Chapter 677: Sacrificial Offering

"But he would have a hard time winning again because we are joining this war!" Hasdrubal said, unconvinced.

"Once Theonia wage war with Carthage, what should we do if...the Carthaginian army wins one battle after another?" Kisego asked with caution.

"Just the Carthaginian army Hanno raised?!" said Hasdrubal with contempt, "The only thing they know is bully the weak Numidians. So even if the Theonians encountered a drought and got attacked on all sides, a lion remains a lion, which is not something a wild dog can deal with. Thus they would still have to rely on us!"

Hasdrubal held his head high confidently.

If Mago were still the Mago before, he would have been the first to actively request to lead the army when encountering enemies encroaching on Carthage's interest. But after spending years staying on the Iberian Peninsula, his disposition changed considerably. Thus he said without hesitation, "Let's do that then!"

Then, he looked at the three men and said with seriousness, "Haka, you should start storing more grain, craft more weapons and equipment and carefully prepare for the expedition."

"Yes, uncle."

"Hasdrubal, step up the soldiers' recruitment and the army's training!"

"Uncle, you can rest assured and leave all these to me."

"Kisego, increase your efforts in contacting the Celts in northern Iberia, sign a peace agreement with them, and hire their warriors to fight for us...also, send an envoy to our ally in the south, Mauretania, and try to get them to send reinforcements as well to join us in our war."

"Understood, lord governor!"

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

After their discussion, Mago returned to his courtyard with excitement. Then he said to his slave, "Pour me some wine."

But a few moments later, his daughter Dido was the one to bring the wine. The twenty-one years old and gorgeous Dido was like a fruit that was about to ripen. However, she remains unmarried. After giving the wine, she asked softly, "Father, have you made your decision?"

Mago knew what she meant. Because of her intelligence, Mago didn't hide important political matters from her. On the contrary, he sometimes even asked her for advice, "Yes, we have decided! In less than six months, we will return to Carthage amidst the people's cheering. And by then, we would settle your marriage!"

With Dido being his only child and since she was pretty perceptive, Mago gave her some autonomy in her marriage. Moreover, with the Iberian region's primitiveness, there were no outstanding characters around. Hence his daughter's marriage has become one of his problems.

But instead of answering him, Dido frowned and sighed, "We are living well in Iberia, so why must we go back to Carthage?!"

"Carthage is our roots!" Mago said straightforwardly, "With how much trouble our ancestors went through to build that city, how can we easily throw it away?! Besides, once Carthage declines, our days in Iberia will also get harder. Thus no matter what happens, we must maintain Carthage's prosperity!"

"But...defeating the kingdom of Theonia wouldn't be easy! Furthermore, they are much more powerful than Syracuse. And I fear that provoking them is equal to us bringing a...disaster!" Dido said worriedly.

"Theonia is indeed strong. However, Carthage is equally strong! Besides, you can rest assured as this is the best time to attack Theonia! Anyway, fighting a war is a man's business, so you shouldn't worry about it. Instead, you should help Haka more if you have free time, as he will become busier and need someone to help him share some of his work. Otherwise, I fear his body would collapse." After saying that, Mago raised his mug and tasted the wine, obviously not wanting to listen to Dido anymore.

"Understood..." Dido sighed.

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

Two days later, Aeonis and his crew were escorted into Carthage.

The Carthaginians, who had received the news in advance, have all come out. The Carthaginians became even more furious after seeing the cartloads of stolen goods(silver ores) following behind the criminals.

Since half of the Carthaginian citizens were merchants or engaged in related occupations, they were already dissatisfied with Theonia's scheme of breaking Carthage's monopoly on Sardinia in the past two years and the expulsion of Carthaginian merchants in Theonia some time ago. Thus one could already imagine their anger once they saw those things in front of them.

"Damn you, thieves!! Despicable and shameless Theonians!! How dare you steal our wealth!! We will never forgive you!!!..."

"Kill them!! Kill these thieves who want to rob our wealth!! Let the Theonians know the might of Carthage!!!..."

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

As the voices filled with hatred shrouded the whole city, Aeonis and his crew trembled as if they were a small tree battered by a strong gale.

Amidst the wave of protest and curses against the Theonians throughout the city, several elders, including Pretasdrubal, propose to try these Theonian criminals publicly. And since Hanno didn't go against them this time, the proposal was quickly passed.

Soon, a hundred people's court opened up on the square.

Aeonis bravely applied for the court to arrange a Theonian official to hear this case about them together per the agreement signed between Theonia and Carthage. However, the Carthaginians refused them.

Next, the owner, who sold his silver, became the complainant and accused Aeonis of secretly colluding with his miners and slaves to sell silver without permission.

Then another wretched Carthaginian slave that Aeonis never saw before became a witness. He confesses how he regrets accepting the Theonians money and betraying his master and tells how such transactions had happened many times.

Then the captain and sailors of the Huelva patrol ship unanimously pointed out that they found these silver coins from Aeonis' merchant ship and witnessed their transactions.

With clear evidence, the matter became apparent: The Theonian merchants had deliberately violated the agreement between the two sides and repeatedly stole and sold silvers, an important product of Carthage.

While the Carthaginians shouted for the Theonians' death, Aeonis and his crew didn't even have the opportunity to defend themselves during the interrogation process and got sentenced to death.

Aeonis and his crew turned pale. Afterwards, the Carthaginian soldiers pushed them to the execution ground.

Although they called it an execution ground, it is actually the Temple of Baal Hammon. Baal Hammon was the main god worshipped by the Phoenicians, and he was known to control flames and thus was called the master of the furnace. Thus Carthage, which has metal processing and smelting as the pillar of their industry, worships him and would even sacrifice a living person(mainly children) to him at some ceremony or a special occasion to obtain his blessings.

This time, the elders, such as Pretasdrubal, propose to use the Theonians as sacrificial offerings on the hill of Byrsa. They thought that once they passed the proposal to support Rome, a war with Theonia could erupt. Thus by offering the Theonians, Baal Hammon would give them the greatest blessing while cursing the enemy.

Once Aeonis and the others arrived in front of a huge bronze statue of Baal Hammon, they saw a large pit blazing with flames under the bronze statue. And as they stood at the pit's edge, the hot wind blew into their face and scorched their hair...

"Push them down!! Push them down!!..." The Carthaginians who followed them shouted crazily.

"They want to burn us!!...." Amidst the crew's mournful cries, Aeonis recovered from his stupor. He then began regretting his greed and hated the shamelessness and cruelty of the Carthaginians. But since they couldn't avoid death, he could only glare at the Carthaginians around him and say, "You despicable and shameless Carthaginians! With Hades as my witness, I, Aeonis, curse all of you here for your homes and city to be burned to ashes by these very same flames!!!"

Then after finishing his curse, Aeonis began singing the ode of Hades loudly.

Once the frightened crew heard his voice, they gradually calmed down and sang aloud, "O the just Hades; I would accept our death without fear and come to your temple with longing..."

Hearing that, the Carthaginians became even more furious. Thus once the priests finished their praying, they could no longer wait to push the Theonians into the fire pit and watch the 'criminals' turn into blazing humanoids as they danced and screamed in the fire pit. But as the Carthaginians cheered, the ode of Hades, though faint, continued to be sang, 'Under your bident, all evils will have nowhere to hide...'

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

The news about the Third Legion's victory over Caudini arrived at Thurii, which surprised Davos. Davos initially hoped for the Third Legion to teach the Caudini a lesson that would frighten those disobedient Samnites tribe. Unexpectedly, he received such excellent results that he began reconsidering whether to change his strategy against the Samnites.

A day later, he once again held a meeting with the head of each department (including the five rotating speakers of the Senates) in the palace.

"We must severely punish the Caudini for violating our treaty by invading our allied Campanians' territories without permission! And we would only accept the Caudini's negotiations and the release of the captured warriors on the conditions that 'to prevent the Caudini from invading the Campanians' territories, an ally of Theonia, again in the future, the Caudini must transfer the management of the towns of Capua, Nola and Suessula to Theonia; And Segobani must receive the trial of the Campanians and for the Caudini to re-elect their great chieftain with the approval of Theonia...'"