Chapter 233

Everyone thought about it and shook their heads. Athens might be the wealthiest, but it couldn’t provide so many benefits for its citizens. As a city-state with a long history, too many vested interest groups, deeply rooted legal systems, and traditional ideas prevented it from achieving everything the emerging city-state alliance of Theonia had accomplished. This was despite Athens already being quite considerate of its commoners among Greek city-states.

“Can the Mediterranean power Persia do these things?” Praexinas asked loudly again.

Everyone shook their heads directly: Persia was a dictatorship where nobles exploited commoners and Persians exploited other races.

“Then Theonia is the Elysium among Greek city-states! I believe that once the Greeks know about the rights our citizens enjoy, they will surely flood into Theonia even more enthusiastically!” Praexinas said with certainty.

“Praexinas’s guess should be correct. Before the war with Croton, the number of freedmen in the port of Thurii was already growing… And after the war, we fulfilled our promises and even allocated land to preparatory citizens. There will definitely be more immigrants flooding into Theonia. We must be prepared to settle them.” Kunogelata took over the conversation, giving everyone a preemptive reminder.

Hearing this, everyone was both happy and somewhat worried.

“Now, please let me add another right for Theonian citizens,” Davos continued. “I noticed just now that everyone seemed a bit worried when hearing Kunogelata say ‘more immigrants will come to Theonia.’ Worried about what? I think it’s mostly a worry that the Theonia City-State Alliance will find it difficult to maintain good urban order! Worried that with so many immigrants entering, mostly uneducated commoners, the overall quality of our citizens will decline once they all become Theonian citizens! It will decline sharply!—”

“Lord Davos is right!” Thurian senator Masisasus immediately stood up and accused loudly, “There are already signs of this in Thurii now, especially at the port. Those new immigrants speaking with various accents are rude and uneducated. They curse and fight at the drop of a hat. I heard the port patrol has to deal with dozens of conflicts a day. Is that right, Kunogelata?”

Kunogelata shook his head and corrected seriously, “It’s not that severe. Freedmen want to become League citizens smoothly, so they dare not break the law. According to statistics, there are at most five incidents a day, and most are resolved by themselves before the patrol arrives.”

Masisasus, rebuffed, mumbled, “Three or four conflicts a day isn’t a small number…”

Polyexis looked at Masisasus, his eyes flickering.

Davos laughed. “Precisely because these problems exist, my next proposal is—to establish a school in Thurii. All Theonian citizens, after paying a small fee, can send their children to school to learn literacy, arithmetic, painting, music, and athletics…”

School?! 

Everyone pondered this novel term.

At this time, the Academy of Athens had not yet been established. The way Greeks received education mainly relied on wealthy nobles and rich people hiring private tutors or buying educated slaves to teach their children, or famous scholars opening private schools and charging high tuition fees to accept disciples. But for a city-state to fund and build a school to collectively educate the children of citizens—this was unheard of! However, the senators were very interested. Most felt this would indeed help solve the problem of low cultural literacy among Theonian citizens, so they rose to ask questions one after another.

Davos was all too familiar with schools. Combining his experience from his past life with the practical situation of his current life, he answered their questions with ease.

For example, Amyntas asked, “What if citizens also want to enter the school to study?”

Davos’s answer was: “Establish a class specifically for educating adults in the school. Its curriculum and educational methods will differ from those for young children, facilitating the rapid elimination of illiteracy.”

For example, Kunogelata’s question: “Children are of different ages and have different levels of prior education. How can they all benefit and improve in school?”

Davos’s answer was: “Establish three levels of education: primary, intermediate, and advanced. Children who haven’t learned anything enter the primary class to start learning to read, count, and read articles… Children who are already literate and have a certain foundation in arithmetic enter the intermediate class to learn how to form sentences, write articles, and perform complex calculations… The advanced class mainly focuses on mastering rhetoric, public speaking, debate, and calculating large amounts of complex data… This is to prepare for cultivating high-level League talents such as lawyers, accountants, and mid-level officials…”

***

The senators were satisfied with Davos’s detailed answers. Even Kunogelata, who rarely praised others in public, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Lord Archon, I truly believe now that you are favored by the gods. Otherwise, it would be impossible to propose so many brilliant ideas, complete with implementation plans!”

Kunogelata’s words were acknowledged by the senators.

Davos smiled and continued, “I propose that Anxitanos serve as the head of this school.”

“Agreed!” The senators expressed their approval one after another. The most knowledgeable person in the Senate was undoubtedly Anxitanos, a former disciple of Herodotus. Of course, some also believed that Davos, rumored to have been illiterate but enlightened by Hades and always mysterious, possessed knowledge that was hard to gauge.

“Ah? Me…” Anxitanos, sitting in the back row and daydreaming, was startled awake and hurriedly shook his head in refusal. “I can’t, I don’t have time! The Athenian Thucydides has already completed his History of the Peloponnesian War, and it is said to be highly acclaimed by the Athenians. But my History of Magna Graecia hasn’t even started yet?!”

Under the repeated requests of the senators, and with Davos even promising everyone that all senators would do their best to contribute materials for his work and cooperate fully if he wanted to interview someone…

Only then did Anxitanos reluctantly accept, but he immediately began to complain, “My Lords, it wasn’t that I was unwilling to manage the school just now. You must know that just counting Thurii city in the Theonia City-State Alliance, there are over a thousand children of Theonian citizens! And Lord Archon, you just said you want them to learn Greek writing, arithmetic, painting, music, and so on. How many teachers will that require?! The Theonia City-State Alliance simply cannot find so many teachers to instruct the children!”

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately realized this was indeed a problem. But Davos had clearly considered this long ago. He said unhurriedly, “The Theonia City-State Alliance doesn’t have enough teachers, but other city-states do. We urgently need silphium, so we can significantly lower tariffs specifically for it to encourage Cyrenaican merchants to transport large quantities into Thurii’s port for sale. We lack teachers, so of course, we can enact a preferential bill for them to encourage outstanding scholars from foreign states to actively come to Theonia… Don’t you agree?”

The senators were thoughtful. Anxitanos asked urgently, “What kind of bill?”

“My proposal is… any foreigner who comes to Theonia to work as a teacher, even a slave, will immediately be granted Theonian citizenship! But the prerequisite is that they must first pass an assessment by a specialized agency of our Senate to confirm they have the ability to serve as teachers… Hmm… Anxitanos, you can lead this assessment. However, once they possess citizenship and become teachers in the League school, they must dedicate their lives to teaching children knowledge. If they change professions midway, their citizenship will be immediately revoked, and they will be expelled from the country! Additionally, League citizenship only applies to the teacher themselves; their children cannot inherit it unless they also pursue the profession of a teacher…”

Everyone was moved by Davos’s proposal.

Anxitanos, who had initially been indifferent to managing the school, said somewhat excitedly at this moment, “Since Praexinas and Lord Kunogelata previously believed that Greeks envy Theonian citizens and want to become Theonian citizens, then I think the shortage of teachers in Theonia will soon change! …I remember there was a League bill specifically enacted for doctors before, and now a favorable proposal has been made for teachers. My Lords, doctors and teachers are the two sacred professions besides the priests of the gods. One heals the body, the other elevates the mind. I thank the Lord Archon for his foresight! I also hope for your support! The Theonia Senate has fully demonstrated its respect for knowledge! This will make our League not only prosperous in trade and powerful in military but also inevitably brilliant in culture! The Theonia City-State Alliance will become a great city-state alliance!!”

***

The meeting went on until dusk. Two more people indicated they had proposals to present, so the senators had to ask the guards to light candles to continue.

The first to rise and speak was Scombras. He began apologetically, “I’m sorry to delay everyone from going home for dinner. I just consulted in detail with Lord Davos, Capus, Hieronymus, and the others. I learned there is a large marsh to the north of Crimisa city. Especially in spring, when the rain floods, the marsh expands outward, affecting road traffic and encroaching on farmland… I was thinking, could we invest a large amount of labor to fill the marsh and build dikes for the Lacoeli River? This would ensure the safety of the territory, prevent epidemics, and also add a large area of fertile land!…”

“Old man, you were just elected Chief Executive of Crimisa. You haven’t even taken office yet, and you’re already executing your management of Crimisa!” Protesilaus teased with a laugh.

“What? You got a problem with that, kid?!” Scombras blew into his beard and glared at the junior from Amendolara whom he had watched grow up.