After hearing what Davos said, Cornelius and the others nodded, and they all felt that Davos was very calm and clear-minded, and that there is no problem for him to be an archon. On the other hand, the new citizens were somewhat frustrated and sighed.
At this moment, Hielos cried out in the crowd, “Since you can’t become a king, then you can always be an archon for life! Just like Dionysius of Syracuse, the surrounding city-states weren’t hostile to Syracuse, but instead they turned to Syracuse to ask for their help!”
“Yes! Become an archon for life! So that we won’t have to worry about mediocre people managing Amendolara!” Added Olivos.
“Davos, archon for life!” Matonis, Giorgris and the others then yelled.
The enthusiasm of the new citizens were rekindled.
Cornelius was anxious while he listened to the waves of appeals, and wanted to tell the mercenaries who only knew how to kill that Dionysius of Syracuse, was not elected by the ecclesia, and had seize the city-state by force. And also Syracuse is the most powerful city-state in Magna Graecia, how would the other city-states dare to be hostile to it.
Faced with the noisy crowd, Cornelius backed down again, and he once again cast his gaze to Davos, hoping that the cool headed young leader could once again veto the unreasonable demands of the soldiers, “Since the citizens of Amendolara have chosen me to be the archon for life! I will gladly accept this position that you have entrusted to me, I swear to Hades that I will use all my wisdom and ability to lead all of you in making Amendolara to be more prosperous and powerful, and give you a better future!”
There was a huge chearing under the stage.
“These people don’t know anything about freedom! They have no idea what an archon for life means! Cornelius, you have to persuade the young leader!” Listening to his companion’s tone of panic, Cornelius summoned up his courage and stepped forward, “Davos…uhm…it is against the law and tradition of Amendolara, because we never have the position of archon for life. This farce must be stop!”
Davos suddenly turned around, “Farce?! You say that this is a farce?! Is the ecclesia not the highest authority of a city-state! A bill doesn’t need to be proposed by it, but the ecclesia needs to approved it before it can be implemented, right?! The people under the stage shouting are the citizens of Amendolara! And the ones that are shouting are more than half of them! The bill that they had proposed and have passed due to their vote is in accordance with the legal procedures of Amendolara!!…”
Davos words were like nails hitting Cornelius, and he could only respond stutteringly, “But…but…”
“Otherwise, you want to say to them that ‘citizens, your proposal is unacceptable, and we won’t acknowledge it!’” Davos continued with a sneer.
Cornelius watched the crowd under the stage as they continued to cheer. He swallowed his saliva and subconsciously shrank back.
Davos sneered and said to Cornelius, “The model of the Greek city-state’s democracy, Athens, after its defeat, some citizens have already begun doubting democracy. Then Athens started the ‘Thirty Tyrants’ and it is inseparable from their support. Many Greek city-states in the east have already begun abandoning their democracy. And alsom wasn’t it due to the bad effect of democracy that led Amendolara to suffer today?”
Davos words was very loud, and Cornelius wasn’t the only one who heard it but also the other citizens on the stage. Indeed, at that time, the archon, Marcellus, strongly advocated to defend against the Lucanians in the city and have opposed leaving the city. However, another archon, Glatephro, was more inclined to temporarily move to Thurii, which made the citizens to be divided into two factions. Due to both sides being in dispute, some people were forced to leave Amendolara without waiting for a resolution to be reached, which includes those that Cornelius led. Finally, in order to prevent division, the people of Amendolara had to pass a resolution and leave together…
Guilt and fear came to him at the same time. Cornelius felt his throat dry, and so he swallowed his saliva again. He then heard Davos solemnly say, “Don’t worry, I swear to Hades that your rights and interests will not only be protected, but it will also become better!…”
Just as Davos made a promise to Cornelius and the others, someone in the stage then said, “I agree in making Davos to be archon for life!”
“I agree!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
All the citizens have agreed.
Cornelius made his way to the front, step by step with heavy steps. He didn’t know what will the consequences of this decision would bring to Amendolara, but he knows that if this matter doesn’t reach any satisfying results, then the angry mercenaries will definitely smash Amendolara into pieces.
Cornelius, who wasn’t in the mood to regret whether he had “led the wolves into their house”, stood in front of the stage, and calmed himself down and reluctantly said, “The proposal on making Davos the archon of Amendolara for life is passed. From today on, Davos will be Amendolara’s archon for life until his soul returns to the underworld…”
“Hooray!”
“Hooray!!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The new citizens under the stage cheered like they had won a great victory, forming a sea of joy.
While the original citizens of Amendolara: Some were angry and quietly cursing; while some were indifferent as if it has nothing to do with themselves; and some cheered together with the new citizens…
Sesta and a handful of officers who have different views were disappointed, but they all tried to smile.
With a smile on his face, Davos strode forward and said in a loud voice, “As your newly appointed archon for life, and in order to better govern Amendolara, I propose to make Cornelius to be the deputy archon!”
“Agree!” Not only the new citizens who were enthusiastic, but also many of the original citizens, who thinks that with the help of Cornelius, this young and unfamiliar archon will at least not mess around, but they did not know that the mood of Cornelius has fallen to the bottom.
Cornelius wasn’t depress due to the fact that Davos changed the power structure of Amendolara and created a new post, but the main reason is that he had hope to elect another archon, even if it needs to be elected once a year. It will at least check and balance the power of Davos, but he didn’t expect that Davos would not give him this opportunity at all, and directly erased the political tradition of “dual archonship” of Amendolara. The post of deputy archon is a subordinate to the archon, and it seems that Davos wanted to become autocratic!
As far as Davos is concerned, after more than a half year of honing and with his experience in his previous life, it had made him not agree with the democratic system of the Greek city-state in this world. Specially in this war-torn era, and felt confident that his rule and being supplemented by the masses is more effective than a multi-person split governance! and also a lot more powerful! ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
After analysing it and preparing in advance, he believed that: Although the Greeks all have the tradition of independence and freedom, specific problems need to be considered in details. Specially for the special job of the mercenaries, as they are used to obedience due to them fighting outside of Greece for many years. Otherwise, they will not be able to win. The soldiers worship the general who had led them to win many battles, but the great reputation that Davos accumulated over the past six months is enough to make the soldiers entrust their lives to him, and after their previous experience in Persia, where they have seen the vastness of the Persian Empire, and their views on monarchy and dictatorship were naturally different from those of ordinary Greeks. Of course, if they vote after living a stable life for half a year, then the situation might be different.
After his careful planning, Davos finally achieved his goal. An archon for life is in fact, a lifetime autocrat! In his memory, Sula and Caesar seemed to have held this position in the previous Roman history. He had just changed “dictatorship” to “ruling” as a cover up because he is afraid of arousing the resentment of the other city-states.
Davos looked at the cheering crowd, and his heart was full of excitement and thoughts. Under the western sky, the sun was about to set, and once today is over, the old Amendolara will be the past, and tomorrow, a new Amendolara will be created…
Note: In the test of blood and fire, Davos won a foothold for himself, but Amendolara is so insignificant among the thousands of city-states in the Mediterranean. If he wants to realize his ambition, he still has a long way to go. In the process of developing himself, he will also face a more arduous and cruel tests!