I was a priest in the city-state era

Chapter 384 Using Locals to Check and Balance Each Other

The border between the Campania region and the Lazio region.

Barracks of Athenian soldiers.

Roy welcomed two special guests—Brutus, the leader of the Sikurian Senate, and the consul.

"You want your families to take over the Latin villages in Campania and the Sabine villages in Basilicata?"

After listening to Brutus and the consul's request, Roy did not directly refuse.

Because Roy knew that if the Athenian Empire wanted to conquer the Apennine Peninsula with [-] soldiers, it had to make good use of the enmity among the four major ethnic groups in the Apennine Peninsula, the Sikurs, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans. .

As long as the Sikurs, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans are allowed to check and balance each other, Loy can achieve the goal of ruling the Apennine Peninsula.

"I can agree to your request that your family members become administrators of the Campania and Basilicata regions. But I will not make them new chiefs and elders, but only for a maximum of two terms. Serve as the village head for ten years. You can exploit the Sabines and Latins, but the Sabines and Latins swear to the goddess Persephone, and after they become the subjects of the Athenian Empire, the village head must treat them equally. Because after the Sicurs, Latins, and Sabines joined the Athenian Empire, they were all citizens of the Athenian Empire and enjoyed the legal protection of the Athenian Empire. Only the Sabines and Latins who refused to join the Athenian Empire, personal property and personal Security will have no protection."

Now that the Athenian soldiers easily swept across the Campania and Basilicata regions and regained the [-] square kilometers of living space lost by the Sikkurs, the consul and Brutus certainly would not reject Roy's request.

After all, the Latins and the Sabines will definitely form a coalition to fight back, and the Sikurs still need Athenian soldiers to block the Latins and the Sabines.

After the consul and Brutus left, Roy immediately sent orderlies to convey his orders in the Campania and Basilicata regions.

Isernia village.

After the messenger left, the Athenian soldiers began to knock on the door of each house to register the villagers here.

The Sikurs, who were originally oppressed by the Latins, naturally would not refuse to join the Athenian Empire.

The Latins refused to join the Athenian Empire, and the Athenian soldiers would tell the Latins that the village of Isernia would soon be governed by a Sicult as village head.

If the Latins took an oath to join the Athenian Empire, they would be protected by the laws of the Athenian Empire.

If the Latins refused to join the Athenian Empire, they would not receive any legal protection, even if the Sikurs robbed their wives, daughters, property, or even their lives, they would not be punished in any way.

Under this threat, whether the Latins are willing or not, they must take an oath to join the Athenian Empire.

Because the Sikurs and the Latins really have a deep hatred.

Without the legal protection of the Athenian Empire, any kind of vengeance the Sikurs could have on the Latins was possible.

This is happening not only in the village of Isernia, but also in the Latin tribal villages in the Campania region and the Sabine tribal villages in the Basilicata region.

The Latins and Sabines could only seek the protection of the Athenian Empire and become the supporters of the Athenian Empire if they wanted to avoid the revenge of the Sikurs.

Next, Roy can use the Latins and Sabines to check and balance the Sikurs.

The Athenian soldiers not only registered the Latin tribal villages and Sabine tribal villages, but also implemented a policy of allocating fields and recruiting soldiers from among the Latins and Sabines.

The more fields the Latins and Sabines cultivated, the more food the Athenian Empire could obtain.

The Latins and Sabines became soldiers of the Athenian Empire, so that Roy could have more soldiers and conquer more territories.

After five days.

Roy's [-] soldiers in the Campania and Basilicata regions not only suffered no losses, but also added [-] soldiers.

It's a pity that the newly added Latin soldiers and Sabine soldiers are not only recruits, but they can only use wooden or stone spears as weapons.

In the army of the Athenian Empire, such recruits could only stay in the local area to maintain law and order.

Although these [-] recruits cannot become combat power, with these [-] recruits to maintain law and order, Roy can mobilize [-] iron spearmen and [-] soldiers using bronze spears to fight in the Campania region. The Licata area can also mobilize two thousand iron spearmen and one thousand soldiers using bronze spears to fight.

at this time--

Thulenus in the Lazio region has gathered [-] troops from various Latin tribes in the Lazio region and is ready to attack Loy.

Just before the war between Roy and the Latin allied forces broke out, the messenger of the Sabine leader Metius came to Roy under the escort of a group of Athenian soldiers.

"Your leader Metius said to live in peace with our Athenian Empire—"

After the messenger of Metius expressed his intention, Roy said with a smile.

"Although I am also a peace lover, I must take back the territory that has belonged to the Sikurs since ancient times. Because after the Sikurs joined the Athens Empire, all the territories that belonged to the Sikurs in the past now belong to the Athenian Empire."

After listening to Roy's words, Metius' messenger frowned and said.

"The Sikurs claim that they once lived in the central part of the Apennine Peninsula. Is your Athens Empire going to take away all the Puglia and Abruzzo regions where the Sabines live?"

Roy immediately shook his head and said.

"As long as you Sabines swear to join the Athens Empire, you can continue to live in Puglia and Abruzzo. If Metius refuses my reasonable request, then we can only break out of war."

After Metius's messenger left with Roy's reply, Roy also began to prepare for war with Turenus.

Although the enemy had twice as many soldiers as Roy, Roy didn't think his soldiers would lose to a group of Horde soldiers with wooden or stone spears.

the next day.

With [-] Athenian soldiers, Roy confronted the [-] Latin allied forces led by Thurenus.

Before the battle between the two sides, Thulenus and the leaders of the Latins built altars to sacrifice to their patron god Mars.

Roy and the Athenian soldiers couldn't help laughing when the Latins prayed to Mars, the farmer among the gods, who was in charge of reproduction, plants, and protection of livestock, farmland and farmers, for victory in the war.

"All Athenian soldiers!"

Roy also said to his soldiers.

"Just as Mars, the patron saint of the Latins, is a farmer, the Latin allied army in front of us is also a group of farmers with wooden and stone spears. The victory of this war will undoubtedly belong to you. My request to you Just be careful, be careful, be careful, don’t let yourself be beaten to death with wooden and stone spears by farmers because of carelessness, I don’t want to waste my pension on idiots who were beaten to death by farmers.”

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Tulenus and others to complete the sacrifice, Roy led the Athenian soldiers to attack.

All the Latins cursed at the sight of the Athenians breaking the sacred sacrifice.

Although the sacrificial ceremony was not completed, Mars, the patron saint of the Latins, descended on the battlefield in the form of a thousand-meter-tall deity.

(End of this chapter)