructing the camps…” Epiphanes pointed to the busy soldiers, then pointed to his dry lips, “Look, we are dying of thirst!”

“Oh, indeed you are-” Eulipatos didn't know what to say as he was too excited, so he turned to look at his attendant and said, “Immediately go back to the alliance's base and have everyone go to various restaurants in the city to buy drinks, and have them bring it…”

“Hey, we have nearly 10,000 men here. And I estimate that at night, another 10,000 men from the fifth legion would arrive. Currently, we don't only have a problem with water. Due to us rushing here, the logistics brigade is still lagging, and I think they could only arrive here tomorrow. And just eating these cold and hard bread alone is not enough to supplement the energy consumed by the soldiers during the long march.” Epiphanes took out his ration and shook it in front of Eulipatos, rudely reminding him.

“He is just joking with you!” Philesius stared at Epiphanes as he continued to say, “We have bread and meat, which is enough to fill our stomach, so there is no need for you to worry.”

“I am unable to resolve your food supply for so many soldiers in Scylletium, but as long as you arrive in Caulonia, I guarantee the Caulonians would let you eat well!” While Eulipatos expressed his apology, he implicitly urged the Theonians. At the same time, he gave orders to his aides, “If there are not enough drinks in the restaurants in the city, send a message to the citizens of Scylletium that as long as they send they homemade drinks here, we would pay twice the price…”

The aide accepted and left.

“Much appreciated!” Philesius expressed his gratitude.

“This is the envoy of Caulonia, Eulipatos.” Ansitanos then hurriedly introduce.

“Uh.” Epiphanes curled his lips as he thought, ‘So he is a Caulonian. It's only natural for you to pay for the drinks.’

“I didn't prepare anything as I didn't expect you to come so quickly. Otherwise, I would have hosted a banquet to express my gratitude!”

“Banquet is unnecessary as our military law does not allow the officers and soldiers to eat and drink during a war. And even though we are already carrying our own rations that would last for few days, I fear that the logistics brigade would take a while to arrive. So at that time, we really need to consider asking you to provide food for us first.” After becoming a commander, Philesius had to consider more.

“It's naturally won't be a problem. Tomorrow, I will send someone back to inform the city hall to prepare military food. And just like what I had said, the Caulonians will certainly let the citizens of Theonia eat well!” Eulipatos gave his promise.

Eulipatos asked curiously after watching the countless soldiers in front of them digging trenches with pickaxes and sweating like rain, “Why are you digging trenches when you can just pitch your tents and rest as you are already tired from getting here?”

“It's a rule of the 《Theonian Military Law》 to provide a safer and more comfortable camp for the soldiers.” Explained Ansitanos. Theonia has been established for a long time that “elders” like them knew some of the army's rules.

“Your military so strict!” As a citizen, Eulipatos certainly have a lot of experience in the military. So he couldn't help but sigh after comparing himself with the Theonian soldiers in front of him.

“This is already the simplest way to build a camp. Since it's already too late and would be dark soon, we would just dig trenches and earthen walls. Again, this is only in the territory of our allies, as there should be no danger. But if it is on the battlefield, we would need several days just to build a camp!” Epiphanes was both showing off and complaining, “The thing is, besides building a camp for our fourth legion, we also needed to build a camp for the fifth legion as well.”