Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 662: Rome and Carthage

His words succeeded in attracting everyone's attention, and even the ministers of the kingdom, who didn't know much about Volsci and didn't care much about him, focused their eyes on him. The envoy from the north wore a short white chiton that showed his arms and calves, and his dress was somewhat similar to that of the Samnites, with the only difference being that they wore sandals.

“I thank you, Volscians, for your generous donation!” Davos said calmly, “I have long heard of the Volscians in central Italia with your bravery and excellence in fighting. Unfortunately, Theonia and Volsci are so far apart that there is no communication between us. But I believe your visit will open a new chapter of friendly relations between us!…”

With Davos saying a lot about enhancing the friendship between the two sides, he made it look as if the Volscian envoy had come just to strengthen their relationship with Theonia.

Hearing his words, Matepola became anxious as he loudly said, “Your majesty, I have come here to request Theonia's help!”

“Request for help?” Davos put on a puzzled expression.

“The Romans in central Italia relied on their strength to stir up war everywhere. This time, the Romans even invaded Volsci's territory, and we Volscians couldn't resist them. Thus I came here to request the help of the most powerful kingdom in Italia, Theonia! And I hope that you, milord, will send reinforcements to help Volsci to repel the Romans!” Matepola said earnestly.

“But I heard that it was because you Volsci had attacked the allies of Rome first and angered the Romans that they attacked Volsci.” The Minister of MIlitary, Hielos, chimed in.

Matepola looked at Hielos and replied straightforwardly, “Hundreds of years ago, we, the people of Volsci, have been living in the southern part of Latium and got along fairly well with our neighbours. But a hundred years ago, Rome, a small city on the Tiber river, became a powerful force in central Italia through constant war and slaughter! So to defend ourselves against the Romans, we fought a war with them for decades and have become mortal enemies.

But in just the past years, Rome had conquered most of the city-state south of Etruria, becoming more powerful. And we Volscians naturally couldn't just sit back and wait for our end! Unfortunately…we failed…” Matepola sighed with bitterness. He then loudly said with resentment, “The Romans worship the wolf as their ancestor, which is a greedy and aggressive animal. Once they conquered Volsci, the Romans would certainly point their sword to the Campanian league, where the land was more fertile, and the people were wealthy. But even after conquering them, they would continue to head south…so I implore Theonia to extend a helping hand to us!”

Most officials didn't take his words seriously as they thought that the Volscians were just making the Romans appear terrifying and seemed to pose a threat to Theonia so they could encourage Theonia to send reinforcements.

Only Davos, sitting high on his throne, knew that what the envoy said was probably the truth. Still, he remained calm.

“We sympathise with you, Volscians. However, I believe you have seen how we are suffering from drought when you enter Theonia's territory. So at least for now, Theonia cannot afford to send troops to central Italia to fight the Romans.” The Chief Commercial Officier, Marigi, said regretfully.

“We have food in Volsci! With the autumn harvest just ending, we have saved enough food! Thus as long as Theonia sends reinforcements, we are willing to guarantee the food supply for your troops!” Matepola immediately answered.

And after he said that, the Minister of Finance Mersis, Chief Commercial Officer Marigi and the Minister of Agriculture Burkes looked at each other as they became somewhat interested.

Then Androlis, one of the rotating speakers of the Senate, said, “Your majesty, there is no need for us to rush in sending an army to reinforce Volsci. Instead, we should send an envoy to Rome to convince them to retreat. And with our prestige in Italia, it is possible to achieve that.

But…whether sending an envoy to negotiate with Rome or sending an army to reinforce Volsci, both need a legitimate reason! And with Volsci having no diplomatic relation with us, we will only receive criticism if we interfere in the affairs between the powers in central Italia.”

At Androlis' reminder, everyone's eyes brighten up.

Davos looked at him with admiration and asked, “So, how do we handle this matter?”

But before Androlis could speak, Matepola immediately interrupted, “The Volscian alliance is willing to ally with the kingdom of Theonia!”

“Forming an alliance is a major event; I fear you would need to discuss it within your alliance before making a decision.” Although Ansitanos, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that politely, he was actually questioning Matepola's authority as an envoy and reminded him not to blindly utter big words.

“You can rest assured! Before coming here, the Volscian alliance had granted me full authority in making any decision! And-” Matepola straightened his chest and confidently said, “My Puerro family is one of the important political forces in the city of Circeii in Volscii, so the Volscian alliance will definitely recognise any decision I made here!”

Davos nodded slightly and said, “I understand Volsci's request, and we will discuss this matter, so kindly leave first and have a rest. Soon, you will receive Theonia's decision.”

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

After Matepola left the main hall, Davos looked around his officials and asked, “What do you think about Volsci's request?”

“Your majesty, we have just conquered and are now facing a drought. And hearing that Rome is a powerful force, I fear we won't be able to subdue them once there is a war. Furthermore, we won't be able to support a prolonged war in our present condition.” Cornelius said worriedly.

“Your majesty, there is one more point to which I would like you to pay attention.” Lysias interjected and said, “Rome and Carthage are allies. If we rashly agree to Volsci's request and interfere in Rome's military operation that would end up us resorting to force, then we will force Carthage to make a stand! Given our strained relationship with Carthage in the past two years, they may well choose to support Rome and thus turn this into a bigger conflict!…”

Lysias' appalling words startled everyone in the main hall.

“Carthage and Rome are allies?” Marigi asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

“A hundred years ago, Carthage and Rome concluded a friendly treaty.” the scholar Ansitanos interjected, “Rome signed a treaty with Carthage about a hundred years ago just after they conquered the Latium region and began to establish the Latin league. I still remember the initial clause in their treaty.

…The Romans and their allies' based their treaty with the Carthaginians on the following conditions: Rome and its allies were not to sail past Cape Bello…they could not engage in any trade in Libya, Iberia, Sardinia and Corsica…

…while the Carthaginians must not attack Latin settlements that were subject to Rome. In addition, the Carthaginians must ensure they do not occupy any of this city…”

“This is just a friendly treaty, not an alliance.” Supreme judge Tritodemos questioned.

“Just as I said from the start, this is only the original treaty. And they renewed their treaty several times, which continues to this day. In the renewal two years, they added the following terms…” Ansitanos said unhurriedly, “Once Rome or Carthage is at war against a third party, they could seek support from the other side, and the side being asked can help as much as it can according to its situation. Once they won the war, they could then negotiate the ownership of the spoils of war…”

“Two years ago?!” Sedrum's expression suddenly changed. He then muttered, “I am afraid that Carthage added this clause as a precaution against us!”

Two years ago, Theonia discovered the conspiracy of the Tanikian tribe to unify the tribes of the Sikeloi, which Carthage privately supported. Although the Eight Legion defeated them, their leader had led the remnants to flee towards western Sicily, controlled by Carthage. The Carthaginians then sheltered him. Although Carthage and Theonia renewed their friendship treaty afterwards, the relationship between the two forces became fragile, especially in terms of trade competition.

‘Did they support a Rome in the north of Theonia when the Tanikian fell?!’ The expressions of everyone became somewhat complicated.

Hielos then said with a grave expression, “Your majesty, Carthage has kept peace with us for over a decade because they need to recover the wounds caused by their previous war with Syracuse. Even so, the Carthaginians are still making trouble for us silently. After all, the western Mediterranean can only accommodate a hegemon, as Carthage and Syracuse did before, and so will we and Carthage now.

So we shouldn't fear aiding Volsci just because of Carthage's treaty with Rome. On the contrary, we should put more effort into forming a solid alliance with Volsci. Otherwise, we would just allow Rome to conquer Volsci and become even stronger. Once Rome and Carthage, one to the north and one to the south, sandwich our kingdom in the middle…our situation will become direr! Thus it is better to take advantage of the fact that the Carthaginians were still reluctant to have a war and the Romans were still not strong enough to unite with other forces in central Italia, besiege Rome, break them down completely and make them weaker so that they would no longer pose a threat to our Theonia and our allies!”

As the Miniter of the Military, Hielos said those words with a hint of viciousness, and his words represented that of the military.

Then silence suddenly descends in the main hall.

Davos didn't immediately give his opinion. Instead, he looked at Cornelius and Lysias and asked, “What do you think of Hielos' opinion?”