Because young and middle-aged citizens were transferred to fight and did not return for a long time, the lack of labor force in the people's families, and many families need to buy more slaves to ensure the planting and harvesting of farmlands and the smooth completion of family workshops... Therefore, this led to the prosperity of the slave market.

There are only two places in Turiyi that have basically not received the influence of the war: one is Turiyi School, where teachers still attend classes as usual. Even if a student's father dies in battle, he will gradually emerge from the grief through the teacher's guidance and the playfulness of his companions; the other is Dionia Academy, where both teachers with profound knowledge and students who are conducting high-level learning continue to focus on their own research and study, but this does not mean that they are deaf in the current situation.

Behind the classroom of the School of Literature, Ansitanos was sitting under a big tree, telling the history of Egypt. More than 20 students surrounded him, sitting casually on the grass, listening carefully to him, while using a pen to write down key points on the wooden boards he carried with him, and constantly raising his hands to ask questions. The atmosphere was relaxed and lively.

Ansitanos looked up at the sky and said, "This is the end of today's class. In the morning two days later, we will continue to do it-"

As he was speaking, he saw a student holding his hands high, so he asked gently: Eonicus, what else do you have?”

"Teacher, now His Majesty King Davers is leading the army to war against the powerful Carthage in Sicily. Can we win?"

Ansitanos frowned: "This is not what to teach--"

"Teacher, please tell us something!"

"Teacher, aren't you always saying 'Learn history is to find experience from the past and make wiser choices when encountering crisis'? And now our war with Carthage is the most difficult time the kingdom has encountered! So, can we win this important war? Can you use your method of analyzing history to analyze this war for us?!"

"Since I heard that 'Carthage army has invaded our territory in Sicily', I have been very worried and cannot even study with peace of mind! Teacher, you are knowledgeable and more knowledgeable than we know. No matter whether your analysis is good or bad, I can calm down and work harder to prepare for the future!"

"Teacher, let's talk to us!"

...

The students' request made the good-tempered Ansitanos sigh helplessly: "Okay, then I'll tell you about this war."

The students cheered suddenly.

Ansitanos did not speak immediately. He pondered for a while before speaking: "Sorry, I cannot disclose some details about this war because it involves the secrets of the kingdom. Moreover, I do not understand military affairs very much, nor can I understand and analyze the strategies and tactics adopted by both sides. I can only talk about my views based on the current situation of both sides that I have learned and my analysis of the past history of the Mediterranean..."

The students immediately sat upright and prepared to listen carefully.

Ansitanos cleared his throat and said slowly: "I have just talked about Egypt being conquered by the Assyrians from the Mesopotamians, and Egypt has been a powerful kingdom in the Eastern Mediterranean before. Let's talk about Assyrians. Assyrians who dominate the eastern Mediterranean were later destroyed by the rising Persians, which was also mentioned in the book "History" written by Herodotus. The arrogant Persians tried to conquer the entire Mediterranean westward, but were defeated by the Greek native Sparta and Athens, who were united and defeated by the city-states led by Athens, Herodotus described this in more detail. Later, Athens and Sparta began to dominate the Eastern Mediterranean...

What do I say about this? If you read the history of these countries carefully, you will find that they all have a process from weak to powerful, and from powerful to decline. A country is like a person, who has to go through children, youth, youth, middle age, old age... the entire period may also die in the middle.

In youth, because of its weakness, it had to endure bullying and was forced to sign various unequal agreements, trying hard to make friends with the strong men around it; when it was youth, it had a strong physique and vigorous energy, it wanted to compete with the strong hands; in middle age, its strength and energy declined, and its personality became steady, and it would work hard to maintain the various honors it won; when it was old and old, its physical strength was weak, not only would the wealth it had easily been stolen by others, but it would even be difficult to preserve its life... Let me tell you, in which period was the most terrifying period of a kingdom?

"Of course it's youth!"

"No, I think it was middle-aged!"...

The students rush to speak.

After Ansitanos had expressed his views, he said again: "My view was in youth, because at this time it was the most dynamic, enterprising and united, just like a stream gathering between mountains. Even if there were tall rocks in front of it, it would flow down until it converged into a wide river...Asyria and Persia basically worked together at this time to eliminate the powerful country that hindered them, expanded rapidly, and established the position of overlord.

In middle age, not only are there strong enemies outside, but there are also many internal contradictions. The entire country has to spend more energy to solve these problems. The country's property is also wasted a lot in internal friction. Therefore, it will not only stop expanding externally, but also sometimes be forced to shrink inward. Which country do you think is the case?"

"Teacher, is it Persia?!" A student said first: "More than 20 years ago, Persia had civil strife due to the throne. His Majesty Davers participated in that war. Afterwards, Sparta invaded Asia Minor, and the Persians were unable to repel them. Although the Spartans finally asked for peace, it was also because of the Corinthian War. A few years ago, the Persian army attacked Egypt again, but was still repelled... Isn't this exactly what the teacher said?"

"That's right, Asidatis! I have the same view as you." Ansitanos praised without hesitation and asked other students: "So what period do you think the kingdom is in now?"

"It was my youth!" Some students said in unison, while others wanted to speak but stopped.

"Our kingdom has only been established for more than ten years. If we start from the establishment of the alliance, it will only be twenty years. If we look at the time, the Kingdom of Dionia, which has only a history of more than ten years, is indeed like a teenager." Ansitanos first analyzed the reasons why the students made this judgment, and then said: "But from other aspects, this is not the case. The land directly owns far more than any Mediterranean city-state, including Carthage. The number of citizens of our kingdom is far greater than that of these countries. The income of the kingdom is far beyond what they can compare with, and is only less than Carthage. We do not need to actively communicate with the surrounding forces and races, because they either come to form an alliance or seek support from other powerful forces in fear.

The kingdom is still expanding outward, and our territory is still expanding. It has just defeated Rome and Samonai not long ago and obtained a large amount of land. Although our citizens are also afraid of death, they are more eager to win honor in war, and their relatives will try their best to support them rather than to hinder them. Our great king and our senate will never succumb to external pressure, but will respond to the provocations of the enemy with more active actions... The whole kingdom presents a vigorous vitality, full of vigorous vitality and hope, just like the sun rising in the horizon in the morning... I believe you also feel this way. Isn't this youth!"

The students nodded excitedly and expressed their agreement.

"Teacher, what about Carthage?" someone asked impatiently.

"The situation in Carthage is a bit complicated," Ansitanos pondered: "Carthage has been established for 200 years, and it has been long enough that it had suffered many failures in its battle with Syracuse, but it has conquered Numibia and southern Iberia after that.

There is no unified country in Numibia, and the tribes have been influenced and controlled by Carthage for a long time. It is actually very easy to conquer it, and its ability to resist is also weak. Carthage has a small population, and its citizens occupy a large amount of Numibian land, allowing many Numibian slaves to farm for them, and they can easily enjoy a luxurious life without any effort...

His Majesty Davers once said, "Life is too comfortable and will lead to the corruption and depravity of the Carthaginians." His Majesty's judgment is correct, so when the Carthaginian army first fought with us, we defeated the more with less and easily defeated them...

However, the Carthaginians conquered southern Iberia differently. As far as I know, Carthaginians did not have much influence there, but there were a large number of fierce indigenous people living in that area. It was indeed very difficult for the Carthaginians to conquer southern Iberia and take their land resources and population for their own use. It also shows that the Carthaginians there had a strong enterprising spirit. So when the Carthaginian army attacked Sicily again, and was dominated by the Iberian army, we were no longer opponents by the Sicily army alone...

If we look at Carthage and Southern Iberia together, I think Carthage is neither in youth nor in middle age, but in the period when youth is entering middle age. However, you should know that southern Iberia is actually ruled by the Margonid family of Carthage alone, and they have a great conflict with other nobles of Carthage. In such a long and arduous war, it is hard to say whether the two sides can unite without any differences and fight with all their strength.

So, in general, Carthage is a young and middle-aged man. It seems strong and has strength, but its development is actually not sound, and there are many hidden diseases. And our strong, healthy and enterprising kingdom has war with it. I believe that even if there are several failures in the middle, the final victory will definitely belong to us!”
Chapter completed!