Chapter 386: Declaring War on Locri
In fact, Theonia and Locri have some ties with each other. During the foundation of Thurii, the wise man of Athenia, Protagoras, created a law for it by adopting the laws of the famous lawmaker of Locri, Zaleucus, rather than the Athenian law by basing it on the fact that Thurii was a city-state made of numerous immigrants from various origins. And the Theonia Union that was established on the ruins of the old Thurii had taken the essence of the original laws of Thurii.
Zaleucus was famous for his strict laws, and he even once made a rule that “anyone who wants to change any of the existing laws must first put a rope around his neck, and once his proposal is not passed, he will be strangled to death.” Zaleucus was impartial in enforcing the law throughout his life that even when his son broke the law, he still ordered his eyes to be dug out according to the law without any hesitation. However, out of the relationship as father and son, he gouged out one of his eyes instead.
With such figures setting an example and such laws governing the Locrians, it made the Locrians different from the common Greek city-states, making them famous for their obedience to the law (Of course, with the addition of the Theonians later on.) At the same time, they also know how to obey orders which allowed them to resist Crotone, whose strength is stronger.
Perhaps it is due to their strict laws that Locri’s patron god is unlike most other city-states who chose powerful gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and Athena. Instead, they chose two gentle goddesses: Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Persephone, the queen of the underworld and the goddess of fertility. They had even built magnificent temples for each of the two goddesses. That’s why when Theonia held the Hades’ Day on September 9 every year, a small number of Locrians would also rush to participate, not only because of the unique ceremony and the liveliness in Thurii but also because the Theonians will also celebrate Persephone while offering sacrifices to Hades.
And since they have two goddesses as patrons, the social status of Locrian women is higher than that of other city-states. They even allowed them to appear in public with veils and have rights to inherit some properties, which is somewhat similar to Theonia.
Unfortunately, the two Greek forces with similar cultures and customs had regrettably become enemies even with all of that.
Before Praxileos could arrive in Locri, the Locrian Council already found out about the assassination attempt on the archon of Theonia. Despite Thurii blocking the whole incident soon after, but as the overlord of South Italia, not only Locri, even other city-states in the South Italia Alliance, as well as Taranto had sent men to stay or hide in the city and port of Thurii, so as to know the development of Theonia at any time, which would allow them to make corresponding countermeasures in time. Therefore, as soon as such a huge riot occurred, those people naturally paid attention to it. And after they found out the situation, they returned to their respective city either by boat or horse.
So that even though Praxileos set out the next day, he still fell behind. After arriving at the port of Locri, the officials at the port had already quickly reported it to the Council, causing the Locrian statesmen to be surprised at why the envoy of Theonia appeared here at this time.
A few of the strategoi and statesmen of Locri knew more about what really happened in the assassination, such as strategos Demodokas, brother of Doris – the wife of Dionysius, who wishfully believed that Theonia was just going to complain to Syracuse again. However, he did not expect that the envoy of Theonia to show up here.
Although surprised, out of courtesy and respect for Theonia – the hegemon of South Italia, he had invited Praxileos into their Council Hall.
Like other democratic city-states, the ecclesia is the highest authority when discussing and deciding important events of the city-state. On the other hand, the council handles the usual minor political matters.
The Council of Locri is simply a scaled-down ecclesia, which divides all citizens participating in the ecclesia into many groups, usually ten, and takes turns participating in city-states matters through the Council. And now, there are eight strategoi and hundreds of council members in the Council hall, which is already a huge assembly several times more than the number of Theonian statesmen.
After preparing for a bit, Praxileos walked into the centre of the Council Hall at the invitation of the presiding statesman.
“Esteemed council of Locri, I, Praxileos, came here as an envoy of Theonia Union to ask Locri a question on behalf of all Theonians!” Praxileos explained his intention immediately.
As soon as he uttered this, a wave of commotion and surprised shrouded the surrounding statesmen. Instead of pausing, Praxileos raised his voice, “I think all of you know the terrible assassination attempt on Davos, the great archon of Theonia and the grand legatus loved by the citizens, and has aroused the anger of all Theonian citizens! Now, after catching the assassin on the spot and interrogating him, he confessed the truth and admitted that he was hired and helped by a Locrian merchant named Aureas, allowing him to successfully sneak into Thurii and took action against archon Davos-”
“This is a false accusation! A frame-up!!” Demodokas, the polemarchos of Locri, immediately interrupted Praxileos and retorted loudly, “We, Locrians, will never provoke you Theonians for no reason! And we are not that stupid!…”
“But the truth is the truth! After a detailed investigation and after a repeated confirmation, the Senate of Theonia determined that the one behind the assassination was you, Locri!” Praxileos pointed angrily at the crowd and shouted angrily.
The Council immediately exploded into a frenzy, “Are all the statesmen of Theonia, fools?! What does this have to do with us, Locri? Why don’t you instead question Syracuse!”
“This is clearly a common trick used by that lord, who has already assassinated his political opponents a lot of times in other city-states in Sicily!”
“What evidence is so conclusive? That is definitely fabricated! Theonia could only come and blame Locri because you don’t have the guts to mess with Syracuse! And even if that merchant named Au…Aureas is a Locrian; some other city-states must have paid him. Did you even manage to interrogate him? You just easily concluded that it was us, Locrians, who ordered it!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ignoring their arguments and insults, Praxileos continued, “For this reason, the Senate of Theonia and all citizens are extremely angry at the despicable behaviour of Locri and demand that you be punished. First, admit your mistakes to Hades, and you must send an envoy to Thurii to make a public apology to the Senate. Secondly, make reparations to the people of Theonia who were injured and killed in this incident. Finally-”
Praxileos fearlessly faced the enraged crowd, with his voice firm and loud, “Severe your alliance with Syracuse! If so, Theonia will forgive Locri for the things you have done before and accept you into-”
Before Praxileos could finish his words, roars of anger drowned his voice, “We Locrians didn’t do anything wrong, so why should we accept your unreasonable demands!”
“This is humiliation! A humiliation to Locri!!”
“This is Theonia’s scheme! They want to break up Locri’s alliance with Syracuse!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The members of the Council were swearing, with some even rushing towards Praxileos despite the dissuasion of others.
One of those running was one of the strategos, Theophantes. The short-tempered strategos rushed up and punched Praxileos, instantly knocking him to the ground.
Just as he was about to kick him, another strategos – Metelophes held him and shouted anxiously, “Don’t violate the sacred tradition of ‘inviolability of envoys’ and the laws of Locri!”
Hearing the word “law” made the Locrians who were rushing and surrounding Praxileos to freeze up.
Taking this opportunity, Metelophes shouted, “Lord Demodokas, if you still don’t stop them now, they will be severely punished for breaking the law!”
Demodokas, who had just watched, was called out by Metelophes. As the polemarchos, he had to stand up and retort, “Those who humiliate Locri is the enemy of Locri, so how can it be considered breaking the law when they are just defending the honour of the city-state?”
“Milord, you are right!” Someone immediately agreed.
“Alright, all of you should back down. The Council Hall is a sacred place, and we Locrians are a civilised city-state, unlike Thurii. So we must not do anything to harm the envoy…” Demodokas spoke as he walked forward while the members of the Council obediently returned to their seats.
Demodokas had served at the polemarchos of Locri for nine consecutive years, mainly because of his relationship with Dionysius. Locri initially allied with Syracuse because it wanted to use its power to defeat its long-time enemy – Crotone. However, although Crotone has weakened, a more powerful Theonia Union has emerged, especially after the establishment of the South Italia Alliance.
Theophantes could only snort and reluctantly retreated.
Praxileos staggered to his feet, still refusing to admit defeat, “The former city of Thurii had once harmed an envoy and ended up being burned down…”
“Theonian, if you want to flaunt your superiority, you need to consider the place. This place is not the city-states in South Italia Alliance that will do all they can to please you Theonians. This is Locri!” Demodokas sneered and proudly explained, “Locri neither has nor cares to assassinate your archon, so we refuse any of your unreasonable requests!”
‘Refuse!’ Although he already expected this answer, Praxileos is still happy. He calmly wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth with his finger, stretched his arms towards Demodokas, clenched and unclenched it, showing the blood on his palm. He looked at them and solemnly said word by word, “Then that means war!”