Living in a villa is a recent trend in the Kingdom of Theonia. It began when Davos built a villa on a hill near the Thurii hot springs. Davos would then take his family there to escape, relax and soak in the hot springs during the hottest part of the summer, much to the children’s delight.
After experiencing the occasional banquet, the statesmen and officials discovered the benefits of living in a villa. As a result, the sparsely populated, barren and inaccessible northern mountain region soon became sought after, with the wealthy and renowned citizens of Thurii lining up at the Ministry of Agriculture to purchase land. It reached the point where Thurii’s local council had to pass a law restricting the excessive sale of mountains in the territory of Thurii. And besides limiting the size of the villa on the mountains available for sale, they also did not allow the trees in other areas to be cut down at will.
For that reason, the citizens of Thurii began to eye Amendolara, Besidiae and Roscianum, near the core of Thurii, which soon forced the local councils of the three cities to restrict the sale of land in the mountain ranges… Eventually, the trend swept the kingdom, prompting the Senate to create a provision in the laws of the Kingdom of Theonia for the sale of mountain ranges and the construction of villas.
Antrapolis only showed his concern in this way because he knew that his brother was someone who couldn’t be persuaded easily. He had even tried to convince Aristias to suggest to His Majesty Davos that he be transferred from the post of Chief of Intelligence to that of an administrative officer, believing that his brother could have a brighter future with his talent. But he sternly refused and warned him not to mention it again.
When Antrapolis stopped talking, Aristias asked, “Why did you come here today?”
“Brother, can’t I just come to see you?!” Antrapolis dissatisfiedly.
“O, Antra had come.” With a friendly cry, a woman came out of the main building.
“Sister-in-law!” Antrapolis responded with respect.
The person who came out was Azune, Aristias’ wife.
“You haven’t visited us for so long,” Azune said, pretending to criticise him.
“Sister-in-law, it’s not that I didn’t want to come, but I got assigned to different places these past few years. And after I returned from Hiponion last month, I was busy with various handover procedures… and I just finished them today, which is why I am here.” Antrapolis hurriedly explained.
“Since you rarely come, let’s have dinner together tonight! I’ve already asked my servants to prepare it, and you should also take sister-in-law Cerias with you. After all, Lileiya (Azune’s daughter) misses her brother Antichus, and we’ll finally have a wonderful family gathering tonight!”
After Azune had said this enthusiastically, Antrapolis looked at his brother since he rarely threw a party in their home.
But Aristias quickly said, “Since your sister-in-law has already said that, send your servants to bring your wife and son.”
Azune smiled charmingly at her husband. Then she said, “Queen Cheiristoya had some urgent things for me to do, and I’ll be back in the afternoon. So you two should talk slowly first.”
“Okay, sister-in-law. You can go about your work,” Antrapolis smiled as he watched Azune leave with two female slaves.
Although he was a statesman of the Senate, he treated Azune with such deference not only because she was his sister-in-law but also because she was once Cheiristoya’s personal slave and now her right hand, attending to the queen’s businesses, allowing her to earn the trust of Davos’ household. What’s more, Aristias was the trusted retainer of King Davos, so Antrapolis was right to say that his brother was an important official in the kingdom. But Aristias and his wife usually keep a low profile and rarely interact with others. So even though many statesmen and city praetors held prominent positions, they couldn’t match the couple’s words in the hearts of the increasingly powerful King Davos.
The usually cold Aristias appears gentle to his wife, leaving Azune to make decisions about family matters. There were even rumours telling how Azune was the one to take the initiative to pursue him, with Queen Cheiristoya acting as matchmaker to bring them together. And Antrapolis believed this rumour because it was likely that his brother would still be single due to his indifferent personality.
Antrapolis pretended not to see the smile at the corner of Aristias’ lips as he looked at the departing Azune. Afterwards, Antrapolis said, “Brother, I have come because of an important matter and wanted to ask your opinion.”
Aristias immediately turned serious and said, “Come, let’s discuss it in my study.”
“Brother, I plan to respond to His Majesty Davos’ call to follow the army to the Latium region,” Antrapolis said as soon as they arrived in the study.
Davos had offered these opportunities not only to the merchants who had donated grain to the kingdom but also to the kingdom’s statesmen and officials who were temporarily without relevant posts and could only fill idle positions. He hoped they would volunteer to accompany the army on the Latium expedition and hold the various positions in the conquered territories to stabilise those areas quickly…
Aristias didn’t seem surprised, nor did he show any sign of shock, and only asked softly, “Why did you decide to go to Latium?”
“Brother, you should know that when I returned to Thurii after my term as Praetor of Hiponion ended, the Kingdom’s Civil Service Management Committee gave me a good rating for my performance in Hiponion. However, I lost out to Bagul in the race for the Praetorship of Consentia. And at the moment, the praetorship and other high positions in the various cities of the kingdom have been filled, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get a position again. So I thought… I might as well follow His Majesty Davos to Latium…” Antrapolis told his honest thoughts.
“Isn’t there still a vacancy for the Praetor of Roscianum?” Aristias asked.
“Could you still call the Praetor of Roscianum a city praetor?! I don’t want Lysias to keep dictating what to do!” Antrapolis shook his head and said.
Some years ago, Davos created the Thurii region to consolidate resources and emphasise Thurii’s position as the kingdom’s centre, incorporating Besidiae, Roscianum and Amendolara into the region. Furthermore, their praetors became under the jurisdiction of Thurii’s praetor, Lysias, who had been a praetor of Thurii for many years. Lysias’ reputation was so high that most of these praetors dared not disobey his orders.
“Actually, I was going to suggest that you go to Latium after His Majesty announced that option in the Senate, but I didn’t expect you to make a decision so quickly,” Aristias said with a look of relief. Though Aristias rarely kept in touch with Antrapolis, he had always paid attention to his brother’s performance in politics.
“You supported my decision?!” Antrapolis became firmer in his decision but still said with concern, “What worries me now is that Latium is too far from the centre of the kingdom. It’s in such a remote location that I wouldn’t receive any attention if I served there. And if I stayed there too long, I would miss other good opportunities. Also, it is difficult to govern that place since it is filled with foreign races and not adjacent to the kingdom, so in case of uprising…”
After listening carefully to his brothers’ words, Aristias said slowly, “You needn’t worry about being forgotten, for as far as I know, His Majesty attaches far more importance to Rome than you can imagine. He had asked me to set up channels to get information against Rome even before the South-Italian War. Then, after the South-Italian War, he increased his investment in gathering Roman intelligence and asked me to report to him every two months on Latium’s situation. And in the second half of last year, His Majesty even asked me to report to him as soon as there was any new situation in Rome… Did you know that in the military conference room of the palace, there is a map of Italia and Sicily made of clay?”
“I know since I heard it was made beautifully!” Antrapolis nodded and replied.
“Of all the models of the other city-states, the model of Rome is the largest and the only one made of red clay, which makes it quite eye-catching. This shows how much more importance His Majesty attaches to Rome than even Carthage. I’m afraid he’s taking the administrative officials on this expedition, something he had never done before, because he wants to make both Rome and her Latin allies territories of the Kingdom of Theonia. Hence you shouldn’t worry about being forgotten by the Kingdom when you get there…”
Once Aristias had said this, Antrapolis’ worries disappeared as he understood that with King Davos’ attention, the kingdom’s resources would be heavily tilted towards Latium, which would naturally guarantee security.
“Antra!” Aristias then said with a serious expression, “Since you have chosen to take a risk rather than settle for mediocrity, you must not fear hardship once you arrive in Latium! You must learn more about the customs of the various tribes in the region, work hard to find out how to govern the place well, and build up your reputation there… so that by the time the kingdom has fully integrated Latium, you will be the most knowledgeable statesman there is! That way, when an important position in Latium becomes vacant or an important crisis arises, His Majesty will think of you first, just like Bagul of Lucania or Sedrum of Bruttiii! Remember, you missed a great opportunity in Catania over a decade ago, so you must not miss it again!”
Antrapolis understood what his brother meant about missed opportunities. After Theonia had occupied the southeast of Sicily, he became a statesman and Praetor of Catania since he was born and bred there and led the great uprising against Syracuse. On this basis, he should have gradually become the voice of Sicily in the kingdom and a major figure in the Senate, but his lack of administrative experience led to him wasting it.
Now, with Aristias’ expectations, he felt the pressure, but at the same time, he cheered up, saying sincerely, “You don’t need to worry, big brother! I will no longer miss it this time!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The second month of the year is already the rainy season in Thurii. The drizzle that falls for most of the day nourishes the city and keeps the people cheerful as they prepare to go home at dusk after a busy day since the drought that swept across Magna Graecia last year has increased the people’s appreciation and love of rain.