Chapter 352: Pollux Persuasion
Although the hot spring is a bit crowded, it doesn’t make them feel suffocated. Besides the thick and tall stone walls around, the hot spring has no roof, which is beneficial for the circulation of the air. Some even like to take a bath when it rains.
Looking at the crowded baths in front of him, Pollux said enviously, “I estimate that there would be five~six thousand people that have come here to take a bath today. Davos has earned a lot of money!”
“Who told you not to join when the archon was raising money?” Enanilus snapped at him. He then took off his chiton and sandals and gave them to the slaves. He then strode towards the hot spring pool on the smooth marble floor.
Pollux caught up in a hurry.
Enanilus slowly sat down in the pool water, and the perfect water temperature made him let out a comfortable sigh. He then picked up hot spring water and thoroughly wet his face.
With the shadows of people moving back and forth, the crowd’s sight was obscured, making them not notice that two statesmen were sitting naked with them.
Enanilus closed his eyes, leaned against the bath’s wall, and seemed to have fallen asleep, which made Pollux swallow his words several times.
After soaking in the hot spring bath for more than ten minutes, Enanilus came to a smaller bath next to him, where the water was not deep, and its bottom was covered with sea sand. Another small bath is paved with pebbles, while another is paved with river sand.
Enanilus simply lay down and rubbed his back with the soft fine sand…soaking for more than ten minutes until his skin turned red. Then he got out of the pool and asked a slave to massage his whole body.
After another ten minutes, Enanilus got up. Then he asked his slave to pay for the massage, then dragged his relaxed body to a deserted corner. He sat down on the bench beside the window and closed his eyes.
Pollux went close to him, sat down, stretched himself and said, “Taking a hot spring bath is really comfortable! This hot spring that Davos built has truly brought great benefits to Thurii! Why had we not think of doing this before? He truly deserved to be the god’s favoured!”
Enanilus slowly opened his eyes, looked at him and said slowly, “Now that you know how powerful Davos is, why do you often take the lead to fight him in the Senate? Pollux, I remember that you were not so bold.”
Seeing that Enanilus finally spoke to him, Pollux became relieved. He then said with an aggrieved expression, “Of course, I know that the Theonia Union would not have been where it is today without Davos, and even I, also want to do something together with Davos, but he doesn’t give me a chance at all! He only valued his mercenaries, who could only speak through their fists and even place them in a high position! Now, there are also those barbarian chieftains who are more savage, with a foul breath, sitting in the Senate every day, shouting in Greek that no one could understand! And the Amendolarans, who were once driven by us, wore the so-called ‘founder badge’ every day, deliberately showing off in front of us…we are the true masters of Thurii, but now, we can only stand aside in the Senate! I, Ariphes, Marsyas…are just dressed in the cloak of statesmen, just to show it to the Thurians. But in fact, we are no different from ordinary citizens!…”
Enanilus glanced around. After seeing no one was paying attention to them in the noisy and crowded baths, he warned him in a deep voice, “You are too excited. Keep your voice down! Pollux, you just haven’t gotten your turn yet. Maybe next year, you will be a praetor of a certain city.”
Pollux sneered, “Enanilus, do not comfort me, as even you don’t believe what you are saying. Think about it. A Persian can sit on an important position as a Chief Commercial Officer for so many years without getting replaced for many years or elected. Am I any less capable than him?! Don’t forget, I also served as one of the ‘ten strategoi’ of Thurii many times back then. And even due to me having nothing to do in the Senate, Davos would sometimes send me to help this foreigner and be ordered by him! Is the Theonia Union still a place for us, real Thurian statesmen, to stay?”
Enanilus tried to open his mouth, but no words came out.
“You would naturally might say, ‘You, Burkes, Ansitanos, Plesinas are all highly valued by the Senate.’” Pollux’ sneered once more, “How can Plesinas compare with us?! He is nothing more than a commoner and has now become a dog of Davos, who uses him to bite. Ansitanos, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in the book he was going to write and had no power over anything else. While Burkes, even though he is still the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, was only working with peasants and slaves every day that he could only return to Thurii a few times a month! Sometimes, he can’t even attend an important Senate meeting. He is more like an ordinary union official than a statesman. As for you – Enanilus, you indeed hold power over the navy, just that-”
Pollux then intentionally paused.
Enanilus turned his head, then asked casually, “Just what?”
With a slight smile, Pollux said, “Over the past few years, Davos has allowed foreigners to build shipyards in Thurii, breaking the monopoly of your family on shipbuilding. What is your opinion about that?”
Enanilus’ brows slightly twitched, then said slowly, “That’s because Theonia’s territory is too wide that we need more warships to protect our coast. And my family…can’t produce so many warships in a short time…”
“Oh, you are really thinking for the sake of the union?!” Pollux then said sarcastically while looking at him, “It’s a pity that Davos doesn’t seem grateful to you. What do you think about the fact that he let his second wife’s family get more share of the warship than yours?”
Enanilus became silent. Fortunately, the embarrassment on his face was covered by his flushed skin due to the hot spring water. Due to the monopoly of their shipbuilding in recent years, the management became slack, making the completed warships have many quality problems. For this reason, Davos had talked to him alone several times. This is why the Senate passed the bill of “allowing merchants of allied city-states to build shipyards in Thurii” proposed by Davos.
“And…what do you think of Seklian, the hero who conquered the city of Besidice, the flag bearer of the Triumphant Return, whose statue is in the Hall of Valor, and had quickly become the commander of the sub-fleet under your command from being a common sailor, and even frequent Davos’ house?” Pollux’followingt question immediately made Enanilus turn pale.
“Davos has made you the navarch of the navy because he had no one under him that knew anything about naval warfare. But now, he seems to have found one who seems to be more trustworthy than you! Enanilus, do you think Davos will still need you, you who was originally a noble of Thurii, who is not compatible with his vulgar mercenaries?!”
The words of Pollux was like a venomous snake gnawing into the heart of Enanilus.
Pollux, who had been paying attention to the expression of Enanilus, sighed, “If we old people of Thurii doesn’t think of any other way, then we will truly become just a bystander in the Senate. But I am unwilling to do nothing until we die of old age!”
Enanilus shook his fist and head, “Pollux, you don’t understand the power of Davos! Even the sailors in my Theonian Navy were made up of preparatory citizens and freemen that regards that young man as the real commander, while I am just an executor of his order. Not to mention the soldiers and strategoi of the Theonian army-”
“Enanilus, do you think that I am plotting to overthrow Davos?!” Pollux interrupted him. He then chuckled and shook his head, “No! No! No! I am not that stupid! I admit that…Davos has made a great contribution to the Theonia Union that without him, Thurii would no longer exist. The only thing we want is to get some of the rights back to the citizens of Theonia, and at the same time, we want to limit the power of Davos and not make him neglect and deal with us old people of Thurii at his discretion!” Pollux then pointed to the men in the bath with a bit of excitement and said, “Do you think that they don’t want to participate in an ecclesia?! The blood of us, Greeks, are flowing with the passion of loving and the enthusiasm to participate in politics. It’s just that the glory of Davos has made them temporarily forget it. Therefore, as long as someone constantly reminds them, just as I have always done, the situation will change a lot! The people’s protests in Thurii, Krimisa and other cities already show that the situation has changed!…Enanilus, for our own sake and Theonia Union, would you like to join me in the Senate to continue our appeal on ‘holding an ecclesia’ to make the distribution of Theonia’s right more equal?!”
After listening to the provocative words of Pollux, Enanilus’ complexion changed. Finally, he hesitated and said, “But…there are too few people in the Senate who support this proposal!”
“In fact, I have already gotten the support of some people…” Pollux’ whispered a few words in his ear.
Enanilus became dumbfounded and said, “Really?”
“When did I ever deceived you? It’s just like the last time when I told you how to get more land by freeing the slaves!” Reminded Pollux.
Enanilus clenched his hands again and again…finally, he clenched them into a fist.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Esteemed statesmen of the Senate, I have a proposal.” Pollux stood up from his seat.
Seeing the situation, the others suddenly had a helpless expression of “here we go again”.