Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Cynthia and Adoris nodded their heads in quick succession while little Cro asked excitedly, “So can I play with them?”

“Of course.” Davos laughed.

Little Cro immediately leapt with joy.

“I haven't gone to the temple for divination, so I don't even know if it would be a boy or girl…” Agnes said delicately. The Temple of Hera, where she was in charge, has priests specialising in divination whether the pregnant woman was carrying a boy or a girl. However, because she was still in early pregnancy, her stomach wasn't yet discernible, so she hadn't gone there. Still, Agnes continued to pray silently to Hera, who she served, to give her a healthy boy.

“I am favoured by gods, so if I say it's a boy, then it is definitely a boy!” Knowing what

Davos naturally knew what was in her mind, so he said that solemnly.

“Really?!” Agnes blinked suspiciously.

“Hmm…we now have five children in our family!” Davos smiled. He then loudly said to Cheiristoya and Agnes, “So you have to keep working harder to make it ten and form a team!”

Cheiristoya immediately scolded, “Do you think that giving birth is as easy as marching to war?!”

Davos laughed, and the sound of laughter filled the bedroom.

As it was already late at night, the children had gone to bed, and Azune carried Eunice while the three left in the bedroom were all sleepy.

Agnes looked at Davos and quietly said, “I…I am going back to bed…”

“Go back to where?!” Davos pulled her in and blurted out without hesitation, “We will all sleep here tonight so that I could accompany you well!”

“How can that be possible?” Although Agnes was moved, she looked at Cheiristoya in embarrassment.

“Sister, you just stay.” Cheiristoya said seriously, “Davos is going back to the camp tomorrow, and we don't know when he will return. That’s why we should chat with him tonight as sisters!”

It's really only a chat. Cheiristoya had just given birth and could not have s*x while Agnes was still in her early pregnancy and likewise could not make love to Davos.

After he blew out the candles, Davos lay between Cheiristoya and Agnes. With the intoxicating body fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose and holding their slender fingers in his hands, Davos felt joyous and wished to stay here for a long time rather than leave early in the morning…

“When will the war end?” Agnes asked softly as she snuggled into her husband.

“I fear that it would last a few more months…fwoosh…” Davos replied while trying to blow Agnes' hair sticking to the side of his face, making him a little itchy because he couldn't pull out his hands as he held the hands of his two wives.

“It would take so long?!” Disappointment filled Agnes' murmur.

“You don't have to worry. I will end the war and return to Thurii to accompany you before you give birth!” Davos comforted her.

“Really?!” Agnes was a bit surprised.

“Yes!” Davos said seriously.

“Sister, see how well he treats you! He never said anything like that to me when I was pregnant with little Cro and Eunice!” Along with Cheiristoya's dissatisfied voice, Davos felt a sharp pain coming from his left hand, but he forced himself not to scream.

“Then I will wait for you to come back, so you should pay attention to your safety on the battlefield!” Agnes smiled and kissed him affectionately. After a while, Davos could hear a slight snoring sound.

Agnes fell asleep.

“That's the good thing about being pregnant. You could just fall asleep whenever you want, unlike me who has Eunice…ha…” Just as Cheiristoya sighed, Davos turned his head to kiss her rosy lips.

The long kiss almost suffocated her.

“Agnes is still-” Cheiristoya quickly took a breath and said something coyly, causing Davos to kiss her again.

Davos had to restrain himself during this period when his two wives were pregnant and the intense war that followed. Thus he could no longer hold himself back, and the repeated passionate kisses melted Cheiristoya's reservedness. Still, she retained the last trace of hesitation, “Darling, I still have a little…down there.”

“I understand.” Davos softly whispered in her ear. “Honey, you can use your mouth and hand…”

Cheiristoya then nibbled his sturdy shoulder.

Davos began untying her clothes, bowed down and gently sucked the forbidden area where their daughter would usually breastfeed…

Soon, a repressed and seductive moaning rang out from the bedroom…

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

With the support of the Persian satrap Pharnabazus, the Athenian navarch Conon took another move that shook the Spartans to their core after his victory at the Battle of Knidos. He captured the island across the Laconian Gulf – Cythera. Then Athens used it as their advanced naval base, which would control not only the passage of the Spartan fleet in and out of the eastern Mediterranean but also monitor the movements in the Laconian Gulf.

The Spartans now worried and feared that the Athenians would incite the helots in Sparta to flee to Cythera and cause instability in their rear, just like what they did during the Peloponnesian War.

And even the Spartan ships entering and leaving the Laconian Gulf became extremely cautious for fear of running into the Athenian fleet.

Just as Cheirisophus' transport ship departed from Gythium, the only good harbour in Sparta, he saw the nervous expressions of the captain and the sailors. It made him involuntarily look at the greyish outline of land faintly visible in the sea far to the northeast – the island of Cythera, currently occupied by the Athenians.

Worries for Sparta immediately filled the heart of Cheirisophus: At sea, the Athenians had gained the upper hand that the Spartan fleet did not even dare to leave defenders in the Laconian Gulf and had instead retreated to the west of the Peloponnese. On land, the Spartan army couldn't advance an inch due to the stubborn defence of the anti-Spartan alliance on Isthmus, Corinth, forcing the Gerousia to finally change the supreme commander again and send Agesilaus, who was recovering from illness, back into battle.

For this personnel change, although Cheirisophus was optimistic, he was still cautious: He did not deny that he is more confident about the commanding ability of the weak and sickly Spartan king, as Agesilaus' achievements in Asia Minor the past year have won him great reputations.

However, the anti-Spartan Alliance had the support of Persia, and Cheirisophus, who had been to Persia, knew that this meant that Sparta's enemies had endless support. Thus, even if they fail, again and again, they can still recruit another massive army at any time, while the number of Sparta's citizens is limited. Thus his mission to Thurii, to get Theonia and Syracuse to stop the war as soon as possible, and free up Syracuse, the hegemon of western Mediterranean, to assist Sparta, is important. With the support of Syracuse's powerful navy and a huge army, Sparta will have more confidence to end this war victoriously.

‘But would Theonia agree?’ the youthful image of a 19-year-old young man came to Cheirisophus' mind; that was the first time he saw Davos. Since they separated in Asia Minor, more than five years had already passed, and he had not seen the young man again and had only heard about him from rumours. And every time the news of him came, Cheirisophus became more surprised: ‘The young man in the past is now a powerful ruler in the western Mediterranean and dared to compete with Syracuse, the hegemon of the western Mediterranean! The present is not what it used to be, so how could I convince him?’ Cheirisophus didn't have any confidence and could only go all out.

And the other object for his mission gave him more headache: Dionysius, whom all Spartans that had met the Tyrant of Syracuse said that he was greedy, overbearing and vindictive. Now that they want him to end the war where he is dominant, he definitely wouldn't agree if he doesn’t get a benefit that would satisfy him!

Cheirisophus sighed heavily. After suppressing these questions that gave him headaches, he asked loudly, “How long till we arrive in Thurii?”

“About two days.” The captain replied.

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

Because of Alobamus' long-term management of the city, the chieftains and the city officials had chosen to support him and not the young Henipolis that had undermined their status and interests, allowing him to usurp Laos smoothly. Furthermore, since Henipolis took away the troops loyal to him, Alobamus could easily control the whole city. But in exchange, the price he paid was a scolding from his sister-in-law.

After the failure to seize the Lao Fortress, he did not panic. Instead, he decisively concentrated his troops and fortified the city to defend against the possible attack of the Theonia army. He thinks that: As long as Laos could hold on for ten days and a half, the Syracusan army could make more progress in their attack on Theonia, which would greatly change Theonia's situation. At that time, maybe Laos still has a chance to expand.

Thus Alobamus devoted himself to his defensive plan. But then, some rumours in the port began to spread and expand under the control of people with intentions.

“Henipolis is a good archon! He enacted many bills that benefited us commoners and gave us more civilian rights, but the nobles led by Alobamus refused to implement them!!”

“Did you know that our archon made a bill to allocate land to poor people, but Alobamus threatened his nephew and forced him to withdraw it?!”

“Brothers, even though we have helped Avinoges in expelling the Lucanians, our lives have not changed much! We still have no money, no land, and still doing the same hard and heavy labours as when we were slaves, and those people of Alobamus still treat us like slaves!! We can't go on like this!!!”