timelets | (no subject)

For example, Hieron noticed that when the army and its lead- ers were away on campaign, the Syracusans invariably fell out with one another and the result was unrest of some kind. Since Leptines commanded the greatest respect and loyalty from his peers, and was exceptionally popular with the common people as well, Hieron allied himself to Leptines by marriage. He wanted to be able to leave him behind in the city to cover for him, so to speak, when he himself had to be out in the field with the armed forces. At much the same time as his marriage to Leptines’ daughter, it came to his attention that the veteran mercenaries had become disaffected and disruptive. He took them out on an expedition, ostensibly against the Campanian foreigners who had seized Messana, made his camp at Centuripae, and deployed his troops along the Cyamosorus river. He kept the Syracusan cavalry and infantry grouped together under his personal command at a distance, as though they were going to engage the enemy from a different angle, but threw the mercenaries forward and let them be annihilated by the enemy. While the mercenaries were being run down, he withdrew safely back to Syracuse with the citizen contingents.

In this efficient fashion he achieved his objective and purged the army of its disruptive and mutinous elements; he then recruited a substantial corps of mercenaries of his own choosing and proceeded to rule in perfect safety.

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Aware of the despair and terror of the Sicilians, and of the size and strength of the Roman army, Hieron came to the conclusion that the Romans’ prospects were more promising than those of the Carthaginians. Having committed himself mentally to the Roman cause, he began to send messages to the consuls with a view to enter- ing into a treaty of peace and friendship.
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Now that he had gained the protection of the Romans, Hieron became their source of provisions in times of emergency. He ruled Syracuse in safety for the rest of his life, and received many awards and honours from the Greeks. It is impossible, in fact, to think of a more remarkable ruler, or one who benefited for a longer time from his own good policies, both particular and general.

--- Polybius, The Histories.

The first solution has the same structure as the Sirens episode in the Odyssey. The second solution is analogous to a Chinese stratagem when you use your enemy to address your internal problem.