Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1011: Daionia's Conditions for Peace

Okriton instinctively looked toward Henipolis, who was already staring back at him with piercing eyes. Though King Davos's ready agreement to negotiate had brought Okriton joy, the intense gaze made him realize the armistice talks might not be so easy after all...

...

The negotiations took place in a vacant military tent not far from the main camp pavilion. Only four people were inside: Henipolis, Okriton, and their respective scribes. Yet this simple arrangement would determine the outcome of a war tied directly to the future of the western Mediterranean.

Once both sides sat down, Henipolis planted his hands on the table and leaned forward, getting straight to the point: "Lord Okriton, since Carthage wishes for an armistice, I presume you have already drafted your terms."

"...Yes," Okriton said softly, hesitating for a moment under the other man's aggressive posture. "Before I left, the Carthaginian Senate reached a preliminary consensus... Both sides will cease hostilities and restore the spheres of influence outlined in our original peace treaty. Carthage is willing to offer a certain amount of compensation for the damages Daionia has suffered in this war, with the exact figure to be decided through mutual discussion—"

Henipolis didn't wait for him to finish. He stood up and headed for the exit.

Okriton was stunned. "Lord Henipolis, what is the meaning of this?"

Henipolis turned back with a mocking sneer. "Okriton, you aren't here to negotiate. You're here to tell jokes. Understand this: Daionia did not start this war. Yet now, you are the ones hoping to end it! And still you come to the table with this attitude, acting as if Carthage holds the upper hand on the battlefield, not Daionia! If that is the case, there's no need to talk. We can both go home and await the outcome of the war. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll see Daionian envoys sailing to Carthage to beg for an armistice!"

Having spent years locked in heated debates with Pretasdrubal in the Carthaginian Senate, Okriton had developed a thick skin. His expression remained completely unchanged as he replied slowly, "Negotiations are like trading goods. You offer a price, I offer a price, and we haggle until we reach a fair sum to close the deal... Carthage has just presented our initial price for a truce. Since you find it unsatisfactory, I would like to hear Daionia's starting price."

Okriton stared at the single extended finger, a chill running through his heart. King Davos had been so amiable earlier that he had genuinely believed these talks would go smoothly. He had been entirely deceived by the king's friendly facade! This first condition alone was impossible to accept—that was an army of 100,000 men! The vast majority of Carthage's young, able-bodied citizens, along with the citizens of the Phoenician City-States, were concentrated in that force. If they surrendered and Daionia imprisoned them long-term instead of allowing those Citizen Soldiers to return to Carthage, the city would barely have enough manpower left to defend itself... Neither the Carthaginian Senate nor the people would ever agree to this. And even if the Senate somehow did, Mago—that arrogant, untamable man who prided himself on his noble blood—would absolutely refuse to obey!

Okriton groaned inwardly but managed to keep his face calm. "Is there a second condition?"

"Of course." Henipolis held his gaze and raised a second finger. "Second: Corsica and Sardinia must be handed over to Daionia's control—"

Okriton's heart pounded wildly. Corsica and Sardinia were vital sources of income for the Carthaginian treasury. If Daionia seized them, Carthage's national strength would undeniably be crippled!

Unable to maintain his composure any longer, Okriton snorted, his tone turning heavy. "Is there more?!"

"Patience. Naturally, there's more." The corner of Henipolis's mouth ticked upward as he extended a third finger. "Carthage must withdraw from Sicily entirely. The island will fall under the sole rule of Daionia!"

Okriton's eyelid twitched violently. If taking Corsica and Sardinia was a blow to Carthage's economy, letting Daionia assert total control over Sicily was a direct threat to Carthage's security—especially with the Daunian Navy as powerful as it was today...

"Does Daionia actually intend to negotiate a truce and restore peace?!" Okriton finally demanded, unable to hold back his anger.

"We certainly have the desire to stop fighting. But remember, we once pleaded with you not to start this war. Instead, you saw Daionia fighting Rome and the Samnites, thought you could take advantage of us, tore up our treaty, and brazenly attacked. If your scheme had succeeded and Daionia was the one suffering constant defeats and begging for peace today—offering the exact same terms you just did—I highly doubt Carthage would accept!

"But you failed. And failure comes with punishment! Our forces have already occupied Corsica! We have taken over half of Sardinia! We control the vast majority of Sicily! ...These victories were bought with the blood and lives of Daionian Citizens. Our people will absolutely not allow us to abandon what we've won. You would do well to understand that!" Henipolis warned righteously.

"Corsica, Sardinia, Western Sicily... Carthage and the Phoenicians have toiled for hundreds of years to build up these lands!" Okriton retorted with equal fervor. "Just because you take them by force does not mean they belong to you! Daionia calls itself a civilized Greek kingdom, renowned across the western Mediterranean for 'keeping its promises.' You should understand this principle perfectly well!"

Henipolis sneered. "When Carthage tore up the treaty and sparked a war, the only way left to reason with you was with long shields and spears!"

"What you seize by force today, you may lose to the threat of force tomorrow... It would be better if Carthage paid a much larger sum of compensation to ransom the territories you've occupied. I hope you will consider it." Okriton's tone softened slightly.

"Carthage must pay a massive indemnity for Daionia's losses in this war. That is our fourth condition." Henipolis coldly raised a fourth finger.

"You—!" Okriton finally lost his temper. He shot to his feet and barked, "Daionia is nothing but greedy! It seems you never intended to negotiate peace with Carthage at all!"

"King Davos does indeed want peace, or else he wouldn't have outlined these detailed terms," Henipolis said earnestly. "He also instructed me that while the exact sum of the indemnity is negotiable, the other conditions are absolute! Naturally, a matter this significant is beyond your authority to decide, Lord Okriton. But I hope the Carthaginian Senate reaches a decision quickly. If you drag this out, our demands will only grow."

Okriton was shaken to the core. But Henipolis was right—he didn't have the authority to accept a single one of these demands. He could only take them back to Carthage and leave them for the Senate to debate.

Upon leaving Minoa by ship to return to Carthage, the heavy-hearted Okriton passed through the waters near Selinus. Acting on a sudden impulse, he ordered his vessel to change course and dock at a beach just outside the city.

By the time Okriton arrived at the Carthaginian Camp, he was just in time to see Mago leading an assault on the city. Escorted by guards, he climbed the camp's Inner Wall to witness the brutal siege firsthand.

The Carthaginian army was attacking Selinus simultaneously from the east, west, and north. On the northern wall alone—the side Okriton faced—nearly 20,000 men had been deployed. Countless light infantrymen scrambled up towering mounds of earth, suppressing the city's defenders with hails of arrows and javelins, while Balearic Slingers stood atop the Inner Wall, hurling lead bullets toward the city.

The main assault force was split into three detachments. The first consisted of Numidian soldiers led by Iberian army officers; shouldering dirt-filled sacks, they charged at the very front to fill in the trenches beneath the city walls. The second wave comprised Phoenician infantry, surging forward like a tide with scaling ladders, battering rams, siege towers, and other heavy siege weapons to violently assault the ramparts. The third wave was made up of Mago's trusted Phoeno-Numidian Infantry, who were currently resting behind the Inner Wall, biding their time until the battle reached a fever pitch and both sides were exhausted before delivering the final, decisive blow.

There was also another massive labor force on the battlefield, numbering tens of thousands. Their mission was to take advantage of the Daionian soldiers being distracted by the siege to rapidly construct earthen walls extending outward from the camp's Inner Wall along both sides of the mounds, with the ultimate goal of connecting them directly to the walls of Selinus.

Furthermore, no siege was complete without ballistae. However, fearful of being picked off by the gastraphetes on the ramparts, the Carthaginian ballista units had retreated behind the Inner Wall. Their primary targets were the newly constructed wooden towers dotting the city's defenses. But with the Inner Wall obstructing their view, their accuracy was terribly low, and they were constantly threatened by return fire from the Daionian ballistae. Though both sides were firing over the walls, the stone projectiles launched from within the city consistently rained down around the Carthaginian ballistae. The defenders were clearly targeting the siege engines, and their numbers were far greater than Carthage's (upon Amyntas's request, King Davos had transferred all the army's ballistae to Selinus).

Mago had ordered his ballista units to concentrate fire on the wooden towers because they posed an immense threat to the light infantry on the earthen mounds. Originally, the mounds had been slightly taller than the walls of Selinus, allowing the Carthaginian light infantry to fire down at the defenders. But once the Daionians erected those three-to-four-meter-tall wooden towers along the rampart walkways, the Daionian light infantry successfully reclaimed the advantage in ranged combat.