Chapter 663: Davos Ambition

Cornelius hesitantly said, "Your majesty, I am not opposed to allying with the Volscians nor letting the Romans conquer them. But given Theonia's current situation this year, I feel it isn't a good time. In addition, we are unfamiliar with the situation in central Italia, so we should prepare more and be cautious to ensure that we are fully certain of our victory in the event of a war breaking out for real!"

Cornelius' sophisticated speech made the officials headed by Lysias nod.

"I, too, prefer to wait until our kingdom is well armed and fed and surrounded by no foreign enemies before intervening in Rome. But good opportunities never come to those that just wait, and the enemy won't be foolish enough to stand still and let us interfere." With his emotion stirring up, Davos spoke and said, "You all should remember our war with Syracuse. Our original plan was to attack Locri to lure the Syracusan army to Magna Graecia. But Dionysius had instead lured the Samnites into making a surprise invasion. We then stationed troops on the Caulonia-Terina frontline, hoping we could hold off the Syracusan army while we first dealt with the Samnites, and once the main force returned, we would have a decisive battle. Yet Dionysius led an army that easily broke through our southern defences...

These lessons taught me that nothing good comes just by waiting. Instead, it is only by acting boldly that we can succeed. And the Carthaginians are as wise as Dionysius. They have long known that we, Theonia, will be their future enemy, so besides supporting the Tanikian tribe, they also started supporting the Romans more than seven years ago."

Davos' words shocked Cornelius and the others, with Lysias hurriedly asking, "Your majesty, is that true?!"

"It's indeed true. Due to the Tanikian tribe incident, I started paying more attention to the forces surrounding the kingdom because of my wariness with Carthage. As a result, the men I sent out soon gathered some information about the dealings between Carthage and Rome. They even manage to get evidence that shows Carthage had continuously supported Rome over the years with food, weapons..." Davos said that while nodding towards his clerk, Henipolis, who was taking notes beside him.

Henipolis immediately left the main hall to take some documents from the forbidden area of the palace, the reference hall. He then brought them to Davos, who then passed the documents to Cornelius.

Officials such as Cornelius, Lysias, Sedrum and so on passed the documents after reading them, with their expressions becoming more grave.

"Previously, I didn't discuss Carthage and Rome because we were too busy governing the newly integrated Dauni region, and I didn't want to distract you about them. However-" Davos stood up and exclaimed, "Now we have a great opportunity with the Volscians coming to us requesting help! If we help the Volscians fight the Romans, we will surely win the support of the other forces in central Italia. And destroying the Carthaginians' scheme will also be good for us so that we won't be passive in the event of a possible war with Carthage. Also, defeating the Romans will benefit our entry into the fertile land the Romans are occupying in central Italia!"

After Davos said that, everyone in the main hall was surprised.

Davos then gazed at them and said sincerely, "Esteemed lords, this one drought had shrouded the vast majority of Theonia's land, making it difficult for us and would stay fresh in everyone's memory! Why did this happen? It is because our kingdom isn't big enough; our kingdom isn't strong enough! Thus we need to acquire more land to deal with every drought, every earthquake, and every giant wave that will come with ease! But with Carthage blocking our way to the south, our access to land can only be in the north! Hence the arrival of the Volsci's envoy is a great opportunity given to us!"

Davos saw the officials fall silent when he said those words. After smiling faintly, Davos said in a softer tone, "This is, of course, a long-term strategy I set for the kingdom. And war with Rome might not even break out immediately. And if we help Volsci, the Romans might even give way. So we must take our bite one at a time; we should not rush things. First, the Senate must pass the 'allying with the Volsci' proposal, then discuss the treaty carefully. Only after we finished everything would we send an envoy to test the Romans' reaction to it..."

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

Theonia soon sent Ansitanos to discuss the alliance between the two forces with Volsci's envoy, Matepola.

The negotiation went smoothly, and it only took over half a day to draw up the draft of the treaty, the main point of which was: A military alliance of friendship and equality between Theonia and Volsci. Strengthening the friendly exchanges and allowing the people to stay in the land of the allies freely, but they must respect the local laws. Giving each other preferential treatment and convenience in trade, do not increase taxes, do not detain and arrest allied merchants without authorisation, and both parties must jointly arbitrate disputes. Once an enemy invades one of the parties or is at war with a third party, their ally shall endeavour to provide military assistance and even send troops to fight at the other party's request...

After taking the draft, Matepola immediately returned to Volsci.

Ten days later, Matepola hurriedly arrived with other Volsci envoys, which included the leaders of several city-states in the Volscian alliance.

Then Davos and the Volscians signed the treaty.

But as soon as they signed the treaty, the Volscians eagerly asked Theonia to send troops to aid them because the Romans had already taken Velitrae, repelled Volsci's reinforcements, and started attacking Satricum. After repeated defeats, the Volsci alliance no longer had enough soldiers to organise another reinforcement to stop the Roman army's attack. So they are now faced with an unprecedented crisis.

Due to that, Davos decided to follow Androlis' proposal and send an envoy to Rome to mediate. At the same time, he informed the Ministry of Military to make war preparations.

After careful consideration and selection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Tapirus as its envoy.

More than a decade ago, Cheiristoya bought Tapirus as a slave due to his quick thinking and diligence. A few years later, his master, Davos, promoted him to the head of a restaurant and gave him his freedom back. Then he fought in the south-Italian war as a reserve soldier in the most crucial Battle of Crotone, where, as a spearman, he and his companions held off the onslaught of Syracuse's mercenary cavalry and routed them. At the same time, they assisted other troops in defeating Syracuse's solid right flank, playing a significant role in Theonia's eventual victory of the entire battle.

Once the war ended, their group of surviving spearmen became official citizens of Theonia. Then in the following years, Tapirus also fought in the wars to conquer Messapi and Peuceti. It might be due to the frequent battle that tempered his courage and broadened his vision, making him no longer satisfied with only serving as the regional head of Cheiristoya's Restaurant. Thus with his ability to read and count, Tapirus passed the examination of the Department of Finance and became a tax official.

Only after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs establishment and Ansitanos started recruiting public officials did Tapirus, who had worked hard but was exhausted from his daily counting and bookkeeping, apply to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Knowing that a mission to Rome wouldn't be an easy task, the envoy Ansitanos had to choose, besides being literate and eloquent, must also be daring. So Tapirus, who had served as a waiter and fought in many battles, was, therefore, the perfect choice.

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

In the 13th year of Theonia (1st day of the 11th month of 380 B.C.), Tapirus, the envoy of Theonia, took a passenger ship to Rome at the port of Laos.

On that day, it was a sunny day with a cloudless blue sky.

Tapirus, sitting in the cabin, recalls king Davos' audience with him before he left Thurii.

Although it was stated as an audience, it was, in reality, an invitation to a dinner at Davos' residence. There is currently a famous saying in Theonia that since he was a personal slave of Davos and was liberated, Davos was his benefactor(the peculiar custom in Theonia is that a slave freed by his master had a special kinship-like relationship with his master. And under the condition of not violating the law, the liberated slave could plead with his former master to ask him to find work or provide financial support if he found himself troubled. And once their former owner was in trouble, these liberated slaves, who had become official citizens, would also lend their support. And if their former owner ran for a local position or to be a tribunal officer, they would join forces to cast their previous vote for their former owner, which the society recognised. And it was for these reasons that the wealthy citizens of Theonia were keen to treat their slaves well and grant them their freedom.) Because of that, the formal audience had changed into a private dinner.

At the dinner, Tapirus was surprised that the great king would pay so much attention to a native city-state in central Italia. But what surprised him even more was Davos' request...

Suddenly, the ship captain pushed the door and went inside, "Milord, we will soon arrive at the port of Ostia."

Hearing that, Tapirus cleared his mind and left the cabin.

In the sky were numerous seagulls flying ahead, and the ships and boats in the sea converged in one direction, which should be the entrance of the Tiber river and the Roman colonial city of Ostia.

When he received his appointment, Tapirus learned about Rome and knew that Ostia was only a small Latin town that the Romans had captured decades ago. Afterwards, they migrated their citizens to settle and turn Ostia into a Roman colonial city and later the only Roman port city for maritime trade. Because of these benefits, Ostia remained loyal to Rome, even when the Gauls captured Rome.

Tapirus then disembarked with his entourage.